Epiphany Pt. 02

Well, the Bank of Morse was now closed to his family. He had never needed to loan or even give money to Cindy but, if Doug was a part of the conspiracy to humiliate Sam and ostracize him from Cinda, then the Welton's might just need a cash influx if Doug was let go from the firm.

By sheer coincidence Sam's phone buzzed letting him know his mother, Mary, wanted something. He answered. "Sam, I just wanted you to know that the roof is leaking. Can you get someone over here to fix it?"

Sam knew he shouldn't do this but he couldn't resist. "I am sorry but I believe you have a wrong number. Who is this?"

"Sam, you know who this is. What is your problem?"

"Well, the wimpy son of Marshall Morse is no longer taking calls from his bitch of a mother. Why don't you call your son and get him to fix your roof?"

Sam pressed "END" on his phone and then blocked his mother's number. While he was at it he blocked his brother, James', number. For the time being he left Cindy's number alone.

He did call Linda though. He got through immediately. Hmmm, she must not be fucking Charlie right now. Do they only do the nasty in the afternoon and evening and not in the morning? He didn't know and would probably find out later from his investigators. He had to force himself to concentrate on his conversation when she answered. "Linda, hey I just wanted you to have a heads up concerning my mother. From now on I will not subsidize her. I recently found out that she had plenty of funds to do the repairs around the house and has no need to keep expecting me to fund her retirement."

"Sam, are you sure? This is your mother we are talking about. She always says she is struggling with her day-to-day expenses on her fixed income. You know we can afford to help her."

"Linda, this is not debatable. She can contact contractors and laborers on her own and pay for them. She has no need of money from me."

"Sam, I am sorry but you can't cut your mother off like that. Are you trying to put her in the poor house? What is going on?"

"Linda, I will not get into specifics at this time but suffice it to say I have heard from the horse's mouth that she can easily afford to keep her house and appliances in top shape. If you go around me on this I will be forced to put you on a fixed allowance to keep you from spending our money on that bitch."

Sam was now more than pissed. He hung up while Linda was still arguing against cutting his mother off. He shook his head. He didn't think Linda would protest more if he said he would not provide any help to her parents.

He notified the investigator that Linda was probably contacting his mother right now. He wanted to know if Linda made any comment about giving money to Mary. From now on he would no longer call Mary Morse by any other name.

He left the meeting with the investigator even more depressed than he had come into the meeting. He didn't need to listen to Linda and Charlie having sex. The investigator had it recorded of course.

Sam went immediately to the gym and angrily attacked his workout. It was a wonder he didn't hurt himself as he tried to exercise himself into a stupor. Luckily the trainer was watching and came over and stopped Sam before he could cause himself harm.

Sam took a long time in the shower before packing his workout clothes and returning home. Linda must have needed to go to some kind of charity event (wink, wink) as she was not there when he arrived.

Sam took the time to start to move most of his clothing from the bedroom he had shared with his wife for many years. He also moved all of his toiletries to his new bedroom. There was an attached bathroom and he soon had everything organized.

He ate a small meal. Damn he was getting tired of sandwiches. He made a mental note to check in on cooking classes come Monday. Then he went off for a long walk again. He decided to extend the time to an hour and a half from his previous hour walks.

As he walked his phone went off a couple of times. He didn't bother to even check on who was calling, he just let them go to voicemail. Part of the reason for that was the fact he needed to concentrate on his walk. He also needed to get control of his emotions. He was sorely tempted to rain down hail and brimstone on his family but realized that some of his family might actually be innocent and didn't need to be hurt needlessly.

He also wanted to walk at a pace where he couldn't hold a conversation. Stopping or slowing down was not going to help him in his goal to get back into better physical shape. In only a week he was walking faster and farther than when he had started his new regimen.

When he was winded and couldn't walk any farther he stopped at a convenience store and bought a large bottle of water. While he cooled down and rested he checked his messages. Mary had texted him and demanded that he call her. He deleted it. James also texted and asked why he couldn't leave a voice mail. That was also deleted. Cindy called and asked what had happened between Sam and her grandmother. Also deleted.

Linda had not called yet. Sam guessed that she was too busy with charity work, read Charlie Wink, to talk to him right now.

After resting Sam continued his walk. He was only a mile or so from home. As he walked his pace got slower and his stride became shorter. He knew the cause. It had nothing to do with physical tiredness. It had everything to do with the stress that knowing he was not loved or wanted by anyone in his family.

Finally, a few blocks from home, Sam couldn't walk another step. He felt like he was wearing concrete boots and just couldn't lift his foot to take another step. He was breathing hard. His mouth was dry and his vision was dim. Sam was a financial wizard. He was a solid and good boss. He was successful in all of his business dealings. But, and this was a huge BUT, his private life was going to hell and quickly. It had only been a week and he had found out that no one, with the possible exception of his sister, cared an iota for him.

Luckily there was a bus stop bench right there where Sam was forced to stop. He dropped heavily down on the bench and sucked down some of the water he had with him. His breathing slowed and his vision cleared a little. He came to the conclusion he couldn't return to his house, he didn't consider it a home any longer, or even contemplate talking to Linda. Not right now. Maybe he could return after coming to grips with the whole situation.

A bus came along right then. Sam saw that the sign on the bus said "Downtown". He made a decision quickly and jumped on board. He found enough change to pay for his ride and soon was only a few blocks from a Hilton hotel. He checked in. He supposed the staff was concerned since he was sweaty and without luggage but his name was not unknown to the community so he was quickly in a suite. The concierge was contacted and soon a change of clothing was provided.

Sam took a long shower and then sent a text to Linda informing her that he had to leave for an emergency and would be home in a few days. She didn't answer for a couple of hours. Obviously he had not been missed.

Sam was feeling less stressed already. Knowing he would not be disturbed was giving him some peace of mind. Even if the family was looking for him, the staff had orders to not admit that he was a guest. He knew the Hilton staff well enough that they would not violate his request for privacy. Hell, celebrities constantly were guests and never given up to the press. Sam was no celebrity. No one wanted his picture unless it was to bait a mousetrap. He had a chuckle at that thought.

Sam slept well that night. The next day he took a cab to the house and had the cabbie drive slowly by as he tried to determine if Linda was home. She wasn't. Sam supposed that she took the opportunity to sleep in Charlie's bed overnight. Sam paid the cabbie and went in and packed a bag, grabbed a laptop, and then drove his car back to the Hilton.

Since it was a Sunday Sam took a long walk around the downtown area for exercise. After tiring himself out he went back and caught up on the national news on his laptop after cleaning up. He went downstairs and had a leisurely lunch. He had a nice after lunch nap and woke refreshed. He still didn't have a full plan on what to do with his family but just the fact he didn't have to lie or act as though nothing was wrong let him rest and recuperate.

Sunday night was a restful repeat of Saturday night. Sam rose Monday morning with a new resolve. Somebody was going to feel some pain today.

As I promised I will be posting the next part in a day or so. Hopefully it will not be too stale or too great a break.