The Divorce's Final Outcome

Author's Forward: This is my first story about people who might well be the 'people next door.' There are no hot sex scenes here but I hope you like the story anyway. Also, I appreciate constructive criticisms.

The Divorce's Final Outcome

Tim Raker sat in his car in the parking garage of the downtown Hyatt. He felt anger along with the pains of his male ego collapse. He especially dreaded the future, if what the email said is true. He pulled the folded sheet out of his coat pocket again and read it:

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Dear Mr. Raker,

Your wife, Jenny, is having an affair with a salesman who calls on our company, HRC, monthly. He is from the St. Louis firm of Echo Engineering. His name is Jerry Ballard and a snapshot of him is attached.

Jerry is strongly into routines based on my experience with him so she should meet him about 6:00 P.M. today, the 14th, at the downtown Hyatt lobby bar. From there they will go to his room and at about 10 O'clock she will leave to drive home. She will probably tell you on arriving that her team is preparing an audit for a coming Seattle plant audit. But, it's a lie as she is not on that team at all.

Sincerely,

Jenny's concerned co-worker and Jerry Ballard's Ex Hot Pants from our office.

P.S. I am in the middle of a messy divorce as a result of my husband finding out.

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Tim looked at the snapshot again, and then carefully replaced the email in his vest pocket and walked towards the lobby. He walked into a full happy hour crowd at the lobby bar. He then meandered through the crowd looking for Ballard or Jenny.

He came face to face with Jerry Ballard, who was talking to another man, and moved on as if there was no recognition. Tim stepped a few steps away and encountered two men discussing the Red Sox, and asked if he could join them.

About ten after six Jenny came into the bar, spotted Jerry, and went up to him. She kissed him lightly.

Her lover said to the gentleman he had been talking to, "Excuse us, Ralph, the person I was waiting for has arrived. It was nice to see you again." Then holding Jenny's hand the lovers left the bar, as her husband followed at a distance. Tim watched as they joined a group awaiting an elevator, and then they disappeared into one.

Tim sat down in a lobby chair to stabilize, but could not. He then retraced his steps towards his car. Once in the garage, he threw up in a garbage can. But once in his car, he drank a bottle of water and finally stabilized somewhat. He then drove to his Mother in Law's house and picked up their 5-year-old daughter, Rory, and drove home.

He fed and bathed her and then put her to bed after reading out loud several books.

Tim had started thinking through his options while driving from the Hyatt. Accordingly he then logged in and canceled all joint account credit cards and transferred 25 percent of cash in the joint accounts to his personal account. He then changed the sheets in the guest bedroom and went to bed there.

His wife came into the guest bedroom about 11:00 P.M. and said, "I am sorry I am so late but I was working on a Seattle audit that starts tomorrow. Why are you in the guest room? Answer me Tim. Are you alright Tim?"

He answered, "I threw up a while ago and it could have been ptomaine poison, but I have stabilized now. We will talk in the morning when I feel better."

Jenny reluctantly left the guest bedroom, closing the door behind her.

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Seven months later Jenny lamented, ["Our divorce will become final one week from today."] She sat at the dinner table with her mother, Ruth, and her mother's live in significant other, Roy. Her 6-year-old daughter had left the table and was watching Kids television.

Mom and her significant other were discussing many shortcomings that Roy had. Finally, about to scream, Jenny interrupted and said, "Hey, you two! I got a $200 monthly raise today and I plan to move out of your hair soon."

Her mother stopped yakking and was visibly relieved. She said, "That is really great news. You deserve it, dear."

Jenny excused herself and went to her room in deep thought.

She was 32 and had married Tim Raker, a graduate student, after graduation. Tim was the one to deflower her in her senior year. She had heard herself described as 'cute and built,' but had heard no other unusual adjectives descriptive of her. She had carried a mediocre 3.2 GPA as an accounting major. This kept her from being hired by one of the big accounting firms but she had flourished in Corporate Auditing for an international manufacturer.

Jenny had four problems that pressed on her daily:

The first was that she could not get her ex-husband out of her mind. She loved him now more than she ever had. Men who hit on her now were boring by comparison. All she had been able to think about these 7 months was that there was no happiness for her without Tim. To compensate she lost herself in her work and avoided happy hour outings.

The second problem was that her mother lived in fear that her lover, Roy, would seduce her daughter. He couldn't keep his eyes off of Jenny when the two were in the same room. Jenny loathed Roy. But since she no longer dated after the first two months without Tim, seduction was entirely possible, especially if her hormones overruled her rational mind. So, her Mom's own relationship was threatened. And the unspoken plea was that she, 'Get the hell out of my house.'

The third problem was that she needed a stable relationship or else she could not completely focus on her career. In her solitude, she recently concluded that she wanted to be promoted to a high profile and paid position. She was convinced that she was at least as capable as the Players who had succeeded. Those jobs required extensive travel: and, joint custody of a small child doesn't work very well when both parents travel extensively.

Her fourth and major problem was that Jenny felt completely alone in the world. The whole company workforce knew of the affair that she and the fly-by salesman had – thanks to her bitter coworker enemy, Helen. Her plight was that she had no friends with whom she could chill out and relax. She had had five one-date Internet dates when she first moved in with her Mom and concluded that losers were all she had to look forward to.

After she read to Rory and put her to bed, Jenny went to her room and had an idea. She took a shower and put on a nice dress that showed some cleavage. She announced to her Mom she was going out and then drove over to her former home to visit her ex husband.

As she pulled into his driveway she recalled that he had inherited – as had his Father – this 90-year-old home and her divorce attorney said simply, "It is his home. That is the law. Our hands are tied, you can not force him to move out. But, we will gouge him on child support – winking at her."

When Tim answered the doorbell, Jenny took the bottle of wine and two empty glasses from behind her and said, "Since our divorce is final in a week, how about one last drink to celebrate or commiserate?"

"Jenny, I am not in the mood to have a drink and especially not with you. I presume Rory is asleep?"

She said, "Our daughter is fine. Please Tim, can you not treat me as a good-looking woman with a past, and chat with me over a drink? Not any of your dates in the past 7 months have been virgins, have they?"

Tim chuckled and said, "To say the least, that is true. O.K., come on in for one drink, Jenny."

After they were sitting across from each other, Tim asked, "So what will we discuss?"

She replied, "I got a raise that went with a promotion and am now a working team leader. It occurs to me, now that since I have lost you, that I want a career where I work at the limit of my ability, and I am not there yet. "

"Congrats on both accounts, Jenny, I am sure you are well qualified and deserve it if you work hard."

"But Tim, I am looking at the future. I need a stable home life and my fun and games days are behind me. The few dates I have had since I first moved out were underwhelming in all departments. But I still expect to make it to the executive ranks without spreading my legs, because I have the ability and now that is my goal."

Tim held up his glass and said, "Here's to your success!"

Jenny replied, "What is going on with you, Tim, if you would tell me? "

"Well, some interesting things are happening at work and I no longer do extensive travel. Also, I would like to say that beautiful, intelligent, aggressive, capable and compatible women beat a path to my door craving my attention... But that is not the case. It seems like everyone I date is a victim of modern education and is an NPR Zombie who can be aware of the immediate moment only. It sure sounds nice to hear someone discussing ones future. Thanks," as he raised his glass again to her in a salute.

There was a silence for a moment when Tim continued, You know, Jenny, in the seven months I have been dating, they have all been one date dates because I haven't wanted two dates. So, I go home and masturbate – yes, and I still think about you when I do. "

As a strategic move, Jenny stood up abruptly and said, "Thanks for chatting with me, Tim, but I have a busy day tomorrow. Good luck to you, dear ex-husband."

Tim stood and held her offered hand but was obviously frustrated that she was leaving so quickly, and said, "Here, let me walk you to your car." He wanted suddenly to beg her to stay for a while because he had so much to say. But he couldn't force himself to say anything more. He smiled as Jenny buckled herself in and she put her hand to her lips to blow him a kiss, and backed out of his driveway.

In bed and trying to sleep later, Tim could not stop thinking about his ex wife, and gave up. He got out of bed and sat down with a sheet of paper and started listing all the 'Ben Franklin' pros and cons of re-establishing a relationship with Jenny.

Among the words he wrote,

"For the Pros, she is focused on a clear goal, a good mother, takes care of her health, fits me like a glove, in terms of likes and dislikes and beliefs and preferences. Our first six years together were the best of my entire life.

The cons are, I cannot trust her, she is not beautiful and stylish while those kinds of ladies are plentiful if I will just be patient and keep looking and lower my standards, I might even find one who is somewhat compatible with me. Consider also that a single man can impromptu spend a weekend in an interesting place where that's impossible for a married man. I know I can do it, and being alone will, in time, become not so bad - so I am told.

The pros again, when will I get use to being alone? Hell, I don't want to be alone and here is an opportunity to be with the one I really love. Could I forgive her completely? What is the old saying my Dad taught me, 'Forgiveness happens when one stops trying to change the past?' I can forgive, I think. That would mean I would never mention the affair with the fly-by. Can I do that? Yes, I can do that."

Suddenly sleep was heavy in Tim's eyelids and he was sound asleep seconds after he lay down in the bed.

It was 10:15 A.M. and Jenny had sat at her desk all morning, bleary eyed. She had not slept well after leaving Tim's house. The phone had rung all morning and each time Jenny hopefully looked at the LCD to identify the caller.

At one point she had been on a three-way conversation and had just finished. She intended to take a break. She started her introspection; ["I must let Tim make the next move, if there is going to be a next move. We have six days to call our divorce off which includes a weekend. If there were a God in Heaven, I would promise to keep my knees together when not in bed with my husband if Tim would call me just to say, 'good morning.'"]

The phone startled her and the LCD indicated her ex husband's cell phone. ["THERE IS A GOD!"], so she answered, "Corporate Auditing Team, Jenny Raker speaking."

"Jenny, thanks for visiting last night. I am in your part of the city, so care to meet me for lunch near your office? Say, that barbecue joint that played the awful music where we use to meet?"

Jenny breathed and stabilized herself and said, "I don't mind if you don't. But, you will see lots of my peers over there. Still want to?"

Tim replied, "Oh, I don't mind if you can stand the gossip after we are seen together."

She replied, "12:15 work for you?"

"See you then," replied Tim, and broke the circuit.

Jenny and Tim sat at a small table in the crowded restaurant. The sound system speaker was in the ceiling above them. The country and western music with crying steel guitars and fiddles effectively drowned out their conversation to eavesdroppers. When their register receipt number was called, Tim stood in line to pick up their sandwiches.

At that moment, her enemy, Helen, sat down and said, "I have a message from Jerry Ballard, who was in the office last week."

"Helen, go away. I have no interest in you or your message. "

The crasher stood up and said, "Jerry said please call him that his number is still the same," as she walked away.

At this point, Tim approached the table with a large tray of food. After sitting down he said, "Care to tell me who the young lady was? I don't think I have seen her before."

Jenny said, "She is one of the IT geeks attached to our group who must no longer be enjoying the affections of Jerry Ballard."

Tim asked, "You mean your ex fly-by salesman?"

"Yes."

Tim asked, "Why do you say, 'no longer'?"

"His message via Helen was, 'please call him and that his number is still the same.' Tim, this means nothing. If they were still together, she would not have given me the message."

Suddenly Tim was dizzy and lost his appetite. He said, "I can not eat this food, as I don't feel so well."

He stood up and walked towards the entrance, with Jenny right behind him. Outside, she said with a hint of panic in her voice, "Use your head, Tim! If I had planned to call Ballard would I have told you Helen's message contents? Of course not."

Tim had opened his car door, and Jenny talked fast before he shut the door and drove off, "If we were together again I would tell you before the fact that I wanted him or anyone else for sex so you could make your decision of what to do before the fact, and I would expect the same vice versa. Tim, I have already explained a hundred times that I don't know why I did it with Ballard and said I am sorry and simply have no explanation. It might happen again with someone else in the future – people change - but you heard my promise. Please give you and me and Rory a chance, Tim!" He closed the door and sped off. Jenny had also lost her appetite and cried all the way back to her office.

Tim stabilized himself and had a sandwich at another restaurant and then drove to his client's office. Afterwards, he drove to his former mother-in-laws house and got there just as Rory was getting off the school bus. Her Grandmother. Ruth, was waiting with her overnight bag already packed. He pulled into her driveway, and smiled at his former mother-in-law.

He then scooped up his daughter, both laughing and chatting. They went by a park on the way home to play on the equipment and later at home the nightly routine was performed when she stayed with her Dad, and now his child was sleeping.

Again, Tim had a restless night but managed to get some fitful sleep after some introspection. He couldn't get the co-workers message, which Jenny passed on to him in the restaurant, out of his mind. Talking to himself he repeated, ["Surely she would have remained silent had she intended to call the fly-by. Yes, that is true, but what happens when her hormone flow dictates a desire to experience his or some other cock again? What will she do then? Will she actually come to me and tell me before hand or will she do it thinking that she will do it just once, and I would never know? But Tim, every action you take requires taking a chance: every stock or gold purchase you make is a risk. Driving is a risk. Everything is a risk. Taking this risk is a good bet because she loves you at least as much as you love her."] Tim wasn't convinced but he was leaning in towards reconciliation.

Jenny lay in bed completely despondent. She could not shake the look of pain on Tim's face when she relayed Helen's message. Her thoughts were, ["I must come to grips with the prospect of being alone permanently. All I have to look forward to is a succession of players like 'Jerry Ballard.' Tim won't talk to me again. Damn! Do I want to live when that's all I can look forward to? Besides, Rory is much more comfortable around her Dad than she is me. But I was just being upfront to Tim and truthful, and it's unfair of him to dismiss me out of hand! Maybe life is just unfair."]

After a fitful sleep, and gridlocked traffic getting to work, Jenny sat down at her desk in a daze. Every time the phone rang her heart rate would speed up but Tim didn't call that morning. She decided to call her father for lunch maybe.

She dialed the number and his secretary answered, "John Grayson's office."

"Hello Ellen, it's John's daughter Jenny. Is he available to talk to me for 30 seconds?"

"He is in a meeting with his four production managers but since its you I will give him a note. Hold on."

Jenny waited after being placed on hold and in about a minute her father answered, "Hello my sweetheart. Thanks for calling. How are you today?"

"Hi Daddy. I have had better days, and Rory and I are in good health. Could you meet me for lunch today?"

He replied, "How about 12:30 at the Pines near your office?"

Jenny said, "I will see you there then. Bye."

After they first sat down each brought the other up to date on what was happening – especially with John's granddaughter Rory. After their tasty lunch was served, Jenny said, "My divorce becomes final on Monday and I feel awful, so I felt like talking to my Daddy."

"Thanks for thinking of me. There is no hope then that Tim will forgive you and reconcile?"

She shook her head suppressing tears then related her visit to his house and then the disaster of meeting him for lunch the following day and concluded by saying, "I have lost him, Daddy. What's worse, Rory loves him more and more every day, and I feel like I will lose her in time. I thought maybe you might make me feel better by telling me how you have coped since you found out Mom was cheating with her boss years ago."

"Well, dear, if I had it to go over again, I would forgive and forget and do my damndest to make your Mother happy with me. "

"Really? I wonder if Mom knows. But tell me how you arrived at that conclusion."

"Jenny, I have been in and out of love four times since that fateful day I watched her and her boss come out of a Motel room. Now I am married to number 5 whom I love dearly, but the fire has gone out. We have sex but the thrill is not there – and never was, in point of fact between you and me. And yes, I am taking into consideration that I am 18 years older than I was on that fateful day at that Motel. But I still think about your Mom, and often."

Jenny asked, "You mean it never goes away?"

"Never. But don't you worry dear. You are nice looking, intelligent, and driven to succeed. You will find two or three 'You'll do' type men or more, but odds are that the victims of a cheating spouse will never again find 'Mister Right combined with Mister Wonderful.'"

Jenny said, "You're saying the bottom line is that my most probable outcome is that I will re-marry a 'you'll do' man with whom we sort of love each other while I try to influence my daughter as she grows up. God! Dad, I want more than that!"

"Here is hoping, dear Jenny, that you are different - that another guy rides up on a white horse (or the same guy as before, perhaps) and rescues you from a life of being just, 'One of the people next door.' Moreover, after you are married and up to your eyeballs in mortgage payments and other debts, you will be sorely attracted to another Player just like the fellow that was your downfall. My advice now is, 'don't do it,' but odds are you will not follow my advice until the hormone influence diminishes, the way it has for me. For what its worth the one lesson I have learned is to keep my pants zipped unless I am either urinating or making love to my wife."