“Sweetie,” she said over the every-third-day satellite phone call, “I miss you too much. What am I going to do?”

“What do you mean?” came from the other end after the short pause for the signal transit to orbit and back.

“Need I remind you how impressed you were that I was a virgin at age twenty-three? How I kept boyfriends by being damned good at oral sex both ways? Now, after two months of marriage and learning the joys of intercourse you are going to be gone for five and a half more months. That’s cruel, I think.”

“What am I suggesting? Getting laid of course. I’ve got a half-dozen previous boyfriends that see me in public from time to time. I know they don’t give a damn that I’m married. We’re not talking about love, honey, just lust like I had with them before I met you. Did it stop me from being in love with you? Not at all even though I was seeing some of them when we first started dating. I was a good girl, you know, and didn’t let them get inside me even after you took my virginity. I have some honor, don’t forget.”

“Shit, we’ve run out of time. I’ll talk to you in a few days so be thinking about what I said.”

[a few days later on the satellite phone]

“Have you thought about what I said?”

“Hey, don’t be so difficult. I had dinner with an old boyfriend last night. No, I didn’t fuck him but I sure wanted to. We did get each other off like we used to though. You know, those ways you thought were so sexy when we talked about them on our honeymoon. Hey, how are you dealing with our separation?”

“Are you sure there isn’t more? One of the guys on the alternative shift has been hitting on me and says there are always women out there that like being sluts. Is that how you handle your hornies? You’ve never said, just like you’ve never said how far you are from being a virgin like I was.”

[a few more days later]

“Those ideas aren’t much help. I’ve tried them. I guess I need to go out more often with my previous boyfriends like the one I told you about. I’ve been wondering about just fucking them until you got back. You know, maybe better than I do, that getting naked and satisfying our natural lust is part of wellness. Thanks to you, my pussy has been filled a lot of times since the wedding so what happens now isn’t so significant any more than your cock’s history is. I don’t think you’ll enjoy me any less when you get back here, will you? Have any of the other women you’ve diddled felt worse because other dicks have been in them?”

[on the third day]

“Sweetie, I want to reassure you. Don’t you be concerned about me. I’m getting well taken care of until you get back and I’ll be nice and hot and ready for you then. Sex is something a person needs to keep in practice with like a lot of other things. I have two helpers who are doing a great job of keeping me in shape. You will be very pleased, I’m sure, right after you get back here. I miss you, don’t forget!”