FEBRUARY 1979, the disco years
WHAT LOLA WANTS,
LOLA GETS
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What Lola wants, Lola gets
And little man, Lola wants you!
Make up your mind to have no regrets
Recline yourself, resign yourself... you're through
Lola always gets what Lola aims for
And your heart and soul is what I came for.
Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets
So take off your coat,
Don't you know you can't win?
You're no exception to the rule,
I'm
irresistible, you fool, so give in!!
--
'What Lola Wants, Lola Gets'
from the Broadway play
Damn Yankees
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Victoria was Lola
personified. Victoria wanted me.
Although she had not made an overt move, there was no longer any doubt in my mind. It was now February. The rampant success of Camelot had
done something to alter Victoria's approach. There had
been a discernible
shift. I could see it in her eyes, her smile, her
laughter, her touch. What could explain
this change? Perhaps it was my rise to stardom as 'The
Trophy'. Prior to January, I was an afterthought to
Victoria. However, Camelot had turned me into a meteor
flashing across the sky. My stock was sky high. In
Hindsight, I believe the rise of Victoria's formidable rivals
had elevated her perception of me. Or maybe it was the
sight all of those wannabe women waiting in line for a dance that warped her brain.
I had seen a shift
like this before. After my dazzling impromptu dance
performance with Joanne at the Christmas Party, Patricia had
changed her mind about my value. On the spur of the
moment, she decided to kidnap me and renew my
contract. Oh, lucky me. Now Victoria seemed to have reached a similar
conclusion. Oh, lucky me. Back when we were getting
started, Victoria had acted like my big sister. However,
once she saw how weak my social skills and business skills were, she decided to
take over and show me how it was done. Throughout the Fall of 1978 we
enjoyed a warm, casual rapport. She was my friend and
confidante, always willing to listen sympathetically to my
frustrations with Patricia.
We laughed and talked about everything under the sun. However, as her power grew, I became
the junior partner in this relationship. Here in February
she had begun to act like my boss.
Victoria was not interested in me
sexually back in 1978. Nor should she have been. Victoria was
more attractive, more popular, wiser and far more talented. Plus
she was married to a good man. So what changed? Patricia's
intuition said the shift began after the Halloween Party.
As we recall, that was when Patricia had made her disagreeable
entrance into Victoria's life. Afterwards, Patricia suspected
Victoria was interested in me. Taking note of the time and effort
Victoria put into making the December Pistachio Party a success, Patricia
had said, "No woman busts
her ass like that unless she has a motive. I think
Victoria's reason is you."
I did not agree with
Patricia at the time. More likely Victoria enjoyed the challenge of building the energy and the
appreciation she received for the effort. Victoria loved being important
again. The attention she paid to me was nothing more than a
byproduct of her joyride. I would pinpoint Joanne's
stardom at the Christmas Party as the more likely impetus.
Chewing me out after Joanne disappeared into the night was the
first
warning sign. Victoria's early January Tirade was the
second warning sign. I
could not imagine what Victoria's husband was thinking as his
wife stood there screaming at me in the corner. My first thought was
that Michael had to suspect we were having an affair. However
despite the fact that Victoria had spewed fiery lava boulders in
public for the world to see, Michael never said
a word to me about it. His continued friendship was the
reason I decided Victoria's main concern was the fear that
Joanne would replace her as my dance partner. It had
nothing to do with sexual attraction.
So why did things
change after the Tirade? I have my theories, but
before I share them, let me add a disclaimer. I have no
way to know what truly went
through Victoria's mind. If Victoria were to write her
version, it is likely her statements would contradict mine. So
please
take everything I say with a grain of salt. I will offer my best
guess and apologies to Victoria if I am wrong.
I say look no
further than Beatlemania. Here were four ordinary blokes
from working class backgrounds, only one of whom was cute.
Then one day they burst on the scene with love songs. Suddenly countless
women began screaming their heads off. I am not so
egotistical to say I generated anything remotely close to this
mass hysteria, but starting in January I became the recipient of a generous amount of
female interest at Camelot.
February was even more pronounced. I had Patricia and Joanne vying for me plus
a dozen admirers waiting in the wings. Victoria did a
double-take. If women the caliber of Patricia and Joanne
were in hot pursuit, maybe Victoria should reevaluate her
original perception. Whatever her reason, Victoria
began to treat me with a new respect.
I credit Joanne's
powerful emergence in the Beauty Contest as the most likely
reason. Victoria had written Patricia off as a
serious threat long ago, but Joanne was still an unknown.
During Tirade Saturday, Joanne's dance floor dominance and
sexual aggressiveness had sent the Bear climbing up a Tree.
Once Joanne took the stage on a regular basis at Camelot, Victoria's change in approach was
so obvious I have to believe the fear of losing
the Kingdom had entered Queen Vic's mind.
Joanne's emergence was remarkable. First she influenced
Patricia to take me back at the Christmas Party. Now she had
the Queen of Camelot tearing her hair out.
Last summer my girlfriend Jenny
had explained to me
that
women
like to go after the guys other women want. That is
why Jenny had pursued me in the first place. Jenny saw a class
filled with women smiling at me and concluded I was a worthy
challenge. Was that same competitive instinct running
through Victoria's mind at this moment?
"Gosh, if a woman
as talented as Joanne wants Rick, then maybe he has more going
for him than I first realized"
I doubt Victoria had a particularly high
opinion of me when we first met. Do you blame her? Victoria liked me, but I
was no big deal. Although we were friends from the get-go, I was hardly in her
league when it came to attractiveness or confidence. Victoria was a high
school Beauty Queen, Prom Queen, Model. Due to her
outgoing nature, she was the most popular girl in
her school. Now compare that kind of status to my past
as the high school loner who never had a single date in four
years. Victoria was Hera, Queen of the Gods. Why would a Goddess like Victoria
give a shy mortal like me a second look? Consequently she
relegated me to being her sidekick.
Although Victoria respected
my teaching ability, but she could not help but realize how woefully inept my
social skills were. My business skills weren't much
better. Victoria noticed how I missed obvious
angles such as name tags, class rosters, phone numbers, home
addresses, and mailing lists. Or bringing cookies to class
for that matter. On top of that, there was my inability to
see the value in developing a comprehensive social program to
unite the dancers from different nights into a social group.
Why should Victoria see me as an equal? I have to believe Victoria was aghast
to see me overlook steps as elementary as these. It did
not take Victoria long to realize I was missing one opportunity
after another. Plus I was no great shakes as a dancer. Victoria,
never one to ask permission, decided it was easier just to run the show her way.
In Hindsight, I believe Victoria felt sorry for me and took me
under her wing. Without her, I was going nowhere.
Was it altruism or self-aggrandizement? Probably a mixture
of both. Fortunately I had the sense to put my bruised ego aside and let
Victoria show me how it was done. However, as is true of
all Devil's Bargains, there would be a price to
pay, of that I was sure.
The low point for me came
the night Victoria admitted she had organized the December
Pistachio Christmas Party on her own without even bothering to
ask what I thought in advance. Women of her caliber are typically drawn to
excellence, not mediocrity. Her brilliant husband, a
well-respected medical researcher, was the perfect example.
Michael was a leader in his field while I was little more than a means to an end,
Victoria's stepping stone.
With her focus on building a dance empire
and placing herself on the throne, I cannot imagine why Victoria would have been
romantically interested in me.
At the start of
Camelot, my initial role was little better than chauffeur.
In search of attention and adulation, it was my job to
drive Victoria's parade car around the dance floor so everyone
could admire her. But then something
funny happened. Practically overnight my star began to
rise. Why? Because Patricia entered the picture.
By showing up at my side every Friday night, all eyes were drawn
to us. Although Patricia has been the clear villain in
this soap opera, let us not forget it was her entrance into my
life that
initiated my
rise in Victoria's eyes. How could I forget the first
meeting between Victoria and Patricia at the Halloween Party?
Victoria was astonished at the beauty and sophistication of my
new girlfriend. Victoria was very upset to gain a rival,
but she was also mystified. Impressed by Patricia's
stature, Victoria raised a question. "How the hell
did Rick Archer ever land a woman with Patricia's kind of looks?"
Stunned by
Patricia's beauty, presence,
and sex appeal, throughout November Victoria had peppered me with questions to learn more about
the Princess.
Treating Victoria like my trusted big sister, I told Victoria
everything about Patricia I was unhappy about.
Victoria soon relaxed. Based on what I had told her,
Victoria concluded Patricia was a remote
threat at best, especially after she saw Venus stumble on the
dance floor. That was Victoria's favorite
moment. Once Victoria saw Patricia could not dance a lick, she later
confessed she had laughed
out loud. From this point on, Victoria could care less if
Patricia was the next Helen of Troy. Unless Patricia was willing to
improve her dancing or offer to help me advance my dance program
in some way,
she would never last. Watching
Patricia trip over her own feet, Victoria's growing
dance empire was safe for the time being. Nevertheless, one
troubling thought
lingered in the back of Victoria's mind. If Rick could
attract a woman of Patricia's caliber, what would happen if
Rick
found a woman of Patricia's caliber
who could ALSO dance?
Incredibly,
Victoria's worst fears came to pass (or so she thought).
Joanne appeared out of nowhere at the December Pistachio
Christmas
party. Victoria gasped. Good lord, that woman is an
incredible dancer!! Everyone in the room is going nuts
watching her dance with Rick! Where did she come from? Who is she?
And... gasp... why is she hugging Rick in plain
sight for the world to see?!?
Joanne's
appearance at the December Christmas Party was a memorable moment.
Our unexpected performance brought
down the house. Afterwards, Joanne played a mean trick on Victoria
by disappearing into
the night like a mythic apparition. Joanne's disappearing act was acid to
Victoria's Achilles Heel. Victoria was forced to remain in the dark for
all of December. Had Victoria been able to grill me about
Joanne the way she had grilled me about Patricia, she would have
realized Joanne was not even remotely a threat. However
December
passed without knowledge regarding
Joanne's identity. Victoria is a control freak, a worrier.
Given an entire month to
amplify Joanne's threat way beyond proportion, this extended
period
of unchecked paranoia led Victoria to jump to the
erroneous
conclusion that Joanne was another Patricia with dance
ability to boot.
It was this paranoia which led to Victoria's Tirade
on the first Saturday of the New Year. When I danced with Joanne that night, imagine the thoughts that raced
through Victoria's mind. Out of nowhere, Victoria's worst
nightmare reappeared. Who is that woman?
What a dancer! What a figure! Look how dynamic
she is on the floor! Look how she smiles at Rick!
Victoria overreacted badly. Her fear of Joanne led to
the Diva's amusing decision to make Patricia her new best
friend.
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Much to Victoria's
dismay, her decision to use
Patricia to deal with the threat of Joanne backfired. Now that
Patricia was a card-carrying member of the In-Crowd, she began
to have oodles of fun at Camelot. Patricia never lacked for
male attention. Now that she had a taste of Camelot Celebrity, Patricia underwent an attitude shift. Dancing and flirting the night away, Patricia decided maybe
Victoria's Dance
World
wasn't so bad after all. Even her dancing seemed
to be improving. As if that was not bad enough, the Ice
Queen showed up to put on a weekly demonstration of her
phenomenal dance ability. Now that Camelot had made stars of Rick,
Patricia, and Joanne, the Crown rested uneasily on Queen
Victoria's head.
Camelot was not
working out like Victoria had imagined. Not only were
Patricia and Joanne elevated, I had become the Lion King (or
Lyin' King if you prefer). The key factor in my emergence was the evolution of Camelot.
With Ice Queen Joanne and Princess Patricia amplifying my value,
the Diva
Queen was forced to share equal billing with me and her two rivals.
Victoria was not only losing ground, I had magically been
promoted to the undisputed King of the Realm.
No other
man came close to challenging my excellence on the dance floor.
Plus I had the good will of all participants since I was their
friendly dance teacher.
At all times my
eminence was validated by the presence of the Triangle.
While the Divas were forced to share the limelight amongst
themselves, I was the unquestioned Alpha male. Suddenly my Crown was more secure than Victoria's. To
her disbelief, I was passing her!
Camelot was
the moment I truly came into my own. Thanks to Glen
smoothing out my dancing and my decision to play dirty, I had made a Quantum Leap forward
at the exact moment Victoria began to doubt her Kingdom was safe.
To Victoria's profound shock, she didn't lose her Crown
to Joanne or Patricia, she lost it to me!
As King Richard ascended to
claim a share of the throne, a Star was Born.
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Victoria was
incredulous. After all she had done to construct her
Kingdom, how was it possible the Credit had gone to her
Creation instead? Victoria was the brains of the
operation, but I was getting the recognition. Of
course this was not fair, but as I pointed out to
her, don't blame me. I never asked to become The
Trophy. This was all Victoria's doing.
Victoria
blinked. Yes, this was her
doing, wasn't it?? Victoria had turned me into a Star. It was at this
point that I began to feel the shift in Victoria's approach. She clearly began to eye me in a new light.
I have a curious theory to explain her newfound respect
for me. Call it the 'Pygmalion Effect'. In Greek
Mythology, Pygmalion was a sculptor who carved female
statues out
of ivory. Up till now, Pygmalion was not interested in women.
However,
one of the female statues created by Pygmalion was so beautiful and
realistic he fell in love with it. Not a day
passed when Pygmalion did not stare at his creation in awe.
She was so life-like, he named her Galatea. Pygmalion began to caress his beautiful sculpture and fantasize.
Aphrodite's Festival had arrived. Out of respect,
Pygmalion made offerings at the altar of Aphrodite.
Pygmalion was too scared to admit his secret desire out loud, so he
quietly wished for a bride who would be 'the living
likeness of my ivory girl'. Aphrodite read his
mind.
When Pygmalion returned
home, he kissed his ivory statue and found that its lips
felt warm. Surprised, he kissed again, and found the
ivory had lost its hardness of stone. In its place
stood the woman of his dreams. Aphrodite had granted
Pygmalion's wish.
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Does this story
sound familiar? Many of us know this
myth by another name... My Fair Lady.
Falling in love with one’s creation and getting the desired
object as a soul mate was the theme of this play. The plot involved a snobbish phonetics professor who accepts
a wager that he can take a common flower girl and make her
presentable in High Society.
While no one
in Camelot was comparing me to Audrey Hepburn,
the similarity in our stories was striking. Victoria
had taken a rather inept, but willing pupil and
inadvertently turned me into the King of her Dance Empire. However, I
didn't turn out exactly like Victoria hoped. I had a mind of my own
and a burning
ambition to succeed on my own merits.
The finishing touch in my
ascension came courtesy of
the Dangerous Liaison. Faced with
intense pressure coming from three different women at once,
I was transformed as if struck by lightning in Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory.
This was
the Magic Moment when I finally grew a backbone.
I prefer not to
say Victoria created a 'Monster', but you
get the picture. Once I began to stand on my own
two feet, I decided it was time to take on Victoria face to
face.
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Thanks to the arrival
of Camelot, I was no longer
subordinate to Victoria. Nor were we equals.
Here in February, I actually held the Upper Hand. Bolstered by the
success derived from owning a thriving business, I had become the
centerpiece of our wildly successful new social program.
Thanks to smiles from admiring female students
and armed with two suitable replacements for Victoria if she
decided to fight back, I was flush with confidence.
Feeling strong, I looked for ways to extricate
myself from
Victoria's tentacles.
In early
February,
we had a serious run-in. Victoria decided to needle me
about dancing with Joanne too much on Friday nights.
In her opinion, Joanne was getting far too much attention.
"Rick, I
take issue with the number of times you danced with
Joanne last Friday. Once per night is more than
enough. I am the one who built Friday Night
Camelot into
the event it has become and I should be the one people
notice, not Joanne. I want to make sure you see my
point on this issue."
"Look, Victoria,
I danced with Joanne twice. I danced with you twice.
I danced with Patricia twice. I cannot possibly be
more fair than that. I am getting fed up
listening to you tell me who I can dance with and when I can
dance with them. When exactly did you get papers
written up giving you the authority to tell me what I can
and can't do?"
Victoria saw
red. "You have a
lot of nerve talking to me like that! This
program would be nothing if I
had not stepped in when I did."
"Victoria, you
are absolutely right. I appreciate what you have done
here at the studio. And I am grateful. I feel a
great debt to you, a debt I promise to repay in whatever way
I can as long as it
is reasonable. But don't tell me who I can dance with!
If you can't understand that, then thanks for the memories.
Joanne and Patricia can
take your place. I will miss you, but I can use the momentum you
have created to carry on just fine."
It took a lot of
guts to stand up to her, but it worked. Talk about a
Reality Check! Stunned by my defiance, Victoria backed
down. Well aware that Joanne was under my protection,
Victoria was not happy about it. There would
be consequences. This was the moment Victoria's Inner
Lola began to emerge.
Who is Lola?
Star of the Broadway play Damn Yankees, Lola
is 172 years old. Once an old and quite ugly woman,
she sells her soul to the Devil to become young and
beautiful. In return, Lola helps the Devil with
various deeds. In the play, the Devil wants the mighty
Yankees to fail, so he persuades the irresistible Lola to
seduce and corrupt the team's best player. Lola
confidently sings about how she has a long history of
bending men to her will. What Lola wants, Lola gets.
Or should I say
what Victoria wants, Victoria gets? I have a hunch Victoria
was accustomed to getting what she wanted what.
Through beauty, guile, and popularity, Victoria could be
very persuasive when she wanted to be.
Convinced she was about to
lose me to Joanne's talent or to Patricia's
newfound interest in the Disco Dance World, Victoria decided to change
tactics. Once Victoria got over her shock that I was
no longer quite the pushover, she decided that manipulating me was a
waste of time. Victoria realized
as long as she had to share me with two other women, I
would always hold the Upper Hand. Something had to
be done.
To understand
Victoria is to understand she possessed more willpower than
any woman I have ever met. If I am wrong about my next statement, I
apologize. But as I explain the events that
ensued, it will be clear how I reached my opinion. The
way I see it, Victoria fell prey to the Pygmalion Effect.
She created me, so now she had
to have me. Victoria's first decision was to weaken me by eliminating her rivals.
Her second decision was to begin a serious flirtation.
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Victoria's
husband Michael
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I am at a
disadvantage when it comes to Michael. We were
acquaintances, but never close. I only recall one personal conversation between us
(which I will get to later). So, here
again, take what I say with a grain of salt.
Everything I say is based on observation, not fact.
Victoria was proud of
her husband. I remember many times at the studio when Victoria would
tell people how wonderful Michael was. If a dance student happened to
ask about him, Victoria referred to Michael as her
college sweetheart and a great husband.
There was not a doubt in my mind that Victoria was sincere.
Considering Victoria had such a high opinion of her husband, why on earth
didn't she treat him better? That is a burning question for which I have
no answer. Michael was not
a loser by any stretch of the imagination. Heavens no.
Based on my observation, Michael was brilliant, hard-working, handsome,
and outgoing. The Michael I knew was a decent man, well-respected
and very well liked.
Holding a doctorate in microbiology,
Michael was a cancer researcher
by profession. From what I gather, he was a
decorated, oft-published leader in his field. Michael was also an excellent athlete.
One time when
our group played some backyard volleyball, Michael was by far the quickest to
the ball. Michael was a great father too. I
visited their home on several occasions. When I saw
Michael interact with his daughter Stephanie, he was very loving.
Michael was an
easy-going guy who was very modest considering how
successful he was. As one can
gather, I admired him. Why Victoria
would turn her back on a man like Michael is one of the
great enduring mysteries of my life. As long as I
live, I will never understand why Victoria decided to chase
me. Michael
was so special, I would one day develop my theory of Cosmic
Stupidity/Cosmic Blindness specifically to deal with
Victoria's mysterious behavior.
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Let me make
something perfectly clear... I despise Adultery.
In my heart, I felt like I had committed
adultery with
Karen, the woman I met at the Jet Set wife-swapper club.
Karen said she and her husband had an open marriage.
Was she telling the truth? Rather than take Karen's
word for it, I specifically asked her husband Kirk. Kirk said he had talked it over with Karen in
advance and gave permission. So we dated twice.
Although this was technically not adultery, it felt
like it. Plagued by a terrible sense of guilt, I
called it off with Karen while I still could. Afterwards I made a
firm vow never to commit adultery. Why bother? I had no reason to chase another man's wife, certainly not
with all these single women surrounding me. Here at
Camelot there were plenty of single girls asking
me to dance. I would much rather chase them than
Victoria.
Although the
ensuing pain
always seems to outweigh the benefit in the end, Adultery happens nonetheless. Why
is that? I have a theory called "One Promise Too
Late". My theory is that picking the right partner
is so difficult that many couples discover they are poorly
matched. The problem
begins when a partner finds a better match down the
road, but is forbidden due to marital vows. It must be horrible knowing the love of one's
life is just beyond one's reach. What does a person do
when the Better Man or the Better Woman appears?
Break the promise? Honor the vows? Stay together
for the kids? Another dynamic is the well-known
tendency of someone to seek a fling when their
spouse's accomplishments are superior to their own.
And of course there's always revenge, the desire to even the
score like I did with my Dangerous Liaison.
Whatever the
reason, someone always get hurt. Everyone knows this.
So why do it? Temptation. Of course I
coveted Michael's wife. Men have coveted other men's
wives since the beginning of time. Why should I be any
different? Victoria was an incredibly desirable woman. But that doesn't mean I intended to act on
my desire. Not only did I posses a powerful conscience,
I felt the bitter
taste of pain that comes from Adultery when I
dated Karen. That relationship heated up so
fast I actually considered asking Karen to leave her
husband. Fortunately I came to my senses and broke it
off while I still had the willpower to do so. During
my relationship with Karen I
learned that humans are not properly wired to share.
Or maybe it's just me. I learned the hard way that I
am not properly wired to share. This became the main reason I firmly believe in being faithful.
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Another reason
was the inevitable pain. Vanessa's cheating ways had
hurt me terribly. Patricia
handed me a painful reminder with her nasty George
adventure. Knowing full well the pain that comes from
Affairs, the moment Victoria came knocking, I felt an intense aversion to subjecting
her husband to a similar fate. Michael had always
treated me with respect. I could not bear the thought
of hurting him just to satisfy my selfish desire.
Victoria's hints
further upset me because she had a daughter.
Adultery undermines families, the bedrock of
society. To me, this is an important reason to avoid infidelity.
Children suffer greatly for the sins of their parents.
I should know. My father's affair caused the divorce
that ruined my childhood. His subsequent abandonment was the
main reason I grew up feeling so goddamn
insecure.
Thanks to my
mother's willingness to drop out of college, my father
received the training necessary to become one of the
country's leading electrical engineers. When I was
nine, my father had an affair with the office
secretary. Deciding this
sexy woman was a definite improvement, Dad dumped my mother in a flash.
Sad to say, after the divorce my father's fortunes soared
while my mother's fortunes plummeted. Lacking a college degree,
my mother was relegated to secretarial jobs for which she
was temperamentally ill-suited. Mom wanted to do
things her way, a personality trait which led to frequent
unemployment and mounting bills. Constantly in debt, my mother suffered a
serious breakdown after the
divorce.
I was close to my father until his affair
put an end to his interest in me. The moment Dad remarried, the
witch persuaded him to turn his back. From that point on, I was a virtual orphan. Since my mother was not much of a
mother and my father was not much of a father, I ended up practically raising myself.
This explains why I grew up as a
socially awkward loner. The Mistress ruined my
life and my mother's life. Thanks to her, I
was forced to
spend countless years trying to extricate myself from the
emotional problems caused by my father's adultery.
This was the origin of my extreme antagonism to
infidelity.
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Given
that Victoria's growing flirtation at Camelot suggested intense
feelings, if my guess was correct, then her interest created a serious
predicament for me. I could live to be 100 and
never meet another woman more perfectly suited for my
dance career. But I also knew an affair was a surefire
dead end. I took one look at Victoria's daughter, another
look at Victoria's husband, and concluded an affair was out
of the question. I was no fool. Victoria would
never leave her husband. Even if we didn't get
caught, sooner or later she would tire and move on.
And what if we did get caught? Then what? I did not relish
spending the rest of my life feeling guilty over
harming innocent people.
Only one
problem. Did I
possess the strength to resist the call of the Forbidden Woman?
Plagued by temptation, I was so worried
I might give in, I deliberately returned to the viper known
as Patricia for safety. Throughout February and half
of March, Patricia helped me keep my thoughts of
Victoria at bay.
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I could not think of a single story where adultery had
a happy ending for all concerned. More often than not, a relationship that begins on a foundation of
betrayal has a difficult time transitioning to one
of trust and loyalty. If a man or woman cheats once, statistics
show they are likely to cheat again.
However,
Victoria was tough to resist. Everyone has
the sense to handle explosives with care, but what if
danger comes disguised as irresistible sweetness?
Circe was the Greek temptress who turned men to swine.
Considering the sway Victoria exercised over me,
I knew what it was to feel like a swine
When I say that 'What Victoria wants, Victoria gets',
I mean it. Lola-Victoria had spent her whole life
successfully bending
people to her will, me included. Plus I feared my own
sexual nature. All it would take would be
that one unexpected flash of passion and we
might have spontaneous
combustion. If I let Victoria get too close, in that
moment my desire could very easily
overwhelm my conscience and common sense.
Over the ages,
Adultery has brought untold misery to mankind. For
this reason, the Curse of Adultery has been examined
thoroughly in myth, religion, literature and legend. Look no
further than the Trojan War. Thousands of men died to
avenge an act of adultery on the part of Paris.
Moses revealed
that God prohibited Adultery in the Ten Commandments.
However, people
have ignored this Commandment for ages.
In the Biblical story of David and Bathsheba,
David took the shameful step of having Uriah sent to the riskiest
part of the
battlefield. Uriah's arranged death conveniently allowed David to pursue the stunning Bathsheba.
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The Forbidden
Love of Guinevere and Lancelot was the torch that set the
world of ancient Camelot aflame. Their adultery spread chaos
throughout the Kingdom. Rest assured the significance
of the Camelot name was not lost on me.
Shakespeare's
Othello explained how the villain Iago tricked Othello into believing his dear wife Desdemona
was committing adultery. Othello was persuaded that Desdemona
was impure and deceitful when in reality she was
blameless. Othello's lack of trust led to
tragedy. Blinded by jealousy and the pain of his
supposed betrayal, Othello killed the innocent woman he
loved.
Liaisons Dangereuses is a play written by
Christopher Hampton to illustrate treachery among bored nobles in 18th century
France. 'Seduction'
was elevated to an
art form by highly cynical players who somehow thought the
act of
enticing another man's wife to
cheat was
sport. However, when
actual romantic feelings began to surface, their games took
on a dangerous air. The play made it clear that Adultery can lead to the deepest pain imaginable.
And tragedy.
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The Roman poet Ovid praised the pursuit of
Adultery in
Art of Love, a scintillating best-seller in 2 AD. Ovid
saw Adultery as a harmless, highly amusing game. In
his eyes, the satisfaction that comes
from the successful seduction of another man's wife is worth the
trouble. Bedding another man's wife was a
delightful way for an amoral, sexually ravenous man like Ovid to demonstrate his superiority.
Ovid's advantage
was a lack of conscience. For someone like me
who possessed a Code of Honor, Adultery was a surefire recipe
for misery. Having spent a year analyzing
sexual mores at the wife-swappers club, I learned a
lifetime of hard lessons. The spouse-swapping
ethic of the Jet Set did not strike me as the
road to happiness.
Does the pleasure
outweigh the pain? Is it worth it? Some men
think about the pleasure, but I paid more attention to the
pain. My time with Karen from the Jet Set Club convinced me the pain was not
worth the risk. I concluded at least one person always gets
hurt in an Affairs. More often everyone comes away scarred.
If I could barely
control my emotions with a woman like Karen
whom I barely knew, I was certain that
making love to someone I cared about would surely backfire in the most
horrible of ways. Sex has a dangerous way of intensifying
feelings to the point where they are no longer possible to
control. People get hurt when things go wrong.
Unfortunately, despite
my strong moral opposition to the idea, the thought of an Affair
with Victoria inevitably crossed my mind. What red-blooded
man would not consider an affair with a woman like Victoria?
Victoria was beautiful, enticing, full of energy and
warmth. Furthermore, Victoria
dropped enough hints to fill a swimming pool. And
there was rampant opportunity. We were alone on many
occasions during the day. Considering the tension, one spark was all that
was necessary for the fire to begin.
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