Sam and Janice Fly to Heaven

Sam Lake had a smile on his whole head and grabbed her for a goodbye kiss. He said, "Hallelujah! I will relocate to Singapore not later than one year from today. Once I am there, I am thinking of my major supply chain operations shipping via Container Freight. I know who your first customer as a consultant is, since I saw the operation you created in Vancouver."

This provoked first a smile and then tears of happiness from Janice as the security agent called out, "Next!"

——————

Susan Lake's father, Jerry Wilkins, knocked on the Hyatt Arlington suite door and the daughter welcomed him in, suppressing her tears of both happiness and sadness. After their initial hugs, Jerry said, "Oh Pumpkin, I have wanted to spend some time with you for so long and here it is. I am sorry that it's under these circumstances but spending time with you is good therapy for me." The father and daughter spent half an hour catching up on family affairs - and he showed her a society page newspaper clipping photo of Susan's mother.

She smiled and said, "Any idea if she is still the whore she was when you were together? Don't answer that, Dad."

There was a moment of silence while the man grimaced from pain he still felt about his failed marriage. But Susan continued, "To change the subject, Dad, once again fate has taught me to enjoy life while living, and I remind myself that I have hated every minute of my life in a job I wasn't qualified to do while married to man whom I never loved. And, I did all that to make the big bucks and have the 'finer things' so that I could be the envy of my peers. Daddy, on the long train ride down here I concluded that I squandered 16 years of my life."

Her Dad asked, "So have you figured out what you are going to do about your divorce petition and, indeed, your future?"

She said, "I am 95 percent certain but I want you to read the petition and then let me tell you my plan. If you think of something I haven't then I might not be so certain."

Her father sat down and read the 8 sheets of paper and looked at his daughter. He asked, "So what is your plan?"

She said, "Either, add another 100K to the lump sum payment and sign off on the other items as they are, or sign off as is if he will change the reason for our divorce to 'Incompatibility.'"

He replied, "Susan, you just might find someone to love - deeply, madly, and exclusively - in the future if you focus your mind on living. If the future man is a think-ahead type, marrying a documented slut will not be an option for him - no matter his feelings. Sam was so focused on his research he never bothered to look at your past when you two met in college - e.g., You never told him about the two abortions you had before you even met him."

She said, "Don't remind me, Dad, but I should have told him of my past when we met but we were caught up in the moment and enjoyed the sex and other excitement, and that is all we had. Sad, isn't it now that I am looking back?"

He replied, "Yes it is but you can have a successful future. You can make the money back and still live with yourself if you take your second option. Beside, I have always known something was wrong with your marriage and sided with Sam when you two had a tiff - I am on his side, Pumpkin, because he has it together and you do not! But, the new job and independence is your opportunity to learn to pull yourself together."

Susan said, "I have made a decision, Daddy. Give me a moment." She found Sam's divorce attorney, Patty Epstein, on the documents and called the law firm and asked for her. The famed attorney grimaced when the receptionist announced the caller and had a vision of 5 digit$ worth of billable hours flying away like a bird, and then heard her caller identify herself saying, "Ms Epstein, I am Susan Lake, Sam Lake's soon to be ex-wife."

"Yes. What can I do for you?"

"I would like to accept the property division of this divorce petition as is if the reason for the divorce will change to 'incompatibility.' Please contact Sam and ask if he will approve that then re-write the documents and I will come by your office and sign next Monday."

Patty Epstein said, disappointedly, "I will present this to Sam and if he approves I will text you when to come by and sign the documents. Is that O.K.?"

"Yes. Thank you. Have a good day." Click.

Her father grabbed Susan and danced her around the suite. He asked, "Can we forget all about divorce and pain and loneliness and enjoy a week of aircraft and space ships and sculptures, and paintings, and wild life." He stopped and looked at her and said, "I am thirty years late daughter, but I am confident you have a future proper to someone as smart as you."

———-

In Singapore, Sam showed Janice's condo address to the taxi driver and they drove through the late night traffic. It was heavy even then. They approached the downtown area and turned into a visitor area of a high rise building. Sam exited the cab and looked at the world famous three towers Sands Hotel and Casino that he admired the architecture so much.

He then paid and said to the cabbie, "I will return to get my luggage in just a moment. Please wait while I make sure I am expected." At the doorman's security desk Sam spoke the name of Janice's contact here and said, "I am Sam Lake and you should have a note from him welcoming me. Will you check?"

The night clerk looked though some notes and suddenly his face lit up. He said, "Yes. Mr. Lake. Welcome to King George House. Allow us to get your luggage and deliver it to Ms Janice Chang's suite."

When Sam entered the luxury apartment, a very young Janice Chang and an old man were the subjects of a giant professional portrait on the wall. Sam remarked to himself, "She was even more beautiful as a teenager." To the right of the portrait there was a blown up, framed snapshot of two traditionally dressed field workers behind two children. The younger was a prepubescent girl that was obviously Janice and the adults must have been her parents. Sam was mesmerized and stood staring at the snapshot until there was a knock on the door.

After the luggage was delivered, Sam opened a canned drink he found while a Chinese food he could not identify frozen TV dinner was placed in the microwave. While it cooked he sipped his drink and alternately gazed out Janice's 50th floor window at the three towers of the Sands Hotel and Casino while alternately moving his eyes back to the portrait and the snapshot that was on the adjacent wall. Then, for the first time the thought of 16 years of wasting his life with Susan attacked his mind. His final comment to himself as the microwave beeped and he raised his drink can as an imaginary 'toast,' was "For someone whose IQ can not be compared to others who have taken the same test, Doctor Lake, you do some stupid things - and marrying Susan was the most extreme. But, Dear Susan, whomever you are under tonight, I do hope you land on your feet now that the party with me is over."

The next morning after a leisure breakfast at an "American' cafe, Sam walked up to the receptionist of his Electronics Supply firm, unrecognized by her at first. He could not help but smile as he waited for her to get off the phone and counted 40 front office desks in the huge open space. Each desk had an employee on the headset phone and watching the monitor at the same time. There must have been 30 low level phone calls going on. The receptionist looked up at him and asked, "How may I help you, Sir?"

Sam gave her a business card and asked, "Would you announce me to Mister Arnu, he is expecting me."

She smiled broadly and said, "Welcome to Equatorial Supply Company, Mister Lake. Sorry I didn't recognize you."

Arnu was a 50 something rolly-poly five footer who lost all his hair in his youth. Almost always smiling while displaying a fortune in gold in his teeth, he had fought his way to wealth and prosperity as a deal maker, one deal at a time time. Widely known in the Asian Tiger countries because he was fluent in 5 languages and traveled there often, he negotiated with both buyers and sellers.

Arun walked up to Sam and pumped his hand, "Welcome Mr. Lake. I hope you are enjoying Singapore. You picked a good day to come, as five supply chain containers are in the process of being lifted onto trailers to be pulled by trucks to the Container Port. These represent three major orders destined for three companies in Shanghai. Would you like to walk out to the shipping area?"

"Hello to you to, Mr. Arnu, I would love to see a major operation like a shipment of 5 containers."

When Arnu and Sam arrived at the shipping area, a container was being loaded onto a rig being pulled by a truck, and 3 more empty trucks were lined up awaiting a container. Arnu said, "The five containers are destined for 3 companies, Mr. Lake and business is good."

Sam said, "I can tell, Mister Arnu, but I want to talk about future business and expansion and get your input - as for whatever you are doing, keep doing it as this place looks like a beehive and I am earning a good ROI on my investment."

The gold in Arnu's teeth glistened as he smiled big and said, "Thanks, Mr. Lake."

In Arnu's office later with the door closed Sam said, "I will be relocating here just about the time your five year contract to manage Equatorial expires - a little over a year from now. At that time I intend to grow the business to expand into machine tools and agricultural equipment perhaps since commercial farms are now very big business world wide and we would have no competition. Should we try to buy the building next door - things look dead over there - or should we try to buy a going operation with a Shipping Container operation already in place?"

Arn smiled and said, "You think big and that is what I like about you. So, what can I do to help?"

Sam said, "I want you to gradually move this operation over to the assistant manager you now leave in charge while traveling and conduct an investigation as to the best way for us to expand. I would add this much to your salary and this much for expenses to your payment package plus this much for an an administrative assistant as payment for the extra work. You would need to give me a detailed bi-weekly accounting of ideas, and what you have looked at and what looks promising, that go along with the expenses incurred, " as he showed a piece of paper with three amounts on the sheet.

Arnu said, "To be honest, a competitor of yours has made me an offer to manage their operation when my contract here is up thirteen months from now. His financing is shaky and I won't take his offer, but the first thing I will look into is buying his commercial appliance replacement parts company. Yes, Mr. Lake, I would enjoy being your scout while Equatorial continues to be a, what did you say?"

Sam said, "A beehive."

After a day of conferring with Arnu and two assistants Sam took a taxi back to Janice's Condo. He was not in the mood to eat Asian food again and he needed a walk for exercise. So Sam enjoyed a steak dinner at an 'American Food' upscale restaurant and felt charged up again.

Walking home, his cell phone beeped and it was Patty Epstein, his divorce attorney. He answered, "Sam Lake."

She said, "Sam, your wife called me directly, Mr. Lake. She said she will accept the property disposition you spelled out as well as the lump sum payment if you will change the reason for the petition to, 'Incompatibility.'"

Sam thought for a minute and asked, "That seems awfully generous on her part but she would be in a perfect position to squander some other man's life. So be it. Write it up and I will return to Boston in 4 days and I will sign." They chatted a few moments and hung up.

For the next two days Sam bought some precious metals for storage in a private vault where FACTA reporting to the U.S. IRS was not practiced. At the same time Arnu created a record for the phantom contracting of a Container Crane Assembly major overhaul by a reputable firm to account for the huge 'expenditure' on the books that offset his investments. He also met with the local HSBC bank account manager and increased his line of credit. Having finished his work he then became a 'tourist' and enjoyed having a drink with some Australian and British expatriates along with one American he had met at a bar. Sam was all ears as the American explained how he had become a Singapore citizen.

Sam's flight back to the Boston was long and tiring but uneventful. The genius could not get his mind off of Janice Chang as the mileage distance between them increased and the emotional distance shrunk. He asked himself more than once, "Will we two still be madly in love after a year of mostly separation?" He sat by an American who wanted to talk politics - a subject that utterly bored Sam.

—————-

The physicist had spent Monday in the office trying to work through issues going on in the plant in his absence and wound up taking several folders home to work there. He met the caterer at his front door and he took one of the catered dinners that he and Susan had had been contracting for regular delivery, so that they would eat healthily. He wasn't quite sure what he would do with the other one. His question was answered because there stood Susan in the kitchen. He said, "Greetings Susan, have you had dinner?"

She smiled very relaxed and said, "No. I wondered what I would fix myself - my train from Washington arrived about 3:00 p.m. - so you just solved my problem," as she took the hot food container offered from his other hand.

Sam said, "Susan, thank you for signing the petition in a business like manner. Also thank you for the support you did give me growing the business. How is Mister Wilkins - did you two enjoy the Washington sights as you said you were going to do in your voice mail?"

"Yes. We walked for miles and he thinks I am a scatter brain because of my Mom's influence. But, Dad looks good but still misses my mother after 19 years. The museums on the Mall were a nice break for both of us. Thanks for asking about him."

Susan had so much to say but couldn't think of any words that would be appropriate as they ate their dinners together in silence. Sam was idly thumbing through a quality control report of rejection of a batch of parts, occasionally writing a note in the margin. In time Susan said, "I am going to make a cup of coffee and put some kahlua in it, may I make you a cup, Sam?"

"Yes, Susan. Please do and thank you for asking."

After she served him his coffee she picked hers up and took it to the guest bedroom, where she had installed herself. Sam never saw her again after their casual, 'Goodnight.'

———-

The next day Dr. Lake went to lunch with his close, personal friend and corporate attorney, Mike. He was greeted, "Hello, Sam. The world traveler returns. Welcome. You look pretty good - how do you feel?"

Sam said, "Well, the deed is done. I now work for a living - I earn a salary plus a bonus based on the plant's profitability at least for a year. Have the new owners contacted you?"

Mike said, "No. But their Seattle law firm has signed an agreement for us to do contract work for them on a billable hourly rate that is reasonable. Right now the only thing that is happening at your former plant are two routine Workmen's Comp cases. Ohh. Thank you for paying your last statement promptly."

Sam said, "Think nothing of it. But, Mike, you didn't invite me to lunch to talk shop, what is on your mind?"

Mike said, "Well, your soon to be ex-wife came into our Attorneys Office suite at the same time I did yesterday morning early. She was waiting to see your divorce attorney, Patty Epstein, who had not arrived yet, and we visited because the receptionist had not arrived either. After greetings and chatting a moment she said, 'I am not contesting Sam's divorce petition and am here to sign it.' That shocked me, Sam, as Epstein was looking to bill Dozens of hours on your case."

"It pleasantly shocked me too, Mike. My terms were fair but I expected the gold-digging side of her personality to take over but it did not, because our divorce is a 'done-deed' now. Was she still beautiful to you, Mike? I know you have had the 'hots' for her many years and can barely keep your hands to yourself when you came to our house, but you just aren't her type - because she did make herself available to two other men that I know about."

"Sam, she looks better now than she ever has looked. I felt flattered that she actually let me get her some coffee and chat for a half hour. She told me she has taken a new position with her company in Providence and is excited about that but gave no details. In fact she is apartment hunting in Providence this evening and has setup a couple of evening appointments. So I will leave early and she will pick me up at the office so I will accompany her. Do you have any problem with that - Best Friend?"

"Not a one, Mike. The only problem I have ever had with her is that she is wrong and a mismatch for me - we are simply incompatible. Hell, magic just might happen between you two. But, good friend, just like in business it's 'Buyer be Aware' and don't evaluate her with the wrong body-part the way I did her senior year in college."

Mike chuckled and replied, "Yeah. I well know that and I just didn't want to lose your friendship by dating her."

They chatted for a few more minutes and said goodbye."

———

It was three months later. The plant had continue to increase sales of panels even as more manufacturers came on line and had reverse engineered Sam's brain child. But, roof top panels had become become a status symbol so many were buying them. Sam and Janice had regularly video chatted on FaceTime, mostly getting good connections. Susan had relocated and their showplace home had been sold, and now Sam lived in a Providence apartment. When he answered Janice Chang's call this evening Sam saw that she was in a somber mood.

She said, "My husband's brothers had the life support tubes pulled and he has passed away. After the ceremony, we five sat down to discuss their buying his estate from me."

Sam asked, "Darling, is that rather ghoulish of your brothers when his ashes are not cold yet?"

"No, lover, he had been unaware for almost a year and he recognized no one. This was something that had to be done. The ghoulish part was that they kept kept him on life support mainly because they didn't want me, a woman, as an equal in their group. But they then offered me a generous cash price for his assets in Swiss Francs but payable in three equal amounts over three years - and I might take it. By the way I did exclude the Singapore Condo where we will live, but I will be working for them for an unspecified length of time. My attorney is studying their formal proposal now and I will let you know what I decide."

Sam said, "Thanks for telling me and I hope the transition for you goes well. My assistant manager continues to surprise me and I am sure your brothers-in-law will like him - he is a U.S. citizen born into a once Viet Namese refugee family."

The two spent another half hour talking personal matters and ended when Sam said, "I love you, too, Janice and think of you constantly."

It was six months later and Janice had to fly to a plant of theirs in Idaho to fire and replace the manager there. Sam took that opportunity to take a few days off to go 'fishing in the wild in Idaho,' so he reported to his assistant manager, Butch Ngo. He was waiting for Janice Chang at the Boise airport when his cell phone rang.

She said, "I am on the ground now. The older brother's troubleshooter is with me and will be interviewing the candidates while it will be my job to terminate the current manager here. During the interview process I will work with the assistant manager but I must not introduce you at this time. That means that I only see you in the evening in the adjacent hotel room with a passage between them. Is that O.K. with you?"