Chapter 1

Being out of work gave mixed emotions to Craig Jacobs. The bank that Craig worked for had been bought by a larger bank and they didn’t need two heads of the mortgage department. Craig was offered a lesser position but it was at the larger bank’s headquarters which was just outside of Detroit, MI. If he wanted this position he had to leave his Naperville, IL condominium and relocate to Michigan. The decision was a no-brainer as far as he was concerned. He turned the job offer down and accepted the buyout package that was offered.

Craig had started work at the bank right after graduating from college. His Aunt Ruth, his mother’s older sister was married to the bank president. Besides listing her as a reference on his application for employment he suspected that she made a phone call to the bank which assured they would make him an employment offer.

Craig had rapidly progressed to where he was made head of the mortgage department in only two years. While he was young for that position and his promotion generated some comments about nepotism, he was able to display that he was an effective manager in a short time. There were a number of things that he did in his career that reflected his strong management ability. If he had to pick one thing he thought was the highlight of his career, it would be not giving in to the pressure the Federal Government exerted to approve mortgages to unqualified applicants. He did however approve some mortgages where the applicants could only put ten percent down on the home they were purchasing. He did that only because the applicants showed that they could generate sufficient income to handle the monthly payments.

Craig’s Aunt Ruth who was a widow had passed away three years ago. She didn’t have any children and while she did make some small charitable bequests, the bulk of her estate was willed to Craig. She was his godmother and the son she never had. The shares of stock in the bank she willed to Craig made him the bank’s largest individual stockholder but he didn’t exercise the power that those shares gave him. Couple that with the shares he had accumulated through exercising stock options and purchasing other shares with his bonus money made him a wealthy individual. This wealth further increased when the buyout offer by the large bank became known which caused the share price of the stock to almost double.

He was content to be the head of the mortgage department and was not interested in being the bank’s president. To him it was a turn off to have the headaches and play the politics that came with that position. Craig had also voted in favor of the buyout because of the rise in the share price which benefited all the shareholders and not just him. His yes vote effectively put him out of a job. Deciding what he wanted to do now that he didn’t have a job had been on his mind for the past two weeks.

The economy was in such bad shape that most banks were reducing instead of increasing staff. He could probably find employment but it wouldn’t be anywhere near what he had enjoyed doing which made that avenue unappealing and something he wouldn’t do. Travel or relocating to a warmer climate were two things he was considering but he hadn’t yet decided on what to do. He did know that his winters wouldn’t be spent in Naperville, IL, but whether they were going to be spent in Arizona or Florida was something he hadn’t yet decided on.

Craig was single and probably a confirmed bachelor at this stage in his life. At fifty three years of age he hadn’t yet found a woman he wanted to marry and was starting to doubt that he ever would. He was fairly good looking with a six foot-two inch frame carrying his two hundred pounds. Normally he didn’t have much of a problem in finding women to date. Should the woman Craig was dating start to talk or give hints that the arrangement or relationship he had with her should become permanent, because he didn’t have serious feelings for her this was an instant turnoff for him. While Craig didn’t immediately stop dating these women, he reduced the frequency of the dates until he no longer dated them.

After finishing his second cup of coffee this morning, Craig thought it was time to do some chores. He would normally do his laundry after he came home from work or on a Saturday or Sunday but he could now do it on a weekday and the first thing in the morning. He gathered the items he wanted to wash and walked down the hall to the laundry room.

He saw that it was already occupied when he opened the door and he was looking at the very nice backside encased in tight slacks of his across the hall neighbor Lori. She was standing by the washing machine.

“Excuse me, I didn’t know the room was occupied. I’ll come back later.”

“No reason for you to leave. I’m done with the washer and the items I’m putting in the dryer will be done about the same time as your wash.”

Craig thanked her, loaded up and started the washing machine. He then went back to his unit.

He had another cup of coffee and thought about Lori. Craig had only been living in this condo for about a year. He had never spoken to Lori in depth, just saying “Hello” or “Good evening” when he saw her. That isn’t to say he didn’t know anything about her. He guessed she was around his age, somewhere around five foot-seven inches tall, and about one hundred and thirty five pounds or so. Besides having a nice backside, her strongest physical assets and there were two of them, were her breasts. They had to be thirty eight double D’s.

Stan Huntley was Craig’s next door neighbor. He knew everything about everybody in their building. Stan said that Lori was married to John, her third husband who was considerably older than her. According to Stan, Lori had a few live-in boyfriends she before married John. It was said that Lori liked and wanted male companionship. Stan further related that Lori has been married to John for about a year and half. John had a heart attack which resulted in bypass surgery six months after they were married. He seemed to have recovered well from the surgery.

Craig was aware that Lori was an attractive woman and per Stan spent her winters in Florida. He thought that she could be a good source of information about the pros and cons of wintering in Florida.

He heard Lori’s door close and looking at his watch saw that it was a half hour since he started the washer. With that time passing he thought his wash should be done.

He saw Lori bent over, taking items out of the dryer when he entered the laundry room. ‘She has a nice ass’ was the thought that ran through his mind. She turned and smiled at him.

Craig asked her how John was doing as he was taking items out of the washer.

“He’s doing well for the most part. He’s back in Boston right now overseeing some repairs to an apartment building he owns that was damaged by a small fire. He is going to list the building for sale once the repairs are done. He’s due to come back here Saturday evening.”

“What do you do when he is away?”

“I have some girlfriends in other buildings who take up my time during the day but the evenings are a little boring. There isn’t much on television that I care to watch in the evening.”

“I couldn’t agree with you more. I find the evenings to be a little boring as well. I was wondering off the top of my head if you might like to go out to dinner with me this evening. Someone told me that you spend your winters in Florida and that’s something I am considering doing. Dinner would give me the opportunity to pick your brain and ask you questions about wintering there. I am debating between Florida and Arizona, and haven’t decided where I want to winter at.

“Sure, there are two more days before John gets back, so why not.”

“Is six o’clock okay?”

“Fine with me.”

Back in his condo, Craig wasn’t sure what possessed him to ask Lori to go out to dinner but she was an attractive lady. He thought that besides getting her take on Florida he would also be getting to know her which should be interesting. She could have refused his invitation since she was married but she didn’t which gave him more to wonder about.

He pressed her doorbell button at six sharp and she opened the door ready to go. There was no one in the hallway to see them as they walked to the elevator. He thought she looked good in the high heels, tan slacks, and the green satin blouse she was wearing. She did have a sweater over her shoulders in case the temperature in the restaurant was too cool.

They entered the elevator and pressed the down button. The elevator made one stop at the next floor and Marie Collins walked in. Marie was the Condominium Board’s Secretary. Just like Stan, Marie knew everything about everybody.

Craig smiled and nodded at Marie.

Marie’s attention was on Lori however because she asked her, “Going out?”

Lori was a quick thinker as she responded, “Yes, Bill and Hillary Nixon who live in Burr Ridge have invited me to go out to dinner with them. I think they want to show me pictures of the recent cruise they took through the Panama Canal. Where are you going?”

“It’s duplicate bridge night at the clubhouse and I’m in charge of this week’s session. I need to get the room and tables ready.”

All three of them exited the elevator when it stopped at the first floor. Marie and Lori continued to talk while Craig left the building. Without Marie seeing him he signaled Lori the direction in the parking lot he was heading.

Craig was sitting in his car for five minutes before he saw Lori heading in his direction. He exited the vehicle in order for her to see where he was.

Once she was in his car Lori said, “That Marie is a nice lady but she just wants to talk and talk. If she knew you were taking me out to dinner everyone in the building would know about it in a short time. There’s nothing wrong in us going out to dinner but I just as soon keep it to ourselves.”

“I thought the names of Bill and Hillary Nixon went over well. You were pretty slick with that response”

“Those were the first names that came to mind.”

“You could have said George and Barbara, or George and Laura, but I think you would have gone over the line with Barack and Michelle, or Ike and Mamie.”

Lori just laughed at his comment. She had a pleasant laugh.

Craig drove over to a restaurant that was located in the next suburb. It should be far enough away from the condo and its residents for them to dine unnoticed.

Dinner with Lori was quite nice. Besides her good looks she was quite knowledgeable on a number of topics. Maybe it was the two martinis she had before their meal that loosened her tongue, but Craig enjoyed hearing her talk.

He asked her about her life which she responded, “Well let’s see, I was born and raised in the area here. I did go to Texas for college where I met Richard my first husband. We were married right after graduation and both of us went to work for a startup computer company in Austin. Dick was into computer leasing and I was with inside sales. Things were tough for this company and they couldn’t meet the full payroll at times. They compensated by giving us generous stock options instead of our full paycheck. Dick and I believed in the company’s future and it turned out that we were right. The company took off and the shares we had doubled, then tripled, and split three times. We knew better than to keep all our eggs in one basket as they say, so we sold most our shares to diversify. While we didn’t sell at the top, we were close to it.”

“That was the good news. The bad news was that I came home one evening and found Dick slumped on the floor. We had been married for sixteen years. An ambulance took him to the hospital where he was diagnosed as having an inner-cranial aneurysm. There was nothing that could be done and he passed away two days later. Now that Dick was gone I moved back here to be closer to my parents.”

“I met Ray Barnes at a high school reunion a few years later. He was our class president and had become a very successful lawyer specializing in class action lawsuits. We started dating and one thing led to another and he asked me to marry him which I accepted. Besides being a successful lawyer, he was very good in making real estate investments. As an example, he bought some farm land that the State later wanted when they were extending their toll road system.”

“He became aware of a new condominium that was going to be built in Sarasota, Florida. He put money down on four units before the first shovel of dirt was turned. He sold two of the units for a nice profit just before the occupancy permits were issued. He rented one of the remaining units out and wintered in the other. He sold the rental unit for a considerable profit four years later and used that money to pay off the mortgage on his unit. After everything was said and done, the unit that we wintered in cost him practically nothing and has greatly appreciated in value. That’s where I presently winter. The pressure of the court room unfortunately took its toll and Ray died from a massive heart attack.”

“After Ray’s death and while down in Florida, I met John who was a resident and a widower in my building. John is a retired veterinarian from the Boston area. We started dating and he asked me to marry him. He treated me quite well, so I accepted his proposal. We have been married about a year and a half now.”

“Any kids?”

“The only children from any of my three marriages are John’s. He has a son and a daughter both of whom are doctors.”

“How do you get along with them?”

“Funny you should ask, the relationship I have with them it is rather cool. I know I will not replace their mother and while they seem to be happy that John has remarried, I get the impression they think I am something of a gold-digger. They don’t know that I am considerably wealthier than John but I haven’t told them that. As far as I am concerned that isn’t any of their business. Now all this talk has been about me, please tell me about you.”

Craig told her about his life, the bank, the merger, his early buyout and now his turmoil on deciding what he wanted to do.

He could see that Lori was interested but curious when he mentioned that he was single and had never been married.

He thought he should immediately eliminate any possible concern she may have and said, “That I’m not nor have I ever been married doesn’t mean I don’t like women. I do, believe me I do. It just that I haven’t found the right woman and I may never will but that doesn’t mean I’m not looking. Let me unequivocally say that I like women and all that they are and I only want men as friends, not as lovers.”

That remark caused Lori to giggle and maybe to become slightly relieved that Craig confirmed his preference for women.

This was a very nice evening but the meal was over all too soon and it was time to head back to the condo.

Craig asked Lori to tell him about Sarasota on the drive back. She talked about the weather and the many activities that were there, such as theater, golf, polo, fishing, the beach, and a number of other activities that were available to do there.

Craig was also thinking about her while listening to her. There was no question that she had a nice figure and a prominent rack. Based on what she said about her life he thought she was maybe a few years older than him, but you couldn’t tell that by looking at her. She looked younger than him. Her face didn’t have a wrinkle on it. She either had great makeup or had a face lift. She was one good looking woman and he wondered how she would be in bed. He thought and would bet that she would be a tigress in bed.