The Better Man
By yfnsp
I was having trouble falling asleep. I kept going over the events of the evening in my mind. It had been a noisy party, much more crowded than usual for a trade-related event. But the conversation, the one occurrence I kept replaying, had been perfectly clear. "I'm looking you over as a possible acquisition," he said. The more I thought about it, the odder it sounded in my mind's ear. And there was something in his voice, and in his eyes it seemed as I ruminated, that had unsettled me.
Let me back up. This bash was the annual party put on by the biggest title company in town for all the local real estate brokers and their plus-ones. It was the fifth of these I've attended since getting my license and it was the biggest turnout by far - it's been a good year for real estate. The crowd was loud and boisterous and I was having a good time. Although I'm one of the youngest brokers in town, there were a lot of people I knew there and I was enjoying introducing them to my beautiful wife, Anna. There were a few new faces there too and I noticed in particular a tall, distinguished looking man who had attracted a group of people who seemed to be hanging on his every word.
Anyway, here's what happened. I make a trip to the crowded bar - did I mention the open bar? - leaving Anna chatting with a couple we both know. When I finally get my order, it takes me a couple of minutes to locate my wife. I finally spot her on the far side of the large ballroom. She's standing next to that new guy we had noticed earlier. He's leaning toward her as if he's whispering in her ear. I lose sight of them as I navigate through the crowd and when I get to the spot I was aiming for, she's not there. So I'm standing there with a drink in each hand, both of which I'd managed to keep from spilling so far, and craning my neck around, searching, when an elbow out of nowhere jostles me just enough to slosh G&T out of both glasses.
"Oops! Sorry!" the owner of the elbow says, and I see it's the guy who had been talking to my wife. And before I can say anything, he says, "Say, you're Jack Hausmann, aren't you?" He sounds a little tipsy, so I just nod and continue looking for Anna, but he keeps talking as if we're old friends or something. He does look familiar, though I'm sure we've never met before. Anyway, the next thing he says is, "You're one lucky guy, Jack. That wife of yours is by far the most beautiful woman here!" I turn to stare at him - he's starting to piss me off - but he's beaming at me with a big disarming smile and, with a friendly hand on my shoulder, he leans in. And that's when he says, "I'm looking you over as a possible acquisition." That's when I spot Anna, all the way on the other side of the room by the exit. She's got her coat on and is obviously looking for me. Our eyes meet and I see she's upset, so I park the drinks on the first horizontal surface I can find and I forge a path to her side.
"What's the matter?" I ask as soon as we're face to face. "Wanna leave?"
"Yeah, can we go?"
"Sure, honey. Did something happen?"
"No, not really... I'm just tired... too noisy... Can we just go home?"
I open the door for her and take her arm as we walk to the elevator and back to the car. When we get home, we just go to bed. Whatever is bothering her, I figure she'll tell me if I need to know, but I also know she's not in the mood for sex, so I let her go to sleep. And I start to wonder if it was the guy she was talking to that had upset her.
So this is what was on my mind, keeping me awake that night. Eventually I too fell asleep, having decided there's no sense in dwelling on something said by a stranger who was probably drunk.
When I got to the office in the morning, I discovered why that guy had looked familiar. There he was, staring at me from the cover of the local business magazine that had been sitting on my desk for a couple of days. "Mason Herrscher's Plans for Growth" was the featured article. I picked it up and read through it. Apparently, this Herrscher guy had entered the local commercial market a year ago. He was now the biggest in the city, and was now setting his sights on the residential market, too, with plans for a huge suburban development. So that's what he meant about "acquiring" me, I figured. Fine, let him make an offer I can't refuse.
It was a busy morning followed by lunch with a client, and I was on my way back to the office when I got a call from Anna around 1:30. "Jack, can you come home?" She sounded really upset again.
"What's the matter, honey? You sound upset. Did something happen?" I responded. She had seemed fine at breakfast.
"I... I can't talk about it on the phone. Just, can you come home now?" Her voice was shaky, on the verge of tears.
"Sure, hun, I'm in the car now. I'll be there in like ten minutes."
When I arrived, she met me at the door and stepped up to hug me before I was through the door. She was either grieving or livid. After a good long squeeze, I held her at arms length so I could see her face, tearstained, but with anger, it seemed. "What is it?!' I asked anxiously.
"It's that man. He was here. The man from the party? Last night?" She searched my face for understanding.
"You mean Mason Herrscher? He was here?" I asked, incredulous.
"Yes, I think that's who he said - the real estate guy. He said something about acquiring us... he was looking around like he was going to buy our house. I asked him to leave and he made a pass at me."
"He did what?!"
"He said something about making babies... Jack, it was really weird!" She looked in my eyes. "I told him to leave. I was furious! And he did leave, but he was acting like everything was... well, like we were best friends or something... Like, 'Bye for now. See you soon.' It totally creeped me out!"
By this point I was in a rage myself. 'What the fucking hell does he think he's doing?' I asked myself and I vowed to put a stop to it whatever it was. I took out my phone to google him and I called his business number. I told the receptionist my name and asked for him, but he was out, working from home, she said. I checked the google results again; there was no other phone number, but I found his home address, only a couple of miles away - I recognized the address.
"Don't worry, honey," I said to Anna, "I'll straighten him out! I'm going over to his house. You stay here. Call me if he shows up again."
I don't remember the drive. I may have been speeding; I was certainly in an aggressive state, rehearsing what I was going to say before I punched the asshole's lights out. I arrived at the luxury condominium complex - I knew how expensive it was because I'd sold several units myself - and I found a parking spot near his apartment. I ran up the stairs and pounded on his door, breathing fire. I waited several long seconds and then pounded again.
The door finally opened, and there he was, bare-chested, wearing only a pair of shorts and gym shoes, with a towel over his shoulder.
"What were you doing at my house? What did you say to my wife?" I shouted at him. My fists were clenched; my whole body was tensed, ready to attack.
"Jack!" Mason said with a big friendly grin, completely ignoring my questions. "What a surprise! Do come in." He stepped aside, inviting me to enter.
I stepped into the doorway, but only far enough to stand toe to toe with him and shout up into his face, repeating myself threateningly, "What did you say to my wife?"