Rob and Several Ladies

The Bert guy was none other than Bert Ellsworth. The same Bert Ellsworth who was going to pound my ass when he got the word that I would be taking Pauline French to the prom. It is funny how your mind will sometimes take something, roll it around and look at it from different angles and come up with an answer that is way out of left field, but is none the less the correct one.

Jan had told me that the Bert that Jaime used to go with had kicked her to the curb and had done it brutally. And yet here he was trying to get back with her. There was no doubt in my mind, none whatsoever, that he really wasn't interested in getting back with Jaime. Somehow he had become aware that she was seeing me and he remembered me. I was the guy who took Pauline French away from him (as he saw it) so he was going to get even and take Jaime away from me. He didn't want her, but he had to get back at me.

All of that took place in my head the instant I saw Bert and his smile and before Jaime even knew I was in the building. I smiled as I walked up to their table and stuck my hand out.

"Bert! Long time no see. I didn't know you lived here in Dayton."

Then, as if I hadn't seen her when I first walked in the door, "Jaime? Hey guys; sorry to interrupt your lunch. Good seeing you Bert" and I walked away from them and went to a table in the back of the room and took a seat that put my back to them. I ordered lunch, ate, and when I got up to leave Bert and Jaime were gone. I went back to work and surprisingly got a lot done.

Of course I wondered if Jaime would call me that evening when I got home from work. If she did she wouldn't get me unless she called really, really late because I wasn't going to get home until really, really late. I stopped at Riley's Sports Bar and spent most of the evening there and didn't get home until a quarter after eleven and I was in bed and asleep by eleven-thirty.

Next morning at work I received a call from Jan around ten.

"I'm dying of curiosity here. Jaime has been in a foul mood all morning. What happened yesterday?"

I told her how things had gone own and she said "You didn't talk to her at all?"

"Not a word. I acted surprised to see her there, apologized for interrupting their lunch and walked away from them. I've no idea of what transpired then because I had my back to them."

Then I told her that I knew Bert, what our past history had been and my theory as to why Bert was trying to get back with her.

"I'd be willing to bet that if I dropped her and walked away he'd give it a week or so and then dump her again."

"If you dump her? That sounds like you might not."

"I don't know what I'm going to do yet. I know I'm not going to do anything until I talk to her."

"Keep me in the loop okay?"

"Will do. Keep your eyes and ears open on your end and keep me posted."

"You got it. Got to go. Bye."

I'd been home about thirty minutes and was trying to decide on whether to go out to eat or to stay in and fix myself something when the phone rang. I answered it and it was Jaime and she wanted to know if she could come over.

"Have I ever said no?"

"Be there in a bit."

"Stop at Pizza Hut on the way. I'll call in an order to carry out."

I called in the order and paid for it with a credit card and half an hour later Jaime showed up with the food. She set the pizza boxes down on the kitchen counter and kissed me.

"What did you get?"

"Pepperoni Lovers for me and Stuffed Crust Vegetarian with no mushrooms for you. Just the way you like it."

"Yummy" she said as she went to the fridge and got us each a beer.

I didn't plan on bringing up her lunch date with Bert. I was going to let her set the tone of the conversation, but I was going to get a dig in that might move things in the direction I wanted. As soon as we sat down to eat I said:

"After the way you left the other night I have to say I'm a bit surprised at your calling me tonight."

"Sorry, but you upset me with your talk of how you were feeling and what you implied. I felt I needed to get out before things were said that would be regretted later."

I said nothing. I just took another bite of my pizza and chased it with a sip of beer.

"How come, since you obviously knew him, you didn't join Bert and me at the restaurant?"

"Bert didn't tell you?"

"He told me you went to high school together, but that was all."

"That's true enough, but we were not buds; not even close to being buds and we almost got into fights a couple of times. That was years ago and when I saw him in the restaurant I decided that it wouldn't hurt to be friendly. Just not friendly enough to sit down and chew the fat with, besides, I didn't want to intrude on the two of you."

"You could have. He is just someone I work with."

"It's okay. None of my business."

As soon as I said that I could almost see the light bulb go on over her head.

"Oh no! He is just a co-worker I sometimes have lunch with."

"I didn't say anything."

"You don't have to. I can sense it. You see me with another man and you add that to the 'feeling' you have about there being someone else keeping me from committing to you. Why can't you just accept that I'm just not ready?"

"How about we get off the subject before things go bad again?"

"I don't want to get off the subject. We need to address it and get it out of the way."

"Okay. If that is what you want so be it. My feeling that there is someone else is not just a feeling. I know for a fact that you and Ellsworth have something going. A little birdie told me all about your past relationship with him and how it ended. Now he is back and you are seeing him on the nights you supposedly have classes and on the weekends you are supposed to be seeing family. You haven't committed to me so I can't bitch about your seeing someone else, but I can get pissed over your lying to me about what you say you are doing while you are with him.

"The fact that I don't like the asshole has nothing to do with things. You are free to do what you want and if a relationship with me isn't one of the things you want then you need to tell me straight out so I don't invest any more of my time in you. Don't just string me along with this "I'm just not ready" bullshit. Just flat out tell me that you can't commit because you also have feelings for someone else."

She just looked at me with an unreadable expression on her face and then said "I don't need this shit!"

She stood up, grabbed her purse and headed for the door. I didn't say a word, just stood up, cleared the dirty dishes off the table. I was putting them in the dishwasher when I heard the door open and close.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The next day at work I got another phone call from Jan.

"I don't know what you did, but whatever it was it set Jaime off something fierce. She has been an absolute bitch since she got here this morning. She even snarled at Bert when he asked her if they were on for lunch."

I told Jan how the evening had gone and she asked "Is it over for the two of you?"

"As far as I'm concerned it is."

"Then if you are right in what you are think Bert is doing he will be kicking her to the curb. I'm not sure I want to be here the day that happens. Need some cheering up? If you want to stop at the Starlight after work I'll let you buy me a drink."

I didn't have anything better to do so I told her I'd meet here there. She was already there in a booth when I got there. After ordering I asked her:

"What is your fiancé going to say when he finds out you are meeting men in a bar after work?"

"Screw him if he can't take a joke. The real reason I hoped you would take me up on my offer to meet you here is so I could tell you about what went down at the office today. I couldn't do it on the phone because I could have been overheard. Anyway, what happened was Jaime calling you everything but a friend of Jesus and Kathy heard her, smiled and asked Jaime if that meant she was through with you and Jaime snarled "You want the asshole? Have at it." Kathy walked around smiling the rest of the day. I just wanted to give you a heads up. I don't think Kathy has given up on you yet."

"Won't matter if she hasn't given up on me because I've already given up on her."

We had one more drink and I thanked her for keeping me informed and then I went home.

++++++++++++++++++++++

Friday night came and I decided that I needed to get out and enjoy myself. The Starlight was out because I didn't want to run into Jaime or any of the others who stopped there. I'd heard some good things about the Alhambra Lounge and I decided to give it a try.

The place had a fair sized crowd, but there were still empty tables, booths and barstools. I couldn't see a table or a booth just for me so I took a seat at the bar. I hadn't been there twenty minutes when Kathy, Meg and two girls I didn't know came in and took one of the empty booths.

I was sitting at the end of the bar and I doubted that Kathy would notice me, but even if she did so what? She knew what my position was as far as she was concerned so I doubted she would do anything even if she saw me. Just goes to show how dumb you can be sometimes.

Kathy took the chair facing the bar, almost immediately noticed me sitting there and was instantly off her chair and heading for me. She walked up to me and said:

"Face it Rob; we are meant to be together. Why else would fate see to it that we would show up at the same place so soon after you getting rid of Jaime?"

"In the first place I didn't get rid of Jaime. She decided she didn't want to play with me anymore. In the second place I don't believe in fate. If we were meant to be together you would have chosen me over career and you didn't."

"I still don't see why I can't have both."

"I never said you couldn't have both. The problem, and I'll admit it is mine, is when choices need to be made between me and your career I'm going to be your second choice and I won't have it that way. My woman is always going to have to put me first and you either can't or won't do that. You need to get back to your friends. They are looking over here at you like they think you are trying to ruin their evening."

"Damn it Rob; why can't you work with me on this? You have a job here. Stay here. You don't need to go back to Chicago."

"I can't stay here and get what I want. I need the promotion that will take me back to Chicago. I need the pay raise that will come with that promotion to be able to afford what I want. I want a family Kathy. I want a house and I want sons and daughters. You going to give up your career to be a mother? In a pigs eye you would and you know it. Face it Kathy, as much as you say you want us together and as much as I would like the same it is never going to happen."

I dropped a five on the bar for the barmaid and I got off my stool and walked out of the place. The encounter killed the evening for me and I went home.

The mood I was in also killed the weekend for me and it took the pile of work waiting on my desk for me on Monday to get me out of it.

Just before lunch I got a phone call from Jan. "You called it" she said. As soon as Bert found out that you and Jaime had split up he dumped her and she is in a foul mood this morning. In addition something must have happened to Kathy over the weekend and she has been a real bear to be around. I don't know if I can keep working here. I can't handle all the drama."

"Maybe I should take you with me when I return to Chicago. I'm sure you can find a good job there."

"The way things are going around here right now I might just take you up on it."

"Hang in there sweetie. With me and Ellsworth out of the picture things should mellow out."

"God I hope so."

"Stay in touch okay?"

"You got it. Talk to you later.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

I decided to make change in my habits. I looked around for things to do that would keep me occupied and away from places where I might run into Kathy and Jaime. I found a nice sports type bar and I started stopping in there after work a couple of times a week.

One night I was in there and Ron, one of the guys I had gotten friendly with asked me if I bowled. I told him I did and he asked me if I might be interested in joining a mixed league on Wednesday evening. He said he needed another guy on his team and he was having a hard time finding someone.

I didn't have anything else to do with my Wednesday so I told him I'd give it a try. I warned him that I wasn't a steady bowler and that it was just something I had done on dates back in high school. I didn't even own a ball or shoes. He told me not to worry and that it was just a fun league.

"There are a couple of teams that get all serious about it, but most of us are in it for fun."

I showed up on Wednesday and met the rest of the team. There was Ron's wife Myra and Hal and his wife Carla. I rented shoes and found a house ball that fitted my hand the way I liked and then we started. I didn't embarrass myself, but I didn't shine either.

When we were done we headed into the bar to have a few and socialize and that's when the evening went to shit for me. Sitting at the bar was Bert Ellsworth. I hoped that he hadn't seen me come in with my teammates and at first it looked like I lucked out.

About forty minutes later the rest of the group got up and left, but I still had half a beer in front of me and I stayed to finish it. Bad move on my part. As soon as the others were gone Bert got off his barstool, walked over and sat down at my table. He gave me a huge smirk and said:

"Drowning your sorrows Daltry? How does it feel to have someone take your girl away from you?"

I almost laughed in his face, but instead I decided to fuck with him.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You took Pauline away from me; I took Jaime away from you."

I laughed at him and said "In your dreams maybe. You couldn't take a woman away from me on your best day. Jaime wasn't anything to me. I was only dating her to piss off Kathy. Kathy and I had a good thing going in college, but she broke us up. She wants to get back with me and it will happen, but I want to fuck with her first just to get a bit even with her for breaking up with me. You didn't take jack shit away from me Ellsworth."

I laughed again, took a swig that finished my beer and then I stood up and said "See you around loser."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The next two weeks went by. I stopped at Riley's (the sports bar) a couple of nights a week and bowled on Wednesdays. Fortunately I never ran across Ellsworth again at the bowling alley bar. I spent my weekend nights hitting various night spots looking to meet up with someone of the opposite sex. I danced with a lot of ladies, but never connected with anyone. I pretty much decided to just keep myself busy in Dayton and save looking for feminine companionship until I got back to Chicago.

I was just getting ready to leave my office on a Thursday when the phone rang. It was Jan and after the hello and how are you were out of the way were said:

"You'll never guess what the latest development is."

"Jaime is in a bitchy mood because Ellsworth is sniffing around Kathy."

"How in the hell did you know that?"

I laughed and told her how I'd set Ellsworth up at the bowling alley.

"I knew as soon as I told him that he would go after Kathy."

"You are evil."

"I know. Don't you just love it?"

"Why did you do that to Kathy? I thought you were fond of her."

"I'm more than just fond of her, but we can never be. She is career oriented and I'm family oriented and the two don't mix."

"You can have both. She can have her career and still be a wife and mother."

"That isn't the problem. She will always put career first. I know what I'm saying Jan. I know Kathy and I know her mindset and I know her drive to succeed. I can write the script right now. We get married and she will resist having children because they would interfere with her career. If I did somehow get her pregnant she would work until she had the baby and then hire a nanny or park the kid in day care and get back to her career.

"That won't work for me. I want sons and daughters and a stay at home mom until the kids were old enough to go to school. Once that happens she could go back to work, but that would be years away. Kathy won't do that. I know. I've already put it to her and she wasn't interested."

"She could change. Given the way she has talked about you I know she knows she screwed up when she broke up with you."

"Maybe, but I feel given the choice she would do it again. Keep in touch and let me know what happens."

"Will do. Take care. Talk with you later."

Over the next month Jan called me about once a week. Ellsworth was still on Kathy's trail and she had gone out with him a couple of times, but from what Jan could see the relationship had no heat to it.

"She's gone out with Bert, but she has gone out with a couple of other guys also. Of course she has dated ever since I've known her, but no one guy has ever managed to get a steady relationship going with her and quite frankly I believe it is because of you."

"Because of me?"

"Remember the night we met? Remember how I said we all wanted to meet you because of all that Kathy had told us about you?"

"Yeah. I didn't believe it."

"It was true. After she'd been out on a date with a guy and we asked her how it went she would always compare the date to you. It was always something like "Rob would never have done that" or maybe something like "I can't believe that I let Rob go only to end up going out with a slug like that." You really should give her a chance Rob. What have you got to lose?"

"Only everything I put into it when it craters like I know it would."

"I think you are wrong, but it is your life so I won't mention it again."

But of course she did and I began to suspect that her new goal in life was to get Kathy and me back together.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It was a Thursday and I had just gotten back to the office after having lunch with my boss when I got a call from Jan.

"Want to help me be evil?"

"Be evil? What do you have in mind?"

"I just overheard Bert make a dinner date with Kathy for tomorrow. I want you to call her and ask her out for dinner tomorrow night. If I'm right in what I'm thinking she will break her date with Bert to go to dinner with you."

"Why would I want to do that?"

"To get even with Bert for horning in on you and Jaime for one thing and to help me out for another."

"How would I be helping you out?"

"I don't like Bert. I think he is a snake. I didn't like the way he treated Jaime and she is my friend. Kathy is my friend too and Bert doesn't really care for her; he just wants to stick it to you so I want to fuck with him."

"I don't know if that would be a good idea. Kathy might think there is some hope for her."

"Look at it as an opportunity to plead your case again. You never know Rob; she might just come around to your way of thinking."

I hesitated for a few seconds and ran it through my mind. I finally said "Okay. I'll do it. More to stick it to Bert than to try and get anything going with Kathy. Plus I don't like what he did with Jaime any more than you do. However there is always the chance you are wrong and that she will say no."

"I'm willing to bet big that she won't."

"Is she still at work?"

"She is."

"Okay; I'll call right now."

"I'll be watching her and I'll give you a call as soon as she hangs up."

Do I really want to do this I was thinking as I hung up the phone? Cowboy up dude! You said you would do it so do it! I picked the phone back up and punched in the phone number. Two rings and then:

"Thank you for calling Wexlar. If you know your parties extension please enter it now."