Never Too Old

Authors notes.

My wife Sandy, who reads my submissions, also takes time to read the positive and negative comments that are posted in response, albeit viewing the Anonymous commenters with amusement. She reasons if someone goes to the trouble of reading a story and then posting a comment, the least she can do is read it. That aside, she has been joking that I seem to like riling all the right people and that I do seem I have a thing for 'happy endings' - not only in bed but also in my writing. She told me she too likes happy endings but also likes to read stories where bad people get to do bad things - whether they get away with it is another matter, she has no problem if they do. However, there is always room for a wayward wife to get her comeuppance. Perhaps I should try it.

I took this as my wife's roundabout way of saying don't be too wishy-washy or too Mills and Boon. If I am wrong I am sure I will be corrected lol.

Her accompanying advice was to develop some protagonists that were villainous, some protagonists that were good, and some that were victims. That I should try letting the villains be villains and the victims be victims. That characters can be multi-dimensional, even 'good' protagonists can be bad, devious and conniving, duplicitous - and that villains and villainesses' besides being downright cruel, can also be kind; considerate and caring. Using a phrase, one she oft uses herself, asking why can't characters chop and change, and as she likes to do with me, switch between 'Candy or Whip'. Pointing out that someone being bad and wicked might be fun to write about.

I started this story before the above conversation, so we'll see how it goes, see where I decide to take it. I had it mapped out but now that might change. Part One is about introducing the characters and developing the background story to the breakdown of their relationship. No sex as such, but that will come. I am envisaging four or five chapters.

***

Never Too Old.

Jackie.

Jaqueline Rogers, Jackie to those that know and love her, is a successful business woman at the top of her game. She loves being a realtor and owns her own realtor business, something she takes a tremendous pride in.

If a people watcher was to observe Jackie walking along the street, they would primarily see an archetypal attractive well-groomed grey/blonde haired 50-year-old Heidi Klum lookalike woman going about her daily business. They'd see a woman who looked to be on the go, a fashionably dressed woman, a beautiful women, a woman with a great figure. They'd see a woman, who with a swing and sway in her hips, confidently struts along the pavement in her heels. They might guess, that as she smile's she's on her way to a business meeting or perhaps she's making her way to meet with a secret lover. They'd certainly see men turning their heads for a woman, who even in her mature years wouldn't be out of place adorning the foredeck of some Billionaire playboy's yacht.

If the observer was able to look into her life, they'd see she was more 'home maker' than 'homewrecker', that she was a practical woman, a much-loved wife, mother, and doting grandmother. They'd see a GILF possessing a seemingly endless reserve of energy, and a husband that was the envy of many a man. Perhaps they'd be able to guess she was a high-end realtor with a bulging book full of A list clients.

As an employer she is one of the good ones, popular with her staff, kind, fair, considerate, diligent, approachable, the kind of person that employees tend to become very loyal to.

Over the years Jackie had perfected her craft, the consummate professional she'd always told her salespeople 'They were selling homes and dreams, not just houses'. Jackie enjoyed the wheeling and dealing necessary to complete sales in the oft emotional world of Real Estate, thriving on the pressures that came with it. She still gets a genuine physical and mental buzz from making a sale, from resolving disputes between stressed buyers and sellers, from negotiating with the best. Through experience Jackie has learned when to hold out, when to give a little, even when to walk away, but more importantly how to steer people away from a property that isn't right for them - unless they insist.

Jackie takes pride in her ability to handle people, to read situations, to overcome objections, to reinforce positives; and when necessary to give her clients a nudge over the line to say 'Yes we'll take it', or 'Yes I'll accept that offer'. Jackie could sell 'Sand to the Arabs' or 'Ice to the Eskimo's' were phrases often used when people spoke of her selling skills. But most of all Jackie gave out an aura of trust - when she smiled, people smiled back, people trusted her.

Jackie's approach was simple, it may seem she was dealing in bricks and mortar, but in reality, she was dealing with her client's future happiness, their dreams, their aspirations, and increasingly their long term financial and emotional investments. The fact that many sellers and buyers often returned to her when they were looking to move on and up, or occasionally downsize once the nest had been emptied, was a testament in itself.

But in life, even wise women can read things wrong, especially when it comes to their own relationships. Jackie did just that.

***

George.

George Rogers, Jackies 58-year-old husband, had gone into work as normal. Then around mid-morning he was called to his boss's office. Thinking it was about a new project, he picked up his notebook.

This was the day his world imploded.

The numbness he felt when he was sucker punched. Being sat down, he was given the cold unenviable choice between accepting compulsory redundancy or taking voluntary early retirement. He was told the company was downsizing, that some aspects of the business were being moved out of state, that his services were no longer required, that he was 'surplus to requirements'. Just like that his self-worth disappeared.

George had loved his work; he had been the very knowledgeable senior Design engineer of Systime Dynamics. As an individual he was an everyday Joe, and though no George Clooney, he held his own, still had all his hair. With the help of Jackie, he lived a relatively healthy lifestyle and kept himself fit, his work helped keep his brain active, what with all the problem solving and that being his thing. Like his wife was in her business, in his field of expertise he too was the go too person - or had been. At work he had felt valued, but more than that, he had felt needed. Now he'd learnt he was in fact dispensable. It didn't sit well.

To George redundancy had a taint about it, little more than a step above being fired. Whereas early retirement, well at least he could pass that off as a reward for the many years of service he'd put in - yes, he could sell that to himself and to others. Besides he told himself, if he took retirement, Jackie could sell up and together they could do what they'd always planned on doing, travel the world. He and his wife could finally enjoy the fruits of two lifetimes of hard work. They could spend more time with the grandkids, spoil them, do the things they'd always wanted to try. They could travel and visit places they'd promised themselves they would.

***

A Disintegrating Marriage.

When George told Jackie that he had taken early retirement he didn't mention he did so because he was 'no longer needed', nor did he mention the alternative option of compulsory redundancy. Jackie upon hearing the news was unsure of how she felt. Yes, she was happy for her husband, but he was retiring earlier than they had planned, and it had come out of the blue, he hadn't even discussed it with her. Jackie of course put on a brave face, saying 'congratulations.' Jackie was of the mindset, if it was what her George wanted then he deserved to take it easy, plus it would mean she would see more of him. He'd no longer be away for days, weeks at a time, and he'd be able to spend more time on his hobbies.

But then the reality of what this news really meant for her began to register. George was selling his early retirement as 'their' opportunity, as 'their' time having come, and as 'their' chance to travel the world. 'Their chance to do all the things they'd always planned on doing'.

Jackie knew for herself what they'd always planned to do, he didn't need to tell her, but she wasn't ready for that, not yet. George might be ready, but there was no way she wanted to give up her work and her business.

As Jackie listened to her husband she just wasn't as enthusiastic about sailing into the sunset. She was busy enjoying her life as it was. Being the good wife, she did her best to keep her doubts muted, she sat and she listened quietly as he spoke of of all the things they could now do. However, as she took in what her husband was saying, a simmering annoyance built up. George was not asking - but was telling, telling her how 'she' could now sell up, how 'she' could now retire - talking as if it was a done deal. To Jackie it felt as if George was planning her future for her, rather than with her.

Truth was, retiring wasn't on her radar. It wasn't something Jackie had given any thought to or wanted to do. Yeah, sure, of course, one day they would do the things they'd always talked about, especially travel the world, of that she was sure. Just not yet. Jackie felt she still had a few good years left in her, she had her business, her work, her community involvement - and she didn't want to give any of that up because George had decided she should.

Jackie's own preference was to carry on working. Her real estate business and the people she worked with were like a second family to her. As she would a child, she had nurtured her business, seen it grow, nursed it through bad times, enjoyed and shared the good times, and she enjoyed the day-to-day challenges being a business owner brought with it. She also felt a sense of responsibility to the people she worked with. In her heart she knew the last thing she wanted to do was give it all up.

Confucius's phrase 'Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life' certainly applied to Jackie.

Saying this to her husband, and bursting his bubble by doing so, wasn't easy for Jackie, for despite her own misgivings she felt George had earned the 'good life'. She knew how hard he had worked to provide for his family, knew the sacrifices he had made, that they had made. How he had gone more than the extra mile in supporting her, especially in those early years when she first muted leaving her job at McCabe's to set up in business for herself. That had been a time when they couldn't really afford to lose her regular income, but George readily agreed to remortgage their home in order to get the finance needed. Jackie knew her husband had worked long hours and taken difficult unpleasant assignments just to make that little extra in order to make the repayments. And when giving his support Goerge had never set conditions or asked for anything in return apart from togetherness - until now.

Jackie remembered how George had more than pulled his weight around the house and with raising their daughter, how he'd never complained about her long days, her working into the evenings, the working weekends. He had always stepped up and given her his unwavering support, and now, much to her angst, she felt she was letting him down. She felt bad, she felt selfish.

Having initially stated her reluctance she tried to deflect away from any talk of her retiring to join him. Being positive she pointed out that he now had the 'opportunity' to fill his days playing golf, to spend time in his small workshop - and hopefully start those jobs around the house he'd always talked about doing.

Hearing his wife's reticence, George asked why she didn't want to join him, wasn't it what they'd always planned to do? Jackie tried to explain that it wasn't just her job she'd be giving up, a job she loved, but it would be the challenges. She's also be giving up being around people she liked; they were her friends. She'd miss the daily interactions, the confidences shared, the banter, the gossip and so much more.

What Jackie didn't share with George, was the nagging fear at the back of her mind, that being with her husband all the time, might be too much. She had often wondered about the success of their marriage and how it had lasted the test of time, especially when she'd seen so many fail. She'd wondered how much of their success had been down to the fact that George wasn't always around, hadn't been under her feet. That they had their own interests away from one another.

She loved George, enjoyed his company, enjoyed being with him... But was that because she'd always had him in small doses.

This reticence from his wife was the first cloud on George's horizon. It really stung when Jackie first poured cold water on his parade and self-declared she wasn't quite ready to retire herself, stating she was happy for him to retire, but she wasn't. WTF he thought. When he asked her to reconsider it rankled that the best his wife had been able to offer was, 'She would give it some more thought'. He tried to hide his disappointment, but he felt let down, hurt, deceived, even betrayed.

Feeling put out George had pretended he understood and gave his singular retirement a go. Initially he thought his wife might have been right as he took to it like a duck to water. He took up day rather than weekend membership of the golf club, would walk, hike, cycle, did his best to keep himself active. With enthusiasm he did the jobs around the house that he'd promised to do, did lots of tinkering in his workshop and got down to some serious work on his 1969 Camero. The Camero was his father's hand-me-down from when George passed his driving license. It was a car that George held dear, not only because it was his first car, but because it was the car he'd lost his virginity in before heading off to college. It was the car that got him through college. Sadly, after college he never gave the car a second thought, not until his father passed away. That was when George found it hidden under a taupe in the back of an old outhouse, in need of some serious TLC.

George saw its restoration as his way of honouring his father who had raised him - his mother having run off with a 'salesman' when George had been but a small child. George had never heard his father bad mouth his mother, always telling him as a youngster that his mother loved him. His paternal grandmother had been less kind, and since his grandmother had 'enlightened' him, George had a thing about betrayal and trust.

Alas, as the weeks turned into months, the newness of his activities wore off and they became repetitive. George grew increasingly disillusioned, fed up, bored, he tired of the golf, of the boors he played with. He had enjoyed hiking and cycling but it wasn't the same without Jackie by his side, and they weren't activities he really wanted to do by himself, but even when joining a group, he felt no closeness or affinity to the others.

It happened so quietly that Jackie didn't notice George slowly beginning to withdraw into a shell. Left to his own devices he began to feel the loneliness and deathly silence from rattling around their empty house all day. It got to the point where he would go days, even a full week without speaking to anyone face to face, apart that is from Jackie. Even then, all he heard from his wife was how great her day had been, about the latest deal she had pulled off, or about the latest asshole client giving her a hard time. Of course, he was happy for Jackie, he loved her, but it felt as if she increasingly had 'her' life, and it didn't involve him.

While George saw Jackie was so full of life, that she still had that spring in her step, still had that bounce about her - Jackie just saw George. In the morning Jackie would leave the house all chirpy and dressed up for work, looking her ever gorgeous self. Her hair, her makeup, her clothing all immaculate. He'd watch her drive off in her Tesla, heading into town to run her real estate business, telling him, as if in passing, to 'have a good day, to behave'. He began to feel a real resentment, a feeling he was being left behind, patronised, worse still, he felt surplus to her life. When Jackie was at work George felt envy, jealous and angry. It didn't help when she would come home on an evening, bringing with her lots of news and gossip, it would then hit him that he had nothing to share of his own. Their conversations over their meals became one-way monologues with him listening and Jackie talking.

When he did contribute to the conversations, his continuing questioning, enquiring if she'd given any more thought to when she would retire went unanswered, or were evaded as if she didn't want to even consider a response. It began to dawn on George that his wife had no intention or inclination to join him in a new shared life of leisure and travel. That at best she was stalling, at worst leading him on, and that latter thought really did put a downer on him.

Increasingly bored at home and wanting someone to talk to; George began to call his wife while she was at work. At first Jackie was glad to hear from him, but as the calls became more frequent and rambling, they became annoying, distracting, she felt guilty for thinking it, but he became a nuisance. It wasn't long before George's calls to Jackie's I-phone, rather than be answered, went straight to voice mail. He then called her office, but after a few days of being put through, he started to be told 'his wife' was out viewing a property or was in a meeting with a client. Jackies office manager had instructions to tell him that 'she' would ring him back - she rarely did. He got the feeling, no, he knew, he was being fobbed off.

George began to call his daughter, but between juggling a small child, housework and holding down a job, Emma too always seemed to be busy, definitely too busy to talk for long. This just compounded matters and his mental wellbeing began to suffer further. Without problems to solve, to resolve, without people depending on him, without a feeling of purpose, and now being stuck at home he began to feel useless.

Finally, having had enough of his wife's prevaricating he told Jackie that if she wasn't going to join him then he was going to try and find a job. Telling her he'd had enough of being around the house all day, spending his days alone, that this wasn't the 'happy' retirement he'd envisaged; and with some bitterness, that it wasn't the 'happy' retirement she'd told him he'd have. It annoyed Jackie that George was blaming her.

Jackies response wasn't really what he'd been hoping for, he'd been hoping she'd throw in the towel, tell him he was being silly, but yes, if he felt like this she'd sell up and they'd go travelling together. But no, almost too casually, she looked up, smiled over her dinner plate, and with fork and knife in hand, told him 'It sounds like a plan' and to 'Go for it.'

George's heart sank, but the next day he bit the bullet and began to call the contacts he still had. He even began to fill out applications for jobs he saw advertised. It didn't go as well as he thought it would. With his experience he believed he'd walk straight into one job or another, and although he got some interviews, he began to suspect some of those had been favours and that despite his experience he was being knocked back. No one said directly, but his age seemed to be the biggest concern of potential employers. What really hurt though was when, cap in hand, he went back to his old employer practically begging for some part time work. Only to discover his job hadn't in fact been relocated, but that he'd been replaced by a wet behind the ear's greenhorn straight out of university who was working for a quarter of the salary he'd commanded.