Chapter 14

By the time my second son, Bellamy Francis Flanagan came along, we had been living in that same corner lot across from the elementary school for four years. Zinat was finishing up her last year at the elementary school, and Eric was already in the third grade. I was thirty one years old, healthy, happily married, doing well enough in my business, still loved what I was doing, and really had no complaints to speak of. My life might not have been perfect, or ideal, but it was certainly very good.

It should have stayed that way too, but it didn't. What happened to me shouldn't happen to anyone. I was standing in line over at the Stanton City Hall, waiting to file papers for a requested zoning change on some property I had purchased. I was waiting patiently for my turn to get to the head of the line, so I could file my request and get back to the current job site where I was putting up yet another of my housing designs.

When the guy in front of me finished up his business and walked away, I found myself looking at the most beautiful creature I'd ever laid my eyes upon. It was something at first sight. I'm not saying it was love, but it was something more than simple lust too. I was immediately drawn to her. It was strange, and completely unexpected.

One minute I was a happily married, responsible, father of three, and the next minute, I had changed into a completely different person. I saw her, and I wanted her. Even more than that, I wanted her to be with me, forever. Instant attraction. It had to have been glandular. There is simply no other explanation for what happened next.

"Hi, I'm Jim Flanagan, and I'm here to file a request for a zoning change on a piece of property I own. They told me I needed to come here to do that?"

She took the paperwork from me and looked it over. When she was done, she looked up and gave me this wonderful smile. All her teeth were white and straight, and her tongue was wet and pink when she spoke.

"Everything looks okay. The zoning commission meets on the second and fourth Wednesday of every month. You'll be notified at least one week in advance of when your request is coming to the board for review and possible approval. It might be helpful, if you, or a representative of your company, were in attendance at that meeting, to answer any questions the board might have."

I was mesmerized by the sound of her voice, and the way her tongue moved in her mouth as she enunciated each word so slowly, clearly, and carefully to me. When I realized how she was speaking to me, I thought she had somehow mistaken me as a foreigner, someone who might not understand English. Later, I found out that was just the way she spoke to everyone. She came to California from Georgia, by way of Florida and Alabama. She'd been born and raised in a little town in Florida. She was so cute.

"Are you seeing anyone at the moment?"

"The next gentleman in line, right after you leave." She had a light, lilting laugh that took all the sting out of what she'd just said. Embarrassed at my foolish behavior anyway, I thanked her for her help and departed. This had been in the morning, the first time I'd seen her. She had been wearing one of those little black plastic name tags that said her name was Melanie Meyers.

I stopped at the first florist I came to, on Beach Blvd (Highway 39), and ordered a dozen red roses to be delivered to her at the city hall. I paid an extra five dollars to get the flowers delivered right away. On the card, I wrote: 'Melanie, please make me the happiest man in the state by agreeing to going out to dinner with me tonight. I'll be back to get your answer at two. Hopefully, Jim F.'

At five to two I went into city hall again and got in Melanie's line. I saw her start to grin when she first saw me again. By the time I'd worked my way to the head of the line again, it was ten past two.

"Hi again. Did you get my note?"

"I got it. The roses were lovely. Thank you. Before I give you my answer to your question, is that a wedding band on your finger there?"

I looked at my hand, noticing the gold band I'd been wearing for more than eleven years. I never took it off, even though a lot of construction workers removed theirs, because of safety concerns.

"Yes. I'm married, and have three kids. My youngest is only two months old. I don't know how to explain it, but as soon as I saw you, I knew we had to get to know each other better. I love my wife, but it isn't the romantic kind of love. She is like a really good friend to me, or maybe I should say she is more like my sister than a wife. I'm not good at explaining our relationship, but I know I really would enjoy taking you to dinner tonight."

We had both been talking very quietly, almost in whispers. I knew I sounded desperate, and that wasn't what I had wanted. It was only after she'd asked me about my wedding ring that I had given any thought to how something like this would affect Dorothy and my three children. Now I felt guilty about what I was trying to do, but not guilty enough to even consider retracting my dinner invitation to Melanie.

"Where I'm from, a decent woman doesn't have any interest in going out with a married man. Why should I make an exception to this very good rule just for you?" As she told me this, I could see the laughter in her eyes. I knew she was toying with me, and that she planned on letting me persuade her to join me for dinner. Even knowing this, I decided to be cautious.

"Where I'm from, there isn't a thing wrong with people going out to dinner together, married to others or not, since sharing a meal together isn't against any laws or rules that I'm aware of."

"Will your wife and children be present at this dinner you have in mind for us?" Again, I had the definite feeling that she was teasing me. I knew we were at a critical juncture in our negotiations at this point. I still didn't want to say anything to ruin my chances with her, but I also knew I had to start showing some backbone soon, if I wanted to have any chance with this woman. I reached into my wallet and handed her one of my business cards.

"This is my home number. My wife's name is Dorothy. Why don't you call her and ask her if it would be all right with her if I took you out to dinner tonight? Tell her you work for the city of Stanton, and that I gave you my application for a zoning change earlier today. I'm certain she won't raise a fuss once she knows it will be a business dinner. My wife is hoping I get those new lots approved, so I can start building more houses to sell. She's afraid I'll sell our current house, if I don't have new construction to be working on."

"You'll need to sell your home if your plans aren't approved?"

"No. My wife knows I'll be too busy working on the new houses to bother with trying to sell our current home. She hates moving, and wants to keep the home we now live in."

"If I did agree to dinner then, it would be strictly business?"

"I didn't say that. In fact, business would be the farthest thing from my thoughts, if you were to agree to go out with me tonight." She laughed when I told her this. I loved the way she laughed. I loved everything I'd seen or heard from her thus far. I couldn't explain any of this, as I'd never experienced anything like this before. I was enthralled by her, putty in her hands.

She wrote down an address, then passed the piece of paper to me.

"Come by at six thirty, and we'll talk about this. No promises about dinner, but, I'm intrigued that you would permit me to speak with your wife. You'll have to explain to me, in far greater detail, the nature of the relationship you have with her that permits you to act this way with other women."

"I don't act this way with other women. You're the only one. I've never done anything like this before."

"There are other people waiting. See you at six thirty, and we'll talk about it then."

I left the building and went directly to a pay phone to call Dorothy. My intention was to let her know I'd be at a business meeting about the Stanton zoning change for the new lots. I hadn't had time yet to really think about what I might be letting us all in for with this craziness I was setting in motion. All I knew for certain was that I'd be at Melanie's house or apartment promptly at six thirty that evening. I felt a sense of guilt about what I was doing, and knew that I was ready and willing to take things much beyond a simple dinner with this new woman.

Dorothy took the news that I'd be eating out and might be home late without any arguing on her part. I'd been ready to go to some lengths to convince her of the business importance of this meeting. She asked no questions, just accepting it as if it were something I'd done regularly in the past. After I'd hung up the telephone, my guilty feelings became much stronger. I considered going back to City Hall and telling Melanie that I'd changed my mind about our getting together that night.

I didn't like thinking of myself as someone who cheats, or one of those husbands who runs around on his wife. I wasn't like that. I hadn't ever cheated on Dorothy before, or done anything at all along those lines. Our sex life was still going strong, even after all these years. I had no complaints along those lines, that was for sure. I'd never given Dorothy any reason to be suspicious or jealous before this.

At six thirty I found myself knocking on Melanie's second floor apartment door. She lived in Buena Park, right off Orangethorpe Avenue, in a large apartment complex that catered to either single tenants or childless couples.