by Gina Mint
The End
Story Thirteen
Chapter 1
“You’re so lucky to be married to someone who understands your life, Jen,” Lana whined with jealousy as the two friends walked out the automatic doors together. They had both just completed shifts at the same hospital; Lazarus Medical. Jen was a resident in the pediatric department while Lana was a prenatal nurse. Lana was referring to Jen’s three year marriage with Joseph Garret, the hospital’s lead plastic surgeon. He mostly specialized in reconstructions after accidents or surgeries, but he did his fair share of vanity surgeries as well.
As she approached her car, Jen shook her head which made her sandy colored hair come out of the bun that had held it out of her face for the last 12 hours. “You have no idea how different what we do is and how little we see of each other. It’s not as great as you think.” Jen glanced sideways at her friend with emphasis. Of course, she didn’t mean for it to sound like she didn’t love the man; she very much did. They had dated for years before tying the knot while she was still in medical school. She had worshiped him then, his tall stature and his well-known and liked status at the hospital where he worked. He had made a name for himself in such little time, and she looked up to him, wanting to do that for herself. And he was great in bed to boot, but things had been tough lately. Great careers and a great marriage were hard to maintain simultaneously.
“You better be careful with words like that, Jen. Every woman at this hospital would die to snatch him up; even some of the married ones. You better hold on tight to that catch even if it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows,” Lana warned with a chuckle. Jen knew she was only half-joking, though. Women did tend to fall all over Joseph, especially his patients, and it did make her nervous from time to time.
“Thanks for the advice!” Jen hollered with a sour look on her face as Lana walked away towards her own car. Jen sighed and climbed in, sticking her key in the ignition. The exhaustion was beginning to come over her body as she forced herself to hit the gas pedal and drive the three miles to the apartment she lived in with her husband and a cat named Bob. At least it was nearby.
The worst part was she knew what would be waiting for her when she got home. It was around one in the morning, and her husband was probably in bed and would wake up the minute she climbed in next to him, wanting to engage in whatever carnal relations had been running through his mind for the past several hours while he got ready for bed and his shift the next day. While in reality, what would actually happen is some kind of routine where she would have to force an orgasm or fake it and then focus on him while she was falling asleep just to get the job done. Apparently, they were hitting that third year doomsday point that many couples did where the passion was going downhill. She had been meaning to bring it up to him, but she had been afraid to.
Jen trudged up the stairs carrying her duffel bag and her long hair which somehow seemed heavy after a long shift. Her whole body felt heavy for that matter. The lights were all off inside other than the one that sat over the stove. A note sat on the stove top offering her some of the leftovers form the dinner he had made, but she wasn’t in the mood to eat. She honestly wanted a foot rub and good conversation to lull her to sleep, but she wasn’t going to push her luck.
Jen quietly stripped off her scrubs before entering the bedroom and slipping on a silk gown that Joseph had laid out for her. Jen smiled and felt bad for her way of thinking on the way home. Joseph was still a kind and generous man, always thinking of her in some way. It was just that time and sex were both lacking for them; at least good sex, which was letting the passion slip out the window.
As she crawled into bed next to her handsome man he wrapped a warm arm around her, spooning with her. He didn’t make any move to be with her sexually but instead gave her a chaste kiss to the back of her neck. For some reason, Jen felt herself bothered by the whole thing. The only thing worse than sex that had become routine was when it became non-existent. That could mean so many red flags, and even though it was only one incident, Jen’s paranoid nature had her running every possibility through her head; most leading to divorce. That was something she never wanted. She still loved Joseph with all her heart and never wanted to be free of him even when he was at his worst.
Jen closed her eyes and made a permanent note in her mind that if she got the chance she was going to mention her concerns to him first thing in the morning and come up with a plan to solve their problem.
***
Jen woke up to the sound of the shower coming on in the master bathroom. The clock read 6:15 in the morning, and Joseph was getting ready for work. Jen saw it as her best opening and stripped down to nothing in order to join him underneath the warm water. Steam filled the room, and it made an aching fill her groin as her hands slid around his body, but she needed to focus.
“Ouch!” Joseph called out, spinning around and dunking his head back into the water. “You startled me and made me get shampoo in my eye,” he explained, looking down at his bare wife with a lazy smirk on his adorable face. His dark hair clung to the back of his neck giving him a wet mullet under the water, and Jen smiled at him. There was still a spark there; it just needed some extra kindling. “So, to what do I owe this pleasure?” he asked with a wiggle of his eyebrow. Jen would have normally laughed at his behavior, but the problem in her head was too serious for laughter. He quickly got on board looking down at her with worry. “What’s wrong?” he asked, reaching around to turn the water off.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Jen said, looking at the faucet. “I just wanted to mention something that’s been bothering me is all. Please, continue with your shower.” She felt weak like she was about to just back down and let it go, but now that she had begun he wasn’t going to let her stop. That was just his personality. So, she went ahead anyway. “I feel like we’ve gotten into some kind of a rut here, especially where passion and variance is concerned. And I know it has a lot to do with our schedules and how long we’ve been together, but I’d like to see if there’s something we can do about it. I’ve heard that this can be a difficult time for couples to overcome if it isn’t kind of nipped in the bud, and I can’t handle it if we start fighting or someone cheats or whatever.” The last few words came spewing out faster than she could think. She could fell herself being worked into a panic.
“Woah, whoa, slow down,” Joseph said bringing his hands down on his wife’s shoulders. He began to rub them, trying to appease her, but it just made the rest of her body feel cold and annoyingly wet standing there in the dry shower. “I know things haven’t been as great as they used to be in the bedroom, but you shouldn’t go off the deep end talking about cheating and divorce. I love you. That hasn’t changed.”
Jen shook her head and shook his hands off of her shoulders so that she could step out of the tub and into a waiting robe. “Just forget it, Joseph. You need to get to work on time. You’re right, I’m just being paranoid,” she sighed, collapsing onto the bed, feeling suddenly exhausted.
“No vanity surgery is worth leaving you in this mood, Jen. I’m pretty worried. I didn’t really know you felt this way, and it seems like you’ve been holding this in for a while.” Joseph’s brows furrowed as he sat next to her on the bed, his lower half wrapped in a towel. Jen glanced at him, a warm, fuzzy feeling coming over her at the sight of him like that. His chest was still well-chiseled like the day they met.
“The timing is always off, and we only see each other in passing unless it’s a Sunday. We spend most of that vegging out or trying to be social with our friends so we don’t lose them instead of pleasuring each other in bed the way we used to. I just don’t like what we’ve become. We have to do something before it’s too late.” Now that Jen felt like she was allowed to speak her mind, it was all just coming out of her. She was desperate to get what they had back. It seemed like more was on the line than their passion for each other. In fact, Jen wondered if she could live like that forever.
“I can’t say that I
agree with the fact that it’s the big deal you’re making it out to be, but if you have something in mind that will ease this problem for you, I’m willing to listen. I’ve never seen you so worked up.” Jen sat up in the bed and thought for a moment. A memory of something one of her coworkers revealed once came back to her, but she was almost afraid to suggest it. Though, desperate times did call for desperate measures.
“Well, there’s this woman at work that ran into the same problem about a year ago. I remember her talking to me about how she saved her marriage by having a manage-a-trois. I know it sounds crazy, but what if it’s just spice we need in order to be cray for each other again?” Jen’s voice rose in hope as Joseph scratched his head thoughtfully.
“I don’t know about this, Jen, but I guess I’m willing to try to make you happy. I’ll leave it up to you to figure out the details, though.” Jen nodded as he leaned down to give her a kiss. She was sure that if there was any way to light the flame under them again, then a threesome was it.
Chapter 2
“So, what did you think about that last one? She was nice,” Joseph commented prompting his wife to face palm herself. “What’s the matter? She was cute and blonde. What else is there? We’ve already interviewed five other women who you didn’t approve of. Maybe you don’t really want this, which I would be fine with.”
Jen reached over and slapped her husband’s arm with annoyance. He was right that they had interviewed six women total now to be their third, and it wasn’t looking great. She was trying to find someone that was going to set them both off without breaking up the relationship. She had consulted with that coworker to figure out exactly how to do it. She had advised that they interview and go into a contract with someone whom they were both attracted to. That person would live with them for a time until the job was done. But so far everyone they had interviewed had been shallow, freckly or nice as her husband put it.
“I’m not looking for cute or nice, Joseph. Cute and nice are boring. We are trying to spice things up here, not keep them at a simmer. It needs to be someone special; someone that is attractive, smart and knows what she’s doing,” Jen finished off, feeling frustrated. They were both playing hooky from work for the occasion. They had both finally agreed that it was that crucial, but it seemed like they were just wasting their time.
The doorbell rang to save them from even more frustrated bickering. “If this one isn’t any good, then can we just give up and try something else? I’m sure I can find somewhere to get you some sexy lingerie and some fuzzy handcuffs. I’m sure we can make do with something like that,” Joseph said with both a whine and goofy grin. Jen rolled her eyes and pushed him towards the door.
“Whatever, but let’s not keep the poor girl waiting. Even if she is doomed not to win us over it doesn’t mean we need to be disrespectful. Jen stood up and walked behind him to the door as he swung it open, both of them expecting complete disappointment. But the girl on the other side of the door seemed somehow completely different than the rest that had been by already that morning. She had a bright smile on her face, and she was young but with a sophisticated look. She was one of the only women Jen had seen actually pull off one of those fashionable rompers that generally only worked on young teenagers, and her sunglasses looked like they were designer.
“Hi, are you Joseph and Jen?” the girl asked politely, looking between the two of them. She was the first one confident enough to use their first names instead of their last names. Being called Mr. and Mrs. wasn’t really a turn on in this case.
“Yes, we are,” Jen answered with a broad smile, opening the door further to let her in. The girl ducked under Joseph’s arm without missing a beat as she sashayed into the living room and sat down, crossing her legs. She looked ready to make a business deal, though her face showed nothing but a coy smile. Her hair was an inky black and the way her eyes turned up just slightly on the side along with her slender build made Jen suspect she was at least partly of Asian descent. Her hair was pulled back in a chic ponytail, and she had accessorized the blue of her romper with gold earrings and bangles.
Jen dragged her gaping husband into the living room and sat down across from her, ready to get answers to the same questions she had repeated to six girls all day. Hopefully, the seventh girl would be the charm. “You must be Tessa,” Jen said politely, reaching out her hand to shake. Tessa nodded and shook both their hands, lingering just long enough to make eye contact. She knew what she was doing. “So, do you understand what we’re looking for?” Jen asked as she placed her hand on her husband’s knee. She could feel the sexual tension pulsing between all of them.
Tessa was extremely attractive, but Jen needed to make sure she could deliver intellectually as well. If she could, then she was exactly what the two of them were looking for. “Yes, I actually have some experience in this sort of situation. I am in graduate school right now, actually, studying psychology to be a couple’s counselor. I’ve come across some interesting ideas and theories that suggest bringing a third party into a marriage, even temporarily may save the passion when it’s dying. No offense to ether of you, but I just feel it’s best to be honest about where you are so we can move on and start working on it.” Coming from any other mouth, the statement would have sounded condescending. But from Tessa’s it actually sounded like she cared and was knowledgeable for that matter. Was she really a psyche major? It sounded too good to be true, but that would definitely make her an intellectual.
“Well, I can see the benefit in doing this with someone who has experience when we have none,” Joseph mentioned, clearing his throat. “To be honest, I have no idea what I’m doing. My wife suggested this, and I’m kind of along for the ride for her happiness.” Jen made her elbow land in his side, feeling a little embarrassed at his unnecessary outburst. Then, she realized that she had shown their true colors more than ever.
“I assure you that I know what I’m doing and that I have a 100% success rate. The last couple I worked with I lived with off and on for six months, and now they are in Europe renewing their vows. I understand that it’s scary and unconventional, but if you keep an open mind it can really work. So, why don’tyou tell me a bit about your situation so I can explain to you how I might be able to help? Then, you’ll be able to make an informed decision,” Tessa offered, sitting back in her seat as if in for the long haul.
Jen didn’t try to hide her shock as her jaw dropped, looking over at her husband. She was great; turning the questioning back on them. It was like they were about to get a free counseling session in their living room. Rendered speechless, Jen motioned for her husband to speak for the both of them.
“Well, we both work at a hospital with differing shifts. Our careers are doing great, but that means we see each other nightly in passing and then one whole day a week. It’s usually a lazy day, and we get comfortable and exhausted. Honestly, I didn’t know there was a huge problem, just a dry spell like all couples. But my wife came to me a couple of mornings ago in complete distress. She seemed to think we were headed for divorce or infidelity. She thinks the passion is all gone, and she suggested this because a coworker told her about doing it a year ago to save her marriage. I don’t really know what the problem is to be honest other than life and the natural course of a relationship.” Joseph shrugged and left the floor open for Tessa. Jen leaned in, extremely interested at what she had to say.
“It’s the doom of routine is what it sounds like. Comfort can be a killer of passion. It’s great, of course, to feel confident in what you have together and be able to be yourself, but you still have to make an effort once in a while. You have to work to keep the passion going or everything falls flat and seems pointless. Eventually, one of you will stray. You just need to learn how to be sexy again; how to make the time to turn each other on. I have every confidence I can help you with that in a very short amount of time. You two are young and clearly still have some attraction, but you need to stoke the fire. What kind of deal did you have in mind?” T
essa asked, ready to seal the deal. It must have been obvious that she was wowing them. Maybe she had a bit of an attraction to them too.
“Honestly, we figured we’d let you decide and take control. It’s scary to put so much trust in a stranger, but I think that’s what we need to do. We need you to guide us. Can you do that?” Tessa nodded with a peaceable smile on her face. “You just tell us what you think we should do to prepare and what you need from us,” Jen added, looking to her husband for support. He nodded along, agreeing to whatever his wife said. That was another thing she realized she still loved about him; his agreeableness.
“Most couples let me move in for a bit and offer me some small type of compensation, especially after it begins to work. Really just boarding and food is what I require. Long term many help make small dents in my outrageous student loans, but that’s not something I expect. I think it’s best to start right away, maybe over the weekend I can move in. Then, I’ll get started. My job is to get the two of you worked up and wanting each other; anticipating that moment when you finally get release.” The way she said it already sounded tantalizing.
Jen and Joseph were quick to agree. “It sounds just fine for us. We’ll see you again this weekend, Tessa, consider yourself hired.” They said their niceties, and Jen waited until after Tessa’s car drove out of their driveway to get excited.
