Company Holiday Party

"So. He was lonely. He did suggest that we could have some fun, no one the wiser. But after the dance, he backed away."

"Did he? It was after the dance that I found you with him. And after the dance when you kissed him. He didn't back away. And you didn't either. How could you have done that to your family?"

"I didn't do it, did I?"

"You would have done. If he hadn't been....sacked."

"Where is he, Bob? Did you do for him? Please, Bob."

"I haven't the faintest idea where he is now. Do you?"

"No."

"Did you see him, after the coffee shop?"

"No. I didn't."

"Okay, then. We need to get on with our lives. Bill is a dead issue for me now. I hope you can leave it, too. And come back. Be a mom and a wife."

Gradually we got back close to normal. Sometimes I caught her looking at me funny.

TWO YEARS LATER

Mel had just had our third child, a girl, Chloe. She was still nursing. It was after dinner when the doorbell rang. I answered. A man stood there. He was about sixty five, gray. But he looked familiar.

He said, "Hello, I'm William Newsom. I wonder if you have a few minutes -- you and your wife. I'm trying to find my son, William."

I invited him in. I gave him some coffee. Mel came downstairs from putting the kids to bed.

She took one look at this guy and sat on the sofa.

I said, "This is William Newsom, Bill's father. He's here to....what?"

He said, "We're looking for him. We haven't heard from him in two years. It isn't like him, and I hope to get answers."

Mel asked, "Why have you come here? I haven't seen him since he left our company."

"I was told that he left because the boss thought he and you were getting too close. Is that so?"

I said, "That's true. And, I assume, he left town."

Mel added, "I haven't seen or heard from him after that."

William looked at her. "We have his phone records. He made some calls and texts to a number, just after he was fired. Is that your number?"

"No. I had no contact with him." Mel's reply was soft but definite. "Well, I met him one day at a coffee shop, to say goodbye face to face. That was it."

William said, "He was always getting into woman trouble. He went after married women. He was terminated before because of that. And now.... I just wish he could have stopped. We warned him." He looked at Mel. "I'm sorry."

She said, "It wasn't you. It was him. You shouldn't apologize. It's me that should be sorry."

"No, he had a knack. He seduced his teacher in his senior year of high school. Caused a big ruckus just after his eighteenth birthday. She was married. They fired her, and she got divorced."

Mr. Newsom left. Mel seemed upset. She had been keeping the burner phone in a nook in her dresser. I checked a few days later. The phone was gone.

That was the last we heard from Mr. Newsom -- or anyone else - about Bill.

Mel was down again after his visit, for a while. But then she perked up, and our lives returned to a semblance of normalcy. The baby took up a lot of her time. I was so happy that she had that distraction. Before the baby, our family life had seemed a little hollow. And our sex life, although good, seemed lacking a loving touch. After the baby, that returned.

One day, in bed in the evening, she turned to me. "I guess I had a close escape from Bill. I didn't see him for what he was. I could have gone the way of that teacher."

I said, "I know that you would have resisted. I have confidence in you." It was a lie I felt obligated to tell.

As I said to start, some people believe that I have a dark side. I disagree. I try to live a normal, family life. That's always been my goal. Get married, have kids, raise them right. I do what is needed to attain that simple goal.

The end.