April's Fool Pt. 03

"Steve, if I thought April put you up to this I would tell both of you to kiss my ass. I know April better than that. You think I give two shits about your money? I could care less about it and have proven that time and again. I don't know if that is why you keep cutting me off at the knees when it comes to your daughters' and my relationship, or if it just because you are an overbearing asshole. You don't even give a shit about what she goes through. You are too worried about your damn "Livingstone Image". Well guess what Steve? Right now Livingstone's image is that of a drunk whore who takes clients to bed after a few drinks. Great parenting skills, fucker. Have you ever thought that if you would help me out a little we could work for April's best interests? Why the hell would you tell her to stop going to AA? It took a couple hours out of her day once every two to three months and she felt comfortable with it. And I am sooo glad that you told her not to go to a concert with her husband. Her image looks so much better when she goes upstairs with a lover. So I say this again, Steve, fuck you. If April and I get back together after this I would hope you would just leave her the hell alone. You have fucked up her life enough already. The door is over there in case you were wondering."

I took a deep breath and turned back to my budget analysis. He probably sat there for another five minutes before getting up and leaving. Fuck him.

Fifteen minutes later I got a text from April.

SOOO sorry about my dad. I ripped him a new one for that. Please don't think I put him up to that. I love you and look forward to Thursday

I texted back

No worries. He loves you and is misguided. But I am done with him. C U Thursday

I love you too.

Wednesday found me with another visitor, this one a lot more welcome. I heard a knock on the door and when I looked through the peephole I saw my old Army buddy Adam "Jonesy" Jones. When I opened the door all he did was grin and show me a two liter of Vernors and a pint of Jack Daniels. He pushed by me without saying a word and grabbed the ice bucket.

"I'll be back" he said and went to go fill it.

That was Jonesy. He was probably a "quarter bubble off plumb" as my grandpa would say, but there was not a better person to have in your corner. During one of the fire fights we had been in he was pinned behind our Humvee from hostile fire. I would like to say I saved his life by killing all the insurgents but really all I did was lay down enough suppressive fire to let him hotfoot it to the rest of the unit. As an IT tech I wasn't expected to do much when the bullets started flying. That was one of the times that I felt I proved myself to the guys. There were a few other incidents involving guns but for the most part the guys liked me for the extra facetime I could give them with their people at home.

He came back from the ice machine and poured himself a shot of whiskey and me a glass of Vernors. He handed my drink to me and we raised a toast.

"To those we lost. May we meet in Valhalla." we intoned.

We drank and he gave me a look.

"Spill it Thomp. I got a phone call from a Beth Peters who told me you needed a friend and where I could find you. Are you taking her back or taking your leave?" he asked.

What the hell? Did everyone know?

"Did Beth tell you what was going on?" I asked. I was going to be a little pissed if she did. This was between April and me.

"Nope, she just said you needed a friend. I figured since you were at a hotel things were pretty bad. There could only be one thing that would make you not be sleeping with that woman you married so I assumed she cheated." he replied.

"I could have been the one who stepped out." I replied.

He laughed.

"Thomp, if there was ever anyone incapable of cheating it would be you. You could be led up to a woman's room and have her spread out for you to take, and you would just talk about how much you loved your wife." he chuckled.

"I am not that great." I responded.

"Did anyone ever tell you that if you were in our unit your nickname would have been "Boy Scout"? In fact even though you don't have a drinking problem I am gonna bet that you will be drinking pop tonight because you still want to support her. Am I right?" he asked.

I looked down at my Vernors. He had a point.

He put his cup down and gave me a shove to the door.

"The others are waiting for us." he said. "You're driving."

I found myself at the Red Horse Saloon wondering who all was going to be there. Jonesy had avoided all my questions by singing along with the radio at the top of his lungs. After a mile or so I couldn't help but join him. We were killing Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar on Me" when we pulled into the bar.

I was shocked when I saw almost all of the old unit gathered around a table. Beth was chatting up John "Watson" Holmes. I even noticed Ralph and Bruce from my work were there. They seemed to be comfortable with the old crew. These ten people at the bar were literally my only real friends in the world. Wait, I didn't see Okie so I assumed he couldn't make it. I didn't know whether to feel happy or sad about that. The only person that could have made it better was April. Beth saw me enter and came up to me. She gave me a hug and a peck on the lips.

"April wanted you surrounded by your friends, I was supposed to tell you I arranged this. Please don't stand her up for your date tomorrow. I don't think you know how much that means to her. Don't have too much fun." she said with a wink as she walked out the door. I know I wasn't the only one watching her go.

I turned to the table with a big grin.

"Damn nice to see ya'll. First round is on me." I shouted.

We all had a hell of a time. Everyone wanted to know the story so I made sure everyone was present and I could tell it once. It was funny what everyone latched onto. I thought for sure I was going to get a bunch of advice to burn the bitch. On the contrary almost everyone thought she had manned up by telling me right away. Ronnie "James" Dion seemed to sum it up the best.

"We all fuck up Thomp, she at least owned it." he said. Admittedly he was on his way to getting plastered but it meant something.

After that we spent the night catching up and shooting the shit. I got asked by almost everyone what the situation was with Beth. It seems a lot of the guys thought she was into me. It was a little awkward because I knew I loved Beth and was probably even a little bit in love with her, but my devotion was to April, even still.

Another consensus was that the asshat who slept with my wife needed to pay. I made the "mistake" of dropping the guy's name and Ralph and Bruce had him pegged within a minute. By pegged I mean they were able to tell me exactly where his cell phone was on the east side of Chicago. Everyone was duly impressed and after a few more beers it came out that these two were pretty accomplished hackers. They may have mentioned some off the books stuff involving dark net searches. I decided to be cool about it, I also decided to see if there was a way to ethically use these guys to my company's advantage.

James "Brick" Hamilton took me aside and tried to be discreet.

"Okay Thomp, I'm hearing that you are going to be gone for six weeks. I've a feeling that this Xavier cat is going to be in a world of pain in about three weeks." he slurred with a grin.

I didn't think these guys would go so far as to kill him but I wanted to make sure.

"Hey Brick, make sure he is able to take a few shots from me personally when I get back." I told him.

Brick chuckled and put his finger to his nose.

"I always knew you were the quiet killer. I dealt with enough snipers to know that the quiet ones were the most dangerous ones." he slurred.

Damn if I didn't love these guys. The least I could do was pay their bar tab. Which was how I ended up almost 700 dollars poorer, with three drunk ex-Army buddies crashed in my hotel room.

The next day I kicked them all out and thanked them for chilling with me. Jonesy was the last one out. He had one more thing to say to me.

"I know bitches Bill, the one you married ain't a bitch." He gave me a fist bump then walked out the door. It dawned on me that I had never heard him refer to April by name.

The Thursday anniversary dinner was almost anti climatic for its drama possibilities. I was expecting April to be stunning. What I wasn't prepared for was for her to be literally jaw-dropping.

I found out later from Beth that she had had her hair and makeup done professionally and bought a new dress and shoes for our date. I had dressed in my best suit which cost about 900 bucks and I couldn't hold a candle to her hotness.

All intelligent conversation went out the window as I was sitting across from this goddess. I did manage to make her cry when I gave her the anniversary gifts. I had a sapphire necklace made for her. That one brought some tears to her eyes. What really started the water works though was the signed Verlander jersey I gave her. The necklace cost almost two grand and the jersey cost about 120. I was happy she liked the jersey more than the necklace.

We talked about inconsequential things, and both concentrated on just enjoying each other's company. I knew I loved her and was almost regretting the trip. When the dinner was over I stood up and walked her to the door. As we were waiting for her car to come around I pulled her in and gave her a tight hug and soft kiss.

"I love you April, no matter what happens I want you to know that." I said

"I love you to Bill." she said as she snuggled into me. We stayed that way until her car came around. She broke our hug with a sob and ran to her car.

I felt like crap.

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The trip to Belize was eye opening. In reviewing the budget and the time cards, I saw a way I could get things back on track and look like a good guy.

When I got there my first order of business was to call a meeting and see if they would be interested in a new game plan. Instead of working five days a week at nine hours each day, I let them decide if they wanted to work ten hours a day for four days and four hours on Friday so they would have an extended weekend. They agreed and productivity shot through the roof. I noticed that the ten hour work day kept a few of them from the clubs, so when they were on the job they were more productive. They also seemed to get a kick out of bugging out at noon on a Friday and enjoying the beaches and jungles. I think it helped that I was right there along with them, pulling cable or monitoring latency as needed. We grew into a pretty tight unit and when we finished up the project I made a "mistake" on the flight home and got them an extra two days at the house. We had come in nine percent under budget so I felt that a couple days in paradise was a decent reward. I was thinking I would be moping around the house or withdrawn but something about the tropical vibe didn't let me stew. I went out and drank and danced. There were a couple times that things could have gone too far with a local girl but I stayed with it enough to pull back. I left Belize without even kissing a her. I got a chance to dive the Blue Hole which checked an item of my bucket list. I realized that the people I worked with were my people. April had her circle that she was forced to, or wanted to run with and I wondered if I would ever be able to fully join them. Did I even want to? Could I trust her? What happened if the perfect storm arose again? I had thought I would clear my head down here and go back to reconcile with April. Now I wasn't so sure that would happen. I made plans in my head for life without her. We would see.

Which brings me to here, flying into Detroit with a huge decision to make.

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I came home two days early because I had a few things to get around. I stepped off the plane and called April. I had been texting and calling her at least once a week. Nothing heavy, just a line or two to let her know I was alive. She picked up on the first ring and we set up a time and place to talk in a couple days. We both signed off with "I love you".

I had looked at some places to lease. I had three lined up that were fully furnished. I drove over and decided to get the first one. I needed to have a place to call my home for these next six months. I was able to get the keys and unpack my stuff since I had arranged things with the leasing agent before I left. I called Jamie and told her I would email the report first thing tomorrow. I gave her the rundown and while I don't think she was thrilled with the two hours of overtime that were generated every day, the fact that I came in under budget should mollify her. I decided to go to the Red Horse Saloon for a burger and a beer. I was going to keep drinking until when or if I got back with April. I was halfway through my rodeo burger when a short man carrying a satchel hopped on the stool next to me. Steve Livingstone.

He ordered a beer and a burger and looked at me. He reached into his satchel and pulled out a folder.

"I've dissolved the prenup and there is 35% of the company entrusted to you solely." he said with no preamble.

I concentrated on chewing slowly, this was a shock. I was in for another as he pushed another folder to me.

"I know you have trust issues with my daughter, this is a P.I. report documenting her full movements 24 hours a day since she got drunk. You'll see she went to two AA meetings, work, and home.

I swallowed and wiped my mouth with a napkin slowly. Something was weird here.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because you don't care about our money. Every boyfriend she has had since eighth grade has had an agenda. She's pretty enough to have all the guys want to fuck her and she's rich enough that all those guys also want to marry her. Then you come along. You are the only guy that has ever dumped her. I know deep down it wasn't your fault about the DUI or the drinking, I just had to blame someone and you were the target. When you have children you will understand better. If you have an only daughter, well, you will do whatever you feel is necessary to protect her." he replied.

"That explains why you and I might be able to grab a beer sometime, it doesn't explain why you effectively gave me your company." I said.

"Because you were right about cutting you off at the knees. My attempt to protect April had the effect of making her think that she couldn't trust you on how to handle the company. When I went back through your file and looked at it objectively, I saw that you actually have some skill and could be an asset to the Board. It pains me to admit this but we have a lot of old guard types on the board. You and April can probably help out bringing us more into the modern time. Also now that you and April are equal partners there won't be any reason for her to think any less of you." he said as he took a bite of his burger.

"Steve," I said, "you probably don't want to do this. I went to Belize thinking that I was going to get back with April. Right now I am putting the odds at fifty-fifty, she would have to make some changes that I don't know if you would let her make. I don't know that she would want to even. When it comes down to it she is literally an heiress and I am only a computer geek. There is a reason that people tend to stay in their social circle, it is tricky trying to reconcile two different worlds. One of the things I am worried about is how long it is going to take me to get over the affair. This type of thing is world rocking in my world. I have been to enough mixers to know that it is a relatively common occurrence in yours. Is she going to expect it to be in the past six months from now? Or is she going to understand when I get pissy three years down the road? I just don't know."

He looked at me with a sad expression.

"I am going to tell you something that even April doesn't know." he said. "When I first got on the Board I was an arrogant prick. I was sent out of town to deal with some clients and ended up drinking in the hotel bar at night. A really pretty redhead started chatting me up and I was riding high. I took her upstairs to my suite and banged her all night. I felt invincible. It was assumed that the guys would play around on their trips while the wives kept the home fires burning. It wasn't until the plane ride home that I even started to feel guilty about cheating on my wife. I decided to tell her about the affair and let her know that it wouldn't happen again. When I got home Jackie met me at the door crying. I thought she had found out and started apologizing and telling her that it wouldn't happen again. When she asked me what wouldn't happen again I realized that I had messed up in how I broke the news. I told her about the affair and then found out that the tears she met me with were tears of joy because she was pregnant with April. What followed was the worst nine months of my life. Jackie had made it clear that the only reason she wasn't leaving me was because of the baby. To see the hurt on the one you love's face every day kills you inside, but the thought of NOT seeing that face hurts even more. We eventually patched things up and enjoyed each other's company again. Every once in a while she would question why I needed to be gone or why did I take so long getting home. It really hit home how much I hurt her when we were talking in the hour before she passed. She wanted me to know that she truly forgave me and she loved me. Think about that for a second. The last words and thoughts that I shared with my wife were tinged with the specter of my infidelity."

He took a swig of beer.

"The reason I told you that story is because the one who has to come to terms with this is you, Bill." he continued. "If you can handle the jealousy and the doubts I know that my daughter will be doing her damndest to make you happy. As for what I will and won't let her do, I'm officially out of your guy's lives. Whatever you and April decide to do about anything is your choice. If you want to sell the company and pop out a dozen grandkids I'd be happy as a clam. If you want to take it international I'd be proud. I'm an old man and I'm going to make an honest woman out of the girl I love. You two are now on your own. I hope it's together but if it isn't, such is life."

He finished his beer and paid the tab. After a quick goodbye he left and I sat there almost in a daze. It is not often you find yourself worth 100 million dollars in the matter of minutes.

Pushing the thoughts of dollar signs out of my head I tried to examine what he said. I know there was some manipulation going on with the timing of the money and my visit to April. I tried not to let this new development knock me off course. What was more important was the fact that he said he would be out of our loves. With the ownership of the company I could guarantee that would be the case. I also thought about the story he told. On the one hand it seemed heartfelt and deep, on the other hand it only told me that cheating runs in the family. Could I deal with the trust issues going forward? That was the 100 million dollar question, wasn't it?

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I was meeting April at the IHOP again. Once again Beth came with her, I was excited to see them both. Even if things went sideways with April I couldn't see myself hating her. I had a good feeling about this though.

We gave each other a hug and sat across from each other. She looked beautiful as always.

"Bill what did you decide? Are we staying together or splitting up?" she asked.

Wow right to the chase.

"It is one hundred percent up to you April." I responded. "I thought long and hard about us and where we were going and what went wrong. It boils down to three issues for me. First is the drinking, I don't feel like you can ever allow yourself to even hold a glass of booze ever again. Second is the infidelity. I am mad as hell that someone else has had a taste of what is supposed to be all mine. I feel I can get over it given enough time and communication, but are you going to be okay with me having flare ups of jealousy or mistrust, say, five years down the road? Thirdly, can you put me before Livingstone Steel? I know you want to work, I am not saying you can't. I just want to know if you can carve out more time and energy for me than you do the company. I have plans to make sure that I am spending time and energy on you also. I don't want you to think this is a one way street. So what do you think?"