NEWTON'S THIRD LAW
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Don Newton's wife Anice was dressed to go out. She looked great, slim and pretty with dark brown hair and eyes. It was Friday night, and she had informed her husband on Tuesday that she was going to go out with her work 'husband' Friday night. That would be Nick Nolan, a retired pro linebacker. She said that she'd be back by lunchtime on Saturday.
That conversation had produced an atmosphere in the home that was fraught with tension. The couple had been married twenty-two years. Their two sons were in college. Neither one of the spouses had ever before done anything even close to being as damaging to the relationship as Anice's announcement was.
Both of them were well employed. Anice ran her own law firm, doing real estate closings and some civil litigation. Nick Nolan was her law partner and had been for seven years. He'd gone to law school while he played ball. When he retired, he joined Anice's firm as a kind of rain maker. The firm prospered with as he brought business.
Don was a professor at State, specializing in the history of science.
They were forty-six, and both were quite fit. Anice played tennis and golf at the country club. Don ran, played old guy basketball and went twice each week to a small dojo just off campus. He went at lunchtime for ninety minutes. Mostly he sparred with other members. All that kept him fit. He was not an imposing specimen like Nick. Don was 5'10" and weighed 160. His shock of long light brown hair made him look younger than his years.
The Tuesday conversation came after a nice dinner of salmon and greens, prepared by Don. Anice sat down at the kitchen table after she had cleaned up.
She said, "Don, we've gotten stale. Our marriage has gotten....well, stale."
He sat and looked at her. He made no reply.
Anice said, "I need some excitement. All I do is routine work and go to the club."
Don now asked, "What's this leading to, dear? When the semester ends, we could go...say...hang gliding. Or climb a mountain." Don kinda knew that wasn't what she meant.
She said, "I don't mean like that. We have the same old sex. All these years."
Don smiled. "You haven't complained before. You didn't complain Sunday." He knew he always got her off. Often several times. But it was true that he'd come less and less to anticipate their marital sex. He thought that maybe that was true of her as well. He thought he knew what was coming next. The possibility had been on his radar for some time.
But he said, "I could dress up like Superman. Or Batman, if you want it dark."
Anice stared at him. Nick was a dark complected African American.
Her pause gave him room to say, "Or maybe you could dress up. A hooker, perhaps. I could pay you."
"Asshole!"
"You must admit, it could spice things up for us."
She gave up. She was always frustrated by Don's ability to steer any conversation. She was a lawyer and should be able to hold her own. He hadn't exactly called her a whore. He hadn't exactly said straight out that she was aiming for Nick. But, SHIT!
She said, "I have a date with Nick Friday. Dinner and a hotel room. I'll be back by Saturday lunch." She blurted it all out and sat back with a triumphant look at Don.
Don said, "Ani, I believe that's a very, very bad idea."
"Why? I need a boost."
"Well, you sort of work with the guy. Are we talking blow jobs at the desk? Long lunches? What?"
"Nothing at work. He's hardly there nowadays, anyway. No. We thought...I mean I thought a couple of times a month. Maybe it'll peter out." She didn't intend the pun, and didn't know she'd made one.
But Don asked, "Have you had his peter out already?"
She blushed. "No. I wouldn't cheat or sneak around."
"So, you're proposing an ongoing sexual relationship with another man."
"You put it so....I mean, like I said, it may not last."
"Who would be next after him, then? Or are you going to have several at once?"
She was now a little flustered. That was because she did have an idea about a guy at the country club.
She said, "Don't be ridiculous."
Don was calm. At least on the surface. He said, "It's too bad, Ani. I'm so sorry that we couldn't go the distance."
Anice turned pale. She said, "What? I...maybe this is a shock. But I love you, and I don't want to split."
"Then don't fuck other guys. It's a bottom-line thing for me."
Anice stood up. She said, "We'd still have our own marriage sex. I wouldn't short you."
Don stared at her. He said, "Are you gonna get tested after every date? Because that guy won't only be fucking you."
"Yes, he will. He's married. He has kids, too."
"Do you realize how stupid that sounds? Jesus."
Don threw up his hands. He said, "I'm not arguing about this anymore. I'll be bedding down in the guest house. If you change your mind let me know. If you change it before the date, that is."
"You don't have to do that, Don. You're making a big deal out of this when you don't have to do that."
He went toward the stairs. As he was at the bottom, he turned and said, "Remember Newton's Third Law."
Then he walked up. He got enough stuff to take out to the guest house. And he took it there.
Anice watched. She felt like he'd cave. She hoped that.
Don did not return to the main house that night. Anice had a restless night without him. She had second thoughts.
Don was up and gone the next morning before Anice woke. He'd taken his yogurts from the fridge.
At work, Don had a tutorial at eight am, and then he made some phone calls. He'd given Ani's assertion about staleness some serious thought. And he found that he agreed with her. He didn't agree with her solution for that. But the relationship did need....something.
He went to the Dojo for his noon session. His partner there, that day, was Brenda Cline. She was a serious fighter. She was almost his size, quick and coordinated. Normally they were well paired. But soon enough that day she cleaned his clock.
She stared down at him as she stood over him. She did a flex. Then she offered him a hand up. She said, "What was that?"
He shrugged.
She said, "Did you get fired? Or is it the wife?"
He gave her a look. The two of them had always had some sparks. She was not only good at fighting, but a looker, in a hard way. She was thirty-four, divorced with a girl in grade school.
Don said, "I'll explain after we finish. I won't be so distracted."
They did finish the sparring without further incident. After the showers, he took her to a coffee shop across the street and explained his situation.
When his story was out there, she said, "I'd be happy to come over and comfort you when she goes. Even before she goes. Up to you. You know it woulda happened a long time ago if you weren't a married boy scout." She smiled.
Don smiled back. Brenda was exactly what he meant when he referenced Newton's Third Law. He said, "I'm so happy you said that, Brenda. It restores my confidence in myself."
She laughed. "Right. Somehow, I don't think you need a boost. For at least a year you've known you could have me."
He said, "You make me unsure whether I want her to go or not."
Brenda chuckled. "My task, then, is to convince you that you do want her to go."
She got up and leaned down over him. She gave him as hot a kiss as he'd had in years. She said, "Let me know. I'll have a sitter for the night."
"I'll call you as soon as she walks out the door."
That evening he made a simple spaghetti dinner, with a salad. He did make enough for two.
Anice appeared to be uncertain around him. After they ate, she was cleaning up and she turned and said, "I hope that you come up with me tonight."
He asked, "Are you still going out with the ex-jock?" He was looking directly at her.
"Yes. I feel like I...I need it."
He paused. That was mainly because he didn't want to reveal his emotion about the matter. But it couldn't be helped. There was a catch in his voice as he said, "I'm so very sorry. I will let you know that you and I will be completely over if you go on this date." Tears came, despite his best effort.
And Anice was certainly affected. She said, "I love you, Donnie. I just need something in my life."
He got up and went to the guest house. That was the last time he had any real hope that she'd relent.
The next day he left from the guest house and didn't see Ani at all. On his late afternoon break he went for his Thursday run on the Tartan track outside the closest rec building. About twenty minutes into his run, he was joined by Nick Nolan. Nolan wasn't in terrible shape but carried a little extra weight around the middle.
Don looked at him running there. He decided not to attack right away. It was a definite temptation. But he was curious about why Nolan was there. Because, it clearly had something to do with the date. Don picked up his pace and said nothing.
Nolan was puffing a little after maybe two minutes. He looked over and said, "Don't be a hard ass about it."
"What? Just why are you here?"
"You can't leave her for one date. Or...well..."
"It isn't one date, so she says. And even if it was, it ends us. And, Asshole, let it be on your head."
"No need for calling names. She's a great woman. You'd be an idiot to divorce her."
"Your opinion. But rest assured, I will do that if she sets foot outside the door Friday." Don wondered why Nolan was here. He obviously had spoken to Ani about her home problems.
"She doesn't believe it, and neither do I."
