All Comments on 'Imbalance Pt. 02'

Indeed, sdc, ""I've been having an affair for the past six months and now it's time for us to get a divorce" is a nasty conversation to have. But when the time comes for that conversation, there is usually no choice. It has to be done. It's going to happen whether you want it to or not.

"Dear, I've been unhappy with our relationship for some time and I find that I am growing closer to another man and he makes me feel appreciated in ways that you don't" may not be so difficult, but it does allow time for procrastination. And more procrastination until it's too late and it's gone beyond just feeling appreciated.

Don't knock it until you've been there.

Lue

Unless my wife is getting it on with her dentist or her chiropractor, and I think the supermarket would look askance at me having erotic encounters with their checkers.

But even without all that togetherness, having an affair would be way too much like...dating.

HERE IS THE PROOF you moron

PAGE 1

."Do you, or don't you, want to be married to me? That needs no explanation. That's a yes or no question. So answer it. One word. Yes or no?"

"Frank, just let me..."

"Yes or no." I interrupted her. In my mind, any explanation that she could give needs to come only after she gives THAT answer.

But she didn't answer. She sat there, looking at me with tears in her eyes.

"That tells me everything I need to know. You don't have to say it. The fact that you won't say yes can only mean no. Tell me I'm wrong."

BOTTOM OF PAGE 2 into TOP of Page 3

****Do you love him?" My voice cracked as I asked that. The feelings of hurt began to flow. The anger at her betrayal was nothing compared to the pain I was starting to feel once again. I was able to mask it for a while, hiding behind work and justified anger. But now, asking that question and needing to know the answer left me open. Tears began water my eyes.

***"I...don't know. I think so." ***She said reluctantly as she looked away from me. She knew what this was doing to me, and she felt bad about it.

"Do you still love me?" Another question that left me vulnerable.

"Yes...but it's not the same. Not like it used to be. Not like I should love

And i am the moron ?" i think so,i don't know" is as close as it gets and that's her answer to both questions and that tells you she loved Doug ? you need a lesson in how to interprete a womans words

Harryin VA you want to read what you believe is there even if it doesn't

You built up these huge expectations in the last chapter, ratcheting up the tension to great heights, as is good craftsmanship.

Then you let all the air out of that situation with one lap dance.

Now, was it realistic. YES! A friend WOULD try to de-escalate the situation. He would do whatever he could to make things calmer. Except that he DID start out as a 'go for the neck' kind of guy. His rationalization for dialing things down a notch...kind of worked.

Was it satisfying as a reader. NO! Now, we all know that when the hero is left hanging on a cliff, that there is no way he is going to fall. But we need to see the rescue! Here, all it took was one ass induced prick for this guy to change his GD mind. I just felt ever so slightly disappointed.

The scene with Doug was well done. The scene with Claire was reasonably well done. I have a slight SOD failure in the wife NOT letting her husband know she is unhappy and disappointed. It COULD happen, but it sits slightly askew to me (this is me demanding too much from a story, btw).

Both sides have points and arguments. The big win for me was the flawed husband trying to self correct. Giving more to his girls.

Considering the level of anger and betrayal, I expected...okay WANTED there to be more fall out. More anger. I am, as you well know, not a terminal BTB member. Still, two people getting divorced over cheating frigidly being polite to each other...I do not want to say 'yawn', but...

It would be nice to even see some of the sharp quick quips found in a JPB or Slirrpuff story. Even if it was overweening anger, with Slirpuff, you actually experienced the rage IN THE STORY instead of having his feelings constantly related to us. This man has good reason to be angry and he does...nothing. He isn't even a little bit mean. Tossing her a pack of condoms on one of her jaunts...SOMETHING!

I...appreciated the final scene with the hooker, whatshertits. She worked all night. She was tired. She had a chance to make some extra coin, she didn't remember him...that all worked very well for me! This is a realistic depiction of a prostitute. She is there for one reason and it was not to be an emotional tampon for some weepy guy. Sorry guys, that is not on the menu! AND...the fact he paid for being as much of an emotional tampon as she was...that also worked for me. Rubbing his 'emotional cock' is also well worth the money to a guy as harmed as he was (though I would REALLY like him to grow a spine and dump the emotional navel gazing sometime very soon, pleasethanx)

Now that we had that scene with the stripper, I am hoping she leaves the story, exit stage soonest (alas, I feel I will be disappointed in this)

I am hoping, praying that there is an earthshattering Kaboom at some point. I am loving the realistic characters and the tight arguments and feelings. However, as I learned in the Reconciliation series, letting a story go with a whimper, while valid, is a trifle disappointing.

So waiting for some comeuppance. I will even live with the stripper if you give me at least that.

Chapter one had drama

Chapter two lacks it.

Chapter 1 was good but this Chapter is really bad.

His wife shits all over him,tell him she love other man and wants out of Marriage.Then she goes out to dates with his best friend or maybe others while he sits there in the house.

Grow some balls. I dont like him and to be honest I dont feel sorry for him. He allowed all of this because he dont Respect himself. If you dont Respect yourself then noone is going to.

I hope Chapter 3 will be better

get up and get back on the horse and ride the plains looking for strays.

TK U MLJ LV NV

It is now clear that Doug and Claire are Frank's only friends until they betray him. Doug must have been Frank's best man yet it is a revelation to Claire that cheating on Frank with Doug would devastate Frank. How could Doug not have warned Frank before he developed inappropriate feelings for Claire that there was problems at home? That is what best friends do. Javmor plays it both ways when he has Frank quiz Doug about his daughters and later has Frank clueless about their activities. Kids are not stupid, there is no way they would be so in the dark about the divorce.

I hate the stripper stuff and take 2 points off for it. No lawyer/counselor would take Frank to a strip club. This is Javmor's attempt to dirty up Frank. Why would Frank go from Claire to a woman who is paid to strip for men and fuck them? Real men would not be interested in moving from a cheating wife to a professional whore. You have no insight on men.

You have written a sad and interesting story but this chapter has major problems. Frank has shown that he can change and give up work time to be with his family. What has Claire done? She hasn't even given him suggestions of things to do for his daughters when she has him babysit their kids while she goes out. The bitch assumes he lost her kids when she comes home and they aren't there. 3 stars.

resonable man

Since they claim to love each other they should prove it and marry. Frank would get out of alimony and Doug will learn about married life. Claire will be unhappy either way. Problem solved.

Five stars. Maybe your best. Incredible storyline. To

I would have made one stipulation in the divorce. The moment Doug moved into "my house" the alimony ended. Period. If they married and wanted to remain in the home, they had to pay me half of the appraised value. If they didn't marry but he took up residence in the house , after one year , they had to buy me out. And, obviously, if they chose to move , I got half of the net proceeds. These stipulations were not open to negotiation.

they both stayed in the house during the divorce process

she kept dating his friend

he kept working just as long and late

he had one bonding experience with his daughters

he is still angry and frustrated

and he had one tense confrontation with his ex-best friend

progress?

as for his pain and heartache its only just begun, TK U MLJ LV NV

Some really nice Man vs. Himself moments here, but still don't like the fact Frank is getting too much of the blame from the writer..... Well written and real in many ways, but most men wouldn't be so meek IMHO......

This Story keeps getting worse; Frank is a wimp cuckold loser who failed in his marriage, his divorce, and now his post divorce life.

I'm very impressed by this chapter and how Frank is owning up to his issues. I don't expect Claire to admit to Frank about owning her sid of the divorce but I get the impression that she does in private. The train wreck that the kids are going through is not spoken about in detail but it's acknowledged. As one of those kids who has now grown up to have a family of my own, I can say that it affects me still. Sometimes in ways I don't realize that are related to the way I grew up until my wife points it out for me. But then, we really talk to each other whereas here they don't. Good stuff, I'm on to the next chapter.

I like the exploration of the husband's failings and neglect and his taking responsibility, but the wife gets off too lightly in this one!!! The closest she gets to taking a hit is his challenging her on not suggesting marriage counseling to address her concerns with his neglecting her. Instead, she chooses cheating with his best friend to get her needs met!!!

He challenges her on that, but she never takes responsibility for it and shows absolutely NO REMORSE, but sheds a few tears! She gets off too lightly and demonstrates that she is a shallow person who chooses her own pleasures ahead of what is best for her family. Her children are going to suffer for the rest of their lives because of her choice. They will pay a higher price because they are also to very young.

Still it's a good story and delivers painful emotional impact for the husband! I feel my own pain for failing to understand my wife's needs to keep her from killing our marriage. At least she didn't cheat, though it would have been easier to get over the failed marriage for me in the long run... Guess I didn't show her enough that she was my soulmate and my only true love.... Go ahead and call me a wimp, but I know that I'm capable of loving someone with all my heart! I had a happy 21 years, even if the last 18 have been horribly painful.

The wife was all about her. I'm glad Frank was able to talk with both Claire and Doug and set some things straight. Claire did nothing to save the marriage and was all about trying to blame Frank. And all Doug wanted was to get in her pants. He doesn't care about Claire or the girls, and Claire certainly only cares about herself.

What a selfish cheating bitch. If she loved Frank you would think she would communicate with him, but my guess is she never put him first. It was easier to blame him and play the martyr.

Do us all a favor and just STFU for awhile. You losers put that cause you don't have a pair to put your real name down so we can feed you shit...Jackass!!

Definitely need to own the destruction of the marriage when they cheat. Frank's analogies were spot on and yet she still tried to blame him. Nothing but selfishness, disrespect, and lying on her part. She gave up on the marriage before really trying, before communicating that there were issues.

Do us all a favor and shove a lighted blowtorch up your ass and fuck yourself to death you cuckold cunt. You probably kiss your cheating wife’s ass; she has your cock in a cage. Fucking gimp. I hope you get stabbed repeatedly in the throat

I skip right over the Starlet stuff and don't miss it for a moment.

Which is not to say the writing isn't great. I just hate her as a character.

Frank has all the excuses in the world, it's all bullshit. Took Clair for granted, did what he wanted to do, gave nothing to the partnership of marriage then blamed her for cheating and walking away. There was nothing left for her to try to 'save', so I don't consider her a cheater. I'm a older guy, been there and done that have the ruined family t shirt.... But as opposed to frank, i took ownership of the mess I caused.

It's been a while since I read this, so I'm pretty much going by the comments here, but one thing that strikes me is Harry's comment at the start of this chapter's comment section

It seems to me that his wife didn't complain about his work because she WANTED to cheat! If she complained, he might have changed, and there goes her "justification" for cheating.

You think when you give a lecture on family life he is less a cuck/wimp??

Telling you claim to be older but call yourself boy.

Owned it did you. Head up your bunkmates butt.

Lots of pretenders like you in boomer generation...get married...have kids...then mid50s decide to selfisfly come out of closet.

Met one of your kind last November...I was helping friends build a garage. The son was married to your clubmate's daughter and they were expecting first baby. Her mother and stepfather were also there. Awkward for me and her mother. She was mortified by his outlandish queen of the year apparel and attitude. That and his constant remarks about my muscular arms

I have more than a bit of experience in adult entertainment establishments, and as portrayed she is a somewhat kind version of a typical legit dancer.

What offensive thing did I miss that you see?

This chapter was a disappointment to me. Frank got all ‘manned up’ to fight the divorce. He was ready to get down and dirty, call in the “Marine” lawyer and go for the jugular. Then that pussy-assed lawyer Terry talked him out of it. He should have his ass kicked. If there’s gonna be any saving this story in the next chapter, Doug and Claire are gonna have to have a ‘come to Jesus’ meeting with Frank, a “day of reckoning”, if you will. And Frank needs to get his pound of flesh from both of them. If not, this story was just a waste of time and space.

I didn't read anything not in the first part. Waste of time reading this repetitive drivel.

Here we have the obligatory LW "blame spreading" that is deployed as an every-ready cliche in an effort to make the story "deeper" or "more complex". Just working too much can be a problem, but it is not, and never will be, morally equivalent to adultery or an excuse for adultery. Javmor first goes off the tracks by having the MC finally wimp out and take the "Seal". Claire and her fuck toy deserve some pain. That pain doesn't make the children collateral damage. Claire and the fuck toy made the children collateral damage. As for the fuck toy's defense that the MC is a professional, so he doesn't have to work that much, which subsequent parts of the story indicate is also Javmor's belief, if you have a project management job you don't have a choice most of the time about the hours you work. You are one of the "adults" in the business who MUST make sure that things are competed to clients' satisfaction, even if the clients are unreasonable. Of course, adjustments can be made at the margins, but Claire did NOT do what she needed to do to get him to make those adjustments, nor did she ever approach him and say, "We can do without the fancy cars, the clothes, the big house, etc. We need more of your time." The fuck toy had time because he was one of the employees for whom the extra work by people like the MC makes their 9-5 existence possible. A better approach to the plot would have been for Claire to tell the MC that the fuck toy is after her (but she hasn't given in) and that she wants him to have less responsibility and less income so he has more time and that she would happily give up all the material crap she enjoys. Now you have the MC in a position of having to decide about his career vs. his family.

It is also cloying to have yet another LW husband blubbering and failing to take out the trash in the person of his "best friend". The idea that he'd automatically end up in jail is ridiculous because it could be done so that there are serious questions of proving the circumstances of the assault and, of course, as long as the fuck toy isn't maimed or attacked with a deadly weapon, neither the police nor, especially the DA, would be all that interested.

Obviously, this is just a story, but to work well, it can't wander off into LW cliches and show a failure to understand how the world of work really is. The first part of the story, though, was much better.

What a loser!

I guess I was hoping for more. The 1st chapter was good at the set-up. This fell in its face. She cheated and didn't try to communicate her frustrations to get husband. He, in turn, needed to cut back on work... Been there - done that. They both had problems but both refused to address them. My problem is that she went to his " best friend". That is NO FRIEND. Then, when he went for the divorce, he got shot down, he wimped out. Should have gotten the Marine to extract some good revenge. Really didn't have any use for the Starlet person unless something is in the works for a 3rd chapter and some revenge against his ex wife and friend best friend... Have 1st chapter 5 stars this only 3 stars.

This guy is a fucking dumb ass.

My thought about Doug is that, as the best friend it’s his job to tell me what is going on with my wife. It isn’t his job to use her complaints and problems as a way to get into her pants. As a friend, it’s his job to support me not stab me in the back. Doug’s telling him all the things he was doing wrong was what he used to seduce the wife.

You do a great job of developing the people in your stories. You also do a great job of describing and conveying Frank’ pain

Ruined this chapter with a stripper and whore. What a loser.

fun fact: the real name a hooker gives you is also a stage name. it's a neat little trick to make you feel special

Damn it, zeuspm! Did you have to spoil it for me?! Now you're probably going to tell me I am not actually the sexiest man she's ever seen!

My thought about Doug @ Dnvrdave58 is that sooner or later, if Frank is even a little bit like me, Doug is going to experience pain like he didn’t realize existed. And he’s going to bleed. Neither enough to kill him but enough to make him realize he screwed over the wrong guy. That would be my plan anyway. I guess we’ll see what Frank will do. Good story so far, thanks javmor79.

Bitch of a wife and friend the guys busys his ass

This ia an iaaue with a bad friend and bad wife. Infoegwt crap all the time but you kmow you can remond a personnof what is important. He may have failed because he workwd to hard and long but the wife failed the relationship because she was never vested enough on it to succeed. The friend is an whole

Doug needs it kicked, to where he's left limping& whining.

Claire needs to find that Doug is not what he says and she thinks he is. (He's a phony)

Frank needs to grow a pair at work and leave some for later. Pay more attention to his girls. LP

A good story, in my mind, is one that makes you feel a characters’ emotions good or bad. I felt Franks pain here. And it brought his pain alive to this old man married 59 years last Nov. and tears.

I just want to say that this story to this point is as good as anything I’ve read on this site. There’s true depth here. Thank you javmor79.

Your analysis of relationship emotional dynamics is amazing

You always use the same, predictable, format but it's such a powerful tool is just seem to belong there.

This is another lesson in confusion work ethic dedication as a substitute for the real meaning of life and living.

I've been alone now for 15 years. I'm 75 but look, truth here, 55. I'm in better physical condition most me in their 50's. Sadly, I've outlived almost all the people I've gone through life with. Physically no woman, even at 60, can keep up with me-I can ride a horse for 10-15 miles a day without a problem I have, virtually, no social millieu to associate with. Another LW author penned a phrase that really resonated in my head:

I'm moving through life but I'm no longer a part of it. Now, all I have is me. My life now is a reflection of the void the MC bought for himself. If he wishes up, grows a lot more, he can get a second chance for life.

I have none and, truth be told, I'm just waiting to die. I'm sad to feel that ending the emptiness of what I feel is going to be a relief.

Not looking for sympathy with this. My comments are for all the people who more value in career than family. If even one person reads a story of yours, and reads this entry as well, and makes a course correction to salvation of his family then at least I will have saved one life.

best part to me was Frank accusing of doing nothing to help save the marriage, which was true. The line about their marriage standing on the edge of a cliff and instead of trying to pull it back, Claire pushed it over.

For a guy not having sex ? He is getting screwed every where he turns to. Way too many words to tell this story. So far. Average 3 ✨

Javmor spouting predictable psychobabble: Check

Javmor adding unecessary filler that drags a 2 page chapter into 4: Check

Javmor using the same, tired trope in every story: Check

why a stripper,don't make sense.a rep,doctor,or lawyer that make sense.

Well after the end of part 1 I really thought you were going to BTB , but you haven’t, not sure if I'm sorry or not.

A good storyline, plenty of feeling written into this.