Requiem for a Fallen Wife Redux

The first stop was the kitchen. Leann thought to herself, "Wow, this is poverty compared to Beacon Hill where I came from, but I could become accustomed to a lot less than elegance in exchange for this, with the right roommate. Could I adjust to John again?"

The Hack continued, "The small refrigerator will be for my roommate and to its right, through that lockable door, will be his or her quarters." There, they saw two twin beds in a large, clean, but never-used, efficiency apartment. In the corner, free-weights were stacked up along with upper body machines with a never-used treadmill beside it. The equipment still had the wrapping paper on it. He continued, "The exit and entrance to the condo are through that door." Later, after seeing one of John's bedrooms, he continued, "I will have the building superintendent move the gym equipment into here before the new roommate moves in with me."

While they were looking at the next small bedroom, Leann visualized it as Greg's room. The next room was the master bedroom, and it only had a KingSize bed, chest of drawers, and a chair in it but provided a splendid view of the city center. Finally, the tour took them to the living room. John said, "The one thing I learned from you is to keep all my equipment in one room, and this is it." John's living room office and the crude shelving overflowed with gear. The shelf was stacked with a dozen pieces of computer stuff, while more equipment lined the floor beneath the shelf. A display board was on each of two walls the width of the room and both boards overflowed with math and program symbols. Leann laughed to herself, "John's handwriting hasn't changed after all these years." The remaining wall contained a window that faced toward the downtown portion of the city and the view was breathtaking to both his visitors, but especially to Greg.

They sat in the kitchen again after the tour and after reheating the beverages. John said, "Well, I had visions that finding a roommate would have been easy, but it has not been. By the way, the bus stop is four blocks, and the subway stop is a half mile. There is a spa in the building that is pricey, but residents get a 75% discount. The grocery and drug store is in the basement. As for a suitable roommate, the other four candidates fell in love with this place, but our personalities were mismatched. Whoever comes, must get along with my iconoclastic ways. I am too old to have someone here who pensively goes around trying not to get on my nerves - and vice versa. You are my final visitor on this share contract, and I must decide because next week is the last one this month and I want the contract to start on the first - or I must pay another steep finders fee for more candidates. So, my first question for you and Greg to think about - but don't answer me yet - is, 'could you and Greg adjust and maybe even find happiness in time living here?"

Leann said as the three stood to leave, "That is fair enough. May we talk or get together again soon?" As the three walked toward the front door, John was unaware that he was holding the young Greg's hand, as the two adults were chatting.

At the front door, John suddenly stopped and asked the youngster's Mom, "May I walk you two to your car?"

She said, "Wonderful." Later the two were buckled in and the driver side window was down, John had walked around the car after helping Greg get seated, and stood beside the open window by Leann. For one brief moment, his horniness and her statuesque beauty made him want to kiss his guest goodbye. But, she raised the window and backed out before he could act.

-------

John Porter returned to his workroom to find three red lights blinking on his alarm panel. Diving in to troubleshoot the errant servers, the sad Techie had no time to contemplate the effect of his ex-wife showing up looking for a place to live. Two hours later calmness had returned to his workplace, and he sat down with a Dos XXs. He thought, "Damn! Would a rematch with Leann be possible? No. Look, Stupid, you still leave food containers and dirty clothes lying around and only get around to cleaning up the bathroom after water stains appear on the toilet bowl. Remember how your messiness always pissed off Leann in the old days? She was always on your case, and that part of her hasn't changed. Forget it, having her here wouldn't possibly work. On the other hand, her youngster is a real gentleman even after living in his household of zero love. And, my recurring wet dreams of Leann continue. But, it just wouldn't work. It's back to the interview process for me, but damn! Roommate hunting is getting expensive. What to do! What to do!"

Later, after Leann and Greg had packed all of their personal effects in leaf bags in their Beacon Hill home, and stacked them neatly they both went to their separate twin beds beside each other in her Son's room. Greg lay playing with his gaming device but stopped and got up to hug his Mom. He then said, "I loved Mister Porter's place, Mom, and he was a super guy. I am going to pretend that he will ask us to move in with him."

Tears began streaming down Leann's face as she leaned forward to kiss him and said, "Your plan is just as good as mine so that I will pretend the same thing. Goodnight, Son. No matter what happens, though, we will face our future together. If Mister Porter wants to invite us to join him, then we will, but otherwise, we will still adjust and do well, O.K.?"

The youngster turned off his gaming device and smiled. "Yes! I feel good about the future - and for sure will be glad to move out of this creepy neighborhood. You know, Daddy almost never came in to say goodnight while that man had just met me and held my hand."

She smiled and said, "I am very well aware of that. Mom is sorry, but the future will be more fun than the past. Promise! About your father, neither of us like the man, but you will see him from time to time in the future so grin and enjoy the fancy food and presents he will give you. You are growing up quickly, and the one advantage of being grown-up and independent is that you only have to deal with people whom you choose."

A slight smile and look of calmness spread across the youngster's face. He said, "Wow, Mom. That is cool." Soon he lay down as his eyes were obviously heavy with sleep.

At the same time four miles away John Porter had lain in bed trying unsuccessfully to force sleep to come. He got up and walked around and said to nobody, "O.K., Mister Analytical man, what do we have here? You need a compatible roommate who pays a fourth of the cost of living here. The only one you are personally compatible with is Leann because her music, book, and view of life mirror yours. She has a youngster who could become a buddy. But, if the person she was ten years ago surfaces, then what?" John had a thousand thoughts and finally slammed a fist into his other hand and said, "Eureka! That is the answer!" At this point, John also felt heavy eyelids and went to bed and dreamlessly slept."

The next morning it was early breakfast as usual for the Hack and then to work. At eleven O'Clock he bathed, shaved and took the bus to the skyscraper where Leeann worked. At the security checkpoint in the bank lobby high rise office building, he called his ex's bank and finally reached her VM. "Proprietary Trade accounting, Ms. Porter. Please leave a message." John hung up and texted her cell phone, "I am waiting in the lobby of your building. When can we talk?"

Leann's phone dinged while she was making a case argument to the senior committee for a high dollar write off of a worthless securitization of asset purchases to be approved. She finished her prepared remarks and fielded questions while her mind would occasionally hope that the text she had just gotten was from John Porter. After she had answered the last query of a committee member concerning the zero-net-worth judgment, she took her seat again at the mahogany table and glanced at her phone that showed the Accountant had received the text she had hoped would come. A huge smile mixed with tears broke out on her face. Her curious, soon to be ex-husband, Mister Thompson, who sat across the large table from her, chairing the committee, looked carefully at her face and said, "Ms. Porter, is there something more you would like to say?"

She replied with a face showing zero emotion, "I have no more comments if there are no more questions."

The secretary took a vote, and floor officer's case won approval. The committee members started gathering up papers and standing to stretch their legs and returned to bullshitting with each other. Leann replied to John's text, "Be down in ten minutes. LP" She went to her section administrator who was eating his sandwich at his desk and said, "I am going out to lunch, and I might slip out for the afternoon - more personal business concerning my divorce - if anyone is looking for me. Would you cover for me again like yesterday, Doug?"

The young man smiled and said, "Sure thing."

In the lobby, Leann saw that John Porter's Macbook was open and that he was focused on what he was doing. She stood and watched him work a minute before he was aware that she stood in front of him. Her thought was, "Some things don't change. John still never wastes one minute of his time. Well, what could one expect from someone who earned his first Ph.D. at 21 years old? John is 'small fry' but thinks 'big' while I pretended to be 'big' basking in a luxury lifestyle I never earned - and, the fact is that neither did my piece-of-meat, empty suit ex-husband, Thompson. John Porter earned every cent he has using his brain while Thompson 'chose his parents wisely' who gave him a silver spoon and later the right connections with the right people, but mutilated his mind in the process."

John looked up and saw Leann's ear-to-ear smile where the lighting caused her whitened teeth to sparkle, and his heart stopped beating. He commanded himself, "Get a grip, old Man; she is not yours." He closed his files and started powering down. By the time his device was in his sling pack and he was standing, a huge smiled had spread over his face as well. Joking, he said to her, "You look like...."

She put her finger on her lips, Shhh, and said, "Talking will destroy the magic." She took his hand, and they walked two blocks and entered a salad bar that years ago had been a happy-hour bar frequented by Mark Thompson and her. Today, she sat across from John Porter feeling the elation at being here with him that was impossible to describe."

John took a bite and said, "Leann, I propose that you and Greg move into the housekeeper quarters at half the stated rent on a six-month trial lease. For the other half, I own a parking place but no car. You park there and put me on your insurance policy so we both can drive your car for the remaining half of your rent. The signed agreement would be for six months, and all legal like and could be renewed using the forms provided by the roommate finder service. I know the quarters are cramped, so I expect you two to use the rest of my condo at will. In case you agree, this afternoon I will ask the superintendent to move the gym equipment out of your quarters into the small bedroom that is empty."

Leann stopped chewing and put her fork down. She made a joke and said, "I see. The 'rest of your condo' does not include your bed, I presume. But your terms make the price completely affordable for me, and it makes sense - as you do need a car since Uber and cab and subway fares are so expensive."

He replied, "If our relationship ever again includes sex we will both have learned whether or not the other person is for real. Leann, I don't know you now and won't pretend that I do. Yes, I thought I knew you in our youth, but I didn't. That mistake cost me a bankroll and took me a long time to not feel pain when I recalled the circumstances of our parting. The bottom line is that I still don't know you - or you, me - but I want to learn who you are for the same reason I wanted to know you when you bumped into me at that Library so long ago. And, you have an immediate housing emergency I can help solve if we began a symbiotic relationship at once. If you still don't like 'John,' anytime during the six months just move out - and if I don't like Leann, I will ask you to get out. Fair enough?"

She wiped her hand with a napkin as two giant tear drops rolled down her mascara, and reached across the table to shake hands to seal their completed deal. After lunch, she asked, "Since we both have agreed verbally, it's a deal. Do you have a copy of that share agreement?"

He reached into his sling pack and fetched a copy already signed by himself and laid it in front of her. She didn't even read it and just signed it and gave it to John. He smiled and asked, "May I see your key ring?" She put it on the table without comment and John immediately added his mailbox key, and finally the servant's door key to her ring. He continued, "Your resident parking code is your birth year. Park in slot 514 near the freight elevator and the same code works there. I will alert the security desk that you live with me now. Move in at your convenience. If I could spare the time, I would offer to assist."

Leann began crying profusely. Finally, she said, "I will have help, but thanks for the thought. Just for talking purposes, how does a thinking person live so that he or she makes the desired impression? In other words, if I were to be the landlord, and you desperately wanted to impress me past six months, what would you do?"

"I wouldn't act. Being myself and letting the chips fall where they may have always been my mantra - and yes, I skipped high school and was awarded a Ph.D. at 21, as you said, but I did that without a single peer who influenced me. My renegade father taught me that by being myself and letting the chips fall, happiness is possible - and I believe it more and more the older I get. Sometimes even today I get lucrative job offers and contract work offers, but hanging my shingle is everything to me, so I decline them. My advice is that you might want to pursue what is 'everything' important to you."

"Strange, John, that you should exactly say what I was thinking. I have spent ten years trying to be what someone else thought was 'important,' but no more, thanks to you."

He stood and replied, "I hate to cut this short, but I need to get back to work, Leann. I look forward to seeing you and Greg at our home shortly at your convenience." They said their goodbyes shaking hands business like in front of her bank building while John made his way to the subway stop."

Part 2

It was Saturday, three days later when John had gotten up early and worked until 11:00. He then met four Anonymous Hacker friends for a brief soup-n-salad lunch. There was little said in the public location about technology as the topics de jure were weather, traffic, sports, prices in general and the Boston Bruins in particular. Then the group adjourned to walk in a nearly deserted park section and discuss technology. When one of the group created a breakthrough solution for an existing access barrier problem, for example, the discussion was on technology for unblocking it. The same was true with a solution for blocking and removing malicious code that attempted to slip through. Their motif was to pass such how-to's on to each other at these random meets. A cryptic Craigs List Personal message by either of the members was the signal of the next lunch meeting, and the restaurant name was one of the ten, each identified by a number known by all four.

This afternoon had been a long one, and John Porter was tired because he had gotten up early to do as much as possible of his bookkeeping work and then attend the lunch. When the last of the group said goodbye and boarded his northbound subway, John took the southbound one. He walked into the main entrance of his building and first went straight to the public men's room and sat in a stall. After turning off his wi-fi and cell applications, he took a photo of the two sheets of paper collected from his peers, and then shredded and flushed the paper. Then he went to the main elevators and rode to the tenth floor. He opened his door and almost fainted.

The aroma of the sliced beef barbecue dinner was overwhelming. John thought, "Leann and Greg must have catered that because she remembered that is my favorite food."

The two new roommates charged into the Foyer and both said, "Surprise!"

He held both of the newcomer's hands and then looked at her youngster and asked, "I hope a fourth-grader can learn to like it here."

He grinned ear to ear and said, "I already do. May I show you my ant farm," as he grabbed the grownup's hand to lead him?

"I would love to see it."

John saw a half dozen leaf bags stacked up and clothes laid out on each of the twin beds in the housekeeper quarters. There was a thin glassed-in container holding sand four feet high sitting against the wall in the housekeeper rooms and Greg replied proudly, "I have over a million ants, let me try to find the queen for you..."

His Mom interrupted and said, "Greg, show John later, please, because we must get ready for dinner." Reluctance showed on his face, but he agreed.

Sitting down at the table to eat, both of the adults were speechless. Greg chatted away about school. Finally, Leann said, "My administrative assistant volunteered to help me move using his SUV," as she put a copy of her car keys on the table for John's use. Your thoughtful security person even came out to my car to glue the outer garage door magnetic opener on when I brought my car on the last trip."

John said, "Fantastic! I love it when a plan comes together. By the way, twin bed linens were included in the price of the beds and are here somewhere, but I forgot where I stuffed them."

"I already explored your house and found the linen and pillows along with some blankets. Also, while I was exploring your house, I retrieved the framed photo of you and me in front of the Bermuda-Cruise Welcome sign at their cruise port that you showed me already. I lost it John, and asked, my helper Doug to take Greg for hot chocolate for a break." Tears were streaming down her face quietly, and there was silence at the table.

John said, "That is good that you found what you needed. Did either of you have any parting words with Greg's father?"

She said, "No. Thompson ignored his son while the boy stood beside him thinking his Dad might say something, but the man kept reading. I finally took my ex's door and mailbox key off my ring and laid it on the coffee table and the two of us walked toward the front door. Thompson finally said, 'Best of luck to both of you.' He never even looked up when he said that, and our physical separation process was complete. Good riddance! I am a hundred pounds lighter."

John said, "Wow! I couldn't have even imagined that men like him exist anywhere, much less a mover-and-shaker in a government crony business like a major bank. Whew! What a world!"

To lighten the atmosphere, John turned to Greg and said, "Young man, if you and your Mom move out, I at this moment promise to treat you to a Disney World visit as a goodbye present!"

The youngster, quick on the uptake, jumped up with excitement and exclaimed with glee, "Mom! Let's move now!" The three roared with laughter.

!!!!!!!!!!!!

Coming up on three months later the three had become very comfortable and completely at ease around each other. The two former lovers fought a rising desire to touch and hold other, but neither acted on it. Their daily business process quickly morphed into a routine. She walked Greg to the bus stop outside the high rise and waited for transport to the private school he attended. John met Greg in the afternoon and welcomed him home. There was no TV in the house so without asking, the accountant in her began to translate his crude bookkeeping into a professional system to keep herself busy in the evenings after a day of busy-work at the bank. The more he allowed her to do the more she did. Her 'interference' allowed John to focus more on being productive. The Hack had hard sold three installations of his 'future cash-cow' that he had been struggling with for months. The resulting referrals spiraled his number of orders.