Marie was my only serious girlfriend in college. Isabel was my wife.* And in the summer of 1992, when we were all about thirty, Marie drove across the country, and stopped en route to spend a weekend with us.
Isabel and I had been together for nine years and married for eight; and most of those years were hard. Some of the troubles came from Isabel's infidelities. She started one affair before our second anniversary, with a guy she met at church. That lasted about a year. A couple years later, Isabel was teaching at an all-girls high school, and told me about her star student, a girl named Dolores.** "I think Dolores is chasing me." Because I have loose gravel for brains, I asked "Gosh, what if you let her catch you?" Isabel waited until graduation, when her contract ended and Dolores graduated.*** Then she invited Dolores to lunch, and things went from there. Soon they were sleeping together. Dolores went off to university, but she visited us (well, Isabel) on every vacation, and they kept the romance alive. This affair was even more confounding for me than the first one.
- One reason is that it lasted longer.
- A second reason is that I genuinely liked Dolores: she was smart, capable, and promising. Unlike any of Isabel's other affairs (before or since), she truly seemed to have infinite possibilities open before her.
- A third reason is that Dolores was both beautiful and really hot. So at the same time that Isabel's infidelity bothered me, I felt really conflicted every time Dolores visited. At night Isabel slipped out of bed to where Dolores was sleeping in the living room, and I tossed and turned in frustration. They were quiet, but I could imagine exactly what was going on and it gave me no peace. No luck, though. Dolores was head-over-heels in love with Isabel, but had no use for me.
It was during this time that Marie came to visit for a weekend. She arrived Friday, maybe about noon. Isabel had gone back to graduate school by then, so her schedule was flexible during the summer. Meanwhile I was at work. So Isabel met Marie, got her settled, and showed her some of the sights in town while waiting for me to get home.
Marie asked, "How does Hosea feel about your affair with Dolores?"*****
Isabel said, "He doesn't like it. Honestly it's a problem between us. I wish it weren't. We talked about fidelity before we were married, and at the time we didn't set any hard and fast rules. So I think that gives me the freedom to do what I want. But at this point I've had two extramarital affairs since we got married, and Hosea has complained about both of them. I feel like he's changing the rules on me, and I don't think he should do that. It's like he's trying to trap me into following rules I never agreed to."
Marie thought a moment. "OK, I see that. But do you really think he is trying to trap you? Maybe he just didn't know how he would feel until it became real. I know that's happened with me, where I thought I'd react one way, and in fact my emotions went off somewhere I never expected."
Isabel agreed, "Yes, that's possible."
Marie pushed on. "So does seeing that change anything for you? I mean, does it make a difference if you think that Hosea might have just made an innocent mistake by not understanding what he was going to feel, and therefore not saying something up front?"
Isabel conceded, "Honestly, it really does make me feel incredibly guilty to know that I'm hurting him so much."
So Marie asked, "In that case, have you considered acting differently? I mean, have you considered breaking things off with Dolores, and then not taking another lover after her? Have you considered doing that for the sake of your marriage, so that you don't make Hosea suffer?"
And Isabel answered, "Not really. See, the thing is that I think he's wrong to insist on monogamy! I shouldn't have to limit my sexual choices, and neither should he. So I don't think I should have to give up Dolores. But I'm not being selfish when I say that. I think he should be able to take a girlfriend on the side as well. I just don't know how to get him to change his mind about that. But if ...." Suddenly she stopped, and stared thoughtfully into space.
Marie waited a minute and then asked, "If what?"
Isabel stared into space for a minute more and then said, "I've got it! I know exactly how to make Hosea change his mind. This plan will solve the problem for sure, and it will eliminate all the friction in our marriage. But I'll need your help. Let me ask you a couple of questions. First, would you be willing to have sex with Hosea?"
Marie had to catch her breath. She would have given a lot to maintain our relationship in college longer than it actually lasted, and now Isabel was offering her the same prize for no greater price than to go along with whatever plan Isabel had cooked up. Cautiously she said, "I'd be willing to do that."
Isabel burbled her next question. "And are you OK with girls? I mean, if it became necessary would you be willing to have sex with me as well?"
Marie paused before answering. Some years in the past she had, in fact, been in love with another girl, and would have gladly gone to bed with her if the occasion had come up.That girl was nothing like Isabel physically—she had been thin where Isabel was plump, and she had been dark where Isabel was blonde—but Marie wasn't against girls on principle. And if agreeing to this plan meant a chance to go to bed with Hosea ....
Measuring her words carefully, Marie said, "I can be OK with girls."
Isabel didn't notice the subtle amendment that Marie had introduced. Instead, she burbled on, "Great! So here's my plan, and here's what I need you to do ...."
__________
* You know her under the name "Wife." But to make the narrative work better, I'll give her a normal name and call her Isabel.
** You know her as Girlfriend 1. Again, I thought a real name would work better in the story.
*** Also somewhere in that time Dolores turned 18.
**** This part is also true in real life!
***** Up to this point, everything that I describe really happened (though I have simplified the story of Marie's arrival in ways that don't matter). Pretty much everything after this point—starting with Isabel's (i.e., Wife's) answer to the question!—is pure invention.
No comments:
Post a Comment