Our Love Saga

Once I had the statement in my hands, I knew that it was for the home phone. I was somewhat surprised that the statement had so many outbound calls listed since we seldom called anyone on it. I began reviewing the numbers called and quickly discovered that there was one number dialed repeatedly. The really puzzling aspect of the number in question was that I recognized it as the same number that used to be associated with my SkyPage satellite pager.

The way the pager service worked was that a toll-free number would be dialed to access the pager system, then a unique number would be entered to send a page to the specific pager device. Someone had dialed the pager system from our home phone on multiple occasions.

I checked the times and dates of a few of these calls and easily determined that they had all been made on a Saturday or Sunday, and if I wasn't mistaken, all had been made when I had been on a run into town for one reason or another. Whenever I left the house during the weekends, Samantha was immediately paging someone.

I set the statement on my desk and went to the filing cabinet where Samantha kept past statements. Checking prior months, I found that the same pager system number had appeared last month, but not before that.

Without the unique number associated with the pager in question, there was no way that I could identify who it belonged to. I checked the time and saw that I had at least five hours to prepare for the confrontation with Samantha that was long overdue. The preparations included packing a bag. I didn't know if I would be sleeping at home that night.

I was sitting on the couch in the living room when Samantha returned home a little after eight in the evening. This was not a common location for me to sit alone, so it took her a few minutes of searching the house to find me.

"How was Bunco?" I asked. "Did you spend any time at the Head Table?"

"It was fun," Samantha said cautiously. "What are you doing in here?"

I didn't answer her, but simply patted the couch beside me and said, "Have a seat. We need to talk."

She set her purse on the kitchen counter before coming over and sitting on the couch. She pulled her legs under her and turned so that she was facing me. "What's up, AJ?"

"Let's start with something that has been bothering me for a few weeks now," I said. "Do you remember last month when I flew to New York on a Sunday?"

"Yes, I remember," she said. "What about it?"

"Please tell me where you went that day because you weren't here as you claimed. When I hadn't heard from you, I asked Frank Finley to check on you. He came over and saw that you and your car were not here. So, where were you?"

She was no longer looking directly at me when she said, "He must have come by when I went to Walmart to get some more spray starch. I told you that I was ironing that day if I remember right."

"Right," I said. "That was probably it. Was that before or after you started watching 'The Philadelphia Story'?"

"Before. Why all these questions?"

I shrugged and said, "I'm just waiting to see when the lying stops. I think it started that day, but I guarantee you that it will stop tonight."

Samantha visibly flinched and asked, "Why do you think I have lied to you?"

"I don't think it," I said, "I know it. You were gone for hours that Sunday which you lied about, 'The Philadelphia Story' didn't air on any station on that Sunday so that was another lie, and when I came home on Monday, none of the ironing had been done. That's three lies covering just one day."

Samantha just sat there, staring blankly across the room.

"Okay," I said. "If you're not going to tell me the truth about that Sunday, please tell me why every time that I leave the house on a Saturday or Sunday, you immediately page someone."

"I don't understand..." Samantha began.

"The phone bill came today," I informed her. "I didn't know if it was for the home or office phone so I opened it. Please explain the outbound calls to a pager system that coincide with the times that I am away from the house during the weekends. Who are you paging?"

Tears were running down Samantha's cheeks. I rose and went into my office to get her a box of tissue before resuming my place on the couch. Her tears broke my heart, but not my resolve.

"Do you love him?" I asked. I no longer had any doubt about one aspect of the mystery.

Samantha began sobbing at my question, but managed to shake her head 'no'.

"Is he who you were with today?"

She nodded but didn't say anything.

"Is he who you were with on that Sunday last month?"

She nodded again but remained silent. I rose and went into my office where my packed bag and briefcase awaited me. I carried them out with me and headed for the mudroom door leading to the garage. Samantha couldn't see me from her position on the couch, but she was able to hear the garage door when I pressed the button on the wall to open it.

"AJ, WAIT!" she screamed while rushing to catch me.

I turned in the garage to face her. She was standing in the doorway to the mudroom looking panicked.

"Please come back and let me explain," she pleaded. "It's not what you think."

"Complete honesty?" I asked.

"I promise," she said. "As long as you promise to listen to it all."

I left my briefcase and bag in the mudroom and then followed Samantha back into the living room. She turned to me and asked, "Can we do this in bed? You holding me will make things a lot easier."

I shook my head and said, "Not until you tell me who he is and what he means to you."

Samantha said, "That's fair. His name is Kurt Halstrom and he is a customer contact. You asked me if I love him, and the truth is that I despise everything about him."

I could sense her rage building, so I said, "Let's go to bed."

Samantha didn't bother to wash her face and neither of us brushed our teeth before undressing and crawling into bed. I assumed my position leaning against the headboard and she leaned against me, pulling my arm around her as she settled.

Samantha sighed and said, "Kurt is an IT Director with the Texas Department of Transportation. I have been dealing with him for about fifteen months as we have been installing systems in their regional facilities and he has been my contact with each location. Everything was fine and kept professional until we came to their location in San Antonio. That is when Kurt came to town to oversee the project just as he had done in Lubbock and Wichita Falls. Tim Jeffers, our sales rep for the Department of Transportation invited Kurt to tour our offices a couple of months ago, and that's when he met me for the first time."

"I take it that he liked what he saw?" I asked.

Samantha nodded and said, "Apparently. After that, when I would contact him for an update on one certification or another, he would only want to discuss things over lunch. At first, I was able to keep him from wandering into personal things by getting Tim or one of the other sales reps to join me when meeting Kurt for lunch. He then tried getting me to meet him for drinks after work but I told him that I had to get home to care for the dogs."

"For several weeks, he wasn't available for me to follow up with him at all during the week, but he told me to page him on the weekend and leave my home phone number so we could talk then. I knew what he wanted, and he knew that I knew. He wants to spend private time with me, and I've had to string him along a few times to get what I need from him. He's reluctantly provided the required certifications, but he always waits until just before the particular milestone is due."

"That Sunday when you went to New York, I paged him to find out when he would provide the electrical certification documents for the San Antonio install. They were due on Monday and if I didn't have them, I would miss the project deadline and put any bonus due to me at risk. I wasn't as concerned about the money as I was about keeping my perfect project schedule score intact. He told me that if I came by his hotel on that Sunday, he would hand me the electrical certification personally."

"And you went..." I said.

"Yes. When I got to the Residents Inn by the airport, he wanted me to come up to his room, but I insisted that he meet me in the lobby. He didn't bring anything down with him, stating that he wanted to have lunch before we discussed business. I wanted something quick and suggested the Arby's across the street, but Kurt insisted on eating someplace along the Riverwalk. I drove since I was more familiar with the route, but that left his hands free to start getting a little 'touchy-feely' along the way. At one point, I pulled along the shoulder of the Two-Eighty-One and told him to either keep his hands to himself or to get out."

"Why didn't you just report this guy for harassment?" I asked.

"Believe me, I wanted to, but I had no proof. There were no incriminating e-mails or anything that I could point to and his subtle hints and suggestions were never made when anyone else was around to hear them. It would have been my word against his until I could get something on him."

"When we parked downtown, he told me that he expected me to be a little friendlier towards him or I would never receive another certification on time. That would result in Saturn Systems missing contract deadlines and incurring significant penalties. I didn't agree to his request, but when I finished locking my car, he took my hand and I let him hold it while we walked along the Riverwalk and then later when he wanted to walk through the Japanese Garden at Hildebrandt Park."

"When we returned to his hotel, he wanted me to stay and have dinner and drinks with him, but I told him that you were out of town and I needed to get home to care for our dogs. I waited in the lobby as he grudgingly went to his room and brought back the electrical certification that he had promised. I let him give me a peck on the lips, and then I hurried home to call you back because I knew that you must have called while I was out."

"So, you've held hands with this guy and let him kiss you," I said. "Is that all?"

"I wish it was," Samantha sadly said. "I did something much worse. I had him here for dinner once during the week while you were out of town."

"Don't tell me that you were his dessert," I said.

Samantha threw her arms around me and sobbed, "Oh, no, AJ. I would never let that happen. I would quit my job before I would ever betray your love."

"You don't think that not trusting me and lying to me isn't a betrayal?" I asked.

"I was trying to protect you," Samantha pleaded. "I knew that if I told you what Kurt was doing that you would do what you always do. You would come to my rescue. I couldn't risk you getting yourself in trouble trying to protect me when I thought that I could handle things on my own."

"So, how was having him here for dinner worse than the physical intimacies that you shared with him?" I asked.

"Because, when I was cooking dinner, Kurt excused himself to use the bathroom. When he hadn't returned after several minutes, I went looking for him and found him in your office. I went ballistic on him and told him to leave our house immediately. He did as requested, but not before sneaking something out with him."

"What did he take?"

"He has one of your boudoir pictures of me. He must have been rummaging through your desk before I caught him and I didn't know that he had it. He says that he won't give it back until he sees me in his hotel room wearing only the lingerie that I wore when the picture was taken. I've been stringing him along, but he's holding the final software certification required for the install hostage until I give in to his demands. I spent today trying to reason with him, explaining that even when the San Antonio install is complete, there are six others that we will be working on together. Unfortunately, he moves to each install site when they are scheduled so he sees the install here as his only chance to get me to his hotel room. I have until next Friday to get the last certification from him or the contract deadline will be missed and he knows it."

"What are your options?" I asked.

"I was thinking about that on the way home today. At this point, I am going to start going back through all of my e-mails and communications with him to create a documented trail of my requests for each certification on every install we have done for the Department of Transportation, along with the responses. I should be able to prove that until the San Antonio project, my requests were always met with timely responses. It would be hard for Kurt to argue that there were any mitigating circumstances here that caused his delayed responses, and hopefully, our legal department will be able to use that in defense of Saturn meeting the contract terms."

"I'm canceling my trip to Houston next week," I told her. "I will be here every day to support you in any way you need, but I don't want you to see this guy again. Can you do that?"

"As long as he doesn't come to our offices, I can avoid seeing him. I'm sure that he will insist on having lunch with me every day, but I've gotten pretty good at blowing him off."

Samantha giggled and said, "Maybe my husband will take me to lunch each day instead? That would really take the wind out of Kurt's sails if I told him that I couldn't meet him for lunch because I was having it with my husband."

"We could do that," I said. I disentangled my arm from around Samantha and started to get out of bed.

"Where are you going?"

"I need to get my bags and unpack, but first I need to send a couple of e-mails and leave a few voicemail messages about my plan changes for next week. You relax and I'll be back in less than a half-hour."

Samantha pulled me down for a passionate kiss and said, "I'm sorry for lying and making you think that I didn't trust you. I really was just trying to handle things myself without risking you getting involved."

"We'll get past this," I said. "I'll be back shortly."

"AJ?" Samantha said.

I turned and she continued, "Would you mind if I read a story until you come back?"

I smiled and said, "I wouldn't mind at all."

~~~

"We need to come to a decision about Houdini," I told Samantha as we finished our lunch. It was Wednesday, and this was the third time this week that I had driven into San Antonio to be her lunch date and keep Kurt Halstrom away from her.

"I know," Samantha said. "He's not eating and has no energy to move. It's so sad to see him lying in his own urine because he doesn't have the strength to stand."

Houdini had been diagnosed with congestive heart failure a few months back, but it had progressed much faster than we had been told to expect.

"His quality of life is nil right now and not likely to get better," I said. "I think that I should take him to Dr. Hill this afternoon and have him put down. What do you think?"

"Can you find out how late Dr. Hill would be able to see us? I would really want to be there with Houdini when he passes. It will kill me to watch him die, but I owe him that much. He's been such a wonderful dog for us."

"I'll check on the way home and let you know. My other concern is how Snapper is going to react. Her and Houdini are inseparable."

Samantha nodded and said, "We'll need to find another dog as soon as possible to keep Snapper company. Maybe we can go looking this weekend?"

I took Samantha's hand and helped her rise from her chair. As we walked out to our cars I said, "I think that is workable. How is your documenting of communications between you and that Kurt guy going?"

"It's actually going pretty well. I was able to retrieve all the e-mails, even those that had been archived by the system. Now I'm just compiling them all into a report that will detail request dates and corresponding response dates. I'll then be able to create graphs that show a trend for the San Antonio project that clearly depicts the consistent delays on Kurt's part."

"Have you heard anything from him?" I asked as I opened Samantha's door for her.

Samantha kissed me before getting into her car. She then said, "Not since he called yesterday to ask me to have lunch with him. He didn't call today, so maybe he has finally taken the hint that I don't want to see him."

"I hope so," I said. "I'll call your office once I know how late we can get in to see Dr. Hill."

"Thanks for lunch, Sweetie. Dinner will be my treat."

I smiled and said, "And dessert will be my treat. I love you. Drive safe."

Samantha smiled and started her car. I walked to my truck and got the air conditioner running before making my first call. Samantha had stated that Kurt Halstrom hadn't called her today. I was curious about the reason why.

~~~

I had just finished digging the hole that would become Houdini's grave when I heard the home phone ring. I listened to see if Samantha had calmed down enough after watching Houdini go to sleep for the last time to answer it or if I would need to go in and do it. The rings stopped after three, so I assumed that Samantha had answered.

I picked up the towel-wrapped body of our dear old dog and laid it in the bottom of the hole. I could hear Snapper scratching at the back door wanting to come out to be with me and her companion. I'm not sure if dogs understand death, but I knew that Snapper understood that the Houdini she loved was no more.

Hearing the back door open, I looked over to see Samantha leading Snapper out of the house. She was not crying at the moment, but I knew that as soon as she saw Houdini at the bottom of the hole, the tears would begin again.

"Who was on the phone?" I asked.

"It was Tim Jeffers," Samantha said. "You're never going to believe what happened."

"What?"

"Kurt Halstrom died sometime last night."

"Died?" I asked in surprise. "How did he die?"

"He fell six stories from his hotel room balcony to the parking lot of the Residence Inn. The police are investigating to determine if it was accidental, suicide, or something else."

"What does that do to your project?" I asked.

"That's why Tim was calling me," she said, "We'll get an automatic thirty-day extension to the deadline while the Department of Transportation appoints someone to replace Kurt."

"That's got to be a relief for you," I said. "Let's get this over with here. I want to call Frank Finley and see what he knows about what happened with this Kurt guy."

Samantha came down off the deck to stand beside me. As predicted, the tears began falling as soon as she saw Houdini's body at the bottom of the three-foot deep hole. I handed her the shovel so that she could place the first scoop of dirt, then took it from her to finish the job. Once all the dirt was in place, I moved a large rock over the spot.

"We'll get him a formal stone marker ordered this weekend," I told her. "Are you going to be okay?"

Samantha nodded and said, "I will be in time. I think we should allow Snapper to sleep in our room tonight if she wants to."

"I don't have any problem with that. Let me put the shovel away and I'll meet you in the house. How long until dinner is ready?"

"I'm making pork fried rice, so it should only take about fifteen minutes once I start on it. I'm going to feed Snapper first, so you just need to tell me when you're ready for me to start on ours."

"Okay," I said. "I'll keep the call with Frank as short as possible."

Frank Finley wasn't working the Kurt Halstrom case, but he was aware of it. He was initially reluctant to share any of the details with me, but when I explained Samantha's working relationship, omitting the part about Halstrom pressuring her for personal favors, he shared what he knew.

Some time between Tuesday evening around ten and Wednesday morning at six, Halstrom had fallen or been thrown over the balcony of his sixth-floor room. The reason that they were not able to lock a more specific time down was the fact that Halstrom's body had landed between two vehicles parked on the side of the hotel where no one noticed it until the light of dawn provided enough visibility for another guest to see it from their own room. The police knew that it hadn't happened before ten on Tuesday evening because Halstrom had been in the hotel bar up to that time.