Taking A Wife

Two guys most involved in one woman's life reflect on their lives with her. It is not a BTB or revenge story nor does it contain graphic sex scenes. If those are your forte, then you might consider moving on to another story.

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Stephen:

About a decade ago, I was a 6'-1", 155 lb, 5th year senior college student in electrical and computer engineering major with a business minor. I have gained some weight since then. With my glasses on, I sort of looked like a tall Bill Gates, who by the way is 3 inches shorter than me. No, I am not delusional in thinking I would ever make any where near that much money. My life was all about technical interests. I could figure out computers and electronics but people have a non-deterministic element to them so they are much more difficult to work with. If only they would operate in a logical way.

Michelle and I met in a ballroom dance class that I was taking to complete my long delayed PE requirement so I could graduate. It also was a dare by some of my friends who thought I might get socialized and learn to walk without tripping over my two left feet. I think they were betting I would flunk out of a class that everyone else would pass.

At that time, Michelle was a liberal arts major studying languages and education. She liked to travel, read books, meet people, and dance, but was completely technically challenged. She was totally the opposite of me in every way imaginable. She loved to work with people of all ages, but she was frustrated with computers. They did not have an expressive or emotional side to them.

Michelle was a little bit taller than most girls at about 5'11". She was outgoing, slender, a pretty face with eyes that sparkle, a smile that would melt the heart of any grouch, flowing hair, and nice boobs that are maybe C size. That's just a guess since I could tell you more about the processor in your computer than breast sizes. By comparison sizing, her breasts are more than a handful but quite a bit smaller than Dolly Pardon's bundle.

Dancing was her way to do something that was physically expressive in an academic world and she did it most chances she could. She had taken all the available dance classes offered at the university. As an advanced dancer who loved to encourage others in dance, she often came to the beginner classes to help the teacher by being dance partners with the class members giving them tips and hints how to improve. She could look graceful dancing with the most clumsy partners. Those she danced with would learn quicker because they were not being tripped by their partners who were normally other beginners. When dancing with someone, she made that person feel like they were the only one in the room. Too bad she was helping everyone and not just me.

For some reason I never quite understood, Michelle seemed to like me, calling me her favorite nerd. Other guys in the class would try to woo her, but she would politely decline them all. I just tried to always be nice and polite. It was like she felt safe with a naive guy over one who was trying to get her in bed. Her defense mechanism was to avoid the guys who were too eager to get to know her.

One time when I was walking from the bookstore to the cafeteria, she waved me over to where she was studying. That was the starting point of our relationship. I hardly ever knew what to talk about with girls, especially ones who weren't very tech savvy. She had a way of keeping the conversation going by asking questions that required more than a yes or no answer. She even listened to technical answers as if she was interested. I think she just like to hear what made others tick or get excited about.

I really didn't think I was her type of guy or good enough for her, but she always seemed excited to see me. Later I learned that she had a couple pushy boyfriends prior to me that just wanted to bed her. Now she avoided anyone that might be like those guys. Over a couple months our friendship grew to include casual dating. I fixed her computer a couple times, once when it had some problems with the power supply and another time when viruses caused all sorts of trouble. A quick kiss at the end of the evening was as far as I got with her, mostly because that was all I tried to do. I was too scared to try anything more. She said one of the reasons she liked being with me was that I was safe to be with.

One weekend, she was babysitting a couple small kids at the house of one of her professors, while they went on a weekend getaway. She called me and asked if I wanted to watch a movie after the kids went to bed. Never to turn down her requests, I went over there as quickly as I could get there. The kids were already fed and bathed when I got there. They were watching a cartoon before bedtime. Finally they were in bed, the bedtime stories were read to them, they got one last drink of water and we checked for monsters under the beds. Kids sure take a lot of effort to get them to go to sleep. She was very patient and loving, and treated them like they were her own. The kids could see that too.

A half hour later, Michelle and I were snuggled together on the sofa watching our movie. Well, we weren't really watching the movie. It was some chick flick and we were paying more attention to each other than the movie. After the movie, I ended up in her bed, staying until morning. I was no longer a virgin after that night. When I paused a moment to let her know that I didn't have any condoms, she said to not worry because it was a safe time of the month. It was obvious that she was experienced with sex because she helped me by showing me where to touch her to help her climax.

A couple days later, I purchased condoms for the first and only time in my life. We had sex a few times over the next couple months. One evening, she came to me looking very nervous and said she needed to tell me something, so we went for a walk. She said that she did one of those home pregnancy tests and it came out positive. She apologized for not being more careful that one time while baby sitting, but evidently it wasn't as safe as she thought that night.

Since I was the only one she had sex with in over two years there wasn't any question about who the father was. We talked about our, actually her, options. Her final decision was based mostly on the fact that she could never hurt a human life, so she really wanted to keep the baby. After seeing how she interacted with those kids and how much she liked to take care of and help people, I knew she would be a wonderful mother. I wondered how her keeping the baby would affect me and if I would or could be a good father.

Since I wanted to do the right or responsible thing, I proposed marriage a couple days later at a Friday night dinner date. I felt like I loved her more than anything, maybe even more than computers. We were both finishing up our degrees in a few more months and I was starting a new permanent higher paying job in the Summer. I figured that could cover the basic financial needs and provide the health insurance she would require. Michelle was planning on starting to do some substitute teaching after the baby gets old enough to leave with a sitter, so we would have extra in the budget at that point. With all this, we expected to have no trouble getting started in our life together. It all seemed like the logical thing to do. She accepted all that reasoning and moved in with me.

We got married at the courthouse the following week so it would be before she was showing. We had our honeymoon over that following weekend at a small inn in a nearby town on the coast. It was only a weekend because we both had important classes to attend on Monday and we didn't have much money to make it longer. It was a nice time, and we learned more about each other, our bodies, and our dreams. I felt a little out of place, but was gradually learning to be more attentive to her when she was talking about how she felt about various things. We seemed to be growing as a couple more in love each day. We agreed to never use the "d" word when we might have some marriage difficulties.

A little over two months later she had a miscarriage. It was particularly hard on her, but also on me too. I was getting excited about becoming a father. It was hard for me to know what to do to best comfort her. We mostly just held each other while she cried. She blamed herself even though I doubt it was anything she did.

Everything had changed so fast in my life over the past few months. After getting past the loss of the baby, we decided to hold off starting the family until we were more established in our finances. There was no question regarding our marriage in our minds. We had common dreams for our future and a plan on how to reach them. I would work as an engineer and she would teach languages in the schools. We would save up for a down payment on a house, then start the family. Therefore, she went on the pill. Maybe it was all too logical.

My job went well for a couple years. We were about to start looking for our first starter home. However, a downsizing at the company put those plans on hold. Since I was the newest employee, I was one of those who was let go. The severance package was a couple months pay. While trying to determine what to do next, Michelle encouraged me to try my dream and use the funds we had been setting aside to start our own company. It seemed like a scary idea, since we were only a couple years out of college, but with her teaching job it sounded like we could at least get by. I had a number of ideas that I had been working on and settled on security systems, with a key in how to determine intrusions into networks.

We went ahead with that plan and started building software and hardware that other companies could incorporate into much larger systems. Business really took off, and the company grew steadily to include 3 other employees over the first few years. Our personal lives together slipped to ok at best. Stress and long hours in our startup company took its toll, however we did squeeze in some little dates here and there. But we were tired most of the time and the dates weren't very romantic. We were making significant progress to replace the savings that were used to startup the company, so our dreams of buying a house and starting a family were starting again. This gave us hope for the future.

One of my customers was another small company run by a guy named Edward Monroe. He just went by Edward, not Ed as I found out in the first meeting. Edward was a very handsome, smooth talking, and a very likable person who had a rapidly growing business. While polite, he seemed to have a ladies man personality with a gift if gab with charm. He had a way with people that I did not have, which was nice in one way because he seemed to have a lot of potential clients.

With his outgoing personality, he liked doing things in person rather than over the phone. Therefore he came to town about 3 or 4 times a year. Most important to us was that he liked our work and placed a number of orders for our products. Always paying on time made him a good customer. We worked hard by customizing our products for him, going out of our way to make sure he stayed happy with our products.

One time during that first we did business he asked if I knew of anyone who could escort him to a concert. Not knowing anyone I wanted to have him take on a date, I contacted a friend who knew about an escort business. It wasn't cheap, but we arranged someone as his evening companion. I suppose they did more than just go to the concert, but all I know was that he was quite happy with the evening and placed a significant order shortly after that. Over time I noticed that when an escort was provided for him, he much more eager to do business with us than normal. Wanting to keep the customer satisfied, I figured it would be best to arrange an escort each time he came to visit and that is what we did.

Edward:

I grew up in a fairly well off family who had many interactions with other families of wealth, went to a prestigious school and earned a combination of engineering and business degrees. In school and life afterwards, the ladies always liked me and I had no trouble getting dates. I thought many of them were high maintenance and after my family's money, so I usually ended the relationships fairly quickly. With the next girlfriend not far behind, it was easy to do.

When I graduated, I started my business of combing hi tech products together to create very unique security systems for very wealthy individuals, small businesses, and the government. Having money in the family made this all possible to get started and my business grew quickly. I liked to travel and meet people, so I did all the visits to clients and suppliers. The hired staff took care of the details of the office, like paperwork, finances, shipping, installation, etc. With my growing list of contacts from referrals I made a good living and wasn't stuck in an office.

I didn't feel the need to settle down and liked the freedom of just being me. I could have a gal in every city or just obtain a date in the places I did not know anyone. Most of the time I did not have any trouble finding someone to be with. Usually my contacts would recommend or arrange someone for me. If I didn't have a planned date, I could hang out in the lounge and often find someone. Most of the time we would end up in bed at the end of the evening. I always used condoms for obvious reasons. The gals also appreciated my caring about their sexuality and life was good, very good.

One of my contacts was Stephen Leeland, who supplies customized technical equipment. Like others, he would supply escort dates for me. Prior to one trip into his town I let him know that I had two tickets to a charity ball event. It was a fund raiser to help purchase equipment for the local hospital children's wing. A college buddy had challenged me to make a donation by attending. So I needed a date for the Saturday evening of that weekend. I told Stephen that the person needed to be able to dance, including ballroom dancing. I also wanted a well educated person because I wouldn't know anyone else there and wanted to have someone intelligent to talk to when not dancing. I knew he really wanted my business so he would likely find someone for me, which he promised he would do.

Stephen:

On the Monday after Thanksgiving a few years ago, Edward announced he would be there a week later. He sent some requests for modifications to a couple of our products, and wanted to discuss them when he arrived. This made for a busy week trying to determine the technical feasibility of the changes as well as costs and delivery time.

On Wednesday of that week, Edward called and said he needed a date for charity ball held downtown on Saturday before his visit. He was pretty specific in wanting a person who could dance and converse well with the type of people at these events. Not wanting to lose even a little bit of business, I told him I would find someone.

I first called the escort company I had been using, but they were all booked up for the weekend. I guess Christmas parties that were already starting made it a high demand times for their business. I also checked with Mary, my secretary, to see if she knew anyone that met those requirements. She couldn't think of anyone, but said she would ask around.

During dinner that evening I asked Michelle if she knew anyone from her college days that fit the bill. She thought for a few moments, and said a couple old friends might still be single and willing to go out on a date. She would check if any of them would be interested. One friend in particular, Katie, was a good possibility because she could dance well, and was sexy. She also had a reputation of sleeping with various boyfriends, including some one night stands. Michelle tried calling her that evening, but had to leave a message. It looked like we might have a possible solution.

When Katie didn't call back the next day, we became very nervous about the situation. I had promised a date but didn't have one available. Michelle tried calling again and left another message. Katie finally called Michelle back on Friday morning. Unfortunately, she was visiting her elderly parents out of state, so she wasn't available. When Michelle called me at work to give me the bad news, I checked Mary again, but she didn't have anyone in mind.

It was a long day preparing our presentation that we would be pitching to Edward on Monday. At the end of the day I called Michelle once more, but she had no more possibilities. As I hung up, I was looking at her picture on my desk and thinking that she was the only one that I knew who fit the specs. But she is married to me and therefore not available. On the other hand, I was running out of options. If she spent the evening with him, could she give him a good enough evening using her charm without going to bed with him? I was not interested in my wife becoming the company whore.

When i got home, she asked me what I was going to do about Edward. I said I ran out of options and asked her if she would consider being his date for the evening. I told her I didn't want her to have sex with him, just be friendly company for him. She did not seem to be very happy with the suggestion, but agreed that she could probably give him a pleasant enough of an evening to keep him happy. With the planned evening being in a crowded ballroom of a downtown hotel, it seemed like a fairly safe evening too be with him. During the evening, she could have dinner and go dancing, both of which would be very public places. It also might be a good time to for her to learn about our client and how we could maybe get more business from his company. She would be the prettiest corporate spy on the planet. A large order or expanding business to fit his needs might be what we need to start looking to buy a house and start our family sooner than we expected.

I called Edward and arranged the time and place that he would meet his date for the evening named Shelly, which is the name she was called in high school. I also gave him her description so he would recognize her when she arrived. He said that he would be watching for her in the lounge of the hotel.

Michelle was not herself the rest of the evening. It wasn't like she was upset. She just seemed to not be present, like she was deep in thought. Maybe she was worried about tomorrow evening. The only thing she said during the evening was she needed to shop for a dress. She said she couldn't go to such an event without looking proper. At least the cost of a dress was a lot less than previous escorts.

I considered calling it off once again. But Michelle was willing to help and I had promised a date for him. Calling it off now was worse than never agreeing to provide a date and would definitely be bad for business. I was now stuck with events I put in motion. I just hoped I would not regret the decision. Would he be upset if she didn't put out? Would he pressure her to the point she would be upset with me? Would she give in to him? Would he rape her? So many possibilities, mostly bad.

The next day, Michelle went shopping for a dress and had her hair and nails done. She was home about two hours before she needed to leave again to shower and get ready for her evening. When the cab came to pick her up my stomach was in knots, but she seemed to have gained strength and confidence. She actually was looking forward to an evening of dancing with him and talking to him. She looked beautiful, more beautiful than she has looked in years, then quietly she gave me a kiss, said she loved me, and left to get in a cab.

Edward:

I met Shelly in the lounge of my hotel, which happened to also be where the ball was held. When she entered the room I stood up and looked at the most radiant and beautiful creature on earth. Stephen had told me what she looked like, but he didn't mention her beauty. Nor did he mention that she would look like the woman in the photo on his desk. He must have also told her what I looked like because she walked right up to me and introduced herself. I, who never was at a loss for words, was momentarily speechless.