The Wages of a Divorcee's Sin

Jere noticed that it was past 11:00 and asked, "Any questions or other feedback from the Foundation on your Request for Funds?"

"Now that you mention it and are the one wanting to shop talk, I spent over an hour with two of their technical analysts fielding questions. It doesn't mean that we automatically will be successful but it does mean that a mover and shaker has read our proposal which more often than not means that we will receive all or part of the requested amount, if history is an indicator."

Jere said, "Wow June! Being able to help you even in a small way suddenly makes me feel like my whole trip to Chicago was well worthwhile. When I was a youngster working in the math clinic after first starting to college my best days working at minimum wage then was when I saw the lights come on in a struggling, confused student's face. When you visited with me right after we met and I was talking and eating breakfast, I saw the light come on in your face - do you remember that that was the first time I was interested in even finding out your name? - I felt the same way as I did when I worked in the math clinic."

"Oh, I remember well, Lover. I took the notes I had hastily written while you were talking and expanded and printed them out. Along with that the limited amount of shoptalk we have done filled in the blank spots in my mind. Thanks, Jere Jenkins, you are an integral part of my probably successful Grant Request for which I didn't pay you a dime."

"June, that is music to my ears but I don't even know what you want to build so I simply explained the theoretical roadmap. If you had searched the published papers long enough, you would have learned it on your own."

"Yes, Dear Jere, I am aware of that. But I have you, which provided a shortcut. But, along with that I have a problem I have never had before. I ache to be near you, for you to be in my body, be next to me and that means I have made myself very vulnerable if you awaken to find that Jere is no longer interested in June, or if another woman steals you from me."

"Darling, that risk is what love is all about for all us Humans. The way to reduce the probability that our interest in each other will wane is for us to be interesting to each other always. A simple example is that fish you cooked for us. Prior to actually seeing a whole fish looking at me I could not have imagined my sitting down to one of the best seafood dinners on record. Moreover, in my fantasy, I imagine that that fished lived a worth while life because he brought so much pleasure to you and me."

June said, "Wow, that is too far out for me to get my arms around the idea, but on second thought you are probably right! Heh heh."

Saturday morning as the two lovers were walking up to register the visitor at her gym, June said, "I take my visits here very seriously. My goal is to age without ever feeling a single pain in my body and this place is part of the preemptory activity I do so that the probability of that happening will be slight."

Jere replied, "You are saying the fun and necessity of working out is right up there along with eating, sleeping, loving, and breathing..."

"Yes. And besides that, this body make over you see would cost 80 thousand dollars today and taking care of it is like one takes care of an eighty thousand dollar automobile."

Jere chuckled and said, "Not to mention that I am 45 years old and can not keep my hands as well as very often my mind off of you."

"I am glad, Doctor Jenkins." After she had checked her lover in as a guest she said, "I will return here in an hour and we can shower at home, is that O.K.?"

"Perfect."

After the lovers showered and made love again and then had a light lunch, Jere said, "I had planned to drive home now because I need to work today and tomorrow for a presentation I must make to a prospective client on Monday. What's on your agenda, June?"

She replied, "To hang with you as long as possible and then to go back over my Grant Request because I know I will get more questions before they write a check."

Jere chuckled and said, "Want to know why my presentation went over so well at the Chicago convention? I did the same thing you will be doing - going over all the questions that I would probably be asked and then preparing and rehearsing the answers."

She said, "You have forgotten but you already told me that - why do you think I suddenly just don't like to 'shoot from the hip' answering questions. That, Dear Jere, is something else I learned from you. Thanks. But, if you could do part of your work here my internet is also very fast and I would promise to not seduce you until later, so maybe you can spend one more night and drive home early tomorrow."

Jere thought through the tasks he must complete and said, "You sold me! But I must get up early and let myself out so I can get home and finish what I start here because some of the research I must do is not on line. You O.K. with that?"

She ran to his arms and said, "Oh yes. Thank you. We will need to take a break to make whoopee and for dinner which will be catered - your treat O.K.?"

"Absolutely."

———-

In Boston on a chilled Saturday afternoon Megan Jenkins drove up to her date's apartment where she would be enjoying a dinner cooked by him tonight. This was their fourth date and both had learned to 'like' each other sufficiently well for this to happen. Miles Stanley was a broken man and still harbored a desire for his ex-wife while masturbating most days while looking at a snapshot of his naked ex-wife getting it on with her lover. She had cuckled him for five years.

By way of contrast, Megan, single after three marriages, had lost the ability to have sexual desire for anyone, but 24/7 she felt something she secretly identified as 'love' for her first husband, Jere Jenkins. While Miles was showing her his apartment, she noted that the only picture he had displayed was the former Boston Mayor shaking his hand at an awards ceremony. He had remarked that his two sons worked in construction but that he didn't have a photo of either. During the tour Megan mentally reviewed her 'Ben Franklin' pros and cons on whether or not she should attempt to adjust to him and find a common ground on which they could build a relationship. The 'pros' had only one more line entry than did the cons.

The first pleasant surprise came after they had finished dinner. Expecting hamburger steaks, Miles served a very tender Duck he had cooked. It was good and just what Megan needed. She said smiling, "You are an amazing chef, Miles, did you really prepare this French dish plus the delicate sauce you used?"

"Yes, Megan. I was the head chef in this household for years while the children were growing up. In fact I went to the New England Culinary Academy at my ex's urging. Once I found out I could cook then I went overboard - and spent more money than I could afford on expensive kitchen tools and foods."

"Wow! If this is a sample of what you can do, I can only say, 'it's too bad I can not hire you to be my chef.'"

"The problem is that we divorced when the youngest was only 17. She got the house and most of my cooking tools because of the minor child and I moved to this small apartment where I have little room for replacements."

Changing the subject she asked, "Am I your first date after the breakup?"

He replied, "Yes."

She raised her glass in a salute to him and said, "May we find each other interesting enough to continue dating. The dinner you served was a good start."

He said, "Care to tell me something about you and why you are searching the Internet for dates?"

She held her glass for Miles to pour again and said, "My first of three husbands is still on my mind just like your ex is on yours. But, I crave the companionship of a man to whom I can look up to while this daydream of Number 1 slowly dies. Moreover, I realize that whomever I find will be slowly forgetting someone he lost as well. I have had lots of sex in the 11 years since my first divorce but zero good sex - all I got was a thrill and they were fleeting ones and none were memorable."

Miles said, "Megan, I think that is the price of being young and foolish and following a dream - that later turns into a nightmare. I know I should have been more experienced before I married someone I met in class in community college."

Megan said, "I think we should enjoy each other's body if you will have a blood test as I did for the 10 most common STDs and your results are negative."

At this Miles was super excited and said, "Fantastic! You are a beautiful woman that I desire immensely - obviously, as I am practically sitting on my hands to keep them off you. I will email you the certificate one day this week! Also, I really like knowing exactly where I stand. So why don't you pick out a love story movie that you would like and let me see if I do, and lets watch a movie. You game?"

So the daters spent their first night together holding hands and watching TV. Afterwards Miles walked Megan to her car, and when she had buckled herself in then did she finally kissed him goodnight."

————-

Jere's car pulled up to the garage the door he had opened automatically and he pulled into his garage. It was 10:15 A.M Sunday morning and he felt on top of the world. He had finished a large portion of his tasks working at June's condo at her dinner table using her wi-fi connected to his eTablet. He now was anxious to get to his office to use text books he had once written and published to review some forms of equations previously set up similar to the ones that he would now have to solve and some other reference material. Afterwards he would put the results on a power point presentation, near certain that he would sign a contract tomorrow. Life was good.

He had fixed himself a coffee and pastry and was sitting at the dining room table enjoying it when Kathy came in smiling to prepare her own breakfast. She said, "Good morning, Daddy! You look like you are on top of the world?"

Jere smiled broadly and said, "I am glad it shows. But yes I am. I am in love again. All June and I need to do now is to keep living and see if our mutual feelings for each other decline or increase when we are faced with the vicissitudes of the real world. But I am optimistic. How did you make out in my absence, Kathy?

She said, "Dad, I have met and been talking regularly to a 25 year old man who qualifies as that 'special' person I told you about - he is a 'carrier,' so he says. Is it O.K. with you for him to come over this evening to watch T.V. with me, and can we use the living room big screen?"

"Is this your first date, Kathy?"

"Yes, he sometimes competes with Mom to spend time with me at the coffee shop, when I am on break, as he works in the building next door. I want to find out details about him and the only way I can do that is to actually visit with him privately. And your living room is the best venue for that."

Jere said, "Tell me more about him, as my interest is peaked."

"Well, Daddy, he is clean shaven and dresses nicely and lives at home like me. He is a contract Java programmer and right now is two months into a six-month project. He has no children."

Jere stood and embraced his daughter and said, "Well, if you trust this guy, I see no reason why not because you have taken to a 'be responsible' mode of living. Besides that I have a load of work to do so I am sure there will be no occasion for me to interfere - although, please knock on my door and introduce me on his arrival."

She squeezed him and kissed him on the cheek and said, "Thank you, Dad."

At 5 P.M. she knocked on his door and said, "I have prepared a pot of turkey breast vegetable soup. Would you like to take a break and share it with me?"

Jere had sat inhaling the wonderful odor coming from the kitchen that the air handling system had distributed throughout the house. His stomach was grinding into his backbone from hunger now, which he had been too busy to notice. So Kathy's invitation was exactly what he needed. He said, "I thought you would never ask!"

While sharing the soup Kathy said, "James pays rent to his parents and will take a taxi from the subway stop to here as he doesn't own a car. He formerly got married when his long time college girlfriend became pregnant, but the baby was a Hispanic child with almost none of her mother's attributes. She later confessed to her cheating and agreed to an uncontested divorce."

Jere asked, "Do you have a sense that he still harbors a love for this ex wife?"

"No. She is the one who gave him his first outbreak, although now he is now symptom free of Herpes II, but remains a carrier for the rest of his life."

Jere replied, "Well, if I were you I would see where the relationship leads. If he habitually takes all his breaks with you, then that counts for something since he knows that you have flare ups."

At five past seven there was a knock on the office door and Jere stood up and left his office. There stood a nice looking twenty something man conservatively dressed and smiling who stood beside his daughter. Jere shook his hand after being introduced to James Martin and smiled broadly. Jere said, "Glad to meet a fellow code pusher - or at least that is what they called me in my youth - as 'C' was my thing in undergraduate school."

James smiled and said, "I often do that, too, except that my productivity maxes out coding Java so those opportunities are the ones I seek now."

Jere said, "Well James, be kind to my daughter and you two enjoy the living room - I think you two will enjoy the audiophile sound system that accompanies the very large plasma screen. I will excuse myself in the mean time."

In mid January It was a Wednesday afternoon and Jere had stepped out of the elevator in a building in Boston Back Bay on his way to an appointment with Eleanor Parkman's attorney's office. This was the day that he was to present a bank check and sign all the paperwork so that the total ownership of the condo would now be his. He was ushered into a conference room and was shocked to find his former lover sitting at the table along with an attorney and a Title officer.

His expectation was that she had signed appropriately and Fed-Exed the forms to her attorney for Jere's signature. His shock at seeing her was telling in that he stood stock-still and looked at her face carefully. She had no make up on - and El had never been a good-looking woman but without makeup she was down right ugly - and she had traces of dried tears over her face. There was no smile or no expression of anything as she just looked at him.

Finally the Title officer motioned him to a seat next to El so that in the signing ritual that followed, she signed first and passed the sheet to Jere who passed it to the attorney after signing. This process took 15 minutes and nothing was said except to explain the current form being signed. At the end Jere passed his bank check to the Title officer who verified the amount that both he and buyer had agreed on and then stood to load her briefcase with the paraphernalia. She said to Eleanor, "Ms Parkman you may come by our office on the floor below us in the morning after 10 to pick up your net proceeds check from the receptionist. Thank you and we appreciate your business." She left the room.

The attorney said to El, "That concludes our business here, Ms. Parkman, and I must get ready for a court appearance in the morning, if you will excuse me." He bundled up his paperwork and left the conference room as well.

The two former lovers sat beside each other frozen in place looking at the wall in front of them not knowing what to say or what to do. El said to herself, "Old girl, two months ago you were on top of the world with your blond hair, blue eyed lover from Valhalla. You were living ecstatically enjoying his big cock but tolerating his mechanically functioning mind that went with it. You have really screwed up this time, El. Well, I am not going to lie even now if Jere will even bother to speak to me."

Jere stood and began putting his copies of the transaction into his brief case when El asked him, "Jere, can we go somewhere to have a drink and talk for a short while?"

He replied, "Doctor Parkman, I can not think of anything to say to you except thanks for going through with this sale and have a good day," as he snapped his brief case shut.

"Please, Jere. I am torn up inside my mind and a few words from Number Seven, an Applied man like you, would be medicine for my tortured mind. Haven't we had enough good times that having one short conversation is not asking too much?"

Standing at the conference room door he turned to her and said, "No, a 'short conversation' is asking much too much. I do wish you well as I am sure whatever difficulty you are having now will be temporary and soon you will feel embarrassment at even having made the request of me." At that Jere was gone and closed the conference room door behind him.

At the sound of the door closing Eleanor frantically reached for her purse to pull out tissues because now the tears freely flowed down her face onto her blouse. Not knowing what else to do she stood and started putting on coat and said to herself out loud, "Damn! Damn! Damn!"

————

Driving home in the gridlocked traffic gave Jere too much time to think. He mused, "I have a bad taste in my mouth just seeing that creature and would really like to drive Southwest to Hartford, but June told me she was very, very busy all day. She will have been going over their business model with the visiting Foundation techies that had funded their organization to build a prototype device for their first visit. So I will just go home and maybe take an evening off - maybe even try to find something on television. I am exhausted and frustrated. Crap! I am astounded that Eleanor, one of the dozen or so of the smartest Humans on the planet, can turn out to be just like she lived a Country and Western song life. I need a drink!"

Jere pulled into the front of his driveway just as his daughter was leaving to walk to the bus stop to go to work. He rolled down the window and said, "Hop in, Kathy, I will take you to the subway station."

She shouted with glee and said, "Hot Dog! Thank you, Daddy, " as she jumped in the car and reached over to hug his neck, and continued, "How did you know I am working clean up tonight for someone else so I will have a long workday."

Jere said, "Well, sometimes I rescue damsel's in distress - or who will soon be in distress, and sometimes I don't. But, I am now the soul owner of the condo and my ex lover was in distress, but I chose not to rescue her. So consider yourself lucky!"

Kathy said, "Don't tell me you are going to get roaring drunk because seeing her again took it's toll on your psyche?"

"Heh heh Not a chance. I am just lamenting that I cannot drive over to Hartford to see June. So, poor me I will probably watch an opera DVD as I enjoy the evening alone."

She said, "James does a lot of his work now at the coffee shop in the evenings working on his laptop. That makes it nice because I get more time to visit with him. Everybody knows, including the manager, that we are a pair, but she just smiles and says, 'congratulations.' " Continuing with reticence she asked, "Daddy, May I invite James to stay over on a weekend night?"

Musing to himself Jere thought, "Well. Duh! I knew this day was coming. But Kathy shows no sign of inner rot from her conflicts any more, so why not?" He said to her, "It seems like a classy thing for you two to do. May I ask that you do that the first time when I will be here as well?"

She got out of the car at the subway station and ran around to his side, opened his door, and literally hugged his neck and kissed his face several times. She said, "Thank you, Daddy. You are the best man in the world!"