The Pragmatist

At 11:00 a. m. Denise, the CEO, and I went into the CEO's office. "Brett, we're not going to offer you the broker's job, which would pay about $50,000 a year. Instead, we'd like to offer you the job as our computer guru at $70,000," the CEO said.

"Make it $80,000, allow me to work half time for the next six weeks so that I can complete my community college courses, and let me have a few trading clients if I get them on my own and if it doesn't interfere with my main job, and you have a deal," I immediately shot back.

I have no idea where my brazen attitude had come from considering that I had been out of full time employment for more than eighteen months and had no other job prospects. I guess that it was primarily motivated by me being able to make sure that Arukas no longer needed to work as a call girl.

Denise and the CEO grinned. "Come in tomorrow to sign the papers; however you don't start getting full time pay until you start working full time," the CEO responded.

We all shook hands with smiles all around.

When I got home early afternoon Arukas was thrilled with the news. As she smothered me with kisses she said "Oh Brett, I can stop being a sex worker as soon as your first paycheck comes in."

"That's not what I had in mind, Arukas," I sternly replied. "I want you to stop now – because I'm still having real trouble in coming to grips with the situation, and I don't think that we have any hope staying married, or of re-connecting if we do, unless you stop immediately."

"We're in the perfect position to talk this out now, Brett," she grinned. How she could grin after what I just said, I don't know.

She grabbed me by the hand, led me to the living room, and sat next to me on the couch.

"Let's survey the situation before we talk about details," she started out. "First, let's talk about love."

"OK," I mumbled.

"All questions from one of us to the other must to be answered honestly; agreed?" she asked, squeezing my hands.

"Agreed," I replied.

"Last Tuesday before you opened the mail did you feel that we had the ultimate in ludus love?"

"Yes," I had to answer, thinking about all the fun we had dancing, her imaginative games every ten days or so when I came home from work, our walks and bike rides around the neighborhood, the good times we always had at parties; and just being together.

"Did you feel that we had the ultimate in pragma love?"

To be honest I again had to answer "Yes," thinking about all of the compromises we made for each other, how we approached all issues logically and with respect, how our relationship was so much more stable than anyone else's that we knew.

"Was our love-making; and even more than that our physical response to each other in general; passionate?"

I hesitated – when I did she said "If I took off my top and stuck my tits in your face, no matter what the circumstances, would you have sucked them?" she snickered.

"Of course," I snapped, both because her snicker indicated that I couldn't have any other answer and because I was for some reason upset with myself with my realization that my passion for her hadn't waned in the slightest since that first week that we were intimate at the beach house.

"Had your capacity for love for me – your plautina – increased since our week at the beach house?"

I hated to sound like a broken record, and I really wanted to say "No" at least once, but that wouldn't have been honest, so it was another "Yes."

"Did you have any doubt that I loved you just as much in all of those aspects as you loved me?"

Damn – I had to answer another "Yes."

"OK – that's the first part. Now maybe something harder. Have any of those forms of love diminished because I did what was necessary from the practical standpoint to keep our economic situation from adversely impacting our intense love for one another?"

"But Arukas – you fucked other guys! You hid that from me?" I snapped.

"Hiding is not the same as not revealing it. Can you honestly say that you don't know me well enough to realize that I never have been forthcoming about personal information? Did you ever check on our finances or ask how we were making ends meet or did you just leave that to me? Did you ever question what affect the lack of 'forsaking all others' in our wedding vows could mean for the future? Did you even consider asking your Uncle Earl for a loan when I suggested it, or did you dismiss it out-of-hand and refuse to discuss it?" she rattled off.

We proceeded to have a full discussion of all of the issues ultimately for a total of almost eight hours straight, continuing our discussions even when we were making ourselves sandwiches when we got hungry, and sometimes even talking with our mouths full of food.

Our biggest issue came when I said "You need to stop the sex trade immediately if we are to stay together!" and she responded "You can't precipitously wind down any business."

Finally by about 11 p. m. we were talked out and had made some decisions. As part of our pragma love, also known as companionate love, we had written down what we agreed to.

-Arukas would service only her six regular customers, one time each, over the next ten days and then terminate her "business" for good.

-After she terminated her business she and I would both get extensive STD testing with only oral and titty fucks until the STD results came back.

-I would ask Uncle Earl for a $5,000 loan to make sure that we could pay all of our bills until my full-time paychecks started coming in.

-Arukas would only work for her few private dance customers, and take a few (non-sexual) escort jobs for charity balls, and would investigate what type of financing was necessary for her to start her own dance studio once the economy improved; or she would investigate other careers such as party planning.

-We would have another marriage ceremony with vows that I wrote which would include "forsaking all others – no exceptions even for economic distress" which we would not only say in front of a justice of the peace, but that we would reduce to writing and sign in front of a notary.

After we had written everything down and signed it in front of a video camera, we dragged our asses up to the master bedroom and showered together. Despite how emotionally drained I was, by her sucking my cock and balls Arukas had me hot as a firecracker. I must have deposited a liter of cum on her chin, chest, and boobs when we titty fucked that night. We didn't even bother to shower again until the next morning, when we awoke with cum caked on both of us as well as the sheets.

***************

Arukas made sure that everything that she could do regarding our agreement was followed to both the letter and spirt of the agreement.

As for my part, when I asked him Uncle Earl refused to loan us money – instead he simply gave us $5,000. Also, my new job turned out to be even better than expected, and within two years I was making well into six figures.

After more muddled feelings for about four months, Arukas surprised me on a four day weekend by taking us to June's parents' beach house, and re-creating our first intimacy.

Arukas became a successful party planner, which was the perfect job for her with three kids; a little girl who looks just like her and then rambunctious twin boys who look like me. Even at her present age of seven our little girl (no silly Lithuanian name, just a nice and simple American one – "Nancy") seems to be as pragmatic as Arukas; our five year old twin boys, not so much, more interested in bashing things and each other and rough-housing with their dad than thinking deep thoughts.

It was not my proudest moment when I surreptitiously had all the kids DNA tested to make sure that that never was an issue. I never told Arukas about it because I didn't want to her to think that I didn't trust her, because she had never lied to me and in view of our enhanced economic situation and second wedding ceremony I could expect complete fidelity.

The only time that I now ever think of Arukas' "business" that got us through hard economic times is when I go over to Justina and Bill's house; but then the thought is fleeting. I long ago came to grips with the fact that Arukas thought that she was just being her practical, pragmatic, rational, self, in making the decision that she did, and were it not for that letter from the bankruptcy court I never would have known or even remotely suspected because it had no effect on our love for each other, and she would have dropped it on her own as soon as I was working full time again.