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.