Edited by Barney R. Messed with by me afterward.

She returned when I least expected it.

My name is Allen Charles. I am 50 years old, divorced for 15 years, and well on my way to making my second career a rousing success.

I was sitting in a riverfront café in Grand Rapids Michigan on a warm July afternoon when I spotted her. She looked 20 years older than her true age of 47. She was my unlamented ex-wife. My first thoughts were, ‘Oh Crap; Not her; Not here’. Then I thought ‘maybe I can get up and leave before she sees me.’

No such luck. She saw me, a look of questioning recognition came over her and she started for my table. It was her normal behavior, regardless of how anyone else thought she barged ahead. As she approached she attempted to give me a hug.

I stopped her and said; “Sarah; I have a restraining order that I know was delivered to you and Asshole as well as the police are looking for you so; you have 30 seconds head start before I call the police.”

She just stopped and look like she was going to cry and said; “Can’t we forget about all of that and just talk?”

“20 seconds, and no we cannot talk until you and Asshole return the 15 million dollars you stole from me. 15 seconds.”

She left in a hurry, but it was too late as a patrolman just pulled up and got out of his car and heard me. He grabbed Sarah and brought her over to me and asked what was going on.

“This ‘lovely’ lady is my ex-wife Sarah Wallace, or that was the name she gave me when we were married. She and the man she cheated on me with embezzled over 15 million dollars from me and almost forced my company out of business. I would bet that if you ran a warrant check you would find she is wanted on a federal ‘interstate flight to escape prosecution’ warrant, as well as a summary judgment for 15 million dollars plus interest and charges of bank, wire, and mail fraud. On top of that, her asshole lover and she are under a permanent restraining order to remain 500 yards from me or my place of business. She and the asshole came to my house and beat me so badly that I was in the hospital for 3 weeks and still can tell you when it is going to rain or snow 24 to 36 hours before it does. I want her away from here.” I was raving by now. “In my briefcase here is a copy of the restraining order and a signed receipt from her own hand, witnessed by her lawyer at the time.”

“Is that true ma’am?” the officer asked.

“The restraining order is true, but we did not steal any money, I was entitled to it because I was married to this man for 7 years.”

“I also have a copy of the divorce decree and the prenup which shows that she was not to have any part of my, not ours, my business. I knew I would run into one or the other of them so I have carried those papers all this time.” I continued; “This woman and I were married and when I found her in our marriage bed with my vice president, I filed for divorce. I then discovered the theft of money from my company. They both left town just a few miles and minutes ahead of the FBI and then flew somewhere where the U. S. authorities could not get to them. I’m amazed she came back.”

“Ma’am, turn around and place your hands behind your back.” The officer said and when she did he handcuffed her and told her he was taking her to the city lockup until this was all cleared up one way or the other. He then asked; “sir would you please follow me to the lockup?”

“Sure,” I said; “let me pay for my coffee and I will follow you.” I paid and as I was walking to my car I called my long-time attorney, Jack Collins, and told him to bring every piece of paper we had on Sarah.

I met Sarah when the company I created after I left the army was having a product show at a local hotel. I and several of my company officers were on hand to ‘meet and greet’ as well as answer questions. A young lady came up, said her was Sarah Davidson and asked if we were looking to fill any specific positions in our company.

When I asked what type of position she was looking for she answered; “Ideally I am looking to work in accounts receivable/ payable as my degree is in accounting”

At the time we had an outside AR/P firm, but the contract was coming up for renewal and that company informed us they would not be bidding on a new contract as we were too big for their present company size to do a complete job, and they did not want to get any bigger.

I asked for her resume and any letters of recommendation she had. As she handed me a packet of papers I asked, “Can you be bonded for several million dollars of liability?”

She said she had been bonded in the past but was not sure of the amount. I took her contact information and told her I would be in touch within the next two weeks.

She got a sad look on her face and said, “If I am not going to be hired, just tell me now, and don’t blow me off until next week.”

Angrily I responded, “Did I say you would not be hired? I said I will contact you within the next two weeks if that is not satisfactory; here is your resume packet back.” I held out her resume and then continued; “I will not hire someone for even the factory floor without checking references and contacting at least one of your former employers. Those things take time. The position I have coming open is a sensitive one, and I will be checking all of your references, your college, and contacting some of the people who gave you the letters of recommendation.” I was a little put off by her thought that she would get an answer today.

She apologized and mentioned that she had gotten the run around from several companies before, and just jumped to the conclusion that I was brushing her off.

Well as you can guess, we hired her, and she was appointed as manager of our accounts department. She was very good at her job for about 9 months, when I received her resignation letter giving two weeks’ notice.

I went to her office and asked if there was a problem with the workplace or working conditions. She denied any problem except she wanted to date someone from the executive level of the company and our strict non-frat policy would not let her do that. She added that she had another position that she was accepting in a non-competing company.

I asked if the two weeks were etched in stone and she said no, but three weeks is max.

I said; “Well I guess I will have to advertise for a new manager then. Please stay as long as you can. Is there someone in your department who you think could take over as a temporary manager?”

She said; “Frank Wilson can not only take over as a temporary manager, but I told him to apply for the position as a permanent replacement for me.”

I said ok, I will talk to Frank. I did and I promoted him to the position. I regretted that decision later.

I ran into Sarah a few weeks later on a weekend of food shopping. I offered to buy her lunch and have a chat. She accepted.

We went to the mall food court for nasty pizza and coffee. I asked her about her new job and she said she liked it, and that she did not realize how much work she was required to do at our shop until she took her new job. She said the new job is a snap compared to ours.

I asked if she was dating anyone in our company as that was the reason she gave for leaving.

She just laughed and said with a smirk on her face; “You haven’t asked for a date yet.”

To say I was gobsmacked is an understatement. Sarah was a beautiful, smart and funny person, but I had not looked at her as dating material. I thought about it for a few seconds before saying; “How about a play next Friday? It starts at 8:00 and I can get tickets for either Friday or Saturday and can take you to dinner before or after the play.”

She said Friday was OK. That started 15 months of dating. I finally asked her to marry me. She said yes.

The company attorney advised me to have a prenup in place. Sarah was a little peeved, so I said, “If you sign the prenup, I will set you up with a trust equal to 10% of the profits yearly for the term of our marriage. The only proviso is if we were to divorce for your adultery, you get nothing. If we were to divorce for my adultery, you get triple the amount contained in the trust. You will not have access to the trust for a period of 10 wedded years.”

She signed.

We were married and had an exciting honeymoon. When we returned to normal life, we moved into a house I had purchased after my company had taken off. It was fully paid for, and I owed nothing on my company buildings or equipment.

We seemed, to me, to have a very happy marriage. Children had been discussed, and the decision delayed. We were not strong party people but went to both companies’ functions.

Seven years after we were married Sarah started to get distant. It was at a promotion party that I first notice something hinky. Frank Wilson was being announced as a new vice president in charge of corporate finance. There were also several others who would be promoted that year. Sarah and I arrived a few minutes early as I had a habit of doing. Sarah excused herself and went to the ladies’ room. When she came back, she was stuffing something into her purse.