Retirement Surprise

Tom sighed and said, "I know you're right and I should talk to them but...well if what I heard is true it will completely wreck the friendship and feelings I have for them. I just want to be sure before I go off the deep end. I'm going to talk to a couple of people Monday to see what they have to say about the problem then I'll let you know about it. OK?"

Julia smiled and leaned in to give Tom a gentle kiss before they got into bed. She rolled to Tom and tried to snuggle up to him but he moved away and turned his back. "Julie I'm sorry but I'm just so tied up right now I'm not in the mood. I'm sorry."

Julia felt the tears trickle down her cheeks when Tom refused her yet again. She was starting to get scared she had done something to upset him. She went back over the wording he had used when he told her what was bothering him and became even more worried. He was usually much more talkative about his problems. She also didn't like the way he had worded his response. There was nothing she could put her finger on but she felt very uneasy about his response to her questions.

Monday afternoon late Tom called Sally as instructed. She said she had permission already to share evidence collected for Stan's divorce with him. They visited and agreed to meet Tuesday for lunch then go back to Sally's office and review the evidence and discuss what he wanted.

They purposefully kept the lunch conversation light and didn't touch on Tom's problems. As soon as they returned to the office though Sally sat behind her desk and got a very serious look on her face. "Tom this looks bad-really bad I'm afraid. The pictures and PI surveillance report indicate Stan was having sex with a woman called Crystal and several of her employees when he was in LA. The PI says her actual name was Julia Jorgensen. She was the manager of Crystal's Catering."

"There were several other women Stan was intimate with, some of which were in LA and some in other cities including here. Crystal and he only met in LA and she was, oh, hell, the PI says the catering business was just a front for a Madam and her high priced call girls."

Tom felt his stomach roll and he physically slumped down into his chair. "SHIT. I guess that tears it. Julia's maiden name was Jorgensen. I never knew she was still using it. I provided the money for her to buy the business but other than have my attorney look over the paperwork for her I wasn't involved. I can't believe she used her maiden name on the paperwork. We'd been married about 9 years when she bought out her prior boss. Would it help if I found the legal documents?"

"No Tom the pictures and the PI report should be sufficient but..." Sally sighed and continued, "Tom I don't know if you have thought of this but you need to get tested for STD's if you haven't done so."

Tom smiled and his eyes became so cold he almost scared Sally. He gave a little laugh and said, "I thought of the tests the day after finding out about Julia's career. I had them done that next Monday. They came back clean but I will have to have others done for some time to totally eliminate HIV. I asked Stan if he hadn't worried about diseases and he said that one of Crystal's iron clad rules was everyone wore condoms every time they were inside any of the women. No one came near her or one of her girls unless they used a condom. He said he heard her offered $1500 one night if she would let them go bare back and she refused. I was pretty confident I would be clean after hearing that but you can never be totally positive. Your evidence and planned proceeding is enough for me Sally. I want the divorce. How soon can you file it and have her served?"

Wednesday afternoon Tom was in the den with his father. Julia and his mother were in the kitchen working on supper when the doorbell rang. Tom's mother answered it and they heard her yell, "Julia there's a man here that needs to talk to you."

Tom cringed because he knew what was coming. He turned to his father and said, "Dad I'm afraid things are going to get pretty nasty here in a few minutes. I'm sorry I got you mixed up in this but I didn't want Julie to take off somewhere before th..."

Julia came almost running into the Den with Tom's mother following. Her face was red and twisted in anger and she was waving an envelope and some legal sized documents. She cut into Tom's sentence and began screeching as she said, "Tom Jennings what the hell is the meaning of this? I was just served divorce papers and...Tom how could you? You know I love you and would never cheat on you. How could you accuse me of adultery?"

Tom's parents were looking at the couple in shock as Julia continued to rant and rave. Tom broke into her conversation after he had reached under the cushion of the couch and withdrew an envelope. "Julia just shut up," he yelled. "You know as well as I do that you have committed adultery time after time. I know for a fact you have been cheating on me for at least the last ten years. Do you want to see these pictures? Pictures I might add of you with dozens of different men including one of my best friends? You were right to not want to go to the party at Jerry's. I think I even understand why you fought moving back here with me."

"I just can't believe your damn catering company was nothing but a stable of high priced call girls and you were the Madam though. I must have been the most blind, stupid husband in the world. How in the hell can you say you never cheated on me though? Shit, Stan told me you charged $500.00 a piece or $2500.00 a night for your personal services on top of the food you catered. How big a cut did you get from the other girl's tricks? Now pack your bags and get out of here. I don't even want to see your cheating ass and I'm sure Mom and Dad don't want you in their home any longer."

Julia looked shocked when Tom said that then her face flushed once more. She started talking loudly once again. "Why you sanctimonious Bastard. You run around staying gone for weeks at a time doing god knows what and screwing anything you can get your dick into and you get upset about me running a business. I never, not once, cheated on you. Anything I did was in my business. It was a job just like you had. GOD, did you really think I made nearly a half million dollars a year selling finger food? I felt bad at first but when Crystal explained it to me I saw what I was doing wasn't really cheating, it was just business. Of course when I saw how many business men made use of our services I knew you were doing the same thing in your meetings so where was the problem? I loved you then and I still love you. I never let either of our businesses affect our marriage."

"Julia I never once in our whole marriage stuck my dick into another person. You of all people should know that. Christ, how many times did you complain after I got home about all the sex I was getting and trying to get? Of course I can't say that about you can I? How many nights did I get laid after you catered a meeting? As far as I know none. Considering that, how can you say your business never affected our marriage? How many times did you refuse me the sex a husband was entitled to because you had just finished servicing your clients at a meeting you catered and were too tired? Hell you probably weren't so much tired as just too sated to worry about taking care of your husband."

"I think I've been more than fair in the proposed settlement. I have split our joint accounts evenly but I propose you keep the proceeds of your business sale less the money I put up so you could purchase it. I also proposed I keep the proceeds from my business sale. I don't think I could live knowing I have part of the money you made whoring yourself out. It would be too tainted."

Tom turned to walk from the room then had another sickening thought. He felt his face blanch then blush. He turned to Julia and said, "OH, you Bitch. I started to ask how you managed to hide your whoring around from Carrie when she was working for you but...Damn you. She was one of your girls too wasn't she? You turned your own daughter into a prostitute didn't you? That's why she never told me anything about it isn't it?"

Julia looked shocked then she turned her head away from Tom. Her shoulders were heaving as she silently cried. She then said, "No Tom I didn't really...I mean I heard her and some of her friends talking about having sex with men they would pick up in town. I heard them talking about charging them and also about how they would have the sex with them even if they didn't pay. She told them that if I could do that in my business she didn't see why they couldn't do it also. I decided that I would rather have her working for me where I could keep her safe and there would be a smaller chance she would be arrested. I, I admit I let her work with me but...OH, Tom, she's a lot like me. She needs a lot of sex and she was going to get it somewhere so I figured why not somewhere safe..."

"Oh hell I not only have a wife that is a whore I have a daughter that is one too."

"NO! Tom I admit Carrie used to be a working girl but I'm pretty sure that when she got out of college and got married she stopped. I...well I know she quit charging anyway but...well, she may be fooling around on some of her business trips. I just don't know but, well, she's like me and needs sex almost daily..."

Tom glanced at his parents before he turned once more to leave the room. They were both standing staring at Julia in shock. "I've had enough. I have to get out of here. I think you should be gone when I get back."

As these things do the divorce drug on but finally it was over. Tom got what he wanted in the property settlement. He never felt comfortable in his parent's home or with his old friends again. He tried to live in his old hometown and spent the months of the divorce and the next three months in a rented condo.

One Saturday about three months after his divorce was final Tom was golfing with Stan and two of his other friends. During the conversation they told him Crystal's Catering had opened in town and his wife, daughter and several of their friends from California were operating the business. Later that evening he decided he just had to move on. According to Stan Crystal already had several of the local companies scheduling them to cater their meetings including his own. He said the managers in LA were super happy to hear they could once again sample Crystal's charms and had scheduled the next year's management meetings with her already.

The next Monday morning Tom went to the local Ford Dealer and purchased a new truck. He got a new F250 SuperCrew, Powerstroke 4X4 with all the bells and whistles. He then drove his new truck to the local RV dealer and picked up a nice 36 foot fifth wheel trailer, again with all the bells and whistles. He was going to tour the US and maybe Canada and he was going to do it in style and comfort.

Before he left, Tom thought long and hard about his next move. He still felt deep-seated anger with Julia and the way she acted when they were married. He finally decided to go for some revenge. On the day he left he sent the local district attorney an anonymous package. It contained a copy of the PI report from LA that pertained to Crystal's Catering and some pictures of what went on in the affairs they catered. He notified him that he heard they were now operating in his city and did he intend to allow this to go on?

Tom left town in the late spring and decided to tour the northeast then as the seasons cooled he would move south along the east coast before wintering somewhere in the south. He headed northwest when he left home traveling up through Kansas and into Nebraska. In Minden Nebraska, a small town just north of the Nebraska line he made his first two night stop. He spent two days enjoying the Pioneer Village. It had so many old vehicles, implements and machinery he didn't see it all even spending that amount of time. Finally he left, turning back east to I29/US 71. He went north then turned east on I90. Tom was in no hurry. He stopped when he wanted and stayed as long as he wanted. Some days he drove an hour or two, others he drove six or eight.

Tom loved to fish and float on free flowing streams. He also loved to eat good food and really liked to visit and sight see. He did all these things as the location and mood allowed. As he wandered farther east he made it a point to stop at the John Deere museum and the Ford Museum. He spent days on end viewing all the two museums had to offer. In the evenings he sat around the campsite visiting with other travelers, many of who also went to the same places he had seen.

As the summer progressed he found he was meeting the same people over and over. Many of his fellow RV'ers became very good acquaintances if not friends. As they visited they would tell each other what they had seen and liked, making suggestions of where the people they were talking to should go. Tom was directed to many wonderful things using this informal, verbal travel guide. He exchanged phone numbers with many wonderful people and much to his surprise they tended to keep in touch. He was beginning to feel like he had family and friends once again and was gaining a modicum of peace after the tumultuous divorce.

Finally as the leaves began to turn Tom found himself in New England, Maine to be exact. He really enjoyed the scenery and history but the roads were murder trying to pull his trailer. He parked and took several overnight trips staying in hotels because of the hassle of pulling down narrow streets and roads and the heavy traffic.

Tom was staying at a small resort along the coast. He decided he was beginning to get over his painful divorce and he was beginning to enjoy life once more even though he still missed Julia-the Julia he thought he had been married to anyway. He was eating some wonderful seafood and watching the sunset when a group of younger men and women came in. It appeared the men especially had already had way too much to drink. They were loud and obnoxious, even arrogant and treated their women so badly it angered and embarrassed Tom. One young man, in particular constantly brow beat the waitress, always complaining about the service or the quality of the meal. He never spoke politely to the woman he was apparently with. She appeared to be deeply embarrassed by the actions of her companions. Tom heard her ask them several times to be polite and stop being so obnoxious. Several times he had to stop himself from going up to the table and talking to the worst of the crowd.

Tom was trying to enjoy his carrot cake and a nice port wine when once again he heard loud voices. The obnoxious man was once again complaining, and then Tom heard him raise his voice once again as he stood. He said, "I don't give a damn whether you are through or not. I'm leaving. The service and quality of this slop is so substandard I can't stand to spend any longer in here."

The rest of the group stood and started for the door. The woman the man was with was sitting head bowed blushing badly. He walked angrily up to her and grabbed her arm trying to pull her away from the table.

She looked up into his face and said, "NO. I'm not going anywhere with you. I can't believe I let Margo talk me into going out with you. After the way you have been acting I sure don't intend to spend any more time with you. Now just go and leave me alone."

"Shit. Fine then. Find your own way home. I've had it with you and this damn place." Tom had stood when the man began pulling on the young woman and he arrived at the table as he stalked off. The young woman was sitting silently crying into her napkin.

Tom knelt beside her and said, "I'm sorry. I don't understand why some men have to be such absolute assholes. Is there anything I can do for you?"

The woman looked at him a moment then smiled and shook her head no. "I'm fine. I'll just call a cab and have them take me home. Some first date huh?"

Tom watched as the young woman stood, gathered her purse and wrap then walked toward the door. As she was opening the door the waitress rushed up to her and thrust a piece of paper at her. She stood a moment then looked at it and burst out crying. Tom walked up to them and asked, "What's the problem here?"

The waitress said, "This lady was trying to leave without paying for her meal. I was just lucky I caught her."

"But I didn't order all this. I mean I was on a date and he, we had a disagreement and he left me here. I don't have the money to pay for this. I left my credit cards at home and only have a few dollars cash."

About that time the manager walked up and inquired what the problem was. After he received the explanation he, too demanded the lady who Tom now knew was Abigail pay the tab. She broke down crying once again and said, "I don't have the money. I'll have to call my parents and see if they can come get me and pay. I'm sorry."

Tom put his hand on the manager's arm and led him away from the waitress and Abigail. "Look," he said. "I was sitting near the young lady and I heard all that went on at her table. I'm sure you also heard the commotion, as her companions were extremely rude and rowdy. They constantly harassed your waitress and made disparaging comments about the service and food. They tried to force Abigail to leave with them in a great rush. I suspect they had planned on doing the 'dine and dash' from the first. Abigail refused to leave with them so now she is being stuck with the bill. I suggest you get names, addresses etc from her and try to recoup the bill from those other individuals. I will be glad to pay for her meal when I pay for mine if you will allow that."

The manager looked at Tom and appeared deep in thought for a few moments then sighed. He said, "Well I suppose I can do that but I want her name and address also because if I cannot collect the bill from the others I will have to get it from her or call the authorities."

Tom and the manager walked back to Abigail and she was informed of the decision. She began crying once again when she found out Tom had helped her out. After all the business was taken care of Tom offered to take her home. She tearfully accepted and they left the restaurant together. She said she had just recently moved back to town after finishing college and was living with her parents until she found a place of her own. She gave her parent's address and Tom programmed it into his GPS. Tom decided she must be younger than she looked since she said she had just obtained her degree.

As they drove Tom and she began to talk. He found himself more and more intrigued by Abby. When they arrived at her home he was impressed. It must have been 4000 square feet in size and was well landscaped sitting back from the road on what appeared to be at least a three-acre lot. Abby insisted he accompany her into the house to meet her parents. Alas when they got inside they found they were gone. They had left a note for her saying they did not expect to be back until very late that evening.

Abby insisted Tom stay and have coffee. They began talking and finally laughing with each other. Tom found out Abby was 34 years old, had graduated from college the year before and was working in her father's business. She had married right out of high school but divorced after 7 years when her first husband had become abusive. She had refused to let her parents help her after the divorce and went to work as a secretary. After she got some money saved she had entered college and worked part time to put herself through college. That was why she had taken so long to get her degree.

She had known the people she was out with for several years but only one of them could be called a friend and now she wasn't sure of that any longer. The man she was supposedly with was well to do and had always lorded it over those he considered his inferiors. The only reason she had agreed to go out with him was because her friend begged her to go and because his father did business with her father.