Pauline

"You obviously weren't paying attention. I had two men who I'm pretty sure weren't in their forties yet ask me if you were single, or if you and I were in a serious relationship. And when that caddy came in to collect his foursome, he was so distracted looking at you and Bonnie the men had to push him out the door."

She flushed and then laughed. "I feel so alive! Rob better take some vitamins tonight."

"He was up early. Don't wait. Jump him as soon as you hit the door. When was the last time you enjoyed a romantic interlude in the middle of the day?"

"Not since Pauline was two. This empty nest thing might just work out."

Then she grinned. "That does not mean I'm opposed to grandchildren. The beauty of grandchildren is you can spoil them rotten, pour sugar into them, and then call Mom and Dad to pick them up. I'm hoping I get to do that soon. I'm not getting any younger here."

"You couldn't prove it by me. And here we are."

Rob and Pauline were waiting by the door when we arrived, no doubt to regale us with fish stories, but when Monica got out of the car and seemed to glide across the driveway, both of them lost their train of thought. She kissed Pauline on the cheek and laid a lip lock on Rob. Then she pushed him back.

"You smell like a fish, honey. Run on up to the shower while I say goodbye to the children. Then I'll be up to wash your back."

He stood for a minute before bolting through the door, calling his goodbyes out over his shoulder. Monica hugged us both and pushed us out the door.

Pauline had little to say for most of the drive. Then she grinned. "All right, what did you do to Mom?"

"I played a round of golf with her, then played another round with Judge Adler while she took advantage of the amenities of the spa. I think she needed reminding that she was still a beautiful and desirable woman. A fact your father is rediscovering just about now, unless I miss my guess. If the old saying about how you can tell how your wife will look in twenty years by looking at their mother is true, you're going to be one very hot grandmother."

She positively glowed.

*****

Marta was not smiling when I showed up for work Monday.

"You sure about this, boss?"

"Sure about what, my little Island Goddess?"

She colored up nicely and almost giggled before composing her face again. "Pauline. Are you sure she's a good choice? I'm not just saying that because you're supposed to be mine. I'm saying it because of her history. She's already bragging about the house you two will live in. Plus, she's getting someone to investigate you."

"You know this how?"

"The PAN."

"Sounds like some sort of secret organization."

"It is. It stands for the Personal Assistant Network. We talk, you know, and a lot of it has been about you. Before you say it, we never betray the trust of our bosses, but everybody is pretty much fair game and most of what we talk about is public knowledge. A couple of the girls really do not like her. At all."

"Good information to have. Do they know about our future?"

"Of course they do. Beverly and Shannon have gotten spells and potions as well. Management better watch out."

"Noted. Now, can we get some actual work done?"

We spent most of the day planning for a trade show we were attending. We were going to roll out some new products and do a lot of networking. The team I had put together were going to go down two days before to set up. Marta and I were flying in the night before, and between all of us the booth would be manned while Marta and I networked the big boys.

Just before we left for the day, she took my hands in hers and she had tears in her eyes. "Mona told me you were going to marry her, that she was going to break your heart, and that after you'd cleared your head, fate would put us together again. I want you to know I think you're worth waiting for, even if it does break my heart."

Then she cheered up. "Angelique."

"What?"

"Our second daughter. We'll call her Angel, for short."

I hugged her sadly. "You are a very complex woman, Marta. You tell me I'm going to marry a woman who will break my heart, then tell me the name of our second daughter. It just occurred to me; would I even get any say in their names?"

Her dazzling smile showed through. "Not the first three. Cybil has already seen them. She says Angel will be a blond and look a lot like her grandmother. She says you get to name the next two."

"Well thank you for that consideration. How did you know my mother was a blond?"

"I didn't until she told me about the hair. Then I looked her up. She's a very lovely woman."

That gave me a lot to think about on the drive home.

Three weeks later, after a rousing round of sex, as we lay in post sexual bliss, I asked Pauline a question.

"Did the investigators find anything interesting in my background? Anything you want to ask me about?"

She stiffened and sat up. "How did you know?"

I wasn't about to expose Marta. "Most of the people you talked to are still my friends. It didn't occur to you one might let me know someone was poking around?"

That part was true. Five different people had called, including Leslie and Carmella. Even more had been concerned and passed their thoughts along through the others. I'd called the girls right after Marta had told me and they warned everyone else, so the investigators learned very little that wasn't public knowledge.

"Your friends seem to be very loyal. I think the whole thing became a game to them. They'd tell the investigators all kinds of wild tales about you, or just smile and walk away. Even in bars and restaurants, they seemed to know who the investigators were. Then they started playing games, having their rental cars towed, using computers to check them out of their lodgings, reporting their credit cards as being stolen. The whole thing was very frustrating for them. Two gave up in disgust and quit."

Then she smiled. "They did talk to one model who was very unflattering to you. A little digging brought to light it was just sour grapes after you dumped her. What did she do that would make you get rid of someone that smoking hot?"

"Beauty isn't always just on the outside. We made promises and she broke them. Very few people ever get second chances with me."

She stiffened a little. "Are you angry with me?"

"Not really. You could have just asked your father. He had me checked out pretty thoroughly and I told my friends to be honest with him."

"You know he would never have shared that. There are lines he won't cross, and business is kept completely apart from personal matters. I've decided it doesn't matter and that we each have to take each other at face value."

"Good thinking. If one of us does something, the truth always finds a way to come out. All that being said, I think we should go to the next level. I haven't been seeing anyone else but if you have, we need to make this exclusive. Do you agree?"

She nearly threw me out of the bed the way she swarmed me. "I've haven't been with a man since three months before we met, and you're the only one for me. How exclusive? Dating exclusive or cohabitating exclusive?"

I smiled at her enthusiasm. "Dating for now. If we don't get derailed, the next will come shortly."

"This train ain't comin' off the tracks."

*****

French Enterprises was starting to get a lot of attention, thanks to my public relations work, our trade show booths, and our charitable enterprises. I had worked out a deal with Rob that had him sending his more promising employees to community college, paid for by the company. We had eight in the program, and twenty more applications.

In the months that followed, Pauline and I drew closer. Leslie and Carmella were still cautious, but accepting. I had moved out of their condo and gotten one of my own. Pauline was living with me full time by then and we were very happy.

On our one-year anniversary, she surprised me by dropping to her knee and proposing. "It's been a year since we moved in together. If I haven't proven myself by now, we have no future. If that's true, it will break my heart, but I'll move out immediately."

I grinned and pulled the box out of my pocket. "Well then, it looks like I need to seal the deal. Pauline Amanda French, will..."

"Absolutely. Yes. Hell Yes. Now put that ring on my finger."

When we made the announcement, her parents seemed happier than we did.

Marta had been getting more and more withdrawn and when the announcement came out, she put in her notice. I tried to talk her out of it but she was adamant.

"I can't stay here and watch you get hurt, no matter how much I love you. You remember this, Jason Grant Halston. Even if you don't see it now, I'm still destined to be your soulmate. You won't hear from me, but I'll be keeping an eye on you. I really hope it lasts and you find happiness."

She was gone.

*****

We'd been married a year and a half. Pauline was 32, not in the danger zone but the window was closing, so I brought up the subject of children. I was surprised when she hesitated. "We're still young. Let's enjoy a few more years before we settle down."

"As far as I'm concerned, we are settled down. Your clock might not be ticking, but mine is. Think about it, will you?"

Things were a little uneasy for a while before we fell back into our patterns. Pauline had to travel a few days a month, usually just day trips and back before bedtime. Once a month she was at the facility four states away, so she stayed overnight and packed as much work as she could into the two days. I would go with her when I could, but I had my own set of responsibilities and I gradually just let her go on her own.

I'd catch her staring vacantly out the window and wonder if she was thinking about children. It seemed high time to revisit that discussion.

*****

Then I ran into Bob's wife at a restaurant. I really didn't remember her, but when she introduced herself I invited her to share my table. Her husband had streamlined the supply chains in all the plants and his cost saving methods did not go unnoticed.

Rob had given him a car as a bonus. It was a Cadillac SUV with all the bells and whistles. Gina immediately took it away from him, declaring it the perfect mommymobile. We talked about her husband, the car, she showed me pictures of her three kids and I told her I hoped that soon I'd have a photo or two to share.

She looked at me oddly. "That's good, Jason. It seems you're recovering very well. When I heard you were separated, I thought your marriage was over. I'm glad you worked out your problems."

My instincts kicked in and I kept my voice neutral. "Thank you, Gina. Not many people knew about the separation. How did you find out?"

"I'm sorry, but it's pretty common knowledge at the Jefferson plant, especially after she dated Robert Sinclair. They were pretty hot and heavy for a while, but then it cooled. I'm glad, he was a bit of a player."

We ended lunch and she caught my mood. "I'm sorry if I brought up old hurts, Jason. Bob thinks the world of you and says you're one of the best things to happen to the company in a long while."

I kissed her cheek. "Don't upset yourself, Gina. It's all water under the bridge now. Tell Bob I said hi."

I thought about it for a little, then I decided to investigate. If it was all rumors and gossip, I'd let it go. If there was the least amount of truth in what Gina had said, my future with Pauline would be over.

Looking through my old contacts, I found the number I wanted. Fred Johnson wasn't a private detective, he was a security consultant with a global company I had used time to time in my old career. I gave him a call and we caught up for a minute.

"Freddie, this isn't a social call. I have a target I need investigated and it's hot. I'll send a dossier and photos within the hour. Spare no effort on this and take a month. She travels and I want a full picture. Can you do it?"

"Of course I can, my friend. She'll have four people on her round the clock starting next week. How dirty do you want this? Should we hack her electronics?"

"Absolutely. I want everything: phone calls, emails, texts, the works. Take a lot of pictures, especially if she seems to be up to something."

"I have to ask, if this business or personal?"

"Personal."

There was a long silence. "All right. I'm sorry, my friend."

"Don't be. There may be nothing to worry about, but I'd rather know than not know. Thanks, Fred."

The next month was difficult for me. Pauling caught on and asked me if I was all right. I put it off on stress from work and she stayed pretty close to me.

Neville called at the end of the month. "There's really nothing to report. She went to work, then home or her hotel room. She never spent any inappropriate time with anyone."

The tone of his voice knew he had something else. "But..."

"Well, she seems to have had a romance at one of the plants she called on a few months ago. It went hot and heavy for three months and then stopped. It's all hearsay and we have no proof, just what we overheard form the office workers. That and her lover bragged about bagging the wife of a hotshot from the home plant."

"Mostly though, I'm concerned about what my operatives heard in a restaurant, at a meal she had with a coworker. Let me play you the conversation."

An unknown voice came on, a woman. "So, Hon, how's the love life?"

Pauline was instantly recognizable. "As good as it gets, with the hubby. He really is a good lover."

"That's it. You're not playing anymore?"

"I didn't say that. Jason was giving me a strange vibe this month so I've been a good girl, just in case he suspects anything. I doubt he'd have me investigated, but better safe than sorry. I'll give it another month to cool down. Then I think I'll play until January. That's when I'm going off the pill and start our family."

That was all I needed to hear. The investigation was costing me roughly a hundred and fifty thousand a month, but I considered it money well spent and I could afford it.

She lasted another five weeks. Then she seduced a customer on one of her day trips. working until noon and then playing until it was time to come home. I had video and audio and should have pulled the trigger then, but morbid curiosity got the best of me. She played with an employee of the company on another trip, and picked up a random stranger at a bar on her overnight, screwing him until just before check out.

I thought about how to handle it and decided a picture was worth a thousand words, printing out a still from every one of her trysts, and added a few texts and emails that were particularly raunchy. I laid a note on top of it.

"Don't fight the divorce. I know you chose lovers that were married so they wouldn't talk. Their wives will be getting these pictures and more tomorrow. Let's not let it get to be too much of a public spectacle. Think about your parents and the company and don't let the mud splatter on any of them.

"I'll be gone when you get back. I'm not running away, but I think it might be a spectacularly bad idea if we're in close proximity right now. Don't call, don't text, you'll be wasting your time."

I popped in to see Rob, telling him I had a family emergency and was going back to England for a week or so. He was a good man and immediately offered his help if I needed it. I handed him the report on Pauline and asked him to read it after I left. It was just a document without pictures, I didn't want him or Monica see something they couldn't forget.

I realized as I boarded the plane that the one I regretted most getting hurt was Monica. We had become very close and she was always over at the condo. Pauline used to laugh and remind her mother I was married to her, not the other way around. Monica always laughed and said she'd better be glad Pauline saw me first. She spent a lot of time talking about baby names, and had already decorated a nursery in her house, painting it a neutral color.

Pauline looked at it with both parents. "Really, Mom?"

Monica grinned. "You're not getting any younger, you know. Best to be prepared."

And now I was on a plane out of their lives.

*****

It wasn't like the shit hit the fan, more along the lines of a waste treatment plant exploding.

Pauline got home from her day trip and after we landed in New York to transfer I watched her on video as she came through the door. "Jason, Honey, where are you. What a day I've had! I just want to relax, sip some wine and snuggle. We'll order in. Jason?"

I saw her looking puzzled because my Jag was still in the garage. She went to the living room first, then the bedroom, then the kitchen. When she got to the dining room, she saw the packages and idly picked one up. Her scream must have been really loud as well as it came through. Then she surprised me by fainting dead away.

I sent a text to Monica saying she needed to get over as quickly as she could and twenty minutes later, she came through the door. It wasn't locked, but even if it had been she had a set of keys.

By then Pauline was sitting on the sofa, staring at space. She wasn't even crying, just sitting there totally blank. Monica tried several times to get her to talk before calling 911. While she waited, she reached down and picked up some papers. Then she gasped and her own tears started.

Rob showed up a few minutes later with a look of thunder on his face. One look at his daughter changed that to one of concern.

Pauline spent three days in the hospital being evaluated and treated for shock. I felt bad when I found out about it, but not much. She had to try calling me every opportunity she had, and I let it all go to voicemail. I also didn't answer texts or emails. Then Monica called.

"HI, Mom."

"Jason? Jason Honey, I'm so sorry. Pauline had a breakdown and spent three days at the hospital. She's with us now so we can watch her. Is there any way..."

Her voice trailed off, realizing the futility of the question she was going to ask.

"No. None. This wasn't a onetime slip. She's been with at least five different men in the last fourteen months, all while I was begging her to start a family. That means she was unfaithful to me less than a year after being married. This goes a lot deeper than I think any of us realize, and I urge you to get her a counselor."

She was crying brokenly and I felt really sad for her. I tried to sooth her from four thousand miles away and she finally stopped. "Tell Rob I'm sorry. I'll be resigning within the month, and I'll be back in a few days to wrap some projects up and hopefully spend some time with my successor. Make it clear to Pauline she is not to contact me, speak to me, not come anywhere near me. If she does the resignation will become immediate and I'll leave."

"I... I understand. We're really going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you, as well. It was like having a second set of parents and I loved every minute of it. Monica, I don't want you or Rob to take any blame for this. I'm pretty sure you didn't do anything wrong in bringing up Pauline. She needs to find out what triggers this behavior and overcome it. I have to go now. I'll see you in a few days.

When I spilled my tale of woe to my mother at her country estate, she tried to be sympathetic, but I had the feeling she had never liked Pauline and wasn't terribly upset that we had parted.

I spent two days with her before moving to a villa in Tuscany owned by Mom's new significant other. No one knew the connection, and it would be the perfect place to isolate for a few days. That was my plan until Leslie and Carmella showed up two days later and I got the same feeling from then as I did from my mother. I asked them to tell me the truth.

Carmella sighed. "There was something inherently unstable in her makeup. You weren't trained to notice, but I got glimpses of it from time to time. I had a long talk with her on your opinion of monogamy and she said she was in total agreement, but the way she moved her eyes and her body language said she wasn't quite sure about it. You say she may go into counseling. That's an excellent idea. I hope whoever her counselor is they dig until they find the root cause of her instability. If they do, they can move forward."