Silver Anniversary – The Conclusion
This is a continuation of an earlier story entitled Silver Anniversary. I decided to try to finish this story once and for all. There were a lot of questions left from the Epilog and many felt the story was unfinished. For them I try to end it here. There is no sex in this part.
Thanks for the editing by angel love.
From the Epilog
"I knew since I had gone through pretty much the same thing you were a decent man and I was sure you would need some assurance. I gave you that assurance and then we both had some pleasure. Now you have nothing to feel guilty about, and neither do I."
She laughed, pulled me in for a wet kiss, and then she was gone. When she left, she took my sadness, my quilt and my anger with her. I felt light and happy and ready for a new beginning, just as she said.
I pulled out my PDA. There was a phone number I wanted in there. I was sure I did.
The Story Continues.
After a short search, I found the number I was looking for. It was for George Cohen, my attorney back in the US. I wanted to give him a call and find out the status of our divorce process. It was likely to be almost over if Serena signed the papers, as I was sure she would. After all, a cool million, the house she loved and me not disclosing her infidelity to our sons. If she were as smart as I knew she was, she would take the deal and run. I think the threat of telling our sons what she had done was probably the clincher.
I spent the rest of the morning sitting on the lanai in my shorts and t-shirt with no shoes and plenty of beer. I intended on getting shitfaced while I tried to figure out what the hell I was doing. It was going to take the best part of the day just to explain to myself what I had almost done to another man. The biggest question was why would I do that after experiencing the pain myself. I knew the hurt, the self-doubt, the anger, and the depression that was the result, and I remembered how my ego was dashed, believing another man could replace me in my wife's bed. How I could do that to Phil, who I thought was Bitsy's husband, was really bothering me.
After the third beer, I decided that Bill and Serena's affair had hurt me so badly that I needed to strike back at someone. I had effectively ended Bill's marriage to Sally, or so I assumed; I had hurt Serena by divorcing her; and I had cut her off by leaving the country so that she had no way to look for forgiveness from me. But that apparently was not enough for me. I must have needed more so I went after another man's wife? The fact that she wasn't married was no excuse since I didn't know that at the time. That was a sobering thought, so I had another beer.
As I was nursing my funk, Phil and Bitsy came out of the condo carrying some small traveling bags while two porters carried the rest out to a waiting jitney. Phil tossed them in and walked with Bitsy over to me. Bitsy leaned down to give me a kiss while Phil watched with a smile.
"I'm really going to miss you John. You were the best part of this trip for me and I had a great time, including this morning. You were wonderful and I told Phil how much you meant to me. I won't forget you and I wish you the very best. I think you need some time to heal and then you should reconsider your choices."
She smiled sweetly at me and with another kiss, went back to the waiting jitney.
Phil watched her go before turning to me.
"You were good for her, you know. She needed to be reminded of just how attractive and desirable she really is. That shithead she was married to was a real putz and he was just after her money. She has quite a bit of her own, not that you seemed to care. I just wanted to say thanks and I wanted to give you my card. I checked up on you and I know all about your reputation in the business. I know Amos Jensen, your company's CEO and he had noting but good to say about you. I could always use someone like you, even if it's just as a part time consultant. If you like to travel, we could probably arrange that. You're too young to retire for good. Give me a call when you decide what you're going to do."
With that he handed me a card, slapped me on the back, and walked toward the waiting jitney. They both waved goodbye as they disappeared down the driveway toward the main building. I watched them go with some sadness, but also with some relief. I wasn't up to a relationship and I had to admit, I could have been close with Bitsy. If she had stayed, I might have ended up with more than I wanted.
I looked at the card Phil had given me and saw that he was the President and CEO of a worldwide company that was a direct competitor of ours, or had been when I was working. He had a point: I was too young to retire permanently.
I proceeded to get slightly buzzed as I finished off the remainder of the beer in the fridge. I called the lodge with an order for another case and they promised delivery before the day was over. I collapsed on the bed and slept for the better part of the afternoon. I awoke feeling hung over and sick to my stomach. Served me right since it was the first time I had been drunk in over a decade.
I cleaned myself up and went to dinner in the lodge where they had a decent restaurant. It was cool and dark and suited my mood to a T. Several women flirted with me but I assumed they were pros and left them alone. I wanted to be by myself to do some serious thinking. I was more confused now than I was before I left everything behind. I knew I had to find a purpose to my life or I was doomed. Hell of a thing for a 52 year old man to be doing: finding myself! I sounded like a damn cliché.
That evening, I decided to go ahead and call my lawyer and see how things were going back home. I needed to find some closure to my old life and to find some way to move on. The problem was that all my plans before had included Serena and she was no longer with me, so I found myself lost. Yes, I needed to start somewhere and the divorce seemed like the first order of business. Since it was after hours in the US. I decided to wait till the next morning.
So, at 11:00 the next morning, I called George Cohen in Princeton, NJ. He was handling my divorce and had handled most of my affairs for years. He had also helped me to set up the trusts for my sons and for their kids if and when they had them. He was a friend as well as my attorney.
"Hi, George? It's me, John Parsons. How are you?"
"John, it's great to hear from you. I was just going to give you a call. How is St. Croix? Are you enjoying the time away?"
"It's something else, George. Hey, I just wanted to touch base and see how the divorce is going. Did Serena sign the papers yet?"
"Well, that's what I was going to call you about. Seems Serena is going to fight the divorce. She told her lawyer, that's Pickering & Pickering, Harrison Collins one of the partners, to tell you to do your worst but she wasn't going to give you a divorce without a fight. I tried to tell him what we had and he said she didn't care."
"Did you remind her of the letters for the boys?"
"I specifically told him of the letters, the million and the house. He has the papers that you and I drafted up and he knows all of the details. She doesn't care."
"What's she asking for? Half of everything? Is that what she's after? I guess I'm surprised. I never thought of her as greedy and I thought she wouldn't want the boys to know what she did."
"Damndest thing, John. She isn't asking for anything. She's made no counter offer and she hasn't asked for any attachments to your holdings or assets. She moved out of the house just after you left and she's staying with Ben and Carrie."
"How can she do that? How can she stop the divorce if she isn't making a counter claim or asking the court for something? I don't understand."
"She really hasn't done anything except refuse to sign the papers. The only thing she's touched is the account you left open for her. She's been using it to pay bills, and expenses and the like. The next move is up to us. I was trying to think of something to get her moving again but I don't know what. She isn't afraid of any of the things you hit her with before you left. If she keeps this up, the whole thing will drag on for months until the court finally puts it on the calendar. What do you want to do? Any more ammunition up your sleeve, John?"
"Nothing right now. Let me think about this and get back to you. You have my number here?"
"Got it and just relax and let me do the worrying. At worst, you'll just have to wait a while longer than you planned. I'll talk to you soon."
I hung up in confusion. What in the world was she trying to do? She must know I could go to the boys as I threatened. Didn't she care about them? And why would she turn down a million dollars and then ask for nothing. She must have some plan in mind.
The only thing I could do was call Ben and see what he knew. But even if I did, I wasn't sure I wanted to tell him what his mother had done, at least not by phone. Maybe I could make plans to meet with him and Michael when I got home. That seemed like the best plan. Since it was still early, I called the desk and had them make arrangements for a flight back to the US at the earliest opportunity and to send someone down to help me pack up my things. I was ready to get back home and to get my life under some control.
While I was waiting, I decided to call Ben. I had his work number and decided it would be best to call him there so as not to risk getting Serena on the phone. If she was staying with them, it might be embarrassing for everyone. I could talk to him at work and make plans to meet him when I got there.
I called the office where Ben worked and got his secretary. I told her who it was and she said not to hang up because Ben wanted to talk to me urgently. Urgently? That didn't sound like Ben. But, I waited anyway.
"Dad, is that you? Where are you? Are you back in the states yet? I need to talk to you about mom." Ben sounded sort of out of breath.
