All Comments on 'A Simple Case of Infidelity Pt. 02'

A trip down memory lane and i kinda like it,i never was a BTB guy,i'm all for reconciiation if possiible ,i just don't like her medications as i know all of those she uses,xanax rohypnol,oxys and hydrocondone can easely be used as partydrugs,rapedrugs if you want,a person very close to me used xanax in combination with alcohol,it completly changed her personalty when she was on those

5***** so far

Yawn inducing drivel, how many times did you fall asleep while writing this?

Have me riveted to my seat. 5 stars

"I'm a woman Harriett. I can't and won't deal in honor and pride. Those are mans' things. I'm the she wolf. I'm the momma grizzly."

Women love to talk about a man's ego, however women like Leslie are nothing but pure ego! Ego = self. Making decisions only based on what they "feel" is best for THEM at any given moment. Honor is the opposite of ego, it is doing the right thing regardless of your ego (self), or any other obstacles for that matter. Doing the right thing, is always best for all in the long run.

Feelings are important, but tying yourself to a person that lives on feelings, going from mood to mood is a terrible idea. Many women do have honor. They do the right thing. The ones that don't are spoiled, selfish, bitches, ect. To be sure, there are many men that do not operate with honor. All of those people have limited usefulness in this world. They are very poor choices for any relationships that require trust and loyalty. Francis would be better off without Leslie and her creepy family. Good men are hard to find, and men like Francis with a good reputation will have no problem finding women who want to be with him. We can all learn from the mistakes of our youth. Pill popping Leslie has given him the perfect opportunity to trade up. It will be up to him to find a decent woman of honor. If he is smart, and if he has good friends, this is what will happen.

I'm sorry this is you we're talking about and any time any author mentions male ego and/or pride it almost always ends in RAAC. So simply put I'll put my money on RAAC then double down on it.

@ Sugna The author gets rid of the neighbor widow woman with child. The marriage statistics show the ex husbands (whose are kids) have high % successful SECOND marriage with lonely (divorced (from cheating/abuser husband), widow or single) moms with younger kids! The second marriage, where the new husbands or the new wives were cheaters are high % unsuccessful with newer divorce!

The Bitch needs to admit that she needs help and therapy. It also seems like everyone is on her side to get them back together, probably because they don't really understand the severity of her madness. Also it seems that her parents live in a very cold and loveless marriage. Her dad works almost all the time, her mom volunteers for charity way too often and has a serious drug problem to tolerate her husband and for all we know the two of them probably hate each other.

So she grew up in a privileged household with a flawed perception of a healthy relationship... SHE NEEDS TO SEE A THERAPIST, SHE ENDANGERED HER DAUGHTERS LIFE!!!

I can already tell where this story is gonna go and I don't hate reconciliations as long as the cheater fesses up and acknowledges that what he/she did was wrong, actually feels regret then seeks help and the husband gets to even up the score with a few dates with some cute girls.

i am enjoying this story and am looking forward to part3. I don't know where the story is heading but i would like them to reconcile if only for the kids

Now she wants him back. She wants forgiveness. The problem is, when you play, you pay. However, there's not enough money to buy him back. Fucking momma grizzly has no chance.

Just my dumb opinion.

Surprisingly I would go for reconciliation. Just seems his character is written so stronge that this would be possible

Just what RePhil said. Reconcilation seems the best way to go here.

I hope we don't have to wait so long for Part 3. I had to go back and re-read Part 1 to get back up to speed for Part 2.

She's a whore- plain and simple. She needs to find a biker gang, spread for the group, and he can move on with his life.

you had wife dig herself.

Look forward to if she climbs out, or hubby just buries her..

Thanks for the story

So often when we get to hear the "other side" of the story, it is a simple retelling of events, only with pronouns changed. SOME authors, you would swear, simply did a cut and paste with a minimally brief edit......

No, I liked the tact that Carvohi uses here to capture her thoughts. A literal drive down memory lane. It works because it offers the character development so many readers clamour for, when they request "a part 2...". In this case, it REALLY sheds light on her possible motivations: the pills(?). I rather liked the use of the phrase "her sewing kit". So illustrative, when it comes to both use AND approach......

So, not much more to say, as it is obvious that it is too soon for a final evaluation. But I had to say, good job, with some (and really MOST ALL) of what you are doing here. And as ALWAYS, Thanks so much for your efforts and contributions!

Let's dispose of one issue right at the beginning. West Virginia is the ultimate hillbilly factory?? I resemble that remark. On a more serious note I would suggest that on a site that supposedly focuses on marital breakups very few writers treat the issue as anything more than a simplistic cartoon. Carvohi's willingness to treat the issue seriously and to explore the realistic. Characters involved as something more than BTB fantasies probably means that he will never gain the reader approval he deserves. I frankly don't know how this story will end but the author realizes that the damage caused by infedelity will never be fully healed. I also look forward to discovering how Leslie's story is resolved. She can not be dismissed as a "cheating slut" since Carvohi has created a complex woman who has been psychologically damaged by her own parents. If she can not come to terms with her inner demons and reunite her family it will be a tragedy but a believable one created by a talented writer.

This was an uncommon "other side of the story" where the background information was new and relevant to the adultery. Not sure if she really deserves to be forgiven but you've offered her side in a way that at least allows for consideration. Instead of some outlandishly impossible plot twist you've provided a believable set if circumstances that lead to a poor decision. Not an inevitable decision simply a wrong decision with some reasoning behind the thinking. I'm not sure I'm in favor of what seems to be a current trend in blaming drugs but the historical and familial background helps it work here. Poor scores I'm sure from Francis not moving on but I'm going higher than I normally would because of your story telling.

It was a little long between the chapters, but worth the wait. Funny thing about this story is I am actually rooting for the wife. It is not because I believe in reconciliation so strongly, but because you wrote her out to be such a bitch during and right after her cheating that writing a plausible and acceptable reconciliation will be a hell of a challenge.

You can see why it happened. Leslie was raised by parents who are shallow, selfish and without any sense of ethics or any concept of what love is really supposed to be. They're probably both boffing their secretaries and personal trainers and seeing it as nothing more than getting their needs serviced by lowly menials. And they raised their little girl to be just like them. She got some sense of what it's like to be a real human being from Francis and the children she taught, but her parents have always been there to replant the seed of entitled, selfish bitch/bastard thinking in her whenever she's spent any time with them.

People calling for Leslie to "confess" and "own up" to what she's done, both in the story and in the comments, need to realize that it's not something that someone who's been raised the way she was can just decide to do. She needs professional counseling to "deprogram" her parents' upbringing out of her before she can see where it actually came from, which at this point you can tell she doesn't because she's still spouting the old "I don't know how I could have done it," and "it just happened" BS. And she'll need to cut her parents totally out of her life for good, the way that recovering addicts have to cut themselves off from people who are still using. If she can do this, she might have a chance to become worthy of Francis' forgiveness and a reconciliation, but it really would be an "at all costs" sort of thing, because they'll both have to put in some heavy lifting to get there.

So long, so many words, so little actual story.

Great character and plot details continue. Seems like we're headed for a reunion but the advice of Harriet will have to be taken. She will have to tell Francis of her insecurities revolving about pert coeds, her own shorter skirts etc. Francix still pines for her or wouldnt have defended her and punched thst guy bad moughing her. I'd take her back perhaps but the hand cuffs would be on her a lot and the fucking she got would be a bit vigorous..

No 'recalling' about turning the kids around or erasing the evidence or obtainning evidence; but alot of, well, crap.Then about drugs, presciption and otherwise and Richard's 'love'.

Leslie doesn't look real at all.

I like your rahabilitating the 'scum of the earth' stories a lot.

By the way, are you not close to any children?

Usually Ilike your stories; not this one.

Character growth wouldn't be quite enough to explain the vast difference between this woman in chapter one and chapter two. It's too extreme, and it doesn't feel like the story is continuing with even remotely the same people we left off with.

There was a certain perplexing mercenary mindset to her in chapter one, which certainly matched up with some women I've known. This guilt-ridden, weepy, "accept all the blame," part...not so much.

This is closer to real people. Real feelings. Real grayness of the mess of real life. Stupid decisions stupid feelings LIFE. Its great but it hurts to read. Makes me feel blessed and my marriage ptoblems small.

First, glad to see a non over the top BTB tale. I find this category interesting for LitE, in part because often the stories contain no erotica. They are studies of the characters. What's disturbing for the heavy BTB stories is that the erotica seems to be revenge itself. That's a lot of anger in writer and reader both. It is also usually pretty misogynistic, as the rarer stories of cheating husbands get far less flame.

That said, I can't reconcile parts 1 and 2. Characterizations have changed too much. The wife didn't carry on an affair, she played a very aggressive game against her husband. How did she realize he was tracking her? What made her remember the car's GPS? Getting to the attendant? After so long married, how did she think she could go 'femme fatale' and convince her 'alpha' husband he didn't see what go clearly did, and that his convo with the motel employee didn't happen as well as other elements? She wasn't hiding it, she was bullying him into accepting a fake story. That doesn't match up.

And where/why did you add the high functioning self medicator? And if she was so much of one, how wouldn't she recognise rohypnol? Part of the control issues with self mediators (and you alluded to control issues as well) is believing you know enough to control your chemical balance. She'd have been quite aware of the uses of each drug. That one in particular is obviously infamous.

The husband hasn't seemed overly strong or confident yet either for some mythic 'alpha'.

Just not convinced by the characters yet, much less having any understanding of their motivations.

forgotten virtually all of Ch. 01. I assume this is the first we've heard about the sewing kit. This woman is whacko. Her long drive was boring, but I guess it was the author's vehicle for her to reflect.

Once again, this was not badly written. But it seemed like a laundry list of Leslie's shortcomings. It still didn't explain why she just left the first time. Why she left her kids. That, to me, was the least forgivable sin. Why aren't the kids telling their Mother that they miss her and want her back? Why would that "Alpha" dog Father of theirs simply abandon them? Especially his Daughter? Leaving her with his parents has to be one of the bigger gutless/spineless moves I've seen in this story. And it made no sense, even in a fictional story. So I will wait for the next chapter. (Which needs to be posted faster). And I will withhold my vote. If you continue to meander around and not go anywhere, the score will reflect that.

Whenever Leslie spent time with her parents, they made a point of denigrating her "hillbilly" husband and the family she was raising with them, and eventually they managed to bring out the selfish, immoral rich bitch they worked so hard at raising her to be. Francis had photos of her with Weatherby at her mom and dad's house; they probably pushed him at her.

Weatherby probably has a bug detector app running 24/7 on his iPhone so he won't get caught hiring illegal aliens, bribing government officials or whatever else he does that makes him the man her mom and dad approve of.

Leslie's lying and manipulation are the kinds of things people like her parents probably do all the time to all the "little people" they think are too stupid to figure things out and too terrified of what will happen if they don't do whatever they're told. Except that Francis did figure things out, and he wasn't too terrified to act on what he knew.

I think there was too much devoted to Leslie's past that was not really relevant to the story.

Her parents are stuck up society snobs, if you are not at there social level you are a pion.not acceptable ,a low life.

You've got me so tied up in this that I really need to know what happens next. I hope we don't have to wait too long for the next installment.

I do see a bit of a disconnect between the protagonists over the ways each perceived the other. Francis doesn't really know his wife very well, and Leslie really underestimated his resolve by trying to make him miss her.

I can, however, understand his ignoring the obvious drug use by his wife. I was equally unable to confront my exwife's prescription pill addiction (including most of the same drugs as Leslie). It is very hard to accept that someone you have so much invested in is dependent on drugs to get through the day. It wasn't until the endgame of my own marriage that I was able to see just how dependent she had become.

Kept my interest, good insights into Leslie, but they dont seem to square with her behavior....she seems much nicer and more in love with Francis than the first chapter seemed to indicate in her actions and speech. Hope Chpt 3 brings it all together.

Dont get too caught up in whether it is categorized as BTB, RAAC-just tell a good story, of which you have so far. Looking forward to the continuation.

is that I have to wait for the rest.

would ever accept anything as Simple. TK U MLJ LV NV

Too many excuses to justify her spreading her legs multiple times for the boyfriend. All her thoughts here were about the good times not what she did. The lying, the coverup, turning the kids against him all sucks yet not word one about it. Looks like your finishing Revelations will be postponed yet again by the unnecessary continuation of this tale.

Not sure why we wasted an entire page on her drugs. Then there was the entire page on her travel itinerary.

Who is this woman? I don't know. She certainly bears hardly any resemblance to the woman who seemed not to care a whit about her husband in part one.

However, I did like that Kipling poem.

How can she care for Francis and not have given a crap about his heart when she nes he had found out about her affair. Her smug disregard for anything other than the fact she had destroyed his evidence gives proof of the lying pos she really is. Btw, why would Francis be too stupid to not have at least taken a few cell phone pics anyway?

Because she really doesn't know herself. Her parents raised her to be just like them. She thought that Francis and the various other people she's known over the years had changed her into a different, better person, but the reality was that like an addiction, her parents' upbringing and values were still lurking within her, waiting to be brought out. And she's still not seeing it now, because her thoughts are not about the pain she has caused her husband and her children and how she might be able to try and make things right for them, but how she can manipulate the situation and mount a campaign to get back the life she trashed and has now decided that she wants back. In her head, it's still all about her.

I like it, I like the suspense. Whether they get back together or not, You spin a nice story. I dont do anonymous like some of the pussies do on Lit

than Pt. 1. But the Leslie of this chapter seems a different human being from the monster who treated Francis with such cruelty and disdain.

...but there seems to be some truth in the saying that authors always show parts of their longings in their stories. Your BTB- and similar stories were great. This one is becoming ridiculous - no man would be and react this stupid.

As an author, I completely understand that you're not exactly sure where this story is going, although I tend to know the beginning and the end before the novel starts, but in the center, well, I tend to go along for the ride as much as the reader!

"I felt terrible; I'd been a liar, a whore, a deceitful bitch."

And you have been, Leslie. You're a nasty cheating, diseased riddled cunt that deserves what comes, as long as it's not her husband. When you open your legs, cheating on your spouse, your mate for life, you deserve nothing.

My own wife did the same thing. An old boyfriend, the one that popped her cherry and she thought she would marry someday, returned after about 5 years of marriage. I was the last to know, of course, and when I found out, it was devastation for me. They had gotten together at least 6 times that she admitted and the moment she did admit what I confronted her with, I turned on my heel and left the house. And our town, and state, moving across country. I did even bother to get my clothes, I just turned and left.

About 2 years after I left, she tracked me down. From Virginia where we had lived, she found me in Eastern Oregon, working on a cattle ranch. I'd left no tracks behind me, but when I bought a tiny little piece of property, 2.5 acres, with a tiny shack on it, 16'x22", it had to be recorded for me to received my deed. That put me on the radar instantly, since I'd been working under the table, getting cash for my work.

I was working on my cabin when she drove up. It needed work before it would be livable, it had sat empty for 30 years and mice and packrats were everywhere. She looked beautiful when she stepped out of her rented car, more beautiful than I remembered. She was crying and tried to hug me, but I positioned myself behind a chair so she couldn't get to me. After we each took a seat, I asked her what she wanted and when she told me it was 'me' she wanted, I just laughed. If I were just me, then why did she have to seek out an old boyfriend, a cock on the side? That made her cry again. Then I asked her if she'd been celibate over the past two years. Although she swore she had, I'd lived with her too long to not read what was in her eyes. After a while, I asked if she wanted something to drink and when she did, I told her I had nothing there, but to wait and I'd run up to the main house (the boss's place) and I'd come back with a picnic basket and something to drink. I could see her distrust and she asked if she could ride along, but I told her to just stay there and explore instead.

I drove away without any plans to return, she needed to understand she was my past. Stopping at my boss's place, I gave him my resignation, and in 10 minutes I'd packed my gear and he gave me what was owed to me and I left again. I drove away without a glance backward. That was 18 months ago and she just found me again.

New Mexico was my next stop. This time I didn't buy anything to give myself away. Instead, I went to work for room and board along with my salary. Somehow, perhaps she knew my license plate number or something, but when I came out of the restaurant kitchen with a couple drinks that had been ordered, I found her seated at the bar I worked at. She was angry I'd left her and wanted to made amends, she still loved me and I'd better sit down and hear her out. I told her alright, then hollered into the kitchen I needed a break, would someone spell me. Old John said he'd be right there and so I tossed my apron and told the 'ex' I'd be right back, I needed to use the restroom first. I didn't stop there, but continued out the back door and into my truck and drove away.

Now as I sit here in my Oregon shack, I've been here 11 months since she found me in New Mexico, a car just pulled in. I returned to finish fixing the place, got my job back and moved in. The place is beautiful and I'd hoped to stay here forever. But I see who just stepped out of the car.

She found me again.

She was drug-addicted – through active encouragement by both her mother and her previous/current lover? Her parents actively worked against her marriage?

I guess these are both plausible… especially in how you deftly portrayed these events (you’re a heck of a writer and I look forward to reading your work)… but I can’t help but compare this story to DQS’s, “When we were married”… the story was so compelling – in part because it was so relatable… these were normal people… and then… all of a sudden (for those of you who've followed the second and third acts of WWWM) he turns into a J Bond-style attorney with super villains around every corner, overcoming a near-death experience in every other chapter… Through losing its realism, the story lost its impact…

Consider how ordinary the storyline, the characters, the excuses, the reactions were in “A Boilerplate Rendering” by TheUnoriginalist. Part of the power of the tale came from the fact that I could imagine myself in his shoes… feeling what he felt….

I know some people use drugs… but leveraging drug use (that has miraculously been so impactful, and yet, gone undetected for decades) as a plot device weakens to some extent the credibility, but more importantly, the relatability (and thus, the impact) of this story for me… It sounds like excuse-making in a forced way to derive sympathy for her… too forced for me to comfortably stomach…

She is an addict. Her mom is an addict. Her uncle is a pusher. Her former boyfriend is a pusher. She has not admitted to being an addict. She has not sought treatment. She has successfully hidden her addictions from her husband and her children. She will destroy her husband.

The drug use presents a distraction. Boyfriend gave her the date rape drug. She was willing? Wow. But how does any of this play into the main theme? Reconciliation looks inevitable. Surprise deviation would disappoint.

I LIKE YOUR STORY. I HOPE FOR A HPPY ENDING AND LOOK FORWARD TO THE NEXT PART(S).

This is a tiring story. Your character's behavior makes no sense. And your inability to explain your characters thinking indicates you have no imagination or talent for suspenseful drama. I'm going to bed.

well written and does hold your interest. As I have said before, I like your writing style, though I do think you tend to emasculate your males somewhat by making them think they can't live without the woman who cheated on them. But in this case I think you called it right. A different direction from the first chapter and the male lead is still holding his mud, so to speak and bravo for that.

Hopefully not a reconciliation coming up, she did show absolute disdain for him in chapter one, going so far as to gloat over the fact that she ruined his evidence and she did talk the kids into video taping him in his own house. Which leads me to the realization that maybe he should have paid closer attention to how the unfaithful bitch was raising his kids and the crap that she was filling their heads with. But ultimately they are the ones responsible for the betrayal of their father. If they would have been my kids they would have had harder asses and softer heads. The first definitely leads to the second.

She was more than aggressive and she was less than honest and now she claims she was on dope. I think that to take your word for how she acted, by her own description would be too simplistic. I think you are writing this with enough wiggle room for us to jump to our own conclusions about the direction of their relationship and then you are going to go in a completely different direction on us. Tried to give you 4 stars on this one but the rating site jumped and all you got was a 3 and I am sorry for that.

It's that simple. It's over. This is bullshit twisting of things to make it seem like it's something forgivable. It's not. She ought to be flayed alive for what she's done.

1 star

Good story. They both need help him for a broken heart and ego. Her for never growing up. She behaves like High School student not a middle age fully grown up adult. Time to grow up.

I look forward to the rest of the story. I gave it a 4* for now. My final vote and comment will be my ultimate feelings for your effort.

Thanks.

carvohi has fixed most of the problems with the inconsistencies of the wife's behavior in the first story here. The story is also setup to go in any direction from here so well done on that point. I particularly like the way we're left with the conflicting emotions on the part of a several of the important characters. I hope carvohi fells free to conclude any way he feels like. It doesn't have to be btb if he doesn't feel like it.

Now, thanks to your unveiling of Leslie I believe there is hope for her if she can get her shit together. The thing to remember is that Francis doesn't have the advantage of knowing Leslie's thoughts like we do; and she has destroyed his trust in her. When I think back to part 1, and how I felt about her then; I have to say her chances don't look good.

Richard should pay dearly for what he's did to Francis.

what to do about Richard and her parents. he knew she was married. but then he did find out she was "ripe for the picking". so punish him or leave him alone? the parents need to receive some grief. grief that they really feel. hope you read these comments and use some of the ideas presented. thanks for 2 really fine chapters. waiting for #3

I'm for reconciliation: Francis & Leslie need each other, and Victoria needs them both. But she's never said 'no' to Richard and she's going to have to figure out how, and do it soon and often.

Leslie says that Richard never told her why he came back to Baltimore. My guess is that their meeting again and the resulting affair was all orchestrated by her parents. All three of them need to be toasted to a crisp, and the best way to do it would be to somehow deprive them of their wealth and status and leave them living in a trailer park somewhere in southern Appalachia.

Carvohi is a bit (or maybe more) verbose, including (unnecessary) redundancy, BUT he presents First-Class tales.

Hubby is way too much a Boy Scout, as he himself admits early on! Sweetie's fall from grace is, at this point in the tale, mysterious. She was (plenty long enough) removed from her parents' influence. Mr. Boy Scout's support of her drug habit is a significant out-of-character deviance!

5*. Eagerly awaiting further development!

Am I taking votes? Yes, in a way. Leslie and Francis part three is well outlined and partly written, but I wanted to wait and read peoples' comments. I want to tell the best story I can, and I've seen in the past with other stuff I missed the boat because I jumped in before I got any outside ideas. Due to that Leslie and Francis are about a week away.

Also I want to thank everyone for their comments. I've only deleted one nasty comment so far, and, though it was anonymous, I know who wrote it.

And one last note; the story has covered about a year so far, and I expect it will cover at least that much more time. One comment writer acknowledged time heals wounds. If there is to be a reconciliation, and that's not guaranteed, Francis will need time reflect and Leslie will need to find a way to 'fess up'.

I'm having a lot of fun with Leslie as I work through part three. Please be patient.

just reading, watching and waiting,

Sometimes, endings justify journeys.

We'll see.

I really enjoyed the first two parts, and anxiously await the third installment. Glad you're having fun doing it, as I'm sure that your joy in your work will reward the readers when published.

but I'm glad we have something to look forward to. I kind of got bored during the drive back home. All the events in Leslie's past life didn't really add to the story, but some did. Certain the drugs will be a major issue that she will need to deal with. Seems like the kids probably want her back. It's just getting Francis to come around. It seems he has a stubborn streak in him. I'd say can't come back as the sultry seductress, but as a meek, repentant woman who finally recognizes her place in life, and her own self worth isn't what she thought it was.

I usually like the BTB endings, but I think forgiveness is in order here, though as you say, it may take another year. Leslie has to gain Francis' trust, because of the deep hurt, and that doesn't happen over night.

My vote is to bring them back together, and with that, I end my comment with 5 *'s.

I had a senior moment and had to go back and read chapter one. Then I remembered that I hated Leslie and felt very frustrated by Francis. He seemed very slow on the take but completely innocent.

After the road trip I understand Leslie better and realize she is a victim as well as an obnoxious, cheating bitch. If Francis had known the details of her background before marrying they would have had a chance. Now I feel sorry for both of them but do not think that a reconciliation would be a good thing...

The author usually gives little hints along the way but I have no idea on this one, reconciliation or not. Can't wait to see!

Misuse of prescription drugs is America's biggest drug problem, killing more people each year than heroin and cocaine combined. There's nothing in the story that suggests that Francis supported Leslie's drug habit and her "sewing kit," or even knew that she was using, apart from the drug she was prescribed for narcolepsy that he speculated might have helped prevent the auto accident. Leslie appears to have been a "functioning addict," in that her drug use doesn't seem to have ever caused her to behave noticeably out of character to those around her.

I am sorry for the neighbor widow woman with kid she lost her husband and next she lost a second husband possibility...............

Others have pointed out some of the difficulty reconciling the manipulative bitch of chapter 1 with the (at least somewhat) penitent wife of chapter 2. I think sdc97230 does the most plausible job of explaining this.

Leslie is well-educated, and seems at times fairly intelligent (the two don't always go together). However, at other times she's lacking in self awareness, and can be very dense. For example, seemingly not realizing what Richard did to her with the drugs both in college and recently? Pretty dang clueless. I will say that the drug addiction can help with explaining some of her stupidity. My wife was on prescription drugs for years, and while at times depressed and anxious, was not incoherent. However, at a certain point, she became manic and very much lost touch with reality. This can happen to people who are normally quite intelligent, and can greatly affect attitude as well. Anger and arrogance can manifest to a much greater degree than normal for the person. I'm not sure that I'm 100% sold, but between her upbringing and the drugs I'm willing to consider it.

If there is to be a chance for them to reconcile, she needs to do more than just want it or be determined. As others have noted, she really needs to get off the drugs, get counseling, really change her life. Plus, as sdc97230 noted, she'll have to decide if she wants her marital family or her family of origin. To quote him: "And she'll need to cut her parents totally out of her life for good, the way that recovering addicts have to cut themselves off from people who are still using." Couldn't agree more. She's shown that she can at times go against their advice and thinking, but where is the anger for all the years of them not supporting her marriage, and in fact actively subverting it? She needs to be angry enough to leave them in her past.

I think the author has poured his heart and soul into this very realistic tale.

This part is really atmospheric and conveys exactly the emotions involved in an attempt at regaining someone's attention and possibly more.

Whatever she has done, this is an awesome account of the fear and torture she is going through to try and reverse the damage she has done.

Whatever anyone else says Carvohi, you are portraying very realistic emotions in presenting this.

Thank you - 5 *s.

No matter how angry you get at someone, it's still a temporary state of emotion. Eventually it passes, or you just get too tired to maintain it, and you start to come down from it. What Leslie needs to do is recognize that her parents are unalterably toxic to her marriage, her family and to her own emotional well being, and then commit to permanently cutting them totally out of her life in favor of her husband and children. Like any recovering addict, one little taste of them and she'll start the downward slide toward becoming the daughter they want her to be again.

For sharing.

It seems as if they all want to be reunited....but I think they may have grown past each other. How long has she been gone....a year? People move on in that amount of time. Francis may be able to put aside his alpha ego...but she abandoned him and her children to shack up with another man. In Francis's world loyalty is everything and Leslie stepped all over it. He might love her but is probably not in love with her any longer. I see her pursuing him but the magic is gone and the world turns. Nothing can be the same. Good luck.

5x5

....vague feeling that I've watched a similar drama unfold into the real world.

It has that sense of characters as people that is rare in story-telling. The people we're reading about seem more real. We read narrative, internal dialog, interaction with friends and family, and each is unique. And through their thoughts, action and interactions, we meet their weaknesses, flaw, foibles and their failings, as well as their defining characteristics, their strengths, their nature. And you write women almost as well as you write men.

I find the 'sewing kit' references interesting. A highschool friend married a gal that eventually blew up their lives and marriage. She had a pharmacy in a large portfolio her projects (graphics art and design) were kept in. She was being supplied by her lover. She went too far and killed someone while under the influence (DUI, in that state). The whole sordid thing came out. He was devastated and ruined, she went to prison and lost her family, career and everything else that mattered to her....all for some dope and a 'hot bod'.

It will be interesting to see this play out.

Thank you.

Chapters? Saw it was a two part story, now I'm hooked. Really good so far.

if you don't come up with an end I'll go nuts. I've got to know what happens.

I hope you can put them back together. I would feel differently if she was still cheating but she appears to have learned her lesson and it takes a BIG man to be able to forgive AND FORGET

It takes a BIGGER man to be able to forgive, NOT FORGET, and MOVE ON to someone DESERVING of love and fidelity

(see what I did there?)

...still, - 8 months is a time frame that makes it very hard to reconcile. Honestly, everyone makes mistakes now and then, but a mistake that lasts on for nearly a year is a problem in itself. They might come back; but in any case (and to satisfy those who seek revenge) her parents, her Ex and so-called friends who made this possible, should have to pay for their sceme in alienating that marriage.I would like to see her parents go broke over their scemes, thus bringing them back to reality!

...still, - 8 months is a time frame that makes it very hard to reconcile. Honestly, everyone makes mistakes now and then, but a mistake that lasts on for nearly a year is a problem in itself. They might come back; but in any case (and to satisfy those who seek revenge) her parents, her Ex and so-called friends who made this possible, should have to pay for their sceme in alienating that marriage.I would like to see her parents go broke over their scemes, thus bringing them back to reality! There has been a universe of dealing with illegal drugs - enough to hang them. So: Instead BTB it might be BTF (Burn the family)

...still, - 8 months is a time frame that makes it very hard to reconcile. Honestly, everyone makes mistakes now and then, but a mistake that lasts on for nearly a year is a problem in itself. They might come back; but in any case (and to satisfy those who seek revenge) her parents, her Ex and so-called friends who made this possible, should have to pay for their scheme in alienating that marriage.I would like to see her parents go broke over their schemes, thus bringing them back to reality! There has been a universe of dealing with illegal drugs - enough to hang them. So: Instead BTB it might be BTF (Burn the family)

...still, - 8 months is a time frame that makes it very hard to reconcile. Honestly, everyone makes mistakes now and then, but a mistake that lasts on for nearly a year is a problem in itself. They might come back; but in any case (and to satisfy those who seek revenge) her parents, her Ex and so-called friends who made this possible, should have to pay for their scheme in alienating that marriage.I would like to see her parents go broke over their schemes, thus bringing them back to reality! There has been a universe of dealing with illegal drugs - enough to hang them. So: Instead BTB it might be BTF (Burn the family)

my internet-connection destroyed me. Did not want to repeat but cannot delete it...mea culpa!

like the way you write and the story line, but just has way more commentary then needed to keep my interest

This doesn't stand as an independent chapter .

Mainly it's her apologia . Her return to her children . Carvohi , how can the antagonist have no idea of her reason for her actions?? That is something a mentally ill person would do. But your description of her doesn't allow for it.The retrospection resolved nothing. No explanation for her actions.She is not mentally ill so; she cheated for revenge or because she was forced( blackmail?), or for the extreme gratification ( pleasure or money).

I am glad you like this, because I didn't and so gave you 2*s.

And those passive Baltimore in-laws, unbelievable!! Really ! Look at it's history !!

Anyway ,thanks for the story. I'm not very

AMerryMan

She doesn't really have no idea how it happened. She doesn't have any idea that doesn't require her to face up to the fact that she doesn't deserve her husband and children and that they're all better off without her.

...this story is going, but in my mind (what's left of it) that's a good thing. The story needs at least 1, if not 2 more chapters to reach resolution. Please submit them soon. At this point, reconciliation isn't out of the picture, but it is kind of distant. Victoria really needs her mother. A BTB ending wouldn't resolve her need. However, Victoria also needs her father in the picture. Maybe--the anonys are gonna hate me for this--they lived apart (Leslie & Francis) but kept the family intact. Hmmm, that would be a different ending in LW.....

then comes the alibis, excuses and explanations. TK U MLJ LV NV

At least put the next chapter up. Almost 2 weeks since you loaded this one. I don't see a BTB story, but not nessasarily a reconsiliation either. Great job so far.

I have this mental image of him sitting in front of his computer with two versions of the last chapter, BTB or RAAC, tearing his hair out trying to decide which one to submit.

Okay, I normally never rate a part 1, and though it was a Carhovi story and therefore among the best you'll read on this site, I didn't like the unevenness of it and only gave it a four. After reading part 2, I see that I should indeed have waited. He left bread crumbs I didn't follow; maybe not as artfully as one might, but part 2 is in many ways a virtual stand alone. It almost doesn't need part 1 at all, in my opinion. I look forward to seeing part 3, however it turns out. The drug thing is pretty odd- do people really just take random stuff and not research the effects? Maybe some do, but it is a recipe for disaster. Leslie needs to get on Medline ASAP!

Put up two chapters one BTB the other reconciliation with a Dose of humility for her Parents.

and him waffling back and forth over this makes no sense, he has character and morals, she cheated, its over period. She lied to him, betrayed him, tried to deceive him, make out he was the bad guy in the situation, really what part of this indecisive husband isn't totally out of character and just plain wrong?

...in a positive kind of way I agree that something drastic has to happen; only then can Francis jump over his own shadow and consider reconcillation. Let her cut out completely with those junk-parents of hers. They love money? They consider themselves to be better human beings? She should break them down and get even at the same time: Let her sue them for supplying drugs without prescription, let them lose everything they value. Leslie has been turned into a junky by her own mother. Let her pay. Get her parents a n d her Ex-lover sued for alienantion, wrecking up her marriage or whatever. That should show Francis whether she is serious about returning or not. Not BTB but Burn The Culprits.

There are plenty of reasons to strike out at a story, adult themed or other wise, but my entertainment is in reading a piece which advances and has characters in flux. I am enjoying your words.

"Oh please God, Jesus, I need you. I really need you. I'm not Jezebel."

Yes, you are Jezebel, Leslie. You are a whore that spread her legs after saying your vows to one another and Me. A return to your husband is unlikely, he doesn't wish for the leavings of another man.

Now onto Leslie's first day back!

Congrats. Good chapter. Four out of five. Leslie's POV is exactly what this story needed. It gave me knew insight into her character and everything rang true. I'm not sure is ready to be completely truthful with Francis yet and that is the only thing that is going to work. Everything rang true about this story except that she was a teacher. That doesn't strike me as a job and upper class, privileged young woman would pick as a career. It isn't ruining the story by any means for me but it surprised me a bit. This story actually reminds me a bit of Nelson DeMille's Gold Coast and Gatehouse. The female charter in those novels had nasty rich parents too. But at least she got a trust fund. I look forward to the next chapter. Cheers Steve

It might work. It appears you want to overwrite the first chapter Leslie you created, so now you introduce a drug dependency that affecter her behavior in the first chapter. It might work. But drug use is a symptom of a deeper character flaw, so you will have to be clever how you make her actions pardonable, but not make her to be a drugged up dumb shit or crack whore. Such a person would have been a shitty wife and mother from day one, and that's not what you have portrayed for her character. I look forward to see how plausibly you get out of this box.

Too much re-hashing, too much back-story.

Re: Health Plan – I don’t claim to be an expert, and maybe there are exceptions, but in my experience health plans are either Individual or Family, to cover the kids he’d need “Family” which would automatically cover Leslie.

When she returns she tells her friend that she is going to win her man back and bag him like a deer on the hood of a hunter's car. No mention of how she would heal Francis and her children caused by abandoning them. She went to Baltimore and dated Richard. Now she says she must have been crazy. Her words created by this author. How could Francis' parents have taken her side against him?

Even if she told herself that she was naming her first child after Richard Gere. Any one who knew her from college including Richard would think it was after him. The first son is usually named after the father or a grandfather or another important person in the family's life. She chose the same name as her lover. This is not a coincidence. Unless the author is an idiot.