Retirement

This story was written without an editor. All mistakes are mine. I was stationed in Japan and Myrtle Beach. I had a contract In Saudi Arabia, A guy I knew was going thru a divorce. I believe his wife could not touch his salary. Hope you enjoy this story. Tejmjm55

*****

April 2000, after 25 years in the Air Force, Allen Stinson was ready to retire. He would be retiring as a Senior Master Sargent and managed to retire near his hometown.

He was not sure what he was going to do and had a little while to think about it. His initial plan was to relax for a few months, Maybe take his wife on a cruise. She should be able to take a couple of weeks off.

Allen was raised In South Carolina with one brother and 3 sisters who live within 100 miles from each other. He graduated in June of 75 and was active duty in July. After Tech school, he got stationed in Japan as a firefighter. It was there he met Robin Young. Her father was a Chief Master Sargent. Her mother was Japanese. He married her after a year. They had 3 daughters: Tatyka, Jessica and Jennifer. The wedding was May 78 and the third daughter was born in Feb 83. Another advantage of living in Japan, Robin had a lot of relatives who lived near the base, built in babysitters. Robin finished her degree and got a job at a bank on base. Allen only worked 6 days out of 14, On the days he worked a member of her family could watch the girls.

After 10 years in Japan, he got stationed in Myrtle Beach. There he was part of a deployable engineering squadron. During Desert Storm he was deployed for a few months to Saudi Arabia. While he was there, he met some contract firefighters who were getting paid quite well. He stayed in contact with a couple of the contractors. Soon after he got back stateside Myrtle Beach closed. He finished out his career near his hometown, about 10 miles from his place of birth.

Upon arriving at Myrtle Beach Robin got a job at a bank with branches nationwide. With her degree and experience she was able to progress in her career. By the time Allen retired she was a VP of Asian markets. Her fluency in Japanese came in handy.

Tiki and Jessi were students at a local branch of a state university. Jenn was in her senior year of high school and had already been accepted at the state university. They each had their own car. His wife has a new suv. She needs it to commute to her job 40 miles each way.

Allen was laying on the couch catching a cat nap. Earlier he had been studying some travel brochures for train travel across Europe. He even had a letter from the travel agent for the final details awaiting his payment. It had the entire itinerary including plane and train tickets. The loan had already been approved and was awaiting the final paperwork, He was to finalize everything the next day. The travel brochures were still on his desk and his desk was off limits.

His brother had dropped him off and taken his car to put on new brakes and rotors. It is nice to have a brother who is a mechanic. He would be dropping it off later today. He heard Robin and Tatyka walk in. They did not know he was home and could not see him from the kitchen.

T: " How was your date with John, hear he is good looking?"

R: " Best sex I have had in a long time ,your father, bless his soul is a good man but not much of a lover Do not know what I am going to do after he retires, might need to stay out late some nights ,guess I could find an excuse to work late."

T: " What are you going to do now that dad is retiring soon?"

R: "Take some days off from work as far as the bank is concerned but leave for work like I do every day and meet at a downtown hotel. It is nice to take a morning off occasionally. What are you going to do if your father finds out all 3 of you have been covering for me?"

T." We will just plead innocent and act surprised and disgusted."

R: " Here is the laptop I need it for a meeting this afternoon. Can you give me a ride back to my car?"

Allen just lay there stunned. How could he be so blind? How was it he never caught her when he took off early, they had a spy at the station who warned them. Several people would know when he left, because he had to have someone to take his place. He had to literally tell himself to pull it together. He would officially be retired next week. The first thing he did was contact a foreign contractor to see if there was an opening. He learned there was an opening for a Fire Chief in Qatar to start a week after his retirement. The day after the revealing, he went to a bank to open an account in his name only, He changed his direct deposit. His retirement would go into this account while he planned to open an account on an International Bank to deposit his contract money, his family would not see that money. Finally, Allen called his siblings and explained his plans.

Allen now had to act normal for a couple of weeks. He was a creature of habit, breakfast every Sunday, sub sandwiches on weekends, and trips to the mall every weekend since Tiki became a teenager. He continued doing those things even though his heart was not in it.

His retirement ceremony went off without a hitch. The family acted like they cared.

After the talk with her mother, Tiki noticed a change in her father. She noticed he was acting different but could not put her finger on it. She asked her mother about it, but she did not notice, but her sisters did.

The night before he was to leave, he had already packed his car and was going to stay at a motel at the airport. He asked everyone to come into the kitchen for a few minutes. They came in and sat at the island. He stood.

A: " I will be leaving after this talk and you will not see me for 6 months. I accepted an overseas contract for 2 years; I will come home for 30 days in 6 months. You will now be able to carry on without me .Since I am such a dud in bed ,and you have so little respect for me I doubt if I will be missed, To my dear wife ,you will now be responsible for all the bills. Jenn, I have a feeling it will be you paying the bills. They are on a pad on my desk. My pay will no longer be going into a joint account, you are a bank executive, so you can figure it out, Girls, you do not have to act surprised about your mother now. I may go to Europe instead of coming home. Have not decided yet. If you want to join me, let me know. At the moment I do not care either way, my attitude could change. Goodbye."

The day after he left, everyone was still a little shocked. Jennifer went to the desk to look for the list of bills. She found the list. She also saw the travel itinerary. They had always wanted to tour Europe. Jenn called for her sisters and showed them the travel information.

T: " Daddy did nothing but love us and support us, when did we become such bitches and why did we listen to Mom, she was never there, daddy was at all of our school events he could attend. I do not remember mom attending a single event." Her sisters agreed. They were all thinking what now?

A week before Allen left, Robin was checking into a local upscale motel with her latest lover when she heard.

"Hello Aunt Pat."

She just said hello to her husband's sister's daughter. She forgot her niece worked at this motel. Her lover seemed amused. At that moment, Robin saw her marriage going up in flames. She turned to her lover and informed him she was going home and never wanted to see him again outside of work. He tried to soothe things over, but she would not hear it, then she went home. When she got to work the next day, she scheduled 2 weeks off to reconnect with her husband. Her vacation was to start the day after he left. The girls helped with her sadness even though they felt she brought it on herself. After the 2 weeks she threw herself into her job. She even reached out to her in-laws. They had several girl's night out.

Epilog:

Six months after he left, Allen had his first break for 2 weeks, the whole family met in Germany for a vacation. Allen and Robin spent a day reconnecting with out the girls. Both the parents gave the girls a credit card, so they would be shopping all day. After that vacation he came home every six months until his contract was complete. He got a job as a safety consultant until they both retired. She never had another affair.