"NICE" by Vickie Tern (vickietern@aol.com). The title refers (among other things) to the fact that the husband wanted to be nice to his wife by engaging with her only in the nice kind of sex she wanted, which was generally placid and rare. Away from home he was selected as a sexual playmate by a coworker with decidedly anti-nice tendencies. That torrid and kinky affair came to an end and vanished into the past. However, from the very beginning of the story we know that the man's wife is a vindictive sort: to her a deal is a deal; and if she'll sue the painter for finishing a job late, we can just bet that she won't be very nice to a husband found to be unfaithful to the marriage deal.

Now my Word Count utility tells me that I am 2929 words (259 lines) into a story that is 10858 words (1022 lines) long, and the wife has just found out that this sweet little husband has been unfaithful. As you know, I like sweet cuddly sex; and I don't like stories in which someone is humiliated sexually. And you must certainly realize that if my husband were ever similarly unfaithful to me, I would simply pat him on the head, ask him not to do it again, and beg his forgiveness for failing to be the woman he deserved. If you believe that, then you're a few french fries short of a Happy Meal and I have a snippet of Princess Di's cunt hair that I'm willing to sell you at a bargain price. Au contraire! This author has my permission to have the wife do anything she wants to this slimeball for the rest of the story; and I'm going to enjoy all 7929 words (763 lines) of it!

And the plan for revenge that the wife outlines is ingenious. I've never thought of this method of revenge before. As the wife dictated her terms to the husband, I couldn't help thinking that the plot rivaled an Edgar Alan Poe story in its macabre thoroughness. But hark! The story has a surprise ending; and that's putting it mildly. I cannot tell you more. Read this story. You'll love it.