"I have been a therapist for over twenty years," explained Dr. Valerie Nelson, "and, more than anything else, there are two very simple things that make a relationship work: open, honest communication and great sex. If you lack either or both of these qualities, sooner or later, your relationship is destined to fail."
John and Nikki looked at each other with a certain degree of trepidation. Earlier, Dr. Nelson took each one of them aside and asked some very personal questions about their sex life. While she promised not to divulge any of the details to the other, they both knew the therapist had to address those issues she discovered as problematic in the rocky marriage.
"I have been seeing you for about two months, now, and we have made some wonderful progress on all other areas. By your requests, I saved the topic of sex for last. I know you two feel very uneasy about discussing these things with me, but if we do not address the problems you both -- yes, both of you had problems in this area -- have privately discussed with me, all your work up until now will be wasted."
The couple squeezed each others' hands and squirmed uneasily in their chair.
"At 25 years of age, you two are still a very young couple. The last seven years of marriage have been rocky, from what you have told me, and we have taken care of all the minor issues. What I have discovered, however, is that your sex lives suck. Both of you find sex bland and unexciting. I personally know couples who have been married for well over forty years who still have amazing sex on a regular basis and, contrary to what the pornography industry wants you to believe, it has more to do with letting go of your inhibitions and letting your imaginations take over than it does with having oversized breasts, rear-ends, or penises." Dr. Nelson smiled a little and allowed the couple to digest what she had just said for a moment before continuing.
Neither John nor Nikki were an unattractive couple. At six-foot-two, John was a large man who once possessed an athletic body. While the finely-chiseled physique he'd possessed in high school had given way to laziness and beer, there was still enough of his old self in him that many women found him attractive.
Nikki was by far the fairer of the two. She had lost none of her doll-like features and, having had no children yet, she managed to keep her grippable hips and thick, cross-country thighs in shape through regular exercise. Her waist had widened a few inches in the intervening years, but she could still pull off a bikini if she needed to. Her breasts were on the smaller side -- just the right size for her husband to cup one in a hand -- but that had always been precisely the way John liked them. She had long legs for her height, but still only reached a paltry five-foot-two, a fact John endlessly teased her about.
John cleared his throat a bit and cast a suspicious glance at his wife before speaking. "I never said there was a problem with the size of my... ahh..."
"No, of course not," responded Dr. Nelson quickly. "That's not at all what I meant. What I am going to do now is take each of you aside again and give you detailed instructions. Tonight, you will follow these instructions to the letter. If you value your marriage, you will do precisely as I instruct and we will meet again tomorrow afternoon at our usual hour to see how things went."
"What if," Nikki asked hesitantly, "one of us doesn't like what's happening?"
The therapist smiled in response. "From what you have each told me already, I doubt anything of the sort will come to pass, but if it does, all you both have to remember is one word: strawberries."
"Strawberries?" asked John, clearly confused how fruit had anything to do with sex.
"Yes. You will use 'strawberries' as your safe word. Should either of you cross a line that the other is absolutely uncomfortable with, the utterance of the word 'strawberries' means, for all intents and purposes, 'Stop!'"
John's confusion was compounded by the need for a safe word. "Why couldn't we just say 'stop,' instead?"
Dr. Nelson offered an impish smile in response. "Because," she explained softly in a conspiratorial tone, "if either of you say 'stop' your partner will know you don't actually mean 'stop,' no matter how much you scream and cry the word."
Nikki was growing more uncertain about this part of their therapy the more she heard. "Why would either of us be screaming or crying?" she asked plaintively.
Dr. Nelson shook her head and stood up from her chair as she pointed an open palm toward her door. "If one of you will step outside of my office, I will explain what I must. Just remember that the safe word is 'strawberries' and each of you must do precisely as I instruct."
The drive back to their home seemed to take forever. John and Nikki were both deep in thought about what Dr. Nelson had told them. She had also given them explicit instructions not to share with one another what she had said. Curiosity over what the therapist told each of them privately tugged incessantly at their tongues, almost causing them to ask each other numerous times, but in the end, their desire to do as Dr. Nelson instructed won over.
As her husband drove home, Nikki stared out the passenger side window, hiding the redness that came to her cheeks every time she thought about what the doctor said. Similarly, John was terrified of what might happen tonight. On one hand, it was exciting, but he could not help but think of what his wife might say if everything didn't go as planned. What if Nikki said "strawberries" mere moments after they had begun? He glanced at his wife briefly before taking a deep breath and pulling into their driveway. One thing was certain in both their minds: tonight would either make or break their marriage.
Later that night, at precisely 10 o'clock, Nikki stood up from where they'd been sitting watching television in the living room. "I'm supposed to go... change." Without looking up at her, John gave her a nod. He was too intent on what their therapist had asked him to do. As his wife retreated up the stairs, he felt a stir of anxious anticipation in his pants. They hadn't even begun and he was already getting turned on. He closed his eyes and took a deep, steadying breath. John loved his wife dearly and, despite all their arguments, he knew she was the one he intended to spend the rest of his life with.
