Not Scuba Diving

Thanks for all the comments, positive as well as negative, on my first attempt. Look forward to more comments on this effort. I did not title the first story as Ch 1, but you should read it to make better sense of this ch. 2.

*****

Late Tuesday night

Julie and I arrived home after I rescued her from her initial attempt to go on a date -- a date with another man after she and I had been married for 22 years. She was silent on the way home, obviously thinking about her aborted date and, perhaps, about us and whether our marriage had a future.

During the drive I was thinking about the same things. I do love the bitch, for better and for worse, as we both said in front of friends and families 22 years ago. But she has really beaten us up with this dating idea. Part of me wants to throw her out and start my own new life -- with my own new adventures, including scuba diving lessons and maybe a cruise to the Antarctic. But, 22 years is a long term investment that has performed well up until now. That sounds analytical and unfeeling, perhaps because I'm an investment banker, and a successful one, precisely because I make analytical and unfeeling investment decisions. I'm not ready to let it all go, get a divorce and start a new life, but I know I can't go on with her like this.

That night we did go to bed together, but no sex, no cuddling, no kissing.

Wednesday

This morning I woke up with the germ of a plan of how we might survive Julie's dating idea. During the day I kept working on this plan and this evening I was ready to start talking about it.

"Julie, remember when you broached the idea of dating other men, you said we needed to talk."

"Tim, of course I remember, and I am beginning to reconsider it. Perhaps I should never have mentioned it." And you would have then gone behind my back, I wondered but didn't say aloud.

"Well, your first attempt certainly didn't go well for you, so now it's my turn to say, we need to talk. So, like Monday evening, a little wine?"

"Oh, God, Tim, can't we just skip this, and ..."

"Nope, you had your turn Monday. Now it's my turn."

"Ok, get me a glass of wine and I'll listen." I brought her the first of what might be a few glasses of wine, so I carried the bottle into the den. We sat down and I started my proposal.

"Julie, for your first date, you picked a liar and a cheater. And then his wife and I jumped in and made sure your date was a disaster."

"Tim, I know, and I'm thinking ..."

"Wait, you haven't listed to my proposal." She stayed silent and I continued.

"Since you made such a horrible choice for your first date, I think you need some help for your next date."

"What!?"

"Julie, I will arrange your next date for you. I know more guys than you do and I have a sense, I think, of who might be willing to go out with you and whom you might like. You can look at it like a blind date in college."

"You're crazy, Tim. I'm not going to let you fix me up with some strange guy. You're my husband and ..."

"Wait, Julie, it was your idea to date some strange guy. If your plans had worked out better, you might have been fucking him Tuesday night. And where would our marriage be then? I'm trying to give you some of the adventure you want, and still protect you from getting into too much trouble."

"I still think you're crazy, but give me some more wine and some more detail on your crazy proposal. I poured her another glass, and went on:

"It's pretty simple. I sound out a couple of guys, whom I think I could trust to be discrete, and if one of them is on board he picks you up next Tuesday evening and takes you out on a date. The same rules as before: he tells us both where you are going and when he'll have you home." x

"And you won't try to sabotage us, the way you did with Bob and me?"

"I promise I won't. This would involve a guy I trust, so I wouldn't need to try to ruin it for you. Julie, I understand things have gotten worse than stale between us. You want adventure and I need to accept that. But I hope your adventures don't kill our marriage."

"Tim, maybe we should rethink this whole adventure idea."

"No, Julie, I'm trying to accept it; just give me a little time." With that I headed upstairs to bed. Julie eventually joined me. As usual, no sex, no cuddling, no kisses.

Thursday evening

Progress on Julie's date for next Tuesday that I shared with her.

"Julie, I think I have the guy for your date next Tuesday. He's more than a little nervous, but seems pretty excited at the same time. I think you'll like him. Tomorrow I'll firm up plans for you. In the meantime, I have an idea for us. Why don't we go on a practice date tomorrow night? We haven't been out together in quite a while. You and I going out can sort of tide you over until Tuesday. What do you think?"

"Tim, a date? Us? Before I go out with someone else on Tuesday?" I could see her head spinning: was this a trick? Was I really coming to accept her dating other men?

"Julie, like I said, I'm trying to get onboard with your dating. But that doesn't mean we just give up on us. Or does it?"

"Oh God no, Tim. Yes, let's go out Friday. Dinner and dancing maybe?"

"Well, we could go to Delaney's and ..."

"No, no, no. After you and Bob's wife walking in on Bob and me: I never want to go there again."

"Ok, how about a different kind of date? Dinner and a movie. And you pick the movie." Julie liked that idea, and we even cuddled a bit that night in bed.

Friday evening

We did go on our date. Dinner was ok: Italian restaurant, with the wine better than the food. Movie was like the dinner: ok, with the wine better than the film. We had gone a theater that served drinks, which is a great idea. BUT, we actually talked to each other during dinner: old married stuff, of course, about the kids, a nephew's upcoming wedding, the usual stuff, but we also reminisced a bit: our first date, our first kiss, even our first sex. After the movie, we even stopped for another drink, which turned into a few more, which made us both a little tipsy by the time we got home, which meant, when we got into bed, SEX. Yes, Julie and I actually had sex: mind-blowing, multi-orgasmic, kinky, toe-sucking, great sex. Or not. But, really, we did have sex, perhaps ordinary, missionary, one-orgasm sex, but at least it was sex and resulted in us cuddling until we fell asleep.

Saturday and Sunday

The weekend went well, for both of us, or maybe not quite so well for Julie. She tried a couple of times to beg off the planned Tuesday date, but I refused to respond. She started this whole dating-with-strange-guys adventure idea and I was planning to end it for her with a bang on Tuesday.

Monday evening

I got home before Julie and when she arrived she found me in our walk-in closet, pawing thru her dresses.

"Tim, what are you doing?"

"Oh, Julie, hi, how are you, how was your day, how was traffic ..."

"Cut the crap, Tim. What are you doing with my clothes?"

"Julie, I know you need help with your date tomorrow night, so I'm looking thru your dresses for the perfect choice. I think this blue one ..."

"Tim, stop, stop. I know dating was my idea, but it's like you have taken it over. You've picked out the guy, now you're picking out my outfit. You have to stop."

"Julie, remember you said you were looking for adventure, like my climbing trips with the boys. You weren't interested in that kind of adventure, but if you had been, I would have loved your help in picking out equipment, destinations ..."

"Ok, ok, I get it. My going on a date is not the same. I give up. I'll just sit home. No adventures for me."

"No, no, Julie. Now you're pouting and you'll end up mad at me for depriving you of your adventures. I don't want that; I want you happy. So, how about this blue number? It ..."

"Tim, just fuck you." And she stormed out of the bedroom. Julie almost never curses, so this adventure idea must be stressing her out a bit. Tomorrow her stress level may even be a bit higher.

Tuesday evening

Again I'm home before Julie. I'm just getting out of the shower when she arrives. Again, she is taken aback when she sees me coming into the bedroom to get dressed. AND she sees the outfit I picked for her on the bed.

"Tim, no. I've been thinking about this some more, and I am not going on any more dates with strange men. It was a horrible idea I had. You and I had a good weekend together and I want us to work on that. I want us to go on dates and I want us to work on making each other happier."

"Julie, I appreciate what you're saying now, but it's a little late. I've made the arrangements with your date for the evening, and I would be horribly embarrassed if you stood him up now. It's just one evening. And remember, you said sex with your date was only a possibility. You can just give him a kiss at the end of the evening -- sort of a soft adventure, not a hard one. And I'll make a promise: if you don't like the guy, you don't have to go out with him again. One evening, and neither one of us is embarrassed."

She sat there, opened her mouth a couple of times, and finally: ""If I do this, I want a promise from you: this is the last time, and then we start working on us again. Deal?"

"Of course, Julie. You know, if you had said that before your first date last week, we could have gotten started already on working on us. But now we're where we are and you need to get a shower and get dressed for your date."

"Fine." And she disappeared into the shower while I got dressed and went downstairs. Her date was expected at 7 pm and she came downstairs at about 6:30. I must admit, she looked killer in the blue dress I had picked out for her, along with the matching blue FMN high heels. I did notice she had on a bra and, I was pretty sure, panties. She stopped in shock when she saw me.

"Tim, what, what?" I was dressed in my tuxedo and she was trying to make sense of what she was seeing.

"Julie, your date will be here at 7 and I need to leave to pick up my date. I'll bring her here by 7 so I can tell you where we're going and what time I'll be home."

"Tim, no, no, this is not ..."

"Julie, Julie, remember this is the deal we made last week: we each can go out on dates, but we each have to meet the other's dates and get comfortable that they are not ax murderers or something. I need to run, or I'll be late. Watch for your date -- he should be in a Corvette. I'll be back by 7." With that I was out the door. As I left I saw Julie collapsing onto the living room sofa, looking like she was crying.

Just at 7 a yellow Corvette rumbled up our driveway and stopped just outside the garage door. I jumped out of my rented Corvette and rang the bell at the front door. I heard Julie fumbling with the door latch and then she slowly opened the door. I stood there holding one long stem red rose in front of me, the same as I had done on my first date with Julie more than 22 years ago.

"Ms. Julie Wethern?" I asked. "I am your date for this evening, arriving as promised in that Corvette." I was pointing over at the car when I realized my surprise was not going as planned. Julie collapsed sideways against the door and started sliding to the floor. I grabbed her and walked her back into the living room. I shook her a little and she opened her eyes and tried to focus.

"Julie, I agree with what you said earlier: we need to focus on us, and I think a good start is a date: the two of us with some new adventures in store for the evening."

"But, but what about the girl you went to pick up? And what about the guy you were making me go out with?"

"Ah, my little chickadee, mere figments of my imagination," I said, trying, not very well, to do my WC Fields talking to Mae West impression. It totally didn't work.

"Tim, I'm confused."

"Julie, that's ok. Stay confused while your date takes you out for, I hope, an enjoyable, perhaps surprising, evening."

"In the fancy Corvette?" Ah-ha. She was beginning to come around.

"Absolutely." And we headed out, first to a new and different restaurant: A Moroccan restaurant where we sat on cushions on the floor, in front of a low table set with napkins and finger bowls but no silverware. That's right: we ate with our fingers. We also drank a fair amount of alcohol and, by the end of the meal I had confirmed that Julie was indeed wearing panties: blue ones that matched her dress and FMN heels. When we finished our meal, she was loving the idea of our date. As we were getting into the Corvette (with a great display of her legs for the valet) she was beaming:

"Tim, this is a date, not just a date night for old married people. This is the kind of date where you might get lucky later, maybe very lucky." She had no idea what was in store for later.

"I hope so, Julie, but the night is still young. Let's go dancing." And we headed out again, now to a small club, definitely on the wrong side of town, where shady looking guys and slutty looking women hang out. The kind of place where we would never go, but tonight we did. And danced and felt each other up until almost midnight. At one point Julie went to the ladies room and when she returned, had a surprise for me.

"Here, put this in your pocket." She handed me her bra, and leaned across the little table while she did it. Wow! I was ready to go home for some of the "very lucky later" stuff, but we had one more stop to make first. We headed out to the Corvette, with an even better show for the valet. Before we left the parking lot, I stopped the car and turned to Julie.

"I think this has been a great evening so far, don't you?"

"Oh my God, honey, yes. You have gone way over the top and ..."

"And you trust me, right?"

"Uh, yes." A little hesitancy there.

"I want you to do two things. First, hand me your panties." Whoa, lots of hesitancy now. But some combination of alcohol, trust, curiosity and horniness had her lifting her hips just far enough off the fancy leather bucket seat to reach up under her dress and slide her panties off. She handed them to me and I slowly brought them to my nose for a long sniff before I stuffed them into my pocket. She was staring at me, looking not quite comfortable. Her comfort level was going to take a few more hits.

"Now turn your head to look out your side window." I swear she whipped her head around, probably wondering what I had put out there. Before she could turn back around, I reached over and held onto her head. Then I slipped a blindfold on her.

"Tim, you're making me nervous now."

"Trust me. If you get too nervous, tell me 'Home.' That's your magic word for me to remove the blindfold and take us home. But I want you to know: I do have an adventure planned for you. It's outside your comfort zone but that's what an adventure is, and I believe you will enjoy it. Ok?"

"Ok," in a very small voice. We headed out yet again, this time only a few minutes' drive to another club. I parked under a porte cochere and the valet started to open Julie's door, but I waved him off. I came around, opened her door and helped her out, still with her blindfold on. To help allay her nervousness I kept up a little patter as we walked in, guiding her with my arm around her shoulder.

"Now we're at the door, now we're inside, now we're going into a different room, and now I'm taking off your blindfold." I did, and she looked around. We were in a club, with a stage, obviously between sets, the tables and booths about half full of patrons. A hostess directed us to a booth and I ordered drinks for us. Just as we got our drinks the background music changed to a more up-tempo beat and a DJ announced the next set.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our next set will feature six of our lovely ladies," and he named them as six strippers stepped onto the stage. They were clothed at that point, but just barely, and of course Julie caught on.

"Tim, this is a strip club."

"It is, and I want you to sit back, enjoy your drink, enjoy your date and, maybe, enjoy the show." She took a big slug of her g&t and, by God, she did sit back and enjoyed it. The dancers were doing the traditional three songs to nudity and Julie got more and more interested as the young ladies took off more and more of their already skimpy clothing. She was finishing another drink by the time the first group of ladies finished dancing to their third song, nude, and started circulating for tips to go into their garters. As one of the strippers, whose name I knew was Anna, approached our booth, Julie looked at me with a question in her eyes. She had noticed other patrons putting money into the garters and was asking, I think, if I was going to do that. Instead, I pulled out a twenty and handed it to Julie. I thought she would refuse it, but she took it and turned to Anna. Anna stopped at the side of our booth, still nude except for her garters and heels, and put one foot on the seat next, I mean right next, to Julie's thigh. Anna pushed the toe of her shoe just under Julie's thigh while Julie was tucking the twenty under the garter. Anna leaned in to give Julie a thank-you kiss and I swear I almost came in my pants when I saw tongue in that kiss, first Anna's and then Julie's in response.

Anna moved on to collect tips at other booths and tables, and Julie and I had another drink while we watched the next set of dancers. As the second song ended, guess who sat down next to Julie? I mean, right next to Julie.

"Buy a girl a drink?" Anna asked. Of course the drink was horribly overpriced, but did I care? Not a bit, especially when I saw Anna's hand resting comfortably on Julie's thigh. Julie's blue dress ended up four inches above her knees when she was standing, and eight inches when she was sitting demurely. But this was not demure sitting. Anna's hand was resting so far up Julie's thigh that Anna had to feel the heat from Julie's pussy. The third song must have ended because I did notice nude dancers circulating, but my attention was focused on the action at our booth.

Julie and Anna were talking, whispering actually, and Julie now had her hand on Anna's naked thigh. Staring at their thighs, I could see that just turning their hands a tiny bit would put them in reach of the other's pussy. Then Anna's hand did move, toward Julie's pussy, as Anna leaned forward to talk to me around Julie.

"I would love to give you guys a lap dance, if you would be up for it. To make it really special, we could go to a VIP room." I looked at Julie, who was not quite drunk but getting awfully close.

"I'm up for it if you are, Julie." By this point, Anna's fingers were under Julie's dress and at least at the edge of heaven.

"Ok." I think Julie was up for anything at this point. We all slid out of the booth and Anna, still nude, led us to a short flight of stairs. I grabbed Julie's arm at the bottom of the stairs and stopped both of us. We both watched Anna's ass as she walked up the stairs, me with undoubted lust and Julie, I think, with the same thing. As Anna reached the top of the stairs, I let go of Julie's arm and took hold of her dress at the very bottom. When she started up the stairs, I pushed the dress up to her waist. She caught on to what I was doing and held her dress up so I could watch her naked ass go up the stairs. Julie's ass was just as fine as Anna's.

Our VIP room was small, with just enough light to see naked bodies, a padded bench along the back wall and one chair. Anna told me the price and I gave her the money for a three-song lap dance. Since she was already nude, they would all be nude dances.

"So, whose lap do I dance on?" Anna asked. Julie and I were sitting side-by-side on the bench. I had just heard the DJ announce the beginning of the next three-song set so we had a quick decision to make. And I made the perfect decision.

"Both. Julie, you sit on my lap and Anna can dance for both of us." I pulled Julie onto my lap, my knees facing forward and Julie also facing forward. As the first song started Anna started her dance, right at Julie's and my knees. Soon Anna was stroking Julie's thighs and my knees starting spreading apart. That meant Julie's legs were spreading also, and by the end of the first song Anna was dancing between our legs. When that song ended, Anna sat down on Julie's right thigh and leaned in to kiss Julie again. After some tongue action, Anna moved Julie's head to the side and leaned further in for some tongue and tongue kissing with me. I know strip club rules well enough to know I should not try to feel up Anna, but those rules don't apply to my wife.