Two years ago I discovered my wife Rhonda was having an affair. That led to a vicious argument that ended with me packing my bags and moving out. Of course my moving out wasn't due to the argument. I was moving out because I wasn't going to live with a cheating slut. Our marriage was over the second she let another man into her panties.
I checked into a motel near my office. It was kind of seedy but it would do until I found something more permanent. I put the two suitcases I had packed into my room and walked to a nearby neighborhood bar intent on getting drunk and drowning my sorrows. By walking I wouldn't risk a DWI. The place I chose was pretty much empty due mainly to the fact it was a week night. There were two couples sitting at tables and one older man sitting at the bar nursing on a bottle of beer. I found a booth over on the far wall away from anyone else. I wasn't in the mood for conversation. The bored looking waitress came over and I ordered a shot of Jack and a beer.
By the time I had finished my second round I had had enough time to do a little thinking. I realized that I could either sit around feeling sorry for myself or I could do what I normally do and meet this problem head on. I was a spec builder, building upper scale homes and it was at the height of the housing boom. I would always have two or three houses in progress at any one time and when construction problems arose I learned that it would cost me money if I didn't tackle them right away. With a new resolve I returned to the motel for a fitful night of sleep.
The next morning I went to the bank and moved all our money from our joint accounts into one in my name only in order to protect myself. Next I canceled all our joint credit cards, keeping two that were in my name only and the ones that I had set up for my business. My final stop of the day was to my lawyer to draw up divorce papers. Keith was a friend of mine as well as my lawyer and even though he specialized in real estate law his wife Shelley who was a lawyer and his partner dealt in family law. After they both told me how sorry they were at the circumstances I found myself in we sat down to go over the details. I was given the usual spiel telling me how this was a community property state and that she was going to be entitled to half of everything and that I would be responsible for paying child support.
I told them I was well aware of that but there was no way I was going to change my mind and to proceed with the paperwork. Because of our daughter I filed for dissolution on the grounds of irreconcilable differences rather than adultery. I had done well in my business and even having to give her half would still leave me well off. I just wanted to rid myself of a faithless slut wife. I slept better that night knowing that I was now taking charge of the situation.
It was Friday evening, the second full day after I had packed my bags and left that I received a call from Katey, my thirteen year old daughter, telling me that she had not seen or heard from her mother since she got home from school and she was all alone and hungry. Cursing my hopefully soon to be ex I jumped into my truck and headed home. I consoled my distraught daughter then headed into the kitchen to fix her something to eat.
It was under a magnet on the refrigerator that I saw an envelope with my name on it in my wife's handwriting. As curious as I was at to see what was inside I tossed it on the counter to read later and continued to make dinner for Katey. It was only after we had eaten and watched a little T.V. and I had put Katey to bed did I return to the kitchen. I picked up the envelope and went into the den. I poured myself a shot of bourbon and downed it and sat down to read whatever was inside.
It was a note from my wife in which she said that I was crazy if I thought I was going to saddle her with a child to raise. It went on to say that she was leaving and for me not to bother looking for her. To say I was stunned is an understatement. I realized I had never really known the woman I had married. I just could not understand how in the hell a mother could abandon her child. I went up to what had been our bedroom and saw that most of her clothes and personal items were gone.
I waited until the next morning to call Keith and Shelley to talk over this new development and find out how it was going to affect my attempt to divorce my wife. Shelley advised me to wait until Monday and then she would accompany me to my wife's place of work. She would have the divorce papers drawn up and we could have her served there.
The hardest thing was sitting down with Katey to talk to her about what was going on. She already knew that her mother and I were having problems since I hadn't been home for the previous two nights. I decided that being honest with her was for the best and I told her that her mother had left a note saying that she was leaving. Other than that I really couldn't answer her questions about when she would come back as I didn't know myself.
We managed to get through the weekend and Monday morning I fed Katey her breakfast and dropped her off at school. I drove to my wife's place of work where I met up with Shelley. Together we went inside to inquire if my wife was there. At the mention of my wife's name we were directed to the Human Resources office where we learned that she and her boss had both turned in their resignations the previous Friday. Somehow I wasn't all that surprised as I had found out that the man she had been having the affair with was her boss. Her boss was stupid enough to have a sexual relationship with an employee under his direction but was smart enough to realize that when I made an issue of it he was going to lose his job for breaking company policy against fraternization between a manager and an employee under their supervision.
Once outside in the parking lot Shelley advised me that it would be in my best interest to file a missing persons report with the police. As she had been gone for over forty eight hours they would be obliged to take the report and with any luck find her.
She followed me down to the police station where a detective took my statement that my wife was missing. I was honest with him and told him that the reason I wanted to find her was so I could have her served with divorce papers and the reason for the divorce. I showed him the note she had left and told him what we had learned about her and her lover quitting their jobs. He wanted to know if I had an alibi for the Friday she was last seen on and I assured him that I had spent the whole day at one of the houses I was building and there were several contractors that could verify that. At the end the cop told me that if they determined that there was no foul play involved and she had left of her own volition there wasn't too much they could do.
I then offered to buy Shelley lunch and we called her husband and met up at the Olive Garden. We requested a table that was fairly private so we could talk.
"So Shelley, what does this do as far as the divorce if we can't find her to have her served?" I asked.
"What that means in this state is you are going to have to wait for a year before you can file on the grounds of abandonment. I'm sorry Steve, but that is what the law states," Shelley answered. "The reason I wanted you to report her missing is so that we have an official report of when she left to document it. Other than that, if the police don't locate her your only other option if you want to pursue it is to hire a private agency to try to track her down."
"Well, I guess that gives me something to think about. I guess I will wait until I hear from the police. Honestly though I don't know if I even want to know where she's gone. As I'm in no hurry to get married again if ever I guess waiting a year isn't that big of a deal as long as I don't have to deal with her."
I could see the look of sympathy in Shelley's eyes when I said I wasn't looking to get married again. She reached over and patted my hand. "Steve, I know how tough this is on you and I know you're hurting right now but as your friend please promise me that your not going to cut yourself off from life."
"For now my focus is on Katey. I'm sure she is even more shocked and hurt than I am. I have to be there for her." Keith and Shelley both nodded their understanding and told me they were both there for me and would help any way they could.
After lunch I went by one of my job sites and checked up on the progress and then went to Katey's school to wait for her to get out. As she exited the building I saw her looking around almost frantically until she saw my truck upon which she came running as fast as she could. I stepped out and she flung herself into my arms. I could feel her shaking.
"I was afraid you wouldn't be here," she sniffled into my neck where she had buried her face.
"Oh baby. I promise I'm not going anywhere," I answered, hugging her tight to me.
"Do you really promise," she asked staring at me with her big blue eyes shimmering with tears.
"Yes honey, I really really promise." I kissed her forehead and carried her around to the passenger side of the truck and seat belted her in. I again cursed my wife as I walked around to get in. With a little prodding I finally got Katey to open up about her school day on the drive home. Once home Katey wouldn't let me out of her sight. I continued to do my best to reassure her that I wasn't going to abandon her. Despite that she began to have nightmares and I would wake to hear her sobbing in her sleep. I would rush to her room and when I would awaken her she would throw her arms around me and hang on as if for dear life. When I asked her what she was dreaming about she said that she was lost and she couldn't find neither her mother or me.
The biggest saving grace I had at this time was my office manager. I had hired Renee to help me with the many mundane aspects of my work such as filing for permits and arranging for inspections so as to free me up to concentrate on the more demanding tasks. Since then I had come to totally rely on her. She now worked to keep the subcontractors on schedule and ordering and tracking materials as well as handling all the necessary paperwork. I might go several days without stopping in at the office but I never worried about it as I knew Renee was able to handle it. I had such trust in her that I even had her make out the checks to pay the subs or vendors. All I had to do was stop in on Friday and sign them and then she would see to it they got delivered.
When I had decided I needed help running my business I had put out an ad in the local paper and had begun to interview people. I was getting discouraged with the respondents and couldn't find anyone who had the qualifications I felt were needed to handle the job. That was until Renee applied for the job. I still remember the day she walked in the door. Even though I was married I still recognized a good looking woman when I saw one. She stood only five foot four but she had such lovely big brown eyes and a cute button of a nose. I judged her to be in her early thirties and she obviously kept her self in shape by what I could see. She wore a blue business suit that even though it wasn't revealing did little to hide her trim figure. The interview went well and I was impressed by her qualifications. She had worked for her father who owned a construction company and was well versed in the business.
