June and Tom's Big Start Over

"I won't say more because of my anger, but I want a divorce and for us to sell this museum of a house 50-50 so that Jerry and I can move into one of the new apartments that have been springing up near the subway stations. You will need to deal with your agency and your recent lover's irate husband without my support as the less I have to do with you until we separate our two lives, the better."

Ben raised his head and asked, "Please don't leave me, June. You are not going to take my son away from me, are you?"

"No, Dear Husband, you are Jerry's father, and I fully expect you to help support him while you make periodic visitations as long as he will hang out with you - Visitation Dads are a common occurrence all over the city. Don't fight me here, or I will enlist the help of Penny Adams or her husband. It is my hope that you will now focus on helping Jerry's health improve during your regular visits with him - let him see a man just once when he looks at you. While you were jet-setting around the country and in the heat of passion with your assistants, did it occur to you just once that there is something terribly wrong when our young teen must take four meds daily just to function in society?"

At this point, Ben Sharp's whole body shook noticeably with sobs. But, At that moment the pizza was delivered which defused the situation somewhat. June put half of the slices on a plate, along with napkins, and grabbed two bottles of water. She took her and Jerry's dinner to his room, leaving the dead-on-the-inside man alone. Once June and her son were eating, she said, "Your Dad and I will be divorcing, but he loves you in his way that neither of us understand and will continue to support you and visit you on certain days and weekends. Can you handle that, Jerry?"

Her son said, "Yes, Mom. I have been expecting this as it's obvious to me that he doesn't care a hoot about you - or me either, in point of fact." There was a pause as June grasped that her son had figured this out already. Then Jerry continued, "You do remember meeting Gary, the president of the chess club at school, don't you?" He watched her nod 'yes,' and continued, "He has an ongoing divorce in his family - and I have been filling in for him at meetings because he has issues with his parents breaking up. But, I won't have a problem since I barely know Dad and frankly don't even like him. What happened? Are you angry at Dad, or is he angry with you?"

"I was angry for a moment when he told me why he was crying, but that has passed..., so now I just see him as a stranger to me. But he should become more than that to you because you and he badly need to develop a closer relationship - remind yourself that none of us can choose our parents. After dinner why not try to get your Dad to play you a game of chess - I will bet you two RedSox tickets that he has the time and interest now that his world has changed?"

"Yes, I will. Thanks, Mom."

!!!!!

It was five A.M. after a night when June slept soundly in the MBR while her husband 'slept' in a guest room for the first time in their marriage. She silenced the clock and made her breakfast. On schedule, the lady dressed in her usual biking pants walked into their garage and unchained her bike and raised the door. Walking it towards the street while the garage door was closing, she noticed an idling car with the parking lights on in front of her house. She was frightened for a moment but based on what Millie told her, assumed it was Penny Adams' husband. Looking at his face when he lit a cigarette, she thought that recognized him. The young man calmly sat behind the steering wheel, smoking."

She slowly walked her bike to his driver side window and tapped on it. "Hello. I think we have met. You are Mister Adams, Penny Adams husband, aren't you?"

He lowered his window surprised and said, "Yes Ma'am, Willie Adams. I vaguely remember you, Misses Sharp."

"Willie, my husband told me everything about his affair with your wife, and if you are here to do violence to him, you would just be bludgeoning a man who is dead already - he is beaten and broken. Please get a grip on your emotions and go about your business. Surely, their affair is painful for both of us, but it will pass. Getting over Penny's office romance rather than just let it fester is especially important for you because you are so young. Also, confronting Mister Sharp, even just to talk, might harm you for the rest of your young life - no lost love is worth that."

The young man stopped for a moment and just looked at her obviously considering her counsel. He finally said, "You are right. I thought that talking to the Dude would give me some relief, but it won't. I guess my Pastor is right in that it wouldn't undo what has happened the past year and a half, and it won't make her love me again - and, worse than that, I might get angry and do more than talk. What is going to happen to you, Misses Sharp?"

"My husband and I are divorcing and selling the house and my teenage son, and I, are moving to an apartment."

The young man blew his nose in a tissue and then saluted her as if he were a former military person. He said, "It just now occurs to me that their affair cost you and your son as much or more than it cost me. Not many people affect me the way you have, so thanks for being a super, thought-provoking lady and thanks for talking to me."

She smiled and said, "Willie, remember the old, old saying: 'This too, shall pass.' May I suggest that in the mean time end your relationship with your wife in a civilized manner, if that is what either of the two of you conclude is the best course of action. For what it's worth, if you two should decide to reconcile, it's a 100 percent certainty that she would never again be seduced by or pine for the likes of a Mister Sharp. I assure you that she sees him now as a hideous creature because the details of his life will become known amongst all his coworkers!"

Willie Bass almost smiled for the first time, saluted her again in a vaguely military style, rolled up the car window and quietly drove off.

!!!!!

June's good friend and fellow nurse at the clinic came in a half hour earlier than usual Friday and relieved her at 2:00. Her friend said, "My husband is on his way to a tailgate party for tonight's game and wanted to drop me off early. I will take it from here. What have you got going on?"

June explained the patient procedures underway while changing from her whites to her biking clothes. She hurriedly jumped on her bike and raced to the station.

After chaining her bike, she walked to the Duncan Doughnut shop in the subway station clutching two copies of Thursday's Times puzzles. She brought two ice teas back to the table and sat down to begin working the crossword 15 minutes before she expected Tom Parks. She looked up and saw the tall gentleman standing near the doorway talking on his cell phone. They both smiled when their eyes met, and he saw that she had already bought him a beverage. He sat down adjacent to her and said while holding up his cup, "Thanks for this. Now that we have a minute just who are you, June Sharp?"

"I am one of a half dozen nurses at the Sunny Day Clinic on Route 3A. As we speak, I have a husband who fathered my 14-year-old son. We live in the Baywood area."

He replied, "Well, I am a divorced, ex-business owner of a six-employee decorative concrete finishing company in California. My wife fell in love with an attorney where she worked, and the divorce cost me so much money until I lost the business. I then went to work with my current General Contractor employer. We retrofit now empty big box stores into small and medium size retail spaces. We have two projects ongoing locally and two more planned, and three more definite maybe's to come after that in this area. So I will be in Eastern Mass for a while."

She said I was born and raised here as you might be able to tell from my accent.

Where do you live, Tom?"

He said, "A corporate apartment near an Orange line stop - the entire crew for both job sites lives there. I am the project manager for the job here."

She smiled and said, "That explains why you come so early and leave early - to lay out and assign work for the day. Right?"

"Well, June, yes - to be exact. The crews end their day about 3:30."

She took out her cell phone and opened it to the address book page and said, "Tom, some big changes will be happening in my life very quickly now. In fact, I took an extra long lunch hour today - and I would like to spend some time with you to see if we have something else in common in addition to the love of solving crossword puzzles. Will you key in your cell number and email address so that I may contact you after I finish what I have going on in my life?"

Tom was perplexed at first about why the wait was necessary but was excited about the prospect of getting to know this beautiful woman at the same time. He decided to continue keeping his distance from her and not press the fact that he ached to hold her. Tom also read her body language that she wanted to hold him as well - but mostly hid it. At this point, he could barely hide his trembling but kept his straight face. As he was keying in the data, he said, "Do you play chess by any chance? I placed in the finals in a California Championship tournament when I was a college student."

She tried to hide her shock and replied, "No. But, I know the moves and my 14-year-old son spots me the queen, and we sometimes play." Then to cut off more conversation even though she so much wanted to talk more - but not at this point in the affairs going on in her life - June continued, "We had better drink up and wait for our train."

!!!!!

While June worked on the solution to her marital problems, she changed her afternoon habit. Instead of boarding the subway car with her worker friend, she walked by and chatted for a moment with Tom and handed him the Times puzzle page. She said, "I am working on something, Tom, and will sit in the next car. At some point, I promise you we will connect again, O.K.?'

He looked at her and reluctantly said, "O.K., I am a patient man."

Two months later Tom Parks was no longer waiting for the subway. She walked up and down the string of cars to see if he was there but he wasn't. In time she guessed, "Tom has gone from my life, and has probably met someone else.

!!!!

Tom Park's airplane landed at John Wayne in Orange County, and he walked off tired and stiff from the cross country flight. While waiting at baggage claim, his ex-wife, Heather, surprised him by walking up to the weary traveler and poking him playfully in the ribs. Tom looked at her and said to himself, "Damn it! Her new husband must be traveling, and she wants to get it on again - I told the Travel Department not to include her anymore!"

Heather said, "Surprise! Hello, Tom. You must be wondering how I knew to meet this particular flight. Well, I convinced Evelyn in the Travel Department to add my name back on your mailing list again when she sends out itineraries with your name on it - I lied to her and said you and I are thinking about getting back together."

The last person Tom wanted to see was this woman, but here she was - stunningly beautiful and sexy as she always had been, especially since she had married the attorney and then resumed getting it on secretly with the man she had divorced. He forced himself not to remember the years of passion they enjoyed and asked, "So why are you here to greet me again, Heather, and where is the youngest 'Boy Wonder' junior partner of the most prestigious law firm in Orange County?"

"Franklin is still my loving husband, sort of, but I confess he has never been able to replace my need for you. But, he has deep pockets and doesn't come home with hands that feel like a wire brush, either. Why can you and I continue to get it on from time to time when you visit your home office? What is the harm, Tom? I desperately need you?"

Tom replied cynically, "Maybe it's because I don't want to rough up the skin of a Number Ten woman. Besides that what have you been telling Boy Wonder trial lawyer when he came home to find you hollowed out after I had been inside of you?"

She looked at Tom coyly and said, "Once I told Franklin that I missed him so much until I used a big dildo to get myself off while he was absent. You know, Tom, Franklin is seriously smart in so many ways, but naive when it comes to love and Human Relations."

Tom said, "It matters little - we are not going to get it on again. And, there are other reasons that I refuse bed you again, Heather. Hey, I am optimistic that I just might have something working, hopefully, and you are the first person I have told."

She said, "Tom if we made whoopee who would know or care? I can not stop thinking about you, Tom. I made a terrible mistake when I traded up, but now I swear on my mother's Bible that you and I belong together at least occasionally. My guess was that you had been so busy in Boston until you didn't have a chance to meet someone else, and I still love you. I am throwing myself at you without shame hoping that you care enough that we can get to know each other again for the two weeks you are here. Besides that, Franklin continues to spend lots of time on a major case that will go to trial in San Diego. We can even once again go skinny dipping in our pool and make passionate love beside the pool under the stars because Hubby is up to his ears in alligators with his current case."

Tom looked at his ex-wife, shaking his head, 'no,' trying to understand someone who was unable even to fake an interest in anybody but herself - a woman for whom everything is just a pretend. He grimaced and breathed, "What a creature, and I had the misfortune of marrying her in the church where she attended in her youth." The weary traveler's first meaningful thought was of June Sharp, as he visualized her unmade face and her very fit body standing on the subway platform. He said to his ex-wife, "For three years I have enjoyed the opportunity to kiss your body again and again, but things have changed, and I have no interest in you at all now."

"You are in love with someone else, aren't you?"

"Love? Heather, I don't like for anyone to misuse that word the way you do. But to answer your question I have met someone with whom falling in love would be a dream come true if it were to happen."

His ex- was suddenly jealous and pouted her lips and asked, "Does she exhaust you in the bed, the way I use to when I completely used up all your energy? I even made it difficult for you to go to work the next day. Heh heh."

Tom's two suitcases approached on the baggage belt, and after grabbing them, he said, "I haven't even allowed her to shake my hand, ever, because of that night you told me that my hands feel like a 'wire brush.' Remember that? So, if you will excuse me, Heather, I will make my way to the taxi stand."

She looked panicky and asked, "Can I not at least drop you off at your hotel, Tom?"

For the first time, the shock of seeing her was replaced by anger. "Look, Heather! You destroyed a marriage of your husband's first wife - after she slaved to put him through law school. You cost six men good career-track jobs and managed to bankrupt a small company that had a bright future. And finally, you destroyed faith in the Human Race for a long time. So, find someone else to fuck, if you would because there will never be a Tom and Heather again. Just go away!" He turned around so as not to look at her anymore.

In the taxi later Tom said to himself, "Here was an offer from a number ten and I cavalierly ignored her. I sure hope I won't regret that decision because she won't offer again now that I have burned my bridge to her pussy."

When Tom got to the Corporate headquarters the next morning, the first place he went was to Travel Department and had Heather's name removed from the CC list on his itineraries emailed. Evelyn said, "Any changes in the future, Tom, will come from you. I am sorry because I had hoped that you two might be getting back together." From there he walked down the hall to a meeting where the owners of his company would be arriving shortly."

!!!!

Three months to the day after June had walked in on her distraught ex-husband, she and her son had settled into her newly constructed apartment 150 yards from another subway station. She now chained her second bike to the third-floor railing outside on the balcony - and her son Jerry rode it more than she did. She checked the mail and received a forwarded letter from her ex-husband, Ben. He had posted it to their old home place that had quickly been sold, as directed by the divorce decree, at a nice profit to both. She opened the letter and read:

Dear June,

I would like to change Jerry's visitation weekends from first and third to the second and fourth. Sometimes we work on the first weekend in my new position. You may not have heard, but personnel demoted me three grade levels and reassigned me to a team where travel is minimal, and I only shuffle paper while I work out a retirement someday. I now have a severely reduced cashflow each month. Also, you might be interested in knowing that Penny Adams and her husband are back together, but Penny and I ignore each other when passing in the office.

...

Thank you for being a lady that you are.

Ben

June found herself angry again at even having to deal with her ex-husband, and scrawled a big red 'X' on the two pages where Ben had told her how much he still loves her and how sorry he is for all the pain he had caused so many... She scribbled on the body of the last page of his letter, "Second and Fourth weekends work for us and more if both Jerry and you wish. We will expect to see you Friday the 14th. Jerry's cell number remains unchanged. Note our new address, and cell number for required texting is unchanged as well."

She then scrawled her signature and put his altered original letter in a new envelope, addressed it and then mailed it back to her beaten and destroyed, pompous ex-husband at his new address. She breathed a sigh of relief and said to herself, "Now to get on with my life."

She looked up Tom Park's cell number he had written in her address book and texted him straight-forward, "Greetings Tom, May we meet? Personal Problems now solved. Please Call." /s/ June Sharp

She included her new email address.

June then rose to continue unpacking boxes and to get her and Jerry's new apartment into order when abruptly there was an immediate vibration and ding from her cell phone. She pulled her instrument out to look at it, and a miracle happened - Tom had texted right back: Thanks. In a meeting in corp office in Cal. I will call later today. Tom P."

Jerry walked in from his room and said, "Mom, are you all right? Why are you crying?"

She walked up and hugged him tightly and said, smiling said, "Those are tears of happiness, Son. You and I are going to be

just super O.K., Jerry."

He backed up and said, "You apparently just won the lottery...."

"No! Much more than that. I will tell you all the details later."

He replied, "Well I came in here to say that Dad wants to take me to a Celtics game on the 14th to start the weekend visitation at his apartment - hey, he is improving his chess game, too, by the way."

June's tears started again, and Jerry asked, "You sure you all right, Mom?"

"Trust me; I am fine. Today is a super first day of the rest of my new life."

Jerry walked off shaking his head puzzled at his Mom when her phone vibrated and dinged again. It was an email from Tom. She booted her desktop and brought the email up."

His thousand plus words were about how he missed her and the changes that are going on in his company. Then he continued, "I am the new General Superintendent for Eastern Mass where four big-box refurb jobs are underway, and two more planned there and in Rhode Island. I am arriving at Logan Friday the 14th with all my worldly belongings with me as paid extra baggage. I will start my new assignment on Monday morning following. I sure hope you and I can spend some time together because each of us might like something about the other in addition to our love for solving crossword puzzles. Tom."