Chapter 4

Two weeks later, I invited Mark and a young man named Philip Waterman into my office to tell them that I was promoting Philip to take my position in Denver. Philip was younger than Mark and Mark had trained him when he came in. There was no question in either my or Mark's mind that Phil was good but not as good as Mark. This was the payback I had been waiting for. I wanted Mark to know that the decision to promote Phil over him was mine and mine alone. When I announced it, Mark gave me a long hard look but turned to congratulate Phil on his promotion. Phil would be relocating to Denver and Mark would stay just as he had for the past five or six years.

When Phil left, Mark asked to stay behind to speak to me. I agreed and actually let him close the office door. He came back in and remained standing.

"This is payback isn't it? This is the other shoe dropping. I knew that you were going to do something but not this. I thought that I had done a good job for you. I have given you and this company all I had. Apparently it wasn't enough to make you forget."

"No, I didn't forget. The one thing I prize above all else is loyalty. I always believed you were loyal and my friend. When you showed me I was wrong, I held my anger and my retribution all this time. But now, when it matters the most to you, I saw my opportunity. You are much better and more deserving than Phil. But he gets the job, not you."

"Is that fair to the company? How can you give him the job that I earned when you know the results will not be as good? How can you still hate me that much?"

"It's not hate. I never felt much at all for you after I found you with Billy that day. I even promoted you once and I've worked with you for the past five years and I've given you nothing but cooperation. Your raises have been based on your excellent performance. There was no hate: just the knowledge that you let me down and betrayed me. I won't give you the opportunity to do it again, because I believe that if an opportunity arose and you could benefit from it, you would betray me. That's all it is. So, Philip may fail and if he does, I'll replace him."

"That's not true and I think you know it. I kept my promise to you. I never spoke to Billy again after you left. We've never seen each other and I'm married now with a new baby. I've moved on and I've regretted what I did every time I see you. But it happened and I explained it to you at the time. I loved Billy but she didn't love me. She loved you but she was also a selfish person who used me to punish you and I let her. I never thought of it as a betrayal of you, but that's what you saw and for that, I'm sorry."

"Just do your job if you want to stay, or leave. I don't really care. I don't care what your reasons were. It makes no difference. Betrayal is the same regardless of the motivation and the pain to the person betrayed is the same regardless of the reason. That is the price you have to pay for what you did. It is your misfortune that I'm now in a position to exact that price."

Mark looked at me and saw the determination in my eyes. He shook his head as if in denial but finally turned and walked out of the office. I found the revenge that I had taken to be a hollow victory, absent any pleasure or satisfaction. But it was something I needed to do for my own preservation. Maybe now I could get on with my life without thinking about Mark and revenge.

I had been on the job for just over three months when I decided to have a party to gather together all of the top executives and their significant others to allow me to meet them. I had the perfect home for it, the weather was perfect and the pool was open and ready for people. In a few months, cooler weather would set in and it would go to waste. Now was the perfect time.

I asked Paula to hire a caterer for the food, talked to the HR director about the invitation list and asked him to put the invitations out, checked with the local association about any restrictions I needed to worry about and set the date for two weeks later. I asked Paula to coordinate the RSVPs and let me know the final count. She was excited about it since she knew a lot of the people who would be there. She was actually quite proprietary about the whole thing so I asked her to take over.

At home that evening I considered what I was going to do. I could ask Paula to act as hostess but a thought entered my mind. I went to the computer and looked up hostess responsibilities. One thing I found was that a hostess could be a professional person, a good friend or an associate. All were appropriate for someone in my position: single, highly placed and living alone. There was no requirement that the hostess be part of the company and her job would be to host the party and see to the guests. That was what I wanted to know.

Still, I thought about it and worried it to death for the next several days but the date for the party was getting close. I was sitting by the pool one evening after an easy day at work, having completed my ten laps and I was idly thinking. While all the arrangements were in place, I still needed a hostess. I finally decided to go for it and damn the consequences. It was still early so I pulled out my cell and dialed.

"Hello?"

I hadn't talked to Billy since that time with the house. I had been trying to forget her again but without much success.

"Hi Billy. It's Stuart. How are you? Busy?"

"No actually I was just finishing up a few dishes. How have you been Stu? Did you buy the house?"

"Yes I did and I moved in six weeks ago. I went furnished as you recommended and everything is perfect. I'm sitting by the pool now and it's great."

"I envy you. It's just hot here and our pool has ten thousand screaming kids in it. Too many for a poor teacher to take. After work is away from kids, not down among them."

"Well that's part of why I called. I'm having a party next weekend for the senior executives and their spouses or significant others I think they're called now. I have all details arranged: food, invitations, seats and tables and all that but I still need a hostess. Would you consider being my hostess? Just to be here, meet the guests, watch over things, in general be my right hand? You were always so good at it and I know you would be perfect. Would you consider doing it for me?"

There was no sound from the other end. As I waited I thought that maybe I had gone too far. Maybe she would see this as a slap in the face, or a way to rub her face in what she had lost. This might have been a huge mistake and I had really hurt her without thinking. I had to give her an out.

"Billy, I'm sorry. Maybe this was a bad idea. I didn't mean to hit you with this. I didn't think of how you would feel about it and I should have. I'm so stupid! Please, forgive me. I'm such an idiot! I'm so sorry."

"Stuart, wait please! No, it's alright. I was just surprised that you would think of me for your hostess. I would be honored to do it. I would love to host your party. I loved the house and it would give me a chance to see it again and to see some of your friends and coworkers. Yes, I would love to do it for you."

I breathed a sigh of relief. I was pleased, more so than I expected. As a matter of fact, I was very pleased.

"Great. Why don't you come over now and we can discuss it. Bring your suit and you can hit the pool or at least the hot tub. It's really great. You'll love it. I remember you always loved to swim."

As I hung up, I found myself waiting anxiously for her to arrive. It would be fun to share the house with her since she had found it so wonderful. To me it was a nice house but to her it was something more. An arrival and an expression of my success. I didn't think of it that way but so what.

I went inside to wait for her while I fixed some sandwiches and cold beers. I took the food outside to the small refrigerator that sat beside the built-in grill. Presumptuous, but so was the whole damn house! At least it was good for something.

When Billy arrived, I led her outside to the pool and showed her the food and drinks. I suggested she hit the pool first and I would join her. She agreed and moved over to one of the chairs and began to remove her jeans and top. Underneath she had on a one piece suit that covered almost everything. It was cut up the thigh a little but not too much. The back was open but the front was less revealing. Still, from what I could see, Billy had gotten better with time. She was leaner, trimmer and well tanned. It was clear she worked out and the definition in her legs and shoulders would give any man thoughts. While she wore her clothes cut on the loose side, her bathing suit revealed more. I preferred the suit.

She dove in and swam with strong strokes across the pool and back. She tossed her head and her hair shed water like a duck. She laughed and leaned back as she let go of the side. She swam for the next ten minutes while I sat and admired her skill. She always loved the water and she hadn't lost that. I finally joined her and we swam companionably for a while until she began to tire. As we swam over to the side, I suggested we hit the hot tub to warm up and loosen tired muscles. She agreed and we sat down across from each other.

"I'm glad you asked me over. But I admit I am surprised that you would want me to host your party. I'm thrilled that you asked me but confused as to your motivation. What are you doing Stu? Why are you being nice to me? I really want to know."

"Actually it's very simple. We had our problems but they're in the past. I always thought of you as my best friend as well as my wife. Now, I would still like to be friends. I don't have many close friends here and I haven't met many people. Honestly, I don't get out much so I don't have much of a chance to meet people. So, I'm taking advantage of you for my own purposes. I hope you don't mind."

"I don't mind at all. I'm glad you want to be friends. I've missed you. I don't get out much anymore myself so I have just a few friends, mostly teachers I work with. I have one girl friend, Penny Rutger, that I spend most of my time with. She's younger but a lot of fun. We go out to movies and plays together and she seems to like the same things I do."

"That's good. Why don't you invite her to the party? She could be there for you and maybe meet some nice people. I think there will be several bachelors there so maybe she could get lucky."

"I will. Now, can we eat and then you can show me the rest of the house. I didn't get much of a chance to see it all the last time."

We dried off and sat down at the table where we ate a lot of the sandwiches and drank most of the beer. I admit I enjoyed being with her. She was so different than I remembered and the difference was very appealing. I lost track of time before she reminded me of the tour.

We went inside and I showed her the whole house, she making comments while I watched proudly. She loved the master bedroom and the huge tub and built in shower. She moved to the great room and then to the kitchen where she took the time to examine all of the appliances and the setup. We moved to the office wing of the house passing through the family room and den with the play room. She walked out the back door to the small patio and then she went back across the yard to the sliding doors leading back inside to the great room. As she completed the tour she just nodded her head.