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--BitBard

"Face of Betrayal" by Morpheus' Twin (an282402@anon.penet.fi). Rick comes home from work unexpectedly and finds his wife (Maddie) in bed with another man. Rick doesn't burst into the room and raise hell or sneak away to feel hurt or plot revenge; rather, he reasons about what he sees. He is primarily angry; but once he settles down, he also finds it a little bit stimulating. He reflects on his sex life and his overall relationship with his wife, and he decides that life is actually pretty good. And so he calmly walks into the room, takes off his clothes and joins the copulating couple. They are stunned at first; but once they are instructed to do so, they manage to continue their activity with the added participant. As the narrator puts it - he treated the man as a guest not only in his home, but in his wife as well. After the confrontation, the stranger comes rapidly inside Maddie; and then Rick and his wife go at it together. Rick is reassured by Maddie's obvious ardor in their lovemaking, and they climax happily.

Afterwards, Rick gets his Swiss army knife from his coat pocket, kills them both, and chops their bodies into small pieces with an axe that he keeps in the hall closet. No; that doesn't happen! I don't know what came over me to make me say that. What really happens is Rick tells the stranger to get lost so that he and Maddie can talk things over. Rick asks his wife for an explanation, and she replies that she has secretly been reviewing stories written by a person named Deirdre for an Internet newsgroup and that a mysterious force had seized control over her and forced her to have anal sex with young men assigned to her by her new mistress. Actually, that doesn't happen either; but I kind of like that plot. You'll have to read the story to see what really does happen.

In real life, the conflict resolution strategy employed by this couple may be risky. Both Abby and Ann would suggest that husband and wife should consult a counselor. However, this story makes for much more interesting reading. My own advice from the Dear Celeste column is if you or your spouse feel a need for something like this, you should read a good story (like this one) and get it out of your system vicariously. That way no one gets hurt.