"Mr. Jenkins and Mrs. Jenkins, I have seen enough over these last few months and will recommend an amicable divorce. It's the best for both of you. You will have joint custody of your four year old daughter, on terms you both can work out on," said our counselor.
I was heartbroken. I had tried to make everything work. I wanted to be together as a family. All for my daughter's sake. My wife and I had not had sex in nearly two years and only a handful of times in the preceding three years since her pregnancy was confirmed. The process of getting pregnant is another painful story with the wife wanting to save my sperm for her most fertile days which meant a strict ban on all sexual activities until the right time. The getting-pregnant phase took over a year. In all, I had had pleasurable sex only two times that I could remember over the last five years.
My wife Laura was the hottest thing in college. I was the nerdiest thing. The startup I interned in during college hit the jackpot and I was suddenly floating in money. That, more than anything else, got the attention of Laura Williams - that tall pale platinum blonde with supermodel looks. Nobody with a functional cock could turn down the advances of Laura Williams. We dated for three years and married when I assumed the role of Vice-president in a multi-billion dollar company that had acquired the startup. We were only twenty eight when Laura decided she wanted to start a family. I wanted to wait, but in the end she won her battle.
I was a good provider I suppose, but a hopeless workaholic. Work consumed me and the family life took a downward spiral. Laura was a typical trophy wife that successful men manage to snag. Yet, her values were strong and she genuinely tried to make our relationship work. However, our attempts seemed futile and my dedication to work regardless of the millions in the bank eventually broke the house.
I wanted our daughter to grow up in the best possible way, so I agreed to leave our giant house on the hills of San Francisco to Laura. I settled for a more mediocre house in the heart of Silicon Valley where I could be closer to work. Laura would have our daughter on the weekdays and I would take over weekends. That way the daughter's life would have the least amount of disruption as her private school was rather close to the house.
It was all settled.
The separation period was estimated to be one to three months until the divorce could be finalized. Our counselor reminded us that we could now date other people and that that would be the quickest path to rebuilding our lives — with someone else.
I didn't pay much attention to that. I did not need someone else. My work and my daughter were all that I needed.
**
One week into the separation, I realized that I had left some important documents in my soon to be ex-home. I called up Laura and asked her permission to enter the house to pick up my stuff.
"Jeff, it's still your house. Of course you are welcome to go and pick it up. It is so sweet of you to call and ask permission though," Laura cooed, as she always does when she finds someone or something adorable. "I will not be at home at that time though, so make yourself comfortable and if you have time, you are welcome to pick up Lexi from the school and play with her until I get home, OK?"
"Thanks Hon..."
I couldn't complete the word to honey. There was a long pause and Laura disconnected the phone. I would have to start calling her something else. Honey was the only thing I had called her for a good part of a decade now. I didn't know what else I could call her.
After a business meeting at the Embarcadero I headed out to the hills and used my set of keys to let me inside. I fished out the files and sat on the leather couch, waiting for Lexi to come home. I couldn't help but notice that all my things had been removed from the displays - no photographs of me and not even my art collections. Had really been only week since I left? Laura hadn't wasted any time in adding a personal touch to the house. I wondered what my little daughter thought of all this?
The phone started ringing and I instinctively went to pick up the receiver but decided against doing so. This was not my house anymore. There was enough to remind me about that. Hell, Laura had been gracious to let me into the house without anyone watching like a hawk over me. For the first time ever, I felt a little anger against her and that was mostly because we weren't even officially divorced yet.
The phone rang for a while and then the Laura's answering machine kicked in. "Hi, you've reached the house of Laura and Lexi. We are not home right now, so please leave a message and I'll get back as soon as I can. Have a nice day!"
Great! I was even off the answering machine list of occupants in the house.
The voice of Jenny, Laura's older sister, spoke from the other end. "Sissy, sissy, sissy. Oh my little and worried sissy. Looks like your cellphone is unreachable and I'm getting on a flight to France now and will only get to talk to you at the weekend. So, I had a chance to finally read your email. I don't have time for a lengthy response right now, but I think you should go ahead with the date tomorrow night if you are still on the fence. It really does not matter if Luke works for Jeff's company at this point. Hell, if it is so important to you, and you two end up in a serious relationship then you could ask him to find employment elsewhere. That's a discussion for later. DO NOT bring up the topic of the ex on your first date. Also, it is NOT bad to date all interesting suitors at this stage. That is what internet dating is all about. You have a sexy profile and you'll get a sexy man, or ... ham ... MEN. Haha. Hey, you know what, I thought that bouncer chap, what's his name, ah, Tyrone. Yes, Tyrone. That chap is pretty hot too. I know how miserable you've been all these years. Have some fun now girl. Whatever you end up doing, DO NOT get into a serious relationship right away. Take time to - you know what they say - smell the roses. Ok? Alright sissy, I really got to run before they shut the gates. Love you. Mwwwaahh. Take care sissy. And oh, I want to hear everything as soon as I can. Byeeeeeee."
Jenny's voicemail made me even more angry. I still had feelings for Laura and didn't expect this from her. Not so soon. Rationality then kicked in and I remembered our counselor's words. Fuck the counselor, she's STILL my wife and I had the right to know what's going on. Yes, I'm that kind of an asshole.
**
Laura would be home soon. So, I first bugged her computer so that I can log in to it anytime and find out what's happening. Next, I ordered some high-end spyware for local pickup. I was going to break-in the following day to do the installation while Laura went to her weekly social gathering at her crocheting club. I then left the house quickly because I did not want to face face Lexi with my upset self.
I went to the office and started digging for information on this Luke guy. A quick search showed that there was only one Luke in the whole company. He worked for the same division as me, and hence my subordinate. He worked for a manager I knew very well, so I asked Jake to come to my office immediately.
Jake was worried when he walked through the door. He saw that I was upset too and that didn't make it any easier for him. I had to act quickly, "Jake, there's nothing serious. I am just upset about some personal situation."
I could see Jake breathe out a sigh of relief.
"That's good, Jeff. I mean, how horrible. Sorry about the family issues."
"It's not your problem. Anyway, I want to know how your team is functioning given our new priorities for the month. Joe's been breathing fire of late and I want to keep everything in my division real smooth."
"Oh, they are working seriously hard on this one Jeff."
"That's good. Anyone working particularly hard, or particularly not-so-hard?"
"Well, most of the team works hard."
"Cut the defensive crap. I want to know if any individuals need praise or the boot."
"Well, there aren't any standout candidates."
"Ok, just for the sake of randomness. What do you know about this Luke guy?"
"Luke?"
"Yes."
"Well, he's working as hard as anyone as well. He's brilliant and all that, but..."
"But?"
"Well, he is a stickler for time. He's the last one in the office and the first one out."
"Now, that's not a problem right?"
"Not at all. He's very dedicated when working in the office. The rumor is that he's got a busy social life, and a thing for blondes."
A picture of him and my wife flashed in my mind, but I had to be all politically correct when I replied, "Now that's his personal business. All we should care about are his work ethics."
"Yep. He's a great asset to my team."
"Good. I'll have a word with him tomorrow. I think he's the best bet to be on call during our launch this weekend. How about you fix up an appointment to meet me at... say... 5pm?"
"I'll tell him."
**
In the brief drive from San Francisco to office, I had found out that Laura had setup a date with Luke at 4:30pm. The 5:00pm meeting was just me being the asshole like I told you I was.
**
I noticed that Luke contacted Laura right away, "Dear Laura, unfortunately my big boss wants to meet me at 5:00 tomorrow. So, we should perhaps reschedule our date another time? I am available all evening and the weekend. Any time that is convenient for you is fine for me. I'm dying to meet you in person! :-) Luke."
It didn't take Laura long to reply — "Oh, that's tough luck Luke. How about you come straight to 1015 Folsom after your meeting? I can accommodate a little delay. How about seven?"
Luke replied instantly — "FANTASTIC. I WILL be there by 7 sharp."
**
At the meeting the next day, I gave a bugged pager to Luke. "Luke, I know you're working hard and you are the brightest in the team, so I think you should carry this pager with you this weekend. It is really important. I know I may be interrupting your personal life, but I really need our best guy on this job."
He was naturally a little hesitant, but I sweet-talked him into taking it. I called him buddy several times. He seemed pleased by that and I invited him over to my house for drinks since he was now a "friend."
"Jeff, I really appreciate the invite, but I am running late for a date that I do not want to miss."
"Oh, I'm really sorry to have kept you for so long then. I'm been an asshole."
"Oh no no no. It's fine Jeff. Work is priority sometimes."
"Great. Thanks for understanding. Good luck on your date then. Have fun."
"Thanks Jeff."