Perry Simpson was sitting at the kitchen table, facing his wife Della, when he heard those words.
"Let's face it. You're fifty, overweight, and losing steam. Depressed since you lost your job. I out earn you by three times, with your silly internet trading. As it is, I'm the alpha here. And I'm going to consort with other alphas - guys. Your new role is to be supportive."
Della was forty-two, and still the stunning woman Perry had married twenty years ago. Their two children, Allan and Eileen, were both away at college. Perry had been at home with them for five years, since he lost his job at an ad agency. But now they were both mostly gone. And, apparently, Della was going as well. At least for a week.
She had announced that she was going to leave Friday to go on a trip to a resort with one of her clients, Thane Bossman (t/n Latrell Johnson). It was Wednesday. Della likely thought that Perry would be shocked and indecisive - unprepared. Wrong. One of the things that attracted Della to Perry was his intelligence and ability to see ahead some distance. She'd forgotten about that, it seems. Being fat and depressed still left room for perceptive thinking.
When Della made her pronouncement, Perry nodded. Then he took a bite of the tuna ring he'd made for dinner.
Della waited. Perry ate.
Finally, Della said, "Have you nothing to say? What a fucking wimp! A fat fucking wimp!!!"
Perry had finished eating. He stood to clear his plate. Della hadn't eaten much of her dinner.
Perry asked, "Are you done eating? There's pie."
If it had been at all possible, Della would probably have been the victim of spontaneous combustion. Instead, she leapt from her seat and stalked out of the room. Perry picked up her chair and put it back at the table. He cleared her place and washed up the dishes.
Perry had been a bit surprised by the timing of her declaration. It was earlier than he'd thought. A few weeks. Yet he'd been basically prepared for a month, since he'd gone to a party with her at Thane's palatial (but rented) house. There he'd seen that Thane and Della were a thing. Everyone else had seen it, too. Perry had disappeared into a dark corner and simply observed. He had concluded that the two were headed to the bedroom, but not that night. And not before then either.
Yet, they were definitely a thing in development. That insight had shaken Perry out of his slough and into a plan of action.
He took a good look at himself, and how he'd been behaving lately. He was appalled.
Perry stood 5'9" tall and now weighed 188 pounds - thirty pounds over his pre-firing weight. His hair was long and scraggly, his complexion sallow. He puffed walking up the stairs.
In short, Perry found that he understood why Della was about to stray from the marriage.
Yet.....yet...apart from some sarcasm from her, she had not made any effort to talk to him about his problems, or try to get him back to his old self.
The day after the party - a Sunday - Perry walked four miles. And four miles the next day as well. He spent some time lifting barbells in his basement.
Perry did not have to spend a large amount of time on his 'silly' internet trading business. He was good at it, despite his depression. He had a talent for financial research, and it had paid off of late. Della's idea of his earnings was way off. Money was rolling into the bank account of his business, which he'd incorporated.
He knew that he needed a makeover. After the visit to 'Thane's' palace, he started on that.
He was doing it for himself, but also so that he might have some hope of saving his marriage. He and Della had raised a family, and were close for a long time, until he was fired. Things had gone downhill slowly, and now at warp speed. He decided to make some effort with her. Now her declaration showed that he'd failed at that.
Perry pushed himself physically, but only when Della wasn't there to see. He felt like she should notice. And if she didn't, well, maybe someone else would.
By the time of Della's speech, Perry was down to 175 pounds, and some of that was extra muscle. But Della had called him fat. She'd stopped looking at him.
DELLA
Della was royally pissed off at Perry's reaction to her plan to fuck around with Thane. She'd expected him to plead with her not to go. But.....but he didn't seem to care. It made her angry. She stalked off, and went outside, drove away in her realtor's big SUV.
As she drove, her anger turned into a short-lived bout of true sadness. What had happened to her old husband? He'd ballooned up and withered away.
Della thought about her plan to screw Thane. She was avidly looking forward to it. Thane was an ex-basketball player - two years in the NBA. But he was rich because of his rap music company. He'd started it while he was still playing. Sometimes he did a show himself, but the real money was from the guys he'd discovered. As the money came in, he hired real writers for his guys. More money rolled in. Della was looking for a suitable house for him, with potential for a studio.
But, for Della, the thing about Thane was that he was hot, cut, and big. Also, smart and funny. And, last but not least, he liked married white women - like her. The thought of spending a week with him, well.... He was younger than her by five years. A plus.
Della had been dissatisfied with her marriage since a short time after Perry lost his job. Instead of going out and getting another one, he just hung around the house, dicked with his computer, and ate too much. True, he was there for the kids when she was very busy selling. But he seemed not to be trying. And she was disgusted with that. And with his roly-poly body in bed.
In the last year or so, they'd gotten down maybe ten times. Meanwhile, guys were always after her. She held them off. Then Thane came into the office, asking for help finding a place to rent, and one to buy. She gave him a thousand-watt smile. He gave her one right back.
But she held him off for six weeks. Flirted, went to a party at the place she found for him to rent. At the party she and Thane were obviously attracted to each other. It was almost like she was the hostess.
Still, she held off jumping into bed with him.
Until she couldn't do that anymore. Until she managed to convince herself that she
deserved
Thane and his big, brown, thrilling body.
So, she agreed to the week at Meade Lake Resort. And she told Perry about the plan and got her unexpected reaction.
THANE
Latrell Johnson was a phenom in junior high and high school. He was also quite good in college ball. His sophomore year he changed his name to Thane Bossman. Better name recognition. But really from then on, he was Thane. One name. Like Shaq or Kareem. Except he was a guard, six-three and quick. He was also a heartthrob. He had a boyish face and a killer smile.
Latrell had come up poor, and only his size, smarts and quickness had allowed him to go to college. Otherwise, he'd be in prison. Or worse. His older brother was dead. A younger one Rodney - was in a wheelchair. No father around. He bought his mother a house in her Virginia hometown, downstate.
Latrell had a chip on his shoulder. When he was in college, he saw how easy the white guys had it - most of them. They had an open path to success. They didn't have to fight hard, get shot, get locked up. They had women. That was one thing Latrell could take from them. It gave him a deep satisfaction to do that. Fuck that lucky white boy's wife better than he could. Send her back to him. He'd done that any number of times. Twice the husband had wanted to watch. Thane made those guys crawl and beg. He put a collar and leash on one of them and walked him like a dog. Thane wondered what happened in the marriage after that.
Sometimes Thane's shenanigans with white wives resulted in divorce for them. Sometimes an abortion. Once a son, whom he supported, along with the mother.
Latrell thought of the women as a hobby. Making money was his main passion, and he was also good at that. He could see every edge, and he was ruthless in exploiting those. That didn't make him popular. He had to get security.
This latest woman, Della, was a possible keeper. She was hard to get and had resisted his subtle advances. He'd met her husband at the party at the new rental. A weak, fat wimp and a loser. The guy just faded away while Thane openly monopolized his wife. Thane surmised that the wimp - Perry, he thought - might like to watch.
So, Latrell was quite excited when Della agreed to the week of lust at the resort. He was going to show her off there, wedding ring and all. After that, Latrell thought he might keep Della around for longer than normal. If she was as good in bed as he believed she might be. She had to be in great need of sex, since her husband was such a loser. She was older, but he didn't mind that. She looked great. And he felt some pride at being able to take a woman from her long-time man.
PERRY
Perry waited Della out. He slept in a guest room, and kept on with his cooking and house duties. No way was he going to beg her. And, to be real, he had no belief that begging would stop the trip. It would only make him look weaker than he already looked. He didn't care that he looked weak, as long as he was not actually weak. And he was getting stronger.
Della had calmed down after Wednesday evening. For the next two days she treated him like a servant. Thane had told her that some of the husbands would become submissive when the wife asserted her sexual freedom. So, she decided to treat Perry as if he was hired help. And he seemed to accept that. He cooked and cleaned as usual. But he slept in the guest room farthest away from her.
Perry watched as Della packed for the trip. He carried her bags downstairs and put them by the door. Thursday evening, he prepared and very nice dinner of Chilean bass and greens, with home-made bread. Della complimented him on it.
"Such a nice meal, Perry. Thank you. When I get back, I'll take you out for a wonderful meal."
Perry nodded. He could see that Della believed that he had come to terms with her newfound sexual assertiveness. But that evening he slept in the guest room, despite the fact that Della had offered him a night with her. He could see that Della was slightly bothered by that. He was sure that she'd get well fucked Friday, and for the rest of the week. He was also sure that she'd do something to assert her dominance over him if he slept with her then. So, he didn't.
He did make one effort, though, in view of their long-time marriage. Before they went to bed Thursday night, Perry sat across from Della in the living room. He said, "Della, I'm not accepting your offer of sex tonight. It's only an offer of a pity fuck. I will NEVER accept a pity fuck from you. So, this trip....well, maybe everything after it would be a pity fuck."
Della said, "Don't be silly, Perry. You need to adjust to this new reality. I'm sure you'll come around. We can still have a sexual relationship."
"Sure. A pity fuck every so often. Or maybe not even that. You need to reconsider, and it's almost too late."
"It is too late, dear. We've had an imbalance in our marriage for some time. Now it's just being put out in the open."
Perry didn't say another word. He got up and went to bed. In the guest room.
