All Comments on 'Imbalance Pt. 01'

The narrator has his good points and some significant bad ones. The wife has a measure of rationale for her adultery. Fuck Doug though. No excuse for him. You forget your wife's birthday because of work . That's messed up. Dial it back or get another gig. See 7 Habits of Highly Successful People for what I'm talking about. Work is work and you should do it well. Family is FAMILY.

No one dies wishing they put more hours in the office. One semi-sublime touch is relating how the narrator and Doug screwed over smarter , more deserving intern to get first step up on career ladder. Now he's surprised that his fellow snake that he gave unfettered access to home shafted him ? Excellent, excellent karmic nuance by Javmor79.

Full marks. * * * * *

Definitely interested to see where this is going. As with all of your stories I have read, there is a level of complication in the characters and in our sympathies to them that I find enjoyable. For me, this is not the simple BTB story where I want to see Frank humiliate Claire.

Yes, Claire cheated on Frank and that makes us feel bad for him, and root for him to find his way through it. But its also clear that there were plenty of things that led up to her cheating; that Claire didn't commit adultery in a cold and callous manner. So many little things maybe, but enough that when they add up we (or at least I) can feel sympathy for her as well. And anytime you have kids, you want to see the parents at least figure out a way not to kill each other.

Hearing her call out Doug's name definitely played out as heartbreaking as I'm sure it was meant to be. I can understand Frank's immediate need for revenge, and calling in the "marine" probably means this will get bad before it gets better. But you have created two compelling characters in Frank and Claire that have drawn me into this story, so I look forward to chapter 2.

P.S.: Using the names Frank and Claire has me wondering if you're a fan of the show Outlander. Probably not, but the main married couple in it are named Frank and Claire. Well actually Claire is kinda married to another guy now in another time (look its complicated but the missus enjoys it). If we travel back to 18th century Scotland I'll have my answer.

well we kind of KNEW this was going to be the case right? ?..I mean this is a JAVMOR story so that is kind of required

Yawn

The talent and skill of this writer is beyond question... but so is the constant need to blame the husband NO MATTER what the wife does.

For example the cunt whore bitch has been fucking doug for at least 6 months. Yet Mr brillant engineer never gets around to saying.... "why didnt ever tell me you were this miserable before you started to FUCK other men.?"

SECOND the cunt whore wife started the conversation NOT to try ans "save" the marriage but to TELL him it was over and she was in love with another man.

The husband being brillant FAILS to see this KEY DEDUCTION. ----which is this

They have 2 small children and the wife INTENTIONALLY rather fuck doug... Destroy the marriage... Ruin the family... And emtionally crush her 2 kids rather than even talk to her husbsnd 1 time

WOOOOOOW

But of course this will never come up in the story and the husband will take the vast majority of blame. You see the wife wasnt getting enough cock....

The only reason I'll be looking out for the next part to this is because of the allure of scorched earth. I mean, we all know hubby will blink first and call off his "Marine", or at the very least cry into the ashes after all is said and done, agonizing over this latest "mistake" he's made in life. But it'll be interesting to see him "Hulk Out", so to speak.

That said, in the end I don't give a damn about any of these characters.

Don't care about hubby: He's a workaholic who's had his head up his ass for so long that he has no idea what's going on around him. And that bit about the difference between muscle cars and luxury cars made him sound so unbearably pompous. Reminds me of an old joke: What's the difference between a BMW and a porcupine? With a porcupine, the pricks are on the outside.

Don't care about wifey: She may be entirely justified in feeling underappreciated, but there's no indication that she ever made any REAL effort to make those feelings known. Where were those angry, resentful outbursts BEFORE she started her affair? She herself never even hints that she ever tried to sit her husband down and really talk to him. Communication is a two-way street, and there's nothing here saying that she tried to open a channel.

Don't care about Doug: No one cares about Doug. Mostly because he has no lines and is never physically introduced in the story, but still. Except for wifey. I would say that a real relationship between them wouldn't last, since Doug is obviously a snake; if his best friend couldn't trust him, how could she? But apparently they've had a real relationship for a year now, complete with dates and everything. I doubt he'd be down for helping to raise her kids, though.

Speaking of the kids, don't care about them either: They barely have a presence in the story, to the point where I forgot they even existed at least twice. I can already tell they're only in the story to muddy the waters in the divorce, and probably to be the catalyst for a reconciliation.

I'm hoping things will change, at least with the two main players, once the blame puck stops being passed around and they acknowledge that they're both shit and move on from there.

Withholding my score for now. Gonna wait to see how this all ties together.

Laf199 Outlander, really??

I hope the two cheaters get cleaned out. Nice start.

I hate this story. And I gave it 5 stars. It really bothers me. And that’s the hallmark of good writing, it connects to the reader viscerally. And now I’m upset that I have to wait for part 2. Further, the characters are realistic. That’s part of why it connects to the reader. Well done.

Great story so far. Of course, there are no excuses for cheating. There was no mention of her demanding him to work on their marriage before she cheated. So, she never gave him a chance. He admits to stealing another engineers work to sabotage him with Doug. So, he is a POS as well as Doug. Now we have three POS that are all unlikable. That makes it easier to watch them all suffer for their sins.

Well let's see how my REAL life compares to this story:

Engineer (with a Ph.D - elite school, and all that crap!) working 70+ hours/week at a Silicon Valley startup making a new kind of "engine" (ok, not the mechanical kind, but...). Two kids almost the same ages as Frank and Clair's. Been married just a bit over those 11 years. Wife tells me (some time ago now) that she's "miserable" (hell, I are an engineer, but even with my limited vocab skills I think "miserable" beats just "unhappy")! My actual first name even has 5 letters (none common with "Frank" though). I won't tell you how my REAL life story played out until you finish this imaginary one. Give you a hint though: I drive a heavily modded muscle car, not because I want to be "all show" (one thing I DIDN'T do was change the exhaust - makes it just louder, not faster). No, I drive a muscle car BECAUSE it is a MUCH better price/performance value proposition than a M-series BMW or AMG Merc. That's what Frank WOULD do if he (in real life) where that analytical engineering genius. He'd know the real "posers" are in BMW's, Mercs., or God help us all who must commute 880 daily, TESLAS (I HATE those F'in things - anybody bother to tell those guys that their batteries overheat after 2 passes in "Insane" mode, or that a 4200 lb car is NOT a sports car).

But, yet again, you and that list of esteemed names you mention in your author's intro have inspired me to read some more LW stories, sift through what I like (and what I don't), and hopefully some day come out with a story written at least 75% as well as any of yours. That might get me in the 3's on my first try...

Gotta agree with the other comments 100% so far (and I feel like I've LIVED this story FOR REAL). NONE of your characters are likable so far. Frank and Doug are BOTH a-holes for screwing over and stealing what's his name's (Donald?) design. Not cool, and BTW real engineers don't do shtuf like that, they leave that to management (or sales and marketing guys). News flash about the engineering profession (guess you must be one too in real life?): Managers don't do any design, don't stay up late solving technical problems, and generally don't stay technically "relevant". Oh, the guys that DO that stuff don't have personal assistants or interns though...

She'd be justified in leaving him and looking for another man. In that order.

Javmor , I want to start by thanking you for your correspondence , it meant a lot to me. I will publically apologize to you , I acted like a immature petulant child in the comment section of your stories . Absolutely no excuses for my actions. You were man enough to contact me and through some emails , I came away knowing you better , plus understanding a lot more what someone who posts THEIR works on Literotica solely for OUR pleasure , goes through ! It was just so easy for me and a lot of others who visit this site , and specifically this genre , to allow our feelings and biases to cloud the fact that these are works of fiction that someone , somewhere took the time and effort to create solely for the love of creating. There is no monetary reason , or even personal accolades ( we all use aliases here), for posting on this free site.

Personally I have neither the imaginative talent nor the technical expertise to write , and honestly have never felt the urge . But I think truthfully , everyone who enjoys this site as much as I do , should stop and think twice before eviscerating the person behind the story.

I am an emotional reader , stories have the power to mentally and emotionally effect a lot of readers , this can be manifested in various ways , as I am sure that every posting author on this site can attest.

The reason that I prefer to read Literotica , as opposed to SOL ( I've noticed that authors who post on both sites that SOL usually posts them a couple of days earlier than Lit. does ) , is the fact that here you are allowed to comment on the stories that you read.

I suppose that authors could look at it as a backhanded compliment , that your creation has so affected the readership as to bring forth all these various ranges of emotions. I guess that is kind of the reason one writes .

I Just wanted to say that I'm truly sorry for that, Shipmate.

Now to this post , I honestly think , in my humble opinion , this is the best thing you've posted yet ! I can feel the emotion of Frank as if I were there. This actually reminds me of the style of the author , who in my opinion , was the greatest who ever posted in the LW genre , the great Rhenquist. I'm not blowing smoke up your ass Javmor , its got the feeling of a true LW classic ! I hope I'm not pressuring you , but I call it like I see it.

Eagerly awaiting chapter 2 !

5*'s

Decent start. Don't fuck it up.

Will he ever figure out that he was the major malfunction in their marriage? So far it's all been about him and she is the simple wall decoration that's just got uppity with him.

Someone like him should never be married.

Your a good writer Javmor, with nice story flow and the ability to try having three dimensional characters. Now about your story. I can't condone cheating full stop. She made no attempt to talk to him or tell him how she was feeling or that their marriage was in danger until she had been fucking someone behind his back for six months, and been emotionally cheating for a year. The fact it's his best friend means she is even more of a pierce of shit. The two people who he loves and trusts the most, that he expects to have his back are these two people. She keeps rubbing in the fact he's so caught up in his work, which by the way allows her the the lifestyle she lives in, that he's not giving her the emotional support that she believes she deserves to justify her cheating and getting it from someone else. By all means, if this is how you feel, do the right thing and talk to him about it and if that doesn't work separate and divorce before starting a new relationship, she chooses to be a dirty bitch and fuck him over and also has the guts to say to him think of your daughters, where was her thought for her daughters when good old Doug was slinging his dick in her all over the family home. The things us men are taught is when we marry and have kids is that we need to step up, be a man, look after your responsibility, especially financially. So men work harder, longer hours so they can provide the best for their children and wife. Unfortunately sometimes home life suffers, be it time spent away or not being emotionally available always. It's true some of us men must work on that. Women are taught find a man who can provide you financial security, but they also want him built like a Greek God and be the most emotionally open and available also. The courts favor a women if either she has done wrong or not, 90% of the time they get custody of children, but more importantly, they reinforce what we men are taught, we are only good for financial reasons. We men are more then just financial ATM's, we provide our children with love and life's lessons also, it may be done differently to women, but it's there, it's time women and the courts understand and acknowledged it, and men are considered just as important in children's lives and allowed the same opportunities in them. This is not putting down women, especially stay at home mom's, they do a hard and fabulous job, it's just no excuse warrants cheating, for men or women, but men are the ones shafted in family court, be it if they were the culprit or victim.

That was intense - what an emotional adrenaline rush! I can't wait for more. And your wordsmanship is impeccable. I couldn't disagree more with the commenter above. The strength, the impact of your style is in the words. 5*+++++.

Did she even approach him for counseling? Did she ever approach him warning him that she was feeling neglected?

Instead she turned on him, didn't even have the respect to tell him straight to his face and instead screwed around on him for six months?

This is gonna turn nasty and I hear a lot of investigative reports coming to play and a lot a lot of pain. Plus once she hooks up with Doug and ends up dealing with the day to day life and loss of income resulting from the divorce the other side of the fence isn't gonna look as nice.

Very good writing full of tension and drama. So far the story is about two villains who steal another man's idea, later one villain gets upset because his partner in crime has stolen his wife and the wife is displaying the same lack of integrity as the two villains. No characters to like here, am looking forward to the next chapter.

For those of us who have read other stories by this author, we know that there is no way to know what is coming next. I like that. The emotional ride is horrifying, yet entertaining. Nice job.

The last story of yours that read was Struggling to Survive, which i liked a great deal. However...that was partly due to Kara being a sympathetic character (even when Richard was lurking about), and that her relationship and marriage was worth saving. My instinctive reaction to Claire does not inspire those sort of words however. Frank might very well have a completely screwed up work-life balance, leading to a sense of isolation, but the time for a heart-to-heart is not 6-12 months into an affair with the husband's best friend. Worse still, the duration of her cheating and location of the sex, means that the kids have probably seen something. It's a sad mess.

Whilst I do wonder if Doug has an ulterior motive, i'm not sure how much mitigation that brings in this instance. Let's see where you go with this.

Hope you don't screw it up with a raac.

Total annihilation!! He has been working his butt off for his wife and family and she betrayed him in the worst way with his best friend, who obviously was no friend at all!! BTB and the asshole!! And don't keep us waiting!!

I had difficulty with the dialogue in the initial scene where she expressed vague unhappiness and I thought his response seemed somewhat unrealistic. However, once the story moved on from there I felt that the character development was excellent and as reader I quickly came to understand them and their interactions.

Javmor, you are on a hiding to nothing from here on. Having started the way you have, you won't have alienated anybody yet. So there will be readers who have invested four pages of reading effort so far, with who knows how many pages to come, before the story ends in a manner they will hate. We have already seen a couple of predictions in the commentary that it will end in ways they won't like. And if it doesn't end in ways those readers hate, there will be others instead who hate it.

That's the nature of the Loving Wives readership.

But I do recall a couple of comments that said the characters were unlikeable, but the story was well written. Praise indeed. It takes a lot to get the LW commentariat to separate the story construction from the likeability of the characters and the things they are doing.

Lue

Maybe. But you can bet that the wronged husband will end up eating a shit sandwich while the cheaters will thrive and prosper. Standard javmor.

who found this first chapter very sad? After my wife suffered some health problems due to my job (stress, migraines, depression, etc.) , I consulted the Chief Medical Officer of the organisation I worked for and was asked what I wanted. My job or my wife. There was only one answer. We moved to the other side of the Country, took a huge cut in income, and really struggled for a while. But we did it together. We eventually got on our feet, and together with our two children were never happier, but I dread to think back to how close to disaster we came. Family must always come first. I was lucky that I didn`t have a `best friend` sniffing around, or things may have ended differently.

The last story of yours that i read was Struggling to Survive, which i liked a great deal. This was partly due to Kara being a sympathetic character though, and that i felt her relationship and marriage were worth saving. My instinctive reaction to Claire does not inspire such sentiments, not with the first chapter to go by at any rate. Frank might very well have a completely screwed up work-life balance, leading to a sense of isolation, yet the time for a heart-to-heart/ultimatum is not 6-12 months into an affair with the husband's best friend. With the duration of her cheating and location of the sex, the kids have also probably seen something (a double blow if true). It's a sad mess.

Whilst I do wonder if Doug had an ulterior motive at the outset, i'm not sure how much mitigation that brings in this instance. An intriguing start, let's see where you go with this.

to offset the asshole of LIT's 1 vote.

is lack of imagination and emotion. Usually the wife cheats on a great guy and he gets even eventually. The husband is always a great guy and the wife is a horrible person.

This story has people that act the way people do. He was not a perfect husband. As far as we know, he was faithful and he worked to support his family. A lot of women would find that very attractive. He was not perfect, but the wife was worse. Two flawed people, much like everyone we know in real life.

It doesn't really matter which way this goes. If the angst level continues, it will be a good story. Many readers feel that the wife has to be burned, or the story sucks. Others feel that to forgive is divine. Just make it believable. It's the tension and difficulty in guessing the next move that makes a story interesting to me. Thus far, I have no idea where this will go. I like that.

so i guess i'm not the asshole of lit and neither are you bonnie an asshole is useful, you are the thing that come out of the asshole chit head. The story is hard to follow in the sense a page and a half was spent on her and him talking about the affair and saying nothing.

Wow!

He'd ask for the Seal. I can see multiple ways this is going to backfire on him just hope you write him an ending where he learns to live with the consequences of using the hammer instead of a scalpel. Also hope that there is no reconciliation, instead of talking to her husband she ends up in a yr long affair she deserves what's coming to her

Left me waiting for the next installment. Great character design with some well done emotional build up. Very good stuff.

Vote 1* for every story rated by 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐓 𝐖𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐄 (that's what her clients call her) aka BONNIE/VASTIE aka ANON!

I wonder if you can keep it up.

Excellent story. Time to fuck Doug up and maybe win back his self respect

I will wait to score, your stories have burned me in the past.

All he thinks about is to provide a comfortable living for his family. What an asshole.

She is totally justified in shunning him, cheating on him, whoring herself out for big cock and taking him to the cleaners.

He just made a large mistake.he shouldn't come out guns blazing until he knows what she is gonna do. If she went for joint custody, and wasn't gonna try and fuck him real bad unlikely as it seems, he should let her go. He can always get some payback after he is in the clear. By going for blood now he can be sure she will do the same.

Was kind of in the middle till she called out Doug's name Can tell she still has feelings for Frank. Nicely written so for.

Worthy of every one of the 5 stars.

It's what we can expect from javmor79, a great story well-told.

How will it progress? I don't know, but it will be an interesting ride to the following destination.

If I post as me, you just delete it. I have no idea why aside from it isn't just another rosey review. But you keep the Bonnie comments? That should tell us all we need to know about your censorship.

I don't own a muscle car or a luxury vehicle (they both tow like shit). Painting all muscle car owners or even pretentious luxury car owners.... is like calling every woman on the planet that ever cheated a worthless cunt unworthy of life!

" send in the marine.........

Actually, I have been working a lot lately, do you have any cadets?.....

I forget about that birthday too.... how about a girl scout....

I can't remember the last time I wrote her a poem..... maybe you could just help her find another guy in case it doesn't work out with Doug"..........

Now jav before you delete this, could you take one tiny second to tell me why, actually, not why but what it was that warranted the censorship?

So after reading the comments, I noticed that most people don't like any of the characters. Presumably for their flaws. But everyone is flawed. And generally, we don't perceive those flaws as such when you look at yourself. I mean really, unless it's pointed out to you or you make an effort really examine your actions, you don't see how flawed you really are. And no one sees themselves as the bad guy.

In this chapter, we only have the one point of view through Frank's eyes. Well how does Claire see things? What about doug's point of view? Place yourself in someone else's shoes before you condemn them. Now I'm not saying any of them are blameless here. Just that it's not black and white like so may want to read it to be.

When I was clueless my wife hired the Marine recruited by her fuckbuddy. My first lawyer was a go-along-to-get-along guy who correctly predicted the eventual outcome, but the Marine was killing me and our children in his prolonged process. So I fired #1 and hired the Seal who slew the Marine while he was celebrating his latest bloody attack. Underage children chose to live with me, and the Seal made it happen over the court's objections. We lived well, and live well, in the new family we built. It has been 33 years. Best investment I have made.

writing; this author makes one want to read every word, every nuance.

I do take Loudon's point about the initial dialogue.The key statement from wife was where she wanted their discussion to get somewhere for them, but now "she didn't expect anything more from him". This was after he'd abused her for cheating.

The question that must arise then is why she bothered to say anything to him from the first dialogue: why not just keep it a secret? So if she had thought there might be some accommodation, she was wrong anyway. She seems to have been on the verge of saying that she didn't want a divorce -- initially -- and only went down that road after their rows. So was this a failed attempt at getting hubby to comply with the affair?

I think this will show how two people who once loved end up hating. It's moving and realistic and disturbing; reconciliation doesn't seem probable just now, but who knows? But 5 anyway; this author is good.

Why didn't Frank's wife bring this up before the affair. If she was that concerned about her marriage wouldn't she of had a talk with him before she started fucking Doug. Now it is too late. She deliberately went into this with Doug without any thought of Frank or her marriage. Send the Marine.

Had familiar situation with wife. Let me know I was not spending the time and attention she wanted. We worked it out. Claire didn't go that route so she left the marriage without any fight to save it instead she fell into the arms and dick of another man. Sorry no sympathy for her here. She wanted out.

Yes she cheated on him but the truth is Frank has been cheating on Claire for years, the difference is he justified it by saying he was supporting his family.

Even now, instead of fighting for his family all he did was attack, he isn't angry that she had an affair, he's angry because he can't control her. He's angry because she isn't doing what he wants, he's angry because he doesn't love her and just hasn't figured it out.

That the protagonist saw that she was PLACATING, not soothing, was a very nice touch which struck a perfect tone as to the disintegration of the marriage. One did not nee 'Oh Yes, Doug!'. That simple difference told me exactly where this marriage was.

A story about people who have no character. Of course Javmore likes comments from his fellow travelers. HDK doesn't fit in that list, but the rest are his partners in advancing the cause of guilt free cheating. Of course it's okay to cheat, because we're all flawed, right? Everyone does it, because no one is perfect, right? Delete away, Javmore, you'll still be pathetic, along with your crew.

5 to offset your dumbass fag comment.

Yet in my own case, when my wife said she wasn't happy and wanted to separate, I took a different avenue. Was she cheating? Didn't matter to me, she wanted to separate. Our kids were in college, one married so there was no problem there.

We rented, so no house to worry about. Our nest egg wasn't that big, we both worked at $40K jobs and we had $120,000 in savings after the kids education was taken out. I was the typical dumb husband and didn't know she wasn't happy, I thought our lives were perfect.

I took a different route. After listening to her, I offered to be the one to move out. Just in case she had a guy ready for her to move in. She agreed and I began packing my stuff. Just the most important stuff I couldn't live without, my grandpa's four guns, electronic devices and tools. Of my clothes, I took only a few, just an extra change.

She was at work when I left the following day. Tired from sleeping on the couch, I got an early start, right after she left. No, I didn't look for an apartment or other rental, I drove away, never to return to my old life. Being told by someone you love they don't want to live with you any longer, breaks something inside. Before leaving town I stopped by our bank, opened a new account and deposited $.01 less than 50% of our saving into it and took enough to pay for a few months of travel.

My kids started contacting me to find out where I was staying. Their mother had called them all and said we were taking a break for a while and it wasn't anything serious. I told them I'd let them know when something was firmed up and left it at that.

It took a week before Connie bothered to call me. I didn't take it of course, but she left a voicemail. She wanted to know where I had moved to and needed to talk to me about our finances. Over the next week, when I didn't return any of her calls, her messages became more and more urgent. At last she contacted my boss and learned I had quit, taking with me a letter of recommendation.

My kids began to call and those I took. They said Connie was panicked and wasn't sure what to do. I told all of them to tell their mother she could do anything she wanted, I was no longer in her life. It was my youngest, my daughter, who was a junior in college who figured it out first.

I spoke to my children whenever they called that first year. Living in NC until ejected from my wife's life, I found myself living in eastern Idaho. The Tetons are in my back yard and I have a new job making half again more than I did in NC. No one knew where I lived, although if they really wanted to, a PI could have found me quickly.

My kids still call and we talk a lot. We've already missed some things, holiday's, birthdays and the like. I don't tell them where I live and they no longer ask. They do however, tell me how much Connie misses me and wishes she had never opened her mouth. I just tell them, me too.

Then she should have worked with him to fix things, or divorced him. Cheating is not a solution.

And, by the way, "supporting his family" is not an excuse. He was working, not going to a ball or fucking around.

You are another moron that justifies cheating no matter what. Probably a cunt who sits on her ass all day and then bitch to her husband. You fit in with the author.

I hope that I am never entertained by tales of divorce, as it would likely mean that I can relate in some way. Normally, I would have stopped reading this story as soon as I learned which direction it is heading, but in this case, how could I not give Javmor the benefit of the doubt?

As with every Javmor story, I care about what happens to these characters because he's done such an excellent job of creating compelling characters who are realistic and have some emotional depth. It's incredibly difficult to do, yet this author does so consistently with apparent ease.

I can't imagine many different paths for this story to take. It seems the only path is for a messy divorce with a bitter custody battle, where Claire ends up with Doug, and Frank (nice shout-out to House of Cards, by the way) ends up with some new woman who he learns to treat much better than his ex-wife. The only thing I know at this point is that this is NOT how this story will end.

As always, thanks for your effort, Javmor.

Several years ago I was in Frank's situation, my wife talked out her frustrations with me before it got this far. She loved me enough to make me realize what I was going to lose. I talked to my boss and explained the situation to him, it was a flashback to him and he said to cut back. Trouble at home creates trouble at work. I count my blessings every day. This story scares me, but I can't wait for the next chapter.

*****

There is a cliché in LW: A Cheaters always cheat, no matter what. It's like Original Sin. It cannot go away. THEY are the flawed person, not the cheated upon. Nothing the cheated upon EVER helped set up the situation.

And yet...anyone with a brain, a gram of empathy and who is actually willing to LISTEN to people in what they say, understands that there are REASONS people cheat. They might be bad reasons ("I'm too handsome for my shirt"). But they are real reasons.

Now I am sure that the Anonymous person is so fucking perfect that he has never done anything wrong in his life. Not offended anyone. Not yelled at anyone irresponsibly. Never gotten into a fight, always perfectly balances his life and career so that, gosh darn it, EVERY single relationship he has is full of sunshine and joy. Sir I applaud you. Hopefully, on the third day, you too can roll that rock from in front of your tomb.

Perhaps I just hang with a lower class of people. People who get unreasonably angry once in a while. People who, though very good people normally, make mistakes.

Cause here is another little cliché that certain readers on Lit don't like to mention quite as often: Happy women don't cheat.

So who made them unhappy, cool breeze?

Here we have an answer to that.

Perhaps Anonymous likes tales of perfect men with large penises who do everything correctly and yet still get cheated upon. I refer you to Huedogg and Stangstar. They are your preferred writers.

Javmor tries these little words like 'realism', 'subtlety' and 'nuance'. They are in a dictionary. You may be able to find one at the library. See if you can get directions.

I can't believe she would cheat without coming to him to tell him that he is not giving her the attention she needs. And a best friend Came on to her and seduced her Really. So she really didn't give him a chance to reconcilliation. Now he wants a scorched earth policy of revenge. Where will that leave him with his children?? But screwing his best friend for 6 months and screwing him too what does that make her.? Now he committed a crime of assault and he will be arrested and there goes his security clearance is the boyfriend going to support her. You got me going on this story I am fired up for part 2. He did neglect her but the cheating blew it up.

It's well written us usual but ... I just don't know where you can go with this narrative. It's pretty obvious that if your keeping it within the bounds of writing a reasonably realistic story arch that reconciliation is completely impossible in any foreseeable circumstances. All you have left to write then is some scorched earth followed by him inevitably meeting his savior woman ... and quite frankly those themes have been done to death already by numerous writers including in parts yourself.

But I'm guessing your actually planning (or more likely have already written) a reconciliation story here. I will await it with interest but I can't see for the life of me how you can possibly get there and keep it even remotely plausible as it's way too far gone already. Quite a few of your previous works have had issues in this area I can only hope you can pull something out of your writing hat that will surprise me.

Whats Your Fucking Problem,,,,TK U MLJ LV NV

Yeah, well, I'm sure ISIS has reasons for hating Americans and cutting off their heads. It's okay, so long as they have reasons. Realism? Subtlety? Nuance? Yeah, they're in the dictionary. Javmore can't spell them, though. I'm surprised you can. Oh, spell check. Gotcha.

While you've got your dictionary out, maybe you could look up "Honor," "Integrity," and "Character." Quite a difference between having faults, offending people, working too much, getting in fights, yelling, not knowing that you should put a comma before, "too," and cheating on your wife.

She yelled at someone!!! I went out and fucked someone! Oh yeah, we're the same. What a moron.

Perfectly reasonable for them to go their own ways. Nothing to get upset about.

FD45-- As a general rule up I always like reading your analysis and feedback comments but in this particular case I think your reasoning here is well detached from reality if not delusional.

Your premise that people do bad things -such as cheating - in marriages because there are reasons is all fine and good. No oen can argue that. Indeed in my conversations with JAVMOR he makes the same point. But what both of you appeared to be missing is the distinction between REASON vs JUSTIFICATIONS .

Let me state this really clearly so you can understand this. The husbands lack of attention and overwork IS a contributing FACTOR to what has happened in this marriage. WE AGREE

But that only works up to a certain point.

For Instance - If the cunt whore wife had say a a one night stand OR if the affair had just started and she was feeling gulity about it THEN perhaps one could argue the husband has to take a lot of the blame for this. But for some reason you seem to have forgotten what has ACTUALLY happened here.

A 6 month-long affair with the husbands best friend which is going to destroy the marriage the family and emotionally and psychologically scar 2 young children for the rest of their lives is NOT NOT NOT justified because the husband is working a lot of hours. She had a moral and marital obligation to approach him about his HRS and his lack of commitment to the family first.... Before deciding to step out and fuck Doug

There is No other way to spin this. You are wrong. And of course if this story goes the rest of the way that most - not all but most - of JAMOR stories end up... will end up placing most of the blame on the husband.

Just for a moment lets use the traditional marriage stereotype. Suppose the husband said to the stay at home wife... " dear you spend way too much h time to with the kids cooking and cleaning so it's OK for me to step out of the marriage and have a six month-long affair...

Would any of you buy that? Is that sort of reasoning or behavior acceptable?

This is not really a matter of whether not to BTB. A lot has happened here in part one and it MEANS certain things. The actions words behavior attitudes have MEANING. The concern is that this so called brilliant engineer character is so stupid that he is unable to unable to SEE the Significance of what has happened.

In order to figure out where this story is going ... to make it believable and reasonable and realistic... the husband has to figure out some key piece of information from what has happened.

FACT : The wife did NOT raise the issue of her being unhappy because she wanted to SAVE the marriage . She did so because she wanted OUT of the marriage. H We know this by her refusal to answer the husbands questions ( do you want to stay married to me? ) and buy her admission that she IS in love with Doug

FACT The wife is perfectly willing to destroy the family her marriage and emotionally and psychologically damage for young children in order to leave the marriage and to keep on fucking Doug.

FACT The wife was never at any point willing to talk to her husband about her unhappiness before the affair started or just when it began and she realize what she was doing.

FACT She INTENTIONALLY hid her affair for months rather than try and fix the marriage.

All of these points have to be addressed. Readers want these key issues addressed or talked about in the chapters that follow. And most readers know that the odds are pretty strong that they won't be

First of all, i wanted to thank you all for reading. I really appreciate it. I was nervous when i saw a story from Dtiverson, who is in my top three of favorite authors. But you guys are awesome.

I wanted to weigh in on the conversation. I know many don't like authors who comment on their own stories, but I love intellectual debate.

Most people, such as Harry, feel that any look into the REASONING for cheating is JUSTIFICATION. That is not true. People always look for reasoning. You have television shows dedicated to finding the reason why serial killers do what they do. Cop shows always look for motive. That isn't justification. It is a way to reach understanding.

I for one do not think cheaters are inherently bad people. No person is the summation of ONE choice. There are murderers on death row who aren't monsters. Of course, you do have ACTUAL monsters. People who do things because they want to. But most of the time, people who do make bad choices are just that. The amount of pain that a bad choice causes is not the barometer of how good a person is. Bad choices bring consequences. That's life.

My daughter stole something from Walmart about a month ago. My wife and I took her to task about it. We made her return it with an apology, even though she'd gotten away with it. Once the consequences of her actions were paid, she was done. But she felt so bad about disappointing us. She didn't want us to look at her as being a bad person.

I think that is the barometer by how you measure people. How they redeem themselves. Everyone makes a choice that hurts others. You are all the villain in somebody's story. But when it comes down to it, do you care? if you don't, then you are a monster. But if you do care, then you are not a bad person. If you try to make amends, then i would go as far as to say you are a good person who did a bad thing.

That said, this comment has no indication as to how the story will go. I just wanted to chime in because that was interesting to me.

like the beginning of this story as it shows all the emotions that go through your mind when something like this happens to u. do u give up or try to fight for the marriage. its a hard decision to make as it your life as u know it that u r playing with here. going after the one that started this whole thing is not the way to do things as far as i'm concerned. he just the one that is enjoying the fruits of it. the main one to look at is your partner as they are the ones in control of what they do. they are the ones that decide how it will turn out in the end, not the other person. they started it down this road and they can stop it anytime. it comes down to this do they stop it before it gets to point of no return. keep writing. hope to see next chapter soon

All the members of this triangle are flawed. Frank is a workaholic who measures his worth by material gain (a product is his less than wealthy upbringing and the feelings of inferiority because of it). He's so driven he's willing to do highly unethical things to get ahead. In his head, he's well meaning, but he's lost the reason why he works so hard.

The wife has reasons to be unhappy, but instead of dealing with it within the marriage, she has a year long affair with her husband's 'best' friend. She seemed to be headed toward asking the husband to accept the affair, which is simply evil. She's angry at being ignored and she's getting her pound of flesh. And it's going to destroy her family. It was amusing and sad that she asked her husband to remember their children when he became confrontational. When did she think of them as she was conducting an ongoing affair?

Doug is simply an opportunistic piece of shit. Then again, I have never trusted another guy so much as to let him have unfettered access to my wife. That's just being stupid.

Well written. I look forward to the next installment, regardless of what direction the story may take.

Frank and Claire go to war! This has the makings of a BTB, flamethrower ending. At this point he has no proof, he has made the mistake of threatening his ex-friend out loud and Claire certainly knows there is no going back. I, for one, hope his Marine is the best of the best. We'll see where this goes. Don't back down, don't stop. If you manage to turn this good start into a full scale retreat and have them reconcile at the end, I swear you're name will go down in the annuals of Literotica as the biggest wimp since Richard Gerald promised the readership one thing then gave them squat! Good luck.

as she transferred her allegiance to Doug she cheated and the marriage was over. That's what I see as the irreversible component of "cheating" once the devotion and the loyalty shifts to the new person there is no going back. I think that Doug knew this and his insidious campaign to separate husband and wife had succeeded. Long before any fucking took place. As was explained in the story of when they were interns Doug had no morals or ethical compass to guide him. I also suspect that this is going to be about the fact that Doug didn't get the promotion and had to leave the company to get what he thought he had coming. It also might be about the fact that both companies are working on the same product and Doug is a sapper in this war. Might be a reconciliation on the storyboard but if you let the characters "write" themselves I think that you will see that unless forced it won't work. Wife should have spoken up, he is an engineer for God's sake. There is no way he can see what's going on. Doug on the other hand, did engineering but wasn't intrinsically an "engineer". Will be interesting to see what direction is chosen. Well written and I am looking forward to the next installment, same bat-time, same bat-channel.

Please keep going . Send the marines. Send him on the deep end. As a man he can scorch the earth ans just quite the whole family. After a few years reconnect with the kids and laugh at the used up dried old hag ex wife with no life. It happens that was how it was for me . Almost seems like my story. Loving this. Story ao far 5stars so far dont fuxk it up now buddy!

Enjoying the build up of both the story and the characters.

Looking forward to the next chapter.

What is cheating? To me it means breaking the rules. Different couples have different rules. If there is not a rule -understood by both spouses- then having sex with another is cheating. Period. Now, is there a rule that husband or wife won't work too hard? Usually not explicitly. So if a spouse does so, the other spouse has a duty to call it out, maybe make it a rule. But I see no evidence that happened here. So, whether or not Frank is a good guy or good husband, it was Claire who cheated, no t Frank

Any justification for Claire's behavior, based on what was written into this story so far, is vacuous. Her "reason" was "she chose to cheat, because she wanted to." You ARE what you do. If you steal, you are a thief. You may not have been a thief BEFORE. You may choose to STOP being a thief. But at the time you steal, you ARE a thief. If I rape someone, at that time at least, I AM a rapist. If I do murder, I AM a murderer. If I screw my secretary, it's not "because my wife doesn't give me enough attention," it's "because I chose to screw my secretary."

I have been the "workaholic" to my wife's "stay-at-home mom" before. I should mention my wife has a doctorate, and **our** decision to have her stop teaching grad school so that she could home with our kids during their early childhood was this novel thing called "a joint decision." It relies on an odd skill called "communication," something Claire seemed to possess none of. During the years my wife was on hiatus, raising our kids, I routinely pulled 65+ hour weeks, traveled an insane amount, and missed her and our boys a lot. I also pulled in multiple $25K bonuses and was promoted several times, as the company (as well as my wife) knew the sacrifice being made (by me, and to a lesser extent, by her as well).

After our youngest started school, we had another odd "joint decision" and I changed jobs, knowing that with my track record and increased responsibilities that came with the big bucks, I'd have to leave. I took the pay hit, and the career hit (try explaining why you're actively seeking a position of LESSER responsibility without looking like a loser) and changed jobs. There is no such thing as some universal standard for "too much time working," it depends on circumstance and shared agreement.

But since this is about Claire the cheater (no, don't try to dress up what she has done) and not about my family, I'll just point out that we make choices that we have to own up to. Claire is simply one of those complete assholes (of either gender) who demand telepathy from their spouse, and decide to take drastic, self-serving measures when they don't get it. "For better or for worse" is just an empty phrase for them, words to mouth during the ceremony but not to live by. Claire is the one who actually showed she had NO consideration for her spouse.

"She was unhappy" is total BULLSHIT unless she's asked him repeatedly to spend more time with her, or dragged him to counselling. Cheating is throwing a grenade into your spouse's lap. At that point, you have made it clear that you are his/her enemy, and who gives a shit how you got there. Especially since, in this story, she never actually said "I should NOT have cheated on you, I should have TALKED to you," or even "I'm sorry I did it." She's just another cheating spouse without a conscience.

That said, the story is engaging so far, I hope it doesn't become an Oprah "it's da MAN'S fault" episode. As far as I can see, based on Claire's utter lack of communication, he's blameless overall. None of US can say "he spent too much time at the office" since SHE never seems to have said it.

And hubby is not a saint, but you've basically made this guy into a monster and when i say that it has little to do with the Marine.

Here is a guy who casually plotted to commit criminal acts and steal from a coworker to gain a promotion and cheerfully destroyed that mans career with his equally malicious best friend.

Here is a guy who is so wrapped up in his career that he thinks marriage is about wrapping a trophy wife in a luxury lifestyle.

Here is a guy who could only be swayed from revenge by the threat to his job.... not the loss of his kids.

Here is a guy who expends not one thought in the chapter or with the lawyer about his rwo daughters. Its like they don't exist. We've heard his cheating wifes excuses of neglect..... imagine how their daughters feel about a daddy they never see missing all those events.

Here is a guy who works for an employer evil, and self centered that they retain a lawyer who breaks the law and keeps his own mercenaries on retainer.

Here is a guy whose only emotion appears to be vengeance against the mother of two children he is i ncapable of raising.

Here is a man who traded his ethics for advancement.

Here is a man who traded his best friend for his job.

Here is a man who traded his family for his career.

Here is a man trading his children for revenge.

Here is a man who deserves to be cheated on.

Congratulations, you've actually created a story where the cheating whore is more sympathetic than her husband.

But i am going to wait until things get resolved before I decide to read any of it.

In my opinion, Javmor79, in his quest to identify the causes of the wife's infidelity, invariably looks for ways to blame the husband and let the wife off the hook for her betrayal. Yes there are always reasons for either spouse to cheat but, again in my opinion, the responsibility rests with the one who decides to cheat.

So, if it turns out that the husband is not pilloried for not reconciling at any cost, I may give the story a read.

I couldn't agree more about your analisys about the husband,he surely is not a nice guy

However that doesn't give the woman the right to cheat,she should have told him and maybe divorce him BEFORE starting a relation with her paramour,then again there are the children to think of,situation seems rather complicated

Interesting story and interesting comments. Sure he works hard, but thts what men are trained to do. Make the money to provide the best for their families. If the wife was unhappy, that should have been discussed a long time ago, not after the infidelity. There was no warning. How did the hard worker know his wife was so upset. Once again, communication. Looking forward to where you go from here.

'Nuff said.

Seriously man, what is your deal with writing such pathetic male characters..

His wife was cheating on him, for over 6 months, with his fucking best friend...

In which twisted universe does any reasonable man(specially a logical one, as you have written) think about anything else but getting rid of the whore asap and also destroying the ex friend..

Why would he ever consider making it work again. A man shouldn't have to get his wife to fall for him again. And a fucking wife definitely shouldn't cheat on her husband. and the weak excuses that he was working too much and missed a few events are shit...

Move out of your bedroom, go to your parents house, demand counseling. There are a thousand diff ways using which she could have either fixed their problems or left him, before becoming someone else's whore that is...

Again I have to say why would this idiot ever want to win her back. She is trash now. And like trash she should be thrown out and burned...

She didn't think about her family... Yet I'm 90% certain whether or not this ends up becoming a recon, the husband will be the one who will apologize for providing her and the kids a decent lifestyle.. He will accept all the blame and will slither away like a little wimp..

He should have decided to divorce her the moment she mentioned being unhappy and not wanting to stay married..

I would just once like to read about a male character who behaves rationally and who's actions are based in the thing called reality..

BTB isn't necessary. Just a favorable split based accomplished without losing his dignity... Maybe that could be your greatest writing challenge...

Reading some of these comments, it's as if I read a completely different story! When did the husband in this story take responsibility for his wife's cheating? I guess I missed that. When did he make an effort to reconcile? Sure, he almost fucked her, but that was because he was horny!

I love the people who are so sure about where this story is heading -- and even the one guy who refuses to read the story because he knows where it's heading, even though he didn't read it! (Yet he still knows enough to comment!)

Do readers believe that authors are only capable of writing one type of story with only one type of ending? I get accused of this all the time, even though my stories are all different. Hell, one reader even admitted he doesn't read any of my stories (but leaves comments) because my user name includes the word "swinger!"

Does "don't judge a book by its cover" have any meaning? I, for one, look forward to seeing where Javmor leads us this time.

Where does it say that the husband is at fault? People are so quick to say that Jav blames the husband, but in NONE of his stories does the husband say, "This is all my fault." He may look at things that he did to get them to the point of where they are, but the cheaters ALWAYS take the blame.

What a great story! The emotional struggle that the husband is going through is so real. This is not like a lot of stories where they don't convey the emotional struggle that real marriage partners go through in these situations. Your story portrays the real emotional struggles for the situation. The husband is in this emotional pit that no matter where he turns, it's always there and only time will heal it. He tries to act out on it by going to see his so called friend, but in the end even if he were to carry out some personal justice, it will still remain. You do a great job of showing that although the there is a great injustice done to the husband, you just can automatically turn of 13 years of love. So there is this love hate phenomenon that is totally putting him into this emotional pit that he can't see his way out of. I practically cheered out loud when he stated "send me the fucking marine!" Ha ha ha...Can't wait for part 2! Gave it 5 stars and would give it 6 if I could. Great job!

The vice of anonymity is that it enables rudeness. This husband is clearly going for divorce--but some of the usual idiots are upset because he didn't kill her within seconds of opening her mouth?

Fantasies of masculinity by losers

Write on, MacDuff--and damned be he who first cries "Hold! Enough!"

Too bad he didn't know the way she felt to begin with. He could have just got a straight 40hr, or good part time job and kept a nice apartment for the family.

He would have a ton of time to sit around and tell her she is important, smart, pretty - all the stuff he hasn't. The catch 22 is she would then cheat with the "you don't provide enough" excuse (I mean reason).

Actually I think ANY reason you give for a LONG TERM AFFAIR is fine with Jav and co. I really AM a good person, I haven't even ever killed anyone I just made hundreds of bad decisions over the last year, I'm still a good person - whelp' I guess it's all good then.

Start of chapter 2.....

After hanging up with the lawyer I immediately called them back, what was I thinking I have children and this is all my fault... I can afford 2 houses...

Javmor's story has passed the coveted 80 comments.

(So much for humour, now seriously:)

Javmor, it's appropriate that you named your characters Frank and Claire Underwood rather than Francis and Elizabeth Urquhart. In the 1990s original, Ian Richardson as 'FU' takes you so far inside his world that you feel like a co-conspirator and so dirty that you need to take a bath after watching. (Also, his wife has him murdered at the end of Series 2 and you feel like part of you died with him.)

As others have commented, neither of your characters has yet touched a chord with the reader. They are being developed well, but neither is likeable in any way as yet. Understandable, yes, but not yet likeable, or even forgivable. I am intrigued by the comments made by readers who seem to want a character (preferably the husband?) to be likeable enough so that they can take sides. Surely LW stories shouldn't all need to have a goodie and a baddie?

Lue

Love the story so far. Can't wait for the next installment. Doug is a real piece of work. If he had been a real friend, he would have warned him that his wife was unhappy.

I chose Claire and Frank Underwood because they are the two most despicable people that i have seen, yet empathized with. LOL. I haven't seen the other version of "House of Cards", but i plan to watch it to see if it is different from the American one.

You trying to pump that up, Luedon? Want one of your cheater apologist butt buddies up there with the big boys? Most of the comments are from Javmore's butt buddies like you. Check the score. Still small time.

I am a Marine... Bring on the body bags.... There is no hope for Dougie boy or the Corpse of the Ex

The original was different. For me, I could only watch the first couple of episodes of the USA re-make because, although good it was destroying the memory of the evil FU. Evil but engaging. We need a few characters like that in LW stories.

Google 'Why the British are better at satire' which was an article in The Atlantic.

Lue

But this story has a lot to talk about. Emotion has its place, but you can't allow your decisions to be based on your emotions. Claire fell because of this. Although the husband needed to work on paying more attention to his wife, that wasn't a marriage covenant breaker. His efforts were still primarily for the mission success of his family. Claire on the other hand, allowed her emotions to make her decisions for her, and the mission success of the family was lost for her because she was focusing on herself, what was supposed to be done for her, her, her, her. She had a mindset of selfishness and with a mindset like that, her actions were a reflection of her mindset. Had she focused on the family mission as her husband was doing, she wouldn't be focused on what she wasn't getting. Basically she wouldn't have been focused on herself and she and her husband would have been of the same mind and mission.

Claire and Doug are cowards. Cowards allow there emotions make their decisions. Heroes let justice, truth and what's right make their decisions and THEN get their emotions behind that right decision.

There is never a reason for cheating. it is one of the two marriage covenant breakers in both worldly law and biblical law.

Once he admitted to sabotaging the work of a competitor he became a Karma target. He is a disgusting selfish cruel cheater. Oh, just like his wife has become. He cheated in business, she's cheating in marriage. Sounds like they deserve each other. But, some obvious plot faults.

She's a full-time mother, with two young girls, when does she have time to fuck her husband, much less her husband plus Doug? No one who has raised children, responsibly, has that kind of extra time. And where the hell has she been parking the children while out romancing with Doug, and why doesn't Frank know how she spends her day? And he's forgetting birthdays, anniversaries, date nights, and he thinks their marriage is just fine? Doug has been coming over secretly during the day for a year and Frank never knew, his girls never talked about "Uncle Doug's" frequent presence?" Hell, Frank mentally abandoned his wife and daughters over a year ago. He has been an absentee husband and father, and he made Doug's seduction a piece of cake.

But its OK, Claire will pay. Claire thinks she's the object of Doug's affection. Oh he's fucking her alright, but not just with his cock. Doug has bigger fish to fry. And it will be interesting to see when and how Frank finally figures out that its not Claire's pussy that is Doug's objective, but something much more rewarding, and lucrative. Frank's memory of his history with Doug is about as short as his cock.

However the subterfuge and regret works out, Frank and Claire really should not stay married, nor reconcile. Frank's priorities no longer include a domestic wife and children. He should let her find a staid responsible husband and father, while he goes on to invent and improve his precious machines. They'll both be much happier.

Good stuff, so far. Thank You.

Just the kind of story I like, so far. A lot of conflict and pathos. Continue quickly.

5 *'s

BLOOD BLOOD BLOOD

May the grass commence to growing.

Semper Fi

No editor needed so far. 5 STARS!

JimC

Hubby will have to pay for the mortgage, alimony, child support, and his ex best friend will move in and take his place. He will live in a little apartment and see his girls a couple of times a month if he is lucky. He is screwed. The little episode at Doug's apartment was stupid and will likely end up with some restraining orders. He should cash out and go climb the Pacific trail or backpack through Europe. Or buy a sailboat and head for the Bahamas.

BTW Harry has an excellent comment on this story - I don't usually agree with him but do here. Also HDK as usual has a good comment.

Javmor - magnificent as always. We are all hanging on our seats for the next installment. You really are a talent in how you so thoroughly colour in & create your characters. In this case, we have 3 very flawed central characters plus at least one other dodgy secondary character (the lawyer friend). Let's see there's Frank, a dishonest self-centred workaholic who barely knows his wife & kids. A wife who out of frustration turned to cheating when she should have tried harder to talk to him some years before, drag him to counselling or divorce him first. She clearly gave up a long time ago. He was just too self-centred & clueless to know. Then there is Doug, the lowlife best friend also not adverse to dishonesty. But at least he appears to have some communication skills (even if for his own ends) unlike Frank & Claire.

Like most other thoughtful commentators, I know not where you might take this story.

But I am v happy to come along for the ride.

Ken

Great start.

Kick her out, file first and for god sake, don't fuck her after!

Yes, she cheated on him, after he ignored her for years. And when she tries to deal with it with him, he reacts like a teenage idiot and won't talk, can't see anything he did wrong, all her fault. Really?

I have zero empathy for him and hope he dies or just gets out of her life. He is the jerk here, not her.

Oh, I am a married man, many years, but if I treated my wife like he treats her, I wouldn't be a married man!

He is an insensitive, Neanderthal asshole. He deserves all the trauma he can get dealt..

None of these people are very likeable. Frank is a workaholic who obviously can't be bothered to ever put his family first. His wife is an idiot who cheats rather than tell Frank she's not putting up with the whole invisible husband crap and the best friend is just a scum bag who has no loyalty. The wife and the boyfriend deserve each other because he'll get tired of her eventually and Frank should be glad to get divorced. Not just because his wife is a cheater, but because he obviously is not really a family man. Neither his wife nor his kids seems to play a big role in his life. The only epiphany for him came when he looked down and saw his sleeping wife and realized he'd been taking her for granted. Too little, too late, Bub. Frank's pride is hurt but I don't think he's grieving because he's head over heels for his wife. It's just a macho thing. Everyone in this story needs to grow up.