My Marriage Mistake

"Jim, I have a problem with a couple of your employees. I need to talk to them at once. I would like to use your office. I'll give you a little rundown on them. Most people don't know that Shelby is my wife of about six months. Her boyfriend is Chuck Woody, one of your managers. Basically, they were trying to set me up but I caught them in the act. So we will be getting an annulment or divorce very soon. Depending on the circumstances I might like to see them transferred to the West Virginia branch. To the best of my knowledge they are employees with good work records and you can't just transfer them for no reason. I'm hoping to convince them to ask for the transfer. Do you have any problems with that?"

"No, Mr. Rhine..."

"Please call me Randy, Jim," I asked.

"Well, Randy, I can probably transfer Shelby since she does secretarial work, but Chuck is a department head. They are much harder to replace and, I hate to say it, but he does a good job for us," he replied.

"Let me talk to them and see where we stand. I'll do my best to try and not upset your apple cart," I responded.

Jim informed Marla to page both Chuck and Shelby and have them sent up to his office. He then left and said he would return in about an hour. He had two meetings to attend. I thanked him for his time and told him I would remember the favor he just did for me. Statements like that mean a lot and I would always take care of people who helped me out. My reputation among the elite was important. Honesty with these people was paramount.

I was sitting behind Jim's desk when Chuck and Shelby came in.

"Randy, what are you doing here?" inquired Shelby.

"Chuck, please close the door and both of you take a seat. Shelby, we have a problem or at least a dilemma on our hands. You and your boyfriend here were trying to defraud me of money."

"No, it's not true, Randy. Please let...."

"Please be quiet and let me continue. You will have a chance to explain later. I know that you and Mr. Woody have been friends for a number of years. You tried to set me up and defraud me of a half million dollars."

"You can't prove anything," said Chuck. "You're bluffing. You can't prove anything and if you divorce Shelby, we'll get a half..."

"You'll get nothing. You see, I have a video of you two at the motel."

Chuck interrupted me. "Bullshit, you had the room with the tape in it. I know. I had it set up."

I turned on the video recorder which showed Chuck and Shelby fucking.

"Where did you get that?" asked Chuck.

"Now do you think the courts would believe my tape, or the one you have of us playing cards and having a glass of wine?" I asked.

Shelby was getting nervous. I looked at her directly while I spoke to her.

"Shelby, we can make this easy or very difficult. My lawyers have drawn up a number of choices. I can charge you both with fraud charges and we can all go to court and fight it out. Or we could..."

Chuck interrupted me again. "You won't go to court. You don't like the limelight. The publicity would hurt your image. You would never take us to court."

"Shut the fuck up! I'm tired of listening to your damn bullshit. You're dead wrong if you think I wouldn't take you to court and get your ass thrown in jail, and not lose a damn day's sleep over it. Now, I was saying, Shelby, we are getting divorced; I think you are well aware of that. We can use our pre-nuptial agreement and you go with whatever you had brought into the marriage which is basically nothing. You can take all your personal things that you have bought and the gifts I have bought for you." She was sitting there in tears. I almost felt sorry for her.

I looked over at Chuck. "Chuck, I was thinking of giving you a quarter million dollars to move to West Virginia and work there."

"What? Me? A quarter million? Hell, yes, I'll take it."

"There's a catch. Shelby will be staying here. Do you still want to go?"

"Hell, yes, I'll take the money and run," said Chuck, smiling.

Shelby looked at Chuck. "What about us, Chuck? You said you loved me. You're the one that had me marry Randy and then try to defraud him."

"It was business, baby. It was fun while it lasted. We had good sex together, but we're talking about a quarter of a million dollars. Sorry, baby, but it was just business. Where do I sign?"

I wanted for Shelby to see what a prick Chuck was. "What do you think of your lover now, Shelby?"

"I hate the bastard. He did nothing but use me. He set this shit up and I get tossed out on my ear and he gets the money. It just isn't fair."

"Shelby, you were my wife even though it was for a short time. I have a counter offer for you. Instead of giving the West Virginia job to Chuck, I'll see that you get it, along with the money. Only there are a couple of stipulations. You can't go with Chuck and you have to sign an annulment paper that says our marriage never existed. It's your choice."

"I get the job, the quarter million dollars and all my stuff. What about my BMW?"

"You can have it also. When you sign these papers, we will never have been considered married. I will personally rent you a moving van to take all your belongings to West Virginia.

Chuck yelled out, "What about me? What do I get?"

"You get to keep your job here, unless we ever hear of you trying to pull a stunt like this again, in which case you will be sent to prison or wind up dead. If we ever hear you spreading a rumor about Shelby, June or myself, you will be out on your ear. Now I suggest you get back to work. Oh, wait one minute." I paged Marla and asked her to send Bruce up to the office.

"Shelby, you go home and pack your things. You better consider yourself very lucky. Instead of going to jail, or not getting anything, you get another chance. Also not getting tied down to a loser. You have a chance to start over. Now go on with your life. You have that second chance."

She looked over at Chuck. "You fucking bastard, I never want to see you again," she said as she left the office.

A giant of a man walked through the doors. Around 6'6" and 325 lbs. "Chuck, I think you may have seen Bruce around. He's the head security guard for the Marcus Company. He has orders to keep his eyes on you to make sure you don't make waves here. If you do, he has orders to take care of business. We won't go into what that entails, hopefully it won't be necessary."

"Thank you for coming up Bruce," I said.

"No problem sir, anytime," he answered as he left the office.

"One last thing, Chuck. I wanted you out of here but Jim saved your ass. You make sure you do a hell of a good job here; I don't want Jim thinking he made the wrong decision. By the way, you would have never gotten the money. I just wanted Shelby to see the type of person you are. Now I suggest you get back to work."

When Jim got back, I explained all that transpired and offered to take him and his wife out to dinner. He accepted and we met up a couple of hours later for dinner. I made reservations at the restaurant that Shelby had used. I loved their lobster. Jim and his wife were good people. I liked doing things for good people. I did think about June while we were eating. It would have been nice to have her there with me. After dinner I headed home.

Shelby had her stuffed packed up and was gone even before I got home. I left her a check on the counter. I ended up giving her three hundred thousand dollars. Most people would probably think I'm nuts for giving her anything but I wanted her to try and turn her life around.

Within the month the annulment came through. I checked with Jim at the Marcus Company and he said that Shelby was settled in and her supervisors were impressed with her. I figure her looks had a lot to do with that, but at least she was doing good. It was the last I had ever heard about her.

Jim said Chuck was doing a decent job. Whenever Bruce made his rounds and smiled at him, he looked nervous. It looked like it all might work out okay.

Time to face the music. I went over to by sister Barb's house. She was having a birthday party for my fourteen year old niece. My other sister Brenda was there with her family along with my brother Joe and his family. I was the only one not married now and without kids. I was a good uncle though.

Barb looked at me and asked, "Where's your little teeny ... I'm sorry, where is Shelby?" she asked.

"We're no longer together. I had the marriage annulled. It was final last week." I didn't give them all the facts. I didn't want to implicate June.

Brenda said, "Wise decision, big brother. We invited Shelby to every family event and she never came. I guess she really didn't want to be part of the family. Where did she go?"

"She transferred to an office in West Virginia. I think it was a good move for her."

"What did it cost you, Randy?" Joe asked.

"I gave her a little for the road and to get started on a new life. The amount isn't important," I replied.

Brenda asked me if I was going to her husband's fortieth birthday bash that was a little over two months away. I told her I wouldn't miss it for anything. They were having a big pool party and BBQ. They told me I could bring a date as long as she was an adult. I told them that my life with Shelby was over so they could find something else to kid me about.

Barb mentioned that her daughter Sherry had to get her tonsils out on Friday. She asked if I would mind coming and sitting with her while she waited during the surgery. Her husband was a truck driver and would be on the road. He was going to take the day off but she convinced him that tonsil removal wasn't that bad. I promised I'd be there.

I headed to the hospital on Friday. My niece was being prepped. I told her everything would be fine and I would buy her a gallon of ice cream, whatever she wanted but without nuts. "Thank you, Uncle Randy. You know I like chocolate."

"Then chocolate it will be," I answered.

I headed out to the waiting area with Barb. We would probably be there for about two hours, counting recovery time.

While we were sitting there talking, I watched as they brought a young boy in. He was in an auto accident. Behind him rushing down the corridor was a woman; it was June. I jumped up and went to her.

"June, what happened?" Of course she was a nervous wreck.

"My son, Barry, had an accident. God, I hope he's alright. He's a new driver, being only sixteen, and turned the steering wheel to avoid hitting a dog and ran into a ditch. I know he hurt his leg. The paramedics said they wouldn't know how badly until they take x-rays. Randy, I need to thank you for all you've done for me but I don't have time right now. Please excuse me while I find out about my son."

She quickly went to her son's room. It was so nice to see her; too bad the circumstances didn't give us a chance to talk. I sure hoped her son would be alright. He looked more shook up than anything. I had to get back to Barb.

"Who was that?" asked Barb.

"A woman I know. Her son was just in a car accident. I guess he hurt his leg. I think he'll be alright. I think I'll check on him before we leave," I replied.

Barb and I talked about different things until Sherry came out of recovery. We went in to see her; she looked groggy from being drugged up. They brought her in a Popsicle to help cool down her throat. When she was eventually ready to go I handed her twenty dollars for her chocolate ice cream that I promised her. She whispered thank you to me and I gave her a kiss on the forehead. I decided to see if June was still there so I walked to Barry's room.

Barry was sitting up watching the television.

"Hi, Barry. My name is Randy. I'm a friend of your mother's."

"I'm sorry, sir, she went back to work. She won't be back for a couple of hours," he said.

"How's your leg?" I asked.

"The doctor said that I was lucky, it's just a sprain. It should be normal in a few days. Everything else is just scrapes and cuts."

"So are you going home today?"

"The doctor said he was going to keep me till morning. They gave me a lot of drugs and wanted to make sure I don't have any reactions to them. I'll tell mom you stopped by. It was nice of you to do so."

I gave him one of my private cards with my personal cell phone number on it. "Barry, would you give this card to your mom and ask her to call me?" I asked.

"Sir, what's this about? I'm sorry but it is my mom and I try to look after her."

I smiled; he reminded me of myself when I was his age; always watching out for my mother. "Barry, your mom and I are friends and I would like to ask her out. I don't know your phone number and would feel I was intruding by just stopping by. If she's seeing someone, I'll understand and not bother her."

"Sir, you seem like a nice man, but my mom really doesn't date much. You might be wasting your time.

"Why is that, Barry?"

"There's a guy that mom likes and is waiting for him to call. I don't know him or why she's waiting, but she has turned down a number of dates. I thought I should tell you and maybe save you some time."

"Is the man she's waiting for the one she went out with about two months ago when you whistled at her?"

"How did you know that? Mom must have told you. Are you that guy?"

"Yes, I am, Barry. Now will you give her my card?" I asked.

"I sure will, sir, and thank you for visiting me."

I was sitting at home reading the paper when my phone rang.

"Hello, Randy here," I answered.

"Randy, this is June; my son gave me your card and told me that I had to call you. What is it that couldn't wait till tomorrow?"

"Where are you calling from?"

"The hospital. Barry said to call right away. Are you alright?"

I started laughing. "June, I just told Barry to have you call me, I swear. I just wanted to ask you out."

June said she was looking over at Barry and he was in stitches laughing. I could hear him laughing through the phone. "You little brat, telling me it was an emergency," I heard her tell Barry.

"Mom, I know you're crazy about this guy and I didn't want him to get away. Besides, if I spend the night in the hospital and sis is at grandma's, you can go out and have a nice time."

I heard her whispering. "He didn't say anything about tonight; he might just mean sometime in the future. He's a rather important man. I don't think he's going to drop everything just to take me out," she told Barry, who was still laughing.

"Hello, hello. Is anybody there?" I said, knowing that June had the phone in her hand.

"I'm sorry, Randy; I think I just made a fool of myself, thanks to my son who's sitting there laughing."

"I heard everything and tonight would be great. Will you go out with me tonight? I'll pick you up there at the hospital in about an hour."

"Randy, I'm not dressed..."

"Are you standing there naked?"

"Of course I'm not naked. Shut up, Barry, and stop laughing. You two guys, I ought to slap both of you. I have jeans and a blouse on, Randy."

"And a bra and maybe underwear," I heard her son yell in the background.

"You're dressed fine. I want to go to country place where there is line dancing and we can just have a little fun. Are you up for it?"

"Yes, I'll try and be ready in an hour if my dear son stops pestering me."

I picked her up at the hospital and we went to a nice lounge that had a country music flavor. We were having a great time. We weren't even drinking alcohol. We had fancy water in a bottle. We ordered up a couple of rib dinners and just enjoyed each other's company. She thanked me so many times for helping her get her new job that I had to finally tell her to quit talking about it or I'd have to get old George to lay her off. She reached over and kissed me.

"What was that for?" I asked.

"I can't tell you or I will lose my job," she smiled. "Randy, why did you want to come here tonight? I never figured you for a place like this."

"Don't you like it? I love the beat of the music and something else," I replied

"I love it, I'm just happy to be with you. What's the something else?" she asked.

"You might get mad if I tell you," I said.

"You just wanted to see my big ass in a pair of jeans doing the line dance, didn't you?" she asked.

"God, how did you know? I'm sorry, but you are right," I replied.

"I watched you while the other women were dancing, so I figured you did the same thing when my big ass was up there," she laughed. "So what about my ass? Are you satisfied?" she laughed again.

"Very. I'm starting to get kinda attached to you. I don't know where it will lead but I do want to follow my heart. I don't trust people in general, but there is something special about you."

The next day she picked up Barry and when she got home her daughter Kayla was there with her grandmother to welcome Barry home.

I pulled up while they were getting ready to get Barry out of the car. "Let me help," I said, as I walked over and helped Barry out of the car. I knew he would have to stay off that leg and was a pretty big boy.

"Hi, Randy, nice to see you again; nice of you to come and see me but I'm willing to bet it's not me you came to see," he smiled.

I helped him out of the car, while June explained to her daughter and mom who I was. Barry had to keep his weight off his leg for a few days. He did say he was pretty sore from the accident but should be like new in no time.

After helping him into the house I went back to the car and brought in two pizzas and a twelve pack of soda. June introduced me to her mom and daughter and we sat and talked. They were really a close family, and made me feel very welcome. I watched Kayla smile and it showed her braces; that made me feel good inside.

After that day I was seeing June every few days. I got along with her kids great. Barry was back on his feet in no time. Young people seemed to heal quickly. He had to still take it easy but was ready to resume football practice. He told me he wanted to be a defensive linebacker. He said he wasn't that good handling the ball but defense was right up his alley. I told him I knew someone who could give him some good pointers on being a linebacker. I mentioned my brother Joe got his scholarship playing that position. Barry said he couldn't wait to meet him.

June and I were going out again the following Saturday. We decided to go back to the country western bar. We were having our usual good time when I got up to use the rest room. When I returned to the table, I saw Chuck in my seat arguing with June.

I overheard him saying that she double crossed him and cost him a half million dollars. June called him a couple of names; as she reached to slap him, he grabbed her arm. I was pissed. I went over and pulled him out of the chair and let him have it. I put his arm in a hammer lock - that's holding it behind his back - walked to the side door and threw him out, onto the pavement.

"You son of a bitch, you can't leave well enough alone. If I ever seen you again, I'll kill you," I said.

When I walked back in, the crowd cheered for me. June was a little shook up and asked to leave. As we stepped out the back door she told me there was something she had to tell me. Just as she was about to speak, I was jumped by three guys, one of them was Chuck. I heard June scream as a number of people from the bar came running out. It became a brawl with me on the bottom. It was like a free for all when it sounded like a gun went off. The next thing I knew I was waking up in a hospital bed. My sister Barb was sitting there.

"He's awake! Randy's awake," she screamed with tears flowing down her face. In came my sister Brenda and my mom. There were a lot of my friends and relatives in the waiting room.

"What happened to me? Where's June? Will someone please explain what has happened to me?"

A doctor told everyone to please wait in the other room while he examined me.