Chapter 4

After another sleepless night I climbed into the jeep and headed for breakfast at the Denny's on Colorado Boulevard. I was not exactly hungry, but I knew that today was going to be rough. I needed something in my stomach, if for no other reason than to quell the queasiness I felt over the coming confrontation. I simply fueled up on the blandest breakfast on the menu.

I needed to be at the Churchill Aviation headquarters in Burbank at 11:00. Returning to my hotel I showered, shaved, and dressed in casual clothes. I wouldn't be the vice president of development after today, so there was no need to dress for success. Jeans and a polo shirt would suffice, and be a lot more comfortable than the business suit I usually wore at the office. I would be cleaning out my office today as well, although there was very little there that I would be keeping. Just a few pictures and the contents of the "I love me wall", the display of mementos, awards, and decorations collected over the course of my military and business careers.

By 9:30 I was ready. I might as well beard the lion in his den. In spite of his assurances, I still didn't think that Frank would be reasonable where his daughter was concerned. If he chose to do so, he had the power to make my life even more of a living hell than it was shaping up to be.

It was a typical early September morning in Southern California, so I decided to put the top down on the old Jeep for the drive down the 134 Freeway to Burbank. There was no air conditioning in the relic and I knew it would be hotter than Hell by midday.

The Churchill Aviation headquarters is just across San Fernando Road from the north end of Runway 15 of the Bob Hope Airport. I pulled up and parked in the space reserved for me. I had not turned in my resignation yet, so I was still entitled to sue. Louisa Alvarez, the pretty receptionist greeted me as I walked in.

"Good morning, Mr. Randal, Captain Churchill said to send you directly to his office as soon as you arrived." As a retired Navy officer, Frank was still entitled to be addressed by his military rank, and insisted on it in the office. For that matter, I was entitled to be addressed my military rank as well, but who would be impressed by a retired First Lieutenant?

I nodded a "Good morning" to Louisa and headed up to Frank's office on the second floor of the two story building.

Churchill Aviation is not a large firm, but a very profitable one. We didn't actually manufacture aircraft systems, but we design, develop, and license products to be built by subcontractors. The headquarters building housed the administrative and executive personnel for the company. The labs and design shops were in a converted warehouse adjacent to the headquarters. My own and Gloria's offices were at the back of the second floor, but Frank's occupied the entire front of the building, overlooking the airport.

Frank's secretary was not at her desk, so I simply knocked once and walked in. My father in law was seated on a leather sofa watching an Alaska Airlines 757 as it lifted off. He looked up as I entered.

"Damn, I miss flying every day. It's so simple. Do everything right and you live for another day. No room for fuckups, just do your job and keep everybody alive and happy."

I extended my hand with the letter sized envelope I carried.

"No, Jack. I will not accept that until you read this." He waved his hand at a stack of legal looking documents on the coffee table in front of him.

I recognized the top one. It was a copy of the pre-nuptial agreement I had signed ten years ago. There was no need to read that I knew exactly what it said. I just looked at Frank.

"Read the addendum, then the press release".

Attached to the prenup was a new document. It completely voided the provisions of the prenup, and was signed by Gloria, Frank, and Frank's personal attorney. It was witnessed and notarized. It also had an effective date two years from today.

The second document was a press release announcing Frank's retirement, and my appointment as president of Churchill Aviation. The press release was dated today.

To say I was stunned would be a vast understatement. In shock I sank into an overstuffed chair.

"There are a few conditions."

"Are you trying to bribe me to protect your daughter's reputation? Is money somehow supposed to make me accept what I saw in Dallas and not make waves? I thought you knew me better than that, Frank."

Frank sighed. "That press release was prepared a month ago when I made up my mind to start enjoying the fruits of my labors. You avionics contract was going to make it possible for me to back off, and I knew the company would be secure in your hands. I was planning on springing this on you at dinner Saturday. After Friday, well it was starting to look like my plans would have to change."

"It was Gloria who convinced me to go ahead with the retirement. She thinks pretty highly of her husband's capabilities."

"Just not in the bedroom, obviously", I spat out.

"Not according to what she's told her mother. She told Helen, in pretty graphic detail, just how capable you are in that department. Hell, I'll probably be hard pressed keeping Helen from wanting to sample what you've got!"

"Jack, the problem, and I owe you an apology for this, is that Glory was a real 'wild child' right from the start. She was a party girl all through high school and at USC. Fact is my daughter was a slut. There's no other way to say it. If I had been a more accessible father instead of off on a carrier most of the time she was growing up there would be no need for this discussion. My daughter is what she is, in part due to my shortcomings as a father. You have no idea how relieved Helen and I were when she met you and settled down, or at least we thought she did. Over the weekend I got a pretty good picture of exactly how bad it is, but I won't go into detail about that. That will be someone else's job."

What I want to do is make you an offer that will save your career, and possibly save your marriage. It is a two part offer, and I am elected to make the pitch for the first part".

My determination to end my association with the Churchill's and the business had not been changed, but I was intrigued enough to agree to listen to Frank's proposal.

"Okay, Frank. I'll listen, but no promises."

"Right, but I do have to warn you, Gloria will be presenting the second part of the proposal herself. Can you handle that? Can you talk to her one on one without losing it?"

Even if I decided to reject the offer Frank was making, and that seemed likely, sooner or later I would have to talk to my wife. I agreed that Gloria would be allowed to make her pitch.

It was easy to see why Frank was so successful a businessman. His sales pitch was damn good.

"That prenup is dead, dead, and dead, whatever you decide. It was probably unenforceable anyway, due to it being so one sided. If you do decide to divorce Gloria California community property laws will apply. That was her ideas, not mine, but I agree."

"First off, Gloria is no longer the company attorney. She will still be employed here, but in a somewhat different capacity, which I'll go into later. My first inclination was to simply fire her. Her actions in Dallas could have had a lasting effect on our contracts with an important business relationship. If I were not a drinking buddy of Mike Fairchild we would not be in business with them any longer. As it is, Fairchild has fired his nephew and is insisting that Gloria no longer represent us when dealing with him. I concur completely."

"Second, I still intend to retire and name you as my successor. You are the best man for the job, and you know more about our operation than I do. To sweeten the deal, the company will be going public and you will control 51 percent of the stock. The other 49 percent will be offered on the AMEX to finance my retirement." Frank grinned. "You know how I like my expensive toys."

"Here are the conditions. You have to stay married to Gloria for at least five years. That 51 percent you control will be split evenly between you. As long as you stay married, you will have her proxy. If you divorce in that five years, control of the stock passes to her. You keep your shares, but she votes them. If you divorce after five years, control of the stock, yours and hers, stays with you."

I was starting to feel my resolve slipping, but something was still not right. Would I have to consent to a marriage of convenience to a woman I couldn't trust for financial gain?

"And there's one more thing, Jack. When I say stay married, I mean really stay married. You and Gloria will have to live together and act like a married couple in all respects. It won't be a sham marriage where you just go through the motions. If that's what you're thinking, you might as well follow up on the divorce papers I'm sure you are planning on serving her with soon."

"As for Gloria's new job, that took a lot of thought. At first I was thinking that I needed to keep her away from you professionally, but I realized that after what happened you will be having some serious trust issues as far as she's concerned. And what better way to resolve that than make her your personal assistant. You'll be able to keep a close eye on her because see will be going everywhere you do. No more solo trips for either of you. And if she can't regain your trust in five years, I guess then a divorce is inevitable."

"Don't decide yet. There is still Gloria's part of this plan to present."

Frank left his office, closing the door behind him. A couple of minutes later it opened and I came to my feet as my wife entered.

Gloria was dressed in a rather conservative, for her, dark gray woman's business suit with an orange blouse. Her auburn hair was arranged in exactly the way I liked it. She appeared hesitant to meet my eyes, as she kept her gaze downcast. She stood for a moment staring at my shoes. Finally looking up at me I could see her eyes were puffy and bloodshot, indicating she had been crying. I wanted to take her in my arms and comfort her, but the thought of how I had last seen her killed that impulse rather quickly.

Whatever else she was, Gloria was still a stunningly attractive woman. The knowledge that I had lost her almost brought me to the floor. I struggled to maintain my composure as tears filled my own eyes.

The silence in the room seemed to stretch into eternity. Finally Gloria shuddered, squared her shoulders, and met my eyes for the first time.

"Jack, I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I want you to know that I love you, I respect you, and I take full responsibility for my shortcomings. I have behaved in the most shameless fashion possible and I want to make amends. Most of all, I don't want to lose you."

Okay, I thought to myself, I can do this. I have to show strength, I have to attack, or she will run right over me.

"Are you sorry because I caught you, or sorry because you did it? How long has it been going on, and how many others were there? Has our entire marriage been a lie? How can you claim to love and respect me if you are fucking other men? What did I do, or fail to do, that drove you away from me?" I fired my questions at her, not pausing to let her compose herself to reply. The cruelty of what she had done to me warranted a little payback. I had no plans to make this easy on her.

"You didn't fail me! I failed you! Jack, I am just such a rotten slut that I let myself do something horrible. It was not your fault. Never think it was your fault!"

"Sorry, Gloria, but that doesn't wash. When a wife betrays her husband for some stud it must mean he's not getting the job done."