Chapter 2

The next morning I was up and gone before Sandi got up. I had breakfast at a coffee shop just up the street from work and when I got to the office I did just what Frank had suggested. I put the names of all six women on my PA list in a small box, shook it up and then reached inside and pulled out a name.

Pauline French was going to be my new personal assistant. Were the Gods fucking with me? Pauline is the only one of all the women on my list that I had lustful thoughts about. I imagined myself telling her that my wife was also a PA and then telling Pauline about how my wife took care of Dale and then telling Pauline that I wanted the same kind of PA. Then I saw myself in a sexual harassment suit and the thought faded fast.

Frank looked in on me and I told him that I had taken his advice and had pulled Pauline's name out of the box and that I'd offer her the position when she came in. He laughed and said:

"Keep it clean Bob. I've seen the way you look at her south side when she's walking north and what's more I've seen the way she looks at you when she thinks no one is watching."

"You can't be serious."

"Just keep it clean buddy. I'd hate to lose you over a bit of tail."

He left for his office leaving me with the thought "Pauline has been checking me out?"

Wanting to keep everybody as happy as possible under the circumstances I called all six women who had applied for the PA position into my office and then explained to them that they were all well qualified and so much so that I was having a hard time picking one of them. I told them what Frank's solution to a similar problem had been and that I had decided to do the same. I put a deck of cards and a box on my desk and said:

"I've put all your names into the box and to be fair I'm going to let one of you make the decision for me. High card will draw a name from the box and that will be the person I offer the position to."

Ann Marie was high with the ten of spades and she reached in the box and pulled out a slip. She went to hand it to me, but I told her to read it out loud. She did and while all the girls were congratulating Pauline and no one was looking I put the box with the slips that all had Pauline's name on them on the floor and put the box that had all the names but Pauline's on the desk in case any one wanted to take a look. After everyone had congratulated Pauline and had gone back to work Pauline sat down across from me and said:

"You seem to have overlooked something?"

"What is that?"

"You didn't offer me the position and give me a chance to say yes or no."

"You are right; I never thought of that, but to be fair to me you did apply for the job so why would I think I needed to offer it to you? You don't want it?"

"I did when I applied, but I didn't know about your wife at the time."

"Sandi? What does she have to do with this?"

"Maybe nothing, I don't know and that is what I guess we need to talk about."

"You have my interest Pauline. Just what do we need to talk about?"

"You had no way of knowing, but my sister works at Martin in the same department as your wife and her boss Dale. Pat, that's my sister, told me about three months ago that your wife and her boss were getting it on. She found out by accident. She was in the supply room getting a ream of paper for the copy machine and the supply room shares a rather thin wall with the men' bathroom and she overheard your wife's boss telling two other guys about the visit to Amalgamated and how your wife took care of the guys from Amalgamated and clinched the deal.

"One of the guys he was talking to asked if your wife was as hot as she looked and her boss said she was even hotter than she looked and then said that since she had done a gangbang in Chicago and had loved it maybe he could set up another one for them and they both said to count them in. This made Pat curious and she started watching your wife and her boss. She said they took a lot of long lunches together and a lot of times your wife came back from them with what Pat called a 'just fucked' look about her.

"One time when everyone was at lunch Pat came back early and had been walking by your wife's boss's office just as he heard:

"Oh God, but I do love this tight ass of yours."

Pat went and sat down where she could keep an eye on the door of the office and about twenty minutes later your wife came out with that 'just fucked' look that Pat had mentioned."

"So what does that have to do with me offering you the PA position?"

"I'm wondering if you are expecting me to be the same kind of personal assistant that your wife is?"

"God Lord no! Absolutely not! What my wife did destroyed our marriage. Why would I want that with you?"

"That's too bad."

"Why?"

"Because that's the kind of PA that I want to be."

"You can't be serious?"

"Of course I am. I've wanted you since the day I hired in and first saw you. I've fantasized being bent over your desk like your wife was probably bent over her boss's. When the position as your PA opened up I couldn't wait to apply. I imagined us on business trips and being in rooms with connecting doors that I would come through to you when our day was over. I saw myself sealing deals for you so you would get raises and promotions and become even more important to the company. I saw myself doing whatever it took to make my man need me enough to keep me around."

"Your man?"

"Yes, my man. I saw myself taking you away from your wife and then showing you that I would do anything for you. Absolutely anything!"

"You can't mean that."

"Oh but I do. I want you so bad I'll do whatever you want. Do gangbangs and pull trains to get you the deal? Done! Fuck the president and CEO of the company to get you promoted? Done! I'm yours to do with what you will. I'll fuck the world for you if you want me to, or I'll stay at home and raise your babies and no other man will ever touch me if that's what you want."

"I don't know what to say Pauline. No, that's not true. I do know what to say about part of it. If I have to provide sex to get a signature on a contact it will never happen and the customer can stick the contract up his ass. The same goes for providing sex for promotions or raises. I'll resign before that ever happens."

"Okay then; that leaves bent over your desk, connecting doors on trips together or staying at home and having your babies."

"None of that is going to happen Pauline. I'm a married man and until I'm not I won't cheat on my wife even though she has cheated on me. That's just the way I am."

"I know. That's just one of the reasons why I want you."

"That just doesn't compute Pauline. On the one hand you want me because I won't screw around on a wife who screwed around on me and on the other you say you will be a promiscuous slut."

"You didn't listen to me. I said I would do anything for my man. That was the key. My man. My man would be my life and I would do whatever he wanted. From being a saint to being a slut. I give myself to my man. Totally!"

"Well I can't be your man while I'm married to Sandi." I paused and then said, "And besides, I don't know you well enough to consider you as a replacement for Sandi."

"Then why do you stare at my ass and legs every chance you get?"

"I didn't say I didn't lust for you, just that I don't know you very well."

"You will know me well enough by the time your divorce is final."

"You are assuming that Sandi and I won't work it out."

"Not likely and for the same reason you previously mentioned."

"Previously mentioned?"

"You won't cheat on a wife who cheated on you. A man with a moral code like that won't stay with a woman who stabbed him in the back."

I had no answer for that so I said, "I'm offering you the personal assistant's position Ms. French. Please let me know your decision as soon as possible."

"You know I'm going to take it. I need to be as close to you as possible if I am going to have any chance at getting what I want."

"Okay then; your first job will be to get me a new secretary. Doris has given me two weeks notice. Her husband has taken a job in Boston. Get with Doris and she can give you a feel for what my secretary needs to be like. I require more of a secretary than she be able to answer a phone and type."

"You do know that any secretary I pick for you is going to be ugly as sin right? I'm not going to allow anyone that even remotely looks like competition to get close to you."

"Just don't get her too ugly. I do need to deal with her on a daily basis without my stomach becoming queasy."

We spent an hour gong over what her duties would be and what I'd be expecting from her. Then I began the process of moving out of my office and into the office that Dan Harvest, the previous regional director, had vacated when he retired. A small office with a connecting door was next to it and that is where Marsha Loomis, his PA, had worked. When Dan retired he took Marsha with him and they were married a week later. Pauline wasted no time in telling me that Dan and Marsha had set the precedent.

"What precedent?"

"That the regional director marrys his PA."

"Good Lord woman; am I going to have to put up with this daily?"

"Yep. I have to make sure that you understand just how serious I am."

I shrugged. What the hell! What red-blooded man wouldn't like to have a woman like Pauline after him? But that was something that was going to have to wait. Living in a no-fault state I already knew from hearing the horror stories of friends who had gone through divorces just what I could expect when I went for mine. It might not be quite as bad for me since we didn't have children and Sandi actually did make about the same as I did so alimony shouldn't be much as long as I stayed calm and didn't go after Dale or his employer.

I would have to talk with Frank about possibly making me an 'acting regional director' and hold off on any increase in pay until after the divorce was final and then give me the difference between my old pay and my new pay as a bonus once I was a free man. The last thing I did before leaving the office was call an attorney and make an appointment.

On the drive home I thought about what Pauline had told me and I wondered if I was up to being 'her man.' There was a fifteen year age difference between us and that thought prompted another thought. What the hell did a twenty-seven year old fox see in a forty-five year old man? Well it did answer an earlier question that I had asked myself. I had asked myself if a forty-five year old single guy could attract younger women.

Sandi was home when I got there and she had dinner on. I grabbed a beer out of the fridge as she said:

"Now that you have had time to think on it do you still intend to go for a divorce?"

"Of course I am."

"But why Bob? Okay so I slipped up and did a stupid thing, but I love you and you know I do. Why throw away twenty-three good years? We are good together Bob and we always have been. We don't need a divorce honey. We can get past it; just give me a chance."

"No Sandi; we might, just might, have been able to get by it if you had come to me and told me about the Chicago business, but there is no way I can get by the three months that you have been giving it up to Dale. It is a done deal Sandi. I have an appointment to see an attorney tomorrow afternoon and you will probably be served with the papers by the end of the week."

"I don't want a divorce Bob and I'll fight it."

"Go ahead and fight Sandi. All it will get you is debt. You can stall it; slow it down some, but you can't stop it. We live in a state where no fault divorce is the law. I file and it happens. I don't even have to give a reason. I file and sooner or later it happens. Under no-fault we split everything fifty fifty. The house gets sold and we each get half of the proceeds and we each get half of all the other assets. I file and you don't fight and you will get enough money out of the deal to set yourself up in a condo and have some cash to fall back on. You fight it and you will be paying an attorney who can't do anything but slow the process down. Nothing he can do can make me stay married to you. I've made up my mind not to go after your company or go after Dale because as long as you are working I won't have to pay alimony."

When I said that I could see the sudden thought cross her face and I cut it off at the pass.

"You can quit thinking that I'll keep you rather than pay alimony, but that won't work. What will happen if you quit your job or fight the divorce is that I'll either sue Dale and your company and use that money to pay the alimony or I'll drop the divorce, move out and stop paying the bills. The phone, gas and electricity will get turned off and since I won't be making house payments the house will go into foreclosure. You lose either way. Face up to it Sandi; you have thrown your marriage away. Right now you need to be thinking of how to come out of it with something. That's the choice you have to make Sandi. Come out of it with something or come out of it with nothing, but either way Sandi, I'm gone."

Sandi started crying and left the room. I shrugged, got a plate and sat down to eat. When I was done I went out into the garage and worked on my Mustang.

The next day I talked with Frank and he agreed to what I wanted pay-wise. As long as I didn't take the raise in pay until after the divorce Sandi and I would be making the same money.

Pauline was looking pretty good that day and I began thinking that I might have to change my mind on not having anything to do with her until my divorce was final. I'd begun thinking that once I filed and Sandi was served the marriage was as good as over and I should be free to play with Pauline.

That afternoon the attorney told me what I already knew and I told him to go ahead and prepare the papers and then have them served on Sandi Saturday morning when she would be at home.

When I left the lawyer's office I figured that there was no sense in going back to work for just an hour so I hit a Starbucks and went through the daily paper looking for an apartment to rent. I found and circled a couple and noticed that I had to go right by them on my way home so I decided to stop and check them out.

They were nice. Both had swimming pools, but one of them also had an exercise room, a steam room and a large hot tub. It was fifty bucks more a month than the other place, but to me it would be worth it. I signed up for a two bedroom unit, paid the requisite fees and headed for home.

As I drove I made a mental list of what I would need to furnish the place and I also made a mental note to find a storage place with a unit large enough to park the Mustang in and work on it.

Sandi was in the living room when I got home. She was reading a book and when I came in she looked up from it long enough to tell me that dinner was on the stove. I made myself a plate, ate and then went out to the garage to work on the car. At eight-thirty I went into the house and told Sandi that I needed to talk with her. We sat at the table in the kitchen and I told her that I had seen an attorney and that she would be served papers at the house on Saturday morning.