Once Upon a Fantasy Ch. 01-02

What the hell would Barry be doing at the race-track when this was a work day? I pulled out my cell phone and called the office.

"Sandy, do you know where Barry is this afternoon?" I asked one of our sales clerks.

"He's out on calls. Not sure where, Boss. You want me to get him to call you?"

"No. No need. It's nothing urgent. I'll catch up to him in the morning. Thanks," I said, signing off.

I looked back at the TV and it was showing a general shot of the betting windows. This must have been Barry's bad luck day because this time I was sure it was him standing in line at the twenty dollar window. Now it wasn't like I expected him to be on the job twenty-four-seven, but I did expect him to be doing something constructive during the time I was paying him. We'd be having a conversation tomorrow morning about this.

I had given Barry a lot of freedom to do the job the way he wanted provided he didn't overstep the bounds of legitimate business practices and still produced the results. I couldn't complain about the results, but then that's what I was paying him a very handsome salary plus bonus to achieve. I was hoping this was just an isolated incident, one that most salesmen are guilty of from time-to-time. Been there, done that.

He was the nominal second-in-command and I expected him to set an example for the other employees. Until my meeting with Janice and now this, I had no reason to think otherwise. I began to wonder if some of his liaisons with women were during office hours as well. There it was again, wondering about who I could trust. I quickly finished my drink and headed home.

Andrea greeted me with what had become our usual, a "Hi" and no more. There was a time when I got a hug and a kiss but I guess as we got older we lost that contact somewhere along the way. I changed into a t-shirt and jeans, washed up and returned to the living room. Brandon was watching the news and I assumed Candice was up in her room, possibly doing homework.

"All your homework done, son?" I asked.

"No ... not yet. I'll finish it after dinner. I haven't got much left."

"Okay, don't forget."

I sat back in my usual lounger and gazed at the TV. It was a while before I realized I wasn't paying any attention to the news. I was once again lost in my thoughts about Andrea. Even if I had indisputable proof of her cheating, what then? I hadn't resolved the problem of what to do about the children. Keeping the family together would partially resolve that, but at what cost? There must be some kind of solution that would protect them until they were able to make their own decisions. I was convinced that was my first priority in whatever I planned to do.

To Be Continued