The Date

When I published my story Interdiction, I had already started writing this one. I had two ideas for how to handle the scenario of "the wife comes home and tells her husband she wants to go on a date with a coworker." I went with Interdiction, but recently I started rereading this and realized it was a very different story and one that I liked too much to let go. So, here is another take on the plot. I hope you enjoy it.

There is no sex, and it is mostly dialog between the husband and wife.

---------------------------

Chapter 1

I had read stories about this kind of thing happening. I always assumed it was just fiction and nothing like it would ever really occur, at least not to me. So, imagine my surprise the other evening when my wife of nearly twenty years told me over dinner, "Honey, we need to talk."

My heart leaped into my throat, and I immediately tensed up, preparing for the worst. Had she cheated on me? Did she want a divorce? What could it possibly be? Where had we gone wrong?

I stared across the dinner table at her, my hands shaking. "Talk?" I asked, trying my damnedest to sound calm. "Talk about what?"

"Well, first of all, I want to tell you that I love you," she said, then took a sip of wine as if she were using it to settle her nerves. I noticed she hadn't eaten much at all.

I stared at her, trying to analyze her movements, her facial expression, anything to give me some clue about what was coming. I couldn't take the stress very long and blurted out, "Have you cheated on me, Maggie?"

Her face twitched, and she looked at me with big, surprised eyes. "No, of course not," she replied. "I would never cheat on you." Although the way she stressed the word cheat made me nervous, I think I let out a sigh of relief. Well, if it wasn't cheating, what could it be?

"Are you leaving me?" I asked, fearing the worst.

"Oh, God, George," she said, "Where are you getting these ideas? Of course, I'm not leaving you. I love you."

"Good," I responded, "I love you, too. I plan on growing old with you and spending the rest of our lives together."

Maggie's eyes lit up, and she gave me a warm smile. "So do I, George."

"Then, what is it? Are you unwell?" I asked growing concerned for Maggie's health.

"I'm fine, honey," she assured me. "I didn't mean to alarm you, but it's just that I feel like something's been missing between us for a while now. With Meredith off to college, things just seem different. Maybe it's empty nest syndrome or mid-life crisis or something, but we seem to be stuck in a bit of a rut."

I felt myself relax a little, but I was still apprehensive, wondering what in the world was bothering Maggie. "A rut? How so?" I asked.

"Well, we spend so much time with work that we have little time for each other. Your job takes you out of town frequently, and my job often keeps me late at the office. When we're not working, we're both tired. When was the last time we had sex?"

"When was the last time we had sex?" I repeated her question. I honestly couldn't remember the last time. Maggie had not wanted to have sex for quite a while. I had to settle for jerking off, alone, for months. "It's been a while, but every time I initiate anything remotely sexual you shut me down. You've always got one excuse or another."

"Right," Maggie agreed," I know. I'm usually tired as hell when you feel frisky. But, when we were young, we didn't care if we were tired. We'd have sex three or four times a week. Now, it's like once every three or four months."

"If that," I replied, agreeing with her. "And?" I was growing irritated. It sounded like she was blaming me for the lack of sex when she was the one who always said no. If it had been up to me, we would have been doing it often.

"And, well, I want to get out of this rut we're in," she said. "I want to fix things between us to ensure we can stay together for the rest of our lives. We're bored, George. We need to get un-bored."

"I'm not bored," I told her. "I've got plenty of excitement in my life."

"Excitement? Really? What are you going to do tonight?" she asked me with a crooked grin.

"Watch the Curse of Oak Island. They're saying tonight they make a big discovery," I answered as I thought about her comments.

"Don't they say that every week and all they ever find is mud and bits of wood?"

"Well, yeah," I admitted. "More or less."

"As I said," she grinned, "boring."

"Okay, that's not boring. It's comfortable. We're comfortable. That's what happens when you've been married as long as we have. You get comfortable."

"I don't want comfortable," Maggie explained. "When we were first married, you would ravish me nightly. You haven't ravished me in years."

"Is that it?" I asked, setting my fork down. "Do you want me to ravish you? Pull down your pants and bend over the table. I'll ravish you now."

"That's not exactly what I was thinking of, George. To be honest, I have just as little interest in having sex with you as you have to do it with me. It's just where we are in our lives. We've lost the spark, and that's what worries me. We're still in our forties. We have a lot of years left. I'm afraid that if we've lost this much romantic interest in each other already, what will we have left in a few more years? How will we be able to stay together?"

"We'll stay together because we're husband and wife. That's what husbands and wives do; we're used to each other; we're comfortable. And who says I don't have interest in having sex with you? Of course, I do!"

"We've become roommates, George, comfortable roommates."

"I think we're more than roommates. I mean we do have sex now and then, and we do love each other."

"So, we're roommates with infrequent benefits. Yes, I do love you, George and I know you love me. But, can you honestly tell me you're still in love with me the same way you were when we got married way back in the stone age?"

"It's different," I tried to explain, "like a fine wine. Our love has matured and mellowed over the years. We're older, and our libidos are not as active as they once were."

"But they could be," she said taking my hand. "Don't you want to be excited and feel the thrill of chemistry again, like we used to?"

"I don't know, Maggie, I kind of like how things are now. I mean, sure, I'd love to have sex more often, but I like coming home and hanging out with you, calmly and peacefully. We've worked a long time to get to where we are. It's like that damned hammock in the back yard. It's been back there for almost twenty years. Every year I kept telling myself that one day soon I'll be able to just lay out there, relax and read a book. Well, now when I'm to the point where I'm finally about to lay down in the thing, you're telling me you want to get rid of the hammock."

Maggie stared at me as she processed my remarks, then shook her head. "I don't understand that, but I'm not asking you to give anything up, honey. I'm saying I think we need to rekindle our romance, to spice up our love lives, before it's too late. My libido isn't dead; it's just been dormant. I want to feel the way we used to feel when we had sex when it was new and fresh and exciting like we couldn't get enough of it or each other."

"So are you saying that our sex is no longer satisfying?"

"No, I'm not saying that at all. You're a wonderful, caring and talented lover when we have sex. You always know how to please me and not once have I ever faked an orgasm with you. The problem isn't that our sex is bad; it's that we never want to do it."

"What are you saying?" I asked. "I'm confused."

"I'm saying that I want more. I feel like we're no longer lovers. We're just partners. I want to feel you love me again. I want to feel I love you again. I want passion. I want desire. I want romance. I want sex."

"I thought you said you don't want sex. Do you want it or not?"

"I want to want to have sex!"

"It sounds like you want to be young again. Are you sure this isn't your hormones acting up? Are you having hot flashes?"

"Don't do that, George!" she snapped. "Don't trivialize my feelings and make it about me being a woman with hormonal issues. Every time I get upset, I do not have PMS and because I want to rekindle our love affair doesn't mean I'm going through menopause!"

"I'm sorry; you're right. That was insensitive. I'm just trying to understand where all of this is coming from suddenly."

"Honey, it isn't sudden. This has been on my mind for a long time. I'm afraid that if we don't do something drastic to jumpstart our relationship, our marriage isn't going to survive."

She looked like she was on the verge of tears. I heard what she was saying. To be honest, we had been running on a kind of autopilot.

"Well, if it isn't sudden," I asked angrily, "why are you just now bringing it up? Why haven't you tried to talk to me about this before?"

"It has taken me a long time to get to this point," she explained, "but, I'm talking about it now. I didn't want to let it keep festering."

Maybe there was something to what she was saying. I loved Maggie, and I would do almost anything to make her happy and to improve our relationship.

"Alright, I'm listening. I can tell you've given this a lot of thought and it's important to you. What do you want to do? Should we see a marriage counselor? I read about something called intimacy coaches. Should I try to find one?"

"Those are great ideas," she said with a smile as she wiped a tear off her cheek. "Thank you for suggesting them. I think we might want to try that. I was thinking of some other things we could do."

"Like what?"

"Well, first let me ask you something. Your company is a creative agency, right? You tell me all the time that you're one of the best at what you all do."

"Yes, we're one of the top two in the state, probably top five in the country. Why? What does that have to do with our love life?"

"Do you hire the best people?"

"Of course, we do."

"And how many of those people have been at your company for, say, twenty years?"

"Nobody, the company's only been around for six years. We're constantly bringing in new talent. Our industry has a lot of turnover."

"Right, so you're always acquiring new talent, with new ideas, new ways of doing things?"

"Yes, we're very innovative. We have a continuously evolving way of working."

"And people are always bringing in new skills and new energy, making things better for everyone?"

"Yes, that's right. Where are you going with all of this?"

"George, we've been married for twenty years next month. We dated exclusively for three years before that. In all of that time, I've never cheated on you, and as far as I know, you've never cheated on me. That means in close to twenty-three years, we've only ever had sex with each other. You were my first, and from what you told me, you only had two girlfriends before me."

"That's right," I said, starting to worry about where this was heading again. I was getting a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. "And?"

"Well, would you hire a person to work at your company if they learned their skills 23 years ago and have not taken any lessons or had any new ideas or new education? Would you want employees who only practiced what you do once every few months? Would your company be the best if everyone didn't try to be the best and take things to newer and higher levels all the time?"

"What? Of course not, but that's totally different. That's work. We're talking about us. What exactly are you trying to say?"

"I'm trying to say that twenty-three years ago we had cutting edge skills. We had great sex. We did it all the time. It was new and fun. It was exciting. Well, then Meredith came along, and we changed. We became parents, then professionals, then soccer moms and basketball coaches. We developed our skills as parents and in our careers, but we did nothing to develop our skills with each other. We continued to do things the same, comfortable way we always have. The way we learned twenty-three years ago. It got stale. The newness wore off. We got bored. It became routine. We lost the spark."

"What are you saying, Maggie?"

"I'm saying I don't want comfortable, George. I hate comfortable. I'm sick of comfortable. I want new. I want excitement. I want to learn new skills and become a better lover. I want to use that to build a fire between us again, to turn our boring, comfortable life on its head. I want to be in love again. I want a lover, not a roommate. I want to feel passion again. I need it."

"Okay," I stammered. I was trembling all over. I don't know if it was from anxiety or adrenaline. Maybe it was my fight or flight defense kicking into overdrive. "I'll do whatever I can to give you passion. We can have date nights and do what you want to do. I won't watch so much TV, and we can have a hobby or something we can do together. We can travel more. You always like to take trips, so why don't we go someplace each month, even if it's just to go overnight to a hotel in one of the new trendy parts of town."

Maggie lifted my hand in both of hers and kissed it, then shook her head. "George, I know you would move a mountain for me if you could. I know you think those things would help, but at the end of the day, it's still us doing them. We're still the same. Nothing will have changed, and soon, we'll become bored with that too. Those ideas are a good step, but they're still too comfortable. We aren't learning or experiencing anything new."

"So, what are you talking about, then? I was following you, but you're losing me now. What are you suggesting we do? Go to a swingers resort or something?"

"Oh, God no," she said with a disgusted look on her face. "I could never go to a place like that. I couldn't handle the skeevy people trying to get us to join them for casual sex. No, nothing like that at all."

"Then what?" I asked, growing frustrated.

"Well, I think that what we need is kind of a shock to the system, a reboot of sorts, something that will be new and exciting and give our romance a boost and bring the spark back to our sex life."

At this point, I was ready to accept just about anything she proposed.

"That sounds wonderful. I'm all for it. How would you do that?"

"I think I should start dating other people."

Anything, except that.

Chapter 2

"Woah, woah, woah," I said as I pulled my hands away from my wife and stared at her with my brows furrowed. "Say that again; I don't think I heard you right."

"I said, I think I should start dating other people."

"Yeah. Okay. I heard you right the first time," I said, leaning back in my chair at the kitchen table. Then, I sat forward and looked at my wife like she had taken leave of her senses. "Are you nuts?"

She seemed surprised by my reaction. "No, not at all. I've given this a lot of thought. I think it is what we need."

"Maggie, you've come up with some nutty ideas before, but this takes the cake."

"I don't think it's nutty, George. You'll understand, too, if you'll let me explain my reasoning."

"Yes, please do explain. Explain how you want to improve OUR relationship and put a spark in OUR sex life by you cheating on me."

"George, I'm not going to cheat on you," she said, "not at all. That's not what I'm suggesting."

"You want to date other men, as in other men than me?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Like a proper, romantic date?"

"Yes, that's the idea."

"And, a proper date just like you would with someone if we weren't married?"

"I didn't think of it in those terms, but yes, that's right. A real date."

"So, would he get to fuck you on the first date, or would you make him wait until the fifth one like you did me?"

"George, I didn't say anything about fucking him."

"Yeah, but you said a proper, real, date as if you weren't married. And on real proper dates, people have sex. So are you saying sex is completely off the table with your dates?"

"Well, no, I'm not saying that."

"So, you will fuck them?"

"I didn't say that either. I'm just saying that I'd be open to seeing where the dates went and how the relationships developed."

"Relationships? So not only do you want to date some guy or guys, you want to fuck them and develop relationships with them!"

"You're twisting it around only to point out the things you want to point out, George."

"Yes or no, Maggie, would you ever have sex with these dates of yours?"

She hesitated. "It's not that black and white."

"Yes or no?"

"I suppose so, yes."

"Then, that's cheating!"

"No, it isn't!"

"How the fuck do you think that's not cheating? You're going out with some guy, having a romantic date with him and having sex! That's cheating!"

I was livid. I was rapidly losing both my composure and my temper. This could go very badly if I weren't careful.

Maggie tried to compose herself and remain calm. It was an annoying thing she did whenever I would lose my temper. It was like she was trying to show me that she was more civilized than I am.

"It would not be cheating," she rationalized, "because you would give me your consent and approval and you would know everything about who I was with and what I was doing. We would share all of the details after I got home."

"Oh! My! God!" I shouted, emphasizing each word. "Not only do you want to cheat on me, but you also want to cuckold me completely! What the hell makes you think I would EVER consent to you dating or approving of you fucking someone else. What has gotten into your head that has caused you to lose all comprehension of reality? Did you actually think I would agree to this shit?"

"George, please try to remain calm so that we can talk through this. There's no need to yell, and there's no need to get vulgar. Please."

I stared at her. "Did you think I would agree to this?"

"I knew it would be difficult for you to understand, but you love me, and you're a rational man. You're a smart guy. I assumed, and I still do, that you will calm down and see the logic behind it and agree to support me."

"Support you?"

"Yes."

"While you fuck other men?"

"George, it is not about fucking other men. If I just wanted to do that, believe me, I could have been doing it for years with many men. Hell, I could have been doing it with your brother, your best friends and your boss. They've all hit on me many, many times. But, I didn't. I would never cheat on you. I would never do that to you."

"But, you're proposing doing it right now!"

"No, honey," she tried to correct me. "This is not cheating. This is not for me. It is for us. It will bring us excitement and fun and new adventures. Our sex life will be alive again. I'll be alive again. You'll feel it, and you'll be part of it. We're doing this together?"

"What? You want me to go on the dates with you?"

"Well, no, I meant figuratively together, not literally. You would be home, waiting, while I go out on the date. Then, when I get home, I'll tell you all about it, every little detail."

I chuckled. "I suppose you want me to go down on you after he fucks you and lick his cum out of your cunt, too?"

She blushed. She literally blushed. I couldn't believe it, but she actually did want me to do that!

"Well, I mean, that would be the ultimate way for you to show me your love."

"It will be a cold day in Hell before I ever do that," I told her icily.

"Okay, well we can skip that part," she offered.

"Unless you want to annihilate our marriage, you'll skip the whole thing!"

"It won't annihilate our marriage!"

"You making love to another man will!"

"It won't be making love, George. I save that for you. I love you. I don't love him. It will just be sex."

"Just sex?"

"Yes, just sex."

I stared at her for a few seconds. "What does that even mean?"

"It means that I won't have any feelings for him and he won't have any for me either. We only want to explore each other sexually. Nothing more."