Chapter 7

Joe arrived at work ten minutes early. Charlene always kept track of Joe when he arrived. His early arrival surprised her. He was usually a little late.

Charlene watched him walk across the large room after leaving the elevator. She saw him through several glass partitions as he approached. She loved the way he looked as he walked toward his office. He seemed to have an air of authority. Suzan might disagree, but Charlene saw it as clear as day.

Charlene often placed a cup of coffee on Joe’s desk just before he entered his office. “Thanks Charlene,” and a smile was his usual reply to that gesture, even on his worst mornings. He managed his staff with ease, confidence and kindness. Charlene saw these as great qualities while Suzan might have seen them as weakness.

He waved for her to follow him into his office this morning across the large open lobby and past the front desk where Sandra sat. Sandra was a much older woman and nearly ready to retire. She had been here long before Joe. She had worked for Joe’s predecessor. It had taken some time for her to warm up to Joe. Now she was on “team Joe.”

He waved again for Charlene to follow him past Sandra and into his office. They walked past Sandra who shot an unwelcome glance at Charleen as they passed by. Sandra had been watching their relationship become closer and it worried her for some reason that she couldn’t quite pin down. “None of my business,” was all that she had been thinking to herself for the last few months or so.

Earlier in the morning Joe had gone to his ten o:clock meeting and discussed the details for a coming book release with a team working on a particular book. The meeting went smoothly and was over by ten forty-five. He caught himself looking out the window at the people walking past the building down below him. He tried to size up their lives and compared them to his. How did they manage to live their lives of repetition and smallness. They seemed even more insignificant than he, from his vantage point high above them on the tenth floor of his twenty story building.

He wanted more out of his life but had no idea how to get there at this point. Suzan had been a big part of that driving force that had kept him going in that direction. He didn’t have that anymore.

His mind wandered back to the fight a few nights before with Suzan. He felt that he had done well despite what Suzan had said a few nights before. Suzan had obviously thought otherwise. Unknown to Joe, Suzan had been dating several men over the last few months. She had been a little distant but Joe thought it was just from the planning of their wedding and the stress that comes with that process. He was wrong. She had already decided on one fellow and they were now dating regularly when she called off the engagement. Joe was surprised, shocked and hurt when Suzan told him it was over.

He had plans as well and Suzan had been a big part of those plans. They were good plans with a solid, well thought out approach. Suzan didn’t seem to be buying it however, and walked out on him. They did argue about their future now and then but Joe hadn’t seen what was coming at him like a runaway train. He came home with Suzan on that final night, a little drunk, fought, fell asleep and then woke up to a half empty closet.

She hadn’t lived there full timI but she might as well have. She had moved in much of her wardrobe and her other bits and necessities. She spent a few nights a week there but had kept her own place, “just in case.” That had worked out well when she went all in with Chad Cooper. It was as easy as stealing candy from a baby. Joe had little idea of what was coming and Chad now had what he thought he wanted, Suzan. It all worked perfectly for Suzan.

Two dinners out on the town a third date night at the movies and then back to her place to seal the deal. It was a fun and interesting sexual adventure. Not as great as some, but better than most she had experienced in her limited dating life. After that night, the deal had been consummated in more ways than one.

Chad was single, upwardly mobile and had a drive that Joe seemed to be lacking. Suzan had made her decision. When she told Joe that she was leaving that final night, she already had Chad on his leash. What girl wouldn’t have a soft place to fall when ending one relationship to start another? Only a foolish one, and Suzan wasn’t foolish.

When Suzan had left and told Joe what was up, he wasn’t in any state of mind to really comprehend what she had said. He was too drunk to understand. In the morning when Joe understood what all this had meant, his life instantly crumbled.

It had crumbled that morning even before the conciliatory phone call from a mutual female friend of Joe and Suzan named Marsha. She had called the office that morning to find Joe not at work. She called him at home and talked with him.

“Hello Marsha, what’s up?” Joe had vowed to keep his mouth shut as far as the details of his breakup with Suzan. Marsha had been a friend of Suzan’s and then his as the years passed. “Hey Joe, how are you doing? I heard what happened between you and Suzan.” “I’m fine Marsha. What’s on your mind?” “I just called to say how sorry I am.” This good friend, then told Joe a little of what she had heard and known about what Suzan had been up over the last few months.

Joe wondered why Suzan would do such a thing and why no one had told him earlier. “I didn’t have a clue Marsha. I thought we were happy and doing great.” “Well Joe, the boyfriend is always the last to find out, obviously.”

“I just can’t believe it Marsha, but it is the new reality for me I guess. I never saw that side of her, of course.” “We all have that side Joe. It’s called self preservation. I’m just calling to make sure your going to get through this.” “What choice do I have?” That’s the right attitude Joe. Call me anytime you need someone to talk to.” “Thanks Marsha, I will.”

Joe couldn’t help himself and called Janice Smith, another one of Suzan’s closet friends to try and see what he might find out. “Was Marsha telling the truth?” He found Janice’s number on his phone and called her. Joe hoped that she would give him some information on what Suzan had been up to for the last few months while they had been planning their honeymoon.

This situation was just to hard for him to fathom at the moment. He needed confirmation of some kind. He thought Marsha might have had a crush on him and was making some sort of personal overture to him. Part of him hoped Marsha had been lying.

Janice was a hard nut to crack. They had known each other as long as Joe had known Suzan, but they were never very close. Joe tried to get to know her but she kept her distance in their three way relationship. He hoped to get her tell him more of what she knew now that the relationship between Suzan and he was over. He called her right after hanging up on Marsha.

Janice knew plenty and was eager to share. She never liked Joe but kept that to herself for her friend. Now she didn’t hold anything back. She told Joe about all the men Suzan had been dating recently. It made him sick to his stomach. She told him about the men she had been seeing in those last months that they were together. She told Joe that Suzan had started looking for that Mr. Right again after realizing that Joe wasn’t what she had thought he was. “Then who’s the jerk and liar in our relationship Janice?” Joe said half trying to redeem himself in her eyes for some reason he didn’t understand. She was silent for a moment. Then she spoke. “A girl has to do what a girl has to do Joe,” was all that she said. Joe couldn’t believe the whole awful story as it was laid out to him. Then the phone went dead.

After the phone calls, Joe felt like a fool. Joe was left feeling like he deserved some type of revenge on Suzan. She had changed the course of his life, after all. And not in a good way as far as he could tell at the moment. He had seen a long and wonderful life with Suzan and now that was all gone. Now, sadly, he knew who she really was. He couldn’t believe what she had done. How could they not see those failings in each other if they were there. “Was he a lout and as lazy as she had expressed to him more than once?” Perhaps. Why didn’t he see that she was a liar and a cheat? Maybe she didn’t start out in the relationship like that. But sadly he saw her as that now. There was no going back to the way it was even if she had wanted to, and she didn’t.

Joe felt that he had been working in the right direction in becoming more reliable and ridding himself of some of the faults that Suzan had been so eager to point out. He had at least tried. He only knew that at some point Suzan would have to pay for her cruelty and her decisions.

After the ten o’clock meeting, Joe talked to his boss about his vacation and his new slant on it. Mr. Crowley had no objections. If Joe wanted to try and write an article or something else for him on his trip, that was a win, win for him. Perhaps something good might come out of this time away from the office for Joe. If he were kept busy, his mind wouldn’t have the inclination or time wander back to his loss of Suzan. It was a step in the right direction,” or so his boss thought.”

“You know Joe, perhaps this trip will get those creative juices flowing again, like in the good old days.” Joe didn’t know what to think about his boss’s statement. Mr. Crowley was glad Joe was still leaving on his former honeymoon and now vacation of sorts. How good a vacation could it be with a broken heart and soul,” Mr. Crowley wondered. His boss wanted all of the sick and over time off the books before the end of the year even if Joe’s marriage was now off.

Joe walked out of his boss’s office and had seen Charlene sitting at her desk. He gave her “the look” and she got up and came his way.

Charlene followed close behind Joe as he walked. She watched him as he settled in behind his desk and waited to be asked to sit. They had both been busy this morning with deadlines and editors and the usual work that crossed over their desks. Charlene’s work was different from Joe’s, but they all worked as a team.

Joe pulled another chair over to his desk and asked Charlene to sit. He looked up from a paper on his desk and smiled at her. She smiled back.

“I’m going on this trip as a single person now. There are at least three spots still open on the trip as of last night. You may come along as a single and at your own expense, if you wish.” “I understand sir. We aren’t a couple. I know that sir.” “We won”t be in the same tent.” I understand that sir.” Charlene added in her inner dialogue, however, “that’s up to you Joe. I’m flexible on the sleeping arrangements.”

Charlene smiled again as she pondered that thought. She and Joe in the same bed?” “Well, as long as we are clear on the guide lines, I guess we are all set then Charlene, welcome aboard. Go make what ever calls you need to get this all settled. I’m on it sir.” “This might just turn out to be fun, Charlene.” “Yes sir, that is a possibility. I’m really excited. I’ve always wanted to travel.”

Charlene called the travel agency when she got back her desk. She replaced Suzan’s name on all of the arrangements with hers. Suzan hadn’t cancelled her reservation yet. The woman on the phone was very surprised but helpful. Joe had lost his marriage but now had another woman traveling with him. This was the same woman Joe had talked to yesterday about his trip. “He’s a fast worker,” she thought.

Joe didn’t know that he and Charlene would be in the same tent. “Do you need any changes in the accommodations?” “No, a kingsized bed will still be perfect.” “Your all set the. Have a great trip.” “Thanks, I know I will.”

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Charlene, Charlene, Charlene, you are a rascal.

Well, I know you are all very busy with the holidays. I wish you all well and good tidings.

I will continue to work on this so as to keep ahead of you.

I think I like Charlene.