Fran was a professional, and as such, she would leave town from time to time to go to conferences and meetings and such. It was expected of her; part of her job. Nothing to complain about, just part of the package of her career.
She always got especially excited when Stephen was going to be at one of the out of town conferences. Stephen Haverford was one of several paramours she had enjoyed during her rather long eight years of graduate school.
"I'll have someone to schmooze around with, to share meals with, to gossip with," she once explained, and truth be told, I could see that. What was strange, however, was that before she'd leave to go off to one of those events, she'd be especially amorous. Upon her return, though, not at all. It was the usual: her time of month, not in the mood, my timing was awful -- maybe later, headache or tummy ache, or one of her dreaded migraine headaches. The pattern repeated.
It seemed clear to me what was going on, but the evidence was circumstantial. Finally, I just out and asked her, "Fran, are you cheating on me at the conferences you go to? With Stephen Haverford, or John St. Ives, or anyone else?"
"Doug, answer me this," Fran replied. "Is it cheating if you see an old lover from graduate school, a real friend, and you hang out with him during the conference? I hope you don't consider that cheating, because I've done that with Stephen Haverford, John St. Ives, and Sean Kavanaugh." Kavanaugh was a new one; I hadn't even known about him.
"That depends, Fran. Are bodily fluids exchanged?" I asked.
"You mean, do we kiss? Of course we do. So what?"
"Were you always fully clothed when you kissed?"
Fran was silent again.
"Did you fuck any of Stephen, John, or Sean, or anyone else?" I asked.
"Certainly not!"
"Want to tell me what happened, then?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because you shouldn't be asking such questions. I love you and I'm dedicated to you, and I don't share my body with other men, and I'm disgusted with you for thinking I might."
I didn't get any sex that night, nor for the rest of the week. As the week wore on, however, the cold shoulder gradually warmed. Saturday night, Fran was fucking me fantastically. One of the things I like about my wife is that she loves sex, and especially, she loves sex with me.