Millicent

The discovery that really piqued my interest was that while Morgan was married to Harry's daughter Sarah, investigators discovered he was carrying on affairs with women that worked for him as well as other women outside the firm. I had known Sarah Stanhope all my life and considered her to be as close to an Aunt as I could have. She was my only Aunt, actually, and I was really fond of her.

I approached my Dad with what had been found out and he told me to continue with the financials and that he would take care of the personal matters with Harry. Looking back I don't know why I did, but I asked the investigators to continue their observations of Morgan and copy me on their findings.

So while we were researching Morgan and evaluating their client base, we also started the business plan for a new company that would merge the M&A activities of Stanhope-Bishop with those of Morgan. The more involved I became with that business plan, the greater my interest in moving into a substantial role with the new company. Harry Stanhope started involving me more directly in the project and shared the CVs of a few people he was interested in. I'm not sure why because I'm an analyst and not an HR professional.

In any event, one of the CVs was very interesting. It was for a man named David Stone and he worked directly for Harry as his principle investment advisor. His background was impressive and to add color, he was a former navy aviator. I remembered his name because I had seen it on some of the work papers I referenced in early work but I didn't recall if I had ever seen him in the offices. Whatever the case, Harry was considering him for the top job in the new company.

Returning to San Rafael after one particular trip, I was surprised with another finding by the investigators working on the Morgan case. Roger Morgan was having an affair with David Stone's wife. The whole project and merger case was turning into a soap opera. I was still trying to flush my own personal soap down the toilet and now I was wading right into another one.

I held onto the Stone folder and occasionally would look at it. Having never met the man, it wasn't a crush or anything but I kept his photograph on top of the file. He was pleasing to the eyes and after a while I started letting my downtime thoughts drift to David or a man like him. I let his image fuel fantasies in the evening hours and the mystery man almost always ended up being a mature version of my ex-husband, Michael. Over four years later I still loved him and I hated myself for what I had done to him, to both of us.

We continued keeping tabs on Morgan and the business right up to the acquisition. It was done after business hours on a Friday afternoon and I remember my Dad taking me and one of his assistants, Olivia, out to dinner that night toasting to what all of us believed would be a great business success. Dad revealed to us that evening that we would be pushing hard for the new company to step in immediately to transition to new ownership. Harry and Dad had one of their managers on site that evening and would manage operations on an interim basis until the new CEO was appointed. That was to be David Stone if he accepted.

"Dad, I want to join the new company. Are you OK with that?"

He looked at me for a bit.

"Have you exorcised your old demons? You know what I mean."

I did and I think that I had. I wasn't dating anybody and I still didn't want to but the old Millicent was dead and buried. I was now 27 years old, newly risen from the ashes, a fitting addition to a new company called Phoenix Financials Group. I didn't tell him that I still sheltered a love for Michael in my heart.

"Dad, I am as ready for a new adventure as I'll ever be. I know this means moving east but I'm only a flight away from you and Mom. Besides, I know all the secrets of Phoenix." I smiled at him and he nodded and agreed.

Olivia just sat there with a smile on her face taking it all in. She and Dad were together a lot and I know she'd get her bones jumped later that evening. In any event I liked her although if she thought my Dad was the marrying kind, she's in for an awakening. My Mom has always had first dibs on getting William Bishop to claim a new wife.

The first working meeting we had on Phoenix was the following Wednesday. Harry Stanhope approached David with interest in the role and he flew out here to meet with Dad. I stayed busy pulling analyticals while they met and when lunch was ready, I interrupted them and got my first look at David in the flesh. He was everything my stray thoughts imagined and probably more. I think I unnerved him a bit because the cat got his tongue for a moment but we got past that and enjoyed lunch. Later that afternoon, Dad told me to have my game face on the following morning because I was going to get put through the paces. So I did.

I put my game face on along with perfect makeup, a nice sleeveless green dress that hugged my form with a strand of pearls, did my hair brushed out instead of pulled back and left a button or two undone. There was nothing slutty about it. It was all professional but he was going to know he was working with a woman who knew how to look like a woman.

I entered the room with the sun to my back and I think my presence startled him at first. David sat there looking at me with his mouth partly open before he made introductions. Sitting next to him was an oddly attractive young woman, a few years younger than me. She was dressed in what I would call chic business attire but she had this gelled back navy blue hair coloring on one side that I thought was cool as hell although unexpected. McKinsey would never in a million years allowed it.

"Millicent, please, join us. We were just getting ready to start. This is Kiera Wilson, my M&A analyst who joined us yesterday. Kiera, this is Millicent Bishop, one of the principles Mr. Stanhope has been working with on the Phoenix project."

I think we eyeballed one another for a moment, shook hands and then David proceeded to inform us of our tasks for the day. When he finished it was almost time for my tongue to hang out of my mouth! He was having the two of us do a complete analytical organization of the new firm using the process mapping that he and Dad had done the day before. I mean, this was like having a week's worth of analysis crammed into one day. I looked over at Kiera, shrugged and said let's do it. David left us to our devices.

"Millicent, have you ever done this before?"

"Kiera, I might ask the same thing of you but to your question, I've done it several times but not on this hurried a timeline. Let's grab some coffee, crack our heads together and take a shot at it."

That's exactly what we did. We worked through lunch and by mid-afternoon, we were really done except for the polish. We got to know each other at that point.

"You know, David is going to hire you and want you to fly back with us tomorrow or at least be there first thing Monday morning."

Kiera said it more as a statement of fact than a question or inquiry.

"I told him he just wants to have chicks working for him."

We kind of laughed about it and I think for the first time in quite a while I was able to joke and talk about men with another woman. For years I had shut myself down in that way and Kiera seemed to open me back up. We talked about our backgrounds and family, likes and dislikes. My being from the Bay area with all its freaks and alt lifestyles seemed to put Kiera at ease and in turn it was easy for me to relate to her. So we bonded.

"If you take his offer, Millicent, why don't you stay at my apartment for a while, until you can get settled? You can practically walk to where the old offices are and I'm right in the heart of everything close to the river front."

The old Millicent would never have considered it. The new one snapped up the opportunity and a new friendship was birthed that afternoon. Just as Kiera stated, David offered me the position after we knocked it out of the park. I would join them on the flight back east tomorrow morning.

So that is how I happened to be on a Boeing 767 soaking up the bright rays of that morning sunshine on my way to a new life, new friends and a new beginning at the age of 27. Kiera was napping on my shoulder and I watched David from across the aisle, one row up. I had a chance to physically study him for a while. He was super athletic looking but not in a ball player way. He looked like one of those guys that could do the Triathlete competitions, trim, lean, muscled, focused as much as anything. He looked like an older version of my Michael.

I kept referring to him as my Michael. We had been divorced for five years now and I had not laid eyes on him since he kissed me in parting that day. For all I knew he had remarried and had a couple little kids running around. The worse part of it was that as I sat there thinking about it, tears filled my eyes and I wanted to cry but I couldn't, not there. Kiera had woken up and she reached over and patted my tears with a tissue.

"Do you want to talk about it?

I looked at her and saw sympathy and compassion in my new friend. "Maybe later, OK?"

Later was good. "I can pull myself together and protect myself again", I thought and just as quickly dismissed that idea. I wanted to talk to someone and to relieve myself of this horrible burden.

We landed on time and David went his way as we flagged a taxi. Twenty minutes later we were at Kiera's apartment and she was right. She lived right in the heart of everything. Cafes, bars, shops, art galleries and only a short walk to the river. It was perfect. Both of us freshened up and she grabbed my hand and let us out the door.

The air was scented with the smells of food and there was a bustle everywhere. We entered a small café, ordered something light off the menu and had a couple beers brought to the table.

"OK, miss perfect west coast rich girl who has it all, spill the shit."

Of course she smiled when she said it but she meant it too.

"First, I'm not perfect. I'm not rich, my dad is, I only have what I brought with me and do you have all afternoon??"

We did have the afternoon and that's what we did, spill out everything under the sun. I told her about my high school days, going to college, getting married, fucking it up and doing penance for the last five years. I didn't sugar coat it or hide anything. I also told her I thought David was fucking hot as hell.

Kiera told me just about everything significant in her life, her fucked up divorced parents, growing up on a little farm just outside the city, even how she was almost raped when she was 16 at an AC-DC concert. A friend nearly castrated the dumb ass offender. The thing she always kept coming back to was how damn lucky she felt to have had this big break with David and Phoenix.

"I mean, when he called me right out of the blue like that and offered me this job, I would have given him my ass in gratitude and I NEVER give that to anybody!"

"Well, I don't know if I would have done that but it doesn't hurt to think on it a bit."

We both laughed together and I thanked the gods that I could have a friend finally to confide and laugh with. We both had a couple more beers, ate a bit of food and went back to the apartment to crash for a bit. Kiera informed me that we were going to go out later that night, meet some of her friends and get plastered.

OK, so I should have expected it because she was a nut but when Kiera came out of the bathroom stark naked with all her piercing jewelry in and her hair colored three ways to kingdom come, I couldn't help it. I belly roared with laughter and then I realized she was fucking hot as hell. If I was a lesbian I would not have wanted to go anywhere. She stood there looking at me with a sly grin on her face. She has this really intricate leopard tattoo done in grey ink that is just plain beautiful. It laps at her neck and travels down the side of her torso before snaking over to her navel. Her nipples are pierced, ears, nose stud, brow piercings and if I caught it right, there was a glint of gold or silver on her pussy. She is beautiful.

Me? I don't have a single tat and the only things pierced are my ears and one nipple. I didn't get the other one done because it fucking hurt so bad and the one I did have done has since closed up.

"Jesus, Kiera, you are fucking gorgeous. Don't even tell me you don't have a man stashed somewhere."

"Nope, don't have one of those hiding anywhere but I'm not averse to using one once in a while. What about you? You look like you could have walked right out of Cosmo."

" Same here although I haven't been with a man since before my breakup."

She looked at me almost incredulously. "That will change."

The place we went to was called "The Pub". It was one of her favorite haunts and it was jumping that night. We walked in, Kiera in full alt regalia and I was dressed in my favorite jeans and my go everywhere 49ers tee. I seemed to me that she knew everybody in there and before long we were seated in a booth with three other people. Other people kept coming over to hug and say hello and Kiera made a point of introducing me to everybody. Then the beers started flowing.

After an hour or so, Kiera nudged me and pointed.

"David"

He was sitting at one end of the bar and appeared to be settling his tab. As he rose to leave, Kiara chimed in.

"No fucking way is that hunk of a man going to walk out of here. Let's go get him!"

I was half smashed and would have been game for just about anything at that point. We both got up and headed for the door to catch up with him. Just as he was turning to go down the street, we took him by the arms and stopped him in his tracks.

"Where in hell did you think you were going?" Kiera asked.

About two minutes later, he was seated between the two of us in the booth with introductions made and a new round of pints on the way. At this point things start to get just a bit hazy. I remember toasting to new found friendship, having to chug a round and somehow making it to the ladies room and back unscathed. At some point we got up to go and we were arm and arm with David heading back to the apartment. I didn't remember much after that the next morning but I've recalled some of the memories since although I haven't told David or Kiera about it. I'm just going to keep that my own happy secret.

According to Kiera, David and I were doing Tequila and ended up totally naked doing shots off each other. David doesn't remember a thing but we all woke up naked in bed together the next morning. I'm pretty certain I never fucked him but if I was doing shots off of him as Kiera said, then I might have done something else. Whatever the case, we swore ourselves to secrecy the next morning.

I spent the rest of the weekend recuperating and getting ready to hit the ground on Monday morning. Both Kiera and I walked into the building and David had us set up on the first floor along with a couple people that Dad had sent out to help us. The Morgan nameplate was still out front and one of the first things the guys did was have it taken down and replaced with the Phoenix Financials Group logo.

Next up was the ax cutting. Some of the middle level people were staying on and several of the clerical and administrative positions remained filled with the incumbents. The rest were let go with severances and separation pay. There was nobody left upstairs on the exec floor. By noon, all the old wood was gone and Dad's HR VP met with David to discuss filing out the chart Kiera and I had worked on the previous Friday. For us it was time to start diving into the portfolios.

This transition and examination went on for the next four weeks and when it was complete, Kiera and I put on our wings and took to the air. We were jumping feet first into M&A and this was when the jobs started to become exciting. We travelled all over the place including Europe and South America doing due diligence for the firm as well as larger clients. With neither of us being married with families, there was nothing holding us back from jumping on a plane on short notice and traveling all over the country. We kept up the fast pace for about a year and I then found myself back in San Rafael for a week long job working out of Dad's office.

I think it was a Wednesday evening and I had just settled down to enjoy a local Napa vintage while running through my calendar. The hotel bar was rather quiet. I had chosen the hotel because I didn't want to intrude on Dad and his own "night life" plus Kiera was on this trip and was meeting up with a guy she had met the previous time she was here. So, I did the Meritage in Napa.

"Would you mind if I took this seat?"

I looked up and at first, for a split second it seems, I didn't recognize him. Then that flash of acknowledgement followed by a startled jolt to the heart found me looking up into dark brown eyes and curly dark hair.

"Oh my God, Michael."

I was at a loss for words and couldn't form anything to come out of my mouth. I think he realized I was stricken.

"Millicent, you are looking great. In town on business?"

I got my voice back.

"Oh my God, Michael ... Yes, I took a job back east a little over a year ago and I had to do some work out of Dad's office. What are you doing here, Michael? Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

" Oh, I just drove a client back here to the hotel. We had dinner and he needed to call it an early evening so I thought I would stop in here for a drink before heading back to my own hotel. I'm staying down the road at the Hilton in San Rafael."

At that point, my eyes were tearing up and I thought I was going to cry. I dried them with a tissue.

"Oh don't mind me, please, Michael, I just get emotional at times. It's a woman thing." I tried to laugh but it came out forced. I really did want to cry.

"I never thought I'd ever see you again, Michael." At that point I did and Michael hugged me and held me while I wept on his shoulder.

"Let's take a table out of the way, Milli."

Nobody had called me Milli since we were married and I thought I was going to burst out again but I didn't. I smiled nervously and agreed. Somehow I pulled myself together and we grabbed a table off in the corner of the common area. He looked good, tanned and relaxed. I guess most noticeable to me was that he seemed happy.

"Milli, before we say anything else, I want to tell you that I don't have any grudges to hold against you and that I've completely forgiven what you did when we were together, seriously."

"Michael, I don't know how, how you could ever forgive me for what I did. I can't forgive myself, I never have."

"I know. I ran into your Dad a while back and had lunch with him and one of his people from the office, Olivia. We kind of mended the fences between us. I mean, you know, he never did really approve of me and when we divorced I just assumed the worse because I never talked to anybody about it. But he shared the scoop with me and how you were doing with the monastic life."

Michael had a half smile on his face and I just kept listening.

"So that kind of led to having casual lunches on occasion and especially with Olivia. Milli, that woman is your biggest ally. Don't ever get on her bad side!"

I couldn't help but laugh at that. I couldn't picture Olivia ever being really mad or having a bad side.

"Michael, Dad never said anything to me at all and Olivia, yeah, I know, she is great."

"I asked him not to talk to you about our lunches. He told me how well you were doing and everything. Olivia kind of laid out the lay of the land with how you were doing. You never date, don't have any relationship, not much of a social life, you know, all things you never want anybody to say about you."