The Architect

I have been waiting sometime now hoping to find an editor for this story. It seems like so many of the editors I try to contact do not respond or cannot get to it within a reasonable time. So, I'm going to submit the story without editing. My readers can be my editors. I would appreciate any comments on spelling, punctuation (especially the use of quotation marks), grammar, plot, story flow, character development, etc. I like dialogue in a story and I like confrontation. The first part of the story is all descriptive -- setting the stage for confrontation that takes place later. Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy the story.

THE ARCITECT

Characters

Bill Reardon: The architect

Joan Reardon: Wife of Bill Reardon, Real Estate Broker

Joyce Reardon: Daughter of Joan Reardon and adopted daughter of Bill Reardon

Beverly DuMont Wilson: Owner of DuMont Furniture Rental and Staging Company

Lennard Wilson: Beverly's husband and director of marketing for Beverly's company

FRIDAY AFTERNNON

Bill Reardon is an architect and a very good one. Since he was a junior in high school, he knew what he wanted to do, unlike many of his friends who didn't decide on a career until they were halfway through college.

Bill received his bachelor of science in architecture from the University of Maryland. He wasn't able to continue on to his master's degree right away because the family still needed to put his younger sister and brother through college.

Rather, Bill was able to get a good job at a well-known architectural firm in Northern Virginia. He started at the bottom doing not much more than draftsman work. Afterall, you don't start off right away designing skyscrapers. Nevertheless, Bill was comfortable in his job and was totally familiar with the computer-aided design software being used.

By being careful with his income, Bill was able to save what he needed for his master's degree education. He was fortunate to be admitted into the MS program at Purdue University. His company was sorry to see him go because they were well-pleased with his work.

Bill's savings were not enough to cover all of his expenses so he still had to work. He found employment as a draftsman for a local civil engineering firm that did a lot of contract work for the city. He was on a flexible schedule as far as his job was concerned but still, most of his classes were at night.

Since he often had hours of computer work to do both for his employer and homework for his classes, he often found himself in cafeteria late at night. He would find a quiet corner somewhere and settle in with his computer until it was time to go to class or go home.

It was while he was in the cafeteria one night when he met Joan. At times, in the evenings, the cafeteria is so empty that there are often more workers than customers. Joan was one of the workers. Bill noticed her the first night she came to work. Although Joan wore clothes befitting a waitress, little makeup and her hair put up in an unfashionable manner, he recognized her as a very beautiful woman in both face and body.

As time went on, they became more and more sociable with one another. She would often bring him coffee without being asked. Then, she would sometimes stay and chat with him for a few minutes being careful not to take up too much of his time if he was hard at work on some project.

Bill learned, among other things, that she was a single mom with a one-year-old baby at home. Although the county social services helped her out with some income, she still had to work two jobs to make ends meet.

Bill recognized that there was a mutual attraction between the two of them and eventually asked her out on a Saturday night date. Joan told him that she wanted to go out with him very badly but she didn't have any friends or relatives that could watch the baby for her and baby-sitting costs were very high.

Bill wasn't going to let the cost of a baby-sitter deter him and told her he would take care of those expenses. She felt genuinely bad and embarrassed at being so indigent that she had to rely on Bill's good nature in order to spend time with her. It was more than worth it to Bill.

Bill went over to Joan's small apartment on Friday after classes. Joan was there and dressed for their dinner date. Her dinner attire confirmed Bill's earlier assessments of her beautiful face and almost voluptuous figure. Joan's babysitter, a pretty young high school senior, was there too. Joan was eager for Bill to see her baby daughter and carried her into the living room to introduce the two. Bill thought it was the most beautiful baby he had ever seen. Her name was Joyce.

That was the start of Bill and Joan's relationship. Bill fell in love with Joan and her baby within the next few months. He was not at all uncomfortable with the fact that Joan was a single mother with a baby. Joan fell in love with Bill and was ever so grateful for the fact that he seemed to accept the baby so readily as part of their relationship.

Joan admitted to having had the baby out of wedlock. She said she was in a long-term relationship with her high school boyfriend. While they were both going to community college, she became pregnant. Her boyfriend wanted her to have an abortion but she refused. He deserted her soon after and went to college in another state. She had been struggling with the baby and living expenses ever since. Social services were helpful and provided her with part of her income. Her family also helped out from time-to-time but were not all that well off themselves. She worked two jobs to augment her income even more.

After several months of dating, they slept together.

As Bill neared the end of his master's program, he asked Joan to marry him. Joan was beside herself with happiness. She found a man she loved and a man who very much wanted to be the father of her baby and, in fact, loved the baby as much as she did.

Upon graduation, Bill, Joan and Joyce moved back to Northern Virginia where Bill found a job with his old employer. This time, because of his advanced education and experience, he was hired at a much higher level than before and at a much-enhanced salary.

Bill and Joan rented a three-bedroom townhouse with a two-car garage. It was more than adequate for their small family. A year or so after they settled into their home, Joan became pregnant. They had a baby boy that they named Richard but who picked up the nickname of Ritchie.

Bill continued to do well as an architect but he was not happy designing large buildings, shopping malls and apartment complexes. Part of this dissatisfaction was due to the fact that he still only did a small part of the design. Further, he seldom was able to see the results of his efforts because it usually took years before a project was completed and the projects were often out-of-state.

His real interest was in designing houses.

When Joyce was seven and Ritchie was five, Bill found a house for them to buy. It was ideal from his point of view: It was on a cul-de-sac in a nice neighborhood and the school district was highly rated. Although the house might have appeared ordinary in many ways to many people, but not to Bill. His trained architect's eye saw the perfect home where he could both raise his children and conduct his business.

The house was a four-bedroom three and a half bath rambler with a large living room, large family room and large dining room. It also had a two-car garage. But what really sold bill on the house was the fact that it had a full, walkout basement where he could set up his home-based architecture business. Although the basement was currently unfinished, Bill's eye could see it was laid out in such a way that he could entertain clients, draft his designs and make his models when required. Further, the walkout basement had French doors that opened onto a small, private, landscaped patio.

The asking price was seven-hundred thousand dollars and Bill quickly offered to buy it for that amount. He knew it was going to cost at least another one-hundred thousand dollars to renovate it throughout as well as finish off the basement to his specifications. Even so, he thought it was well worth the price. Joan also thought it was ideal and the kids loved the idea that each of them would have their own bedroom.

Twelve years later, Bill had a thriving home design business. In addition to earning a good reputation as an architect capable of designing everything from mansions to quadraplexes, he held a number of patents on home design ideas. He had designed a series of extremely low-cost homes suitable for people who, essentially, could not afford a normal bread-and-butter home. Also, he invented foldout homes for people in lesser-developed countries that allowed them most of the comforts and protection of a home, including water, gas and electrical hookups without the necessity of expensive and extensive foundations and site work. He also had designs that could be added onto from time to time without the home looking as if unsightly appendages had been added to the original design. A family could start out with a one-story, two-bedroom home and end up years later with a large, beautiful four- or five-bedroom home that has grown up along with the family and the family finances.

Soon after Ritchie was in kindergarten, Joan expressed an interest in working. She decided upon a career in real estate. She thought that, as a real estate agent, she could make her own schedule and, thus, be home with her family when it was necessary. Also, she could make a little money from time to time which would give her a sense of contributing to the family income. Bill agreed with her choice of careers and thought it would be a good idea and get her out of the house and into something challenging. The cost of a real estate agent training program was very inexpensive. Within a few weeks, Joan had passed her real estate board exams as well as her state exams. She chose to join a local real estate company that had only a dozen or so total offices.

As it turned out, Joan was a natural-born real estate salesperson. Her good looks and affable personality made working with people an ideal profession for her. After a slow start and a few missteps, she began to do very well as both an agent representing sellers as well as an agent representing buyers. She much preferred dealing with buyers.

As time passed, Joan became more and more successful in the real estate business. After a few years, she was one of the top agents for her company and she was contributing significantly to the family income.

Eventually, the opportunity to become the managing broker for a new office opened up and Joan applied for it. As well as having all the certificates and endorsements to her original license, Joan had taken the time to get her broker's license. Her company was pleased to have her manage their new real estate office. Under Joan's guidance, she quickly had seventeen real estate agents working for her. Not only did she continue to make money from her own commissions but now she made a percentage of the commissions of her underling agents as well.

As the reader can probably guess, Joan's dedication to her career took more and more time away from the family, . . . and from Bill. Joan left the house early and was away most of the day. She often worked on weekends when there was an open house to babysit. Also, she organized the continuation training for her agents on the weekends and in the evenings so they would have the week free to deal with clients. Since Bill's business was centered at his home, Bill began to take over more and more of the family chores. Bill was up early to make breakfast and pack lunches for Joyce and Ritchie and walked them to the bus stop. He also helped them with their homework in the evenings, participated in their school activities and attended their sports events. If his wife was going to be late, Bill would take responsibility for making dinner. He became a pretty good cook and often cooked with Joyce while trying new recipes.

Intimate contact between Bill and Joan became less and less frequent. Joan was often tired when she came home and, after dinner and a glass of wine, would go to bed early. Bill made a number of attempts to rekindle their closeness but none of his efforts was successful for very long.

Bill's story started out in the late morning of a spring day. He was driving home from the airport where he had dropped his wife off for a flight to her annual three-day real estate convention. As he turned the corner onto his street, he noticed a white SUV parked at the curb in front of his house. When he turned into his driveway, he saw a woman sitting on his porch steps. He stopped his car in the driveway rather than put it in the garage in order to meet his guest. As he got out of his car, the lady on the porch stood up and waited for him to approach her.

Bill appraised the lady from a distance. She was about 5-foot 4-inches tall. Her light brown hair was piled up on her head. She had a nice face. It would have been a beautiful face if she had makeup on, which she didn't. The lines in her face gave Bill the impression she was 40 or 45 years old. She had a nice figure which she was not trying to show off in her slate blue slacks and loose white blouse. Nevertheless, Bill could see that she had a narrow waist and an impressive rack.

The lady spoke first. "Are you Bill Reardon?" she asked. Simultaneously, she put out her hand to shake.

"Yes, I am", Bill responded to both her question and her handshake.

Before he could ask the lady what her name was, the lady spoke again. "I'm happy to meet you. My name is Beverly DuMont".

"How can I help you Ms. DuMont? Do I have an appointment with you that I have forgotten about?"

"Please call me Beverly. And, if it's alright, I'll call you Bill", she said. "And no, we don't have an appointment of any kind. However, it's important that I talk with you."

Bill replied, "Beverly and Bill it is then." Bill noted that Beverly did not smile and did not seem to be especially happy. "Please come into the house."

As Bill opened the front door for her. He noted that Beverly picked up a backpack, which seemed fairly heavy. Once inside the house, Bill escorted Beverly to the spacious family room. Beverly selected a seat at the sofa in front of the large coffee table. Bill was ready to settle himself in his favorite Lazy Boy recliner. Then, he remembered his manners and asked his guest if she would like something to drink.

"A glass of wine would be helpful," she stated. "A dark red wine, if you have it," she added.

"A robust red wine is my favorite," Bill replied.

Bill went to the kitchen and poured two glasses of Carnivore, his favorite cabernet sauvignon. He returned with two glasses of wine and the bottle which he placed on the coffee table. Beverly immediately took several large sips of the wine. Bill observed that she was anxious about something.

"What can I do for you, Beverly?" Bill inquired, now getting a more serious tone in his voice.

Beverly took another sip of wine and then said, "What I've come her to discuss is very personal and very difficult to talk about. You feelings are going to be badly hurt. So, I will just have to blurt it out.

"I am the owner of the DuMont Furniture Rental and Staging Company. Our biggest source of income is from staging homes that are for sale. Our best contacts are real estate companies and real estate agents. I don't do that myself. I run the day-to-day operations of the company. My husband, Lenard, is the company's marketing representative. As such, he deals personally with brokers and agents. Your wife's office knows him well, . . . and so does your wife."

The inflexion of Beverly's last sentence made Bill notice a slight knot in his stomach. "Go on, Beverly," he said flatly.

"I'm so sorry to tell you this, Bill, but my husband and your wife are having an affair. As far as I can tell, it has been going for more than seven months. They meet at least once a week, usually at a house that is for sale and is staged enough to have a bed in it. The house is always listed as shown- by-appointment-only and, of course, your wife does not allow any appointments while they are using it."

Now it was Bill's turn to take a big swallow of wine.

"I really find this hard to believe, Beverly. Do you have any proof, ... pictures, ... video?"

"Yes and no," said Beverly. "At first, I just had vague feelings that something was not as it should be. It was little things that struck me as odd. For instance, my husband would not get nearly as much business done in a day as he should have. At times, I have been unable to reach him and his cell phone was turned off so I couldn't locate him on Friend Finder. Then, I thought I could smell perfume on him from time to time -- coinciding with the days I couldn't locate him. There were more incidents but it finally dawned on me that he might be having an affair.

"I can't tell you how much I have been wound up inside since arriving at that conclusion. I'm was nervous, I've lost weight, I couldn't do my work, . . . I was a mess. So, I decided to find out for certain and I hired a private investigation company to follow him. Within a week, they reported to me that he was seen entering a house for sale with a woman. They arrive in separate cars. The woman's car had a real estate logo on the door. They usually stay about two, sometimes three hours and then leave separately. It wasn't difficult for the private investigation agency to determine that the woman was Joan Reardon, your wife. That same pattern of assignations has repeated itself week after week. However, I don't have any pictures or videos of them actually having sex. That is what today is all about.

"I'm sorry to dump all of this on you, Bill, in such a cold-blooded manner. I actually wish someone had approached me like this. Then I wouldn't have had months of doubt and uncertainty to go through."

Bill was at a loss as to what to say or how to respond. He was about to tell Beverly that he still didn't believe her when their conversation was interrupted by a call on Beverly's cell phone. Beverly excused herself by holding up a hand to indicate she had to take this call.

Bill could hear only one side of the conversation.

"How are arrangements going?" she asked the other party on the phone. "Do you have all the rooms covered? ...Audio and video? ... Can we test it soon? ...Okay, I'll sign on."

Beverly hung up and turned to Bill. "May I sign onto your internet server, please." As she said this, Beverly pulled a laptop computer out of her backpack and placed it on the coffee table.

Like a robot, Bill rattled off the password for his Cox internet connection. While Beverly was powering up her laptop, she continued talking to Bill.

"You just returned from the airport, right?" Answering her own question, she went on. "You dropped off your wife for her flight to Atlanta for the regional real estate conference."

"Yes," Bill said. "She goes every year. She has told me she picks up a lot of good information on how to sell property, how to attract buyers and sellers and so on. She sometimes buys new software that is helpful in her office. And she networks with various real estate related companies."

"Like mine," Beverly interrupted. "I drove my husband to the airport about two hours ago. I am certain he is taking the same flight as your wife.

"My husband attends the same convention every year. He even makes a presentation on the advantages of staging to the combined audience. It has been very persuasive and has brought in numerous customers, both real estate offices and individual agents.