Note:
I had hoped to finish a different story, in three chapters about three loves of a man, but sometimes stories write themselves and this one took on a life of its own. If I can ever get it under control, I'll submit it. But I don't have high hopes for that one. Meanwhile here is a tale that I guess you could call a flash story because it is fairly short. There is no character development or real plot. It's just a short tale.
With all the stories about swinging and how wonderful it is for relationships and how it strengthens marriages, here is another view point. The ending is fairly obvious but I hope you enjoy the journey. And remember, REAL Loving Wives are only sluts in the bedroom with their husbands, as Phil points out in this tale. The type of woman portrayed in many stories is not a Loving wife. Far from it.
As for me, I just enjoy writing. Problem is coming up with ideas. Enough of that.
Fate, or Kismet, is a curious thing. What brings men together at a particular time and place is unknown and can only be called fate. So it was that four men were sitting in a crowded hotel bar, sharing a table for no particular reason except the bar was crowded and they had shared friendly hellos and brief conversations during the business conference they attended. That is that three of them attended. The fourth man was there as a guest lecturer and had given a lecture on human behavi,or and interpersonal relationships in the work place, or, to phrase it differently, a lecture on how not to get the company sued for sexual harassment. The other three had approached him with questions on personnel interactions as well as personal interactions in the work place. This led to their sitting at a table together.
As expected, the conversations went from business, to sports and then eventually, as all conversations between men, in this type of setting, seem to do, to women in general.
Sam said "Look at the married men hitting on married women."
Phil looked around and saw what he was talking about and said, "And getting shot down."
"Some will get lucky," added John.
"I wonder how many wives and husbands at home know what their spouse is up to?" asked Sam.
John wondered aloud, "How many actually agree with it and are doing the same, right now at home?"
"What do you mean?" Sam asked.
"You know. Are okay with their spouse cheating even are into sharing."
"As in swinging?" asked Sam.
"Yeah. As in swinging." Phil added.
There was a lull in the conversation.
The lecturer was also a writer of psychology books, primarily books on human relations. Companies hired him to give lectures on personnel relationships between managers and employees, especially between male and female employees. His specialty, however, was marriage counseling. He was also an author of books on marital relationships as well personal relationships, in and out of the work environment.
With his insight into people's behavior he sensed anger and sadness in what he heard, as well as sensing what they were not saying. He was quick to see he had three men with stories that he could use in upcoming books so he tactfully asked them for their stories with assurance no one could possibly identify them in the books. With some gentle coaxing, and a "few" beers, he was able to get them to relate their stories.
John was the first to offer his tale.
"My marriage appeared to be growing stale after five years. I read that swinging could bring life back to a relationship so I approached my wife, Carol, with the idea. She was skeptical about it helping and was against it, but after weeks of my pushing it she agreed to try it. We knew some of our neighbors were swingers so we felt them out and we were finally invited to a party.
"When we arrived, we found that we knew most of the people there. Our neighbors, Hal and his wife Diane, were also first timers that night. I had seen Diane in a bikini and had often imagined how she would look out of it and spread on a bed. I got to see that and to enjoy her that night. Carol had disappeared and it seemed she had found someone to her liking. As we talked later that night, Carol didn't say much but I got the impression she had enjoyed herself as much as I did. She never said who she had gone with or what they did and I didn't ask. I didn't say anything about Diane, either. We continued going to weekly parties over the next three months. I often hooked up with the lovely Diane. One night she mentioned that she thought that Carol and Hal, appeared to be spending a lot of time together at the parties and seemed very friendly away from the parties as well. However, we saw them with other partners most nights, and we lived next door to each other, so we both forgot it.
"However this revelation made me a bit paranoid and caused me to look back over the months following the first party. I noticed that the sex between Carol and I had not only dropped off but had actually ceased and I thought it was because of work. My job was high stress and I was in the middle of a tough project. So week nights were not good for us. The parties were on Saturdays and I got to relax all day annd rest up for Saturday night. I was getting it regularly at the parties. Sometimes with several different partners so I didn't really feel the absence of sex.
"All the rationalization came crashing down one day when I finished work early one Friday, and took the afternoon off. When I got home and entered the house I heard sounds coming from the bedroom. Sounds, I realized, I hadn't heard in our house in weeks. I approached the bedroom door and glanced in to see Carol on the bed naked. She had a man's head between her legs and she was moaning. She whimpered as she climaxed. Then he moved up to enter her.
"Fuck me, Hal. I need you in me." she told him. No, she begged him to fuck her. The tone of her voice was pleading.
"It was our neighbor. For some reason I took out my phone and filmed them, probably thinking I might need the proof of her cheating on me. I never considered what happened at the swinging parties to be cheating. We both knew what was going on there, but this was hidden, which made it different. At least it was different to me.
"No," he told her. "I told you I would never fuck you."
"Then make love to me," she pleaded.
"Now, that I will gladly do," he told her.
"He entered her and he made love to her. I heard her moans as she neared orgasm. Moans that I realized I hadn't heard in months. When she came, she screamed like I hadn't heard in a long time. That's when I knew this wasn't a simple affair and my marriage was over.
"When they finished, I made my presence known. There was no pleading or sorrow on her part. No excuses. She didn't say it wasn't what it looked like, or it was just sex or that she only loved me or any other of the excuses a cheating wife gives her husband when she gets caught in the act. She was only sorry for the way I found out. Then came those four words, 'We needed to talk.'
"She had planned on talking to me that weekend and Hal was going to talk to Diane. They had been lovers since the first party. It started with the idea of swinging, but they started talking and decided swinging wasn't for either of them. They were the only partners they were with that night and before the night ended, they had realized swinging wasn't what they wanted. What they did want was each other. They would arrange to appear to be going into a bed room with one person only to switch off to be with each other. Almost everyone in the group was aware of what was going on except Diane and me. They would get together two to three times a week at either our house, while I was working, or at his house while Diane was working. Hal worked from home which made it easy for them to get together.
"They had planned on telling us the following week and had already seen lawyers to file for divorce.
