Betty's Choice

Carol Findley and Denise Bagget did not have rings on and didn't appear to have dates even though there was an empty seat next to each of them. There was a lot of talk about where I'd been and what I'd done and seen, but Carol put a stop to it when she got off her seat, came over to me and took me by the arm as she said:

"Enough of this blah blah crap. I came here to dance not talk."

For the next hour I took turns dancing with Carol, Bev, Barb and Liz. The band was taking a break and we were back to talking about the places I'd been when Betty and a guy walked in. I assumed that he was Crompton. There wasn't any room at our table (not that I think Betty would have sat there anyway) so they took a booth on the other side of the room. Carol saw me looking Betty's way and asked:

"Over her yet?"

"I don't know that I'll ever be completely over her. Put her behind me? Yes, but the memories aren't going to go away. At least not any time soon."

"Look on the bright side. At least you hadn't already put a ring on her finger."

"Yeah; I guess there is that."

"You thinking of trying to break them up?"

"No. That chapter of my life is over. Time to turn the page and move on to the next chapter."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I am. Why the interest?"

"I want to be sure that I'm not wasting my time if I make a move on you."

"Make a move on me? Why in the world would you want to do that? We have known each other since grade school and in all that time you have never shown any interest in me. Christ Carol, I must have asked you out two or three dozen times over all those years and you always shot me down."

"That was then. This is now."

"So what has changed?"

"I want to find out what is so special about you that Betty warned all of us to stay away from you while she was up at school."

"I doubt that."

"Believe it. She flat said that she would scratch the eyes out of anyone who tried to move in on her man. Exact words Jack; "Anyone who tries to move in on my man."

"I don't believe it. I got with Nancy and Betty didn't do anything to her."

"That's because Nancy told Betty to fuck off and die and warned Betty that her eyes wouldn't be all that safe if she tried anything."

"I never knew any of that."

"So how about it Jack? Care to give it a whirl and see where it goes?"

Why not I thought to myself. I didn't have anything to lose and now that I was home for good I had to start somewhere. The band came back from their break and started playing. I stood up, offered my arm to Carol, she took it and we danced together for the rest of the evening. Every time Carol and I danced by the booth that Betty was sitting in she turned her head and looked at the wall and I have to admit that I got a bit of perverse pleasure in the thought that I was ruining the evening for Betty.

Finally she grabbed her purse and stood up. Crompton grabbed her arm and tried to pull her back down, but she pulled away from him and headed for the door. He got up and went after her and caught her at the door, said something to her and she slapped his face and went out the door. Crompton waited a couple of seconds and then he left. I was human enough to hope that I was the cause of it. Carol and I skipped last call and I walked her to her car. We made a date for Sunday, she kissed me on the cheek and I got in my car and headed on home.

Sundays date was dinner and a movie. We had dinner at Tricocci's and it was great. What made it great for me was that Betty and her guy were already there and eating when Carol and I got there. We were seated where Betty was pretty much forced to look at us. The chair she was sitting in faced our table so if she lifted her head from her plate she was looking right at us. I took the seat that put my back to her so I couldn't see how she was reacting and Carol never mentioned seeing anything of note. Betty and her guy left before Carol and I finished and Carol did mention that Crompton threw a nasty look our way as they were leaving.

"He seems pissed at you. What's the deal? You do something to him?"

"Never met him. No idea why he might be pissed at me."

"Probably has something to do with Betty."

"I wouldn't know. I've had no contact with her since she sent me the letter that said we were over."

"As long as it is over is all I care about."

Carol and I dated for the next month and our make out sessions got hotter and hotter until one night she said "We need to take this to the next level Jack. If you can't afford a motel room I can."

The truth of the matter was that I wasn't sure that I wanted to take things to the next level. Between my job and the evening classes I'd signed up for at the college I didn't think I would have the time to work on a 'next level' relationship and that's the reason that I hadn't already made a move on Carol. But I wasn't brain dead and I wasn't going to pass up a chance to get laid especially when it was bluntly offered.

It wasn't my first time to be in room 204 at the Starlight and the visit turned out to be just as enjoyable as my last visit there. Once we were in the room Carol said:

"I want to unwrap my gift" and she proceeded to undress me. Once I was standing nude in front of her (with 'old one eye standing at rigid attention) she knelt and took my cock in her mouth and started undressing herself as she as she sucked on me. It was taking too long and so I pulled her up, quickly unwrapped her and then she got on the bed spread her legs and smiled up at me. I took my place and then we made love. Once I had gotten both of us of she moved into position for a sixty-nine and then we went at it until she got me up again. I got us off again and she went to work trying to get me up again and she managed to do it. Once up and ready she asked

"How do you feel about anal Jack?"

I'd almost swear that Carol and Gail were related somehow and shared the same anal loving gene. I got more ass than pussy that night but 'ole one eye' didn't seem to mind at all. From that night on we managed to get it on at least one night a week until I'd saved up enough money to get myself into an apartment. Once that happened we usually managed one night a week and then both days on the weekend.

It was inevitable that we would cross paths with Betty every once in a while and while I do admit that I never understood the why of the dirty looks she sent our way it did please me that she was pissed about something where I was concerned.

I was five months into my relationship with Carol when I found out that it wasn't going anywhere. I asked Carol to move in with me and she said no.

"I like you Jack; I like you a lot, but there is no spark there, at least not for me. You are a great friend with benefits, but it wouldn't be fair to you if I moved in with you only to move back out if a guy came along that did bring out that spark."

I can't say that I was crushed by her announcement because I had also realized there was no spark in our relationship and while I had asked her to move in with me I knew that I was never going to ask her to marry me. Our friend with benefits relationship went on for a couple more months and then she graduated and took a job offer in another state. Graduation brought something else. Betty had her sheepskin and came home from college. A month later she was Mrs. Elisabeth Crompton after a wedding that the Star Tribune called the social event of the season.

I wasn't invited.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

At work things were going pretty good. Remember me saying that I'd mastered the Quartermaster's computer system? And was going adapt the program for civilian use only to have someone else beat me to it? Well it turned out that it was the system that my company was using. One day I went into the office to get some paperwork that I needed and I found the boss at the computer and cussing at it. I asked him what was wrong and when he told me I went over to him, looked at the screen, took the mouse and demonstrated as I said:

"All you have to do is click on the upper left corner of the screen and when you get the drop down box click on sort and then wait for the prompt that tells you to execute."

"You know this program?"

"It is a civilian application of the program the Army uses and I worked with it all the time."

"Why isn't there something in that corner that lets you know that something is there?"

"No idea. You would have to ask the guy who designed and wrote the program.

After that anytime that Mel had a problem with the program he would always call me. Because of that I became the fair haired boy in shipping and receiving. That and the fact that there wasn't a job in the department that I couldn't do and do well and that I'd seen some things that could be done better, easier and cheaper and had pointed them out to Mel.

I'd been there just a bit over three years when Mel had to retire for health reasons and when he was asked for a list of employees who could take over his job he turned the list in with only one name - mine! During the same three year period I'd managed to complete my degree program and now had a Bachelor's Degree in Business Management so I guessed I looked good to upper management and they gave me Mel's job.

Another year went by. I was doing great in my job and while my love life wasn't sterling I did date and I got laid enough to keep me happy, but I could never find the girl that I wanted to settle down with (and who would put up with me).

I did end up in a FWB relationship for a while with Abby Devon. It was reminiscent of my time with Gail. Abby was married and her husband was in the Army and in Germany. She's made a play for me one night at the VFW. She told me that Carol had told her that if she ever got a chance Abby should give me a try. She flat out told me that she needed someone in her bed until hubby came home and I told her that I was sorry, that I wouldn't mess around with another man's wife, especially the wife of a man serving overseas. She told me that she had his permission to which I quite naturally said sarcastically:

"Yeah. Sure."

"It's true. I really do have his permission." She opened her purse and took out and envelope and said "Read this."

It was the strangest letter I have ever read. "To whom it may concern. My wife, Abbigail Grace Caseman, has my permission to engage in sexual activity with men of her choice while I am away from home." It was signed by Gregory William Caseman and it was notarized.

Abby was a very sexy looking lady and after reading the letter I didn't hesitate to take her up on her offer. I followed her home and spent the night trying to make her happy and when I left to go home in the morning I was extremely envious of Gregory William Caseman. My relationship with Abby lasted off and on for almost two years. I say off and on because it was on until hubby came home on leave and then it was off until after he had returned to duty and then it was on again.

Then he was discharged and it was over for good. Interestingly enough I became friends with Greg when he came home for good. I was sitting on a bar stool at Bud's Bar when I guy I didn't know took the stool next to me and said:

"Can I buy you a beer?"

Never one to turn down a freebie I said yes.

"You're Jack right?"

"Yeah. Do I know you from somewhere?"

"We've never met, but we do have a lot in common."

"Oh? Hows that?"

"My wife Abby. I'm Greg Caseman and I want to thank you for taking care of Abby while I was gone."

I almost said "No problem; it was my pleasure" but I caught myself and just stayed silent.

He chuckled and said "I know this is awkward as hell for you, but I just had to meet you and thank you. I love Abby to death and it would have killed me to lose her and it could have happened if she had hooked up with the wrong guy while I was gone."

"Why are you so sure that she would have hooked up with someone?"

"She told me."

"What?"

"She told me that she didn't intend to stay celibate while I was gone."

He went on to tell me what was pretty much my own story. A year after they were married he got laid off from his job and was having a hard time finding another one. He decided to do what I did and joined the Army to learn a new trade and take advantage of the educational opportunities. Abby was against it, but he finally convinced her it would be for the best and then Abby told him that she had no intension of going without sex while he was gone and he would have to accept that if he did enlist.

"I'm enough of a realist to know that a women with Abby's sexual appetites would indeed try and get her needs met so I proposed the arrangement that you and Abby found yourselves in. She needed to find a steady lover who would be no threat to our marriage. Abby likes you. She likes you a lot, but she knew she would never fall in love with you; at least not to the point where she would want to chuck her marriage. Abby does like you a lot and wants to keep you as a close friend and I would like that. As a first step we are having a barbecue at our place on Sunday. Will you come?"

I did and even though I thought that it would be awkward to be around Abby and Greg at the same time it wasn't and we did develop a good relationship.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

With Greg home I had to search for other companionship. Most of the women I dated were those I had known from school and by this point in our lives some had gotten married and then divorced and those were the women who were most receptive to my advances. I got laid enough to keep 'ole one eye' content, but I never could find a girl that I wanted to settle down with.

The ones I'd gone to school with also knew Betty and Nancy and apparently they all kept in touch with each other and of course they all knew about Betty, Nancy and me. I guess some of them thought I'd like to know what was going on with the two women and I was kept up to date. Nancy was married, had two kids and was living in the next state over and seemed to be happy with her lot in life.

The same couldn't be said for Betty. Her husband was an abusive drunk who apparently liked using her for a punching bag whenever he tied one on. Word was that she wanted out, but her family (her father actually) kept talking her out of it. Didn't want the 'stain' of a divorce on the family name. I'd always thought that he was an asshole and I'll admit that one of the reasons I'd had that thought was because he'd made no secret of the fact that he didn't like me while I was dating his daughter. I'd even been 'snippy' with him a time or two when he'd made his displeasure known.

Even at my young age I'd come to realized that 'The Fates' loved fucking with me and it turned out that Betty's father was still going to be part of my life. My company was acquired in a hostile takeover by the corporation owned by - you get the first guess and if you are wrong shame on you - and I just knew that when he found out that I was now working for him he would smile, rub his hands in glee and say "Gotcha now you little asswipe."

It took a while, but three months after he took over our company my boss called me into his office and told me that Mr. Gifford wanted to see me in his office at ten. "I don't know what he wants with you, but you had best not be late. He is a bear when it comes to punctuality."

I got in my car and drove over to the corporate headquarters building and walked into his office at nine fifty-five. I gave my name to his secretary and she told me to have a seat and that Mr. Gifford would see me shortly. Apparently his penchant for punctuality didn't pertain to him as he kept me waiting until a quarter after ten. While I sat there waiting I was mentally composing my resume and compiling a list of where I could send it.

Things did not go the way I expected. No apology for keeping me waiting, but then I didn't expect one; he was an asshole right? He gave me what I guess could be considered a stern look and went right at it.

"My people have been looking over everything at your place and they don't like what they are seeing in your department."

I was a tenth of a second away from standing up and saying "Fuck you asshole. I don't need to put up with your shit! I quit!" when he went on to say "It puts to shame our other areas of warehousing and they thought we already had the best system around. Unless you have a reason to say no I'm pulling you out of there, making you a senior manager and putting you in charge of getting our other facilities up to the same standards you have in place at Apex."

I was too stunned to say anything. I guess he took my silence to mean I was thinking it over and might possibly say no so he said, "There will be a twenty-five percent raise and the job comes with a company car, a company credit card to cover gas and maintenance and an expense account."

I wasn't dumb so I of course said I'd take the job.

It turned out to be not all that hard. There wasn't anything really wrong with the warehousing and shipping and receiving at the corporations other nine facilities. Their one major problem area was in their interfacing with each other and that was easy enough to fix, but in the fixing I ran into my biggest problem. I ran into what I call "The Wall." The wall was the attitude of "That's the way we have always done it, it works fine, and there is no reason to change it." I found it necessary to fire a couple of people who fought me on every change I made. That sent out the message that it would be my way or the highway and the resistance to change disappeared.

The interface problem boiled down to the fact that the facilities all had different computer systems and they didn't talk to each other and they apparently had no idea of what each other did or what each other needed. The first thing I did was see to it that they all had the same computer system. The one I had at Apex of course. The beauty of the system was it tied into the other departments especially Purchasing. Before if facility A need 300 hundred widgets they would contact several vendors, get the best price and then order the part. Now if A needed 300 widgets they went into the computer system and found that facility D made the part and then A would place an internal requisition for them. It saved the company a ton of money.

I know it sounds dumb that a corporation full of MBAs, CPAs and other high ranking executives hadn't figured that out before I arrived on the scene, but the plain and simple fact was that they hadn't. Or maybe they had, but it was blocked because his boss or bosses didn't want to give up absolute control of his little kingdom. I didn't have that problem because I had Mr. Gifford, the Big Kahuna, behind me.

As I said earlier it wasn't all that hard, but it was time consuming. It took more than putting in a computer system; it also took changing the way some things were done so that the way things were done would work with the computer system. It took almost nine months to bring all twelve facilities (nine when I started) in line, but the system was showing positive financial benefits in the first three months where the system was in place.

In my moving from facility to facility to do my job it was inevitable that I would visit the facility where Betty worked (she had gone to work for her father when she graduated) and I wasn't prepared for it when it finally happened. I was walking down a hallway when she walked out of an office and turned toward me and our eyes met. I saw the look of shock on her face and then she turned and hurried back into the office she had just come out of. For a second there I thought about following her in, but quickly decided that nothing could be gained by it and the fact was that it could have turned nasty so I continued on my way. I never ran into her on subsequent visits.