All the characters depicted in this story are 18 years old or older.
*
In hind sight Dave figured the Bar-B-Q / Pool Party at John and Ingrid's was probably the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak.
In fact it was just the last in a series of minor transgressions, none of which he felt were hanging offences. But apparently his wife Marion felt differently.
They had been married for almost six years now and Dave thought they were getting along pretty well considering all the stresses of his new job and relocating and all.
If he happened to find another woman attractive he couldn't help checking her out. But it seemed Marion had some kind of 'built in' radar about that kind of thing and anytime he looked twice at another woman when he was with her you can be sure she was on his case about it.
'Did he have to ogle every woman that went by?...Was he going to be an oversexed teenager forever?...Did he not realize how demeaning it was to objectify every woman he saw like she was a piece of meat?...Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...'
And if he happened to have said something a couple of times about how there were other ways to make love besides her lying lifeless on her back, sneaking peeks at the ten o'clock news while he toiled away between her thighs, well that was just him being totally insensitive all over again.
In fact Marion was an extremely attractive woman. In college she had been a cheerleader as well as having a 3.8 grade average. She had a great body, big chest, narrow waist and a heart shaped ass to die for. She was always getting asked out. But Dave was the one she had her sights set on. And six months after they graduated they were married. During that time Dave was surprised to find that someone who looked so sexy could be so prim and proper. He thought she had just been putting on that 'I don't think a girl should give up her virginity too soon' thing to land herself a husband. It was only after they'd been married for a year that he realized that, though he thought he was marrying Miss 'Hottie', who he really got was Miss 'Don't! I don't like that!', or Miss 'Stop it. You're messing up my hair!'
Two years ago they had moved from Portland to San Francisco when Dave landed a good job with an international shipping company. But since they had settled into the City by the Bay the romance seemed to have disappeared from their marriage.
Their lovemaking got more and more infrequent and Dave would have been lying if he didn't admit that he was getting more than a little sick of the missionary position. It hadn't helped matters when Marion asked him if he ever fantasized about other women and her admitted that he sometimes did. He wished he could take that one back.
Then there was the Pool Party. John and Ingrid had been there neighbors since they arrived in their new home. They were the same age as Dave and Marion and had similar interests so it wasn't surprising that they soon became friends.
It was great to have good neighbors. The one down side, if you could call it that, was that Ingrid happened to be a gorgeous blonde with an incredible body. She was definitely a consistent target of Dave's leering glances.
The night of the Pool Party there were probably thirty people there enjoying the burgers and wine and beer. It was a warm evening and after the sun set more and more people put on swimsuits and started fooling around in the pool and in the hot tub.
Ingrid put on a tiny white bikini that would have been illegal in some mid-western states. All the guys were tagging her with their eyes, Dave as much as anyone. At one point late in the evening she slipped into the hot tub. By that time Dave had his swimsuit on and she beckoned him to join her in the bubbling water.
By then Dave had had enough wine that he stepped down into the steamy water without a second thought.
The next thing he knew Ingrid was pressing warmly against his side, her hand resting high up on his inner thigh.
Dave wasn't really paying much attention to what she was saying. It was taking all his concentration to keep from turning towards her and hunching up against her thigh like at dog in heat.
He did hear her clearly however when she whispered something in his ear like...'John and I wondered if you and Marion might ever have thought about swapping, with us...just for an evening...just for fun?'
Dave was so overwhelmed by this proposal that he totally lost his cool. He stammered something about how...' it sounded great but that he didn't know if Marion would be comfortable doing something like that. But he would ask her if he could find the right moment and he was really honoured that she and John were that comfortable with them etc., etc.' God! Had he really said 'honoured!'
Ingrid listened to his nervous stammering and smiled indulgently. Finally she said with a breezy wave of her hand...'Well, just think about it..."
And then she gracefully got up and left the hot tub. Dave watched her go with his mouth open in amazement.
Later that night as they were going to bed, Marion was complaining about being dog-tired and how dreadful the Watson's had been and what a headache she had. Dave picked that moment to mention that someone at the party, he didn't want to say who, had wondered if they might want to swap with them.
Marion, who had just sat down on the side of the bed with her back to Dave, went rigid and didn't say anything.
Dave wasn't too encouraged by this initial response but he plowed on.
These were friends who they were both quite comfortable with and he knew it was a 'kind of out there' suggestion but maybe it was worth considering.
Marion continued to say nothing but Dave could feel the temperature dropping dramatically in the room.
Then, in a very steady voice Marion said..."And I take it that if this...this suggestion is alright with me that you are in favour of this...this... of doing this?..."
And Dave said 'well of course he didn't want her to do anything she was uncomfortable with but if she felt she was ready for a bit of an adventure then he figured he could be up for it too.'
And that was when the shit really hit the fan.
What kind of a deviant was he? Didn't he have any idea how depraved, how immoral his suggestion was. This was probably all his idea wasn't it? Not some phantom friend of theirs. She couldn't believe the shameful depths of his imagination. And on, and on, and on.
And so it was that when Marion suggested that they go to couples counselling he ultimately agreed.
Oh his knee jerk reaction was 'No Way! There's nothing wrong with me.'
Which only made his wife more adamant that they should go. And when Dave thought about it, he figured that if maybe some shrink told Marion she should loosen up a little, maybe things might get a little more interesting around the bedroom.
So in the end he agreed. Marion had a therapist in mind that had been recommended to her by one of her gym buddies. Dave was fine with whatever she wanted.
So Marion made the first visit. She went by herself, which was what the therapist recommended. It was a two-hour session and when Dave got home from work that night he definitely noticed a change in his wife.
She seemed to be kind of glowing like she had experienced some kind of revelation. When Dave asked her how the therapy went she told him the doctor, Dr. Von Stramm, had told her not to discuss her treatment with him. Dave thought that was kind of odd but didn't pursue it.
Later that night when he snuggled up to Marion she immediately pulled away from him.
"Don't!..." she said firmly.
"We'll wait until after you been to the clinic."
Well Dave's first appointment was only two days away so he figured he could wait.
Two days later he arrived at the office of Dr. Elsa Von Stramm fifteen minutes early. He had been asked to come early to fill out the paper work. And there was a lot of it. There were also a lot of extremely personal questions that Dave wasn't all that comfortable answering.
After that he was ushered in to meet the good doctor. He didn't know what he'd been expecting but he was pleasantly surprised that Elsa (which is what she soon asked him to call her) wasn't at all the frumpy, overweight, middle-aged academic that he had been expecting.
In fact Dr. Elsa was almost alarmingly attractive. Even in a white lab coat and a pair of linen trousers it was obvious that she had a very shapely body. Her blonde hair was pulled up and coiled behind her head. She had an engaging smile and a very down to earth way of speaking. Dave didn't think he was going to have any trouble talking to her.
"Mr. Brickman? I'm Dr. Von Stramm."
"Dave doctor. Please call me Dave."
"Very well, Dave."
She rambled on a bit at the beginning about how the clinic's approach to couple's counselling was a little more 'Alternative', a little more 'Hands On' than he might expect. 'Was he alright with that?'
Dave said 'Sure. It was all about results as far as he was concerned.'
Dr. Von Stramm seemed pleased. She said in that case they would begin. Would he please go into the next office and remove all his clothes including his shorts and socks and put on the smock and trousers that were laid out for him there. They would be in with him in a few moments.
Dave said fine although he was a little surprised he had to change out of his street clothes. But in fact he had noticed when he came in that this place seemed more like a spa than a clinic. There were lots of staff dressed up in white shirts and pants and other people, patients, clients he guessed, coming and going in smocks and robes and slippers.
He guessed it all had to do with the 'Alternative' treatments.
He went into the next office, which basically contained a little desk to one side with a couple of hard chairs in front of it. There was a couch on the wall on the other side of the room and what looked like a massage table in the middle of the room. On that table was his change of clothes.
David took off everything he was wearing and put on what was on the table. That pants were light cotton with a drawstring closure and fit him very loosely. The top was of the standard issue hospital variety that you put on with the opening in the back and tied with a little string behind the neck. There was also a pair of those 'one size fits all' paper slippers that Dave put on as well.
He had just folded his arms across his chest because he was finding it kind of breezy in the little office when the door opened and a dark haired woman walked in. A cloud of a very exotic perfume accompanied her.
It didn't take Dave more than a moment to realize that this was indeed another attractive young woman. Even the dark rimmed glasses she was wearing didn't detract from her obvious good looks.
"Hi. Dave? I'm Abigail..." the dark haired beauty said, holding out her hand to Dave. She was holding a large canvas bag in her other hand.
Dave shook Abigail's extended hand and was surprised by the strength of her grip.
"Hello Abigail. I'm the new guy. I'm just waiting for instructions I guess."
