Mr. Peter Chapman Pt. 03

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I didn't sleep hardly at all last night. We didn't get a phone call. Peter didn't go home as I expected. I feel much worse now. I go into work with a heavy heart. I fear the following news we get. My heart is breaking for a man I don't love. He is an exceptional man, though. I do like him a lot. I mean, how can you not?

Cara comes into my office, which increases my anger. She's part of the cause. This didn't need to happen. Strangly, Cara has a big smile on her face. Her hand is attached to a man she is pulling into my office. He's cute ... and then he talked.

Terry says, "Hi, beautiful, my name is Terry, and I'm here to fill in for a while."

I say, "Excuse me?"

Terry smiles, "I know. You can't believe how good-looking I am, right? I'll go slower for you. My name is T-e-r-r-y. I'm a surgeon from Chicago, to relace, your last one."

Cara is so happy looking; I want to beat her like a rug.

I relent, "OK, do you have any qualifications?"

Terry explains, "Check your inbox. Everything you need is already in there."

I'm pissed, "Who the fuck are you?"

Cara can't stand idle any more, "He's the surgeon to replace Peter. That doctor who took off yesterday can't be found, and yet, here is his replacement. You didn't request him? Did you? How did he know to be here today? That isn't Peter's doing."

I start catching on, "Someone knew before Peter left or invited him. Do you have Jim's phone number?"

Cara shakes her head no.

Terry is annoyed at being ignored, "Hey, about my job?"

I hate this asshole, "Fine! You got the job. Who's paying you?"

We both stare at him.

He looks at us dumbly, "An agency is paying me good money to come out to this piss ant town."

It took all my willpower not to slap him.

I ask Cara, "Jim or his mother?"

Cara replies, "Jim, but nobody has his number."

I scream out, "Nickie!"

She comes running, "Take Thor here and get him an ID and have him sign the papers. Then have Jinny come down and get him. Tell her she's responsible for him."

Nickie looks at Terry, smiles, takes his hand, and leads him away. I smile and say under my breath, "Wait until he opens his mouth."

Cara wants to talk.

I talk over her, "Be quiet," as I make a phone call. I do not use the speakerphone.

I hear, "Hello, Doctor Watson, how may I help you?"

I try to be calm, "Hi Winnie, this is Tala from Ness County hospital HR. Yesterday around 1:00, Peter handed me his badge and said he needed to leave. He won't respond to us; we don't know where he is, and a police net missed him near Topeka. Today a surgeon showed up to take his place."

The words I hear are not reassuring, "Fuck! Sorry. I had noticed that his mood was going downhill. The surgeon is courtesy of Tim, not us. That means he probably went to see Tim. I have no idea where Tim lives, but I know where Peter will be in two days. I would bet my life on it."

I ask, "Will he be OK?"

Winnie is too honest, "I don't know. I do know that I wish he never met Beth and Cara. They broke his heart when they discarded him like trash. That hurt him terribly."

Curiously, I ask, "If you haven't spoken to him, how do you know where he will be in two days?"

Winnie is in tears as she says, "It will be the one-year anniversary." My tears break out and flow like a river. "Winnie, I think you can expect him to be there soon. Take care of him, please. Thank you." I hang up.

Beth comes into my office with a river of tears flowing from her red and puffy eyes.

Beth is almost panicking as she says, "Oh, Cara. What have we done? Why were we so stupid? I honestly can't imagine what I was thinking."

I remind her, "Did you forget about him and Pearls so easily?"

Beth gets an idea, "We should call his parents."

I rain on her parade, "I already have. He's not with them." Beth looks like she is ready to shatter into pieces.

I set her at ease, "It's OK. Winnie knows he will be there in two days. She thinks Peter went to see Jim first."

Beth is suspicious, "There is something else you aren't telling me. How does Winnie know he will be there in two days? That's pretty specific for someone that doesn't know where her son is."

I didn't want to give this info, but she is in bad shape, "Two days from now is the one-year anniversary of his wife and child's death. She didn't say it, but I would put money on him showing up at their gravesite."

Beth adds, "I bet we find Jim and Helen there as well. They love that man."

After a minute of thinking, Beth asks, "Am I going by myself, or are you coming with me?"

Cara thinks, "Oh wow. That's quite the question. If I don't go with her, he will marry Beth, and I will lose him forever. If I go with, we continue to share him, and I allow him to flirt with other women. Was it him, or was it more Pearls? He didn't apologize. He didn't try to mend our relationship. I didn't try either. Why?

"Oh wow, I don't love him. He's good in bed, but I can't say I would do anything for him. He's handsome and fun with a huge heart. I enjoy my time with him. I can see it now; Beth is in love with him. She worked closely with him, and he's helping her profession and solve her largest issue, the lack of employees."

Cara smiles at her friend, "Get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow, I want you to drive to Kansas City and find your man."

Beth froze at Cara's words. She's holding her breath!

Cara helps her, "I just now realized that you love him more than I do. I love him, and he's lots of fun, but it's not like you. BREATHE!"

Beth breaks out of her hold and jumps at Cara with both arms wide. She is all out bawling like a child. Her hold on Cara is strong; her emotions are running wild.

Cara offer support, "Obituaries don't list the cemetery; you must call Winnie. She may not know the grave location, but I bet you see them enter if you get there early. He will be there a long time. Look for his car, a big expensive car, or a limo.

"Wrap up your day, assign a replacement, and make your call. I will go talk to that arrogant prick of a surgeon we got. He's pissing people off left and right. Jinni is afraid for his life."

We all hug again, and we both walk out of my office. Cara has to teach a man to stop acting like a child, and Beth is off to save the man she loves. Cara hates her life.

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Helen's point of view:

I'm questioning my husband, "Why is Peter coming here? How does he even know which house we're at?"

My husband is looking mighty uncomfortable, "Something happened in Ness City. Peter won't talk about it."

I comment, "Big surprise there."

Jim continues, "Yeah. He has two women that want him, or so I thought. Something happened, though, and he's been slowly going downhill. I was close to flying out there to get to the bottom of it. As you heard, a few minutes ago, he called me to say he was coming over. He didn't ask."

I'm shocked, "Really? Peter? He TOLD you he was stopping by. Oh my, this is bad. He has to be the kindest, most considerate person I've ever met."

Jim almost looks sick, "He wants to give me something, and then he will be on his way. What can he give me?"

My husband is blind at the time, "What's the only thing he owns that you don't?" He's still clueless. "Rights to his courseware."

Jim is stunned, "Why would he do that? That makes no sense."

Must I explain everything?

I ask, "How long have you known him?"

Jim knows this answer, "The better part of a year."

I lead him to the answer, "You're nearing the one-year anniversary of your friendship. That means that something traumatic, something else in his life, is also near a one-year anniversary."

The tears in his eyes tell me that he now understands completely.

Jim asks me, "What would I do without you?"

I laugh at him, "You would be a failed minor league baseball player, divorced, and paying child support to a woman that cheated on you. You're working as a small company manager with a career going nowhere. You picked a hell of a night to ask me out. I was rebounding and dated you because you were cute and had no idea who I was."

The doorbell rings. Our butler answers the door and escorts Peter to us in our huge living room. I don't want to offer him wine. That's the last thing he needs. My God, he looks like he's about to fall to pieces in front of us.

I tell Larry, "Tell Kim that Peter will be joining us for dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow. Pack us for a week please and we need the bus tomorrow. Clear our schedules; we're in vacation mode starting immediately. Peter will need a massage tonight; get Sasha. Thank you, Larry."

I tell Peter, "We'll take you there tomorrow. You, my friend, are in no condition to drive. Now explain to us what's going on with your life. How did you get to this point? Where exactly are we going?"

Peter is still in shock that she knows everything. Is she reading my mind?

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Beth's point of view:

I had dinner, did the dishes, and am all packed.

I sit down with a glass of white wine and dial Peter's mother. His mother seems rather amused at hearing from me.

Winnie happily says, "Hello, my dear; I've expected your call. I will text you our address."

I am bewildered, "What? Wait. Huh?"

Winnie continues due to my inability to form a coherent sentence, "I talked to Cara yesterday. She was just a bit less clueless than you are. I expected one to call back for the cemetery name and address, if not both of you. Since my husband and I will be doing the same thing, we might as well all go together and support him on his terrible day. I expect he won't be alone.

"Since he wasn't caught in the DUI trap on the highway, he went to see Jim first. Knowing Peter, he wanted to sign over all rights, so his legacy continues." I am crying now. I know the implications of why he wants to sign over the rights. "Oh, stop crying. There is no way Helen lets him do that. I fully expect the three of them to stop by the gravesite.

"She loves him for saving her life. She will see it as her duty to save him. They will be with him all the way. We will be there for moral support and show him that he's still loved. Is Cara coming, or will it only be you?"

I sniffle before answering, "Just me. In this last month, I guess we figured out who really loves him. I think she wanted to come with, but she's staying back to help Peter see clearly, who loves him the most. In a way, Ariel helped find Peter a bride. I AM going to marry that man."

I can hear Winnie crying now as she says, "I can't tell you how happy that makes me feel. He needs it simple. Two women would have made his life a whole lot harder. Anyways. Stop by anytime tomorrow. We'll take you out for dinner, maybe some shopping, and you can stay here with us. We'll put you in his old room. Then the next day, we'll stake out the cemetery."

My crying has stopped. We have a plan, and Peter is in good hands.

I manage to say in a clear voice, "I'll leave here early in hopes of making it there around noon. Thank you for your help."

Winnie ends the call, "No. Thank YOU for saving my boy. I look forward to seeing you again. Bye."

The following morning, I was off early. I'll be there for lunch, and I bet I'll be expected.

Chapter 15 -- Greetings

Peter's point of view:

After a fantastic dinner with their chef, we talked a bunch and swam in their pool. They have one of those fantasy pools with lights, plants, rock formations, and music to make it seem like we're not in Nebraska. My fears and sadness melt away. It's not gone. Oh no, two days from now marks the worst day of my life. It brings back the images of my wife, dead on my operating table, and the tattoo of my name on her arm.

That day will forever cause me pain. Having my good friends helps. Helen saw through my attempts to sign over ownership of my training course to them. She verbally beat me up for considering it and then for how I had been behaving. Those two things did me a world of good. Then she taught me how to face my demons and hard decisions.

She taught Jim and me how she had to make hard decisions or turn around bad relationships. She has a fantastic way of describing the situation and then the solution. She explained how she got to the solution. There is a lot of self-insight and assertiveness involved. She figured out when she was wrong and then, right or wrong, and she was relentless in fixing the issue.

Jim and I both came away as better people because of his wife. That doesn't happen often. I recognized it for what it was, a monumental shift in my life. I will forever be more aggressive and look at things in ways I never would have before. Looking back now, I can see how everything is my fault in many ways. Obviously, not the death of my family, but nearly everything else. This is what my parents were trying to teach me. They suck at teaching.

Helen asks, "Why are you grinning? That's such an interesting, almost evil grin on your face."

Happily, which surprises Helen, I say, "I just thought that I've learned more about myself and how to deal with others in the last few hours, than I did in the last 20 years. I think this is what my parents were trying to do in our argument that started my worst day ever. I didn't handle it well, and they are the world's worst teachers. It amused me to think how bad they are at teaching and that they will help us revolutionize teaching nurses."

Jim corrects me, "Um, Peter. Do you remember how I said I bought into a university?"

Cautiously, I answer, "Yesssssss."

Jim continues with a vast smile, "They love what you did. They're swapping most of their courses to your style. They did some focus groups, and the reaction was off the charts. Nobody wants to read walls of text that are Sarah dessert dry written by people older than the dessert. The use of videos, links, movies, pictures and 3D images was astoundingly preferred.

"This year's Freshmen will get a heavy dose of your style. Some teachers would not adapt. They're gone, with only some being replaced. They rely on technology more and humans less. Profits will soar.

"I now have your site in eight locations, the student data in three, and we use four internet providers to increase redundancy. Using virtual services from the largest four server hosting companies, we have enough capacity potential to host every student in the country at every grade level."

That boggles the mind. I never had a chance on my own. I have seen what he's done. The site and courses are fantastic now. The professionalism and consistency are unbelievable. The site is snappy and full of features to help students study, including note-taking and test preparation. There is testing for comprehension at the end of each video and section. Each mistake leads to more training to help improve, and if that fails, they're directed to a live person to discuss the issue.

It's the live discussions that seem to pull it together. You can't get away from having teachers. You can augment them and allow them to provide a more impactful effect when needed. None of this is my doing. Their experts have suggested some of the changes, while students like Kate and Pearls suggested others. I had no idea Kate and Pearls were that involved in the development.

Jim tells me that he rewarded the two with brand new, fully loaded Mustangs. Each car is painted in its owner's favorite color. Then Jim is upgrading the stereo and electronics, tinting, and a few other cool things. They will be ready in a week. Pearls ordered a hot pink. She wanted something to get noticed before her breasts. Mission accomplished. Kate went with sunflower yellow. She loves sunflowers.

Jim's also going to repaint the ER waiting room with a mural and a field of sunflowers. That should be cool.

After the swim, I'm taken to a guest room.

The next day, after a lovely breakfast, I am taken out shopping. Helen will NOT spend any more time with me in the same clothes. I purchased several days of clothes under her watchful eye. I would never have selected things so trendy. She has a good eye for fashion, and the big city has many more options than Ness City. We ate at their favorite restaurant and caught two movies at Omaha Zoo's Lozier Giant Screen Theater.

The theatre dwarfs an IMAX, and the films were terrific. We get back by dinner time. They had work to do, so I helped their chef make dessert. We crafted a chocolate house and blew sugar candy used to decorate the home. With her help, I made all kinds of cool things. Together, we created a small log cabin that was a fantastic piece of artwork. Jim and Helen came back, grabbed a plate, and they each broke off a section of the house before I could complain.

The cook saw my distress and turned me towards her. She kisses me on the lips, completely distracting me.

In a soft, sexy voice, she says, "It's the part of the job I hate the most. They don't know, so don't say anything. I had fun cooking with you. I make creations weekly; this was the best one. It wasn't the best looking, or the best tasting; but I enjoyed making it far more than any of the others. Thank you. She kisses me again and then walks away.

Jim and Helen look at me with their jaws on the floor. My reaction is to smile and break off part of the house. The chocolate was rich, the filling of the house was a light chocolate mousse, and the candy decorations looked and tasted terrific.

We talk more about the University and how they're using our software before going to bed. I was not expecting to sleep well. Sure enough, I had a hard time falling asleep, and I didn't sleep well. I woke up several times due to reliving the day in my nightmares.

At 2:00 AM or so, I've just woken up from another nightmare. My breathing and heart rate and running at top speed. After several deep breaths, I'm calming down. Again. This time is different. My door opens. It's dark, but I hear someone walking into my room. The person walks to the edge of the bed and then feels for my location.

The blanket is folded back over me. Then a female form gets in bed with me. She's facing away from me but backs up into me. She pulls the blanket back over and relaxes.

I hear the chef's sexy and teasing voice say, "Well. Aren't you going to wrap your arm around me?"

I'm thankful that it's not Helen. I do oblige the hot chef by placing my arm around her.

She makes me laugh by saying, "Wuss," and then placing my hand on her breast. I snicker and tweak her nipple.

She says, "Uh-huh. I knew you'd be trouble."

I kiss the back of her neck and fall asleep. I'm woken up at 6:00 AM by my bedmate.

I'm instructed, "Hurry up and take a shower, get dressed, and by then, breakfast will be ready. You're on the road at 7:00 AM. Get going."

I tease her, "What, not going to join me?"

She laughs at me, "Oh no, Tiger, I have a lot of work to do. If I showered with you, there was no way we would finish quickly, and Helen would be both jealous and furious with me. Go! I'll see you at breakfast." She quickly kisses me before leaving.

I shower, put on my new clothes, and then rush to get breakfast.

I am surprisingly refreshed this morning. I was expecting myself to be in a terrible mood.

Helen and Jim are already eating, and I see all our luggage taken out the front door.

Helen comments, "I must say, you look remarkably well this morning."

Oh, man. Do I explain why? She may not want to let out what she did. I know she made a difference, and I want to credit her.

While deciding, the chef says, "Well yeah. I hear the screams and crying. At two, I join him in bed. He slept great. Me, not so much. About three, I'm being stabbed by a large pole. I pick the lollypop and find the creamy center. I go back to bed, happy.

"At four, I have the same problem and use the same solution. I go back to bed. Five comes around, and that pecker is up and stiff again, scratching my back. I drain it again. Finally, it's worn out, and I fall asleep until six when we must get up. I can't wait for you guys to leave."