"Why aren't you ready for work?"
"Because I quit."
"Yeah, right. No, really. What's going on?"
"I quit, Joel."
"You what?"
"I quit. I told you I made a mistake. A very costly mistake for the firm. I admitted it was my fault. The partners thanked me for being honest but they were also brutally honest with me. They told me I'm no longer on the partner track and I might never be again. So I quit."
"Jesus, Libby. How could you do that without even discussing it with me? You don't live in a fucking vacuum, you know!"
Joel Russell rarely dropped an F-bomb and when he did, it was because something had angered him. Really angered him. In this case, he was already stressed out about money. With two kids in high school and college expenses looming just around the corner plus a killer mortgage on a huge home just outside of Seattle along with two hefty car payments, the last thing he needed was added stress over money.
"I'm sorry, honey. But I never liked my job. I only chose the law to make my father happy. It's nothing but endless minutiae and mindless detail and who can make the better argument. I don't need that kind of stress in my life."
Libby Russell really never had enjoyed the law. For her, it was a paycheck. A paycheck she knew they badly needed even though Joel owned his construction business and made more than enough money to pay their bills. Most of money had been going into savings and investments for the kids' college funds which were only about 25% funded. Keith was a senior and had already been accepted to The University of Washington. That was expensive but FAR less so than had he gone to his first choice of Stanford. Erin was a junior and would also likely—hopefully—go in state—if she didn't get sidetracked. Even so, money was now a huge concern and Libby felt guilty over her decision. Even so, it hurt her deeply that her husband not only couldn't see her point of view, but had lit into her accusing her of hurting their family.
They'd married young. He was working for his father learning the construction business and she was just out of college when they met and fell in love. To his credit, he put her through law school after she married the handsome young contractor. Keith came along the next year followed shortly by Erin.
Joel had been a good provider, a hard worker, and nearly always a loving, supportive husband. But this last year something had changed. He was working longer, his temper was shorter, and he seemed unable to be supportive. Quitting her job had set him off, and for the first time in their marriage Libby felt...afraid. She knew he'd never hit her, but she feared something even worse. The loss of his love and respect. Her job had never been her life. It was just a job. Her life was her husband and their two children. But with Joel being so cold and distant, what would be left once the kids went off to school? And she began to wonder if their sex life, which had had gone from great to good to bad to almost non-existent would ever come back.
"Do you think I like dealing with 200 employees and angry customers demanding something from me all day, every day, Lib? Do you think like I like the stress of deadlines, budgets, payroll, filing quarterly taxes, and meeting the demands of OSHA and ever-growing regulation on my company? Do you think that's fun, Libby? Hell, no! That's why they call it work! And you just pulled the rug out from under our family. How the fuck am I supposed to earn enough to pay for this house, our cars, our food and clothes, AND put our fucking children through college? How, Libby? HOW!!??"
Libby was so close to losing it she was shaking. He not only didn't kiss her on his way out, something which had become the norm the last few months, he didn't even say goodbye. Were it not for the kids coming downstairs in a few minutes, she'd have curled up on the couch and cried her eyes out. But she forced herself to keep it together when Keith came down first. He was always so pleasant and so positive. Libby loved both of her children dearly, but Keith was so easy to love. Erin, on the other hand, was a continual challenge and a virtual train wreck waiting to happen. So far, she'd kept her grades up enough to stay on the honor roll at school, but she would never be the straight-A student Keith was.
"Morning, Mom!" he said cheerfully as he poured himself a huge bowl of cereal.
"Hi, honey."
"You okay?" he said chewing a mouthful of Golden Grahams.
"Oh, sure. Why wouldn't I be?" she asked with a forced smile.
"You look sad," he told her. "Are you staying home today?"
"Oh, right. Yes, I'm taking the day off, honey."
"Cool. You work too hard, Mom. You need some time for yourself. You should hit the spa today or maybe go bowling. You guys used to do that all the time."
"Yeah, I know. I loved being in a league. We just got so busy something had to give and bowling was the easy choice. Maybe I'll do that."
Keith finished the bowl in record time—even for him—then poured another as Libby heard him say, "All hail The Moody One!"
"Shut UP!" Erin told him.
"Good morning to you too, Sunshine," Keith said knowing how easy it was to get under her skin.
"Fuck off!" she said.
"Erin!" Libby said. "Good morning, by the way."
"Yeah?" she replied without even looking at her mom. "You sound like you've never heard the word before. But wait! Yes you have. Dad said a bunch of fucking times just this morning. Yeah, we heard it all the way upstairs so um, good morning to you too, Mom."
On their way out the door they were arguing about who's turn it was to drive—again. Libby was so exhausted from not having slept all night and then the fight with Joel...and Erin...she was too tired to cry. She did however, go lay down on the couch and pull a quilt her grandmother had made over her. She managed to fall asleep and woke up around noon in a total haze. "What time is it?" she said to herself.
She made herself a cup of coffee then went upstairs and took a shower. The warm water felt great and helped bring her back to life. She got dressed and took a quick look in the mirror. In spite of the lack of sleep, she felt pretty good about the way she looked. Libby took great care of herself and at 40 she still got hit on pretty regularly out in the corporate world. She had her sandy blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail and wore just a bit of mascara and some light-colored foundation. Her skin was tight and smooth and she had a killer smile that set off a very pretty face.
She turned sideways and felt satisfied with the way her tight butt looked in the jeans then took a quick look at how flat her tummy looked just below her C-cup rack set off by the clingy black sweater she wore over it. "Not bad, Lib," she told herself. "And today you don't have to wear a suit and heels. Nice!"
She warmed her coffee then finished it before deciding, "You know what? I am gonna go bowling today."
It had been almost three years since she and Joel gave it up and she was thinking back on how much fun it had been playing in a mixed league. Her best friends and their husbands were also there every week and it was not only a great time, but she'd gotten reasonably good. She was averaging just over 150 by the time they gave it up and Joel was regularly bowling 200s and carrying an average of about 170.
She found her bag with her favorite ball and shoes in it buried in a closet and headed for West Seattle Bowl on 39th Ave. She walked inside and took a quick look around. Not a lot had changed since she was there the last time. In fact, as she was standing in the lobby, the owner, Rick Shelby, saw her and called out her name. "Libby? Is that you?"
She smiled and said, "Hey, Rick! How've you been?" She headed over to the counter to get a lane and chat with him. Rick was an older gentleman she guessed to be around 60-65 or so and he was always upbeat and cheerful—like Keith.
"Good, Libby. Haven't seen you or that handsome husband of yours in forever."
Libby smiled. Joel really was a very good-looking guy and although she wasn't the jealous type, she knew the few women he worked around flirted with him all the time. For the first time, she stood there wondering if he might possibly doing more than just flirting back. "I know, right?" she said back smiling brightly. "We just got SO busy we couldn't keep up, you know?"
"You still working for the big corporate law firm downtown?"
"Oh, um...no. I um...I've moved on, Rick."
"Good for you!" he said having no idea she hadn't moved on to anything. "We've got a lot of free lanes today, Libby. Any preference?"
"No, just don't put me next to any screaming kids, okay? I need to relax a little."
