Foreword
This is my first attempt at writing a story and I have edited it so many times that I decided not to use the editing service provided as it would have only lead me to edit it again and I wanted to go with what I have.
I choose a "Loving Wife" story for two reason: this section has some of the best and innovative writers and it has without doubt the best critiques and comments which are well known for not holding their punches. Please feel free to comment as you please good or bad but hopefully never indifferent.
Any reader that wishes to contact me personally will find my email address in my profile and I will gladly receive and respond to any email sent to me. Your advice, suggestion and general critique will make me a better writer please don't send me grammatical corrections unless they were so bad you couldn't understand what I had written.
Finally and probably to the disappointment of some readers the story has very little sex in it, I have only used it when I have found it warranted and improved the story so those who are looking for some quick relief might want to look for another author/ story. I hope you enjoy it.
Richard Turner was driving home from one of his intermittent trips that the company he worked for, Millburn Weaving Co. Ltd, situated in Kansas City, Kansas would send him on a semi-regular basis.
His position in the company was almost irreplaceable as he was Sales and Factory Manager, Chief Mechanic and Design Manager, in fact he filled all the managerial positions that concerned the industrial knitting aspect of Millburn Weaving's large company and was answerable only to the CEO though Randy Marlin was the Director of Sales on the company's board Richard's position as Sales Manager had more to do with the design, fashion and the technical aspect of Sales.
His intermittent trips around the States usually concerned the technical aspect. Sales where a client had a special request that the sales crew couldn't adequately address were passed on to him for a visit and consultation. Customers with special specs preferred that he personally take charge as his knowledge of the industry was comprehensive and he was renown in the business for his technical expertize.
Richard was also extremely inventive so if he considered the request was impossible to reproduce on his machines or was impractical or too costly he could often come back within 24 hours with an alternative that would either satisfy his customer's needs or often exceed them because of his knowledge in design.
Well known, well liked, admired and respected by his employers and employees alike as a fair and just manager who was not frightened to take on the illustrious board on the employees' behalf when he thought that it was warranted and explain practical and economic reasons to the employees when he thought their request was unjust. The knitting department had never gone on strike and their productivity was unparalleled.
Richard was a 100% all American male who was deeply patriotic and loved his country. He was ashamed of the so called "American companies" that took their manufacturing off shore to China at the cost of many thousands of American jobs. An American could produce a better product efficiently, admittedly at a slightly higher price, but not so high that American men and women should suffer as a result and though the shareholder's dividends may be slightly lower than they might otherwise be if the manufacturing aspect was done in China he was a great believer in taking care of your own first and unemployment was at a record high. As a religious man (though admittedly not a regular church attendee) he believed there was more to life then the all mighty dollar and he was not the type of man to bow down to it or those who had it in abundance.
So if one were to ask Richard what he thought of his life and his wife Claire (35) and their children Robert (16) and Emily (14) he would inevitably respond that he was blessed with an honorable and supportive wife that he just adored.
He also considered himself blessed with two children, they were well mannered and respectful to their elders, they had top grades at school and both were fine athletes, they had no tattoos or piercing covering their body or multicolored hair. They went out at weekends and partied but they never came home drunk or drugged or beyond curfew.
Richard would then probably surprise those that knew him by saying he was dissatisfied with his working life. All his life he dreamed of owning his own business, his own knitting plant as he found a great deal of satisfaction from every aspect of the business (as he was now doing) but now in the end analysis the CEO could say "no" to him and he might argue his point but "no" from the CEO meant "No" or find yourself another place to work.
Each time he had broached the subject with Claire of raising capital to start his own business Claire would inevitably have a reason why they couldn't afford it at that time and the usual reason had to do with something that the kids needed or they needed to move to a new house or something, sometimes Richard felt Claire would look for any reason to keep him in his secure job and even to a not overly sensitive man like Richard it was obvious she feared he would fail to make a success of his own business.
She preferred he remain an employee where he made a good salary with bonuses and share options and little or no risk of their money involved.
When they were courting she seemed as excited as he and encouraged him by making suggestions and they would talk into the night how they would create this wonderful company. When he had saved a sufficient amount for a deposit on a home and they married he again bought up the subject with Claire but she said that she wanted to have her children early and then enter the workforce when the youngest had reached five and then she would be earning some money to keep them and he would be free to pursue his dream without undue pressure to produce an immediate income.
He remembered hugging and kissing her and telling her over and over that she would never regret it and he was so lucky to have such a supportive wife. She almost immediately became pregnant with Robert and when he was about one year six months old she became pregnant with Emily.
Richard searched for a better job and already well known in the trade as an up and coming man in design he was almost immediately hired by Millburn Weaving a highly respected company in the trade first as the factory Manager and he grew from there.Claire mentioned it was now time to move to a bigger house.
Richard spoke with Claire again in the seventh year when she had settled into a new job but she said that there was a better area that they could move to that had an excellent Public school for the children (Richard insisted that they get a public school education) so he really couldn't start a new business until the kids were settled and anyway they would need his income to qualify for the mortgage.
Finally Richard gave up, and thought that until the children had finished university there would always be a reason that he couldn't start his own business but when they both graduated no matter what the excuse he was going to go ahead and realize his dream and if Claire didn't like it well it would just be tough luck.
Richard wanted to pursue his ideas, his designs with his capital and be answerable to no-one other than himself and the Lord. He was sure he could expand Millburn Weaving if it was his own and create more jobs.
Another part of this adolescent dream was to build the most modern factory in the world that would satisfy his company needs but also the needs of his employees as well for much depended on their capabilities and their loyalty and they should be recognized as such. His dream would make them all shareholders of the business so they would be directly involved in its success and the more they succeeded the more they should be entitled to gain from the sweat of their brow.
There should be no misinterpretation in Richard's philosophy in life he was no soft touch liberal quite the opposite. He believed that if you treated your employees with respect and showed them that if they were prepared to work hard and sometimes sacrifice their time off for the benefit of the company, they should be well rewarded in direct proportion to their contribution to the success of the company.
Their self-esteem would be considerably higher as in fact they would be almost self-employed and it would reflect in their work and they would have to consider the progress of the company in their demands for a better salary or working conditions. James believed that there should be almost total harmony between the suits and the employees on the shop floor resulting in a higher return on the investment made in them by the company and naturally boosting the bottom line. No, James was an extremely ambitious man who didn't understand the logic that he should get to keep all the profits even though he had put up the funds (risk factor) and that no-one would share in its loss but this way they would share in the company's bad times just as much as in the good times.
Richard was feeling quite tired as he always tried to get home as soon as his business was finished and though he was only 75 miles from home he decided that he would stop for an hour or so in the next town he came to. Richard had a strange metabolism you would think that he would be searching for a diner for something to eat and some coffee but that didn't seem to affect Richard's alertness as much as a shot or two of Bourbon. He always carried a gizmo that would give him his alcohol blood ratio as if he lost his license he would be completely devastated and anyway he always though suppose he knocked someone over or had a car accident he would never forgive himself.
He was approaching Topeka the State Capital he had been there many times and knew it quite well but he wanted to rest up in a nice quiet secluded bar. It was quite late but he knew rushing home would not find him next to Claire enjoying a session of frantic love making as always happened on his return from a trip as she was usually fast asleep at this time after her Friday night out with her work friends.
This night out was a new phenomenon in their life together but Claire said that it relaxed her no end, just laughing and joking and the amount of men that would buy them drinks and flirt with them was quite a revelation to her. She said she was the most popular of the girls amongst these would be Romeos and subsequently was bought far too many drinks and was dragged on the dance floor so many times it did her self-esteem so good that at her age she could still attract that many men and even those that were considerably younger than her.
He had laughed at her and asked her if she had taken a good look at herself in the mirror recently. Her long curled blond hair and warm blue eyes were a good place to start. Her cheeky snub nose and full ruby red lips advanced her claim to beauty.
Then there was her figure with a pair of generously sized full breasts "34D?" he had asked her. "Try 34E" she had replied and then to watch her body curve into a comparatively small 26" waist before blossoming out to her 34" hips, '36"' she had corrected him.
Then there was those beautiful legs perched on 4" stilettos that she wore at all times as she claimed that they helped define her legs better and bought her height up to around 5'9" against his muscular 6'1" frame, her thighs were generous and firm while her feet were petit. She admitted that she had her breasts lifted as they were just so big that they had begun to sag prematurely now they were high and firm but she had no further cosmetic surgery.
Richard was a handsome man in his own right and he had more than one invitation from amongst his female employees especially at the annual office party when he would sneak away from the management party where all and sundry would spend the night sucking up to the CEO and the Directors on the board and go off and join the employees party on the shop floor he knew that they appreciated this gesture as no other Manager would dream of joining them. The truth was that Richard enjoyed their party more than with the suits they seemed to have a lot more fun and there was always a lot more laughter.
Richard noticed a neon lit sign directing to a bar named "Alone & Happy", well he had never been there before and it was highly unlikely he would bump into somebody he knew so directing his Buick Lacrosse CSX 3.6L four wheel drive that he had picked up in Detroit and was 100% made in America he turned right and he noticed a small boutique hotel/bar almost immediately on his right hand side. He drew up to an arrow pointing right for "Patron Parking Only" and turned in to find an out of the way spot so no drunk would nick his beautiful $40,000 2010 GM manufactured Buick.
He switched off the ignition and looking in the mirror and dragged a comb across his hair, boy did he look tired then before getting out of the car he reached his hand into the glove compartment and drew out an imposing Smith and Wesson .375 Magnum that he always took on his trips in case of muggings or theft and a pair of gloves that he would wear as it was a cold night. He never left his pistol unattended because the cautious man that he was he considered what if someone stole his car and found his gun and used it to hold up a store?
