After supper, Anthony and Audrey sat cuddled on the couch when Audrey shut off the t.v. She sat up and Anthony looked at her.
“We should talk,” she said. Anthony’s stomach turned.
“Okaaaayyy,” he said. Audrey took a big breath.
“I know we’ve been struggling with our sex life,” she said. “And we’ve done the marriage counseling and the sex counseling and neither one of us is satisfied.”
Anthony swallowed.
“Where are you going with this?” Anthony asked.
“Do you think we should open our marriage up?” Audrey asked. Anthony raised his eyebrows and took a big breath.
“Not where I thought this was going,” he said.
“Obviously there’s a lot to work out and we can’t make a decision right this second. But I’ve been really unhappy about it and I know you have been too.”
“Then why didn’t you say anything?”
“I felt like we were having the same conversations over and over again. And you like it rougher than I do and a lot of things that I don’t.”
“But I want to do those things with you. I want to help you get comfortable…”
“And I just don’t.”
Anthony rubbed his chin.
“We’ll talk about it,” he said.
“Ok,” Audrey said.
The following Monday, Anthony was in before Kylie who ignored that he was already there. She made the pot of coffee as she always did and once it was ready she brought him a cup. He immediately noticed the bags under her eyes and how pale she was.
“Freeze,” he said when she turned to leave. “Close the door.”
She did as she was told.
“Sit,” he instructed. Kylie did so. “You look like hell.”
“Thanks,” she said.
“Didn’t have time to message me back?” Anthony quipped. Kylie said nothing and looked down at her hands. Anthony watched her pick at the skin around her nails. “Kylie, what’s going on?”
“Nothing,” she said.
“Kylie, this isn’t going to work, if you don’t talk to me,” he said. “I don’t appreciate being ignored.”
“I couldn’t handle talking to you knowing you were spending the weekend fucking your wife,” Kylie said, looking up. She wiped her tears away. “I shouldn’t care. I’m not naive enough to know you don’t fuck her. I know what my place is. But that doesn’t make it easier.”
Anthony sighed.
“Jesus you women are going to kill me,” he whispered to himself.
“So sorry,” Kylie said sarcastically. “We can end this now.”
“Not what I meant,” Anthony said. “We had sex this weekend yes. It was less than great for me and then she dropped the ‘we should open up our marriage’ conversation on me.”
Kylie felt nauseous. She held her head in her hands, resting her elbows on her legs and silently cried.
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly.
Anthony went over to Kylie, leaning against his desk in front of her. He pulled her to him and held her.
“Me too,” he said. He let her calm down a bit more before she fully stood up and wiped her face. “Go home. Take a nap. Do what you need to do.”
“Things need to be done,” Kylie said.
“Those things can wait,” Anthony said. “Go home.”
He kissed her and she melted into him. He rested his forehead against hers.
“Please don’t ignore me like that again,” he said.
Kylie listened and went home. Anthony left at noon and went home. He sat in his office and did more research on open marriages and how they worked. He wrote down the boundaries he had if they opened their marriage.
“Hey,” Audrey said. “What are you doing home?”
“Just wasn’t in the right headspace,” Anthony said.
“Are you ok?” Audrey said. Anthony handed her the piece of paper.
“These are my terms if we open up our marriage,” Anthony said seriously. “Ones with stars are non-negotiables.”
Audrey read the list.
“Birth control,” Audrey said with distaste.
“Non-negotiable,” Anthony said.
“And what about you?” Audrey asked defensively. “Is your partner going to be on birth control? You know women lie.”
“And so do men,” Anthony said. “They can lie about having a vasectomy. They can not tell you if the condom broke. They can not tell you if they have an STD. I have to trust that you’re going to vet whoever your partner is. But I don’t have to trust that partner and believe that they have your best interest in mind.”
“I don’t like how the hormones affect me,” Audrey said. “It kills my sex drive.”
“Non-negotiable,” Anthony said. “Do you expect me to be ok if you get pregnant with another man’s baby or we have to wait and see if it’s his or mine? Or you’re ok with giving me an STD? Or are *we* not going to have sex any more?”
Audrey sat on the leather sofa near his desk.
“This *will* change our relationship,” Anthony said. “And I don’t know how it’s going to affect us, but I’d rather not lose my family.”
Audrey sat quietly for a few minutes while Anthony watched her.
“Ok,” she said. “Will you write up a contract for us then?”
“Is there anything you want to add?” Anthony asked.
“I’m going to look again, but I told you everything I know yesterday,” Audrey said. “But make a draft.
The following two weeks were filled with several late night discussions and a few arguments but they signed their contract and put it in their filing cabinet.
A week later, Anthony was driving as Kylie sat in the passenger seat on their way to a nearby two day business event. The silence in the car was deafening, but Kylie read her book. Anthony cleared his throat.
“What are you reading?” he asked.
“*The Underground Railroad* by Colson Whitehead,” Kylie said.
“Is that what you normally read?” Anthony asked. Kylie closed her book and looked at him.
“Are you trying to make conversation?” Kylie asked. “Because you’re not usually this clumsy at it.”
“It’s been a hard month and a half,” Anthony said. Kylie raised her eyebrows and pressed her lips together.
“No, I don’t typically read historical fiction very often,” Kylie said, “but it’s for school.”
“Right,” Anthony said. “Are you full time?”
“Not quite,” Kylie said. “Part time is enough to defer my loans, but I don’t want to overwhelm myself, though I seem to be doing that.”
“Do you need time off?” Anthony asked.
“No,” Kylie said. “You don’t have to pretend to care.”
Anthony sighed and gripped the steering wheel tighter.
They got to their hotel and checked in. Anthony didn’t go to his room. He followed Kylie to hers.
“Is that wise?” Kylie asked.
“No one will see,” Anthony said. “And no one cares.”
Kylie walked over to him and looked up at him.
“You might not care. But I do,” Kylie said bitterly. “My job, my livelihood is at risk.”
She turned to walk away but Anthony grabbed her and made her face him. He looked into her eyes.
“I never said I didn’t care,” he said. “And I’m not pretending to care. I do.”
“We’ll see,” Kylie said.
“Damn it,” Anthony said and he let her go. “What does it take to prove it to you?”
Kylie walked away and took out her dress for the night and started to change. Anthony sat on the bed near her and looked at her until she looked at him.
“It takes a lot,” Kylie said. “I don’t trust easily and I realized I let my guard down way to fucking easy with you.”
She slipped her dress on and sprayed some perfume on. Anthony switched his tie to match her and they went to their casual dinner. They both remained professional at dinner, all the way until the door closed to the room.
Anthony wrapped his arms around Kylie and pulled her to him. He rested his chin on her shoulder and just held her. Kylie closed her eyes and let him. He let go and unzipped her dress, pushing it off her body. He undid her bra and ran his hands down her sides as he kissed her neck. He stopped and went to undress.
Kylie was surprised and looked at him. Leaving her clothes in a pile, she went to him as he unbuttoned his shirt
“Are you ok?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he said.
“Do you not want to have sex?”
Anthony looked at her as he undid his sleeves.
“I do, but it doesn’t seem like you do,” he said. “And maybe I am in a bit of a funk after our earlier conversation and everything the last couple months.”
“Well, if I’ve learned anything in my shitty marriage it’s that the problem doesn’t go away by ignoring it,” Kylie said. Anthony stripped his shirt, pants, and socks off and Kylie’s eyes raked over him. “Mmm, now you’re just being distracting.”
“You’re standing here in your underwear,” Anthony said.
“Touché.”
Kylie took them off, dangled them in front of Anthony, and tossed them into her pile.
“Now I’m not,” she said with a smirk.
This got Anthony to smile. He picked her up and placed her on the bed. He kissed her, their tongues dancing together, before gently, lovingly laying kisses down the rest of her body. He spread her lips and let his tongue explore. Kylie moaned and pushed back into the bed.
Anthony took his time exploring her folds, making her wetter and wetter before he finally spent some much needed time on her clit. He mercilessly played until Kylie was writhing and squirming before he finally let her cum. He stripped out of his boxers and rolled on a condom.
“In the small pocket at the top by the handle,” Kylie said as she pointed to her suitcase, “there’s a toy in there.”
Anthony smirked and found the toy in the pocked. He laid it next to Kylie within her reach if she wanted to use it.
“Planned on playing did you?” he said as he climbed between her knees and held himself above her. Kylie blushed.
Anthony kissed her as he teased her with his cock. He reached down and placed it at her entrance as he looked into Kylie’s eyes and she looked back. Neither one broke eye contact as he slid in.
Source: reddit.com/r/eroticliterature/comments/mcouwz/the_assistant_16_affair