Investigation
Sam was up a little before six and made sure his alarm didn't go off. He belted on his gown and went downstairs and met with one of the investigators. Soon Linda's phone had the appropriate apps installed and working. The investigators could listen and even visually record anytime it was felt to be necessary. One of the apps also was useful as a locator GPS so Sam decided to not to bug Linda's car or her purse. She never went anywhere, even to the bathroom, without her phone unless it was on the charger.
You might ask why Sam wasn't going to be the one to keep check on Linda's whereabouts. Sam felt he was too busy with his day to day business dealings to try and track Linda all day. The investigators could and would do that and give him a summary report. Sam was treating this as he would any other assignment. Hire the right people and delegate and you will get the job done without getting mired in the small details.
Sam then showered and shaved and dressed to hit the gym. He packed his suit in a carry-on case and left for the day. He didn't bother to give Linda a good-bye kiss. He completed a thirty minute workout and then showered again and spent the day making more money for himself and his company.
Actually he only spent part of the day working. Some of the day was spent working more directly with Harold about the change in leadership. Sam knew Harold would not need much in the way of education as he had always been the one in charge when Sam was off site for meetings, conferences, or vacations. Most of the orientation was to policies that dealt with long term contracts that had not been under Harold's direct purview.
Sam also started to address his granddaughter's lack of affection toward him. He called his daughter, Cindy, and arranged a time to take Cinda out for an ice cream and maybe a visit to the park. Cindy seemed surprised at her father's request but did agree that Sam could come and get Cinda for an outing on Wednesday afternoon. Sam planned for weekly outings from now on. He knew he should not try to buy Cinda's love, even though he could afford to inundate the child with stuff, but instead just start to be more available for her.
Sam then spent the afternoon with Temperance. She had compiled a list of employees who, according to office gossip, might be stepping outside the boundaries of committed relationships. Sam decided he didn't really need to know for sure if anyone was cheating on a significant other. No, he would just meet with each person and let them know his feelings on infidelity and remind the employee of the policies in place to deal with poor behavior.
Since his company had grown so much in the past few years Sam also had lost track of how many he was employing. As an exit strategy he wanted to get to know each and every employee a little, something he now regretted not doing sooner. He sighed at the thought that his small business, when he had known each and every person there, had now gotten large enough that he had lost touch with some of the staff not in management.
Sam then knocked off early and went for a walk in the downtown area near the office. During the day the foot traffic was all business people intent on getting from one place to another. Sadly their city business district had a different clientele after dark and it became a more dangerous place to walk.
That night Linda was home a little later so they ordered out and soon had a tasty meal on the table. Sam made sure that he didn't eat his entire serving. Most restaurants now provided a very large portion to justify their expense and Sam had gotten used to cleaning his plate, something his parents had insisted on as a small child, and it was a very hard habit to break. Linda just gave her husband a quizzical look when he got up and put the leftover food into a container. Sam shrugged his shoulders. "I think I will start to take any leftover to work for my lunch when I don't have noon meetings scheduled. I can then get back to work sooner."
Linda didn't voice her concern about eating leftovers at his desk but she was starting to wonder why Sam was suddenly doing things that would save money.
Sam then announced he was going for a walk and his plan to do some swimming when he returned. Linda was quick to respond. "Please wait and I will change into some comfortable shoes and go with you."
Sam nodded and went to change into his own more comfortable clothes. Soon they were briskly walking down the sidewalk. Due to the fact Sam was out of shape he was unable to talk while striding along. Linda was in better shape but didn't seem to have much to say so their walk was silent for the most part.
When they returned both quickly changed and went down to the pool. Sam made the comment that they really hadn't needed to put on swimsuits as the pool was in a protected area that was not easily seen by others. "You know, if we do this very often, we could just come back from our walk, strip down and just dive right in."
Linda looked at her husband with a surprised look. It had been many years since Sam had suggested anything so risqué. She certainly wasn't opposed to swimming nude, she just hadn't really thought about it. Their standing in the community demanded that they conform to certain behaviors in public and that usually included any time they were outside their house.
They swam for about an hour before getting out and heading for the shower. Again they shared the large master shower and soaped each other's back but that was again the extent of their touching for the evening. Sam again went to sleep with an erection and the reoccurring sad thought that his wife felt no attraction toward him.
In the morning Sam stayed home and met with the architect and the interior designer. They went over the thoughts that Sam had and came up with a rough draft of what was needed. The architect proposed an outside staircase so that a resident didn't need to go through the main entrance or from the inside door to the garage all the time. Sam immediately agreed.
The designer proposed very masculine tones to the space. She also suggested that the space be just a single bedroom with a large game room/office for part of the extra space. Sam envisioned a billiard table, something he could play by himself whenever he wanted to. He already had a similar table in the basement of the main house but, if his personal life went as he anticipated, he would not be using the main house much longer.
