Chapter Ten
“Very enjoyable, Linda... last night,” I offer in gratitude, barely veiling my manly pride.
“Really? So I shouldn’t bother with more batteries?” Linda responds in light sarcasm.
I turn to momentary silence, knowing that she’s referencing her vibrator... her ‘friend’ as she terms it. I got myself off. Thought she did also. But she fakes well, has in the past, I suppose either feeding the male ego or desiring to curtail all carnal efforts and simply sleep.
“You’re pleased with yourself, Andy. What about me? A woman needs to feel something in order to... you know... climax.”
I am deflated. And I must wonder, is this a continuous concern? If she felt nothing last night, what has she felt in the dozens and dozens of prior nights of marital conjugation?
“You didn’t...ah...”
“Not even close, Andy.”
“And the other times?”
Linda just smiles... perhaps more of a smirk.
“You’re... well... not well equipped, Andy. And the oral... it’s okay. But a woman needs... brawn... virility... staying power. You ejaculate like a school boy.”
“I’ll try harder.”
“With what? Are you so delusional, so full of yourself that you’d think I can ever be fulfilled with your tongue. It’s selfish of you.”
“You’re amazing, Linda. So beautiful. So nurturing. So supportive with... you know... the job and all,” I compliment in desperation.
“It’s not a burden. I can share... can cover things... more than cover things while you... well... hopefully figure out a new trade. But you don’t share... aren’t willing to share. Self-centered and selfish... while I share what I have.”
Yes, aggravating and of concern to me is money. The bills have come to be addressed mainly by my wife, my meager salary not covering the overhead and the commission income depleted.
“What am I to share?”
Linda smiles, this time coyly... mischievously.
“If you think I’m that becoming... and want me to be pleased... then you’ll share me.”
I am aghast. Stunned to silence, Linda the executive steps into the breech and begins talking in deal speak, negotiating. And I begin to realize, I am negotiating from weakness, the economics quite one sided.
“I’m going to date other men, Andy. And you will concur. Since I’ve been paying the taxes, I’m going to take the house out of joint name. And you will concur. Plus Andy, I think you need counseling. You’ll be better prepared to accept your new role.”
At no time in the discussion... the negotiations... did the term ‘cuckold’ arise. That came later when Linda quietly slipped before me a sheet of paper. Listed were websites, all expounding the matrimonial benefits of wives with a lover... and most times more than one.
“You’ll come to enjoy, Andy. It’s... it’s... well... in your wiring... in your psychological make up. You want me to be pleased. You just can’t do it. There’s pressure in trying to futilely perform. You’ll feel relief in not having to do so. Ceding the responsibility to those who are... capable... will lift a burden.”
Such emphasis on the word ‘capable’! In other words, well hung, I think but do not say.