Second Chance

by

Kortpeel

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"Can we save your marriage?" Emily began after she'd settled the couple into the two easy chairs, side by side, and given them each a cup of tea and a biscuit.

The background music was gentle, soft and unobtrusive. Thick drapes blocked the daylight from the windows and concealed lighting replaced it. The room was designed to promote relaxation, right down to the sea green walls and deep pile matching carpet. It didn't look like it was a consulting room in a busy clinic. It had the air of an old-fashioned farmhouse deep in the country.

Olive Bennet, 28, didn't say anything but she looked desperately unhappy. She was slim and still looked pretty, even in her distress.

"Yes," said her husband, Mark, 30. "We can save our marriage and we're going to save it."

Emily knew that Olive had some reservations. "Olive, in our one on one sessions, you told me that you loved Mark, that if there was a way to save your marriage that's what you wanted, but you didn't think it would be possible. Why is that?"

It was a few seconds before Olive spoke. "I did love him. With all my heart I loved him, but since that affair with … that woman, I can't trust him any more. It's as if he's a different person."

Emily nodded encouragingly. She knew that in any shaky marriage, both the partners have to acknowledge what is wrong before it can be repaired.

"He looks and acts like Mark. But my Mark I trusted. This man I can't trust. I can't let myself love him and be hurt like that all over again."

"How did you feel when you first found out about the affair?"

"Devastated. My whole world collapsed around me. Mark was the centre of my life. I had the most dreadful feeling of betrayal. How could he do this to me? It seemed to make my whole life meaningless."

"Mark, what were you thinking when you got into this affair?"

Mark looked embarrassed. "I was just thinking that here's a girl giving it to me on a plate and I'd be stupid not to take it."

"Did you love her?"

"No."

"Did you have any idea what it would do to Olive?"

"No. I'd never have done it if I'd known what would happen."

"How did you feel about Anne?"

She was fairly attractive. And she wanted it so I gave her some. That's all."

"How do you think Anne felt about you?"

"Well, I guess she fancied me."

Darn right she did, Emily thought to herself. So do I. Mark was a tall, well built, good looking stud. Most of the time he was relaxed and casual but once his sexual interest was aroused there was something about him that was exciting, dangerous even. He turned into the sort of man your mother had warned you about when you were a young girl: the sort of man who didn't come your way very often.

Something of that flashed across Mark's face then. He looked at Emily. It was just a look but in his eye there was a promise of a thousand delights: "If only we could be alone together," that look seemed to say.

Emily made the effort to get her thoughts under control. She'd moistened up and was emitting pheromones. Mark was responding. Oh how subtle it was, and how deliciously tempting. Emily knew that there must have been more than one affair since Mark had married Olive. A good looking bastard like that could have as many women as he wanted. And he probably had.

"Er, Mark, would you say that sex is important to you?"

"Yes. Of course it is." It was apparent that Mark had thought that was a stupid question.

It wasn't. Emily had wanted him to say so out loud.

"Olive, is sex important to you?"

"Not as much as it was. I used to enjoy sex a lot. Now I'd just as soon have a nice cuddle as actual sex."

"So if you were never to have intercourse again, it wouldn't bother you?"

"I don't think it would. Actually it would be more of a relief."

Emily turned to Mark. "Do you love Olive?"

"Yes. And I want to save our marriage, to get back to the love we shared."

"You've just heard Olive say that she can't let herself love you. She can't trust you any more."

Mark turned to his wife. "Olive, give me another chance. Please. What happened with Anne doesn't mean anything. I won't do it again. I promise."

Emily could see that in his own way, Mark really did love Olive.

"Mark I don't think you'll keep that promise." Olive paused, took a breath and went on "And you've missed the whole point. You say Anne didn't mean anything to you."

"She didn't Olive, honey. Honestly."

"But you still went with her. Dammit, Mark! You are no better than a tom cat." Olive was barely able to hold back the bitter angry tears caused by Mark's behaviour.

Emily could see that Mark was out of his depth. He really didn't understand why Olive was so upset. She decided to intervene in what was about to become a futile argument. "Olive, what has Mark been like as a husband in all other respects?"

The question worked. Olive turned her mind to Mark's good qualities. "That's the tragedy of it. Apart from that he's a wonderful man: kind and loving, helpful and supportive … He would make funny little jokes …" This time the tears did flow. Not bitter and angry but tears of sadness for the loss of what had once been so perfect and now was gone forever.

Mark wore that baffled, helpless expression that men put on when a woman cries. He tried to take her hand in his but she threw it off. "Oh leave me alone Mark. This is all your fault."

"Olive, I really do love you. You love me, I know you do. Isn't that enough?"

"Not without trust it isn't. Every time you're out of my sight I'll be wondering what you're up to. What woman has he got this time? I can't stand that."

"Olive, sweetheart, I do love you … I can't live without you. Please, Olive. I'll do whatever it takes. But I want us to stay married."

"Mark, it's useless. It's over. Better to let it stay dead."

"Olive, is it only lack of trust that's killing the marriage for you?" Emily said.

"Only! It's everything."

"There is a way to restore that trust."

"How?"

"If you were to let me castrate Mark he'd be guaranteed faithful."

Emily noted the blood had left Mark's face. He'd gone deathly pale.

"But wouldn’t that er … leave him … not able to function?"

"He'd be exactly the same man as he is now except that he'd lose all interest in sex. You would never have to worry about him with another woman."

"And me?"

"He loves you Olive. I can see that. You said that you can live without intercourse. You prefer a cuddle and warm companionship. Mark will give you that." Emily could see that the idea was attractive to Olive but it was too radical for her to accept easily.

"Would it be right to ask that of Mark?" Olive asked.

"Mark said he'd do whatever it takes to save the marriage. You really must know how much he loves you."

Mark was still deathly pale and looking like he was in a state of shock. Emily would deal with him and his objections later. Her priority was to get the idea past Emily.

"I can't ask that of Mark. Of any man. It's too much."

"So you want to go ahead with the divorce?"

"I er well, yeah. I guess so."

"We can help you with that too if you wish," Emily said. "We run courses on how to get back into the dating game and what to look for in a second husband. It can be traumatic finding yourself back into that scene. We find that a lot of women can't face it and settle for spinsterhood for the rest of their lives. Many of them go home to their mothers."

"Spinsterhood" and "home to mother" were the key words in Emily's speech. They summed up the ultimate in failure for any woman. They certainly did for Olive. And being single again at 28! Emily knew that Olive would picture that desperate cheerfulness of the single woman, the lonely evenings praying for a date, for the phone to ring and it doesn't.

Emily let that sink in before blithely going on "Of course you should give yourself at least a year before you let yourself get into any sort of relationship. Usually it takes much longer of course. Sometimes never but there's always hope. Last week at the old age home a woman of 72 who'd divorced at 25 took the plunge again and married a man of 84.

There was such a look of horror on Olive's face that Emily thought she may have overdone it. "However I much prefer to save a marriage than end it. Do please reconsider this Olive."

Olive grasped the rope that would pull her from the quicksand. "All right but only if Mark agrees."

Mark was ashen. He was still in shock. His jaw moved up and down a few times before he could get his voice to work. "I can't."

Nobody said anything. Olive and Emily just looked at him.

"Don't ask me to do this, Olive. Please."

"Mark, may I say something?" This was Emily Wetherby, marriage guidance counsellor, at her most persuasive.

"Yeah."

"It is possible that you are attaching too much importance to your testicles."

Mark's jaw dropped but he was too dumbfounded to say anything.

"If you let me castrate you, you will still be the same man that you are now except you won't be bothered by sex any more. You will lose your sex drive but isn't that exactly what you need to do to stay married to the woman you love? Isn't it your sex drive that has brought you to the brink of divorce?

Mark nodded.

"Olive has said she won't miss intercourse, but you will be able to give her the cuddles and companionship that she wants from you."

Mark was unable to think coherently.

"There's another thing Mark. Can your read Egyptian hieroglyphics?"

Mark was thrown by this change of subject. "No."

"Has it ever bothered you that can't?"

"No."

"Are you interested in Egyptian hieroglyphics?"

"No. What's that got to do with my marriage?"

"After your castration that's how you'll feel about sex. Not the least bit interested or bothered about it. You aren't going to miss it, Mark."

"Oh."

"There'll be a transition period as the testosterone clears from your body. Then after that you'll look back on sex as a juvenile habit that you've outgrown. It just won't matter to you any more. But you and Olive will be able to go forward together, as it was before."

This time it was Olive who took Mark's hand. "Do it for us darling. I do love you."

Mark was pale and actually trembling. "I er…"

"It's up to you Mark. Are you prepared to save your marriage? To have me castrate you for the woman you love?"

"Does it hurt?"

"Not if we use anaesthetic it doesn't. And there's no cutting. Would you like me to show you?"

"Yeah. Please."

From a cupboard Emily took the clamp. Then she took three strips of paper, put them into the rounded jaws of the clamp and squeezed. The inside strip was cut into two pieces, the outside strips were unmarked. The demonstration took only a few seconds.

Both Olive and Marked were fascinated. Mark was open-mouthed, Olive was licking her lips and her eyes were bright. There was no sign of her earlier tears.

"This particular clamp is made especially for castrating humans. It's quick and it's safe. There's no cutting or bleeding or stitching. It severs the cords that carry the blood supply to the testicles, both of them at the same time. The testicles drop to the bottom of the scrotum and wither away. The body cleans them up and after two months or so they're completely gone. You have an empty scrotum. If you want you can have prosthetic testicles of plastic inserted."

"Castrating humans?" Olive said. "How many men get castrated to justify a special clamp?"

"We call it the marriage saver." Emily said. "Although every marriage is unique, your particular circumstances occur quite often. Many couples opt for this solution. And it does work."

"So I'm not the only one?" Mark said.

"No. Quite a few men have it done. Like you they are reluctant but afterwards they can see that it was for the best. They really are better off without them."

"Are you going to do it?" Olive asked him. "This will give our marriage the second chance you wanted."

"Second chance," he muttered to himself. Mark looked at Olive with a forced, wry smile. He took a deep breath. "Well I suppose that I did say I'd do whatever it took to save our marriage, "

"Okay. Then if you'd just sign the consent forms please. Standard routine." Emily produced the consent forms that just happened to be conveniently to hand.

When they were signed Mark had to go and empty his bladder. As soon as he left Emily handed Olive the "Care of New Eunuch Instruction Sheet."

"You have to be very reassuring while he adjusts. Pamper him and let him know you love him. But don't make any sexual demands on him at all and leave him alone down there. Generally they're so lacking in self-confidence over this period that they get upset easily. Sometimes they even start crying. Whatever you do don't tease him."

Olive nodded. Right now she'd do anything for Mark, she loved him so much.

Mark returned.

"Get undressed please, Mark."

Mark looked surprised and then a bit shy but he started to undress.

"And it's perfectly normal to get an erection. Don't worry about it."

As it was he got a full hard on but neither Emily nor Olive seemed to take any notice.

If Emily took in that fit lean muscular body there was no external sign of it. She got Mark to lean forward over the desk, legs splayed, and resisted the temptation to say "Assume the position." She did get Olive to stand the other side of the desk and cover Mark's hands with hers for reassurance.

Kneeling behind Mark in working position she got those lovely taut buns right by her face. She'd have liked to stroke them and run a finger down the crack, but she didn't. She did take in that clean fresh manly scent of him and knew that it wouldn't be there after he was castrated.

She shaved the back of Mark's scrotum with a disposable razor, wiped the shaven part with alcohol and injected anaesthetic into the cords. Mark twitched both times.

Next stage was gently to massage Mark's testicles in their scrotum. There was no real need for that as they were already hanging nice and low but Emily just wanted to. She would have like to put a hand on that lovely erect penis too but she knew Olive would react negatively.

Mark flinched as she put the clamp into position, making sure that both cords were in the jaws. "Now I'm going to apply the pressure and hold it for sixty seconds so that the arteries seal up and don't bleed. Mark, you may feel a little pressure but you won't feel any pain."

Mark gave an involuntary shudder as he felt the pressure come on. No one spoke for the sixty seconds that it lasted.

Emily explained that the dressing she put on was simply to carry the weight of the loose testicles in the scrotum so they wouldn't roll around. The crushing had sealed the ends of the cords after severing them and there was a tiny risk that impact from the loose testicles could reopen the sealed ends. There would be some slight bruising too and later there might be swelling. That would soon heal

Marc seemed subdued and was very pale. Emily got him to rest for half an hour on the bed in a small room for the purpose directly off the consulting room.

"He looks dreadful," Olive said. "Have we done the right thing?"

"It is a big change in his life. It will take him some time to get used to it. For your marriage to be loving companionship you need to be very supportive over the next two months. Put up with his moods. Sometimes they go quiet and brood on their loss of their sexuality, but only to begin with. They get over it"

"Have you done many men like that?" Olive asked.

"Yes. Saving the marriage is always our priority. When the wife isn't interested in sex any more this is the best way to go. If the wife doesn't need sex it's better to get rid of her husband's sex drive too. Then the couple are fully compatible and the marriage lasts."

They talked for a while until Mark's rest period was up. Emily arranged for Mark to come in for a progress check every morning for the first week and once a week for ten weeks thereafter.

When Mark arrived the next day for his check up Emily could see that there was no more of his sparkle. He was quiet and depressed. She got him to undress and this time she did tell him to "assume the position" against the desk. This time she did run a hand over his buns and a finger down the crack. The effect on Mark was zero. His penis remained merely a limp little dangler.

She removed the dressing and massaged his sac. There was just the slightest stirring of the penis.

"Mark, I want you to feel the cords in your scrotum and see if you can find where they've been severed."

Mark felt his scrotum. He found the cords and groped around for a while. He looked puzzled. "No, I can't. It feels like they're still joined up."

"Oh silly me," Emily said. "I must have left the safety catch on when I clamped you. Now I'll have to castrate you all over again."

A slow dawning smile crossed Mark's face. "No great rush."

Emily saw that dangerous, exciting look appearing in his eyes as he spoke. He was responding to Emily's pheromones again.

Emily took in his lovely taut lean muscular body and how good Mark looked in the nude. What a truly magnificent erection he had on him. And I'm sure he knows how to use it, she thought.

Her thought proved correct.

End