All Comments on 'Late'

of gradual moral equivocation.

I hope she'll be a good sport about the divorce.

She put forth little effort into her husband lately, it was too late for any chance of the marriage surviving.

Women need to sleep with people to get ahead. The women are superior to the men in career. If this went 1500 the guy would be back with her, amd she would still be cheating.

Welcome back, and back with a bang. Best use of the 750 words that I have yet read. Really concise and complete.

Not all wives that wander are lost ( in geographic sense ). The good man that trusts his workaholic, bling value-based wife is not blind ad infinitum . Community property splits are 50/50 regardless if it's the wife or husband, is family earner.

Any story that hearkens me back to one of my favourite ' Lord of the Rings ' quotes can only receive one assessment.

Ergo the obvious score

Full marks *****

Perfect.

5-stars

Being so short takes away what would have been the best part of the tale. However, the point was made so sayonara cunt.

751 words, yet another who couldn't do 750, at least it wasn't under like 2 others I've read so far.

Your intro was like coming back home.... old Brooklyn boy who emigrated. Glad you're back and feeling better.

in so few words. Nicely done! Thanks for posting.

As one of the best writers here, did not know of illness and hope you are better. This is a good flash story. Tells you a lot about character with few words.

Well written, picturesque story.

Where a slut gets her

well deserved one word.

Brilliant!

Top ratings from me.

I agree with Bebop and hope that she does not use her vast resources to fail to be a good sport. The story seen through her husband's eyes would be very interesting.

In fact I am curious about the poverty lawyer. Did he lean on her money-generating power?

Champaign would be a strange thing to celebrate with.

Champagne on the other hand fits with overpriced beef

As with another commentator I was unaware of your illness. I rejoice in your recovery and hope to see more of my favorite author posting on this site. The story itself echoes your previous inquiries into the consequences of well intended but ultimately wrong personal choices.Love doesn’solve everything.

You conveyed the mood well for the short space.

Glad you're back.

Hooked

How many of the 750 words are spent on geography? Well, that’s too many!

What We-The-Readers know:

Sweetie is very smart.

Sweetie is avaricious.

Sweetie’s top priority is NOT her marriage.

Hubby is less avaricious than Sweetie.

Hubby prioritizes his marriage higher than Sweetie.

Sweetie is back on the marriage market.

What WTRs predict:

Hubby will be more careful picking Sweetie2.

The 3 words in the title compromise the twist!

I am arrogant enough to suggest ‘Timing’ would compromise it less.

OH Hell, didn't see that coming! Welcome back, five stars for this quickly!

Sorry to hear about your illness and I'm glad you're back, hopefully sound of body and mind.

Well done short and looking forward to your further works.

Some of your writing simply inspires murder in me but that is only because you write well.

Well written, a good story.

I don't think she'll be too disappointed at losing her husband, and certainly not enough to regret her whoring for a partnership. She's too mercenary; she'll do anything to get ahead and anything slowing her down will be jettisoned. Her vows were just the first casualty, I'm betting her husband also would've become a hindrance at some point.

We all have our priorities, a mental list of what's most important to us. Her marriage was well down the list.

She'll be a great lawyer. Ex husband should be glad it happened relatively quickly, and with no children.

Welcome to New York. Men age like wine, women age like cheese. What she's been giving away at the office she will one day have to buy it back. Hope she doesn't pollute the gene pool on the way to her tar pit.

If there was a single person writing today who I thought less able than dtervision to write a 750 word story, RG would have been that person.

And yet here (he?) is. And he skillfully and succinctly did the who what where when and why. There was no latitude for more than a single dramatic moment and he outlined it.

As always, I rail at the disloyal women but for them to cheat, there needs to be The Excuse.

So well done and I wish you a quick recovery. Maybe you can finish 'Faithful in Her Fashion' perhaps with one less plot point than you wanted and NO (ZERO) additional characters given more than 200 words of back story.

There is a REAL challenge!

Old cliche, a female lawyer sells herself for partnership.

Nothing new, nothing original, and nothing much.

Reminds me of a shorter version of Laptopwriters "He said no". A good flash version of work over relationship. But you'd think that they would both understand the need to put in the hours in order to advance. Instead of getting married he should have understood her goals and the fact that they were very different than his. Wall Street vs poverty law? That should have told a smart man all he needed to know to avoid entering into a doomed relationship. Well played. And at least this time RG allowed his poor, lead male character to leave. That alone was worth the price of admission.

The limit of 750 words has got to be a tough parameter in which to tell a story. This one is concise, vivid, and sad. Well done. 3*

People are usually better off wed to someone who is near the same spot on the work vs family continuim, and careerist-obsessed climbers are definitely apart from most of us regular humans.

But distinctively crafted, characterized by a judicious selection of words that created the economy of a largely implied plot. Very skillful writing, leading up to the very last sentence.

Nicely done. Thanks for writing.

...but occasionally drink champagne.I

Principal complaint about the 750 word limit is that, as in bad movies showing calendar pages flipping quickly, the "time passed" device prevents any real development.

You are a hard man to please, but very consistent in your views.

she must assume He Knows, TK U MLJ LV NV

...but isn't this Crime and Punishment, Ch. 1?

5***** because I enjoy anything you write.

This is my favorite 750-word story.

The build-up was nice and slow. We learnt that Beth and Brent had been having a difficult marriage during the last 3 years. We learnt that Beth was smart but only average-looking, while Brent was more like an Adonis who was very shy but she snared him anyway. And then we learnt that her drive to become a partner in her Wall St firm seemed to coincide with the 3 years of difficult marriage. We can also surmise that they have been together for about 7 years, 4 as a married couple.

But never mind that. Her mood was positive, almost conversational, as she walked home through old familiar Brooklyn neighborhoods, and now that she had made partner everything would be alright again.

But then our doubts started to appear, as we learnt that she had slept her way to the top.

The ending came swiftly and with finality. In her mind the end that she envisaged justified the means, but in Brent’s mind the means justified the end (of their marriage).

Extremely well done for a short story, and many thanks for writing it.

A really excellent example of wordcraft. Very, very well done.

GA

I don't know. This one telegraphed the ending to me. Well written but I think you were hampered by the format.

R.

Thanks.

As usual, great read. Please have mercy on us and give us some more “crime and punishment”

When does the story come out? The trailer had a good 'pop' to it but it needs a story to justify its existence!

was good. thank you for the lil' flash.

Leaving a wife because she's good in sports :).

Very well written!

Yet the emotion is still there.

A common trope in LW stories is the drive for making partner. Usually it is the husband, and a key failing is putting in all the work and ignoring the spouse, not communicating. Same thing happens in med school, where the wife is often more of a caretaker than a partner, and the doctor sheds her when he gets his position. In this nice short story, the gender role is reversed, but what is added is the “being a good sport” aspect. We do not know how discrete she has been, and we don’t know what the breaking point was. I am guessing the husband figured things out and it wasn’t just the long hours

One of the best of the event. Right to the point and from the POV of the wife for a change. Now im glad that its only 750 words, because if it were longer i (everyone) have a good idea about how will end.

Im glad to know that your better, best regards.

The long hours were understood. The fucking her way to the top was NOT!

It's a good thing RG only had 750 words, or else he'd come back apologizing for not being there to eat her cream pies!

We only have 750 words. Her own words tell what she's done. It's obvious that he knows, or else he wouldn't be leaving!

This scenario is common, but has been true for thousands of years. It's a variation of Mark 8:36: "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"

Change a few words and you have: For what shall it profit a wife, if she shall gain the partnership, and lose her own marriage?

A marriage is like a garden. If is not attended to, the weeds will take over and eventually crowded out your intended crop.

why can't commenters be limited to one post?

Too bad for Beth that one of her two great achievements has come undone.

Can she replace him?

My experience says no. She will never go to so much trouble for a man again. Having attained her highest goal, she will never again go through the distasteful tedium of making herself attractive.

It will cost her in her career, and in her happiness, but she will have lots of brooding unattractive single sisters in the law field to spend time with.

And as per usual, your writing is excellent.

“Beth made the most of her advantageous position.”

“advantageous” is a superfluous word. Don’t make the rookie mistake of gilding the lily with pointless or repetitive words. Look at Hemingway or Hammett. Fewer words, greater impact.

Makings of an interesting story.Would have liked more.

Great to see you back after your break Richard, and on form as usual. Even in 750 words you managed to weave in intricate story lines and a 'gotcha' conclusion. Look forward to seeing some more from you soon, maybe even a continuation of Crime and Punishment? Best wishes, Jack

On so many levels: the brevity, the husband actually leaving, the lack of a real justification for her behavior.

Phenomenally well written as always. Thank you, RG, for the time you spend providing entertainment for the rest of us. I admit I don't care for the justifications or the acceptance in other works but I realize that life is more complex than we like to admit and that willful blindness happens.

Very well done!

... and concise.

4 stars don't need any more

She is free to fuck to the top and he is free of slut

Really like your stuff and did so much appreciate the book.

Shamrock ybP9RS

He supported his wife until she achieved her goal.

Now it's his turn.

Slut wife who justifies cheating to mean nothing and dumb husband who waits aroumd.

I wouldn't have said that much

Now that she reached the "top" he gets more in the settlement.

Burn baby burn

In the divorce and that he has physical evidence of her being a good sport that he can use to publicize her firm's practices. And I would spread it like water on a growing field. Scorched earth.

Is did he leave when he found out she was a whore or did he have it planned so that it was deliberately timed when she came home to give him the good news that 'she had arrived' as a partner, just not his? Signed: BTW

What story? This is not even a story, barely an intro to a story....

I don’t like the ending; just when it starts to get interesting you ended it.

What happened?? It the story finish??!?

Need more chapters, but looks like the ho got hers...

It is hard to believe that we can get such much stupid stuff in such a short story, but this author has succeeded.

No one makes partnership in 3 or 4 years. Sexual "good sports" are rare given the risks of sexual harassment. Most importantly, why did the guy leave just before she started to make real money, where he could seek alimony?

Most of all, there is nothing particularly interesting in this short story.

I was looking at the last 5 comments by Anons.

Not one could perceive of an ending to this story that would satisfy themselves.

Until death comes, life is an unfinished story. Critical thinking is not taught in schools anymore. Imagination is left to nerds who make massive $$ writing games for those who have no imagination themselves.

Get with it, write the continuation or at least, think up one in your head that takes you where you want this story to go. Then you will have satisfied yourself.

I'm from an old school, who found the most fascinating present on Christmas morning was the large cardboard box the other presents came in. We could spend all day dreaming up ways to build forts, and other things to amuse ourselves. Like sleds or toboggans to slide on wet grass, (not much snow in So Cal), even in December.

Open your mind, there is a very large world out there.

Sounds like Beth got what she deserved.

It’s because I rated you in the negative !

My question is What the fuck were you thinking ?

I’ll just have to settle for my comment to about your story...... Fucking Stupid !!!

What was that?

I recommend that readers both read and believe the forward supplied by the author. Ignoring such a clear message in black and white does not brighten off-target comments.

RG, Keep 'em comin'.

I guess i can say i read that.

😡😡😡😡😡😡👿👿👿👿👿👿👹👹👹👹

To not understand the tale. Very good and you have to think to understand. How pitty for the standard LW reader there is no line to guide. You have to read a little between the lines to see.

Short and well set up. The problems and her ignorance detailed. Good ending! Excellent short story. 5*

Every word was perfect. It bordered on stream of consciousness, but was a 3rd person retelling of her story. Very good!

Well written.

Whoa. Damn its so beautifully written. Boke my heart.

5 stars.

Thaks for sharing

So very sad, but that's what high powered women have to do to get on

"Champagne" is a French sparkling wine usually made from chardonnay or pinot noir.

"Champaign" is a city in Illinois. Not quite as charming.

What goes around comes around and it did for a cheating slut named Beth. For greed and ambition she destroyed her marriage. Well done short story 5 stars

Short and sweet, with just enough said for the storyline. Now, maybe, another chapter from her poor husband's point of view who found out about her being a "good sport" for ALL her partners.

This is the kind of Story I expect from you . That one about the painter was beneath You talent wise

Very good but I would love you to expand this into a full story. 4 stars

Filling out the story

If you want to read more try “Where's Buster” or “Sailing to the Bottom” and “Saling to the Bottom”. The concept was there just the details are different.

For such a short story it told a fine tale.

Great 750 word story.

Impose far too much restriction on good story telling. You can make sure a story is not garbage, but you cannot tell a good story in merely 750 words. Even introverts use more words on a daily basis. It cuts all the meat away, leaving only the bare bones. Enough to whet the appetite, but nowhere near enough to satisfy hunger.

That's the way to do it. His, not her's.

Some after reading this with no experience reading other stories in the LW section might not "get it". It is a good story and there are many along these lines of women in law firms trying to attain 'partner' status. In order to make partner they believe they must whore themselves out to the senior partners which usually ends the marriage. I would hope that this in not a reality in the present day, but I wouldn't be surprised considering some of the headlines in the news in the last few years. Good writing as always.

1 star - this is an extremely sad story and a horrid commentary about life as a lawyer.

One of my children is a lawyer and I once asked him if it was worth all the sacrifices he had to endure just to pass the bar and practice law for the last 30 years - his answer 'not by a long shot'. He really should have been a social worker like his mother, although he has a passion for geography and extreme mountain biking. Go figure.

I agree with nixrox but I scored the story a 5 for the very same reason. I used to be pretty naïve when it came to racism, sexism and any other kind of ism believing the media exaggerated stories for ratings. Thinking everybody thought as I did that it was the person that counted. As a kid if they treated me with respect I reciprocated if they didn't I wouldn't have anything to do with them. As I got older, if the person was capable and possessed the proper requirements they got the job. When Affirmative action became law I was shocked to find my unit out of six was the only one in compliance in our agency of more than two hundred employees. I assumed there were some people that generalized the characteristics of individuals to their entire race, gender, religion etc. but as I got older I slowly realized prejudices are a lot worse than I ever thought. That is truly the sad story. This is a sad story because it is indicative of the whole. I wouldn't have compromised my ethics and morals to succeed but I'm not a woman in a business that is typically dominated by men so I am in no position to judge. However, I would have done the same thing her husband did. Nice Flash story. Actually touches on a lot of topics considering the parameters of the assignment. Thank you

This is a simple statement about the high cost of infidelity. It matters not the reasons, or whether it is 1975 or 2005, goodbye is goodbye. 5

good story.

5starrs

Good man don't put up with cheaters.

Wow..... A pithy 750 word challenge piece. This author is one of the better ones here.

You're a good writer, you should write a story about this idea you haven't used properly.