ROLE REVERSAL - HUSBAND TO WIFE - CHAPTER 1

My name is Oliver and I am gonna tell you a story about my crazy marriage. At one moment, I thought that my marriage will fall apart but then… an amazing thing saved us. The role reversal! I was turned into a wife… But let´s start from the beginning!

I was a 20-year-old man when I married my wife, Mia. She was my queen and I adored her from the beginning of our relationship. She was the beauty itself! I haven´t seen a more beautiful woman and I will never see… I was so lucky that I could marry her because I wasn´t any muscular boy who goes to the gym and is extra attractive. I was an artist and my job was to paint pictures. I loved that and even Mia shared this passion with me but in a bit different style. I was painting on the canvas and she was… a makeup artist so her canvas were faces. It was a bit different but it was an art as well.

We really enjoyed the first stage of our marriage and it was a ride. We both had quite a lot of things to do and we had a lot of money as well. We lived a good life. But even the good life with all the luxury will come to an end. It all starts with boredom. Suddenly, we got bored of each other and the first spark of love was gone. I was as confused as Mia because we both expected that we would live lives full of love until the end. And suddenly… we didn´t feel the love… But it would be stupid to just part ways because of our crises. We were both fighters and we wanted to fight. But it was getting more and more difficult. Divorce is not a wise option. It is the easy solution but it leads to chaos and doom. We wanted to fight through our crisis together… But as I said… it was difficult.

One evening, I came home from work quite late. I was hungry and I hoped that Mia made us a tasty dinner. I told to myself that I will do my best and be very kind to Mia and I will definitely not seek any conflicts. But I was also tired from my job and I needed a calm environment. Unfortunately, that was something too much luxurious… I came to the kitchen and greeted my wife:

“Good evening, my love! So glad to be at home!” But she didn´t share my trying to be as kind as possible and she started yelling at me:

“Where have you been? Tell me! Where have you been? You usually end at 4 p.m at your job and now is 6 p.m.  Tell me! Where have you been those two hours?”

I was just staring at my wife in disbelief. Did she just really tell me this? I tried to be as nice as possible and she returns the favour like this. It made me sad because I really tried to be cool this evening. Why was she doing this? Why was she trying to get us into the conflict again?

“Mia… please… don´t yell at me! I am really tired! I had to finish two paintings at my work and that´s why I am late! But… I really don´t want us to fight anymore! Please!”

“Well… you should have come earlier! I was preparing dinner and now… it is cold! You should have called me that you will be late tonight! You know, Oliver… I don´t want to fight as well… but sometimes… It is just impossible not to fight with you! Why can´t you be the same Oliver I married four years ago? Why? It would be so much better!” she said.

“I do my best, Mia! But… those feeling are very mutual! I could ask you as well why can´t you be the Mia I married four years ago? Why? I would love us to be back there… in those times when we didn´t fight and everything was okay!” I answered. “You know… sometimes… it would be good if you had at very least a little of male character! A bit of calm and order!”

“And do you know what would be good for you?” she responded immediately.

“What?” I asked.

“If you would have at very least a bit of feminine character! You would probably understand me a lot better if you know how women feel! But it doesn´t matter anymore! Let´s go eat!” Mia finished our fight and I was kind of glad about it. I didn´t have any more energy for fighting. It was just making me sad and sometimes even angry. And I just don´t want to be angry at my wife.

Well… then we had a quite silent dinner together but I have to admit that Mia cooked really well. She was good at it and I loved that about her. But we were too angry at each other to start talking. I was determined not to speak because I was really upset. I do my best, I try not to fight and she doesn´t care… She just starts yelling at me… And it just takes all positive energy from you. But I could see that Mia was feeling a bit guilty. She knew that she totally overreacted and that it was completely useless to yell at me the moment I enter the house. In the middle of the dinner, she stopped eating and looked at me:

“Oliver… we must do something… we have to save our marriage because… it is falling apart! You can see that! I just… I don´t want to say that I don´t love you… I love you… but… I just don´t feel the same as four years ago! Where is the spark of love? Where is our kindness? All of that is gone… and we have to do something if we are going to stay partners!” I looked at her and I was quite surprised that she said something like this. And I admired it. She had the courage to say this… I wouldn´t have the courage to say this just after the fight. But she was right. We had to do something.

“Yeah… Mia… you are right! We have to do something! I love you too… I chose you as my wife and I am never going to change it… but… we need to find our passion again. We lost it!” I answered.

“We should go see a therapist… I mean it, Oliver! Look at us… we almost can´t spend a single evening without a fight! It must change!”

Well… a lot of people would be ashamed to go see a therapist but there is just no shame in this. Marriage is a very complicated thing and in order to keep the marriage alive, sometimes you have to go see somebody. After the dinner, we both searched for a therapist and we found one, who had an office just a few streets away from us. We both agreed to go there tomorrow. I ended up earlier in my job and Mia as well. We were determined to fight for our relationship.

The therapist was a very kind woman and she was asking about our personal life. We told her everything and we were totally honest with her and with each other. She was carefully listening to us. It felt really good to get some things out of my chest and I think that Mia felt the same. We were really honest and the therapist told us:

“Well… I can see you are going through a very tough part of your marriage. It would be foolish to think that things would go better somehow without trying. In moments like this, the wife and husband should stop everything and start to take care of each other from the beginning. And if I may… I would really recommend you a short vacation in a new helping centre for married couples. They invited new techniques and I have to admit that it works! I will give you their business card and you should book a week there! It should be enough for you two to gain again your lost love!” the therapist told us.

We went back home and agreed on the vacation. We have just nothing to lose and this could really save us. There was a phone number on the business card and I immediately called there. I booked it for a week and they sent us a mail with the info immediately. I looked at it and it was really simple. The only thing we had to do was to arrive there. We even don´t have to take any clothes with us which was a bit odd. I guess that they will take care of us completely.

The next day, we got on our way to the help centre. It was something like a luxurious hotel beneath the mountains in the beautiful countryside. Mia was also excited about the nice environment and when we arrived there, she held my hand and she told me:

“I believe that this could really help us! Look at this! It is so beautiful here!”

“I believe it too!” I said. Then we kissed and we got out of our car. We came to the reception and they were already waiting for us. There was a very kind lady who told us:

“Welcome! We are so glad that you want to fight for your relationship! And in order to keep your relationship alive, we have a special program for you. The first two days, you won´t see each other and you both will have a separate program! So now… it is a farewell moment for you two!”

“Good luck, Mia! I love you!” I told her.

“I love you too!” she answered.

Then another assistant led Mia somewhere and I stood in reception for a while because I had to fill in some documents for both of us.  After that, two women therapists came for me and they told me to follow them. They were quite beautiful women. They led me to a strange part of the building. Everything was in pink colour and it felt quite feminine. We arrived in a bathroom.

“Now, take a shower, please! We will prepare your new clothes for you in the meantime!” they said. I didn´t see anything strange in that and I took the shower. But I was blind… After I stepped out of the shower and dried myself… I saw my new clothes…. MY NEW CLOTHES? IT WAS FEMININE UNDERWEAR AND… A PINK NIGHTIE… WHAT WAS GOING ON?