Chapter 11

“I’ve been seeing someone.” I said.

We were laying in each others arms again. I was almost coherent about an hour after Darla had melted my brain with one of the best blowjobs I had ever had.

“Someone besides Emily and the Bower sisters?”

“I mean that I’ve been seeing someone professionally. Dr. Floss. She’s Lesserton’s answer to Dr. Ruth.”

“Who?”
“Never mind. Ancient reference. She’s a psychologist.”

“A marriage counselor?”

“If you like. I want us to see her together. It’s possible she’ll want to speak to you alone. Will you agree to that?”

“If I say no will you melt my brain again to try to convince me?” she teased.

“I honestly think that would be physiologically impossible.”

“In that case, yes.”

“Good I’ll give her a call when her office opens and make us an appointment.”

“So Darla, why are you here to see me this morning?”

“Well Dr. Floss ... Maggie, Danny wanted...”

“So you’re only here because Danny is forcing you to...”

“No,” Darla said quite strongly. “I want to reestablish my relationship with Danny and he seemed to think we could benefit from talking to you.”

“You don’t think so?”

“I didn’t say that. I’m just not sure how talking with you will help Danny trust me again.”

“Is that why you think your marriage is in trouble? Because Danny doesn’t trust you?”

“Yes. I mean Danny and I have been intimate again. He is still attracted to me, and I to him. I think that trust is the issue.”
“Do you think it is unreasonable for Danny to have trust issues with you?”

“No.” Darla hesitated, but when neither Maggie nor I said anything she continued, “I am untrustworthy as far as fidelity is concerned, but we’re in Lesserton now and the rules are different.”

“Why would you think that?” Maggie asked. Darla looked perplexed.

“Aren’t they?”

“Darla, the rules of any relationship, be it monogamous, polygamous, or whatever, are negotiated by the participants. There are many people in Lesserton who practice poly fidelity. For them fidelity is the rule. What were the rules of your relationship with Danny before you both moved to Lesserton?”

“I supposed fidelity was an expectation on Danny’s part.”

“You suppose?” I asked. Maggie gave me a look, but said nothing.

“Alright. Yes. Fidelity was an expectation on Danny’s part.”

“Is that true Danny?” Maggie asked me.

“Yes it was.”

“Darla what was your expectation? Did you expect Danny to be faithful?”

“That would have been kind of hypocritical of me wouldn’t it?” When Maggie remained silent Darla continued, “I suppose I thought Danny was being faithful. I actually kind of hoped that he wasn’t.”

“Why would you feel like that?”

Darla hesitated. Finally she said, “Because that would have made what I was doing alright.”

“You felt guilty?” Maggie asked.

“Yes.”

“Did you feel Danny was justified when he left you.”

“No! Yes. Probably.”

“Why did you follow him to Lesserton?”

“Because I’m still in love with him.”

“What did you find when you arrived here?”

“I found that Danny was living with one girl and had just, probably had just, had relations with two others.”

“How did that make you feel?”

“I was jealous.”

“Danny how did you feel when you discovered Darla’s infidelity?”

“I was angry.”

“Why?”

“Because I felt betrayed.”

“Okay. But how did you feel in the moment? You friend and you wife were engaged in an act of infidelity. How did you feel about that?”
“I guess I was jealous too.”

“Alright Danny. You’ve told me that you have seen your girlfriend Emily engaged in sexual acts with other men. It that accurate?”

“Yes it is.”

“Are you ever jealous of her activities?”
I thought about that. “No,” I answered. “I find it incredibly arousing.” Did that mean I did not love Emily? I rejected that. “I’m happy she can enjoy being so incredibly free. I love her.”

“There is a name for what you are feeling,” Maggie said. “It is called compersion. Compersion is the wholehearted participation in the happiness of others. It originally came out of the Kerista Community and is a term widely used in the modern poly community. In that sense, it means that you are happy because your paramour is receiving sexual satisfaction with one of their other paramours. Many people call compersion the opposite of jealousy.”

Maggie looked resigned now. I could tell she was about to say something she was not particularly happy about. I knew she hated giving definitive statements about anything. She felt her mandate was to lead her patients to discover their own answers, not impose them.

“Darla. Danny. I believe that your marriage is broken. It cannot go on as it has been. The good news is that you can chose to change it.”

“You mean make it polyamorous?” Darla asked.

“If you wish. That is for the both of you to decide.”

“Can you help us?” I asked.

“I can facilitate if you decide you want to try to redefine your marriage and come upon a difficult point that you can’t work out on your own. However, I believe that at this point the best process for you both would be to try to come to a new definition of how you want your relationship to look. If you can do that, I believe there is hope for you.”

“Can I come home with you?” Darla asked. Her car was parked in front of the factory.

“Okay,” I said. I guessed that there was no time like the present to start our discussion.

I opened the door and sent her upstairs to the loft with the statement, “I want to check on Emily and ask her to give us some time.”

As Darla climbed the steps I entered the workshop. Emily had the CNC apart in the process of swapping out the router for a laser cutter. Her face lit up when she saw me. I hugged and kissed her.

“So?” She knew Darla and I were due to meet Maggie this morning.

“Maggie seems to think we can work things out.”

“Is that what you want?”

“As long as any solution includes you. If that’s alright with you.”

“She is really scrumptious. I’ve heard that two women under the same roof means trouble in Chinese.”

“That’s a myth. One that doesn’t seem to hold much water in Lesserton.”

“Does she get a room too?”

“I was thinking of giving yours away, since all it seems to be used for is hanging clothes and exploiting Bower girls, and the Master seems more than adequate to do both.”

“Bastard,” She said before giving me a blistering kiss.

Darla had poured two drinks which were sitting on the center coffee table of a three seat conversation area in the great room. She was sitting in one of the seats. She had chosen to wear a skirt to our appointment with Dr. Floss. Her long legs were tanned and her feet bare, the two inch heels tucked under the chair.

“It’s a little early isn’t it?” I said.

“If we’re going to do this I’m going to need a little social lubricant.”

I took the one of the other seats.

“One rule,” she said after taking a gulp of her drink. “I don’t want to talk about the past. No asking about past infidelities. I don’t want you pulling things out of your sack that I can’t do anything about now.”

“Okay. What does that leave us to talk about?” I asked sipping at my drink. It was a strong single malt scotch.

“The future. Maybe the present.”

“Okay. The present. What happened to our house?”

“I rented it out. I didn’t know if I could convince you to reconcile, but I had to try. I didn’t want to sell it, couldn’t really without your permission. I needed to be free to move here.”

“Why?”

“Because I still love you and don’t want to live without you in my life.” She sat looking at her drink. “I know its probably not fair, but I want to know about the women in your life now.”

“You said nothing about the past.”

She sighed. “I’m not going to ask you to give any of them up, but since they’re going to be a part of our new life I would like to know who they are.”

I thought about it. “You first. I’ll give you Connie and Bryce. Since you called me after our split I figure they were on the table.”

“We said no past and they’re past now.”

“Okay. In Lesserton.”

“Elsie Monroe. She’s my new broker. I’m trying to get my Virginia Realtor’s license. She’s been trying to get me to meet this couple she’s involved with, but I’ve been putting her off. I wasn’t sure you’d be alright with a guy.”

“You thought I’d be okay with a you and a girl?”

“You’re a guy aren’t you? Connie tried to get me to offer her to you, but I was afraid you’d find out about the rest.”

“No more about Connie. We said.”

“Yeah.”

“That it?” I asked.

“It turns out that the depression resulting from your husband leaving you has a real negative effect on a girl’s libido. I seem to be going multiple days without sex at all. That’s kind of a record for me since I got to college.” She gestured at me with her glass, now almost empty.

“You’ve met Emily and at least two of the Bower sisters.”

“How many are there?”

“Four.”

“All of them?” I could see her eyes widen.

“At the same time.”

“Damn. I’m so wet right now.”

“I guess you’re less depressed than before.”

“We’ll see after this conversation is over.”

“My lawyer.”

“Your lawyer?”

“Cynthia Smith. I think you’ll like her husbands.”

“Husbands?”

“Lesserton rules.”

“Does that mean guys are on the table?”

“I don’t see how it would be fair otherwise.” I saw a shiver go through her. I gave her a look.

“Not yet, but I’m close.” She downed the rest of her glass. “So we’re talking going full poly here? Open marriage?”

“It sure sounds like it,” I said. “There’s one thing though. Emily. I’m not giving her up. It’s not negotiable.”

“Fuck!” It did not look like a big one, but her eyes defiantly glazed over and I saw her body scrunch over in her chair. “Damn, that’s never happened before,” she said when it was over. She was panting. “I think I need another drink.”