Zero Tolerance

From that day forward I tried to concentrate on nothing but work. Since I was trying to expand the company, I hired four of my former classmates including Marty. Three of them needed to relocate to our area and the company gave them assistance doing that and helping them to fit into our community.

The divorce progressed through the courts and through our lives. Dana fought it with everything she had and as time went on we became more and more adversarial. She tried to force me to go to counseling. I refused and was nearly held in contempt of court. My lawyer quickly decided to leverage her away from the counseling by threatening to uphold the original language of the pre-nup that she had insisted on. That would have meant that instead of the reasonably generous settlement I'd offered, Dana would have walked away with nothing.

Finally, she decided to try a different tactic. She just gave up and signed the papers. She claimed that the animosity I'd begun to show towards her, hurt her. She decided that it was better to walk away friends and try to start over, than to have me end up hating her.

For months after the divorce papers were signed, she called me and tried to get me to meet her or go out with her. I did have dinner with her a couple of times before I had to pull the plug. She misinterpreted my attempt to stay friends with her as the start of our relationship all over again.

She even asked me how many dates it would take before we could have sex. I had to explain to her that part of our relationship was over and that though we might be friends, we'd never be together again.

At first, she didn't take it well. I think she spent a few weeks stalking me. Finally, over the phone, since I wouldn't see her in person, she asked me what I wanted.

"Steve, I thought at first that you didn't want me back because you'd found someone already," she said. "I hate to admit this, but I followed you around and you're not dating anyone."

"No shit," I said. "Been there, done that. I have no intention of taking up with anyone Dana. I was in love once and she hurt me pretty badly."

"I really am sorry Steve," she said. That was the last I heard from her for a while. I guess she just needed to exhaust every possibility of us getting back together before she moved on. About a year after our divorce, I did go to visit her in the hospital. One of her implants had irritated her pectoral muscles to the point that it had to be removed. They took out both implants and left her as flat as a board in the front. From what I hear she isn't adjusting well to the changes.

I didn't go to any reunions until two years after my divorce. As I said before, the school holds a general reunion for all graduates every year and also the year specific reunions as well. I guess those reunions are big money makers. Anyway, I hadn't even dated anyone in over a year and it had been two years since the first reunion and my divorce when Marty and his new wife marched into my office and threw a ticket on my desk.

"Steve, you need to take the weekend off," he said. "You're a nice guy but you're so stressed out and frustrated that you're becoming an asshole." Marty was a very close friend and one of the few who could tell me that.

I smiled at his wife Joanna. She was a chunky woman with glasses but she loved Marty fiercely.

"Does everyone think that Marty?" I asked. "Or is it just you and Joanna?"

"Does it matter?" he asked.

"Well, if it's only you two," I smirked. "I could just fire the two of you and move on. But I can't fire everyone."

He held up the ticket. "You're going," he said. "It's a weekend thing. You won't miss any time from work."

"Where am I going?" I asked. "Is it a baseball game?" I looked at the ticket.

"Oh great," I said. "There's no way I'm going to one of these things again. Do you remember what happened last time I let someone talk me into going to one of these?"

"Yeah," he said smiling. "You hired a lot of great people and doubled your yearly profit."

I did a lot of thinking about it and decided that it wouldn't hurt me to at least get away from work for one weekend. There was also the possibility that maybe I could hire a couple more people.

I didn't get here in time for the ice breaker on Friday or the athletic events this morning which was no big loss because they were back to the sack races and picnic type games. That way they could get more people to participate instead of just watching.

I didn't even bother to buy a new suit. I just wore a suit that I already had. I stepped into the ballroom and looked around. I saw a few people that I knew and waved. I found a table on the fringes and sat down. Marty appeared from nowhere, with Joanna right beside him as usual.

"What took you so long to get here?" he asked. "What happened to you last night and this morning?"

"Well, mother, I figured there was no rush," I said.

"Come on we're sitting over here," said Joanna excitedly.

We sat down at a table that was halfway across the room from where we'd been sitting. I really didn't understand what difference it made where we sat.

Marty and Joanna got up to go and dance and someone tapped me on the shoulder. "You're sitting in my seat," she said. "Now you have to dance with me."

"I don't dance," I said. "I haven't danced in a couple of years."

Marian came around and sat down across from me. "You could have danced with me here last year," she said.

"Mo had no reason to let you dance with me last year," I told her. "He had nothing to gain and I had nothing to lose. By this time last year my divorce was final."

"So in other words, we wasted a whole year," she said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Stevie, the last time I saw you was the last time I spoke to Maurice as well. You may not know it, but I did listen to the things you said. I heard every word you said about how he was using me and how special I was. It made me realize that no matter what he said to my face, Maurice didn't love me. He couldn't have if he was cheating on me. And your wife wasn't the first time he'd done that. There was also the fact that he was willing to pimp me out to have sex with another man to get him something he wanted. I filed for a divorce from him the next day."

"Good for you," I said.

"I came to the reunion last year looking for you," she said.

"For the past two years, I've been thinking about one thing constantly," she said.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Whether you're a liar, like Mo was," she said. "You told me I was special. You told a lot of people that I was your dream woman. I need to know if that's true."

"It is," I said quietly.

"I kind of need proof," She said.

"How can I prove that?" I asked.

"Well, it'll take you fifty years or so," she said, slipping her hand into mine. "And we can start with a dance."

So there I was, back at the question I asked when I started this story. Did I take her hand and give her a dance and with it the possibility of the future I'd always dreamed of? Or did I take the safe way out and continue to wallow in self-pity and regrets?

Really...what do you think? Marian and I have a whole house full of little red headed girls now who are someday going to drive another generation of boys wild. I hope that our kids are smart enough to look beyond the surface of the people they love and find someone who really loves them as much as I love their mom. But that will be their choice. All I know is that I'm happy with mine. Though the road that brought us here wasn't the straightest, we're both overjoyed with the final destination.