Romance...the fantasy vs. realities

As a genre, the word romance conjures happily ever after (or at least happy for now). In real life it’s too often not that way. Enjoy the fantasy in my new Quickie, MUTUAL FANTASY, available now from Ellora's Cave, Amazon.com and most online booksellers.

I'm thinking that many of us are searching for the happily ever after fantasy to come alive in our real lives, and when it doesn’t we're too quick to discard what could be a satisfying, lasting relationship. Observing a good many young couples' romances has left me with the impression that they often begin relationships too easily, before they truly know their lovers—and I don’t only mean how well he performs in the sack compared with her former lovers, or how hot she looks in a bikini.

Traits they thought were fun and cool at first tarnish in the bright light of everyday sharing. While she loved partying with him at first, she now views his affinity for sports bars as taking something away from their relationship—unless he happens to be doing all that partying with her. He didn’t worry about her lack of homemaking skills—until he woke up facing filth, clutter and dirty clothes day in and day out.

This alone dooms a lot of romances, but let's go further. Ratchet up the responsibility with a baby before they’re ready financially (and maybe emotionally as well) for the added responsibility. They decide after baby is born that she should stay home a while, which adds to the financial stress since he now must pay her hefty debts on an income he has to stretch by working longer hours at the job he hates. She isn’t used to sitting home and isn’t interested in staring at the four walls, so she takes the baby and fritters money away by shopping, meeting friends for lunch and so on. She wants him to join the Air Force as an enlisted man, but as a college graduate, he's holding out for an officer's commission.

Meanwhile he keeps working and going to graduate school. He hates coming home without unwinding from long days on the job, so he stops by a bar with coworkers and has a few drinks. She gets furious, which only makes him less anxious to come home other than to play with the baby with whom he has bonded. She'd probably never admit it, but she’s jealous that he apparently loves the baby more than he does her.

She takes a long trip with baby--without discussing it with him. Car breaks down and incurs a huge bill while away. He starts fuming because that car was hers before they met and she's upside down in it--owes thousands more than it's worth in trade. She comes back. Car breaks down yet again. Things are getting worse. Finances are stretched as tight as a small condom on a large cock. He demands she get a job. She refuses and throws his drinking in his face--again.

By this time she has stopped caring for him and thinks longingly of an old boyfriend, contacts him, decides he may be a better bet even though he’s still married to somebody else. She takes baby and walks out, leaving him with nothing but debt he incurred trying to support her, and an apartment full of memories he cannot face.

Their fantasy romance is over. She’s bloodsucking off yet another meal ticket. He's trying to get his life together while maintaining a relationship with his baby that requires him to maintain often painful contact with her.

This account is fiction, a composite of many broken romances I've observed over the years, not any particular one. I certainly like stories like MUTUAL FANTASY much better! My hope is that all of us will eventually find our real "Happily Ever Afters"--or at least "Contented Ever Afters"--in spite of life's sometimes bleak realities.