A Promise

Copyright July 2017

This is a story for the Loving Wives Legends Day. Thanks for the invitation from Randi to join this talented group of writers. Without her personal invitation I would not have written and posted the story.

Thanks for taking time out of your life to read my story. Life its own self and a lack of a muse have kept me away from writing; hopefully I can break out of my slump. As usual there are no descriptive sex scenes in my work.

I'm not sure this is the correct category, Loving Wives, but it is the story I've written. Hope you enjoy reading it.

Also as usual, constructive comments and emails are much appreciated and most welcome.

*********************

My father was a hard man; stern but at the same time loving and fair. He didn't expect his kids to win or succeed every time we tried, but he did expect us to do our best. He lived by and taught us three things.

You are responsible for your actions and their consequences, you try your best at whatever you attempted, and you kept your word. There were other beliefs and creeds that he, and we, lived by but those three pretty much took care of everything.

So I'm going to keep my word. No one would expect me to and many will say that I'm an idiot for doing so. But I will keep my word. No one, including my father, would expect to keep my word after a promise made to me was broken. But I will keep my word.

I'm Remington O'Connor by the way; the youngest of three children and the only boy.

**********************

I was somewhat of a brain in high school. If I got less than an A on any test, paper, or assignment, I would discuss the deficiencies with my teacher and the next grade would be an A, most times. Sometimes there was no remedy for the lower grade. Three things kept me from being your typical nerd.

First, I had inherited my size from my father; by the time I was a Junior in high school I was 6 feet 3 and weighed 230. It's hard for bullies to tease and abuse someone that's as big or bigger than they are. I have no qualms about defending myself or my friends: as some have learned to their detriment. For example:

When I was a freshman in high school one of the juniors, Dick Bogart by name, started bothering my friends. Robert and Roberta were twins and lived across the street from me. They had moved in that summer and we all started to hang around together. Dick decided he would mess with the new kids and started pushing them around.

He knocked the books out of their arms, slapped Robert and pushed Roberta to the ground when she tried to defend her brother. Then Dick and his entourage surrounded the twins and pushed them around the circle from one guy to the next.

Robert and Roberta were just 14 and were small for their age. I was 14 as well but I wasn't small. Even at 14 I was 6 feet and weighed 185. I stepped in and grabbed Dick's arm as he started to slap Robert again. "That's enough," I said. Dick was about 5'8 and had to look up at me.

"If you bother them again, you and I will have a problem," I stated as I turned him around and put his arm up behind his back.

My sophomore year I went to live with my aunt and uncle in St. Louis. There was a better chance for scholarships to college at the high school nearest their house. One of the "alpha" males there decided he would teach the "country hick" who was boss. He found out very quickly but I don't think the lesson was what he expected. Thank god I had witnesses; it would have been hard to prove that his broken arm wasn't my fault without them telling the principal that I was just defending myself.

Second, I was pretty good in all the major sports at our school; not first team but pretty good. People thought of me as a jock and were surprised at my good grades. I played football, baseball, and basketball; I even ran track one year to get in shape and maintain my conditioning.

And Third, I'm not a bad looking guy; a ruggedly good looking one of my girl friends said. In addition I wasn't shy with the girls at school. I grew up with two older sisters and had learned to hold my own with the female of the species.

I mentioned that my father expected us to do our best at anything we attempted. Case in point; when I was 14 and about 6 feet tall I got interested in the martial arts after watching too many kung fu movies and joined a dojo. I was a cocky, know it all kid and the sensei, who was about 5' 7 took me down a notch.

I wanted to quit the second time he taught me a lesson but my father wouldn't let me. He said I had to complete the class since he'd paid good money for me to take it. That was one of the best things that ever happened to me. I learned discipline, I developed the will to finish something I started and became, if not a lethal weapon, someone you didn't want to mess with.

Another thing I learned was not to judge or underestimate someone because of their size. It is a mistake I never made again after finishing my time at the dojo.

I met the girl that would become my wife my senior year. Alyssa Taylor was just this side of being a nerd herself. However, she was so friendly and helpful that no one thought of her as a geek. Of course her looks weren't those of a geek or a nerd either.

Alyssa was tall at 5'10 with a runner's or skater' body. She was slender and strong looking: if she had been a man "wiry" would have described her. The long auburn to dark red hair hung down to the small of her back and the small field of freckles across her nose and cheeks set off her corn flower blue eyes.

We were in two honor classes together that fall semester and got assigned as study partners in one of them. Our first study period together was for a math class. We were sitting next to each other working on a problem when her hair fell over her eyes. Without thinking I reached over and brushed it back. She looked over at me with her startling blue eyes, fixing me with a piercing stare. I'd never really paid that much attention to Alyssa until those blue eyes bore into me like a laser. That one look made me realize that Alyssa was something special.

It wasn't love at first sight or anything; but she made me see that I was wasting my time with other girls. I'd been dating the stereotypical blonde, bimbo cheerleader, the athletic groupies, and the spoiled Princess type girls. Ally was someone different. She was someone I could talk to about more important things than football or whose party was the best or did I like the way her hair looked.

We spent a lot of time in St. Louis's famed Forest Park. The Park is one of the largest urban parks in the U.S and is filled with four museums, the stately Muni Opera, family activity areas, the exceptional St. Louis Zoo and lush treed landscaping. I asked Ally to go to an exhibit at the St. Louis Art Museum and she agreed to go. She took me to a poetry reading also in Forest Park. We went to several shows at the Muni Opera and even visited the zoo a few times.

That was the style of what became many dates. We didn't go to the movies, unless it was a classic like Casablanca. There were no parties thrown by some jock or cheerleader on our schedule. Our dates were more on the intellectual side. Don't misunderstand we enjoyed the places we went to; I even learned somethings. But we enjoyed being together more than anything.

As with most high school romances, ours came to an end after graduation. She went to college at Northwestern, just outside of Chicago, and I went to Stanford, which is close to San Francisco. Both schools are known more for academics than for football and parties. This type of long distance relationship would kill most romances; it certainly did ours.

*******************

That Spring I graduated and came back home to St. Louis. The plan was to get a job and continue my education at Washington University. I'd been home for about three weeks when fate or kismet or just dumb luck stepped in. The Art Museum was showing the same type exhibit that Ally and I had gone to on our first date. I don't know if I was feeling nostalgic or what, but I decided to go see the exhibit.

There was a pictorial rendition of the Naked Truth Sculpture from Compton Hill Reservoir Park in the south central part of St. Louis. That sculpture had sort of called to me when I was in high school and now I could appreciate it more. I was studying the picture when someone bumped my arm. Turning to see who the clumsy person was I saw Alyssa smiling at me.

"Earth to Remy," she said chuckling.

"Hello Ally. Damn it's good to see you," I replied.

That chance meeting led to coffee after the exhibit, which led to a dinner date the next night, which led to a play the following weekend. Very shortly we were a couple again. Most evenings and sometimes nights were spent together. We hadn't slept together in high school but we soon made up for that. I decided that I wasn't going to let her get away again. So I asked her to marry me.

We would meet friends at a club once in a while; Alyssa loved to dance. I didn't care much for the dancing thing but went along because she enjoyed it. I would dance a few times and Alyssa would dance with her friends the rest of the time. She'd even dance with other guys once in a while, after asking my permission. It was totally innocent, she just enjoyed dancing.

At one of the clubs a guy I didn't know apparently was hot for Alyssa. After dancing with her a few times, he asked her to leave with him. She told him she was with her fiancé and wasn't interested. He didn't want to take no for an answer.

"You've been teasing me all night," he said. He grabbed her arm and tried to pull her to the door. It was a bad move on his part.

I walked over and grabbed his arm; applied a little force to a pressure point in his wrist. He had to let Alyssa go or suffer a broken wrist.

"She doesn't want to go with you buddy," I told him barely controlling my anger. "It'd be a good idea if you left."

This guy was about 5 feet 9, much smaller than me. He must have been drunk or stupid or both because he took a punch at me. When his friends helped him up off the floor, I stepped closer to him. "Like I said, it'd be a good idea if you left."

Alyssa took my arm as the guy and his buddies left the club. "Thank you Remy, he just wouldn't leave me alone."

"I'll always be there to protect you Ally. Always."

The outdoor ceremony was small and the weather accommodated us. Just immediate family and a few friends. We spent a weekend at The Chase Park Plaza, a plush downtown hotel, and then it was back to real life setting up our new decent sized apartment. I worked and went to school in the fall three nights a week; Alyssa worked in the personnel department of a manufacturing company. There wasn't much free time for each other, but what time we had we made the most of.

********************

In eighteen months I got my MBA from Washington University and for the next two years I put in hour after hour on my job. Working ten hours a day wasn't enough, I brought work home with me. Sometimes I even went back to my office on Saturdays. Ally tried to get me to cut back several times. She wanted us to have more time together. Each time she talked to me I promised to cut back right after the current project was done but there was always another project or problem that would catch my attention.

One evening after Ally finished dinner alone she came into my den which had been the second bedroom; I'd been too busy to eat with her. She closed my laptop, pushed it to the side, and sat down on the desk right in front of me.

"Remy we need to talk."

"Okay Honey, let me finish this report and then we'll talk," I said reaching for the laptop.

Ally pushed the laptop farther away and said, "No we need to talk right now."

I sighed and sat back in my chair. "Okay what's on your mind?"

"Remy, I'm worried about you and all these hours your working. You'll burn out if you don't slow down."

"I'm fine Honey." It felt good to have someone care about me. "Thanks for worrying but I'm fine. But if it makes you feel better, I'll take a few days off when this Stinson project is over." I waited for her to move so I could get back to work.

"So much for tact," Ally muttered to herself. "You may be fine, but I'm not Remy. Hell, I saw you more when you were going to school three nights a week. You work until at least 7 every evening and when you get home you go into the den and work some more; a lot of times you're down here until after midnight."

"I know and I'm sorry. But things will get easier after we finish this project."

"Bullshit," Ally said. The expression was said with anger.

"What?" I was shocked at her outburst.

"Bullshit," she repeated. "You've been telling me that for the last two years and it's gone far enough. I've talked to you a dozen times and every time you promise things will get better. If anything they're getting worse." She stopped to take a deep breath and calm down.

"Now even when we do spend a little time together, like at dinner, you've got that damn laptop next to you or your stare off into space thinking about work. I might as well eat alone for all the attention you give me"

"That's not true," I said in my defense.

"Yes it is," Ally replied with a sad little smile. "Tonight at dinner you didn't hear anything I said. You were zoned out and just grunted or said okay to everything I said to you."

"That's not true. You said you were going out with some friends' tomorrow night and not to wait up," I responded. I was proud that I had paid attention to Ally.

"That's partly right," she said. Ally shook her head and frowned. "What I said was that I was going out with Brad and Jerry from work and that we were going to go to a motel so we could have sex together. I told you that we had to go to a motel because people were starting to talk about us sneaking off into a storage room."

My eyes opened wide and my jaw dropped and anger started to rise. "You wouldn't, you didn't."

"Of course not, you dummy. I just said that to prove a point. Even when you're here, you're not here." Ally paused, took a deep breath and continued, "I know you're not an ultimatum type of man but I'm giving you one anyway. Are you paying attention?"

I had tensed up when she said ultimatum and nodded.

"If you want to stay married to me, these are the new rules. No more than 50 hours a week at work, no late nights and no weekends; no more than 50 hours."

"But....." I began.

"That's not all," Ally said holding up her hand. "Once you get home no more than an hour working in the den and no laptop at the dinner table or living room. And if you ever bring that thing into our bedroom again, I'll smash it and throw it out the window."

"You're being unreasonable Ally," I replied. "I just can't walk off and leave these projects."

"Maybe so but that's the only way I'm going to hang around," she said. "50 hours a week and a little time at home should be enough for your boss. If not find another job." Taking my hand she added, "I love you Remy but right now all I have is a life size picture of you.

"I can't live like this, I won't live like this. I want to start the family we talked about when we were dating. The way things are going that doesn't look like it is going to happen anytime soon."

"I'm only trying to make a good living for us. All this work will mean a promotion soon and we'll be set," I argued.

"I make within a hundred dollars a month of what you do," Ally said. "Why do we need more money? Hell we don't take the time to spend what we already have." She was getting angry again. "We planned to buy a house but I can't get you to stop working long enough to go looking for one. I repeat, why do we need more money?"

Those startling blue eyes of hers were doing their laser thing as she stared at me. "I don't, we don't, need more money. We need to be with each other and let the rest of the world go to hell." Ally took another deep breath and took both my hands in hers.

"So that's the ultimatum. Less hours working and more hours with me, with us"

"Or else?" I asked with a hard look. "There's always an or else with an ultimatum. What's the or else?" I was getting angry. Here I was working my tail off trying to get ahead and Ally's handing me ultimatums.

Ally sighed, let go of my hands, and stood up. "Or else, I won't be here. I told you I can't and won't live like this. If you care about our marriage, if you love me, you'll do what I suggested."

"Suggested hell, you ordered me to agree with your rules," I replied my voice rising in anger. "Well here's my ultimatum. You leave me alone so I can work and when this project is done we'll talk about this again. Deal with it"

She shook her head and with tears in her eyes she sadly walked out of the den. I heard her go into the bedroom not quite slamming the door. Maybe I was a little harsh, I thought. I'll finish this paragraph and go smooth things over. It was over two hours later that I finished and went to our bedroom. Ally was lying on the bed, still dressed and looking like she'd cried herself to sleep. I covered her with a blanket and went to bed.

Ally was gone when I got up in the morning. That's unusual, I thought. I'm normally out of the house before she even wakes up. I really couldn't concentrate that well at work during the day; I kept thinking how sad Alyssa looked as she walked away last night.

About 4 PM I'd had enough and went home. Ally usually got home about 4:30 so I'll tell her I'm sorry and we'll talk this afternoon, I said to myself. Maybe we can even go out to dinner; it's been a long time since we did that.

I opened the door to our apartment and knew something was wrong; there was a feeling of emptiness. "Alyssa, Honey, I'm home," I called out.

There was no answer and it felt like my greeting echoed through the apartment. I went into the bedroom looking for her. What I saw told me I was right; the apartment was empty. All of her clothes were gone from the closet, her makeup and female things weren't in the bathroom, and her dresser drawers were open and empty. I sat, actually almost collapsed, on the bed and the phone rang.

"Hello Remy," Alyssa said.

"Honey, where are you? Why are all your things gone?"

"I've left. I'm going to stay with my sister for a while but I didn't want you to worry."

"When are you coming back?"

"I'm not coming back Remy. My attorney said you could come by his office and get the divorce papers or he'd mail them to you." I could hear her start to cry, she gathered herself and continued. "I don't want anything so there shouldn't be any reason for you not to sign them."

"No reason?... No Reason?... How about me not wanting a divorce?" I had to stop for a second while I got my emotions in check. "Honey don't do this, please we can work things out."

"I've tried Remy. At least a dozen times I've asked you to cut back on your hours. You promise you will, but you never do." I heard Ally crying again. "I could have left a note but I wanted to talk to you and explain. I just couldn't do it face to face. Please don't call or try to see me. Good bye Remy." She hung up.

Alyssa and I met at her attorney's office to sign the final papers. It was in an impressive high rise office building downtown and was cold and impersonal. I was sitting in a spacious and uncomfortable conference room and she came in and sat across from me. Her attorney was with her; I didn't have a lawyer. The attorney put a thick folder of papers on the table in front of me.

"Mr. O'Connor normally I would suggest that you retain council to represent you. However since the property settlement is uncontested I don't see the need." He pushed the paper toward me, pointed to a line on the bottom, and handed me a pen. "If you will sign here our business will be completed."