Love Story in Three Acts
by David Gerrold
Nova One, ed. Harry Harrison (Delacorte, 1970); reprinted (Sphere, 1975), pp. 111-123.
SF short story. Gerrold’s two-hander sees a jaded couple hook themselves up to a ‘guidance model’ to improve their lacklustre lovemaking. Cue the retrospectively tame sex scene. Regrettably, the protagonists are banal archetypes, the ending a telegraphed twist (spoiler: the placebo effect).