Disclaimer
: Everyone in the story is 18 years old or older at all points. Any resemblance to any actual person, living or dead, is happenstance.
"Oh, come on, Bret. I don't want to go to that theater. The place is sleazy, and they only show bad porn movies," Linda told her husband for what felt like the 100th time.
Bret knew that Linda wasn't into going to the theater. She had made it clear every time he brought it up what she thought of the old theater a few blocks from the house. She didn't like the look of the old building or the men who hung around outside.
She also didn't see the need for porn. That was another sore spot in their relationship. Bret didn't see anything wrong with it and watched them since college. Linda thought it was disgusting and thought that Bret watching them was a form of cheating on her.
This topic had been one of the things that they fought over in their short time married. On their honeymoon, Bret had brought up wanting to watch porn to spice things up. But, unfortunately, Linda thought he didn't find her desirable. The resulting fight made things miserable for both of them for a couple of days.
That was a year ago, and sex between them had gotten pretty stale. Missionary style, one or two times a week with the lights out. Bret tried to get Linda to try new things. This often led to fights over her not being enough for him and his porn watching.
Friday night rolled around, and Tim begged Bret to go out all week.
"Hey babe, Tim asked if I would go out with him tonight. Are you ok with me doing that?" Bret asked his wife Linda, knowing that she would let him know about their plans.
"Well, we don't have any plans for tonight, and Beth has wanted to go out as well. So I guess we can split up for the evening," Linda replied, looking up from her magazine.
"Cool, thanks, babe," Bret said, kissing Linda before going upstairs to get ready. Fifteen minutes later, he came back downstairs.
"See you later, love you," Bret told Linda, kissing her and walking out the door.
"Love you too," she said to his departing back.
They both were gone for a few hours and arrived back at the house about the same time.
Linda walked in and kissed Bret before putting her purse down and pouring herself a drink. Once it was ready, she sat on the couch.
"How was your time with Tim? Did you like the new bar?" she asked, taking her shoes off.
"It was good. I really should go out more often. The bar was great. Would you like to go there some night?" Bret asked, knowing that she would never go to a bar.
"You know I hate bars. They are loud, and it's hard to hold any kind of conversation. Unless you are yelling," Linda replied, shifting in her chair.
"I know, but the food might be worth the noise," he assured her.
"How is Tim doing?"
"He is doing ok, same old Tim, you know," Bret told her as he sat next to her.
Not wanting to be rude, "Beth doing ok?" he asked.
"She seemed to be."
"Anything interesting going on?" Bret asked, fishing to see if Beth had told Linda anything about the theater.
Linda paused. She didn't want to tell Bret what Beth had told her, not right now anyway. She had to figure out how she felt first.
"Not really. Beth mentioned Tim had a new position."
"Tim did mention it," Bret told her, disappointed that Beth hadn't told Linda of their trips to the theater.
"Anything interesting going on with Tim?" Linda asked, hoping that he would confirm what Beth had said.
Not falling for that trap
, Bret thought.
"Nothing other than the new position," Bret assured her.
They quickly ran out of things to talk about and picked something on tv to watch, each lost in their thoughts.
The story Tim had told him kept repeatedly playing in Bret's mind all evening, as did the story Beth had told Linda.
Linda had noticed that Brett seemed preoccupied with something. Part of her wondered if it was the same thing she was trying to come to grips with from her conversation with Beth. Her night out with Beth had been unexpected and shocking.
Realizing how late it was, they turned in for the night, laying side by side. Both tried to work through how to tell the other what they had learned about their friends.
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Bret's story
Bret sat at the bar with his best friend, Tim. They were talking about their wives. The usual stuff men complain to each other. That is until Bret told Tim of Linda's aversion to porn. Bret also complained of the lack of excitement in their marriage. Tim had married Beth six years ago, and Bret hoped that Tim could give him some advice.
"We had the same problem. Beth hated porn," Tim told Bret.
He laughed at the surprised look on Bret's face. "A couple of times, she caught me looking at it. That led to the largest fights we ever had," Tim confided to Bret after taking a drink.
"You said had. Is it still a problem," Bret asked, hoping that Tim had found a way to get Beth to like it.
"Not anymore," Tim said with a grin.
The moment lasted almost a minute before Bret couldn't take it any longer.
"Well?" Bret asked, pressing Tim for an answer.
"I convinced her to go to the old Londow Theater on east main."
"Didn't they condemn the place," Bret said, confused about why going to a condemned theater helped.
"It was, but someone fixed the issues and opened an adult theater there."
This impressed Bret. "You got Beth to go to an adult theater?"
"Although It took some doing, pestering her to go and check it out. Eventually, she asked if she went, would I drop it."
The conversation stopped as the bartender walked up. They ordered some appetizers and another round.
"I told her that if she went and didn't like the place, I would never bring it up again. She had to make an effort, though, not get to the door and say I'm done," Tim said after the bartender walked away.
