Our story started out as textbook Mormon as they come.
Growing up, Alexis was a poster child for faithful, latter-day saint girls. Her father was a member of the bishopric through much of her youth, and he enforced the church's strict health and modesty rules with an iron fist. She was taught to keep every inch of her figure covered and hidden and to abstain entirely from anything sexual, masturbation included, until she could one day marry a man in the temple and "give herself" to him.
I would eventually be that man. I would say I was your average Mormon teenage boy. I was cyclically into pornography and masturbation, stopping here and there when the shame boiled high enough, but inevitably going back to it when my raging hormones got the better of me. I finally had enough fortitude to quit altogether, just in time to serve a mission for two years in South Korea.
Alexis and I met each other through mutual friends in the Fall about a year after I returned home to Utah from my mission. She was 20 and I had just turned 22. The attraction was intense; she had an incredible slim and tall figure with perfect, taut, mid-size breasts and a face with stunning blue eyes that turned heads wherever she went. I was no slouch myself - tall, tan, and handsome after a very carefree and largely outdoor Summer. Our courtship was predictably short and we married in the Salt Lake temple just six months after our introduction.
Though we were both excited to break our virginity with each other as our first and only sexual partners, the sex quickly became a routine and a rather toxic dynamic in our relationship.
10 years and two children later, our physical appearances had changed very little. If anything, Alexis looked more beautiful than her past self and I had proudly maintained my own slim, youthful appearance - a testament to both of our dedication to health and fitness routines.
Sex, on the other hand, was still very toxic. I would ask for it, she would pull away with some excuse, and a fight would inevitably ensue. As a result, sex rarely occurred and it clearly felt obligatory and not particularly enjoyable on her part whenever it did happen. Something was wrong, and it clearly wasn't getting better with time.
On a Summer evening just this past June, while relaxing in bed to a show playing on Netflix, Alexis grabbed my attention.
"Oh Liam, I forgot to tell you earlier today, but I invited the Nelsons and the Christensens to dinner at our house on Friday."
"Friday is no good for me." I retorted. "Did you forget that I have a dinner with a prospective client that evening?"
"Oh shoot, I had forgotten about that. Is there any way you can reschedule with your client?"
"Absolutely not." I replied hotly. "I have to close this sale by the end of the month. And anyway, you should just go ahead and do the dinner party without me. I can't stand the Nelsons or the Christensens."
It was true. The Nelsons were in their early 30's with four kids and the Christensens were in their late 20's with three kids. Both couples were insufferable and clearly considered themselves the elite, "everyone wants to be us" couples of the ward and neighborhood. Granted, Madison Nelson and Katie Christensen were absolute eye candy and they knew it. They never left home in their expensive SUVs unless they were covered to the nines in makeup, wearing $300 plus outfits, and carrying their Stanley mugs. They were priveleged and entitled, but damn were they smoking hot. Their respective husbands, Todd Nelson and Zane Christensen, were hotshots at tech startups, but both could have passed as models for gym lifestyle posters. Every time I deigned to have a conversation with those tools, talk would inevitably lead to how well they were doing at their jobs or how much their 401k accounts had gone up. No thanks.
"Are we really going to do this again, Liam?"
"Do what?"
"Ugh, fine. I'll do the dinner without you and be the fifth wheel, I guess."
She rolled over, flipped off her lamp and the TV, and went quiet. Stupid, petty fight averted, I thought.
__________
That Friday, while I was entertaining my hopeful client at a nice sushi restaurant, Alexis had put the kids in bed and was waiting anxiously for the Nelsons and Christensens. My insolence aside, she was determined to have a good time with her guests.
Dinner was nothing if not a little awkward. Lots of talk about work and the day-to-day life of being stay at home moms. Occasional gossip about other members of the ward. Topics one would usually expect from a small neighborhood gathering of Mormon couples.
After the food had been eaten, Todd and Zane went to the adjoining living room to play some rounds of online Call of Duty on my Xbox, leaving the women still in conversation at the table. At one point in between rounds, Zane looked across at the women who were all talking in hushed, yet excited tones. He wasn't close enough to hear what was being said, but could see that the wives were excited. Alexis in particular looked like she was somewhere in between thrilled and scared. His curiosity piqued for just a moment before he realized that the next round of COD was about to begin. Back to being immersed in the violence and chaos of his video game, Zane soon forgot what he witnessed and would think nothing of it for the rest of the evening.
__________
Arriving home from my business dinner, I encountered a rather flustered Alexis, acting as though she were trying to suppress a great deal of elation. I brushed this off, not wanting to offend her and start another fight by bringing it up.
"Umm, how did the dinner party go?"
"It was great. I think you really missed out."
"I highly doubt that." I replied in a huffy tone. "But I'm glad everything went well for you. What did you guys all chat about?"
"Oh, the usual. But really, Liam, I think you'd like these people if you gave them another chance. I invited them over again next Friday. I already got my parents to take the kids overnight and the Nelsons and Christensens found similar arrangements for their kids."
"Sorry." I replied. "Even if I wanted to hang out with those snobs, I can't make it again. I booked another dinner with the same client I was with tonight, this time to seal the deal on the sale."