Cumming To Terms

Jan Roth thought that her marriage was happy. She had still no clue, after 23 years of marriage to Reuben Roth, that he was not pleased or satisfied with her performance. She was just too vanilla for his taste, plain and simple. She only wanted missionary sex- albeit a lot of it.

There were other factors as well. Jan was Episcopalian, and a devout one at that, whereas Reuben was Jewish. Jan had been a virgin on her wedding night. Reuben had several girls before her. He had even cheated on her during their engagement, figuring that she had no right to object, since she was not putting out for him.

Being the sort to follow his commitments, however, as long as others lived up to theirs, Reuben quit cheating as soon as they were married. He no longer felt right sleeping around on someone who was now holding up her end of the bargain. He still felt that she was not opening up enough to sexual possibilities, though, which should not have surprised him, since she was a more conservative member of her church.

Reuben was convinced that he would be happiest in a monogamous setting, or had been, just as he had been convinced that his teenage infatuation would make for a lasting, loving marriage. Both notions were obviously false by now, but he was not one to break his vows, and he did not want to hurt the children, so he stayed until the last one was ready to go. All of this time, his sweet, suburban wife was oblivious to his dissatisfaction.

He did not have anyone in particular lined up yet, but that was okay. He just wanted out of this unsatisfactory marriage. He was tired of the clashes between them. He was equally tired of her reluctance to do anything inventive in bed. He was weary of her determination to be "Supermom", working her tail off, to the point that she rarely had time to think, or take an interest in intellectual matters, or politics, both of which intrigued him.

All of this added up to his decision, made earlier, but implemented now, to leave Jan, and ask for a divorce. The kids were grown, so there would be no custody, child support, or other child-related issues, and the mortgage was paid off, so the house could be let go without trouble.

"Jan, honey, I need to talk with you. Can you sit down for a bit? This isn't good news, I'm afraid."

"Okay, sweetie, but I have little time, so we can make it quick, or talk later?"

"Jan, that's part of the problem. You're working yourself into an early grave. You need to scale back a bit with the activities, but that's not the main issue. Jan, it pains me to admit this, but I want a divorce."

"A what?"

"A divorce. We're over. I'm sorry, but I can't take any more of this marriage, now that the kids are gone."

"You mean that you have stayed for them?"

"Yes."

"How long have you felt like this?"

"3 years, at least."

"Jesus Christ! Why didn't you say something?"

"Because, it was already too far gone to help, even then."

"Do you mean that talking, and therapy, such as counseling, couldn't help?"

"You don't get it, Jan. We were high school sweethearts, and we fell into the trap of thinking that we should get married, because it was more romantic. We should have made sure that we were more compatible. I don't think that we are."

"Well, I just don't get this. I have been very happy in this marriage, but you haven't?"

"Nope. That's the problem. We're too different. You're happy with missionary-style sex, as long as you get it daily. I'm all for regular sex, but I need variety. I am tired of vanilla."

"Vanilla? What's that?"

"What traditionally is done. Vaginal, missionary-style, monogamous sex, with no kinks or fetishes."

"Where do you get these terms? Porno magazines?"

"Yep, and other sources. The point is that we are not really right for each other. We never were, but we fell for the old myth that 'love conquers all'."

"Is that it? Sex?"

"No. There is also the fact that you are still trying to convert me to Christianity, or at least get me to church, after over 2 decades of marriage. I'm happy being Jewish, like my parents, and I don't see anything wrong with the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

"Well, if you are sure that you don't want to be married to me, I will let you go, on one condition."

"What's that?"

"I think that we will both be kinda lonely and horny in between spouses, so I must insist that I get to have sex with you, once a month."

"Once a month?"

"Yes. Ex sex, once a month."

"Won't this make you feel weird, doing me outside of marriage, against your religion?"

"Not really. You are still my soulmate, and I want at last a chance of getting you back, plus, I have never made love to any other man, so I need to adjust to the change."

"Wow! Okay, I suppose that will be acceptable, for now, but I can't promise anything in the future."

"That's fine. Eventually, I will find a new mate, and I will release you from that condition."

"Thank you."

"Deal, then?"

"Deal."

It was the strangest bargain that Reuben Roth had ever struck in his life, but he figured that it could be worse.

To be continued...