Patricia and I have been married for just over 32 years now and she's been the love of my life, until the last month or so. Lately she seems to be gone a lot from her office when I try to call her plus her cell phone is always off when I try to reach her when she's not there. She really doesn't act much different at home but there's something about her, that I can't quite put my finger on. Occasionally I'll see her texting but if she sees me when she is doing it, she immediately shuts her phone down and puts it away and goes about doing something else. It's very obvious to me she's up to something, that and she has changed the access code to her phone and her computer. We've always had access to each other's phones and computers, until now that is.
I'm Michael J. Turner and I met Patricia Rose Wagner at the State University, 36 years ago. It worked out that we had several classes together, though I never figured I'd have a chance with her. Patricia was a Wizz-kid. What do I mean, you ask? Well, she graduated high school just as she turned 15, received her A.A. at sixteen and a half, she received her B.A. degree just before her eighteenth birthday, at twenty-two she received her master's degree in Business Law, and at twenty-six received her Doctorate in Business Law with minors in Tax Law and Proper Corporate Development and Structuring.
We had a couple of classes together though I thought she was rather cute, she really dressed down in what other girls called, frumpy. I was in my third year of working on my masters when I came down the stairs from class heading to my next one when I saw four guys hassling Patricia and she obviously didn't want to do whatever it was they were wanting her to do. I was bigger than any of them and one I realized was Jake, a guy I knew from the football team. I stepped in, put my arm around Patricia, kissed her on the cheek and said to them. "Will you guys quit pestering my girlfriend before I kick all your asses?" I pulled her to me and started walking off with my arm around her waist.
Jake said, "Sorry, Michael, we didn't realize she had a boyfriend. We heard she was a lezbo.
I turned and said to them, "Hardly!"
As we turned the corner, she punched me in the chest and standing on her tiptoes, I could see fire in her eyes, but her icy blue eyes melted my heart. She was yelling at me, but I couldn't hear a word. I bent down, took her face softly in my hands and gently pressed my lips to hers. I held her like that for what seemed to me forever but was probably only thirty seconds or so and I stood back up and said, "Sorry, what were you saying. God you're gorgeous. I know I shouldn't have kissed you, but something came over me. Please accept my apology. I've never done that before in my life."
She stood there slack jawed, looking me up and down for a few minutes. Then straightening her glasses, she said, "T-t-thank you for rescuing me, I guess, though I didn't appreciate that smart remark. I'll have you know that I still am a virgin and will remain that way until my wedding day. But why, I mean, um, you just kissed me out of the blue. You don't really know me, and I don't know you. What made you do that?"
I said, "Honestly, I've seen you in a few of my classes and had a crush on you since the first time I saw you. I figured you were so beautiful, plus everyone says how smart you are, that I wouldn't have a chance with you and when we stopped just now, something came over me and I don't know why, but I had to kiss you, even if it was just this one time. I apologize if you feel I did anything wrong and if you wish to report me to your guidance counselor. I guess I'll go with you and try to explain myself."
Now I'm 6' 3", 185 lbs. and on the cross-country team and former football player. Patricia I was guessing was 5' 4" maybe 110 to 120 lbs. It was hard to tell with all the baggy clothing she wore all the time. She looked up and me like she was deep in thought, then motioned for me to come closer so I bent over to get close to her and when I did, she threw her arms around my neck and gave me a full, tongue in mouth kiss. My arms went around her, and I stood up, holding her tight to me. Her firm breasts were pressed tightly against my chest, and she was wrapping her legs around my waist. Her chestnut hair smelled like spring flowers and was so soft as I kissed her neck.
I was still holding her a few minutes later when she tilted her head back and said, "It's about damn time you noticed me. I've walked out of my way hoping to get your attention a hundred times, but you never seem to notice me."
And that's how our relationship started. We were married the year I got my Masters. Yes, she was a virgin, although she was game for a lot of oral, both giving and receiving while we dated, and remained a virgin until the night before our wedding. Patricia still had another year to get her Doctorate, so I got a job working locally. One fly in the ointment was she wanted to wait until she was 32 and established to have children but, in the fall, a case of the flu and some antibiotics messed up her birth control pills, and she became pregnant. When she got her diplomas and awards, she had a big belly, which embarrassed her to no end, but nobody was really bothered by it but her.
I got into business management, then mergers and acquisitions, then stock options and things just kept opening up for me. I won't go into detail, but we moved to New York, a place I had sworn I would never live but I was taken under the wing of a very sharp businessman and his partner. I ended up buying out the partner and Glen and I were making money like no tomorrow, but it took a lot of long hours and often long trips away from home.
Patricia had gotten an invitation to interview from a women's group, ABF, that helps women who are wanting to go into business and also those already in corporations that need assistance. They also do a lot of charity work. She had put out a ton of resume's when we moved here. She really liked the three ladies that ran that business because they had an onsite day care and a school running from kindergarten through fifth grade to boot.
Then she got an offer teaching at Harvard. It was two years at tenure then a full professorship. She'd be making over two hundred grand for working three days a week there once she became a full professor. She wasn't sure but I told her to go for it.
The ladies, Abigale, Barbara, and Flo told her to take the job at Harvard, then come talk to them because if they could advertise that one of their associates was a Harvard professor, they could charge a lot more and her salary would go up exponentially. We're talking more than what she'd make as a professor. That made up her mind and she took the job at Harvard.
She said it was funny when she walked into the faculty lounge and this one old crow said, "Sorry miss, this is for the professors only!" and Patricia smiled and said, "It's nice to meet you, I'm Professor Turner. And you might be?" I guess the others in the room had a good laugh over that, as the old crow stormed out. When I'd get home at night, she'd tell me about getting hit on by the students plus her students couldn't believe she was their professor. She'd be so horny when she got home after being hit on, she'd ravage me.
Now, I'm sitting at my desk, it's raining and I'm looking at the people down below, scurrying, holding up their umbrellas or newspapers trying to stay dry, and I see my family's pictures. I look at the wedding picture of me and Patricia and see how young we were, and it brings a smile to my face. God, was it really 32 years ago?
I am pulling down on a good year, around a million and a half, sometimes two, at least that what I was paying taxes on. I'm glad my old partner Glen had shown me how to somewhat legally, put money away for a rainy day. It's a similar trick our senators and congressmen use. Anyway, we have two kids, Serina and Jackson and both took after their mother, at least her smarts. They were both phi beta kappa and graduated early and received full scholarships to the colleges of their choice.
I then see the picture of our kids, and sigh. They are gone now, Serina married Carlos Modera, they have three kids and have a large vineyard in Connecticut. Jackson and his girlfriend Aisha are working in a government laboratory outside of Atlanta, though whenever we ask what they're working on, all we get are vague answers. They have a pair of Irish Setters, though we'd rather have grandkids.
Patricia, don't ever let her hear you call her Patty, is now only teaching part time though for some reason, she seems busier than ever lately. At least for the past several months I can hardly catch her, even on her cell phone. And at home, she seems, well, I don't know. Distant. Off. I really can't put my finger on it. If she sees me catching her texting, she quickly stops or moves to another room. Sometimes when her phone rings, she will look at it, then give me a 'look' and shut it down, telling me it was spam.
My secretary Shella, notifying me I had an urgent Skype call from Dubai broke me from my thoughts and I opened my computer and spoke with Mr. Jaikuba about his upcoming project and whether or not he had procured the financing or he wanted me to do it. He was in a meeting with eight others, and we were hashing out the details, so I didn't know how long this was going to go on. It was already almost 6:00. My phone went off with a text from Patricia asking me when I'd be home for dinner. I sent her a text back, 'In a meeting. Make me a plate and I'll eat when I get home.'
For a while now, that was my usual fare because my business kept me so damn busy. I'd too often get home between 8:00 and 10:00, dig my plate out of the refrigerator, heat it in the microwave and eat some of it. Though at times, I had to go into my home office to eat my dinner and get on my computer to finish up some emails or financial details of a deal we were working on. Once I ate, I'd then clean up and put the dish in the dishwasher, go to our bathroom and shower, then join my wife in bed. She'd either be reading a book or sleeping. Sometimes we'd chat a little before a goodnight kiss then we'd go to sleep. I'd be bushed and usually crash as soon as my head hit the pillow.
The morning alarm would get me up, I'd shave, grab some coffee, give my wife a kiss if she was awake yet, then head off to work. Our office has a gym down on the 63rd floor so when I can spare an hour or so, I go down there and work out nearly every day, then shower and go back to work. I find it energizes me and keeps me fit. I just wish this job didn't demand so much of me.
I was in the gym one day and for some reason, I had been feeling off about Patricia, and I had been talking with Carl about it, he's one of the brokers from another firm, who was working out next to me. As I was drying off after my shower, he came up and said, "You know Michael, I had an almost identical situation with my first wife. We hadn't been married as long as you two have been, but it was nearly 20 years. We weren't fighting or anything, but Marsha just wasn't the same. I mean it was a lot of little things, like she was texting when she didn't think I was looking, and if I asked who she is chatting with, she'd act nervous and say it was her girlfriend and quickly put her phone away. Then often I'd call her only to have her phone be off and it would go straight to voicemail.
She was also going to the gym or visiting friends a lot more and that's when I couldn't get in touch with her. Finally, I hired a private investigator and within a week, he had videos of her with her lover. It crushed me but gave me the evidence for our divorce. He's expensive but very good." He took a card out of his wallet and handed it to me. I don't know who looked sadder, him or me.
