Making Decisions Pt. 01

"No, I haven't touched the stuff for over a year. Even then it was only a couple of times. I've never done any other drugs whatsoever," I replied.

"Good," said Sally. "Ben said he was almost sure he could give you the job. Jim, it's a good one. It starts at fifteen dollars an hour. There is a dollar raise after ninety days and another two dollars an hour after six months. You'll have to join the union, since it's a closed shop."

"No problem, Sally. I'll be there Sunday to make sure I'm not late for my appointment. Can I set up some kind of living arrangement with you till I can find a place to live?"

Sally and Ben had three kids of their own and I didn't want to be a bother to them. If I wasn't mistaken two of the kids were almost teenagers.

"We have a spare room in the basement you can use till you get settled in. I can't wait to see you, little brother. I love you."

"I love you too, Sis, and thank Ben for me, will you? I promise I'll be a great employee and not embarrass him for hiring me."

"He knows that or he would have never offered you the job. See you Sunday, Jim. Put Mom back on. I want to talk to her again."

I stopped over to see Clay and Dee before I left. Dee was home but said Clay bowled that night. I went inside and told her about my job offer and that I just wanted to let them know that I wouldn't be around. Dee came up to me and kissed me.

"No, Dee, it isn't right. Clay said you two have an agreement; no sex unless the other one agrees and is present."

"What Clay doesn't know won't hurt him," she said after reaching down and grabbing my cock through my pants.

"You're wrong, Dee. I know and I won't hurt Clay. He said he trusts you."

"I love Clay but you were the one that got away. It was always supposed to be me and you," said Dee.

"No, Dee, I'm not Clay. We could never be together. The first time you cheated on me I'd divorce your sorry ass."

"You fucked me last month. You went to a swingers party and fucked God knows how many people. You're no fucking saint."

"I'm also single and not offering my wife to other men. I'm not cheating on anyone. Goodbye, Dee. Tell Clay I'm sorry I missed him."

I left before she could say anything more. I just couldn't do it; I couldn't have sex with her again. It just wasn't for me, not at the expense of losing Clay as an old friend. I'm sure Dee would fuck up their marriage. If she offered her ass to me, I'm sure she's offered it to others. Clay would just have to find out the hard way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It would be about a five hour drive to where I was going in Indiana. I said goodbye to mom and dad again only this time I wasn't crossing an ocean.

As I arrived at my sister's I was greeted by her family. It'd been over five years since I seen any of them. The kids look so big; I remembered the little rugrats running around. My sister sure had a family she could be proud of.

My brother-in-law Ben was a good man. I really admired him. He reminded me so much of my dad. Strong, personable, good father and always helped family out. I just hoped that I could be that kind of man and have that kind of marriage some day.

We talked and had a barbecue. My sister cooked as good as my mom. It's funny how the little things we remember in life. Family, friends, cookouts and doing things together. It's what I think I wanted out of life. I've been with a lot of different women. I've now tried swinging and it's not for me. I was even a little jealous sharing Ellen and she wasn't even my girlfriend. I know there is no way I'd share my wife, if I ever married.

I got the job and felt like I was on my way to normalcy, whatever that is. I had family around me and I knew they cared for me. I enjoyed going to my nieces' and nephews' school functions. I worked hard and made it past the probationary period. I still lived in my sister's basement. It was great. I had family around and at the same time privacy when I wanted it.

Everyone was trying to fix me up with a woman. Most of the women were nice and I always had a nice time. Most were divorced and it always bothered me a little. I didn't want to delve into anyone's personal life. I did go and visit my parents on holidays or when I had a few days off.

On one of my trips home, dad told me that my buddy Clay was getting divorced from Dee. He came home early one night and found his wife cheating on him. Boy, what a surprise - NOT! Dad didn't know any of the particulars but he did ask me if that was the woman he found me on the couch with many years ago?

"Yes, that was her dad," I said.

Dad just smiled, knowing he was right but never said another word about it. He had made his point. He did ask me if I was dating. I told him I was but haven't found that special one that he said I would find.

Dad laughed, "You will, Son, you will," is all he said.

I had been in Indiana for over a year when I received some bad news. Ben called me in the office and told me there was going to be a big layoff. Our plant employed over six hundred people and the youngest two hundred in seniority would be let go. Of course I was in the bottom five.

The company had made some changes and was combining duel operations in some of their other plants. I asked Ben if the jobs were going overseas? He told me no that they were combining in the States. He would let me know more as soon as he knew. He asked me to keep it under wraps until the announcement was made.

Sally looked sad when I got home. Ben had told her about my coming layoff. I told her everything would be alright. I was looking for a job when I got this offer and there would be more jobs hopefully.

It was a week later when the announcement was made. I acted as though it was the first I heard of it. After I went back to Sally's and we were eating dinner, Ben said he had something to tell me. It was both good news and bad news.

My niece said, "Dad, come out with it. What is it? Is Uncle Jim getting to stay?"

"Afraid not, Kitten." That's what he called Susie. "The layoff is permanent; no chance of being called back."

"Was that the good news or the bad news, Dad?" asked Susie.

"Don't be smart, Kitten," he said smiling. "Our company has an agreement with our other companies that they will hire our laid off employees before hiring outside help. Jim, we have a plant in your old hometown. I spoke with Mike Williams, the human resource manager, and he wants you to come in for an interview. They are hiring thirty people to help run the operations we're sending there."

"But, Dad," said Susie. "That means Uncle Jim will have to move."

"It's part of life, Kitten. We have to go where the work is. I'm sure Jim will come back and visit us."

"Of course. I'll come as often as possible to see my favorite nieces and nephews," I said.

"Ben, I don't know how to thank you and Sally for everything you've done for me. I'm sure going to miss you guys." I know I had tears in my eyes, I really meant what I said.

I really didn't have a lot of choices here. I loved my sister and her family. They treated me as part of the family. I did contribute a hundred and fifty dollars a week but it was out of respect. They weren't really hurting for money but I learned from my dad that you pay your way in life.

My love life wasn't good but it's just that I couldn't find the right woman. I did date and have female friends. It's just that I wanted a life like my mom and dad, or Sally and Ben. She's out there, I know she is.

Chapter 2 Returning home

After saying my goodbyes to Sally and her family I headed back home. Of course I got the job thanks to Ben and of course the union for having it in their contract. Only about twenty employees decided to move to Ohio. A lot of the other workers put in for other plants and some just wanted to stay in the area they lived. It was a no brainer for me. It was only ten miles from where my folks lived.

I stayed with my folks for about a month till I could get situated. I worked the second shift so I had a lot of free time in the mornings. I found a nice apartment about midway between the plant and mom and dad's. It was just right for me with one bedroom. I slept on the couch half the time anyway.

I started going over to dad's some mornings and helped him feed his animals. We would sit on the front porch and have coffee and talk. Later mom would always make us breakfast. There was something I noticed about my dad. The older I got, the smarter he got. We hardly ever argued anymore.

Mom would come out and sit with us and I couldn't believe I could still see the love between them. It wasn't huggy, kissy or anything like that. It was watching the two of them smile; simple things like that.

One morning as we sat on the porch drinking our coffee a car drove by and honked the horn. Dad raised his hand, waved and smiled. It was a young girl who looked to be about eighteen or so. Cute from the glance I got of her with kind of a short pixy type haircut.

"Who was that, Dad?" I asked.

"Kimmy Morrison from up the road. She graduated from State College last year. Her name is Kimberly but everyone that knows her calls her Kimmy."

"State College? She looks like a teenager," I replied.

"She's twenty-three or twenty-four, I can't remember," said dad. "I'll ask her tonight for you."

"Tonight? How are you going to see her tonight?"

"We see her almost every night. She walks in the evening and stops by and sits with Mom and me all the time. She's the cutest and nicest girl I can remember. She's like a daughter to mom and me. Boy, I sure wish you could hook-up with someone as nice as her. She's just someone special."

"When did she move in? While I was in the service?

Dad laughed. "Move in? You know Joe and Ireen Morrison down in the hollow? It's their daughter. She was born and raised right down the road."

Seemed odd that I wouldn't remember someone that cute until dad reminded me that she was about five years younger than me. She was barely in elementary school when I entered junior high. By the time she was in junior high, I had graduated.

Dad mentioned that she received a degree in child development and was looking for work in that field. Right now she was working at the local department store. I remember dad saying that Kim remembered me but he wouldn't say much about it.

Later that day I went down to see my buddy Clay. He seemed awfully happy for a guy that was recently divorced. He took a break and we went to the restaurant and had lunch and brought each other up to snuff on our lives.

"Sorry about your divorce from Dee. Maybe it was for the best," I said.

"Listen, Jim, I made a big mistake and I paid for it. I always wanted to go out with Dee, but she was your girl and I wasn't going to mess with our relationship. We got into a relationship and I don't have to tell you she was a sexual vixen. I got all tied up in the sex and Dee thought she was pregnant. No one knew so we got married quickly. It was about a month later that she had a miscarriage.

"We both loved the sex and I thought I loved her. She said she really cared for me but didn't know if she could remain faithful. We talked it out and decide to try swinging. We both had our sex but only with our spouse's approval. We promised never to cheat. It was a way of controlling falling for someone else. When you came to see me I thought about our past together. I didn't know why at the time but it didn't bother me to watch you having sex with her. I now know why. I never really loved her. I know that now since I'm in love with someone else."

I was surprised to hear this. I have to be honest and it did make sense to me. Sharing someone you don't really love isn't that hard to do, but sharing someone you love would be extremely hard. Clay went on to tell me how he caught Dee in the act of cheating on him.

"I was at work when I got a call. The woman said to go home. 'Your wife is with another man.' I knew who the woman was that was calling me. It was Ellen, Dee's best friend at the time. I asked her why she was telling me about Dee, her best friend.

"She said, 'Clay, I've always loved you. Even back in high school. You chose Dee and I was devastated. She told me about this open life style that you two were in. I think you both were wrong. If you really love someone, you wouldn't want to share them. It was still your choice. I remember you saying that you would never cheat on her but here she was cheating on you. I couldn't let her do that to you.'

"I was surprised when Ellen called me. I thanked her and went home and found Dee on our marital bed fucking her boss. I kicked his fucking ass out the door without his pants and told Dee she had one hour to get the fuck out of my house. She chose to leave right then half naked; grabbing a robe and her boyfriend's pants, she left with her asshole boss. I headed over to my attorney and started divorce proceedings. I got a call from her attorney the next day.

"She was allowed to come back with the police and get her stuff. We rented the apartment and my lawyer told me I could just keep the furnishings and we would come up with a dollar amount and I'd have to pay her half the value of the property. We didn't have any kids so I didn't have to pay any support or alimony. She gathered up her personal stuff and left. She wanted to talk to me but I told her to go to hell."

"So, what is she doing now?" I asked.

"She and her boss both got fired from the job. I guess fucking your employees on their lunch break is frowned upon. He was married and his wife took him to the cleaners. Last I heard they moved out west somewhere."

"So Ellen was the one who told you about this? She isn't your new girlfriend, is she?" I asked.

"As a matter of fact she is. She helped me through this whole divorce thing and stood by me. I know what you're going to say but she's not like that. We're only dating now and she told me that she didn't want to share me with anyone."

"Clay, I always liked Ellen but her past leaves a bit to be desired. After all, she was part of your swapping scene too."

"So were you, Good Buddy. I believe people can change and am willing to give Ellen the benefit of the doubt. You have to remember that I have a pretty shady past also as do you. Ellen makes me feel good just being around her. I won't be sharing her with anyone, so don't even think about it," he smiled.

Clay had a valid point. Maybe he did find the woman he was always looking for. He told me that they were taking it slow. They didn't live together but saw each other regularly. I wished him the best. He really did seem happy.

I went on with my life. I crossed Ellen off my list of possible dates. I wished I could find that woman my dad always said is out there for me.

Part 2 out shortly

Thank you for reading my story
Comments are welcome and appreciated.

DG Hear