A big thank you to Randi for her help and editing.
My wife Summer and I have been married for about ten years. When we first married it was like every other couple on the planet, life was perfect. Summer was the perfect fit for me. Attractive, a wicked sense of humour and warm and loving. We were the perfect match for each other.
Sumi (My nick name for her) and I started life as most couples do. We both worked and we focused on buying our first home. With that goal met, we started the next phase of our relationship: children. The first was a joyous arrival and Sumi was, as I expected, the perfect mother. She adored Sophie our daughter. She wanted to be a stay-at-home mum while the kids were young. We talked about it long and hard. I was lucky enough to get a new job for Revington's as an assistant project manager. With the new job came an increase in salary that took the pressure off her to return to work. All good, Sumi slipped into the world of motherhood smoothly and easily. The arrival of Sarah, our second daughter, was not quite so easy. Sumi had complications and it was a difficult birth that required a lot of stitches and an extended stay in hospital for recovery. We decided at that point two children would be our lot. Our family was now complete.
If only it had been that easy. With Sarah's arrival, the added stress seemed to really affect Sumi; she fell into a minor depression. It took a while to get to the bottom of her mood swings, but eventually it came out during a rather heated argument, "Artie, I wanted more, I always saw us with a huge brood; I feel like I have let you down. I feel like a failure."
"Hon, there's no need to feel that way. We have two wonderful healthy children. We should be happy, joyous. Please don't feel sad."
We hugged and she sighed. "I love you babe, are you sure though? I mean like we talked so much about a big family."
"It's fine, sheesh, I'm not sure I could handle more."
Sumi seemed to improve a little, but it took months before we managed to get back onto level ground. Our lives together never really returned to the early blissful harmony we enjoyed at the start. Because of her complications, our sex life took a while to restart. For Sumi, there was a lot of pain associated with sex, so it was a gradual process to get back into the swing, where she could enjoy it.
Because of the difficulties surrounding the birth and Sumi's dislike of the pill, we decided on a vasectomy. I didn't like it, not so much the pain, that part was easy. It wasn't the physicality, just the psychology of it.
There we were eight years later, and I was thinking of divorce. Why? Sumi and I were arguing, fighting quite often. It was always over simple shit, but it seemed to blow up in our faces.
I hate confrontation, I hate arguing. Quite honestly, I guess at heart I'm a pacifist. My first reaction is to just give in. Sumi, on the other hand, always wanted to win. It didn't matter what we argued about, she wanted to finish on top. Consequently, she usually got what she wanted. For me it was easier to just say, "Yes dear, whatever you say dear." Just for peace and quiet.
That had always been the same with us, I'm not a fighter. A couple of times when we were younger, out at pubs or clubs, and some neanderthal hit on her or bumped into her she complained. "Are you going to let him get away with that?" Or something like, "Are you going to defend me, stand up for me?"
It was stupid shit. If she was in physical danger, of course I would dive in, but because some clumsy guy bumped into her... forget it.
It wasn't just that aspect; she thought I was a pushover. In some ways she was right. Even at work I wasn't the sort to yell or complain, more the get stuck in and fix it guy. It meant I got passed over for promotion a couple of times. My annual assessments always said the same thing: "Needs to be more assertive."
Sumi hated that I got passed over, and it affected her more than me. We were comfortable, financially, we were making good progress with paying down the mortgage, the kids were at a good school, we had fairly new cars, we really wanted for nothing.
Sumi might have had issues with me, but the girls... she loved them, she pampered them continuously, showering them with love and affection. They weren't spoilt with gifts, they weren't spoilt in that sense, but they wanted for nothing when it came to attention or love. She spent hours reading with them, talking with them, and even though they were still young, she had an incredible relationship with them.
I guess all young couples go through the adjustment period after children arrive. Our social life evaporated, there was no more late nights and clubs, no going out with friends. Sumi made new friends who also had children, and they had their lunches and shopping trips, but we lost our old circle of friends. I kept in touch with some mates, and we still went to the odd football games.
My problem was Sumi's mood swings. I was at my wits end and honestly, I was ready to throw in the towel. I visited with a solicitor and discussed filing for a legal separation and possibly divorce. During the discussion he talked me through the financial split. It was apparent I was going to get screwed. I know it's wrong but, at that point I decided to stick it out, I mean I loved the kids. I had this vain hope that it would all blow over and the Sumi of old would somehow magically reappear.
It was so frustrating; she switched from loving to this hateful shrew with the flick of a switch. Except, that is, with the girls. She never blew up with them.
During arguments it became clear that she was disillusioned with me; she expected more. She wanted me to become more ambitious at work, seek out more opportunities.
Sadly, it wasn't in my nature. I just wasn't one of those career hungry guys, driven by status, power or money. In short, I was happy with my lot.
Work had thrown up an opportunity, though. The company I worked for, Revington's, was a privately owned company. We specialised in operation and maintenance management for other companies. In the past we had focused on smaller companies, but the boss and owner made a conscious decision to aim higher.
When I started at Revington's, I was happy. To get a job with a company like that was more than I had hoped for. As time went on, I became a little uncomfortable.
The office was almost entirely white. No other ethnicities, and it was all men. Okay, the menial jobs were women, but the engineers and above were all men.
The women working in and around the office were all gorgeous, as if that was a necessity for the job. This was a testosterone fuelled workforce.
Jobs were few and far between, so I accepted that this is the way it was.
This meant I was drawn into the circle of Mr Reynolds. Ross Reynolds, the company CEO, was a very intimidating man: big, strong and very powerful. He had a very commanding presence. Myself, I was afraid of him. He could be very brutal and didn't suffer fools easily.
The country electrical supply network had been privatised many years before, and was split into government owned enterprises. With the privatization process, the new owners wanted to revert from running the whole process. They wanted to pawn off the operations and maintenance. This meant they were offering tenders for the work.
Revington's wanted in. That required tendering for the scope of work. Reynolds wanted us to be in the running. It would be by far the largest contract we had ever undertaken. Our offices were turned into headquarters for the tender process. We weren't the only company in the running, and most of the others had a history of managing assets of this size.
It seemed that we focused on nothing but the tender process. Seeing as how I was an electrical engineer, I was pulled in. Mr. Reynolds was a very formidable man, and he had a very unapproachable, almost threatening persona. At least for me, anyway. He was a go-getter, no question about that. He could be a very demanding and dominant force.
Meetings were often side-tracked when one of the other engineers raised issues or concerns. He ripped their heads off in front of the whole team. More than one was let go on the spot. Me, I kept my head down. He seemed impressed by my work ethic, which led to a raise, based on my hard work.
He was quite the ladies' man. He had a reputation around the office. If the gossip was to be believed, he had bedded all of the women, including the married ones. His personal ethics were no better than his professional ones.
The fateful day came that we were notified we had made it into the final three bidders. To celebrate, he organised a party at his place for Saturday night. I have to say I was surprised to get an invite. Up until that juncture, I had never been invited into the inner sanctum, that included parties.
When I told Summer, she became extremely excited. "Artie, this is your chance to shine, Honey. We will need to put in a big effort. I will get a new dress; I assume it is going to be formal?"
"Yeah, suits and ties, the whole nine yards."
We turned up at the front gates and were both stunned. The place was a frigging mansion. There was security on the gates, the driveway meandered about 800 metres in a semi-circle. We pulled up outside, valets took the keys and drove off to park the car.
We strolled hand in hand up the marble steps into the house. Jesus, what a place. Not only was it huge, but everything glistened. The crowd was gathered in the great room, and if ever a place fit that description, this was it.
We circulated and I introduced Summer to everyone. She seemed impressed that I had been elevated to become part of the inner circle.
We wandered in, filtering through the crowd. I directed Summer over to the group where Mr Reynolds stood talking. We had to wait until there was a break in the conversation before, I could introduce Summer to him. I saw the look in his eyes. Normally when talking to me he was offhand, uninterested. The moment his eyes fell upon her he was suddenly a different man. "Well, hello, Summer, what a beautiful name for a gorgeous young woman."
Summer batted her eyes, soaking up the compliment. "Thank you, kind sir, you have a wonderful house, it's spectacular. Where is your wife? I would love to meet her and compliment her on her style."
He grinned with those perfect shiny white teeth, lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it gallantly. "Oh, my dear, there is no Mrs. I am a confirmed bachelor. This is my home."
She grinned wickedly, accepting his kiss with glee. "Well, I guess it's you who should get the compliments on the décor."
Rather than releasing her hand, he held it tightly and murmured softly. "Let me give you the grand tour."
She accepted with a mock curtsey, and he led her away. I started to fall in behind, but he turned to me with a dismissive grin. "Arthur, the team is gathering at the bar. Perhaps you should catch up, use this time to talk about the project." It wasn't a suggestion; it was an instruction.
"Smug bastard," I mumbled to myself as they headed off hand in hand up the hallway. I walked reluctantly back to the bar and caught up with the other guys. There was no talk of the project, they were all going on about Mr Reynolds home, the grandeur and, of course, the women. It seemed every other woman in the place had taken a leaf out of Summer's plans. It was more like a fashion show. It was hard to stay focused on anything.
I hung with the guys chatting, but deep down inside I had this horrible queasy feeling.
It was nearly an hour before Reynolds and Summer returned, still hand in hand, laughing like old friends. He led her over to the bar where we were gathered and she slipped in beside me. He stated rather loudly. "You are a lucky man, Arthur; Summer is a wonderfully attractive woman. Yes indeed, you are one lucky son-of-a-gun."
