Paul and Sharon

Paul dated off and on but caught himself before he made a huge mistake and married another woman who he didn't really love, since he knew he was just looking for a mother for his children. He finally engaged a full time nanny and house keeper, an older woman, and the children responded well to her. Things on the home front began to settle down.

On several occasions he tried to track down Sharon. She had evidently severed all contact with former friends and neighbors. Her ex-husband had become a dentist and moved and no one had a clue where. A neighbor was pretty sure that Sharon had assumed her maiden name and no one knew what it was. He knew Sharon had told him where she worked but he could not remember the name of the company.

Paul was offered another promotion and the company made it clear that "no" was no longer an acceptable answer. The counselor he was seeing felt that Paul should take the promotion and the associated move for his own good. There was nothing he could do for Pamela and it was unlikely that she would ever recognize him or anyone else again.

At first, the kids did not want to move. They had grown very close to the nanny and she was not able to move with them. He took the children with him on one of several house hunting trips to the city that would become their new home. Fate and fortune ultimately smiled on Paul and his family.

The house that he and Pamela had lived in had been a "starter home" in a modest neighborhood. They had scraped the money together to buy that first home when Paul had left the military. While he could well have afforded a better house in a better neighborhood as his earning increased dramatically, he simply never got around to it. Pamela and the children had friends there. By the time Paul and the kids moved, many of their friends had also moved as the other young couples in the neighborhood became more prosperous. The old neighborhood was on the verge of deteriorating as more homes were rentals and the groups of young children playing in every yard, the very vision that had first made it attractive, began to fade. Crime was on the increase and the children increasingly had few friends in the neighborhood.

Paul ended up buying more home than he had wanted to in the new locale. His company had a liberal housing assistance program which he would not benefit from unless he spent a calculated minimum on his new home. The new city was a pleasant one; the climate was much more reasonable, the schools were superior and the quality of life was superb. When he took the kids to see the new house he had chosen for them they were very excited. The large fenced yard meant they could finally have a dog. They quickly made friends with other children in the neighborhood. The recreational facilities available within the development were outstanding. He took them to visit their new school and they were ecstatic.

His secretary in his new job provided the final piece of the puzzle. Her mother, a retired school teacher, had worked for several years as a virtual live-in nanny for another executive in the company; her former employer's kids had reached an age wherein they didn't need the same level of attention. The kids fell in love with her in short order.

As is often the case in corporate America, promotion to the next rung doesn't necessarily mean longer hours. Paul would have an office and not have to work out of a home office. His travel would decline substantially. Weekend panic calls from customers would not require him to leave his family on a Saturday or Sunday as had so often happened in the past. His new home was twelve minutes from his new office. He could have breakfast with his kids and see them off before going to work. The nanny would be there when the kids would get home from school, and she would get them cracking on their homework. Paul would get home between six and six thirty and they would have dinner as a family. He was there to tuck them in to bed almost every night. In short, life settled into a very comfortable routine and the children flourished.

For the first couple of years, Paul's dating life was almost nonexistent. As the kids got older and had their own friends with whom they wanted to spend time on Friday or Saturday evening, Paul decided to venture back out into the dating world after nearly fifteen years. The rules had changed, he discovered to his consternation. The free love decade had been replaced by the decade of AIDS and fatal attraction. At thirty-seven, approaching the five year anniversary of Pamela's break down, he was not optimistic about his romantic prospects.

Most of the women he knew well and might have been attracted to worked for his company. Those of his own age were themselves married or had their own issues to deal with. His delayed promotions had not ended up hurting his career. He received several promotions in short order in the rapidly growing company. He had left the former city as a senior Region Manager and was now a Senior Vice President with the likelihood of becoming a division president within another year. The younger women, those five years or more his junior, those he found most attractive, were strictly hands off in the era of sexual harassment and workplace hostility for a man listed as a corporate officer.

His fortunes as far as the opposite sex were concerned were about to change for the better. As luck would have it, a traffic accident had diverted his car off the interstate one afternoon as he was returning from the airport following one of his few overnight trips. Stopped in a long line of detoured traffic in front of an industrial park not unlike the one which housed his own corporate headquarters, he saw a corporate logo and a light bulb illuminated in his head. As he thought back, he remembered that Sharon had often carried her tennis gear in a bag with a logo just like the one he was now looking at. On impulse, and realizing that he wasn't making any real progress in traffic, he pulled in to the parking lot, not sure what he was going to do.

Using the new cell phone which had recently be installed in his car, he called his secretary to tell her he would probably not get back to the office and to ask her to check on something for him. Could she look up this company on D&B and find out what the heck they did? He had the answer in a couple of minutes. He wasn't positive but he swore that Sharon had once mentioned the kind of work she did.

Exiting the car, he walked into the waiting area and began to chat with the receptionist. He was a good looking guy and he was wearing a suit which said senior executive. His business card said, Senior Vice President of a well known company. Rather than beat around the bush, he decided to just tell the truth after introducing himself.

"I know this sounds weird. About five year ago I used to play tennis every Saturday with a girl, a woman who lived in our neighborhood. She and my ex-wife were good friends. We completely lost touch with each other. I remember her married name but I think she went through a divorce and changed her name back. Her first name is Sharon." Paul proceeded to describe her general appearance.

"I don't know anyone that meets that description, certainly no one at this office but you're welcome to look through the management 'face' book. If she is in management her picture would be in there along with her bio. If she is a non-exempt, I can't really help you."

Paul flipped through the book slowly. Just as he was about to give up on what he was starting to think had been a foolish idea, there she was, Sharon Bartlett, Vice President and Area Manager. But what area? It didn't say. He returned to the receptionist.

"I think I found her but it doesn't tell me where she is located or how to contact her. Can you help me?"

"Let me check the company phone directory, Bartlett...here she is! She's located in our Southeastern Area office, well she's more than located there, she's the area Vice President! She must have moved there recently. They also list a former number, out in Oregon, that's typical when someone is moving from one job to another and they're not sure which number is current. Otherwise they'd have to reprint the directory every other week. She was the area manager there, I would suppose, before she made VP. I can't believe I haven't seen her before, this office come under her jurisdiction; she must be so new that she hasn't gotten down here to review the troops, so to speak. Let me check the official visitor's calendar. Oh yes! She's scheduled to visit us in two weeks to meet with our local management. Here, let me jot down her office numbers, we don't list home numbers. Best of luck! She's a very pretty lady."

Thanking the young receptionist profusely, Paul returned to his car unsure of what he would do with the information clutched tightly in his hand.

He'd call her. Call her and say what? Hey, are you still interested in having that affair you wanted to have five years ago with a guy nine or ten years older than you are? Or, I'd really love to meet your new husband and see the children I'm sure you have by now. Would you like to play tennis? Paul lived four hours by car and thirty minutes by air from where Sharon lived or was soon going to live. If she had remarried his appearance in her life would not be appreciated. Maybe a little bit of amateur detective work was in order. He got back to the office just as his secretary was preparing to leave.

"Marge, I don't want to hold you up and unless you know off the top of your head, do we do any sort of business with this company?" He said, sliding the annual report he had picked up in front of her.

"It won't take a second Paul, let me check."

"Well, yes and no. They're a claims company. While our medical benefits are self funded we use several companies like this one, generally regionally, to handle some of our employee's medical claims. Regina in HR would have more details and I think she's still in her office."

Paul trotted down the hall to the Vice President of Human Resources. "Regina, have you got a second?"

"Why, anything for my favorite man on the executive floor." Regina replied with a grin.

Paul knew that Regina was not really flirting seriously; she was happily married and had tried, unsuccessfully, to fix him up on more than one occasion.

"Regina this is hardly official. There was a girl I used to know, she and my wife were friends. I used to play tennis with her and we became good friends. I'm pretty sure she works for this company; can you fill me in on our relationship with them?"

Regina replied almost instantly. "They handle benefits claims for us. It started out very regionally, out on the west coast but they're growing almost as fast as we are so they're handling more and more of our area offices. I'm planning to meet with them in the near future. By the end of the year they'll have locations that geographically mesh with all of our locations and we're going to talk about single sourcing our claims requirements. Generally I meet with their corporate people out in Phoenix, but it's a hike, so I believe I'll be meeting with someone from their Southeastern office, a hop skip and a jump from here. She's the VP over there and is going to wear two hats effectively becoming our 'corporate account executive' if our talks go well."

"You wouldn't happen to know her name would you?"

"Let me check. I haven't met her yet, she's been bouncing back and forth from the Northwest. Her name is Sharon Bartlett."

Paul smiled and Regina didn't miss it.

"Don't tell me she is the girl of your dreams?" Regina said playfully.

"Have you got more than a second Regina?"

"Close the door, bothersome Senior Vice President."

And Paul told Regina the whole story. Regina had known that Paul was divorced and that his former wife had medical issues but the details were quite startling.

"So you two never, did the nasty?"

"Not my style, Regina. Look, I don't want be a complication for her or anyone else. I don't want to call her up at work and create an awkward moment. Even if she's not married with a second or third kid on the way, it never got any farther than a mild flirtation on a rainy Saturday morning. I was probably the only other guy she knew at all well and, as I recall, she was contemplating a grudge fling not a long term relationship."

"Well, as the resident match maker and founding member of the lonely hearts club in this building, at least let me make some discreet inquiries. My secretary can talk to her secretary and scope thing out. I'll give you a buzz in the morning. Now go home to those beautiful children of yours."

Paul received a personal visit from Regina a little before ten the next morning.

"Okay, I can only do so much, that's why you make the big bucks. Sharon Bartlett never remarried and has no children. She is one of the shooting stars in her company and will doubtless continue to move up rapidly. She has temporary accommodations near the Southeastern office and as far as the secretary grape vine goes, has no serious entanglements of the male variety. I did get her home number at her temporary residence."

"Thank you Regina, you're a God sent." Paul replied with a grin.

"I didn't give you the most interesting scuttlebutt. But first, if you and the lovely Ms. Bartlett should end up rekindling an old flame, you have precisely nothing to do with our choice of claims processing providers. That's pretty much my call and their company is head and shoulders above the competitors. Assuming we can strike a deal money wise, I've already sold a single source agreement to the big guys, so conflict of interest is not remotely an issue."

"Why are you telling me this, Regina?"

"Because rumor has it that, particularly if we end up in a single source with them, it's likely that they are going to move the area office here...right down the street."

"Oh."

"Yea, 'oh', now what are you going to do about it?"

"I don't have the foggiest idea."

"Okay, well I'm flying over there to meet with her in the next week, an in and out. Then she's going to come up here the following week---hopefully to sign the deal."

"Regina, I haven't exactly, 'been a courtin' in fifteen years."

"Men! You're are one hell of a 'take no prisoners', hang it out there risk takers I've ever met. That what I like about you---and so does the old man. You were a combat officer for Christ sake!"

"Right. And other than high school and college I have zero dating experience. The rules have changed and it scares the hell out of me. Regina, I really liked her. We spent six months or so getting to know each other. If my situation had been different..."

"Okay, I'll let you off the hook. Hell, I went through the same thing. I met my husband when I was only a couple of years younger than you are now and neither one us had a hell of a lot of experience in dating. Let me think about his. I've got to go out of town tomorrow; I'll be back Wednesday. Don't do anything until I've had time to mull it over, deal?"

"Deal!"

***

"Sharon! Regina Phelps, when are you going to be back on this side of the country?"

"Regina! It's good to hear from you. Actually, I'm about to leave rainy Oregon for the final time. I'm flying out this afternoon and I'll be in the Southeastern office tomorrow. What's on your mind?"

"Any chance I could hop over and see you for an hour or so tomorrow? No dog and pony show, just a little one on one time."

"Absolutely! I'll be a little jet lagged but my schedule is pretty open. Sometime after ten sound workable?"

"Hold on; let me get my secretary to check the flights."

"Every hour on the hour, on the half hour back. The 9:00 AM is open. You'll be walking out of the airport by ten."

"Book it with a return say, around 2:30 PM."

"Sharon? I'll get in around ten, by the time I rent a car..."

"No need to rent a car, Regina. The airport is ten minutes from our office; we plan it that way in all of our locations. I have an extended stay arrangement between the two locations. I can pick you up and drop you back off whenever you need to get back."

As Regina came out of the jet way she recognized Sharon immediately since the two women had coordinated appropriate recognition garments. Sharon looked very young, Regina thought to herself, and very cute, no more than cute, drop dead adorable. Oh, yea, I can see why Paul's heart is doing little flip flops over this one.

Sharon's knowledge of the business and Regina's company's requirements was astounding and belied her youthful appearance. All of her people were equally sharp. After meeting key staff people, the two women returned to Sharon's office.

"Sharon, we're very inclined to go ahead with this deal; you folks are head and shoulders ahead of the competition. It's going to come down to price. If you're equal, you win. If you're a little high, you'll still win. If you're less, I'll probably get a bonus. You've always been very competitive. Are you loss leading some accounts or what?"

"Not at all Regina. Most companies in this business did not start in this business. They did other things that made this a natural transition once the whole third party reimbursement system unfolded. Our competitors have large legacy systems to maintain and often top heavy management structures. Plus, in all humility, they just don't understand this business as well as we do. I started out in college entering claims data into a computer. So did our CEO and every other manager or executive in the company. Our founders cut their teeth working for the competition back in college and learned how not to do it. We designed our computer system and every single phase of the business to do one job. This is not an add-on or a side business. Our employees all participate in the profit-sharing plan. Half of my compensation is based on how well we do. We are very lean and exceptionally productive. Our cost per claim is substantially less than the rest of the industry---and no I'm not going to tell you how much less. The larger the client, that is, the more claims we process from a single employer, the lower the cost per claim. We don't have to change set ups to deal with multiple different forms or procedures. In essence, if you like the way we do the job, and our surveys tell us that your employees are very pleased with our turn around and customer service, then we'll be there at the right price point."

"Hell, Sharon, write it up and let's get together at our place early next week. I've been stalling the competition but I've got their numbers. Shoot me a number by the end of the week and if it looks reasonable we'll move on it."

"You've got it!"

"Now, I have another matter to discuss. We could probably have handled most of the business stuff over the phone but this second part is a little more personal. Two words, Sharon...Paul Davis."

"Paul? Do you know Paul? It's been five years; he and I used to play tennis...his wife was..."

The look on Sharon's face was a combination of, regret and remembrance, maybe even longing. It was a reaction that said Paul Davis was more than an old tennis partner who had slipped from her consciousness. It was a look which said, I've thought about him often and recently.

"Well, before you ask any questions, let me bring you up to speed." And Regina gave Sharon a synopsis of Paul's life over the last few years.

"So, Sharon, Paul thought of, thinks of you often; he had no idea where you were or what your last name was. He tried to track you down after Pamela went into a coma. One day as he was driving back from the airport he saw the same logo you used to have on your gym bag, found your picture in the company management book, and then a hour or so later, was in my office. He has absolutely no idea that I am here or that we are having this discussion. He's only known your scant particulars for a couple of days."