Zero Fifty Or One Hundred Alternate

I am taking Ahazura up on his offer to allow me to write an alternate ending to the first part of this story that he posted. I applaud his generosity and courage in letting other authors collaborate with him on this story.

My ending is only the next chapter in what would have to be a longer story of either reconciliation or the dissolution of the marriage. I am attempting to create a realistic picture of how many of these situations play out in real life once the problem comes to a head. We know from actual statistics on marriages that the eventual outcome is 50/50 from this point forward.

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Sharon had a bad feeling about letting Bob meet Luke, but she was afraid of losing Bob, and embarrassed by her behavior. She hadn't thought about how to handle the scenario she found herself in, because she never consciously intended for it to go this far, so she agreed to take him with her to the restaurant to meet Luke.

Bob insisted on driving, and against her better judgement, she let him. He calmed down some as he drove, but otherwise pointedly ignored her. It gave her time to think about the situation.

She realized that she was wrong to begin confiding in Luke. It created a situation where she let her guard down, and worse, began to see him as a friend that offered something her husband didn't, his undivided attention.

The more she thought about it, the more she reflected on the unfairness of Bob accusing her of breaking her marriage vows. She may have been headed to that outcome, but she hadn't actually cheated with Luke physically. Her guilt was over her emotional infidelity.

Infidelity. She thought about the concept of giving oneself to someone or something other than your spouse. She may have been headed toward that outcome, but hadn't Bob been doing it since before Casey was born?

Bob was actually married to two partners. He had her, and he had his career. In the years since their marriage, Sharon felt like she had placed a poor second to Bob's other obsession. She thought about the hours that he worked, and the lack of attention that he gave her when he was at home.

The previous night, when he brought home dinner and then read to Casey after he put her to bed, was the first time in a long time that he had taken some of the pressure off of her to take care of household chores like meals. She was so exhausted, she fell asleep on the sofa.

Oh, she knew that in his mind, he was sacrificing for her and his daughter. He liked to promise her that things would change as soon as the current project was done, but there was always another one starting up as soon as the last one was complete. They hadn't taken a vacation longer that a three day weekend since before Casey was born. Wait, there was that week that they left Casey with Bob's parents, and flew to St. Thomas.

As soon as they checked in, Bob had logged onto his laptop to get his email from work. She should have seen it coming. Bob ended up working most of the afternoon from their suite, while she watched happy couples walking the beach from their balcony.

The rest of the week was much the same. Bob working for hours each morning as Sharon went to the beach alone at his urging. "Enjoy yourself, I'll meet you for lunch." Then they would have lunch while he glanced constantly at his phone for messages.

She finally put her foot down, and got him to agree to no work after 3 pm. They enjoyed the rest of the week, and she got his undivided attention for dinner and even some dancing for the remainder of the trip.

Then they went home and it was back to the same old thing. She didn't know what was going to happen, but she did know that she couldn't live the rest of her life like that last five years!

They reached the hotel, and Bob parked the car. As she walked with him to the restaurant entrance, she could see him clenching his jaw. This was not going to end well.

At the Maitre D's station, she slowed down to talk to the hostess, but Bob kept walking, so she rushed to catch up to him. He looked around the room and spotted a young man alone at a table.

"Is that him?" he asked her, tensely.

Sharon nodded, and Bob strode over to the table. Luke spotted her first, and started to smile, but then he saw she had another man with her, and she could see the recognition on his face. He stood slowly, with a neutral expression..

"Luke, right?" Bob snarled.

"Yeah, I guess your Bob?" Luke asked, putting his hand out.

In lieu of a handshake, Bob took an awkward swing at Luke, who sidestepped it. Without the contact with Luke's chin to stop his momentum, Bob stumbled forward and fell on the table, knocking the glasses and silverware off of it and sliding to the floor.

The diners around the group gasped, and a manager came running towards them with the hostess trailing nervously behind.

Sharon was frozen in shock. She had pictured an ugly scene, perhaps with yelling and accusations, but she had never seen Bob become violent before.

For his part, Bob's failure to land his punch, and the subsequent fall to the floor had knocked the wind out of him. It also seemed to take the fight out of him, and he stared at Sharon and Luke with a look of defeat.

The manager demanded to know what happened, and Luke lied and said his friend tripped and fell on the table. The manager displayed skepticism at the explanation, but lacking a victim for the attempted assault, could only offer to seat them at another table.

Bob stood up and said no thank you. He apologized for the mess and said he wasn't feeling well, so he would rather just go home.

Sharon took the opportunity to help Bob up, and guide him towards the door. She didn't look back to see what Luke was doing, she just wanted to go home.

The ride home was quiet, until Bob finally said, "I'm sorry about causing a scene, but when that asshole offered to shake my hand, it was the last straw."

Sharon looked at him and calmly said, "I just want you to know, that if you ever raise a hand against me or your daughter like that, you will never see either of us again."

They both fell silent, until Sharon finally couldn't take it anymore. "I am going to call Ron, Vicki's husband. He is a marriage counselor, and we need someone to help us work through this."

"I know. Vicki gave me his card."

Sharon stared at Bob, "When did you see Vicki?"

Now it was Bob's turn to look nervous, "I had lunch with her the other day. It's how I found out about Luke."

Sharon stared forward, fuming at Bob. She wanted to accuse him of cheating on her if he was secretly meeting other women for lunch, but she knew that would be unfair. She should thank Vicki for bringing the situation to a head before she made the mistake of sleeping with Luke, but she couldn't get over feeling betrayed by her friend. She reconsidered seeing Vicki's husband as their marriage counselor, but didn't know of any others. She knew Ron, and decided she could trust his sense of professionalism to resist talking about her issues with Bob with his wife.

Things were frosty around the house for the next few days, as both parties nursed their emotional wounds and prepared their cases for what each perceived was going to be a battle refereed by their marriage counselor.

When they met with Ron the first time, he invited them into his office and sat them together on a comfortable sofa across from him. He invited Sharon to go first and explain what was going on, since she set up the appointment. He asked Bob to please wait until Sharon was finished, and then he would have the same opportunity to present his feelings.

Sharon explained that she had done something stupid. She told Ron about Luke, and how the situation developed over that past several months. Bob thought she was pretty honest, based on what he knew, and was relieved to hear that she hadn't had sex with Luke yet, if she was telling the truth. It hurt him when Sharon said that she made out with Luke on two occasions, and that it had been exciting, making her realize the intimacy that she was missing in her marriage.

Then she spent five minutes talking about how Bob's preoccupation with his career, and how she and her daughter suffered as a result. It was Bob's turn to feel embarrassed as he learned how hurt and lonely Sharon felt about his crazy working hours. He was also surprised to hear Sharon categorize their sex life as almost non-existent. He figured that they had sex almost every weekend, on either Saturday or Sunday morning. Sharon estimated only once per month, and claimed that she had to initiate it when they did have sex.

The only question that Ron asked Sharon when she finished was what she wanted to accomplish in the sessions with him. Sharon looked nervously at Bob and said that she wasn't sure, but she couldn't continue to live with the current situation.

Bob couldn't help himself, and blurted out, "What does that mean?"

Ron asked Sharon to hold off on answering that, and if she was finished. Sharon nodded, so Ron invited Bob to tell his side of the story.

Bob told the story of finding out about Sharon's behavior from Ron's wife, Vicki. If Ron already knew that, he didn't indicate it. He did assure both of them that anything they discussed would be in confidence, and he would not be talking about their situation with Vicki. Now that they were his clients, he would not be able to discuss either of them with his wife.

Bob told Ron about his ultimatum, and the scene at the restaurant. He said he felt foolish that he had gone after Luke physically. Bob anticipated that Ron would want to know what he expected from the sessions, so he volunteered that he wanted assurances from Sharon that she would never again get involved physically or emotionally with another man.

Ron nodded thoughtfully as he finished speaking and Bob waited to hear what would happen next. Ron said he thought Bob's expectations were pretty clear, but he needed Sharon to explain what she wanted to accomplish from the sessions. He pointed out gently that being unable to live with the current situation didn't give Bob anything to work towards.

Sharon took a deep breath, and said, "I want to be as important to Bob as his career. It's great that he makes a lot of money, and I know he cares about me and Casey, but I would trade all of the 'things' that we have to be as important to him and get the same amount of attention that he provided when we were first married."

Ron looked at his watch and explained that he wanted to meet with them at least twice a week for an hour each time. He then explained that their assignment for the next meeting was for each of them to think about what the other wanted from the sessions, and be prepared to talk about whether and how they could give their partner what they asked for. Then he set up another session with them for three days out.

Bob had to ask him what he meant by 'whether they could give their partner what they asked for.' Surely he didn't think it reasonable that he would accept Sharon being unfaithful to him if he didn't change his work habits.

Sharon was silent, but Ron said that he wasn't suggesting anything of the sort, and rather than focusing on the consequences of not working on a solution, they devote their energy to the positive goal of making their partner happy.

Bob felt like he was evading his question, but kept quiet. They left the office and rode home in silence.

As they approached their house, Sharon reached over and put her hand on Bob's arm, saying, "I am sorry that my behavior hurt you, Bob. I never intended that. No, wait, that doesn't seem true in hindsight. Maybe I acted out subconsciously with the intent of getting caught. I know that I was being incredibly reckless. I was just so unhappy. In any case, I recognize that I was wrong and it hurt you deeply. I am sorry for that."

Bob looked at her, and saw tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry too. I want us to stay together. I love you so much, and I never realized how my work life was affecting you. I am sorry for that."

They hugged each other before they entered their house, and Sharon made arrangements with the babysitter, a high school girl who lived next door, to come back in two days to sit Casey for their next session.

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So what happens next? Does Bob's behavior change or does he continue to take Sharon for granted? Is Sharon being realistic in wanting to rekindle the sexual excitement that marked the start of their marriage, or have they become sexually incompatible?

I can tell you that couples who have been married for eight years and have a child don't just throw it all away in a pique over a situation like this. They are both motivated to find a solution, and as a result, they are likely to forgive each other for past slights (and I use the term slight with much deliberation here.)

I am a romantic, so if I continued the story, both characters would grow and change, and they would work through this and come out the other side deeper in love and more secure in their relationship. It seems like a lot of the readers who frequent this category want to see revenge and humiliation, however, so I won't waste my time taking it past this point so that those readers can rant over Bob's stupidity in forgiving his wife.

Happy Valentine's Day to all the other hopeless romantics out there!