Chapter 9: Execution

I was working from home when Jimmy returned from his trip to Sault Ste. Marie. He looked awful, but said it was just a late night with the group and a lack of sleep. He also said his allergies were starting to give him fits. With that minimal conversation he first stopped at the bar in the living room for a couple shots of tequila, then straight to the bedroom to take a shower, gulp down a handful of aspirin, and then crash on the bed.

I decided to give him his space and slept in the guest room that night. I was tempted to call Jimmy’s dad, but his instructions were clear – don’t do or say anything. It was a fitful night wondering what happened when Jimmy was out of town, but I eventually got a few hours of sleep.

Friday morning I was up early and flipped the tables on Jimmy. I got ready for work and then roused him to take care of the kids as I was walking out the door for the office.

The mother-of-all-contracts that had been my nemesis was almost completed, signed, and filed. Another solid morning of work and it should be done. I got into the office and committed myself to having my portion done by 10:00.

Once done, the rest of the day went quickly, and everyone on the team was encouraged to leave early after putting in so much hard work on the contract. I left at 3:00 and headed home without really knowing what to expect.

Jimmy was at the house with the kids. He still looked worn, but was playing a game with the kids at the kitchen table.

“Hi, hon, how was your day?” asked Jimmy as I entered, shocking me for a second.

Startled, I replied, “Really good. We finally got the Anderson contract done. It’s why we were told get an early start on the weekend. I’m going to get out of my work clothes and will join you in a few minutes.”

I entered the bedroom and shut the door. What the hell was happening? I reached for my phone to call Frederick, but again remembered his instruction. I changed into sweats and a pullover and grabbed my phone as I headed back to the kitchen to join the family.

As I looked I realized I missed a text message. It was from Frederick.

“Stay the course. Delete this.”

Frustrated that there was no information, I smiled at what was clearly Frederick’s style. After rereading the text, I obediently deleted it and headed to the kitchen.

The weekend was uneventful, which included no attempt from Jimmy to engage me in any forms of sex. I was relieved and settled into our less-than-normal routine, but was glad there were no fireworks.

Monday morning was as close to normal as we had seen in many weeks. Jimmy and I got up at the same time, got dressed and worked together to get the kids ready for school. Jimmy dropped the kids off and let me head directly into the office. I was still driving a rental car since the insurance company was taking their time in issuing a check.

When I got to the office I found that I had been invited to a meeting with a new client. I didn’t mind. The new client meetings were oftentimes causal as we got to know the client and they got to understand us and our process. We catered a lunch in the office and concluded the meet-and-greet by 12:30.