Chapter 7

Back at my shop I made a call to the Chris's office at the main store. When he answered, I asked if he had a few minutes to talk to me. He told me to take as long as I needed so I began.

"Chris, when Bill finally comes back to work he will have some skin missing from his nose and maybe elsewhere. I want you to know what happened and that I'm responsible for his pain. I am not apologizing for my actions because I would do it all over again. You see, Chris, I found him alone in my house with my wife. She said that nothing happened, but they were holding hands and looking all starry-eyed when I walked in. I punched Bill in the face in and then threw his ass out on my driveway. He made a three-point landing and will take a while to heal. I'm not his boss, so I cannot fire him, but rest assured that I will come after him if he ever comes near my wife again, even if I have to come there to get to him."

Chris responded hesitantly, "I had no idea you two were at odds with each other. How long has it been going on?"

I poured out the entire story of everything that happened from Saturday night through this afternoon.

Chris commented, "I sure hope nothing more happened than just talk. What do you want me to do?"

"I cannot tell you what to do but it's going to be very uncomfortable at company gatherings and business meetings with both of us still around," I replied. "I really want to hurt him, and keep on hurting him until my arms will no longer move."

"Well, that settles it. Bill's gone. It's time anyhow. It seems that every recommendation he's made around here was to benefit him. I never did totally agree with his suggestion that you be promoted to management, but others agreed so I went ahead and did it. Anyhow, I needed someone like you to salvage a few of my stores. I regretted it, however, every month when I saw your sales dropping below what I knew you could achieve. Next week I want you to come to see me. Let's talk about your future with the company over dinner. Okay?"

"Sure, Chris. I'd be glad to speak with you about that," I said.

"Okay. I'll call and let you know when to come. Don't worry about Bill. He's going to become a history lesson around here that had better not be repeated. And, by the way, take as much time off as you need to work through things. I have gone through a divorce so I know that you're going to have a lot of wrinkles to iron out, especially with kids and all. I'm sure Mike can handle it while you're doing what you need to do. Talk to you later, Ed." He hung up before I had a chance to thank him.

After I hung up I sat in my office thinking about our conversation. It had gone much better than I could have imagined. I smiled to myself and thought, "Maybe some good will come of all this after all."