Once again a long story. If you prefer shorter ones you should probably skip it. If you do read it I hope that you like it. I enjoyed writing this story..
Fool Me Twice....
I'd just finished packing up the 20' U Haul. I didn't really like driving large vehicles like this, but it will probably save us hundreds of dollars in moving costs. Mia was going to follow me in her car with the kids. We should be in the city by mid-afternoon.
I was looking forward to this change. Though I liked living in Stanhope I knew Mia couldn't wait to get back to the city. It's where she grew up and went to school. I'd met most of her friends and they were all mostly okay. Mostly.
There were a few stories that I think she censored for me. I knew she had a bit of a wild past. But, I rationalized, her experiences made her the person I married, and my experiences did the same for her. I had grown over time to love her, I knew that, but every so often I questioned some of my decisions.
Because of some of this, and one particular incident, we nearly didn't get married. The circumstances around our marriage were not ideal. But let's start from the beginning. I think it will be better understood with the back story.
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I graduated from Stanhope State with a business degree. The summer after my junior year I interned at Northern Forest Products as a brokers assistant. NFP sold lumber all over the world. The main office was in the college town of Stanhope.
I enjoyed learning about lumber, building materials, and the different customers that bought products from us. It was a fast paced grind. Beyond the products and the customers I learned a couple of important things about the business.
One, it was a high pressure job with goals, deadlines, and pressure to perform. The other thing I learned, the guys that were good at it made a lot of money.
After I graduated I started as a sales trainee at NFP. I worked for an experienced broker named Larry Belinski. Larry was a large, somewhat sloppy guy, who knew the lumber business. For the first six weeks Larry and I worked side by side in the office and I learned a lot.
After those several weeks Larry rarely came into the office. I quickly gathered that you didn't really need to be physically in the office to do business. Most of the time it was just talking to people literally all over the world selling lumber.
As the months passed I was doing more and more of Larry's work. I never knew exactly how much he was making on commissions, but I heard enough to know it was a lot. Meanwhile I was on a trainee straight salary.
The key, I soon learned in this business, was to tell the truth and get people to trust you. Later, I speculated, that same lesson encompassed more than just business.
Relationships too.
We'll get to all that soon enough.
Shortly after my first full year Larry seemed to be less and less in the office. He was beginning to have health issues I gathered.
He had been divorced from his third wife for a little over a year. Despite his income he lived in a manufactured home in a park on the east side of Stanhope. He may be a good lumber salesman but his personal life was a mess.
There was a bar between the office and Larry's place in East Stanhope called The Timbers. It was not unusual to see his aging Chevy Tahoe, parked not quite squarely, in the Timbers parking lot at any hour of the day.
On a Monday nearly two years into my employment at NFP I arrived to a subdued atmosphere in the office. Fairly quickly the information trickled out. Larry'd had a stroke and was now in a rehabilitation facility. No one knew what the long term prognosis would be, but he wasn't expected to make it back to work.
In the meantime, we had business to conduct. After lunch that Monday I was called into the sales manager's office. We spoke briefly about Larry and then quickly the talk turned to business and the go forward plan.
"We're not going to turn 100% of his book over to you," he told me, "but you've done a good job Patrick, you'll get a lot of that."
I was happy that they thought I was doing well enough to take over at least part of Larry's book of business. In fact since I'd been working with Larry our business had grown. It wasn't until a few weeks later that I realized the financial impact of my new status.
My first monthly commission check was for just over $14,000. And it wasn't even for the whole month.
That Friday when I got home I did some quick calculations. Even in a worse case scenario, I calculated that I was going to be pulling in a good, low, six figure income.
I was excited, upbeat. I also did have some remorse for Larry, but the reality was, I didn't really know him all that well. I needed to do something to celebrate. I called my buddy Tim Paris. Tim was still in school getting his Masters.
"Price, what's happening?" He answered. He always called me by my last name.
I explained that I wanted to take him out for dinner and a few drinks to celebrate.
"Celebrate what?" He asked.
I told him I'd explain later. We decided to meet at Poncho's, an upscale Latin restaurant with a great bar. One of those places you could never afford in college but always wanted to go to.
Friday night it was packed. A combination of professionals, and newly graduated college students in their first jobs. I explained to Tim about my new, lucrative, business situation at NFP. I didn't tell him exact numbers but hinted at what I expected to make.
"Price," he began, "you know I'm getting my MBA in finance. I interned with a financial services company last year and I have an offer to start in June. We should set up a financial plan for you."
And we began talking about my 'plan'.
As we talked the restaurant became busier. We were standing at a tall bistro table with stools designed for four people. A large group began encroaching on our space. As Tim and I were discussing stock index funds I felt someone tap me on the shoulder.
I turned and there was a tall, striking, dark haired woman, girl really, smiling and looking at me.
"Are you using this stool?" She asked me, still smiling.
Normally I'm not a super outgoing person, I wasn't introverted, just even keeled. Tonight though, buoyed by my financial success, I was in an upbeat mood.
"We are," I said, "but for you, I would be more than glad to let you have it." I said, smiling back at her.
She thanked me and nudged it maybe six inches away, still quite close to Tim and I. Tim chatted briefly with a thin blond girl across the table from the one I'd spoken to. The tall girl gave me another smile as she mounted the stool and turned back toward her friends.
A few minutes later I asked the girl next to me if we could buy them a drink. They agreed and the four of us began chatting.
The evening went on with more drinks and more talk. I learned the dark haired girl was named Mia Durant. She had graduated from Stanhope State and had a marketing degree and was working for a local advertising company in Stanhope.
The more I was with her the more I found her attractive. Dark hair, beautiful eyes and a great smile. She was tall, probably 5'8, and a shapely body with nice breasts from what I could see without staring too much.
We left Poncho's and walked to a smaller local bar called Pinocchio's. It was a little quieter and we had some hors d'oeuvres and more drinks. The night got a little fuzzy with all the drinks and at one point I realized that Tim and the blond were gone.
"Well," Mia began, "it's kind of getting late. I'm just a few blocks from here..." She told me. I gallantly told her I would walk her home.
We got to her door and she turned to put in the code to open the door. She unlocked it, turned back around, and we were only inches apart. She looked at me and then we kissed. A full blown lustful kiss with mouths locked and hands caressing. We stumbled into the condo.
