The Rotarians

"Ouch!" exclaimed the pastor, "Is that the way you see it, Charlene?"

"Yep, that's one of the reasons that I have fallen so deeply in love with Tim. We see so much of the world the same way. In concert, I guess they call it. Today, right now, I feel more like Tim's wife than I ever did with Stan. I'm sorry to say, but that's the way I feel about it."

"Okay, well...Ah, it doesn't appear that counseling will do any good." sighed the pastor, "You two get your final divorce decrees and I'll be happy to join you two, officially, into holy matrimony." The pastor pushed his chair back away from his desk to stand up, then said, "Funny thing, though... That's what I thought I was doing the first time."

Saturday Afternoon Barbeque at the Hendricks'

After everybody had eaten and been brought up to speed on the recent events, the engagement announced, Tim made his way over to the bar to get a drink. Before he could get the bartender's attention, he heard the voice of Charlene's father behind him."Hey, Tim?"

Tim turned to face Sam Hendricks "Yes sir."

The quiet, soft spoken, but hard nosed businessman, asked, "I've got a couple of fine cigars and a bottle of Jack Daniels up in my study, care to join me?"

"Sure." came Tim's quick reply, "A guy can't pass up an offer like that."

Once in the study, Sam handed Tim a cigar. He lit his own and handed the lighter to Tim and said, "This is the only place in the house that Colleen will allow me to smoke. She had two air filters set up in here. They both kick in automatically when smoke is detected." He stepped over to the cabinet and opened the doors, revealing a well stocked selection of liquor. Bringing out the bottle of whiskey, he asked Tim, "Straight up, or on the rocks?"

"One or two ice cubes would do it for me."

With his cigar in his month and a glass of whiskey in each hand, Sam turned to face Tim. Handing him a glass, Sam motioned to the chairs by the corner windows. When they were both seated, Sam placed his cigar in an ash tray, took a sip of his whiskey and said, "Tim? With four children, I knew this would happen with at least one of them. Could happen with one of our boys someday. But, with Charlene, well, I expected that if Stan ever pull something like he did here we'd have this totally distraught daughter, wringing her hands, crying a river, you know. But, that's not Charlene today. What we have is a daughter that is happier, more content than I've seen her in a long time. When the two of you were talking to her mother and I, Charlene sat there looking like she was very satisfied with her recent decisions. Also, I have to admit that the two of you looked like you were already married. Just returning from your honeymoon. So, I'd like to take this opportunity to say, welcome to the family."

"Thank you, sir."

"Tim? It's always Sam to you, OK?"

"OK Sam."

"Now, as far as Stan is concerned, he stepped out of this family when he rolled into the sack with your soon to be ex-wife. However, he has been good for the family business. So, I'm not going to give him his walking papers. I'm sure the board will agree with me on that. We are meeting with him in his office tomorrow so we can go over the whole thing face to face. That's the way I like to handle this kind of event."

"OK with me. In my young life, I've found that to be the best way of handling situations like this..." Tim responded, taking a sip of whiskey and then a puff on his cigar.

Sam gazed at Tim, thinking, "When I brought Stan up here during their engagement party, he refused a cigar and didn't much care for my Jack Daniels. Out on that hunting trip, he didn't seem to care for Jim Beam or Wild Turkey, either." Then he said, "Tim? All Colleen and I want is a happy daughter. In love with her husband and content in her marriage. She wants children and yeah, we'd like to see more grandchildren. She tells me that you want kids, too..."

After another drag on his cigar and a sip of whiskey, Tim answered, ""Yes I do want children, Sam. A loving, faithful wife and kids... There's no amount of money on earth that can equal that..."

"Yeah, you're right there. How many kids do you want?"

"Sam? I've come to love your daughter more than life itself. She is everything I ever wanted in a wife and mother of our children. So, I want as many as she does, or as many as her body can safely deliver. I'm not about to let her risk her life just to have four or five children."

"OK, I'll buy that. Yeah, that's good." said Sam, puffing on his cigar. He leaned back and puffed a couple of smoke rings up toward the ceiling. After a couple of sips of whiskey, he said, "OK Tim, I'm satisfied. Now, I'd like to change the subject. I'm sure you know Wesley Anderson, C.P.A.?"

"Oh sure. When I first opened my practice, he took me to lunch. We discussed the local market for C.P.A.'s. He said that he never anticipated gaining a monopy in accountancy here in town. But, that's what has happened. That he was happy to see some young blood come in with the guts to step right out there on his own. We've been on good terms since and he has sent me some of my first clients. He was my dad's accountant and I didn't see any reason to change that."

"Yeah, that just about what he said. He added that you have made your dad and him very proud, professionally, in Rotary and in Masonry. You practice their principals and that of the church, don't you?"

"Yes Sam, I do. The way I see it, life is a lot easier to take that way. Also, I think people want and expect their accountant to function on principals like the Church's, Rotary's and the Lodge." Tim said, finishing his whiskey. Then he held up the glass in his hand and commented, "I guess there are those in the church that would have a problem with us sitting here drinking and smoking. Done once and a while, I don't think there is any problem with it. When we do it often enough to effect our health, or cause problems, then I think we're offending our God."

Sam nodded in agreement. The two men remained silent for almost a minute, puffing on their cigars. Sam broke the silence with "Wes just turned 72 and he's finally getting tired of being a C.P.A. He's only been one for fifty years. So Tim, he would like to sit down with you and I and talk about merging the two practices."

Tim was not at all ready for what he had just heard from Sam. Thirty years old in a couple of months, he was being presented with an opportunity to have the practice he had envisioned when he was forty or forty five years old.. His words almost fell over each other, "Sam? Are you saying that we could join his practice with mine?!?"

"Yes Tim, that's exactly what I am saying. He wants to take his wife and see the world. They only had one child, a son. He was set to take over. About seven years ago, he was leaving a conference in Los Angeles and a drunk driver took his life..." Sam took a puff on his cigar just as Charlene burst into the room.

"I knew you guys would be hiding up in here. They're setting up a sound system on the tennis court so we can dance. So, come on, mom wants you out there too, dad. The man to man stuff is over for now." she declared.

Sam put out his cigar in the ash tray, stood up and turned to Tim, "Give it some thought and we'll talk some more when things get stabilized." As they walked out of the study, he said, "Oh, by the way, Tim. My friend Ralph Wilson owns that big sporting goods store, downtown. He said we should get in there and get our deer tags next week. Also, he's planning an out of state elk hunt..."

"Sounds good to me, Sam. Let's get together Wednesday or Thursday. We can get our tags, talk to your friend about the out of state hunt, then get some lunch and talk about the merger some more."

"OK Tim, I'll see if I can get Wes to join us for lunch."

Dawn the following Sunday morning

Leaving the barbeque at her parents, they picked up a bottle of wine and returned to their room at the Inn. They crawled into bed and enjoyed their wine and each other until after midnight. Drifting off to sleep they awoke at dawn, dressed, headed down to the golf course. Without socks, Tim and Charlene again kicked off their shoes and walked on a fairway just after the sprinklers shut down. Their love had not died. It just changed focus, to each other. After their romp in the wet grass, they returned to their room and the bed for more sexual enjoyment. The lovers dozed off for an hour or so, showered, together and then went to breakfast.

Monday Evening at the steakhouse in the Saddleback Inn

A pensive Stan and Cindy handed the waiter their menus as they gave him their orders. A jubilant Charlene and relaxed Tim had already given him their orders. When the waiter left the table, Stan asked, "So, where have you been, Charlene? I asked your parents and they said you weren't staying with them."

The visibly nervous Cindy echoed Stan, "Yeah, Tim? Where have you been? I've tried to call you since we had that short conversation last week."

Charlene giggled and Tim answered, ""Right here. Room 315. Both of us have been here since when?" He tuned to Charlene. She finished the answer with, "About ten o'clock Thursday morning."

Both Stan and Cindy's months dropped open, but not a sound came out.

Charlene continued in her jovial attitude, "About ten forty five room service showed up with a fantastic lunch buffet and some mighty fine wines and beers. At eleven, Troy Reiner, our P.I. and his wife joined us. Then, as we all enjoyed the buffet, we watched on the web-cam in room 313 as you guys get it together. You two really got it on. And Stan? I don't think you ever made love to me like that"

Tim smiled, "Same here Cindy. You've never gone orgasmic like that with me." Cindy blushed.

Charlene continued as Stan and Cindy sat stunned into total silence, "When we noticed that Cindy was at the peak of her orgasm and Stan, you were about to go off, we sent Troy in through the adjoining doors to serve you both. He was followed by his wife with a digital camera in one hand and a camcorder in the order. When they had served you guys, Troy and Ming simply exited your room and stepped into the hall and into our room. Then we all continued to enjoy the buffet and a review of Ming's work. A couple of hours later, Troy and Ming left to take what they had to Eric." She paused, leaned over and taking Tim's arm in hers, then continued, "When they had gone, Tim and I enjoyed one another in the bed for the remainder of the afternoon. We took a shower, together, of course. Then we came down here and enjoyed a couple of yummy steaks."

A stunned Stan had no immediate response to Charlene's comments. Then recovering, said, "You, you had a web cam in our room?!?"

As jubilant as any accountant can get, Tim replied, "Yep! Since last Monday evening. Troy is an old high school buddy. So is Rob Walker, the night manager at this place. And Stan? You guys used the same room every time! How much easier could you have made it for us?"

Stan shook his head. Again, he found himself on the outside, looking in at the loose knit group of graduates of the only high school in this small city. Charlene, and her parents were graduates of the one hundred and twenty five year old school. Cindy was also born in the city and attended the high school. She was from a family not quite as high in the local society as Charlene's family, but close. What now dawned on Stan was that Tim also graduated from the same high school. That had to partially explain why he was so well accepted back into the community. Stan spun his wine glass in his fingers, realizing that he had completely underestimated the young C.P.A. Watching the glass, he said to Charlene, sounding like a high school junior with a deflated ego, "You've been sleeping with Tim since then?"

Charlene laughed at the look on his face and the tone of his voice. Letting her know that although he was having an affair with another mans wife, it bothered him that her husband had taken his wife. She thought about coming off with a put down of some sort. But, thought better of it. So, with a smile on her face, "You betcha, Red Rider. Much more than just sleeping together, we've been fucking like rabbits. And Stan the Man, Tim taught me some new, exciting positions. Annd, I might add, he's been doing some things to me that I didn't know a man could do to a woman. Oh, what I have been missing hanging around you. And Cindy? I think I've seen it about as wild as you will ever let it get... But anyway, I'm on the pill until our divorces are final. Then, we've get serious about knocking me up higher than a kite. Like I told my parents, I might just walk down that isle to marry Tim, carrying the beginnings of his child." She giggled then said, "Or, children. One of my grandparents was a twin."

Stan looked at his soon to be ex-wife. Her orchestrating attitude was really getting under his skin. He felt that he had gained the mileage he wanted from her and her family. Now, what he heard in a few words was everything he didn't like about her. Like her mother, she was smart and beautiful. Always had it together. Everything she did was well planned and executed. That's what he wanted in his junior executives, but not his wife. And, more importantly, there she was again, harping about having kids. He didn't want them at all, at least not right now. What he wanted at that time was a much more dependent, submissive wife. That's exactly what he found in Cindy. From a well established family to boot. He was brought out of his thoughts by Charlene, as she continued, "So Stan, the thing is, obviously, you two fit well together. Tim and I fit so wonderfully together in so many ways. But, what we can't understand is why you two haven't signed the divorce. It fits the Four Way Test, you know."

Stan did not give a rat's ass about stuff like Rotary's Four Way Test or the Tenants of Masonry, or the words he heard in church. Those organizations only enabled him to get where he wanted to be in life. So, with a tinge of scorn in his voice, he asked, "What you mean by that?"

Tim answered him, "It's all the truth and fair to all concerned. We can stay friends and just think about it. You two won't have to sneak around to be together. And Stan, you can't deny that it's beneficial to all of us. If you put it all up to the compass and the square, it fits very well, my brother. So, come on, just signed the divorce and it will all be over quickly. With minumum of pain to us all."

Stan pushed back from the table a little in his chair, "Yeah well... I guess you're right. We'll get into Eric's office tomorrow and sign..."

Charlene smiled big, raised one arm above her head and said, "Oh, no need to make a special trip, Stan." Seconds later the young lady who had been standing along the wall with a clip board, looking like she could be hotel security staff, approached there table. Charlene, grinning from ear to ear said, "Stan? Cindy? This is Lisa, a paralegal from Eric's office. She has brought copies of our divorces. Show her your driver's licences and she will witness your signatures."

Stan sat there thinking, "Damn it. There you go again, Charlene. You've got the whole evening orchestrated." While Cindy was signing, he tuned to Charlene and said, "Your parents were in my office this morning. Your father told me that I could keep my job and positions in the community. However, they expect me to marry Cindy and remain true to her. If they ever find that I'm not... Well, your father made it very clear that I might as well go find a job with the government. Because, he would make sure that I would never find a job anywhere else."

Cindy and Stan finished signing the documents. Then before she left the two couples, Lisa said, "Eric wanted me to remind you that two days after we file these docs, representatives of the court will be at each residence to supervise the husband's removal of their personal property. The equity exchange should be ready for your signatures by this Friday or the latest, Monday."

Charlene pulled an envelope out of her purse and said, "Lisa? Thank you for giving up your evening for us. I hear you are getting married, soon?"

"Yes, ma'am." beamed Lisa.

Charlene handed her the envelope and said, "Well, here is a gift card. It should cover anything on the menu for two at this place, tax and tip included. Make no mistake, the food here is superb."

"Thank you, ma'am." said Lisa as she turned to leave.

Tim thought, "Cindy or Stan would never have thought about something like that. I wouldn't either. But, it certainly will go a long way in keeping Charlene and I in a superior position in Eric office right on through the final..."

Stan broke into Tim's thoughts with, "Tim? You can keep the tools and machines in the woodshop. It would be to much of a pain in the ass get the machine out of there. I'd just put them in storage, anyway."

Charlene noticed Shanna Jackson and Dr. Hodges rising to leave after finishing their dinner. She caught Shanna's eye and waived her over. Shanna, a registered nurse at the local hospital introduced Dr. Tom Hodges. Charlene asked, "So, Shanna? You know I have to ask, Where's Markus?"

Shanna, a personality much like Charlene's, laughed, "Ohh, that little boy is most likely out fucking or trying to fuck some white woman, I would guess." She wrapped one arm around the 6'2" sandy hair doctor, "I try not to think about him. I've got a real man, now. But anyway, he was served yesterday. Last night he pack it all up and moved out. Called today to tell me that he had requested a transfer back to his head office in San Francisco. Since we found that our inability to have children is Markus' problem, he's been out doing every woman that would spread her legs for him. Our daughter, Jennifer is adopted. Her birth mother is his younger sister. About a year after we adopted Jenny, his sister told us that the birth father is white. I think that's when Markus really started going after white women. Some sort of twisted revenge against white men, I guess."

"So, Shanna? What are your plans?" asked Tim.

Shanna laughed, again, "Honey? I'm already well into my plan. First I've got to get past this divorce. Then Tom and I will set a date to get married." She drew herself closer to Tom, "My loving doctor here has already got Jenny calling him daddy. When Markus heard she was half white, he lost all his interest in being her daddy. And, truth be told, Tom met Jenny before he met me. I'll tell you that story some other time. Anyway, bottom line... I really think that I've definitely traded up in many ways. So, how about you guys? It's kind of strange to see you all here at the same table..."

Tim smiled and said, "It looks like we will pull off these divorces and stay friends. Just switch spouses and continue on." Charlene and Tim were all smiles. However, Stan and Cindy still looked a little apprehensive.

Shanna chuckled and Tom said, "From what Shanna has told me, it seems like a case of marriage musical chairs with Markus still standing when the music stops. But ah, it was good to meet all of you and I'm sure we will be seeing a lot of each other. Shanna and I are going back to my condo and enjoy a bottle of wine. Annd, each other. So, good night." Shanna waived to them as Tom guided her away from their table.

Everything was moving way to fast for Cindy. She was still trying to digest the fact that Tim would really divorce her over this affair. That he has actually been having sex with another woman, her best friend at that. Mentally lagging way behind the other three, she whined, "But, but Tim? I lo..."

Tim placed one of his fingers near her lips and in the tone of an accountant, "Shhh Cindy. You know better than that. I don't know when you stopped loving me. But, I stopped loving you when you violated our marriage vows. Breeched my trust and totally disrespected me and our marriage. Then proclaimed your love for Stan." He than drew out a small tape recorder. Pressing the play button, the four of them listened to Cindy and Stan when she first arrived in room 313 on Tuesday. Tim continued, ""It is obvious to Charlene and I that Cindy? You love Stan and Stan loves you. The thing is, I love Charlene and she loves me. Plus, as Charlene has already mentioned, we make this small adjustment and we all stay friends. Nothing much changes." Tim extended his hand out over the table, "It's all working out by the plumb, compass and square, my brother and the Four Way Test." Cindy gave him a clueless look, and Stan just shook his head. Prompting Tim to conclude that he was getting the better part of the deal. Also, he had to wonder why he ever married Cindy in the first place.