Territory Manager

One other thing, early on, when he learned Crystal was my wife, he acted genuinely surprised. Looking at me with an expression of puzzlement. And though I was graded through some sort of elaborate salesplan calculation 'BELOW AVERAGE', Crystal was getting great praise from Dobler.

I missed Arthur Bellows. He seemed to be in the office less and less these days. I was hoping to have a talk with him at some point, but I would have to be careful about the way I questioned the company's direction. After all, his son was in charge.

And then something odd happened. All of a sudden Dobler was being overly nice to me. Little compliments, acknowledgment of my successes, and a marked improvement on my salesplan grading. I was now ABOVE AVERAGE.

One night I asked Crystal about anything she may have observed that had changed around the office.

"No, I haven't noticed anything new." She told me, "except Gordon has changed things and there is a more professional atmosphere around the office. He told me I was getting a new office chair too. He is doing a good job." She added with a smile.

I watched her as she talked about 'Gordon'. I could tell she admired him. Huh, I thought, I'll really need to keep my eyes on this.

The next week we received a memo about the restructure. It would be unveiled to us at the Friday sales meeting. I received a separate email from Dobler with a meeting request for Wednesday at four PM.

A little before four I pulled into the office and saw Crystal at the receptionists desk. She looked happy.

"Hi," I said. "What's got you in such a good mood?" I asked.

"I'm not supposed to say yet," she told me, "but.... "

And at that moment the phone rang for her. I waited for a few minutes, but she was tied up with the call. I walked down to Dobler's office, knocked, and walked in.

"Roger, first off I want to compliment you on your work of late." Dobler told me. "You are embracing the tools of salesplan and understanding how you can use these tools to help your business. Your sales increase shows the results. Congratulations." He said.

The reality is I was doing nothing different than I had ever done. I was just getting up an hour earlier every day to get their busywork out of the way. Still getting these compliments, I hate to say, felt good.

"Roger, we have a real opportunity for growth. I have watched you and you have a unique ability to create solid relationships with new customers quickly." He said.

No false modesty here, he was right. Somehow my honest humble approach seemed to work with most prospective customers. Plus I worked my ass off.

Dobler had a plan. He wanted to expand east into Montana. He thought that we could service that market and wanted to increase our geographical footprint.

"Here's my idea." He began. "You establish a small branch in Missoula, get our business profitable in Western Montana. After that we'll hire someone in Central Montana, get that established and eventually continue moving East."

He said all this with great energy. I had to admit, it made sense. But he kept staring at me, gauging my reaction. My suspicions were way up. Ultimately, I was quite curious how this 'plan' was going to impact me.

"What we'll do is rent a small apartment in Missoula." He said. "You will be over there most of the week. Home on weekends."

I started to ask him something. He held his hand out in a 'stop' gesture and began shaking his head side to side.

"I know what you're going to ask," He interjected. "The company will pay 100% of your food and rent expenses." He smiled at me.

That wasn't what I was going to ask.

"But what about my house here, and Crystal?" I asked, not specifically to him.

"Rog, don't worry," he once again interjected. "There is a plan for Crystal too. And I did not mention this, but once we get the new people up in Central and Eastern Montana you'll get a percent of their commissions too." He told me with a broad smile.

And then he handed me a document labeled: RESTRUCTURE ROGER WINTERS..

"I know this is a lot to digest. Read through this document and we'll talk about it more." He said to me, and stood. "This is all very exciting Roger, and you are a big part of the new plan."

With that, he shook my hand, and I left.

It was after five o clock and Crystal was already gone by the time my meeting was over. I had a lot to think about.

My initial impulse was that I didn't really want this big change in my life right now. On the other hand, it was a great opportunity for me at B&B. And the money, with the added commissions would be great. Crystal and I had talked about moving to Montana at some point. I just didn't think it would be this soon.

When I got home Crystal was still in a good mood, just like at the office.

"Roger, I'm so excited. I've got to tell you about my new job!" She clapped her hands together, bouncing with excitement.

She then told me about her exciting news.

"I'm being promoted." Crystal excitedly told me. "I will be the new sales and marketing coordinator." She said.

She went on to say that this is a new position created by Gordon Dobler. She will work directly with Gordon and Darin Barnes to create promotions, assist with customer events, process promotional credits, etc.

"He said I'll be his right hand man, or person I guess," she giggled.

I was unsure how I felt about all this. So far I'd said nothing.

"And," She added. "I'm getting a raise! They're going to hire a new receptionist and as soon as I train her I will start. I am so excited!" She told me.

I tried to be excited for her, but I had the feeling that this may not end well. I said nothing of these thoughts at this time to Crystal. I asked her innocent sounding questions about the new job trying to understand the situation a little more.

Bottom line was I didn't trust Dobler.

After a while I told her about the new position that Dobler wanted me to take. The Montana territory. I knew how much she disliked it when I was gone. I truly thought that she would either veto the idea or want to come with me immediately and move to Montana.

I was surprised at her reaction.

"Gordon told me a little about this," she said. "It will be hard having you gone so much, but I understand. When we talked about it Gordon said I'd be plenty busy and that I wouldn't have time to be lonely." She added.

A couple of things bothered me about all this. Number one was that she was talking to Dobler about my future without me knowing it. Number two that she was going to be so busy helping Dobler that she won't miss me. Even though I never would want Crystal to be unhappy, there was a part of me that liked the fact that she missed me so much when I was gone.

We continued to talk about all these changes. Where Crystal was excited and confident in Dobler's plan for B&B, I was uncomfortable with the rapid changes. And I didn't trust Dobler.

Later that night I tried to call Mr Bellows. I knew he was on a trip with his wife in their motorhome. The voicemail picked up immediately as if he was not in any cell range. I left a message asking for him to call me when he could.

The Friday meeting was moved to four PM. At the meeting the full plan was laid out with me moving to Montana. I was now the Territory Manager for Montana. Kevin's territory would stay the same. He moved Darin Barnes into my old territory. And then he outlined the changes for some of our more remote Territory Managers.

At five o'clock we all went around the corner to this little dive bar called the Tiki Hut. Cheap framed tropical pictures on bamboo mat walls. Exotic drinks served in plastic coconuts. That type of place.

Dobler was treating this like a celebration. Crystal, now part of the sales team, was with us and so was the new receptionist. Her name was Julie, but she told everyone to call her Jules.

Jules was a fair looking dark haired woman, maybe a few rough years older than me. She had one pronounced physical feature. She had big breasts.

She was one of those women that wore her tits as a badge of honor. Low cut tops, tight shirts. Like the prow of a ship her boobs led the way as she moved. I had seen her type.

At one point Dobler grabbed my elbow and steered me away from the group.

"Roger," He said. "You never formally accepted the position as Territory Manager, Montana."

I told him I was still thinking about it.

"Roger, I need to know if you are on board." He told me, a little more serious now.

It was decision time. I liked the idea of opening a new market, and the idea of having people reporting to me and earning commission on their sales was appealing. I would miss Crystal short term, but eventually we would both move permanently to Montana. I liked that idea too.

"One other thing I did not mention was that your base salary increases also." He said and then he told me how much.

After hearing the pay increase, I thought about it. It was a big number. With mixed feelings I told Dobler I would accept the new position.

.Dobler shook my hand and congratulated me. For some reason I was not specifically reassured by his congratulations.

Later that evening at one point I was at the bar by myself, getting a drink. Across the bar I saw Dobler standing alone. I then saw Crystal walking to the restroom. I watched her ass as she moved, it was an involuntary reaction for me.

I then noticed Dobler observing the same view. He then called out something to Crystal, I was too far away to hear what he said. But I did see her look back over her shoulder and give him a look. A familiar look, nearly an intimate look. I trusted Crystal, but I was going to have to watch things.

I began travelling to Montana weekly.

I would leave Monday morning early, work all week in the new territory. On Fridays I would work my way back west, normally getting home Friday evening about six o'clock.

Those Friday nights we normally spent at home fucking. If we were going out it would normally be on Saturday. Friday's we made up for lost time.

I was a little surprised that the sadness and bad moods that we had experienced before when I was gone were for the most part absent. Now she was happier, but it seemed a little odd that the strong sentiments about me being gone were so diminished.

Because we worked at the same company a lot of our conversations included work related talk. Conversations about business as well as the interpersonal gossip that any business tends to manufacture.

Crystal had nothing but positive things to say about Dobler. She was buying into all his talk about 'modernizing' the company and building this business with a big picture approach. I think our business was growing through a lot of hard work from Kevin, myself and others. I saw little that Dobler or Barnes did that affected much of our growth.

It also sounded like Crystal had found a new friend in Jules. They had lunch together a few times per week and occasionally would go shopping or get a drink together after work.

I wasn't specifically opposed to this friendship, but from what I knew of Jules, which I admit was not that much, I wasn't sure she was the best influence for Crystal.

I would normally call Crystal when I was driving back to the small rented apartment. She was usually driving home at this time and it was a good opportunity to get caught up.

And then a kind of pattern began happening. I would call her around five thirty and she wouldn't answer. An hour or so later she would call back. With an explanation that she'd been with Jules or working late.

One evening after she called back I dug a little deeper. She had said she had been out with Jules.

"Doing what?" I asked.

"We just had a quick drink after work." She told me.

"Where?" I asked.

"We were at the Tiki Hut, you know right by the office." She said.

"Who else was there?" I asked.

"Just a few people from work." She said.

"Who?" I inquired.

"I don't know, just some of the office people." She said.

"Were Barnes and Dobler there?" I asked.

"I don't know, maybe, yeah I think so." She said, "What's with all the questions?" She asked.

And then we drifted into this argument. Why didn't I like Gordon? What was I accusing her of doing? Why didn't I like Jules? Didn't I trust her? And on and on. The conversation went south quickly.

Later that same week I received three separate unexpected phone calls.

The first was from Mr Bellows, senior. I had called him weeks ago before the reorganization. He was traveling with his wife. At the time I wanted to discuss the changes going on at B&B, and specifically how my job would change.

He apologized about the delay in calling back, some type of phone problem. He asked how things were going and I told him. Other than a potential growing problem with Crystal, things were actually going quite well. My business in Montana was starting slowly but I could tell it was going to be good.

I told him all this, omitting the details on my relationship with Crystal.

"Well my boy, if there is ever anything I can do for you, be sure to let me know." He said to me as he ended the call.

The next was from one of my old customers, North Idaho Lumber. The owner called me and basically complained about Darin Barnes, the sales and marketing expert that Dobler had assigned to my old sales territory.

"We've only seen the new guy once since you were the Territory Manager." He told me. "Roger, you did a great job and we buy a lot from B&B, but we never see the guy and we're starting to buy from the competition. I felt I owed it to you to let you know."

I thanked him. I was unclear what to do with this information.

The other phone call was from Graham McKenzie, my friend from Canadian Pacific Forest Products. We chatted for several minutes, Graham doing most of the talking. Finally he got to the point.

"You're the first person I've spoken to about this mate, but your purchases are way off what they should be." Graham told me. "Everywhere else demand is up, but in your market we're in the red. It won't happen right away, but if things don't change we'll have to start selling to one of your competitors." He said.

I told him my territory was going to grow and not to worry, our business would bounce back. He sounded unconvinced as we eventually ended the call.

Once again I was unsure what to do with this information. Our supply of lumber from Can-PAC was critical to the success of the company. If one of our competitors were to get the line that would really hurt our business.

Meanwhile things with Crystal and I continued to not get resolved. Our Friday nights weren't the sexual reunions they had been at first. I found myself leaving on Monday mornings unsatisfied with our connection.

That following week in Montana I thought a lot about our relationship. I thought that us not really living together was the main problem. I decided to ask Crystal to come live with me full time. We could rent our house in the city and find a house to buy near Missoula. The more I thought about it, the more I was convinced that this was the right decision.

I never mentioned these thoughts to Crystal when we talked during the week. I really wanted to have that discussion in person. Driving home on Friday I was really looking forward to trying to recapture the intimacy of our marriage. I missed the way things used to be with us.

There was just one problem. She wasn't there when I got home on Friday.

At first I thought maybe her car was in the shop or something. But when I entered the house it had that unoccupied feel. After a quick inspection I called Crystal.

"Where are you?" I asked, as she answered. I could hear the familiar sounds of a bar in the background.

"Oh, shit, Roger!" She replied. "Wow, what time is it? I'll be home in a few minutes." She told me.

I hadn't said a word beyond my initial inquiry. Beyond the sounds of the bar there was something else I think I heard in the background over the phone. I was pretty sure I heard Dobler in the background.

I was steamed but I was going to try to keep my cool. After all, I did have the entire idea of Crystal moving with me to Montana to discuss.

While I waited I went to take the clothes from my suitcase to the laundry and stow my luggage. When I bent down to put my suitcase under the bed I noticed something. I wasn't sure what I had found at first, but then I saw it.

It was a single man's dark sock. I checked and it wasn't one of mine.

A bunch of thoughts were going through my head. I hadn't felt like this since I'd seen the video of teenage Crystal in Mexico. I thought back to my original strategy with Crystal. Trust but verify. I would revive that strategy. I stashed the sock in a zip lock and put it on a high shelf in the garage. Just then Crystal arrived.

She was apologetic and said the time had gotten away from her. There was a group from work going over a promotion they were working on. I was outwardly calm, but inside I was fuming. I recalled my training from Roosevelt McBee, stay calm, study your opponent. No word about the sock or any of my growing suspicions.

As she was talking I made a decision. I wasn't going to bring up the subject of her moving with me to Montana. At this point with my mistrust, I needed to know if something was going on behind my back before we did anything.

Later that evening Crystal took a shower and came out in just a towel. There was this game we played. She'd be wearing only a towel and then get a corner stuck in a drawer, or caught on a hook. The towel would then fall off her and she would stand naked, act embarrassed, and make a comical attempt to cover up. I would then grab her, her half heartedly protesting. Then we would fuck.

It was something fun that we liked. This time after coming into the living room and losing the towel, for the first time in our relationship I didn't react to the play. She stood naked for a moment and looked at me puzzled.

"Um, Roger, I dropped the towel." She said, "I don't have any clothes on. I'm naked and vulnerable. Are you going to take advantage of me?" She asked me.

I was tempted. She really did turn me on and I'd always liked the towel game, but then I thought of that single man's sock. It was like someone threw a bucket of ice water on me.

"Sorry Crystal, not tonight." I said. "I guess I'm just not in the mood." I added.

Turning her down like this was a first for me.

She stood naked staring at me, not comprehending my behavior. After a minute, she grabbed her towel,and stomped off to the bedroom. By the time I went to bed she was asleep.

Nonetheless it was not a great weekend. There was no intimacy sexual or otherwise. Actually there was very little conversation. A few times I saw her engaged in long text sessions with someone. It was with relief that I left early Monday morning for Montana.

I made two phone calls on my drive. They were to the two people I trusted most in the world. My sister Janet and my good friend Oscar. I asked them both individually to check my house this week to check to see if Crystal was alone at night. I thought of that dark sock. I asked Janet to check Monday and Wednesday and Oscar to check Tuesday and Thursday.

I didn't want anyone to get suspicious with the same car driving by every night.

"Roger," Janet said. "Of course I'll do it for you, but what's going on?" She asked.

I told her about the sock. Though there could be a perfectly explainable reason for the sock, neither of us could figure out what that explanation was.

Oscar agreed, no explanation necessary.

That evening after work I had a life changing experience. Though I did not know it at the time.

One of the things I did while living alone in the small apartment in Montana was go on runs in the evening. It was a way to clear my head and get exercise all at the same time. The runs were therapeutic. There were several different trails I ran. I mixed them up for variety.