Dexter's Renaissance Ch. 03-04

I prepared a written list of what I was willing to offer Sandra in the divorce. It was generous in my mind, considering her betrayal. It would be a take-it-or-leave-it offer with no negotiations. I wouldn't be hiring a lawyer until she had agreed to the proposal. Then it would be a matter of formalizing the agreement.

The only cool weather clothes I had taken with me were a breathable shell for rain and a sweat shirt for cool weather. I think I might have worn the sweatshirt three or four times, no more. When I landed in Vancouver it was 5˚C (41˚F) with a foggy drizzle. Exactly what I expected in late January. I hailed a cab and made for the downtown hotel I had reserved.

It seemed strange as I travelled the familiar, dark, rain-soaked streets of my home town. Not much appeared to have changed in the last year-and-a-half. There was no point in going out to Maple Ridge. I was sure Sandra would have thrown out all my clothes. I was also sure I would have to meet with her at least once in the next while and I had to wonder what kind of reception I would get. Anger? Sorrow? Regret?

And what about Randall? What had become of him? The package of e-mails I had sent to Mrs. Teller must have precipitated the divorce action Merry told me about. I had extracted my RRSP from Randall's clutches and transferred it to another firm located in downtown Vancouver. Tom had vouched for them as responsible and honest so I left my affairs in their hands. I would need an update from them and I made a note to get an appointment this week. I checked into the hotel, then phoned Tom at his home to let him know I had arrived and would see him at the office in the morning. He was glad to have me back, he said. He had plans he needed to discuss with me. I wondered what that would be about.

I was tired. I hadn't slept more than a couple of hours since I'd gotten up Monday morning in Sint Maarten. With the four hour time change, the clock radio in my room might have said eight-fifteen Tuesday evening but my body thought it was quarter past midnight. I stripped, had a shower and fell into bed, asleep in no more than a minute.

Tom wasn't expecting me early on Wednesday morning so I had breakfast in the restaurant before going back up to my room to read the paper and catch up on the news. At nine-thirty I left my room and walked the two blocks to Pinecone's office and took the elevator up to the fifth floor.

I walked into the familiar offices just before ten and startled Jenny, the receptionist.

"What are you doing here?" she asked in surprise. "I thought you were gone."

"I was ... and now I'm back," I grinned. "Tom's expecting me."

She was still a bit flustered but buzzed my boss and quickly told me to go to his office.

"Welcome back, Dex," Tom said enthusiastically, rising to greet me. "Good to see you. My god, man, you look like a million bucks. You've lost some weight too. Sint Maarten agreed with you," he smiled.

"It certainly did. In more ways than one."

Over the next hour I filled him in on both the project and my personal life. I showed him a picture of the twins and myself that I carried around with me. He was impressed and said he envied me. He handed me a statement with my 2500 shares and their current value as of last year's audit. He also gave me a statement on my reserved salary over the time I was in the Caribbean. It surprised me. He had not reduced it to what he would normally pay a site engineer.

"Tom, this is very generous but I can't accept it. I didn't earn it so I'd feel guilty taking this from you. I didn't spend much while I was down there so I'm not out of pocket for anything. Just adjust it to what you would pay normally."

"Dex, you did a hell of job down there and Wolf and I have a plan that you are going to be a big part of if you want to. That salary will seem small compared to what we have planned. Interested?"

"Of course. I'd be crazy not to be," I said, confused about what he might have in mind.

"What do you plan to do about your personal life, Dex?" Tom asked later that afternoon.

"Well I won't be reconciling with Sandra, that's for sure. I'll file for divorce but on my own terms. I'm still not willing to reward her for her deceit. I won't leave her with nothing but I'm not in a very generous mood to be honest. I'll sign the house over to her and I'll make some other gestures to keep her from being penniless, but that's it."

"I'm still dumbfounded at what she did," Tom said. "It went so completely against who I thought she was."

"I feel the same way. The only thing I can think of is that she got bored with me and decided she needed someone more exciting. According to my friends, the twins, women can get that way if they aren't feeling good about how they look, or if they're afraid of getting old. If that's what it was then she couldn't have been looking in the mirror. Sandra was, and I'm sure still is, a very attractive woman."

"Well, I'm just glad Toni doesn't feel that way," Tom said of his wife. "I guess some women are a little more secure than others."

I nodded, wondering if Sandra would tell me what precipitated her affair. It wouldn't change anything but at least I'd know.

"So I take it you want me to hang onto the shares until the divorce settlement is done?"

"Yes please, Tom. I don't know what to expect from her so let's just leave things as they are until everything is finalized and signed off."

We parted company just before four that afternoon and I walked back to the hotel feeling fatigued. It had been an intense but exciting day and I wanted to think about what it might mean.

The late lunch meant I wasn't hungry and after a nap in my room, I headed across to a department store and started putting together a new wardrobe. Tom was right, I had lost weight so I might as well start from scratch and get new clothes. Two hours later I had a good supply of casual wear, underwear and socks. Tomorrow, I would hit the men's shops in the Granville Mall and find some suits, jackets, slacks and shoes.

I didn't know how to contact Sandra so I tried Merry's number. It had changed and the person answering didn't know her new number. Then my brain kicked in. If she couldn't sell the house then it was likely she was still living there. I punched in our old home phone number and it was picked up after two rings.

"Hello?" There wasn't much doubt it was Sandra.

"Hello, Sandra, it's Dex."

"Oh ... this is a surprise. I didn't expect to hear from you again."

She sounded cool ... not flustered at all.

"Yes, I'm back in Vancouver. I think we should get together and talk."

"Yes, I guess we should. When? Where?"

"I assume you are working so will Saturday be all right?"

"Yes. Where do you want to meet?"

"Are you living in the new house?"

"Yes. Merry and I live here now. What time?"

"Tomorrow afternoon. Say, two o'clock?"

"Yes. Two o'clock. That's fine."

There was no warmth or emotion in her voice. It was like talking to someone I had never met before.

"I'll see you then, Sandra. Good night."

I hung up without waiting for a reply. I wasn't going to leave her thinking that everything was going to be all right. It wasn't. I wasn't looking forward to tomorrow afternoon but it was something that had to be done and the sooner the better.

I didn't sleep very well that night. I imagine it was because I was dreading the meeting with my soon-to-be ex-wife. And if Meredith was there, would that complicate things, making them more difficult. It was a factor I hadn't counted on. At least I knew her mother had told her the truth about our separation.

I rented a car on Saturday morning and drove out to Maple Ridge. The new bridge had just been completed across the Fraser River and the new Pitt River crossing was well underway. The town was still growing, and signs of new construction and redevelopment were everywhere. It wasn't the sleepy little village in the country that it once was.

I had lunch at the pub we used to frequent but I saw no one I knew. Just as well. I was killing time until I would drive to the "new house" we had bought just before I left. I was still worrying over what kind of reception I would get.

I walked up the steps and rang the doorbell a few minutes before two. It was a habit of mine to be a bit early for appointments. The door opened immediately and I saw a different Sandra standing there, uncertainty in her eyes and actions.

"Hello, Sandra. May I come in?"

"Of course," she said, stepping aside. There was no attempt to embrace me and certainly no warmth in her voice.

I walked past her into the living room and found a chair to sit on. Sandra moved to a nearby chair and not the sofa as I had expected.

"You've been gone quite a while. By the look of you it was somewhere sunny," she said.

Her voice was unemotional and it matched her appearance. Neither a smile nor a frown, expressionless eyes, rigid posture, still hands and a flat tone of voice. She looked older, much older than her forty-five years. Whatever she had been going through in the past eighteen months hadn't been good for her.

"I'm back but I'm not sure for how long," I said. "I had no intention of staying around here and going through the agony of a divorce and watching my life destroyed before my eyes."

"Just leaving and running away didn't solve anything," she said.

"You're wrong. It was extremely good for my health, both mental and physical. I completely forgot about you and Randall and what you did to me."

"You really hate me, don't you," she said sadly.

"I certainly don't love you. What was I supposed to think when I read those e-mails? You didn't just commit adultery, you planned to take every dollar you could from me. How would you expect me to feel when I discovered that?"

She didn't answer.

"I have a proposal for you. I'm willing to grant you a divorce but on my terms. Under the circumstances, I think my offer is fair. I'd like you to look it over and if you agree, I'll have it drawn up by a lawyer and you can sign it and it will be all over."

I passed her the typed sheet and she looked at it.

"I'm entitled to half our assets. This doesn't give me half," she said, still showing little emotion.

"I have several e-mails that describe your conspiring with Randall to extract more than fifty percent from me. How do you think a judge would view that? And what about Randall abandoning his family. Do you think a judge would reward you for that?

"As I said, I think my offer is fair but it's your choice. Turn it down and the situation stays as it is. You live in this house because I allow it. It's in my name, not yours. You might want to think about that. I'll call you next week for an answer. I suggest you think carefully before you make a decision."

I sat quietly as she continued to look at the paper in her hand but I sensed she wasn't reading the words any longer.

"Can you tell me why?" I asked finally.

She looked up and again I was struck by just how much her appearance had changed.

"I don't really know," she said at length. "I suppose I was at an age when I wasn't sure of myself. How I looked. Was I desirable any more? I don't remember you saying I was. When Randall began to ... seduce me ... I was flattered. It felt good. I guess I let my emotions overrule my brain. I knew it was wrong but I was excited and he was a powerful lover. It all seemed so simple after a while. We would get a divorce from our spouses and live happily ever after. I had no idea that it was all a scam."

"A scam?"

"Yes. He had no intention of marrying me. Apparently he was skimming money from the accounts of elderly clients thinking they wouldn't realize what was happening. Unfortunately, one of the clients' sons realized what was going on and blew the whistle. I don't know how many hours I spent answering questions about what I knew and where the money was.

"They were going to charge me with conspiracy to defraud but the Crown Prosecutor decided not to because they weren't sure of a conviction. That was after I agreed to tell them everything I knew ... which wasn't much. Randall kept all of this to himself. I had no idea he was stealing money from those people."

"So I take it Randall is being charged?" I said.

"Yes but I don't know what with. Something about breach of fiduciary duty and theft I think. I probably won't be called as a witness at his trial they said. Just the same, it hasn't done my reputation any good."

"A pretty high price for sex don't you think?"

"Yes ... a very high price. My husband, my self respect, my job," she said, looking at me once again. "I'm sorry, Dex. I wish I had it to do all over again ... but I don't. All I can say is ... I'm sorry."

"I'll call you Wednesday," I repeated as I rose and walked to the door, letting myself out.

It was a much shorter meeting than I had planned but Sandra had been so defeated that I didn't feel brow-beating her into a confession was necessary. She understood what she had done wrong and it at least elicited an apology.

As I drove back to the city, I tried to understand what might have caused our marriage to dissolve the way it had. Was she bored and needed some excitement? Was I lacking in bed in some way? The twins didn't think so. I went around and around on the subject and came to no conclusion. Whatever the reason, it had happened and I had made a decision I didn't intend to change. I would live my life without Sandra no matter what she decided about the divorce.

To be continued...

Edited by ErikThread and DaveT with my thanks for their helpful suggestions and skillful editing. Any errors are mine alone.