Author's note: I have spent the past several months writing a story about true love, marriage, life, death, art, history, and the meaning of life. This isn't that story. This is just a fun little flash story that I wrote on a whim. Consider this to be an appetizer before the True Legends of Loving Wives (plus one) serve the main courses on St. Patty's Day.
*****
August 19, 2004. It was a day that changed many lives, including that of Mitch Barlow. He was thirty-four years old at the time, and had enjoyed a successful career as a software engineer. Five days prior, he had received a phone call from an associate of his on the West Coast who told him about an initial public offering for the stock of a company named Google.
Mitch had been a conservative investor throughout his adult life, but his friend's sales pitch was incredibly convincing. Mitch cashed out $50,000 of his investments and purchased nine hundred shares of Google stock. Thirteen years later, that investment had grown to more than $750,000. Counting his other investments and his house with a mortgage that was nearly paid in full, he and his wife were positioned well for an early retirement.
By the age of forty-seven, Mitch had accomplished everything he had ever wanted to achieve. He had been married for over twenty years to his beautiful wife, Nicole. They had a smart and pretty older daughter named Holly who would be graduating from college in the spring, and another daughter, Michelle, who was in the eighth grade. He had a lucrative career, a nice home, good health, and no worries about his future. It seemed as though there were nothing left to do but grow older and die.
Often, when people achieve all of their goals early in life, and there is nothing left for them to accomplish, boredom sets in. Although that wasn't necessarily true with Mitch, it was certainly true with Nicole. She had spent fifteen years as a stay-at-home mother, and she did an excellent job in that role. Boredom began to overtake her when Holly moved on to middle school. There was only so much housework to be done, and no children for which to care throughout the day. Although she was active in church, it didn't seem to provide enough excitement in her life.
She joined a local gym, simply to have something to do with her time. She dropped twenty pounds in three months and looked better than ever. With her long, blonde hair and voluptuous figure, Nicole never had much trouble turning heads even when she was at her peak weight. Once she slimmed down, she couldn't seem to go anywhere without attracting men's attention.
It was around that time that she decided to go back to work. She applied for a job at as a bank teller and was hired immediately. She seemed to greatly enjoy working at the bank, as it gave her a good excuse to socialize with co-workers and customers. She discovered that one of her co-workers, the bank's manager, lived just down the block from their home. When he suggested carpooling together, she took him up on the offer. That is when Mitch first became suspicious.
***
"Honey, are you still awake?" Mitch asked.
Nicole rolled over to face him. "Mmm, yeah, sort of," she croaked. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong," he said. "I was just lying here thinking."
"Uh-oh," she said. "That sounds ominous."
"Nothing ominous," he said. "It's more like fun thoughts. Like sexy fun."
"Sexy fun? Oh, I like where this is heading. Go on!"
"Well, I know things have been a little...stale...in the bedroom for a while now."
"That's not true, honeyβ"
"Just let me finish," he interrupted. "We both know things have been a little stale. You know, we tried the sex toys thing, and the dressing in sexy lingerie thing, and it was fun for a while, but then it just went back downhill."
"You're not going to suggest a Fifty Shades kind of thing, are you?" she teased.
"No, it's actually something even more kinky, I think."
"Wow," she said. "Okay, you have my attention."
"I was doing some research online, looking for ways to spice things up. There is one thing that some married couples do that is supposed to be almost guaranteed to spice things up in the bedroom and rekindle that passion that we've been missing." He took a deep breath. "Have you ever heard of the term 'hotwife?'"
"You mean like, 'hey, you have a hot wife?'"
"No, it's one word: hotwife. It's when a husband allows his wife to sleep with other men."
He paused to let the words sink in. He could hear her breathing. "Okay, what's the punchline?" she said at last. "I know you're not suggesting that I sleep with other guys."
"Well...I guess I'm just tossing the idea out there to see what you think."
"I think you're insane," she said with a snort. "I mean, who does that? People really do that? Is that really a thing?"
"So I've read," he said.
"And you'd be okay with that?" she said. "I mean, you've always been so jealous of other men looking at me and hitting on me. You'd actually be okay with it if I slept with someone else?"
"Like I said, I'm just floating it out there to get your reaction," he said calmly. "Why don't we sleep on it?"
The following morning Mitch awoke to the sensation of a warm mouth attached to his morning wood. He rolled down the blanket and uncovered a mass of blonde hair bobbing in his lap. Nicole paused for a moment to look up at him.
"Good morning, sunshine," she said cheerily before going back to work.
Mitch closed his eyes and interlaced his fingers behind his head. After only a few minutes of bobbing he could feel that familiar unstoppable sensation swell. He gave her a warning, but she continued to suck and slurp as if she hadn't heard him. He almost warned her, but thought better of it. A moment later he unleashed a warm torrent into her mouth, which she swallowed instantly. One wave after another splashed against her tonsils until he was finally drained completely.
"What was that for?" he asked when she rejoined him at the head of the bed and nuzzled against his neck.
"I don't know," she cooed. "I guess I'm all sexed up from our talk last night."
"Oh, really?" he said with a smile. "So you're thinking of doing it?"
"I didn't say that," she said. "I just think it's fun to think about."
"Same with me," he said.
She sat up on the bed "Indian-style" and swept her hair away from her face. "You actually think it's hot thinking about me with another man?"
He thought about it for a moment. "Not always. A while back, I suspected you were cheating on me."
She gasped. "Why would you think that?"
"I don't know. Just a hunch. Anyway, at first I was really pissed about it. But then, for some reason I can't even explain, the idea of it really turned me on."
"Really?!" she exclaimed.
Mitch shrugged. "I can't explain it. I guess I'm just a weird pervert."
"Well...when you fantasize about this, who do you see me with? Anyone in particular?"
"No, not really," he said. "I guess maybe Brad."
"Brad?" she said with widened eyes. "From the bank?"
Mitch nodded.
"But he's married!" she exclaimed.
"All the better," he said. "Then I wouldn't have to worry about him blabbing to anyone. And I wouldn't need to worry about you catching some disease, assuming you're the only one he's banging on the side."
"You seem to have put a lot of thought into this!" she exclaimed.
Mitch shrugged again. "I don't know. I guess so."
***
More than a week passed before Nicole broached the subject again. That entire week she seemed to be more playful and sexual with Mitch than she had been in a long time. Although neither partner mentioned the hotwife scenario it was clear they were both thinking about it. Then, late one night, Nicole brought up the topic once more.
"So...this hotwife thing," she said, lightly scratching at his chest with her fingernails. "Is this something you think you really want to do?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Well, it's just that there's this banking convention tomorrow evening," she said with some hesitance. "If you really wanted me to do something like this, it would be a golden opportunity. Brad and I could stay at the same hotel."
"Brad?" Mitch said.
"Well, it was your idea," she reminded him.
"I was just throwing a name out there," he retorted. "What makes you think Brad would go along with this? You think he would cheat on his wife?"
"Well...I kinda, sorta, brought it up to him," she said sheepishly.
Mitch sat up on the bed. "Wait a minute. You actually told him about our little fantasy?"
"Well, yeah," she said. "We talk a lot on the way to and from work, and the subject just came up."
"You told him that I want you two to have sex?" Mitch asked with bewilderment.
Nicole nodded slowly. "Is that bad? Anyway, he said he would do it - if, you know, you're serious about it."
"Wow," Mitch said, laughing to himself. "That happened quicker than I thought."
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, it's just that I thought you would hesitate and debate it a little longer. Don't get me wrong - I'm glad you're into it."
"Are you?" she asked with a concerned expression.
"Yeah, no, I really am!" he said. "I do have one condition, though."
"Oh, no," she said. "You don't want to be in the room with us, watching from a chair in the corner, do you?"