Two Brothers and the Girl

My wife called me that Friday morning asking in a panic for me to come home, so I left the family business that my father had left for me and my brother to run home because I felt something was up. Beth Tait was a stay at home mother that had never worked a day in our married life. She would never bother me at work unless it was something important. So, I knew it was serious.

I was wondering if something had happened to one of our teenage daughters at school. I was just hoping it was not as serious as she had made it sound. Both our daughters were very athletic so I was wondering if it might be a sports injury. My daughters were my life. Both were developing into becoming very beautiful women just like their mother.

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We were the biggest electrical company in this part of the state. I handled the commercial end my brother did the residential. Since we had taken over, we had more than tripled our volume each year for the last six years. My mother was very proud of both her sons for keeping her husband's lifelong dream alive.

Last year the company had made five million net after all the taxes were paid for the first time in its over fifty-year history. In the nine years since our father's death, we had made it into a very successful business. I estimated the current value of our father's business to be worth about twenty million.

Since John was the oldest, he was made the President by our mother after our father's death. She was still the major shareholder and controlled fifty-two percent. My brother and I each owned twenty-four percent. My dad had set it up that way to make sure our mother had security for the rest of her natural life.

When our father died my mother insisted that I assume the responsibility of looking after her personal investments Using her trusted investment broker, I had gone from the conservative approach to the aggressive. It had turned out very well for her.

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I came home to find the furniture and household movers there packing up the stuff my wife wanted taken out of our house. Beth was standing at the side of the road beside her recently obtained two thousand and twenty model car which I had bought for her, for cash.

Beth was leaving me for good and our daughters had already been relocated to their new living location without my knowledge or permission. She had kept them out of school today so that they could all make the move together, thus giving them the avoidance from the drama of seeing us break up. I realized very quickly she had done it this way deliberately so I could not talk to our two daughters about the situation.

"I'm sorry James, but I've fallen out of love with you and I'm in love with someone else," She said as she handed me the divorce petition papers. "You don't need to know who he is, because it really doesn't matter since I have already filed for divorce. I knew there was no easy way for me to do this, so my lover and I decided that it was best for all concerned to make our last contact as husband and wife brief as possible."

With that said she got into her car and drove off. As she drove away, I witnessed the end of our seventeen-year-old marriage. No real explanation, it was over and that was it. She had done it so coldly that I didn't even have a chance to find out what my daughter's view was on the whole situation.

The first thing that crossed my mind was that she had developed a relationship with someone she had met online, but then the girls would have told me if their mother was spending too much time chatting via the internet. That would have required a bit of distance and since it was not yet noon that was ruled out. Wherever she was moving to it was local.

I stood there for a second as two men moved another piece of our daughters' furniture out of the house. Then I realized that they would have to know where they were delivering the furniture to. I asked the driver and he gladly showed me the delivery address. I was in total shock because it was one that I knew all too well. I pulled out three twenties' out of my wallet and told him to put it towards a nice dinner with his wife.

I thanked him and asked him to lock up the doors when they were done. I drove back towards our family business making one stop on the way to verify that what he had shown me was true.

What I saw from making that one-stop at the side of the road tore my life as I knew apart for good. Not only was it devastating that she had walked out on me. It was made worse because of who she was doing it for.

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Beth was the girl that always seemed to tag along with her brother and me wherever we went. Until her early teens, the three of us were inseparable. Her brother was still a good friend, but he was now a lifer in the marines. He had taken the morals, principals, and standards he had been raised with, in his walk of life and applied them to a career that supported them. I was proud of my brother in law and had a deep respect for him.

The three of us started developing different interests in life as we went through the rest of our teens and had grown apart because of the normal things that happen in life. With my father's business booming most of my spare time was spent helping out in his growing business. At times I would be receiving stock for the next job he had to complete.

I had asked my father why he hadn't used his own name when he started the family business, He replied, "Tait and sons or variations of it have been used to much and most don't last. I want this business to go on long after I am gone. Parrish is your mother's maiden name and gives spirituality to it."

My older brother John, who is three years older than me, would take me with him when he was delivering stuff needed at various job sites. Because of his age, he got a wage, I didn't, but I used that time to learn as much as I could.

When I finished the tenth grade, I went into an apprenticeship program to earn my electrical license and at the same time continued my education online. I graduated the twelfth grade before I finished my apprenticeship and started getting a university degree in Business Management. It was using that skill, and basic knowledge as I was learning it, that helped my father to expand and grow his business.

John, on the other hand, worked his way up the latter the hard way. Learning every aspect of the family business by working and learning the best way of doing things with those he worked with. He also picked up quite a few of their bad habits along the way.

What separated my brother and I was that I started bidding and winning small commercial contracts that we brought in under budget, and at saving for our customers. It was an avenue that my father and brother knew very little about. The kind of word of mouth created by our approach to it gave us more growth than we could have wished for.

Our father always said I was the brain of the company; John was the brawn and it took the two to make our business successful. I was twenty years old living on my own when my brother called me one night because he was to damn drunk to drive home. He was at a wild private party in the middle of nowhere and didn't want to get busted by the cops, so I had gone out to save his worthless ass once again.

After loading his drunk ass into the back seat of the car I driving, a voice behind me said, "James can I get a ride home with you? My date is passed out somewhere and if I don't get home my dad will kill me."

Beth's father was a die-hard, old Christian conservative with a liberal point of view, as long as it did not conflict with his belief or his interpretation of what the bible said.

I turned to look at the voice discovering the new Beth. At seventeen she had turned into a very beautiful young lady. Her bright blue eyes were memorizing, she had a smile that was addictive, and she seemed relieved to have found someone she felt safe with. She had an hourglass figure that would attract men like bees would be to honey. Her long blonde hair and the huge mass of her globes got your attention fast. Beth had a rack that would make most females jealous.

I could have just stood there and looked at her all night. Her parents were very protective of her, and I knew she would be in trouble if her father had known where she was, so I agreed to give her a ride home.

Her father was waiting for her when she got home. I stopped at the edge of the road to hide the snoring lug sleeping it off in the back. I went around to the passenger side and helped her out, then walked her to her front door. Her father already worked up being concerned about his daughter being out so late, opened the door ready to tell her date off for bringing her home past curfew to discover it was me.

"Dammit, Beth you should have told me your date was James I would not have worried."

A week later she came looking for me at my father's shop at the end of the workday. I was preparing the truck for the next day. Beth had come to ask me to take her to her senior prom which was still two months away. I said I would think about and offered to drive her home.

I ended taking her out for supper after stopping off at her parent's place to make sure it was okay with hem because it was a school night. It took her most of the night to convince me that she was interested in me. Another two weeks before I started taking her seriously. The night of her prom we agreed to become exclusive. That was how it had all started, and now the end of marriage had come.

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About twenty minutes later I pulled into my parking spot at our head office, a few minutes later I walked to John Tait's office as a very angry but determined man. Only to find the door was shut so I asked his receptionist if my older brother was in. She said he was in there by himself talking to some female on the phone, but the door was locked. He wanted privacy because it was of a serious personal nature.

"Mary," I said, "Could you come into my brother's office with me, please? I need you to be a witness to what I have to say."

Mary took one look at my face and knew whatever I was going to say was very important because the anger in me was written all over it and said, "Of course."

As soon as she was beside me, I shocked her by kicking the door open breaking the door open, and barged in.

John looked up in surprise as we walked in and quickly ended his conversation without saying goodbye. He turned his cellphone off. For the first time in a long time, I had his total attention.

I said in pure rage, "You need to get this business appraised and find a way to buy my shares out. You have got as long as my divorce takes. John, do you have the brains to comprehend that?"

Mary's mouth dropped open a mile wide. She had never heard me raise my voice in my life.

"What the hell is this all about," John asked?

"The movers gave me the address that they're delivering the items that Beth wanted moved," I said. "I witnessed my daughters coming out of their new residence to talk to her just as she pulled in."

John just stood there not saying a word trying to figure out how to handle the situation with me. I knew that they hadn't wanted me to know.

"It wasn't intentional," John said without any remorse while looking at me coldly. "She's just staying with me till she finds a place to live."

"Sorry, we both know that is a fucking lie because she said to me that she was moving in with the man she had fallen in love with. As far as I was concerned," I said. "she said I didn't need to know his name because it was none of my fucking business anymore what she did with her life because she had just handed me the divorce petition."

It was sad to see my older brother's face turn completely white. I could tell the fucking asshole was tongue-tied. I knew he was basically a coward who had never been able to face the truth.

Mary's face went white. She knew that John Tait would screw anything that wore a skirt but never expected he would stoop to stealing his brother's wife. Rumor had it that he been treated more than once for catching a social disease.

How long have the two of you been lovers," I asked? "On those afternoons when I had to cover for you was it so you could go to my home and screw her like you do every other woman you get your paws on. I guess I will have to get myself tested for a sexually transmitted disease because I have seen some of the whores you have slept with?"

John's face went white as he quietly said, "I don't think that work is the time or place for us to discuss this."

"Fuck you! There will never be the right time for something like this John," I said in pure anger, "Best get your ass over to the bank and begin talking to the mangers or put the business up for sale. We are done as business partners and as brothers as far as I am concerned."

"James there got to be another option. We can't afford to lose you," John said. "We will have to talk this out when you have calmed down."

I picked up the phone on his desk in pure anger and dialed our mother while turning the speaker on so that everyone could hear both sides of the conversation. Thankfully she was not out working with one of her charities. She answered right away.

"Mom, I'm afraid I got some bad news for you," I said in almost a rage. "Today is my last day; I am resigning from the family company effective immediately. I told John earlier today that he had to find a way to buy out the shares that I own as soon as possible."

"What?" Mom said in shock. "You love that business and always have. You're the rock that has made it what it is today. It's your vision for its future that drives you. What has happened to make you come to this decision?"

"I think you should have your other son answer that when you find him because he's not in his office right now. He might be at his home because his secret lover is finally moving into his house today. I understand they're getting married as soon as her divorce is done," I said. "He's most likely with her showing his loving support."

"I'm sure you will be happy to see him finally settling down with a woman who already has children because it appears that he has finally started growing up," I said starting to calm down. "Now I suggest you drive over to his place so you can proudly introduce yourself to the beautiful lady he was bragging about for months and introduce yourself as her future mother in law."

I hung up the phone. John's face was in a rage. He couldn't say anything because at our family dinners at Moms, he been bragging about the woman he was in love with for months. I knew by his look that if we were anywhere but here, he would be trying to kick the shit out of me.

"Mary, could you follow me to my office and make sure that I don't take anything with me when I leave that may belong to the company. I don't want to give anyone the chance to claim I was fired because I am nothing but a thief." I said, "I will need a signed statement that I have turned over all the keys in my possession to you and that I have left with only what we agreed is not company property."

John was getting angrier by the moment because I was out and out saying to all the staff that I expected the absolutely the worst from him.

Before leaving his office, I said, "Should I walk out backward, so you won't have the chance to stab me in the back again? John with what Beth and you have done it would have been better if you had of got one of Dad's guns and just shot me."

We walked back to my office where my receptionist was working and I said, "Joanne could you please come in and witness what is about to take place. I think Mary will appreciate having a witness to what we're doing."

"James what's going on," Joanne asked?

"I've quit, because James has stollen my wife and my children from me," I said. "I got called home, to be served with divorce papers. The movers who were moving what Beth wanted out of the house gave me the address they were delivering it to, and to my surprise, it was my brothers."

Both our long term executive assistants were in total shock. These wonderful ladies had been both our rocks for years. They both knew I loved and respected them dearly.

"Let's list everything James takes," Mary said. "Along with what keys he gives us. We will type it all up and all witness it. We will make five copies of it. Joanne and I will each take a copy of it home for safekeeping so that if the ones here disappear, we can later verify what transpired here today."

That simple statement showed me just how much they trusted the President of the company. It made me wonder what else my older brother was hiding.

It took us about an hour to get it done. I called security to escort me out, and verify what I was taking out with me. I watched as both of the ladies put the extra copies in the purse.

My brother had rushed out without saying goodbye hoping to find a way to avoid the drama that most likely was going on at his house. I would learn later that he got home too late.

Everyone saw the top two executive assistants escorting me out with our security personal with tears in their eyes. At the front door before leaving I kissed both the ladies on the cheek and thanked them for their years of support. I stepped out of the door and took the single box out of the security officer's hand. As soon as I left everyone wanted to know what was going on. The ladies explained what they knew.

After opening the trunk, I threw the box in and closed it. On the way through town, I stopped at a real estate office and listed the house. I gave the representative my wife's cellphone number and told her she would need her signature. I told her that I would leave it up to my soon to be ex to decide on the list price.

Once I got home, I discovered that the only items besides their personal belongings taken had been the bedrooms furniture of our daughters. As soon as I did that, I shut off my cellphone.

I pulled out the divorce papers and read them. The grounds were emotional and mental cruelty and other crap. She was asking for primary custody of our daughters Bijou and Bree. I was being offered supervised visitation once a month for only one hour.

Beth thought I was over strict with our daughter because I would not allow them as girls aged thirteen and fifteen to date with boys of their age without chaperones. That was one of her bullshit reasons for the divorce. She felt I was too old fashioned for the world we lived in.

My view of morals, principle and standards were too restrictive for our society today. When we had argued about it, I had told her I did not want our two daughters ruining their lives by getting knocked up.

In school, girls in that condition, in the eyes of their peers were proudly proclaiming they were nothing but easy sluts. Most teenage girls that were in the condition when I was growing up had never amounted to much. I wanted the best for my children.

As a result, Beth thought my view of family structure was hurting their personal development. I knew that she felt I was treating our daughter the same way her father had her at that age, and she had always tried to revolt against him when she was growing up.

Beth was going for my throat because of our different views on how our daughters should be raised.

I went to the liquor cabinet and poured myself a stiff one. I flipped the channels trying to find something to occupy my mind but could not find anything but outdated reruns in our modern world. Star Wars, Sex in the City, or Law and Order did not fit my taste buds at all.

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I must have passed out drunk because I woke up with a hangover, laying on the living room sofa still dressed in my business suit. I went upstairs undressed, showered and shaved to get ready for the day. After making myself breakfast I went outside and did my usual Saturday morning chores.