Timing is Everything

The next day, the General's secretary called. She said that on the first day of the Nashville visit, The General wanted to meet with Ray so they could get to know one another. That would occur in the General's Nashville office. If that went well, the record session would occur the next day. The record would be rated by the label and the General's people. If it was acceptable, the General would be offering Ray a contract to open for Teddy Harpold during his four-month farewell tour. Ray had admired Teddy for a long time. Teddy had been a big star in country music for years. Opening for him would be an honor.

Finally, Ray had something to tell Sharon. She voiced her belief once again that their marriage would not survive him being on the road with a superstar for several months. Ray pointed out that many things had to come together before he would be offered a place on Teddy's tour. He suggested that they take it a bit at a time, knowing that they could bail out if they chose to do so.

She asked, "Are you saying that I could veto the concert tour?"

Ray said, "I'm saying that we will talk about it and decide together."

Sharon was happy with that.

CH 03

When Ray's plane landed in Nashville, a young lady was waiting for him. She was holding a sign with his name on it. She drove him to the General's office.

After several minutes of casual conversation, the General said that there was a popular story around Nashville that when Hank Williams showed his songs to Fred Rose, the publisher, Fred couldn't believe that Hank had written them. To prove himself, Fred told Hank to go into the room across the hall and write a song. It should be about a Mansion on a Hill. As the story goes, Hank came back in a few minutes with the lyrics to In Your Loveless Mansion on the Hill. The rest is history.

Ray said that he'd never heard that story.

The General said, "Let's try it ourselves. You sit here and write me a song. Make it about a guy that loves a girl that still loves an old lover. Can you do that for me?"

He handed Ray a pen and some paper saying, "When you finish, press that red button and I'll come back in."

As Ray sat there, the words came tumbling out:

Last night in the moonlight with her close to me

As near to heaven as mortals can be

I whispered I love you, she said I love you too

Then these words that followed broke my heart in two

*******Chorus*******

I don't want to hurt you, but you need to know

There once was another and I loved him so

The draft came and he went, and never returned

But nothing has changed in the way my heart yearns

If he should return and want me again

I don't want to hurt you, but I'd go with him

***********************

The sky is now cloudy and down comes the rain

I can't take that chance, I'm avoiding the pain

Though I might forget with the coming of day

I know every night I would still hear her say

--> repeat chorus

Ray pressed the button. When the General returned, Ray grabbed the guitar that was on a stand by the desk and sang the song. The General said, "The recording session starts tomorrow after lunch and runs however late we need. When we have it in the can, I'll send it around to some Disk Jockeys for a test run. When we know how that comes out, we'll know where you fit into the picture. Wish I could tell you more but we just won't know until we get some figures on how the songs are received by the fans in our selected markets. That's the way we play the game and so far, it has served us very well."

Ray flew back home to Sharon. He told her everything that had happened. He said, "At this point, all I've done is get acquainted with the General and record ten songs. It was a good session and I think everyone involved was happy with the results, but what happens with those selected disk jockeys will determine what happens next."

Sharon said, "I have always wanted the best for you, but now I find myself praying that the report from those disk jockeys is bad. As much as that would hurt, at least we would still have each other, our love, and our marriage.'

He said, "We'll have those things no matter what!"

She said, "I don't think so. Not if you go on that long tour. There's just too much temptation. Even as strong as you are morally, in the end, the devil would win."

A week passed. It was nighttime when the fated call came in. They were in the middle of a love-making session. She panted, "Let it go to the answering machine." That's what he did, but they could hear what was being said as the sound drifted up from the living room. When he determined that it was the General calling, he pulled out unceremoniously and dived for the phone. She ran to the spare bedroom and picked up the princess extension.

When the call ended, he was ecstatic and she was crying. It had finally come together. The General revealed all of the details, saying it would all begin in ten days. It didn't sound like an offer, it was more like a command. Sharon's hopes were obliterated when she heard her husband eagerly agreeing to every step of the plan.

It came down to this: Ray would indeed be opening for Teddy Harpold on his big farewell tour. They would begin with two weeks of planning the details of the show. That included everything from curtain up to curtain down. All that was known so far was that when the curtain went up, Ray would be singing a song from his new record. When that finished, he would say some words about the tour and Teddy's fabulous career. Then, Ray would sing the other nine songs from his album. After that was done, it would be curtain-down for an intermission.

After intermission, there would be a short film shown featuring highlights from Teddy's career before Ray appeared to give Teddy a lavish introduction, hopefully to thundering applause.

During the first planning week, each minute of the show would be nailed down. Ray's part would not vary much. The order in which his songs were performed might change depending on where each song stood in popularity. For instance, they would open with the song that was second in popularity and close with the most popular song. A callback, if there was one, would feature a compendium of the three most popular songs.

In the case of Teddy's presentation, there would be much more variation. Since he had so many hits during his career, the songs would vary more. If there was a song that was of special interest to the place of the performance, it would be substituted for some other song on the normal list.

The second week would feature performing the show at a minimum of four representative locations to judge the applause for each song. The list will be changed as necessary to include the songs that win the applause competition.

After the two planning weeks, the big tour starts. There will be 28 shows followed by ten days off. After the time off, there will be another 28 shows followed by another 10 days off. The tour will end with a final run of 28 shows. So, there will be a total of 84 shows with only 20 days off.

Sharon did the math in her head. Ray would be gone for that 14 days of practice and the first 28 show days before he could come home for ten days. Then it would happen that way again. After the second 10 days off, he would be gone again for 28 more shows. That meant he would be gone for 98 days broken up by two 10 periods at home, at best.

Sharon was convinced that their marriage could not last under those conditions. She decided to treat these days before the tour started as the final days of her marriage. She initiated sex at every opportunity. She gave herself in every way. Nothing was off-limits. There were no refusals at any time.

She cried every time after sex. Ray was concerned about that. Every time she told him that she was crying because she would be losing him. He always told her that he would honor his marriage vows no matter what. Little did he know that she wouldn't.

CH 04

It started on the Monday following Ray's Sunday departure. She lived close to work and had always gone home for lunch instead of eating in the break room. She used some of that lunch period at home to take the initial steps toward preparing the evening meal. Things like putting something in the crockpot, loading and setting the timer on the convection oven, or removing something from the freezer for thawing. That Monday, there was no need for anything like that. Cooking for one was a different ballgame. So, she packed a lunch bag and ate in the warehouse break room. It was during that lunch period when the seed was sown that would change everything.

He was sitting by himself with playing cards laid out in several piles around the table. He talked quietly as he played each hand. She watched him for several minutes. First, he dealt the cards. Then he moved around the table betting chips and playing cards from each pile. At the end, acting as the dealer, he did the necessary card analysis and made the payouts. She wondered if he was a little off mentally or if there was a method to his madness.

When lunch period was about over, he began to clear the table. Her curiosity overcame her skepticism and she walked over and introduced herself. It turned out that he operated a forklift in another area of the warehouse. His name was Bruce Mays. He was not equal to Ray in the looks department, but she still rated him as above average.

They spent a few minutes talking and it was enjoyable. It turned out that he was taking a course to become a casino dealer. He was playing each hand and evaluating the results as a dealer. He intended to leave his warehouse job and relocate to Vegas as soon as he finished his course. When the bell rang, they shook hands and departed for their workstations.

The next day she asked him if she could watch again. He was delighted to have her observe and she learned quite a bit about the way a dealer has to evaluate each hand and what he needs to say to the players. She had played blackjack at casinos but not poker. He was dealing both and she became fascinated.

A few days later found her handling each player's hand while Bruce acted as the dealer. As the days passed, she found herself happily anticipating each lunch period and her time with Bruce. He had a very good personality and a goal in life. He wanted to eventually become a pit boss on his way into casino management. He had a plan for his life!

The more they "played" at lunch, the more interested Sharon became. After a week, she asked about getting the course for herself. Since she intended to end her marriage, it would be good for her to have a good-paying skill to help her get by.

He told her that he could teach her all of it if she had the time. It would help his understanding when he had to explain everything to someone else and it would allow her to avoid paying the high price for the course. She could bypass that requirement by passing a test at the casino.

He was quick to point out that they would need a lot more time together than what they got during the workplace lunch period. They would need to get together several times a week for at least two or three hours. It would be best to do it at his apartment since he had an actual casino table preconfigured there. That started the learning experience that eventually led to learning some things that had nothing to do with casino games.

On their first Saturday together, they went to Eddy's nightclub for dancing and drinks. On the way home, they stopped at the Hayward Lookout in the park and made out like teenagers. When they got back to his apartment, they were both on fire. They quenched that fire in his bed and she stayed the night.

After that, she put some clothes in his closet and brought most of her other necessities to his apartment. She arranged with the phone company to move her phone and answering machine to his apartment, keeping her number. For all intents and purposes, her marriage was over.

She didn't feel good about cheating on Ray, even under these extreme circumstances. She needed to be up-front with her husband. With that in mind, she hired a lawyer to make it official.

Soon the papers would be ready and Ray would be "served." It was one of the toughest things she'd ever done and her tears fell like rain, but her mind was made up. She remembered how tough it was on her mom when she found out that her traveling-salesman husband had cheated on her multiple times on his long trips. Sharon was determined to avoid that kind of heartache. She'd made her position well known to Ray, so in the long run, he forced her divorce decision.

Ray enjoyed the two weeks of preparing for the tour. He had his part "down-pat." He worked well with the band and the backup girls. One of them, Kay, appealed to him more than anyone had since he met Sharon. If he wasn't married - - - -.

When the tour got underway, his opening was well received. It allowed him to "plug" his album, which would be available soon. When all was said and done, however, the crowd was primarily waiting to hear Teddy.

A little shy of a week into the big farewell tour, things began to happen. The General delivered a big announcement: Fox-Man was going to introduce Ray's album that night on his radio show. Everyone listened to his show! He was the disk jockey for the whole rock world. It was a big deal to be featured there.

Ray didn't call Sharon as often as he wanted to because of the long-distance calling expense. She never called him since she didn't know how to reach him while he was on the road. He didn't know that she had opted out of the marriage, so he called her with the exciting news about his album being featured by Fox-Man. His call went to the answering machine.

If Sharon had bothered to listen to his message, she might have called her lawyer and put the divorce on hold. If she had heard Fox-Man that night, she would have jumped into action for sure. As it turned out, she did nothing. She heard about it too late.

Fox-Man started his show by telling the audience that he was featuring an album by Ray Reynolds. He stated that he had never heard an album before that allowed him to predict that every song on it would be a hit. He predicted that all ten songs, which were all written by Ray, would make the Billboard top 100! During his first hour, he played every song on the album, another first for Fox-Man. During his third hour, due to popular demand, he played them all again! It was multiple firsts for Fox-Man and a dream come true for Ray Reynolds. The hours after the Fox-Man show brought the very height of happiness for Ray.

The next morning the record company began an additional emergency pressing of the album. In addition, they pressed and released five new 45 rpm singles covering all ten of the songs from the album. Disk jockeys all across the states began playing them in record numbers. It was all a direct result of the reaction generated by Fox-Man.

During all of this, Ray had placed three more calls to Sharon. All of them had gone to the answering machine. He left messages the first two times. The last time, he just hung up.

Aside from the unanswered calls to Sharon, it was all good for Ray until a man in a black suit walked up to him and asked, "Are you Ray Reynolds?"

Ray answered in the affirmative with a big smile, thinking that the man was probably another newsman or a representative from some music magazine. When the man handed him a big envelope and said, "Ray Reynolds, you've been served," his smile disappeared.

Ray called Sharon one more time. Once again, he got the answering machine. He left a message saying, "What's happened to you? Have you lost your mind? This should be our happiest time ever and you chose to get a divorce now? We need to talk about this. We've hit the big time. The General is lining up some TV appearances for me and that includes the Ed Sullivan show. I can't believe you're doing this now.

"With all of the money that will be coming in, you will be able to come on tour with me just like I promised. The General has already promised to buy us an RV of our own and furnish a driver. He will put you in charge of the marketing booth that we use to sell souvenirs and records to the fans during intermission and after the show ends. We will be together and there will be no pressure from female fans. You will be right there watching! It's everything that you wanted.

"I'll be leaving this hotel room at noon to go back to the bus. I hope you will call me before I leave. Please don't do this to us!" He recited the number for her and was sobbing as he hung up. It should have been the happiest day of his life, but he was crying.

Sharon woke up when Bruce shook her saying, "Wake up sleepyhead. I have coffee ready and your answering machine light is blinking up a storm."

She answered, "The answering machine can wait, but I need the coffee now!"

While she was drinking her second cup, she got another call. The call was from Beverly, her boss, so she answered it. After Sharon said "hello," she sat there listening in stunned silence. Bev told her about the Fox-Man show and all the rest. Sharon couldn't believe it! She told Bev that her answering machine had been set wrong and it had been answering her calls before the phone rang. She said that she only noticed it when she got up this morning and she hadn't had time to play the recorded messages. Bev said, "I'll hang up and let you start hearing the good news. By the way, I won't expect you at work today. Probably not ever again. Congrats!"

While she was listening to Beverly, Bruce kissed her cheek and waved as he headed to work. He had no idea how important that call was, but Sharon knew.

Before listening to any messages, she called her lawyer. The office was not open yet so she left a message on the machine saying, "Hold off on serving Ray with the divorce papers. I'm reconsidering. Make sure that he isn't served."

She began to play all of the messages. She had five calls from Ray. The first one gave her the good news. The next two were him wondering where she was. The one following that was just the sound of him hanging up. All of those calls were interspersed with calls from friends saying how happy they were for her. It was the last call from Ray that sent her heart into a state of hopelessness. He had been served with her divorce papers and he was in a quandary. He told her that the General had agreed to give them an RV of their own complete with a driver so they could be together on the tour! It was everything that she wanted in addition to everything that Ray wanted and she had ruined it all with those divorce papers.

She had to think of something. She had to do something quickly. She came up with a plan that just might work!

She remembered when she was contacting lawyers about the divorce. She recalled that one of them that she saw in his office was the very essence of a shyster. He had been taken with her and flirted shamelessly. She dialed his number. He answered. She told him what had happened and recited her plan. He said he could do it, but it would cost her. She told him she would pay the price. He told her that he didn't want money, he wanted a night with her. She said, "If you deliver for me then I'll deliver for you."

She sucked up everything she had and began executing her plan. The first thing she did was call the number that Ray had left for her. When he answered, she began her act.

"Ray, you bastard. What's all this shit about getting divorce papers from me? You know very well that it was you that filed for a divorce from me. I was served just before you started calling with your 'good news.' You bastard, did you make those calls just to rub it in? I was right there with you through all of the lean years and then you dump me when you finally make it. You bastard," she shouted.