Disruption

DISRUPTION

Trent Davis was out jogging in the park, as usual on a weekday at lunchtime. He was a man who liked to stick to his patterns. On the three middle days of the work week - Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday - Trent jogged four miles along the Potomac River. It was Wednesday, so here he was. However, the sky darkened, and thunder rolled around him. He turned off his usual path and ran back through some high rises toward his small office in a complex a little further north. As he ran by Nick's Restaurant and Bar, he saw Molly. She was sitting in the window at Nick's. That seemed unusual to Trent, since he had made her a packed lunch that morning. What seemed even more startling was that Molly was sitting across from a red headed man, holding his hand. The two looked like man and wife - in love.

They weren't man and wife. Molly was Trent's wife and had been for nearly twelve years. They had two children, Bobby, eleven, and Joan, nine.

Trent drifted back under an overpass and watched Molly and the guy. They broke the handholding, but it was clear that they were having a good time, talking and laughing. In ten minutes, they rose, and the guy left some cash. They did not leave the building. Molly's office was nearby. And Trent had recognized the guy as Terry Braden, also a lawyer at her firm. He recalled Braden from a firm picnic earlier that year.

When Molly and Braden didn't emerge from the building, Trent pulled his phone and Googled Braden. He lived in the high-rise apartment building above Nick's Restaurant. Trent called Molly's work, and got her assistant, Mary Lewis, who informed him that Molly was at her regular Wednesday lunch. There was a pause in the conversation then. But Trent said, "Thanks, I'll call her cell."

Trent settled in to watch the door. Eighty minutes later, the two came out and hailed a cab. Trent took some pictures. Then he jogged back to his office. His one employee, Jennifer Carroll, was back from lunch. She eyed him as he entered, much later than usual for a Wednesday. She stood up and looked him over.

She said, "What happened?"

The two were about the same height - 5'10". They also had the same slim build. Jen's stare went directly to Trent.

He shrugged, "I hid under an overpass because of the rain."

Jen still stared at him. "Okay. Well, Tucker called. I told him you'd get back to him." Her tone when she said this was skeptical. Trent walked into his office. He called his buddy Tucker, who was also a customer of Trent's. Trent sold him and his firm financial advice, and accounting services.

Tucker just wanted to rag Trent about their darts game that weekend, which Tucker had won, for once. But soon, Tucker realized that Trent was not himself. Trent promised to get revenge the next Saturday. But his tone was flat. The two had been close since college, and Tucker knew when Trent was off kilter.

He asked, "What's up?"

Trent said, "I may have a problem, buddy, but I'll have to look into it before I talk more. You'll be the first one I ask for help, if I need it."

"Okay." Tucker knew that Trent wasn't going to open up just then. He was patient. The call ended soon after.

And, Trent pondered the development. He saw various ways to approach the thing. But he knew he needed more information. He spent an hour doing a deeper dive on Terry Braden. He was single, thirty, and an associate at Lowry and Jacobs, Molly's firm. She was also an associate there, but soon would make partner. From what he could discern, Terry was not quite that far along. Terry had graduated from Brown, and Penn Law. He did commercial law for Lowry. He was also a good amateur tennis player. He was about six-two, well built and husky. And he had flaming red hair which he wore long, in a ponytail.

At that point, Trent had to get home and pick up the children. He dressed and waved to Jen, gave her some instructions for the next day. Then he went for the kids. They were a lively pair, and he set them to doing their homework. School had only just reconvened, and he figured that they needed to get a good start.

Trent pondered some more. From what he saw, he was quite certain that Molly had had sex with Terry Braden, and that she had been doing that for some time - at her regular Wednesday 'lunches.'

Terry had priorities. However, seeing Molly this day had switched those around. His main priority had been his marriage, and kids. Now, it was taking care of his children the best he could. The marriage? It had to fit with the main priority. If not, it had to be dealt with. There was a vestige of regard for Molly left in Trent. He was confident that it would soon disappear. There was also a growing negative feeling, which would have to be squelched for a while.

Trent Davis was an incisive thinker. He was also a very decisive person. This combination had led him to his successes in his 'small' investment advice and accounting business. When he saw something, he acted. No half measures for him.

Molly arrived home at six pm. She was in a cheerful mood. Trent had made a big salad with shrimp. The family ate voraciously. Except for Trent. He was not himself, despite his efforts. Something he'd have to work on.

The kids noticed, and so did Molly. Trent was....flat, unemotional. Maybe distracted. After dinner, as she was helping him clean up, Molly asked, "Is something amiss, babe?"

(She talked like that.)

He gave her a flat stare that sent chills down her back. He said, "

IS

something amiss?"

Molly backed away a step. There was now no mistaking Trent's mood, and there was basically one large, disastrous possible explanation for that mood.

Molly looked at her long-time mate. She didn't see him there in front of her. Someone else was standing there. Something else. She fled up the stairs. The kids were watching a video in the front room and had not seen the last interaction. He made sure that the two of them had completed their homework, and then he read them a story by O. Henry. Then they discussed school and their new teachers. That took them to bedtime.

Trent had not seen Molly since the aborted conversation over the sink. He had a laptop computer home with him. However, he did not feel comfortable doing more research on it, or from an IP address associated with him. So, he went down to his basement work out area and practiced certain fighting moves that he thought may come in handy. He used the heavy bag, and also a small upright column that he had erected to improve on the precision of his strikes. Trent practiced for an hour. He stopped, showered and slid into bed with Molly, who was pretending to be asleep. Trent didn't challenge her pretense. He slept.

The next morning, both he and Molly went through their normal routines, prepping for work and prepping the kids for school. One thing different was that Trent did not make Molly a lunch. Of course, she noticed. But she said not a word. She had hardly slept and was ragged. Molly was a pretty woman of medium height, with short cut brown hair and dark eyes. She was always smartly dressed when she was off to work. She was maybe slightly disheveled today. She maybe had a decent reason for that.

MOLLY

Molly Davis, nee Graff, was from a solid, religious middle class family. She excelled in school due to her discipline, and brains. Mostly discipline and effort. She sailed through law school at Penn, and by then was pregnant with her son. She was also married to Trent, who had knocked her up. She was married to him for two main reasons. She liked him. And she was pregnant by him, due to her stupid failure adequately to protect herself during sex with him. That failure was a result of her truly ardent sexual response to Trent. She could never figure out quite why she reacted so to him. He was average in size and looked kind of bland. But he was - somehow - able to provoke a serious lust in her. So along came Bobby, delaying her entry into the world of big law. She was okay with that. Trent's business was doing well, and he was able to care for Bobby after six months, with the help of a nanny he hired, Elaine Dawson.

When Molly went to work for Brand and Colwell, LLC, she rose quickly to a position of some importance. She was putting in long hours. Trent was a little frustrated. He spoke to her about it, and she relented. She started coming home earlier. She still had her lusty reactions to Trent. More time with him. She got pregnant again. It was no accident. Both wanted another child, and Molly calculated that having her second, and last, child then was better for her career. Joan came along, and six months later Molly was back at work full time.

Now, Molly was about to make partner at her firm. She was proud of that accomplishment. She was not proud of her relationship with her colleague, Terry Braden. She had fallen for Terry in a way that she had not with her husband. With Trent, she had lust and high regard. With Terry she had...well....love. And lust. The two spent time together at work for a while, but that ended. Terry was in another department. The case that brought them together ended. But by then they had started a sexual relationship. And they were in love. After the case was over, Molly made every effort to break it off with Terry. She had not succeeded. They had their Wednesday 'lunches.' Two or three hours a week. It had been going on that way for eight months, with time off for vacations. Terry was pressing her for more. He wanted her to divorce Trent and marry him.

She refused. She had a family, and she knew that, if she told Trent about plans for a divorce, he would make every effort to keep the kids. And he might well succeed. Their house was his from his family before they married. The kids had lived there all their lives. Trent was their main caretaker. And the kids didn't know Terry at all. No way was she going to allow a family break up. Also, even if she was able to break with Trent, and marry Terry while keeping the kids, they'd suffer.

So, Wednesday 'lunches.' She looked forward to those mainly for the chance to talk to Terry. The sex was okay. In truth, the sex had cooled some. That was not the case in her marriage. Trent always rocked her, and he was almost always ready.

But now....now. Now it seemed to her that Trent must have discovered her relationship with Terry. She couldn't see how, but there was no other explanation for the cold shoulder she was getting. She was very frightened. But Trent said nothing, and she was not about to bring it up. This was one instance where open marital communication would not yield a good result.

She had a discussion with Terry about all of it. Terry was adamant that it was time for her to tell Trent. She was just as firm in her refusal. An impasse. She told Terry that they had to stop the Wednesday trysts. Maybe they could get together, sporadically, for sex. They could still meet and talk at work.

That's what happened. For the six weeks after Trent's cold shoulder, Terry and Molly met for sex only twice. Once when they had to go to New York for a court appearance, and once when they snuck away at a firm luncheon when Trent had to be in Atlanta.

TRENT

Trent was aware of both of those meetings. He had asked for a favor from his buddy Tucker. Tucker knew someone at Molly's firm. And, of course, both occasions were not secret. Trent didn't need pictures or audio. He only needed to know that they'd hooked up.

Trent knew that his stoic approach to Molly had alerted her. He kicked himself for being unable to hide his disdain for her. After that first week, he'd gradually entered back into the marriage. He knew that Molly had cooled it with Terry. He monitored her Wednesdays. When he called her at the office the next week, she was there at her desk. She knew why he was calling, too. They had an inconsequential talk about kids' schedules.

That call cemented Molly's very, very careful approach to Terry. She was heartbroken but determined.

Trent allowed himself to reengage with Molly, slowly. When he was fairly sure that she wasn't boffing Terry every week, he decided that he could try, for the sake of his children. Things went okay for some time.

But then the New York trip was on Molly's schedule. Trent took steps to see what would happen. And he saw that Molly spent the night in Terry's hotel room. Trent took some further steps. Nothing that committed him to one course of action. And, when Molly came home from New York, Trent ghosted her on an emotional level. He barely spoke to her, and he slept on the couch in his office for a week. Yet they never spoke about it.

Molly was pissed off. Trent could see that. But she couldn't afford to open a discussion.

Three weeks later, Trent went to Atlanta and Molly hooked up with Terry when they snuck away from the award luncheon. Again, Trent was aware. Molly knew that he might find out. But so what?

TERRY

Terry was in love with Molly, and he knew that Molly loved him back. More than she loved her husband. But not more than she loved her family. He thought about simply telling Trent about his affair with Molly. He could be forthright. Or he could let Trent know in some underhanded way. But he decided against that, allowing things to take their own course. He was sure of Molly's love. And he was correct about that. When they snuck off from the luncheon, Molly didn't really try to hide it from others in the firm. That was different from the New York trip, where she tried to sneak around. And she was very disturbed when Trent seemed to know anyway.

Terry felt that he was making progress toward his goal of breaking up her family and marrying her - the love of his life.

He wasn't unaware of the trauma that would result from that. He only felt that it would be worth it in the end. Worth it for him. And for Molly. She'd have the man she truly loved. It didn't seem to occur to him that she could lose custody of her kids, and that such a result would flatten their relationship for good.

On a Friday evening, Terry togged up to do his twice weekly run up the river. He loved the run, and did it as much as he could, in the light and heat of summer and in the cold and dark of winter. And in between, like tonight. He paced himself. As he was coming through the third mile, he dropped to the ground. He never knew why.

TRENT

Trent decided that he needed to act. The New York trip and the luncheon were the final straws. Friday night he left the house for a run, as he had been doing for six weeks, now. But he got on his bike and rode to the river, instead of running. He had done that three times before.

Terry ran by him above Rosslyn. Trent let him go by and moved out onto the path some yards behind. Five minutes later, with no one in sight except the two of them, Trent struck Terry on the neck from behind. Terry dropped. Trent dragged him over to the river, close by. He held Terry's head underwater for some time, until he was sure. Then he jammed Terry under some bushes on the bank. Trent changed into dry shoes and ran back to his bike.

MOLLY

Terry didn't show for work on Monday, and there was no explanation. Word got around to Molly in the afternoon, when his secretary came and asked whether she knew where he might be. He'd missed two meetings.

Molly didn't know where he was, and she was shocked. She had a sinking feeling about the absence.

That night when she got home, Trent was cooking burgers. He turned and gave her a perfunctory kiss. The kids were at the table doing math. Molly went upstairs to think and clean up. Trent didn't seem any different. The unspoken tension in their marriage was there, just as in the weeks before. She didn't know what to do. She went down to dinner when he called up to her.

Dinner was also no different. Trent was nice to the kids and indifferent to her. She didn't mention the fact that Terry hadn't shown up for work. How could she? Theirs was a war of silence.

Things went on like that all Tuesday. At work, Terry's absence was now a huge concern. John Moore, a partner, called the police and asked for a welfare check. The results, reported later, were that nothing was amiss at his apartment. His cell phone was on the kitchen counter.

John Moore called Terry's parents in Seattle. He didn't like to worry them, but felt he had to do it. And he did worry them. They had heard nothing.

Tuesday went into Wednesday. Molly was on tenterhooks at home, but Trent was behaving just as he normally did - now. He was neither loving nor hostile. He didn't initiate sex. He never did nowadays. (But when she did, he was up to the task.) Sex was now far from her mind, though.

Wednesday night there was a tremendous thunderstorm, breaking the late heat wave. Thursday morning Terry's body was discovered floating in the Potomac River, below the Fourteenth Street Bridge.

It took several hours before the law firm was put on notice. Terry's parents called John Moore. Soon after that, D.C. homicide police came to the firm. The two detectives spoke to John Moore, telling him that they were investigating the matter as an unexplained death. Moore answered their questions, and allowed them to interview Terry's secretary, Mildred Hutchins. Mildred was on the spot. She knew full well that Terry was having it off with Molly, a married lawyer at the firm. She was reluctant to speak on it. She had no real proof. But she did mention it in an oblique way. She said that Terry and Molly had been 'close.'

Molly was now frantic about Terry's absence. Then John Moore came into her office, looking somber. She knew right away. She started sobbing as she listened to Moore's explanation. John Moore told her to go home.

When she got home, Trent was arriving from picking the kids up from school. He saw right away that Molly was nearly unhinged with grief. Of course, he knew why. No details. But he knew that she knew about Terry's demise.

Molly took one look at Trent and flew at him, making every effort to hurt him. She failed miserably. He wrapped her up in his arms and carried her inside and upstairs. He yelled to the kids to stay in the kitchen.

Trent tossed Molly onto their bed.

He said, "What the fuck?" He said it low and with menace.

"He's dead. You....you...damn you!" But she didn't get up from the bed. She didn't like the look on Trent's face, or his tone.

"Who's dead?"

"You know, asshole!"

"I do not. You have to explain yourself, Molly."

She looked at him. He seemed to be truly puzzled. She said, "Terry."

"Terry from your work? What happened?"

She just stared at him.

Trent waited. Nothing from her. Then he said, "You've frightened the kids. I'm going down to settle them."

He left and Molly tried to make sense of her feelings. She was almost certain that Trent knew about her affair with Terry. But not completely certain. She was also far from certain that Trent had anything to do with Terry's death. She didn't know how he died. Just that he was floating in the river.

As she calmed down, she decided to bide her time. She composed herself and went down to the kitchen.

Molly came into the kitchen and apologized to the kids. "I've had a shock. One of my work colleagues has died unexpectedly. I reacted wrong."

She went to the coffee maker and brewed a cup.

Things settled back to close to the new normal that evening. Molly was less than animated, but not crazy. She went to bed early.

She didn't sleep well. Trent didn't either.

When he slid into bed with her, Molly asked, "Trent, did you do something to him?"

"No. But your reaction. You were having sex with him."

"You knew. You've been cold for a while. Somehow you knew."

"I didn't KNOW. I suspected. You became different. And, you know, my reaction was to...to freeze you out. I felt betrayed, and you...didn't comment or try to find out why. So, I figured you felt guilty and so you had done the dirty on me."