It was about 10 on a Sunday morning and I was sitting on the hood of my wife's BMW in the Hilton parking lot, waiting for my loving wife to come out with her lover. I took a bunch of pictures as the couple came out and their passionate kiss goodbye. Jesse was still holding his hand when she spotted me, I could read her lips as she said, "Oh fuck, my husband." Joe, who had once been a very good friend of mine made eye contact with me. Jesse was pushing him away as she collapsed to her knees.
I nodded to the two process servers who were waiting and Jesse was served with divorce papers and a copy of the prenup her daddy had insisted on. Daddy had been wealthy at one point but the housing crisis wiped him out, I made out very well. All the text messages they sent to each other, with the dick and pussy pictures were included. I also sent a copy to her parents who thought their daughter was too good for me.
Joe was served with and "alienation of affection" suit. I didn't expect to get a lot of money but the lawyers to defend himself would cost him. His wife would be receiving a copy of the suit, both his and hers contained all the text messages Joe and my wife sent with the dick and pussy pictures included.
There were a few more errands I had to do before I left town hopefully for good. Since the house would be mine, I had already put it up for sale but I had to sign some paperwork before I left. The Saturday before was a very productive day, since Jesse had left Friday night to spend the weekend with her sister, I was able to gather all her shit and put it in a storage locker. The ashes from all our wedding stuff, like the photo album and her wedding dress were in a burn pit. A consignment shop had picked up all the furniture. I still had to pay and tip the cleaning crew that was in there. All the joint accounts had already been closed. Jesse was unaware but she was two months behind on her car payment.
There was also one more person I had to say goodbye to and that was Jesse's sister Jill. I had always thought we were close, nothing sexual but I thought of her as an honest friend. Yesterday evening I had called Jill and she said Jesse had run to the liquor store. Jesse's excuse for spending the weekend there was to watch her nephews while Jill went to a wedding. Fucking liars, and it wasn't the first time Jill covered for Jesse. I was disappointed in her so I dropped her off a copy of the divorce papers and text messages. I didn't say anything, handed her the packet and left.
Thank god Jesse couldn't bear me children. It was five years ago that we found out and I caught her cheating on me for the first time two months later. She promised it would never happen again and blamed it on her deep depression when she found out she was barren. Maybe she kept her promise or hid it better until a few months ago. I wasted ten years of my life with her, five of which I tried to be noble even though I knew she could never give me the children I wanted.
With my business in town completed, I headed to Denver. There's an old saying "when one door closes, another door opens." It was a couple of weeks after I realized Jesse was cheating on me that my boss called me into his office.
"Jack, you've been in a funk the last two weeks, is everything okay?"
"Yes, I'm blaming allergies but Jesse thinks I have a bug."
"Well, our operation in Denver is struggling, high staff turnover and shrinking profits. The board is considering shutting it down. There are some board members who don't want to put that many people out of work. I suggested that you take over. To be honest, they believe the problems are too ingrained. If you're successful, you'll be a hero, if not, they all thought it was impossible so you can come back here."
"The company will supply you with an extended stay hotel and cover your food expenses. We know this will be hard on you and Jesse so weekly flights back and forth will be covered for either you or Jesse, plus a significant bump in pay. What do you think?"
"I'm thinking I like it, but I need to discuss it with Jesse first. When will you expect me to leave?"
He gave me a date that sounded familiar. I went home and realized that Jesse had wrote that date on the calendar for babysitting her nephews. I called my boss and told him Jesse and I were thrilled with the opportunity both career wise and to spend some time in Denver.
So, on a beautiful Sunday after unleashing a shit storm, I was driving my Jeep stuffed with most of my belongings on a two day drive to Denver. My cell phone was turned off before I started the jeep. After making it to my overnight stay, I grabbed some dinner at a chain. Since all my meals were covered I ate well. I turned my cell back on and showered while the shit hit the fan. Feeling refreshed after the shower, I started with Jesse's voice mails.
The first was as expected, apologizing for cheating on me again and promising it would never happen again. I wanted to laugh because she couldn't cheat on me when we were divorced. The second was Jesse complaining because all our joint accounts were closed. Number three was her screaming about where was her stuff and what happened to our furniture and why I was selling the house. There were some other voice mails but she never asked me where I was and she never said she loved me.
In a moment of weakness, I called her, "Jesse, you need to read the information that you were served with today."
"I don't want to Jack, please come home. I'm so sorry and I know I haven't shown it but I do love you."
"Shut the fuck up Jesse, it's way too late for I'm sorry. Read the documents. Most importantly, I am exercising the prenup your father insisted we sign so you have no claim to any joint assets. Your personal belongings are in a storage facility, the paperwork and keys are in the envelope. I paid the first month's rent. The furniture is in a consignment shop, the address is in the envelope. You are free to buy back anything you're interested in. Also, in the envelope is a cash card representing half our checking and savings account because I was feeling generous. The joint cards are cancelled, your AmEx you use for your Hilton bill is still active. You're two months behind on the payments for the beamer you had to have. Thank god my name wasn't on that loan."
"This is our last direct communication so get a lawyer and we can talk through them. By the way, our cell phone plan expires at the end of the month."
I hung up and Jesse immediately tried calling me back so I blocked her. There were nasty voice mails and text messages from her parents, mostly about sharing the dick and pussy pictures with them. There was nasty voice mails and text messages from Joe because I told his wife and she was going to divorce him, all because my slut wife couldn't keep her legs closed. I forwarded that piece to Jesse. He also made a bunch of threats against my personal wellbeing, those I sent to my attorney. My sister-in-law Jill sent me a softer text message, telling me she told Jesse she was an idiot and was sorry she covered for her.
The following day, I was moving into the extended stay hotel. The view of the mountains from my windows was amazing.
Wednesday was my first visit to my new office. It took me minutes to realize the guy running the place was a dick. It started off bad when he showed me to a shoebox that would be my new office. Didn't he realize that he would be reporting to me? But I kept my mouth shut that first day, and he treated everyone like shit. No wonder there was such a high turnover rate. I called my old boss that night and gave him my first day impressions.
He said HR had done some exit interviews with former employees who all had the same impression of the guy. A team from HR will be there tomorrow morning to sever the employment relationship.
Once he was gone, I began the slow process of trying to heal the damage he had done, every morning I met with small groups finding out what they thought was going well and what wasn't. a few more people left, exercising offers they had already received. There were a couple of troublemakers that also had to be separated. But six months later we started doing well and had a decent quarter. The board was singing praises to my name.
Things on the Jesse front were dragging. Her father hired a bargain basement attorney to represent her who was unfit to be any kind of lawyer. My attorney said he was basically teaching the guy first year law stuff. The best one was when Jesse asked for counseling.
According to my lawyer, Jesse's lawyer explained to the judge that we had a loving relationship for the last ten years until Jesse's recent one time mistake in judgment.
My attorney shredded him, first by presenting evidence of her prior infidelity, then the months of text messages, dick and pussy pics Jesse and Joe had exchanged. The judge dismissed the request for counseling and ruled that Jesse was responsible for the court costs and my legal fees. The judge also sanctioned Jesse's attorney for wasting the courts time.
That was the last big roadblock and a year after Jesse's weekend in the Hilton we were divorced.
My mind was so focused on recovering that operating unit, I really didn't have time for a social life. My admin always organized different company functions like trips to ball games. Those were probably the extent of my social life that first year although my admin and several other women in the office were open to more. Especially as the white band on my wedding finger began to fade.
I would never have an affair with someone who worked for me. That was suicide today especially in my company. I had been living in the extended stay for a year, occasionally I met some female guests and enjoyed their company. Most of their stays were shorter than mine so the relationships were short lived. I wasn't complaining.
During one of my weekly status calls I mentioned to my boss that I was thinking of buying something permanent in the area. He asked me to wait. The board was so thrilled in how well the turnaround went that they were considering me for another position that would include a VP title, probably in a year. He wanted me to start grooming my successor.
Two or three year assignments were the norm and I was on my third move during that time. I still hadn't bought anything permanent. The longest relationship I had during that time was a year. I thought that relationship might lead to something permanent but I was transferred again and she didn't want to move.
Six years after Hilton night, I was back in my old town for a board meeting. Usually once or twice a year I had to attend these meetings. Being back there always put me in a funk as it dredged up bad memories. If being in town didn't suck enough, the board meetings were at that Hilton and we all had rooms there. I wondered if I was sleeping in the same room that Joe was fucking my wife. And then things got worse.
I was eating a late dinner in the hotel restaurant by myself when Jesse sat down across from me. She had put on a little weight and some wrinkles, I'm sure we both have but other than that she didn't look much different than she did six years ago.
"Hello Jack, I hope you don't mind if I sit here, I wanted to see how you were doing."
