A Lucky Man

When Molly and I got married 18 years ago we were in our early 30's, my new father-in-law, Dan, was getting ready to retire at 65 and his wife, Ellen, was 62. They were charming, intelligent, and always interested in a good meal. I liked them a lot.

Over one of our dinners out, I asked Dan to tell me about his career.

"You know, Dennis," he began, "if I had to describe my career in Southwest Allied it would be that I was lucky. Very lucky."

"Oh, Dan, that's not true," Ellen said. "You deserve all your success." She looked at him with the light of longtime love in her eyes. The waiter came and poured us more wine- my second, Molly's second, Ellen's third, and nothing for Dan, who was on the wagon that month.

Dan rolled his eyes, but affectionately- he had heard this before from her.

"Sure, okay, but let me tell Dennis, okay?

"I was in the service for a few years, then I got a job as a parking lot attendant so I would have time to study, and I went to junior college on the GI Bill. When I graduated, I landed a job as a 'Chemistry Assistant' at Southwest Allied."

I smiled at the mid-century reference. "What kind of a job was that?"

"We're a mining company, Dennis, and you can't put too fine a point on that. It's hard work on a hard canvas. My job was to help in the assay lab, a sprawling facility that constantly measured the purity of each batch of coal, uranium, and oil we produced. I liked it, but I was no better at the work than the other Chemistry Assistants.

"Ellen, who is the love of my life, was young, shy, and as beautiful as you can imagine." I felt Molly's foot nudge my calf- she was always a sucker for a romantic story. "She had to get a job in an office in town, but even with that we were barely scraping by those first years, so we postponed trying for a baby.

"Then after I had been an Assistant for several years, luck intervened. Bad luck for John Albright, one of our chemists, a nice guy who died on the lab floor from a massive stroke. We were all in shock until after his funeral, when the company announced they would recruit for his position from inside the company instead of from the general public. All of us assistants applied, of course - it would be a real step up, with more than thirty percent more pay. We were all interviewed by a three-person team led by Andy Ehrlich, the vice-president in charge of our division.

"A few days after they finished the interviews, they announced that I got the job. No one was more surprised than I was. Ellen was jubilant at my luck and the substantial pay raise, and she insisted we set to work- pleasant work, I might add- that very night to have Molly." He smiled affectionately at Molly, who returned it in kind.

Molly was listening more intently now. "Daddy, you never told me this story," she said.

"No, I guess not. Maybe I'm getting nostalgic in my old age. Nine months later we had you, Molly.

"Anyway, I put in several years as a Chemist, still without a four-year college degree, and I got to be pretty good at the job. Once I remember Mr. Ehrlich telling me that I was doing a good job, and he had no regrets about promoting me. That was great to hear, but he was my boss' boss' boss, so his good opinion of me didn't really translate day-to-day onto my job."

"Dan, if you're going to tell Molly and Dennis your story, don't be coy," Ellen said. She turned to us and said, "He was the best employee in the company."

Dan grimaced and shook his head. "You see what I have to put up with, Molly," he said in mock irritation.

"So I kept at it and when a Technical Assistant Manager position opened up- basically a low-level manager who had to deal with issues from our lab, among others- I applied. There were several other chemists who applied, along with several people from other divisions which would report to whomever was hired. All of them were senior to me. We were interviewed, I did my best to show my understanding of the job, which was very limited, and then two days later they made the announcement: I got the promotion.

"I went to work to be the best Technical Assistant I could be. Some of it was hard for me because of my limited education in both the sciences and administration, but I tried my best. Some days I came home feeling like I was in way over my head.

"A few years later, the same thing happened again: a promotion became available, I applied, my luck held and I got the job. There was some grumbling from those who were passed over, and some...rude things were said, but I tried to ignore it all and went to work doing the best I could.

"Then another promotion became available, and I applied and got it. Then another, which would put me directly under Mr. Ehrlich, and I got that! I was now a fairly senior executive, and every single day I felt like I was out of my league.

"Then five years ago, Mr. Ehrlich"- Dennis noted that Dan never called his boss anything but the respectful 'Mr. Ehrlich'- "decided to retire, and he was given the go-ahead to choose his own replacement. He interviewed several of us, then a week later announced that one of the other guys- I'm sorry, Molly, but it was all guys then, white guys, and none of us thought to say anything about it- would be the new vice-president for the division. I was surprised, like a man shooting craps who wins every point then goes bust, but Ellen was crushed. It took several months for her to get back to being her old self." He stopped and reached across to take Ellen's hand.

"So I stayed where I was, and that is where I will be retiring from in March. It has been a good career, with luck, and even more important a good life with Ellen. I have no regrets."

We were quiet for a while, then looking at Ellen I realized that the bottle of wine in front of her was empty. She was plastered. Dan focused on her with alarm. He apologized to me, saying, "She never drinks this much. I wonder if she took some medication which she shouldn't take with alcohol. Anyway, it's time to go home."

On the way back to their house, where we had left the car, Ellen, in the back seat with Molly, began lobbying her to stay "for a nightcap" and spend the night like she did when she was a little girl. I got the drift that I was expected to go home, but I was not offended. I picked up our car and said goodnight to everyone.

The next morning at nine, as we had agreed, I arrived to take Molly home. She looked ashen, which I attributed to the wine she had consumed, and neither Dan, who had gone into the office, nor Ellen, who was still in bed, was there to say goodbye. Molly was silent on the way home, and I began to worry.

"What's wrong, honey? You're awfully quiet."

"Nothing, Dennis, it's just... I have to talk to you about something when we get home."

Now I was really worried.

We reached our condo and I held her arm as we mounted the stone steps. Inside, I couldn't wait any longer. "Now please tell me what's wrong."

She sat down on the couch and motioned for me to join her. "I will, Dennis, but only because I trust you completely.

"Last night, Mom sat me down over another drink, which she really didn't need, and we talked. Or rather, she talked and I listened. She told me that what she had to say directly affected me so I had a right to hear it, but I must never say anything about it to Dad because it would break his heart. She said Dad was her first love and had been the light in her eyes all their life together. But she knew that they had married too soon, before Dan could get a four-year degree, so his career prospects were limited.

"When after several years the first promotion came up, she questioned Dad about it until he told her that Mr. Ehrlich was the head of the hiring team. She said she thought that was okay since she and Mr. Ehrlich had a long conversation at the last Christmas party, and he even danced with her politely, so maybe he would be inclined toward Dad a little. Dad said he didn't think so. He finished his breakfast and went to work, and Mom had to leave for her job half an hour later. But before she did she called Mr. Ehrlich and asked to see him after work, concerning a personal matter. They agreed that she would come by his office at 5:30.

"When she got there, the office was empty except for the light from under Mr. Ehrlich's door. She knocked quietly, and he swung it open, smiling and telling her he was hoping she would call, and had "cleared the decks" for her visit and sent everyone home at 4:45. She came in, accepted a glass of Scotch over ice, and sat across from his desk. He didn't go to his desk chair, but took the chair next to her. They chatted a little, Mom accepting another drink, while she tried to work up her courage. Finally she was feeling less inhibited, and she said, 'I really think you should promote Dan.' He looked at her, smiling, and asked, 'Why?' She didn't answer, but set down her drink, went to her knees in front of him, unzipped his pants, and began sucking his cock. She gazed up at his face, having heard that men like that, and he looked happy but not surprised. After a while of blowing him, she stood up, pulled her dress over her head and then her bra, slowly pulled her panties down, and took both his hands to pull him up and then settle him seated on the couch where they would have more room. She straddled him, taking his cock in her hand and pushing it into her pussy. She fucked him for about ten minutes, then she had an orgasm and he came, too, pumping his cum into her. After that she got dressed and said, 'What do you think Dan's chances are for the promotion?' He smiled and replied, 'They just improved a lot.' Then she went home and apologized for window-shopping when she should have been home cooking dinner. Dad wasn't irritated. After Mom had a day of tortured waiting, Dad called jubilantly and told her to put on her best dress so he could take her out to dinner to celebrate his promotion."

I was watching Molly's face as she talked, and she had to stifle tears more than once but she wouldn't meet my eyes.

"She said every time another promotion opportunity came up she visited Mr. Ehrlich. He became more dominant in his fucking, but she took whatever he wanted to do to her. And every time they did this, Dad got the job he wanted.

"Then came the chance for a promotion to Ehrlich's own job. Mom missed Ehrlich when she called and he didn't call back, so she kept on calling. Finally he returned her call and she seductively asked him if he wanted her to come visit him. He hemmed and hawed a little and then said, 'No, Ellen, I think we have gone as far as we can with this. I'm getting older, and so are you-" Mom was taken aback when he said that, she was fifty-seven then and still thought of herself as attractive. - 'so I think Dan will just have to take his chances on this one. I'm sorry. Thanks for the memories.' Then he hung up, leaving her devastated. Two days later she learned who got the job, and Mom remembered he had a very young, very hot wife."

She stopped talking and sat looking at me. I took her hands in mine, cleared my throat, and said, "I can see why you're upset, honey. But it's clear your Mom's only motive was to help her husband."

She shook her head and said, "I understand that, Dennis, and if my forgiveness matters I have forgiven her. But that's not what I'm upset about."

"Then what?"

"The night after Mom screwed Mr. Ehrlich she and Dad started making love every night to get her pregnant. Exactly nine months later I was born."