Chapter 2: Moving On

"Jesus, I'm sorry to hear that, Andy. That's got to hurt. I would never have dreamed Carla would just walk away like that."

I was talking to my boss, Leo Cornell, filling him in on my domestic situation.

"How are you going to be for money?" he asked.

I knew what he was thinking. He was wondering if Carla was going to hit me with all kinds of financial burdens and make my life even more miserable.

"That's the strange part, Leo. She only wants twenty-five hundred a month for support. She just wants out of the marriage. It's hard to believe I'm getting away so lightly."

"No kidding. Well, no matter what, I feel for you. It's got to hurt after all those years. What about the boys?"

"I'll look after them, as much as they need looking after. Neal's pretty well independent of us already and Phil's education is covered by our RESP. Other than feeding Phil's bottomless pit, he won't be a problem."

"So what's your plan ... as far as work goes?" he asked.

"I guess I'll stick to what I've been doing, Leo. Two weeks a month on the road. It's working for us, so why change?"

Leo was silent for a few moments, seeming lost in thought. At length, he spoke.

"Look Andy, this is off the record and completely confidential, so it can't leave this office. Can you agree to that?"

"Of course," I said immediately.

"We have an opportunity to acquire a small converting business in California. It's an operating business but is going nowhere presently. The current owner can't raise the money to modernize and is pretty much forced to sell. Because it's not very big, there isn't much interest in anyone acquiring it. However, with our strategy, it might fit us very well."

I could feel the wheels in my head turning rapidly. Was this a golden opportunity for Flex-Tek to solidify our position in the western U.S.?

"No one knows our strategy and our markets like you do. I'm thinking of forming a group to study this possibility. You, an accountant, and a manufacturing guy would make the decisions about whether this made economic and marketing sense."

This was exciting. An opportunity to expand and have a say in how we did it. New markets. New customers. New products. It couldn't get much better than this.

"I can't wait to get started, Leo. This is every peddlers dream, getting a chance to expand and do new things. Wait 'till I tell..." My voice tapered off and I closed my eyes to hide the pain.

"It's okay, Andy. I understand. Just take some time to get adjusted to the idea. Nothing's going to happen until I hear back from the people in California. Why don't you take a few days off? I'll call you when I hear anything. In the meantime, just keep it to yourself, please."

"Sure, no problem. Thanks, Leo. I think I will take the rest of the week off. I need to get some things done."

Carla had pre-empted me and told the boys about our split. She was pretty vague about the reasons, but didn't trash me in the process. Both of them were surprised and had a hard time understanding what it would mean to our family. I got the feeling that if they were going to pick sides, they might choose mine, although I always felt Phil was closest to his mother.

Talking to my parents was difficult. I tried to be honest with them and assure them that no one cheated, we just grew apart and Carla had decided to end it. I didn't talk to Carla's parents. We were never that close and I was sure Carla would let them know what was happening. I didn't expect to hear from them.

Taking a week off seemed like a good idea at the time, but when I got out of bed the next morning, I had no idea what I was going to do with myself. There were no extreme financial measures necessary to protect myself. I simply cancelled the joint credit cards, keeping my business card and applying for a separate personal card in my name only.

I sat in the secure room at the bank and went through our safe deposit box and did an inventory. Carla had already removed any personal items of her own, but had left the insurance policies and other important papers. Nothing was missing that should not have been. I made a note to change the beneficiaries on my policies and will. Then I remembered that I would need to change next-of-kin notification on a number of items as well.

The house seemed like a tomb first thing in the morning. Phil was up and gone before me. The silence was spooky. I turned on the TV news just to have some background noise. At least Phil was here in the evening and slept here each night. I could hear him stir at night now and then and was glad for the faint noise. By mutual agreement, we did not talk about the impending divorce or his mother. I wasn't ready for that yet.

By the end of the week, I was ready to go back to work. I had done every home repair and maintenance project I could think of and still couldn't keep myself busy enough. I worked hard to keep my mind off what had happened to me, but it was difficult to resist going over and over her words in my mind. We were nothing alike, she said. We were opposites and after a while she got tired of trying to find common ground.

"Hi, Andy, it's Ruth."

"Hello, Ruth. How are you?"

"Fine, thank you. Carla has gone to spend a couple of days with our parents. They aren't very happy with her and she wants to try and make peace."

"Oh ... that's a surprise," I said.

"Andy, I wanted to talk to you about Carla and what she's done. I'm sure it must have caught you completely by surprise. I know it did for me when she first mentioned it."

"What's there to say, Ruth? She made it clear why she was getting rid of me. Bored, she said. Nothing in common, she said. Christ, when she was done with her little speech, I wondered why she married me in the first place."

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Andy. I think there might be a reason for all this. It's possible she entering early menopause. The brain can paint some ugly pictures for women when that begins."

"You're her sister. Wouldn't she tell you?"

"I don't think so. I don't think she wants to admit it to herself. I might be wrong, but both of us are getting near the age when menopause begins. I can assure you there is no other man in her life. But listening to her over the last couple of weeks, she's not sounding or thinking like the sister I know."

"Ruth ... if you're right ... what are you suggesting? Reconciliation?"

"Would you consider it?"

"I don't think so. I'm not anxious to be single again, but I can't see us trying to put the pieces back together. It would have to be a pretty big attitude change to get me to consider it. The last year or so with her is something I don't intend to repeat."

"Are you telling me this had been developing for over a year?" she asked, clearly surprised.

"Yes. In fact, almost two years. She has been systematically shutting me out of her life."

"Oh ... Andy ... I didn't know. I'm sorry. I wish you'd said something sooner."

"Would it have made a difference?" I asked.

"I don't know. I thought I was close to Carla, but now I'm beginning to wonder."

"Now you're sounding like me. I thought I knew her too."

"Let's stay in touch, Andy. I'll let you know if I learn anything."

"Sure ... that's fine Ruth. Take care," I said, hanging up.

I sat in my office chair, thinking about Ruth's call. I had always liked her and felt I could confide in her. If she was caught unawares by Carla's action, then what did that say about their relationship? And why were her parents upset with her? My recollection of them was that they were reasonably contemporary people and wouldn't view a divorce as unacceptable. They certainly wouldn't be objecting on religious grounds. And their attitude toward me was one of tolerance for the most part. Curious.

I was more than grateful for the project Leo handed me. The target company turned out to be Statewide Converting, a pretentious name for an operation that was barely recognized in the marketplace. Their plant was in Tracy, just off Interstates 5, 580 and 205, a strategically central location. Our team consisted of myself, senior accountant Dave Charles, and Ralph Rubens, our very experienced production manager. Our task was to get inside Statewide and see what it would take to integrate it successfully into Flex-Tek.

For the next three months, I spent almost the whole time commuting weekly to Tracy. I spent a good deal of time out in the marketplace, looking at how we could take advantage of a great location and service our existing and future customer base. Dave, Ralph and I would huddle almost daily to discuss what we knew and what was required to make this acquisition work. I surveyed our clients and potential clients regarding our locating in California without revealing who we were targeting. The Statewide management people kept the acquisition as quiet as possible, but we were sure some of the employees must have known what was going on.