Chapter 15

Trish's eyes were red. She stood up and hugged me. I asked her what was wrong.

"It finally happened. Jim went over the edge and hit me," she said.

The typical male macho response welled up inside of me, "Where is that son-of-a-bitch? I'll kick his ass!"

"Calm down, John," she pleaded. "I figured you'd feel that way but listen to me before you do anything rash."

She continued, "He didn't mean to hurt me, and to be honest, I'm not hurting physically. I told him that it was over and that he needed to move out. That brought on an argument and in the heated discussion, he hit me."

"I don't care," I said. "No woman deserves to get hit by a man. Man is not the right term to use for him; he is lower than whale shit."

"Let me finish," she said. "Afterwards he apologized and begged me to give him another chance. I told him that he already had more chances than he should. I told him that this was my house and he needed to leave tonight. I told him he could have until next weekend to get his things.

"John, it's so hard. I've devoted the last five years to our relationship. We never married but I was committed to him all the same," she said.

"I understand," I said. "Have you told anyone else?"

"No, and I'm not going to either; at least not the physical part. Jerry would come unglued if I told him," she said.

"Did he leave?" I asked.

"Yes, he packed a few things and left. I'm not sure where he went though. The worst part is that we work together and I'll have to see him everyday," she cried.

"Don't let that worry you. You need to call in and take the week off," I told her.

"I can't do that. I'm the office manager and he's the general manager and he's the one that has to approve any time off," she said.

I thought a minute and realized that she would actually be perfect for Tamara's business. Tamara had mentioned wanting to open a corporate office. And if she couldn't use her, then I could hire her myself. One of the reasons I bought the office building was to create an office location for Kegler Enterprises. "I have a solution," I told her.

I explained the situation with the pending offices and that she could work for Tamara or me. She didn't have to work with Jim anymore. Her eyes lit up. She jumped up and came around the table. She threw her arms around me and hugged me tight.

"Whoa, calm down," I said. "I don't expect physical gratification for getting you a job. Although... do you take 'dick' tation?"

She released me and started laughing. "You're a sweetheart," she said.

"Okay. Here is the plan. You call in tomorrow and tell them you're taking the week off. Write your letter of resignation with the standard two weeks notice. I'll ensure that you do not miss any paychecks," I said.

"Secondly, if you need to leave your house for a bit, you and your daughter can stay at my place until he is completely out. Is that understood?" I asked.

"Yes, but how big is your place? Do you have enough room for us?" she asked.

"Well, it's pretty small, you might have to sleep with me," I said with a straight face.

"Excuse me, didn't you just start dating Tamara?" she asked.

I started laughing. "I have plenty of room. I have a guest room and Stephanie (her daughter) can sleep in Marie's room," I said.

"If you don't mind, could we come over tonight? I don't trust Jim to stay away," she said.

"Not a problem. I'll give you directions. You can go get Steph and come on over. There is one thing though, Tamara and I are flying to Phoenix tomorrow and won't return until Thursday. You'll have the house to yourselves," I told her. "I do have one request though."

"Name it," she said.

"Please don't invite anyone over nor tell anyone where you're staying," I said.

"Okay, but why?" she asked.

"I'll tell you when you get there," I said. I suggested she get going and I wrote the directions for her. She didn't look at them too closely. I figured if she got lost she would call me on her cell phone.

We left and I called Tamara on the way home. "Hi honey, sweetie, snookems," I said.