Epiphany Pt. 01

Linda jumped up and came over to him. "Where have you been? Charlie brought me home an hour ago and intended on ordering Chinese to be delivered but you weren't here." Sam allowed the hug and the kiss on the cheek.

"When we came inside we had seen your car in the garage but couldn't find you anywhere. We even checked the pool to make sure you had not gone swimming alone and possibly gotten sick or something."

Sam knew he wasn't the actor that Charlie had to be as an attorney but he made a valiant effort to bite back the sharp retort he was thinking. He hoped his face was bland to try and fool the couple. "Oh, I went for a long walk to get some exercise after doing that swimming thing without a partner. I have decided to get back into better shape."

Sam went and poured himself water from the refrigerator. He gulped down the first glass full as he was very thirsty and also wanted to not look at his no longer friend and no longer loving wife any more than needed.

"Did you go ahead and call for Chinese?"

Linda looked at him as though he was missing a few marbles. "No, Dear, I was concerned when I couldn't find you when we got home so we didn't order anything. Why didn't you have your phone with you?"

Sam snapped his fingers. "Of course, my phone. I think I left it upstairs in the bedroom when I changed to go out. I didn't even miss it a bit. Isn't that a little strange? After all, I have lived with a phone attached to my ear for years now and suddenly I don't even miss it when I leave it behind."

He had deliberately left it home so that whatever mental well-being he could get from his exercise wouldn't be disturbed but it wasn't the time to let Linda in on that tidbit.

"Well, anyhow I am now safe at home. You two can quit worrying about me and call for Chinese while I grab a quick shower. I made sure to walk fast enough to get up a good sweat and make my legs and lungs hurt a little. I think I will look into securing the services of a personal trainer on Monday. I suppose I should also get a clean bill of health from Mark." Mark Daniels was their primary physician.

Sam went upstairs to get the shower he had promised. This would let them have some more private time but it couldn't be avoided. A loving clueless husband would not hesitate to leave a good friend with his wife anyhow. He did wonder if and when Linda would remember that he didn't care much for Chinese even though she and obviously Charlie did.

It took about thirty minutes to get cleaned up and into his third set of clothes for the day. Goldie, their housekeeper, would be busy doing his laundry Monday.

When Sam came back down the meal had been delivered and the two had already started eating. Sam wasn't annoyed, much anyway, as he had already had a sandwich. He waved at the couple and grabbed a beer from the fridge and sat down and broke open a fortune cookie while they were finishing up. He wondered how he could have been so clueless for so long before realizing the closeness of the two opposite him at the table.

He mentally shook himself and tried to pay attention to their conversation. It revolved around various fund raising strategies. All in all, very innocuous. He did notice that Linda's hair seemed a little damp as though she had put an ill-fitting shower cap on and then taken a good long hot shower. Yep, he decided, she must have needed to wash off the stink of Charlie before coming home and assuming the pose of a loving spouse.

After they ate Sam pled tiredness after his workout and announced he was going to bed. It was almost his normal bedtime anyhow but figured that Linda and Charlie would want some more time together. He stood and then reached across and gave Linda a peck on the lips and went over to the sideboard and activated his digital recorder and shielded his activity with his currently slightly rotund body. It was a VOX system that was small but mighty. Most executives at his level used similar devices to record meetings and conversations that they wanted to remember without misinterpretation. His model could pick up any conversation in the dining room or kitchen. If they retired to the living room his phone should work as he had plugged it into the charger.

As he made his way by the living room he paused and started the voice recorder on the phone. He was out of sight of the living room so they should not have been able to see him. He counted on their arrogance of flaunting their closeness in front of him and the family to keep them from thinking he was on to them.

Sleep was long in coming. Linda came up to bed about eleven and Sam pretended to be out of it. She must have not thought about it as she barely slowed down as she went by the bed to get dressed for the night. After she lay down she kept her back to Sam and was soon sleeping. Sam decided she was not feeling any guilt at all.

Sam finally slept but his dreams were disturbed. Many had Linda and Charlie laughing at him. The worst had Cindy and James laughing at him also. Any dreams with Doug in them just had him looking somber all the time.

The alarm woke him at six. He turned it off. It was a Sunday and he wasn't hurrying off to work or a work-related game of golf or some kind of meeting. That had ended on Friday. He had others to do the weekend networking now.

Linda was surprised to see him still in bed when she stirred about eight. She didn't question him though, just got up and got ready for whatever she had planned for a bright and shiny Sunday morning. It wasn't church as they had not been regular attendees for many years. Too much work was needed to be accomplished on the Lord's Day to let the Lord interfere.

Sam made another mental note to rectify that sin. He would start to go to church starting the late service this morning. He got up as Linda made ready to leave. She was dressed nicely but not provocatively. Maybe she wasn't meeting Charlie this morning but, then again, she had him hooked and didn't need to entice him.

"I have a meeting with the board of the Ostomy support group. We are having a separate fund raising event this next week. By the way, can we count on the company to kick in maybe a thousand or so?"

"I guess so. You haven't asked for a donation for a while. Any reason?"

"I suppose I just forgot that the company budgets for charitable causes. Do you have any idea what is left in the budget for this year?"

Sam shrugged. That wasn't his responsibility but he was sure that there was some money left in this year's budget. Hell, he would make sure of it. He told her so.

Linda gave him a hug and then headed out to her car and was soon gone down the street.

Sam decided to not attend services at the church they irregularly went to. He didn't want to get into his suit and tie and try to impress the old guard at that church. There was a small non-denominational church down the street and he could incorporate a walk with attending services. He dressed casually and was soon seated in the small congregation. The clothing choice he had made fit right in with the majority of the faithful. Even the pastor refused to wear vestments during the service.

His message of service and dealing with sin struck a chord with Sam. It was actually presented as a challenge to the congregation. Are you doing right by your fellow man, not only in your personal life but in your professional life also? Are you doing all you can for those who are less fortunate? Sam had to admit that there had been many failures on his part to do the right thing and everything he could have.

The second part of the message dealt with the modern acceptance of sin. The pastor's voice rose a little as he condemned those who allowed sin to exist, those who turned away from the sinner so as to be non-confrontational, as well as those who sin and believe there is no retribution. He cited examples of how people had failed and most was because of an unwillingness to intervene and how Jesus taught that it was the responsibility of the righteous to do righteous things.

Sam came away from the service a thoughtful man. He could cite many examples of how the business had failed to warn clients of impending losses and how some sales people used their bodies to sell. There were other times when less than ethical business practices were used to further the bottom line. Some of those practices were not necessarily illegal but they were unethical.

Sam resolved to fix those starting Monday. It would probably hurt the bottom line for a short while but the company would recover and be even stronger and more popular.

Next came his employees' personal lives. He had kept a hands-off position on workplace dalliances. As long as it did not affect work he didn't interfere even though he had policies in place to deal with unbecoming conduct. This was another item to deal with starting Monday. He was going to go out with a large bang.

Finally he would have to get all the information he could concerning Linda and Charlie. That would include how much his family knew of the affair. The lack of respect shown him by even his blood relatives was going to cost them. At the minimum he would deny them his presence. He didn't need to see any of them. It would hurt but not as much as sitting in the same room time after time and trying to put up with the complete lack of faith in him and the condescending attitudes and lack of respect.

He couldn't tell them to condemn Linda and Charlie but he didn't have to condone it either.

He felt at peace now. There were still things to accomplish and his future to plan for. He was still young enough to start a new life if necessary. As a matter of fact some plans could go forward right now. He grabbed another sandwich and a cola and went up to the space above the garage.

The space was about fourteen hundred square feet and only had a bare subfloor. The garage was heated but this apartment would need a complete HVAC system along with insulation. He envisioned a vaulted ceiling with recessed lighting. Hell, it could be a completely open floorplan just like a lot of the loft apartments and condos downtown. An architect and a designer would have to be contacted to make the most of this space. If the worst happened he might live in this space for a while. It would probably take six to eight weeks to complete once the design was agreed on.

With his new found sense of peace Sam went ahead and swam again and then took another long walk. He didn't feel like there was any improvement over Saturday but knew it would take a week or so just to get his lungs in better shape.

Sunday night he again went to bed ahead of Linda. She had not come home before nine o'clock again so he went ahead and called for pizza. He ordered a small one so there would not be much waste. After eating less than his usual amount he dumped the rest of the pizza into a storage bag and put it in the fridge. Linda would hate to see the leftovers but, since she wasn't home when he had eaten, she really couldn't say much.

He knew that exercise wasn't going to fix everything. He needed to reduce his portion size with every meal. And the snacks had to go. Cold vegetables would suffice for snacks instead of the high calorie foods he usually stuffed into his gullet.

He was actually sleeping this time when Linda came to bed. If she was dreading having sex with her husband she must have felt relief at the sight of him sleeping. Monday morning he was up at six again and got ready to go to work. He didn't bother to say goodbye or give Linda her usual kiss before he left.

She wondered about that when she got up. She always woke and knew when he was up and getting ready to leave the house. There was something different about Sam since Saturday. There was no friendly talk with Charlie Saturday night. There was also no attempt to get her to have sex anytime over the weekend. This was also very odd. Sam had a healthy libido and would pester her for sex every weekend and most week nights but there had been no playful comments or grabbing of her ass or breasts in the last few days.

Not that she minded but it was a variance from his normal behavior. He also didn't try to engage her in any conversation after the birthday party and when she had arrived home on Sunday night.

Once at the office Sam called in his P.A., Temperance Jones, and his secretary, Delight Wilson. He let them know what had been transpiring and what his immediate plans were. He needed allies and Temperance and Delight had proven themselves many times over the years. He also handed the tickets and itinerary for the trip to Europe to them and wished them well. They would have a full month to plan and it gave them plenty of time to distribute the workload.

Temperance knew why he had the tickets. "I understand why you might not want to travel with your wife right now. Do you want us to keep this vacation news to ourselves or can we tell other staff about it?"

Sam smiled at her. "Tell anyone you please and you don't have to keep quiet about why the tickets were purchased for originally."

Temperance gave him a quizzical look. "What about Doug Welton? What if he hears the real reason you set up the trip?"

Sam shrugged. "Well, that might get me a phone call from my daughter. I might have to ask her why her daughter calls Charlie Wink, Grandpa, instead of me."

He then directed them to both start to work on the policies and update any that seemed remotely unethical. As soon as they were done he would call a company wide meeting and announce the changes. He also called in his sales manager and discussed ethical behaviors while doing cold calls and even when recommending new companies and stock options to clients. Of course the sales manager wasn't too pleased with the new emphasis on ethics but couldn't argue with the boss. He was sent back to his office and had to call his own meeting.

Sam called and got an appointment with a lawyer and then sent for his accountant. They discussed scenarios and how to assure that Linda could not gain control of the company if they divorced along with legal ways to keep Linda from taking too much of the holdings.

Since Linda was an accountant Sam couldn't just go home and announce that the business was in trouble, especially in a bull market. She would just go through the books and see that business was good. No, Sam would have to come up with a plan to move assets that would not be illegal and also not easy for Linda to sort out.

He met with the lawyer after lunch and the attorney had an investigator under contract that could do the digging for evidence concerning Linda and Charlie. He and his team would set up recording devices in Sam and Linda's house. Sam didn't want them to break into Charlie's house and plant devices but any listening devices that could work from outside the house would work. He did authorize the investigator to set up an app on Linda's phone to record phone calls and act as a recording device. That wasn't illegal or unethical since Sam was paying for the phones.

Sam would have to plan for the investigator to have access to Linda's phone to put the app on it. Sam felt it would be easiest between six and eight a.m. when he was up but usually Linda was still sleeping and her phone was usually on its charger. There were other options to track Linda and record her but Sam wanted the minimum evidence needed to confront his wayward wife and see how she reacted.

One thing Sam also wanted to know was how much his daughter, his mother, and his brother knew about the suspected affair. The investigator offered shadowing of both Linda and Charlie to see how often they had contact with Sam's family and where that occurred. Sam agreed. It would be expensive but what else did he have to spend money on right now? At least half of the expense would be borne by Linda even if she didn't realize it.

They sat and listened to the digital recording device and the phone. The digital recorder caught Linda and Charlie talking about their tryst in the afternoon and Charlie was busting at the seams with pride at the thought that Cinda preferred his company over Sam's. Sam had the thought that Charlie had just sealed the deal on going from ex-friend to enemy. The man was intent on stealing his family.

Charlie was going to pay. Just how was not known at the moment but Charlie was going to pay.

When they started to listen to the phone recording they had to advance the audio quite a bit until the couple came into the living room. Then it got interesting. There was a lot of kissing noises along with murmurings of love and devotion. Soon Charlie must have gotten Linda turned on as she was soon experiencing an orgasm. Then she must have returned the favor and they were hearing slurping noises and then the sound of a man groaning before it suddenly got quiet.

The three sat quietly for a few moments before Sam broke the impasse with the comment that only a video would be better to have enough evidence to confront Linda. Right now she could laugh and state she had known about the recorders and she and Charlie had played a joke on Sam.

Sadly he stood. After his epiphany on Saturday he hoped and he had actually prayed that he was wrong and that Linda and Charlie were just very good friends and that Linda was helping their old friend get over the tragic death of his wife. Now it was confirmed and Sam was facing the loss of his marriage.

Linda seemed too infatuated with Charlie to come back to Sam. No, the trust was now gone. There was no honesty left. If only Linda had come and confessed her growing feelings for Charlie, they could have parted with less of the rancor that will most assuredly happen now.

Sam paused in the hall outside the attorney's office and prayed for peace. He had to do a lot of work this week to protect himself and he needed to be able to focus. The distractions had to be kept to a minimum.

After returning to the office he called an architect and an interior designer that were good clients and told them what he wanted in the space over the garage. As luck would have it both were free in a couple of hours and would head over to the house. Sam quickly texted with Linda and told her his idea for a "man cave" over the garage and asked her to be home to let the design team in. She didn't question him and assured him that she would be home.

Sam only mentally questioned if she would be alone. He shook himself and got to work. A lot needed to be done before he walked out the doors as the CEO for the last time. First he had to plan for a new vice president. He was recommending to the board that Harold Stiles, his vice president, take over as CEO. He had planned on pushing Doug into Harold's spot but now Doug was staying where he was until further notice.

If Doug knew about the affair then his position in the company was in jeopardy. Sam couldn't have people working for him that were not loyal. There was a lot of trust needed in their world. A loss of trust there might just end your career, not just your job.

Sam also started to make inquiries about who, in his employ, was playing outside matrimonial boundaries. Each person identified would get a short visit to Sam's office where the infidelity would be exposed and the expected behavior discussed. Anyone who tried to bluff his or her way through this would be looking for a job immediately. There was change coming and some people would have to learn the hard way about it.

All too soon the day ended. Sam left but not to go home immediately. He went to the gym where Linda worked out and activated his membership. He got with the personal trainer and they went through Sam's history and set up goals and how he was going to get there. Sam would come at least three days a week for a mix of cardio and muscle building. The trainer encouraged Sam to continue swimming and walking. That kind of cardio workout was hard to duplicate in the gym.