Tragedy in the Oilfield

Robb replied, "How soon should I come?"

"Can you come down this afternoon and come into the office early in the morning?"

"I will see you in the morning, Mr. Grimes."

The circuit was broken and Robb called out, "Gwen! Get me on the latest flight today to Houston Hobby and a room for three nights."

Robb picked up his phone and called the Private Investigator his company used after a warehouse theft a year ago. "Marcus please, this is Robb Corbin."

"Hello Mr. Corbin, long time since we have heard from you. Thanks for calling."

"Marcus, I don't have much time and want to buy your lunch today, say 12:30 at the Bodega. Can you make it?"

"See you there," and both circuits went dead simultaneously.

"Gwen, Please ask Millicent Flowers to step in here when she gets a minute."

Miss Flowers sat across from Robb while he finished a phone call. When he hung up the phone, the cuckolded husband looked at his old flame and started thinking of a Seinfeld comedy skit just to keep from crying. He picked up two folders and said, "I have been summoned to Houston for three days and I need another set of eyes to look at these seismic reports before next Monday. Have you got any time that you could spend?"

She replied, "I really don't, Robb, unless I look at them at night. The new hire has some time though. What about her?"

"Milli, I am going to interview candidates to set up the new office that will open in the Bakken. I really need to be studying their work experience day and evening to be fair to them. But, it's only your eyes I am interested in. I will think of something. Thanks, anyway."

The lady stood up and looked straight into Robb's eyes and said, "I will study those print outs, gladly, if you can convince the Old Man to add my curriculum vitae to the group for consideration."

"Hey, Millie! We are talking about the Dakotas - as in freeze to death. You sure?"

She took the folders from his hands and said, "What do you think I have been doing for seven years," as she hurriedly left his office.

——

When Robb and Marcus' lunch was finished, Robb said, "Thanks for coming, but this is not a business matter. I am being cuckolded, I am almost certain. But I need proof. That is where you come in. Interested?"

Marcus grimaced and said, "We only take commercial clients. However, there is a champion investigator on my staff who wants to hang her own shingle. You know start-ups always work stakeouts and divorce cases. She is quite capable. Let me send her over to your office?"

Robb replied, "Ask her to come about 3:00 if that would work."

Marcus excused himself as if to go to the men's room, and returned shortly. He said, "Shirley Spike from General Mechanical and Electrical Services will call on you at 3:00, Robb."

Back in his office three messages awaited Robb, and one was from his wife. He didn't get around to returning her call until just after 2:00 P.M.

"Hi Dear."

"Damn it! Gwen just copied me on your Houston itinerary, is it possible for you to get someone to go in your place for just this once?"

Robb replied, "It wouldn't be possible, dear, but this is a first time you have requested something like that. Why now?"

She replied, "I am completely well and I want us to have a fancy dinner at the Country Club and then have a fun evening at home, again."

"Dear, I have three call backs to do and I am swamped with work. I promise you there will be time for us next week."

She replied, "O.K. I do love you, Robb."

"Goodbye, Julie," as Robb broke the circuit.

At three sharp, Gwen called and said, "An electrical contractor vendor, Shirley Spike, is here making a sales call. You want to talk to her?"

"Yes. Send her in."

After their greetings and Robb has closed his office door he said, "Shirley, I will come right to the point. I am about 95 percent certain that my wife is having one or more affairs. I know she has done that in the past because I did not father our second child. Here is a printed photo of her and a bio sheet. Here is also a photo of her 4 door sedan."

She asked, "What made you suspicious that she is currently having an affair?"

Riley told her the details of last Friday night and concluded with, "I think Friday night partying may be almost weekly routine for her. She likes to dance C&W and spends time over at the Golden Spur. Sometimes we the children at extended daycare when I, too, am busy or for evenings out. Since I will be out of town the rest of the week, I suspect she will pick up the children late. If she does, odds are that she is going straight to the Spur or somewhere to meet her lover. Her employer's parking lot is very small and you could watch her drive away about 4:30. "

Shirley asked, "What exactly do you want me to do for you?"

Robb replied, "Photos. If she is just doing what a married mother normally does, no big deal. On the other hand... If you snap a telling photo I would like to talk as soon as possible." He paused for a moment and looked at his itinerary and continued, "Meet me at the Southwest Terminal for the 8:00 P.M. flight from Houston on Thursday. O.K.?"

Robb counted out $500 and said, "Bill me personally at this address if more expense money is needed. Any more questions?"

"You have covered all the bases and you will hear from me, Mr. Corbin. And, thanks for trusting me as I just got my license last Friday and you are my first client."

Sitting across from the 'old man' in Houston on Thursday morning, Robb put a folder on the ornate desk and said, "This candidate, among the three I spent many hours chatting, will do you the best job in a start up - not because of his analytical skills, but his sales ability. But he needs some brains to back him up and I have brought another personnel folder with me of a Permian Basin employee of ours who would make the office shine."

The old man looked at the name and said, "Oh yes. I forgot all about Millicent Flowers. Could she manage a startup?"

That was the one question Robb hoped would not come up. For the past three days every spare moment was spent thinking of her. He almost called her once, but didn't. One time she called him on a technical matter, but then said, "Goodbye" afterwards. With this in his mind, Robb said, "Her pluses are brilliance, beauty, and consistency. She would have no trouble making sales calls. The minus is that she has zero experience dealing with our public. So to answer your question, Mr. Grimes, I would recommend you interview her yourself and see what you think, keeping in mind that replacing her would be next to impossible for me."

"Dammit Corbin, why can you not give me an objective answer?"

"I am too close to her and my personal feelings may cloud my judgment."

The boss showing signs of anger, replied, "I sure hope you are not getting 'your meat and your bread from the same store,' Corbin."

"No sir. Its not that kind of relationship."

Mr. Grimes smiled and offered his hand, "Thanks for the hard work and your honesty. Have a safe trip home."

Corbin disembarked into the Midland-Odessa terminal hoping against hope that Detective Spike would not be waiting for him. Once past TSA, however, his heart sank. There she was.

Once he was sitting beside her in the vehicle, Robb said, "Just give it to me straight, Shirley."

"On Monday and Tuesday nights, nothing extraordinary happened. On Wednesday at 3:30 I followed her to an apartment complex very close to the Spur. A man I recognized, William O. Waller, was waiting in the visitor parking area of his apartment complex. They passionately kissed, and walk into the building. At six O'Clock the two came out, she got in her car, and they kissed goodbye through the open window." She displayed the second photo.

"Go on."

"Early this morning I breached his apartment in his absence and stole two photos off his wall and took these photos of pictures taped to the walls of his filthy apartment."

Robb's world crashed again as he looked at his naked wife in the company of as many as three naked men sexually partying. Keeping a stone face he said, "Thank you, Shirley, do I owe you any more money?"

"Thank you, Mr. Corbin. I am going to ask you to give me that last group of pictures back for safekeeping. If you go to trial, I will work out something else with you."

Robb handed them back, and asked, "Could you drop me off near remote parking?"

Corbin sat in his car willing himself to snap out of it - "It is what it is, so get over it! You are a big man now." He seemed to have snapped out of it but then decided to drive over to Millie's apartment for the first time ever, even though he was unannounced.

He stood at her door for a full minute listening to Chopin on her Hi-Fi system while strains of a Hank Williams song were coming from the parking lot below. He broke into audible crying, and rang her doorbell.

"Who is it?"

"Robb Corbin, Millie."

She quickly opened the door in her housecoat and stepped back to watch the man she loves stumble in. The sight of his tears provoked hers and she ran to him and held him. "Want to talk about it, Robbie?"

I hired a private detective to verify that I am married to an indecent woman. The next step is divorce court and exercising damage control to my children."

"Robb, my home is your home and while you completely cleanse yourself of Julie, feel free to sleep in my guest room."

They had talked until it was near 10 O'clock when they broke away from each other and said their goodbyes.

When Robb got home he went straight to the children's room. The older one was sound asleep, the younger one cried out with joy, waking her sister. He held both for a full ten minutes listening to their talk. Their mother stood at the open door.

Finally he tucked them both in and left their room.

Robb looked at her across the table after finishing a sandwich and said, "I am exhausted after three grueling days, and I need sleep. Would you be O.K. with that, Dear?"

Sensing that something was terribly wrong, she asked, "Robb, but why??? I know I haven't been a good wife to you in the past year or a good mother. I can make it up to you. I can make you happy. Please, don't cut me out of your life."

"Sorry, Julie, I have lots of things on my mind. I want to go on with our lives like before except focusing more on the girls."

Julie was stunned speechless but finally started crying and said, "Something is terribly wrong with us, Robb. After an out of town trip in the past you always kept me awake half the night afterwards. Whatever is wrong, we can fix it together. Please, Dear."

He replied, "My sleeping in the guest room is not permanent, but just tonight as I need to chill out and wind down. Please understand. I had to make a tough decision in Houston that took a lot out of me."

Julie smiled and was obviously relieved and said, "Oh. I see, of course. You should bathe and go right to our bed in our bedroom. I will sleep in the guest room."

On Friday morning Julie dropped the children off at school and Robb sat down at his computer and began the often-told tortuous process of divorcing his wife.

-

Tuesday morning Julie was writing another Macro for the boss when the receptionist rang her phone. "Julie, there is someone here to see you." Thinking it might be one of her friends from the Golden Spur she hurried to the front entryway. The lady said, "Julia Delmont Corbin?"

"Yes."

"You have been served," as he handed her a large envelope. Both she and the receptionist gasped. She made it through the morning by focusing on getting her keystrokes right for the macros she was creating. But then she went to the break room to eat her sandwich, the ladies there were suddenly were silent when she entered. They rudely ignored her.

Back at her desk she texted her main sex toy Billy, "call me when you get some time, please."

Her phone rang immediately, so she went to the ladies room which was empty and said, "Billy, I have a divorce petition that my husband filed. I need your advice."

"Wait a minute, Bitch, I don't even know you and he can not know anything about your playing with us in the past year. I warn you to keep me out of your legal troubles. You do know that you are not the only woman I am fucking right now, don't you? Just remove my name from your contact list and go away." Click.

Julie went home 'sick' to an empty house. Suddenly, she wanted to cry more than anything, but even tears were not possible. Once in the den she stripped down to her underwear and got her Cello out of the closet. She sat in the kitchen with her bare feet on each side of the instrument, bowing it to some spirited melodies she had learned in high school. But those fun songs gave way to sad and sorrowful ones.

When Robb came in the door with the two children, she was in the middle of "The Swan" because the beautiful melody often brought tears to her husband's eyes. The children waited patiently for their mother to finish and then hugged her and then chatted as Julie put up her cello.

Robb just stood in the doorway saying nothing at first. He finally told the children, "O.K. You can watch TV for one hour while Mom and I talk." They rushed off.

Julie looked at her husband with massive tears and a runny nose and said, "Please don't do this to me at this time. I need counseling for my ADHD and therapy for my hormone imbalance. I am not trusted to do any real accounting work at the firm and I only write reports for management, so I am not making it in my career. I need help, Robb, your help. Please."

"Julie, you have not been my loving wife since I was commuting to West Texas from Houston. I stuck it out with you intending to move out when the children left for college. But I cannot wait because of what I have learned. I have proof of what you've been doing for the past several months. You and I are history. I beg you to be strong in front of the children."

"Robb, I tried to expla..."

"Stop it, Julie! I will pick up the children from the after school program as usual and bring them here. Often, I will take them out to eat and to play. I expect you to carpool them in the mornings and to most of their activities, as usual. I won't accept any of your phone calls, but leave a message if you need for me for something special for them. Oh. I will still fund the household account, so you will only need to fund your own partying."

As Robb started to walk to the den to kiss his children goodbye, Julie asked in a panic mode, "Where are you going, Robb?"

"A short distance from here.

I have already moved my toiletries and some clothes near here. I wish you well, Julie."

"Please Robb, let me explain," but he obviously had forgotten her existence for the moment. She watched him tear himself loose from his crying children because they wanted to go with their Dad. But, he finally walked out the front door."

The remainder of the week went by like a bad dream for Julie. It dawned on her that she didn't have a single soul sister with whom to discuss her troubles. She did contact a lawyer only to find that he was intent on laying her, while he fleeced her husband. At one point he had said, "Look. This is Texas and half of everything is yours for starters, and you can bleed him white since he makes 8 times the money you make. And you can do all this while he is going the extra mile for his children and you can have fun Lots of fun. Work with me, will you, Mrs. Corbin?"

Julie felt nauseous and hurried away from her first free consultation.

On Friday, she drove to happy hour at the Spur to meet with 3 women and two men from her office. When the third pitcher of beer had been served, one lady asked, "Julie, you have declined two dance invitations. I hope you are not waiting for Billy Waller to show up and invite you to dance because he is hung up on someone who just moved out here."

The soon to be divorcee spilled her half-glass of beer on herself and rushed to the back door without saying goodbye. She leaned against the wall outside trembling and trying to regain her wits. Every time the door opened the dance hall odor and the music - that had suddenly become hideous to her - throbbed in her head. Walking to her car, she was hit on by two cowboys but she simply said, "No Thank You" and hurried to her car.

Once arriving at her empty house, again she took out her cello and bowed it an hour and a half until she calmed down. The children came in running wanting to talk about the Disney movie that they had seen, and as expected, Robb had already kissed them goodbye and left."

Robb had rented an efficiency apartment in the same complex as Millie Flowers. But he only slept, bathed and changed clothes there. The remainder of his time was spent as quality time with Millie, who cooked for him nightly - and often packed food for his children. They would often visit or work together until very late and he would walk to his unit for the rest of the night.

Julie's second free counseling session with an attorney was different. He advised her, "Ask for another $1000.00 per month child support and try your best to make a friend out of your former husband - its very important for the children, but even more so for you going into the future."

This struck Julie as a strange thing to say coming from an attorney but she let it pass and asked, "But counselor, why can I not ask for alimony."

"Mrs. Corbin, you are a degreed accountant with a solid work record. Alimony is not going to happen in Texas in your case. And because this is Texas, his winning custody of the children is not going to happen, either, no matter how many men are in your life. Dear Lady, so I recommend you leave the joint custody and the Joint profiting from the future sale of your home as is."

She said, "O.K., add the one thousand and get this settled before court date, if you would."

Outside her attorney's private office, she grimaced as the man inside could be heard washing the feel of her handshake off his hands in the corner basin.

-

Once the divorce was filed, Robb moved in with Millie and canceled his lease. Two weeks later he was invited to join her in the master bedroom. He and his former wife cooperated on the care and transportation of the children, and often the youngsters spent the night in Millie's guest room. The 'step-Mom' and children became more and more attached to each other.

—-

Two years later a sobbing Julie said in a phone call on speaker to both Robb and Millicent, "I have been terminated from my job. I need some money. I want to relocate to North Dakota with my significant other and leave the children with you at least until I get on my feet. Will you help me?"

Robb was stunned, and while he was thinking what to say, Millicent spoke up and said, "You are on speaker phone, Julie, and I heard what you asked. I would like to suggest a method whereby you can pick up nearly 100K dollars cash in a week or so. You won't even have to pay taxes on it if you buy another house. Interested?"

"Oh yes. I will consider anything."

"Sell your house to me at its appraised value. You will have cash in your hands and will be free to accompany your significant other to wherever he goes. You could relax knowing that the children are being loved and taken care of and we will even offer you a room in the housekeeper quarters when you fly in to visit your children."

"That is a generous offer, Millie, but what else would I have to do?"

Millie replied, "You and Robb would need to have the family court approve some changes. Moreover, that would need to be done first. There are lots of fine homes in Midland County for sale and I can take my pick, so I am only offering to do you a favor."

"What changes, Millie?"

She replied, "The children reside in Midland County and you pay all expenses related to your travel to visit your children and, of course, no more child support payments to you after I close on the house."