Open To Love Novel – My marriage is perfect. I married my high school sweetheart, Eric, as soon as we left high school. But he has been coming home late for the past two months. “Have you checked his phone maybe?” My friend always saying that he could be cheating on me and I know that’s a big lie. “I feel like our marriage is missing something and it needs some excitement.” I smile. “Aria. I want us to open our marriage.” “What?” “I’m sure if we do this it will make our relationship stronger. A lot of couples are in open relationships and they’re thriving together. Don’t you want that?” Thinking of being with another just feels like betrayal, especially having s-e-x with them. “Aria. I want us to open our marriage.” “What?” “I’m sure if we do this it will make our relationship stronger. A lot of couples are in open relationships.”
My marriage is perfect. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. I married my high school sweetheart, Eric, as soon as we left high school and we’ve been married for five years. My parents were livid because they wanted me to go to college first, but Eric said that he’d take care of me so I didn’t need to get a degree or work. He did keep his promise after all, because he works at his dad’s law firm and he’s one of the top lawyers. So he’s getting paid really well. We live in this nice three bedroom house that has a pool and a nice garden. The kitchen is also nice and big. That’s about it really. I don’t do much. I just wait for him to come back from work, and while I wait I tidy up the place and prepare food for him. I actually like it. I like taking care of him. Especially after a long day of work when he’s stressed. Sometimes I go out with my friend from high school, Bianca, but not all the time because she’s really busy with her work. She’s a senior manager for a clothing company, so she doesn’t get a lot of free time. It’s eight pm. Eric has been coming home late for the past two months.
He says that the case he’s working on is really big. So I completely understand why he’s coming home late. Sometimes he’ll even sleep at the office. Shame. I feel so bad for him, he must be so stressed. Hopefully he comes back soon or else the food will get cold. I made lasagna for him tonight, it’s his favorite dish. I can’t wait for him to come home, I’m sure he’ll be glad to see what I’ve made. It’s ten pm. The food is ice cold. It’s alright, he can heat it up when he gets back. I wrap up his dinner and put it in the microwave. I hear the front door open and I quickly rush to the door to greet him. “Hi honey, how was work?” He locks the door behind him. “It was fine.” He walks past me and starts heading upstairs. “Your dinner is in the microwave.” He doesn’t reply back to me. I clean up the rest of the kitchen. I think there’s a way I can relieve him of some of his stress.
I bite my bottom lip when I think of what I can do for him. I put the rag down and dry my hands. I quickly rush upstairs to our bedroom. I hear the sound of the shower running which is perfect. I take off my clothes and tie my hair up. I tiptoe into the bathroom and knock on the shower glass. He opens the shower door and looks down at me. His light brown hair is soaking wet and it drips onto the floor. “I was wondering if I could join you?” I bat my eyelashes and make my voice sultry. He just looks at my body, not with hunger or lust, he just looks. “I had a really long day at work. I’m not really in the mood. Maybe some other time.” I don’t even get to say anything back before he shuts the shower door again. Right. Of course. He’s too stressed to do such things. It’s alright, it’s completely fine. Silly me. I shouldn’t be embarrassed when I knew that he was too stressed.
Our s-e-x life isn’t so colorful anymore. Back in high school we used to have mind blowing s-e-x three times a day, but for the past year, we’d have s-e-x twice a month and it’s not so. . .great. I haven’t really had an eruption in a long time. So after he finishes I usually have to get myself off. Bianca calls it ‘shut up’ s-e-x, but I always tell her that she’s overreacting. We haven’t really had time to try for a kid, because he said that he’s too busy to think about kids at the current moment. Eric loves me at the end of the day and that’s all that matters. I go back into the room and put my clothes back on. I think I should just go to bed. I wake up the next morning and notice that he’s already gone. Typical routine. I only see him for three hours on a weekday and on the weekends he’s out with his friends. So if I do the math I only see him for fifteen hours every week, and that’s sixty hours a month which equals two days and twelve hours. My phone rings and I pick it up. “Hey Aria.” It’s Bianca.
“Hey I haven’t heard from you in a while since you left for Colombia.” She groans over the line. “Oh I know, I’m sorry. But we should meet up, I’ll be back in two days.” “That’s quick. I thought you were supposed to be there for another five days.” “Yeah but there wasn’t much family drama this time so I can come back.” “Let me guess, Uncle Chris wasn’t there?” She snorts and that answers my question. The man is always known to bring a different woman around every year; all which are half his age. Not only that but he always spills everyone’s secrets just to watch the chaotic arguments. That’s what Bianca told me. I’ve met him once, and he is just the strangest man to ever exist. “How has it been with Prince Eric?” She says mockingly. Bianca has never liked Eric since day one. “It’s going great. He’s still busy with that case. I think it’s really stressing him out because he’s been coming home a lot later than usual.” She sighs on the other end and stays quiet. I know exactly what she’s about to say. “Aria dear, he’s been doing this for a year and a half. Don’t you think it’s a tiny bit weird?”
“I told you he’s just busy. Gosh nothing is going on.” “I’m just saying, because one minute he’s out late next minute he’s sleeping in his office. Have you checked his phone maybe?” I bite the inside of my cheek. She’s always saying that he could be cheating on me and I know that’s a big lie. Why does nobody like Eric? My parents don’t like him, my siblings don’t like him and my friend doesn’t like him. They see him in such a bad light and I wonder why. “I don’t need to check his phone because he wouldn’t do anything stupid alright. Just have faith in him, I’m sure after this case everything will revert back to normal.” She hums as a way of saying okay. We talk for a few more minutes before saying our goodbyes. Once I put my phone down; I get up to brush my teeth. When I’m done I head downstairs and I’m shocked to see Eric in the kitchen.
“I thought you already left for work?” He looks up from his phone. “No I was waiting for you to get up. We need to talk.” Did he hear my conversation with Bianca? I hope he’s not upset with what she said; she was just joking that’s all. “Can we talk on the couch?” He nods and follows me to the living room. We sit down on the leather couch and he scoots a few inches away from me. His brown eyes stare into mine but his are hard to read. I can’t tell what he’s feeling right now but he seems calm. “We’ve been together for about five years, ” He starts speaking. “and I’m really glad that we’ve been married for so long. You know I love you.” I nod. “But I feel like our marriage is missing something and it needs some excitement.” I finally smile. I’m so glad he’s saying this. I’ve been wanting to try new things when it comes to s-e-x instead of just ordinary missionary.
Maybe we can try some toys or even bondage. What if he finally wants to do some dirty talk? The possibilities are making me dizzy with excitement. I told Bianca that he loves me. “I totally agree with you on that.” He slightly smiles at what I say. “Awesome. That will make what I have to say a lot easier.” He clears his throat and holds both of my hands. His thumb strokes my hand. “Aria. I want us to open our marriage.” “What?” “I said I want us to open our marriage.” My smile drops to the floor. What exactly is he saying? “What is that supposed to mean?” “It means that we get to see other people, except this is not considered as cheating because we’ll both know who we’re seeing. It’s so that we don’t limit ourselves and we get to explore other people.”
I take my hands out his grasp. Is this what he’s been wanting to do? Where did this idea even come from? I thought I was enough for him. Why would he need to see other people? “That’s really strange Eric. Why would you need to explore other people? Then what was the point of us getting married?” I don’t know if it’s just my head but I think I see him roll his eyes. “I married you because I love you Aria, and I’m not just doing this for me; I’m doing this for both of us. You get to explore other people as well.”
But I don’t want to explore other people, I just want to be with you; is what I want to say to him but instead I stay quiet. “In high school I was your first and only boyfriend. Haven’t you ever thought of what it would be like to be with someone else?” No I have not. “I’m sure if we do this it will make our relationship stronger. A lot of couples are in open relationships and they’re thriving together. I just want us to be together forever and happy. Don’t you want that?” I do want us to be happy but I don’t know if this is the way to make us happy. Thinking of being with another just feels like betrayal, especially having s-e-x with them.