I had just divorced my husband of 10 years because of his infidelity, and the fact that he was having an affair with my best friend, certainly did not help. That was not a nice thing to find out, but it happened. We had no children together and I guess in a sense it was a blessing not to have a young child or young children feel the pain of parents separating and then a divorce.
Friends of mine seem to always want to get me out of the house. Most of my girlfriends are single by choice, and because they like to party, they have made up their minds that for now, marriage to them was out of the question. The fact that I was married, made me lose contact of sorts with the outside world, and the fun that my friends were having. They liked to frequent the single's bars and clubs. That was no place for a married man or woman. Problem was, my husband Dan disagreed.
Dan liked to party, but liked to party without me. He liked the fact that I was sitting at home waiting for him. When he came home, I could smell perfume on his shirts and booze on his breath. He was considered a handsome man, and women would flirt with him and he liked it, and many times he reciprocated. He was tall with dark hair and brown eyes and worked on Wall Street. A very attractive man for many women and he loved the attention. The stress of his job was his reason for going out after work. Perhaps once every 2 weeks we would have a dinner together at home. This routine of his got very old for me. At times I did not even feel I had a husband, but just an occasional roommate.
Since our divorce, Dan had a habit of walking into my apartment unannounced thinking I guess that he still owned me and this apartment. Actually, it was our apartment but I was given full rights to it in the divorce decree. I had been meaning to change the locks but never got around to it and Dan refused to give me his keys. It seemed that he wanted his cake and eat it too and remain in control of my life as well. My boss was ready willing and able to help, but I told him that "I would handle it" and thanked him for his concern.
I was a secretary for an assistant DA, and I usually drowned myself in my work. During the day I was too busy to even think about the divorce. My boss was a well known prosecutor with the DA's office here in Manhattan. When I got home it was a different story. The apartment that Dan and I shared was on the 5th floor in the Tribeca area in lower Manhattan. By all standards it was an upscale neighborhood and I loved living in that area and in that apartment. It was a large dwelling and at times when I was there, it reminded me of happier days with Dan. He was just no longer there unless he felt the need to check on me to see what I was doing. It was just none of his business. Gradually I got more and more depressed.
This one particular Saturday morning, a girlfriend called me. I wanted to sleep in but the phone woke me. Kathy had a bubbly personality, somewhat like mine before I married and then became subdued.
She said, "hey Barb. Whatcha up to?"
I told her that I had planned on sleeping in but someone had to answer the phone. She chuckled. She told me that she had been out the night before with our other 2 friends, Carol and Linda. She told me that they had a great time and wished I was there. Then she told me that they had talked about taking a vacation to the Bahamas and wanted me to go along with them in a few weeks. I told her that I didn't much feel like going away, but thanks for the invitation. She told me to think about it, because it would probably do me some good. I thanked her and told her I would think about it then hung up.
I laid in bed for a while staring at the ceiling. I could not let myself drop into a deep depression. That would be the worst thing for me. I got up and made some coffee for myself. The dining area in the kitchen overlooks Central Park. A tranquil view that a person could lose themselves in when living in New York City with it's fast pace and millions of people.
The more I thought about a vacation the more it seemed like a good thing to do just to get away. I had accumulated some vacation time and thought why not? I traveled a lot with my boss, but a getaway like this with friends would be nice. I called Kathy back and told her, get another plane ticket for me and include me on the hotel reservations, then let me know what the cost would be. I'll write you a check.
She was excited that I agreed to go and her last response before we hung up was, "you go girl!"
Monday morning I put in for my vacation time. My boss thought it was a great idea for me to go away for a bit telling me, "you need to get away."
Three weeks later all four of us were on a plane headed for Miami, then from there on to Nassau/Paradise Island, and the Grand Bahama Hotel. The anticipation of sunning on a snowy white beach surrounded by palms trees made me relax.
We landed in Nassau around dinner time. The salt air and scenery was beautiful. We checked in at the Grand Bahama Hotel and had an ocean view. We shared rooms, with two of us to a room. My roommate was Kathy. We all decided to change into comfortable clothes and meet in the lobby for dinner in an hour. Nassau has a wide variety of restaurants within walking distance from the hotel and that is what we wanted. We wanted to absorb the local culture and Nassau ambience. We decided to dine at the "Poop Deck". A seafood restaurant that served various dishes besides seafood and I was in the mood for a rock lobster.
After dinner we strolled a bit and window shopped. We decided to take a cab to one of the casinos to check it out. The driver took us to the "The Atlantis Resort and Casino". In the evenings, the men are required to wear jackets. The women are accepted in casual dress, but nothing like beach wear. Payouts on the slots are frequent. We were told that over 800 machines pay out $35,000.00 an hour. The Atlantis was huge. One could get lost so we stuck together. We played the slots, but I guess we did not play one of the 800 that paid out mucho bucks. Still, we had fun. I realized that I had missed the company of my friends like this, and even though I was tired, I wanted to continue our first night out until dawn.
We decided to have a few drinks at a bar overlooking the casino and the blackjack tables. You will not see locals gambling in the casinos at all because for them, it is unlawful.
It seemed as though one gentleman was having luck at one of the tables. I don't know how long he had been playing, but he seemed to have a pile of chips in front of him and there was a small crowd of onlookers watching him play. Before long he got up from the table and went to cash in his chips. When he did so, the small crowd applauded his good fortune.
It seemed that the clientele at the Atlantis consisted mainly of Americans and some Europeans. We were just happy that we decided to go to a place where the language was predominantly English.
The girls and I began chatting and planning a fun filled week. There is a vast array of activities available from just plain sun bathing on the beach to windsurfing, touring, shopping and so on. We decided the following day that we would tour and get a feel of the surrounding area. While chatting and turned to face the other girls, I felt someone brush against me from behind. As I turned I realized that it was the same gentleman that had been gambling at the blackjack table that had all those chips in front of him. He apologized for brushing against me.
I told him, "oh no problem at all. By the way congratulations on your winnings." He thanked me and we started to talk.
He introduced himself as Rich. He had a familiar accent. No one could mistake a New York accent especially someone from there. I told him my name was Barbara and that I was from New York. He responded with a smile and said, "so am I."
He said he was a Manhattan South detective here on vacation. I told him I lived in lower Manhattan. He said, "well then we are almost neighbors."
He asked me if I was with anyone and I told him that we ladies decided to take a vacation here and then introduced him to the other girls. They seemed to like him and all of them engaged him in conversation. It seemed they were all trying to out do one another in an attempt to gain his interest. They were pros at this so I just sat quietly and just listened.
Rich remained standing next to me and when there was a break in conversation with the others he would start one with me. Soon the seat next to him and in between where he was standing by me was empty so he sat down. We continued our conversation. He told me that he was divorced. His ex wife could no longer stand being the wife of a detective and that she insisted that he was married to his job. He thought it was an excuse because she had found another man. He told me that coming home every night used to feel so good but after a while when he did come home, they argued. (hmmm…"coming home" every night is a definite plus.) Before long the other girls wandered off to play the slots. I was content talking to this handsome gentleman that made me feel at ease.