This story concludes Jack Colton's year. He lost his wife in January, made love to many women through the year and remarried in September. I hope you have enjoyed my stories.
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End of the Year
It was New Years Eve.
I was home alone that afternoon watching a college bowl game, thinking in the solitude of a quiet and empty house. The only sounds came from the TV and the wood in the fireplace cracking as it burned.
We had given our two housekeepers two weeks plus paid time off. They were wonderful people and Catherine and I wanted them to be with their families. They had fit right in to our new family when we hired them and Catherine and the girls enjoyed speaking French on a daily basis with them. We'd see them in another week or so.
Catherine and the girls were out shopping getting a few items for dinner and for tomorrow's breakfast. And who knows what else. Shopping was truly their thing. I had the credit card bills to prove it.
We were leaving in the morning for Scottsdale to enjoy the warmer desert, escaping Los Angeles for a few days.
Catherine and I had started playing golf together so maybe we would get in a few rounds. Or not, depending on how she was feeling.
It wasn't all just going to be fun; I was going to meet with the owner of a luxury car dealership who wanted to sell. My reputation as an up and comer in the world of new car dealerships was growing.
I wanted to be sitting in a nice hotel bar watching the Rose Bowl game so we were leaving early for the drive over. It's a six hour drive.
We were going to stay at the Royal Palms. One of the nicest hidden gems in the Valley of the Sun.
Tom was home sick with a cold and Isabella was still in residence at the Betty Ford Center in Palm Springs.
I had hired two older women, nurses, neither one pretty, but both very experienced, competent and nice to take care of Tom.
I was convinced that Tom would fuck anything female that moved if he could; so I hired the least attractive nurses to deter him.
If either one of them gave him a hand job I was okay with that but given Tom was pretty sick I didn't think he would be able to even get an erection. But his sex drive for new pussy was unbelievably high I wouldn't bet against him.
December was a good month. We had our dealership Christmas party at the country club on the first Saturday night in December.
I didn't want anyone to stress over attending. We had a set start time and an end time so the employees and their families could come and go when they wanted and needed to.
I had sent a letter home to all the employees inviting everybody in the family to the party with all the details and a PS to call me if any questions came up. Only a few called (it was always the wife) and they wanted to know about what to wear and what about bringing the kids.
Catherine and I set it up so that we had a special room set aside for kids to play and I had nurses available in case anyone had a sick child. All an employee had to do was call and we'd send over a nurse so the parents could get out of the house and attend the party for an hour or two.
We had a buffet that never ended and an open bar. But to make sure no one left drunk we had a breathalyzer everybody had to take and I had Uber drivers standing by. Plus two bouncers which it turned out we didn't need.
We didn't have a dress code either. I wore blue jeans and an open necked shirt and Catherine and the girls dressed casually too. People showed up being comfortable and that was the most important thing for me.
I didn't give a speech, we just made sure that we greeted everyone when they arrived and gave them what I called a line card with all the stuff going on at the party.
We had gifts for everyone and of course Santa and his paid elves were there (all were LA area CYNSuits customers).
The next weekend we had the CYNSuits Christmas party in Las Vegas. A smaller group but just as much fun.
The manufacturing company folks had their party on the Saturday night right before Christmas and we had it at the country club. Same program as the dealership but they drank more and we used more Uber drivers than two weeks before. I had four bouncers on the premises just in case.
We mailed bonus checks to every employee's home so that there was a happy surprise in the mailbox two days before Christmas. A second round of checks would arrive in the mail, New Years Eve (today) for the managers.
From my perspective, all of the businesses were doing fine. All were profitable but I was still struggling with the pool and spa cleaning business. It wasn't growing.
I was in talks to buy more dealerships and the land under them.
We still had trouble recruiting good people. I was working on a long term solution but hadn't made any decisions just yet.
As the second quarter of the game started I made a pot of fresh coffee and thought back on the year.
The low point of my year was the death of my wife in January and the high point was Catherine waking me on Christmas morning with the news that she was pregnant with our son and that he was expected to join us in July. She had kept it a secret from me for more than a week.
I don't mind sharing that I was so overwhelmed I cried. Catherine cried with me, tears of joy and happiness.
Catherine assured me our first child would have ten fingers and ten toes. And would be raised in a house filled with love. And that he would be smart as his daddy and maybe even better looking!
When we shared the news later that day with the rest of the family they were overwhelmed just like we were. Marie and Natalie loved the idea of having a baby brother.
As I reflected back on the year, I remembered something that had happened about two weeks after my wife was killed in the automobile accident.
I'd forgotten about it until now, as I sat in front of the fireplace and TV was trying to remember the faces and names of all the females I had sex wife since my wife was buried.
Guys do this, they keep score. Who the hell knows why.
If you read my first story "I Hire Monica the Maid" you will recall was in a fog for many weeks following my wife's death.
This was when I was not in a good mental place; in fact I was barely functioning.
It was all I could do to get out of bed in the morning after not getting any sleep the night before. Expensive bottles of Cabernet and sleeping pills got me to bed but they seldom worked, in combination or alone, to put me and keep me sleeping.
I wasn't eating, I wasn't sleeping but I was drinking a lot. Not a good place to be. Not a good place to stay in. But I didn't know any other way to deal with the pain except for time to pass.
Maybe if enough time passed I'd feel better.
I did pray a lot and I know that God had His reasons for taking my wife away in her prime. He just wasn't sharing them with me. So the word and question "why?" was in my head a lot those days.
It got so bad I checked into a local hotel, thinking a change of scenery would help.
So that I wouldn't go stir crazy looking at four walls I got a two bedroom suite. Maybe having a few more walls to stare at would help me to sleep better.
Thursday night was a bit of an improvement, maybe because it had started raining.
I slept a bit longer before waking up but life still sucked on Friday morning.
On Friday I worked my business, on the phone, email and text. My heart wasn't really in it.
When it came time to eat dinner that Friday night, I had a glass of wine in the hotel bar and then went to our usual place. I needed to be around people. It was still raining and showers were expected the entire weekend so I drove carefully.
For years each Friday night I would head over to a local restaurant and pick up dinner for my wife and me.
My wife was somewhat a creature of habit and always had me get a piece of fish and a salad for her dinner.
I'd switch back and forth between chicken and beef, depending on what I was looking to drink. If it was beer, I'd choose the 'cheaper chicken' (a line out of the Steve Martin movie "Father of the Bride") and if it was red wine, the beef. Usually a steak but sometimes a burger.
I'd place my order when I walked in around 7pm and depart around 7:30. To kill time I'd go into the bar and have a libation.
This was a small chain, family owned. They did an amazing amount of business. The food was of high quality and priced just a bit higher than the competition but not so much so that you would complain about it.
It was a nice place, modern and clean. In Los Angeles County the health department grades eating establishments by a letter grade and this unit always earned an A.
But what set the place apart was the service. Whoever did the hiring at this place should have gone into business teaching other businesses how to hire.
It was the single most important reason why they were so successful.
Women consisted of ninety percent of the front of the house wait staff. While they weren't all Kate Upton or Olivia Grupo, all of the women were attractive.
Guys think about every woman in a very basic way: would I have sex with her or not?
All of the women in this place were on my list of "Yes I would."
Listen, I like eye candy like every other guy but in all the years I was married I never cheated on my wife. Never.
But this place was a great venue to watch women.
The female staff ranged in age from 21 to 50 or so. They were all attractive; many were very pretty, even the older servers. And they were nice and competent. They took care of their figures and their customers and were tipped well for it. There was a lot of repeat business.
Not to digress, but in addition to getting takeout on Friday nights I would eat lunch at this place about once a week with a client. I was always generous with my tips.
It got to the point that many of the wait staff called me by my first name. I wasn't exactly Norm from Cheers (look up this series on IMDB.com) but it was nice to be recognized and acknowledged by a friendly face.
The bar area was large with about 20 seats around a long peninsula shaped counter.
Three ladies worked the bar on Friday nights: Amanda, Brie and Lauren.
The first time they each served me they called me "Mr. Colton" but I quickly corrected them and each now called me Jack.
All those many Friday nights, I never stayed long enough to have more than a single beer or a single glass of red wine because I had to get dinner home for my wife. But when I was there I enjoyed the bartenders, their energy and the banter they had with each other and the customers.
Like most bars, they had several TVs going but my eyes were always elsewhere.
Most nights it was crowded and hopping but tonight, because of the rain, there were more than a few open seats.
As I walked into the bar, Amanda called out to me and as I found her eyes she smiled and pointed to an open chair near the service bar.
I sat down and she leaned over to me with a twinkle in her eyes and a warm smile on her face and said in a low voice "I've been saving this spot for you. I want you to keep me company tonight if that's okay with you."
I returned her smile and asked her "Am I in trouble?"
She laughed and reached out, touching my hand and said "My job is to keep you out of trouble. How many drinks have you had so far today Jack?"
I liked her hand on mine. It had been awhile since someone had touched me like that.
There had been plenty of hugs and kisses on the cheek at the service and funeral but this felt different.
It felt electric.
I looked at Amanda and she looked at me and I knew that she knew my wife was dead.
And, she knew, and cared enough, to keep me from drinking too much and driving home and risk maiming or killing someone.
She said in a quiet voice "When you didn't come in last Friday night I knew something was up. I'm sorry Jack. I'm so very sorry."
I nodded in thanks and motioned to her to lean closer, over the bar and then whispered to her "Does anyone else know?"
Amanda was almost close enough to kiss.
She looked pretty enough to kiss.
