Rob Gets Even

And then I lost her.

She and her father had flown to Dallas to negotiate a contract and on the return flight the charter aircraft disappeared from the radar screen. When the wreckage was finally found there were no survivors.

Judy had been her father's only heir and since I was Judy's I ended up as President and CEO of Coleman Industries. Luckily for me Jim Coleman had excellent people in place and it took me two years working with them before I felt comfortable in the job.

It was three years after taking over Coleman Industries that things got interesting. It was the company Christmas party when I saw her. I was sitting at a table with Harley Cox, his wife Estelle and two of my other vice presidents and their wives. Harley was the VP of Human Resources. I prided myself on knowing the names of all my employees so I turned to Harley and asked:

"Who is the man at the table with Bev and Phil Gates and Rich and Marge Holbrook?"

"That's Spencer Norman. He transferred in from Denver to fill Tidwell's slot when Sam retired. He has only been here a little over three weeks so it's not likely you would have run into him before now."

"I take it that he shows promise since he was transferred and promoted?"

"I expect that one day he will become one of your VPs."

"That good?"

"You remember that mess we had in production in Denver? You told me that it needed to be taken care off or you would write off the plant so I told McVain to do whatever was necessary. He put Norman in as manager and in three months he had production humming along like a Swiss watch. When I asked Tidwell for a list of people who he would recommend as being qualified to be his replacement the list he gave me only had one name on it. Spencer Norman."

After the meal and the almost mandatory speeches and while the band was setting up I circulated and socialized. When I stopped at Bev and Phil's table I wished them a happy holiday season and then turned to Norman and said:

"I don't believe I've met you yet."

Phil introduced us and Norman said, "And this is my wife Nancy."

I looked at her and I wasn't smiling when I said, "It's been a long time Nance. What's it been? Twelve or thirteen years?"

She wasn't smiling either when she said, "Thereabouts."

"I'm told the band is quite good so you all enjoy the evening" and I left them to visit with others.

As was my habit I danced at least once with the wives of my employees and that included the wives at Phil's table. All except one. I asked Bev for a dance and when I brought her back to the table I asked Marge. When I walked Marge back to the table I could see that Nancy was getting set for me to ask her, but I didn't. I thanked Marge for the dance and then turned and left.

For the rest of the evening whenever I looked in her direction I found Nancy looking at me and I wondered what she was thinking. I would bet that I knew what the others at the table were thinking. He knows her but didn't stay and socialize? He danced with Bev and Marge, but ignored her? There was no doubt in my mind that Nancy was getting the third degree from the others at the table. I smiled to myself as I wondered what Nancy was telling her husband about our past. Did she tell him the truth or did she shrug it off saying that we were classmates in high school.

Unexpectedly I got an answer to that question. It was a week after the Christmas party when my secretary buzzed me on the intercom and said that there was a Mr. Norman in the office who wondered if I had a few minutes that I could spare him. It was a slow day and I had nothing scheduled and I did have to admit to having a certain amount of curiosity so I told Stella to send him in.

I rose to greet him, shook his hand and told him to have a seat.

"What can I do for you Mr. Norman?"

"You can put my mind to rest concerning my future here or lack thereof."

"Excuse me?"

"Your attitude toward my wife at the party was just a bit on the cold side and it got my attention so naturally I asked her about it. It took a while to dig it out of her, but I finally got the full story. I'm human enough to worry about whether your animosity toward Nancy will impact my chances for advancement here at Coleman's."

"Mr. Norman; may I call you Spenser?"

"I prefer Spence."

"Okay, Spence it is. Seeing Nancy brought up memories long buried, but any feelings I have toward Nancy are personal and are in no way related to Coleman Industries. My employees – all of my employees – are judged on merit. You do your job to the best of your abilities and that is what is taken into consideration when it comes to advancement. All decisions here are based solely on what on what is best for the company."

I knew when he left my office he still had his doubts, but that was only human. But I was human too and I could only hope that the doubt he had would cause a little unrest in the Norman household. I wouldn't mind at all if he took it out on Nancy when what he wanted or hoped for didn't happen. Was I being an asshole? Bet your bippy I was. I owed that bitch for what she had done to me. I never expected to get payback, but the Gods must love me because they put her where I could get to her.

Over the next two years I saw Spenser and Nancy a dozen times at various company social events and I went out of my way to avoid Nancy while interacting with everyone else at the affair. During that period there were two positions that came open that Spenser applied for, but that went to other people. Not that he wasn't qualified for them because he was, but between me and Harley we decided that the jobs just weren't right for him. In fact it was Harley who pointed out that Spenser was the ideal candidate for Axel Martin's position when Axel retired and it made no sense to promote him into a position just to move him out of it when Axel retired. We did not communicate this to Spenser and I am sure that he was thinking that he was passed over because of my history with his wife. I smiled when I imagined how he might have treated Nancy when he didn't get the promotion that he thought he should have gotten. He did however get raises and bonuses that kept him from bailing out and going elsewhere.

It was a month after he didn't get the most recent opening when we had the company picnic. Spense and Nancy where there and as usual I ignored Nancy while socializing with everyone else. Two hours into the event I had to use the bathroom and when I came out I found Nancy waiting for me. She cut right to the chase.

"Why are you taking out what I did on my husband? He didn't do anything to you to deserve what you are doing to him."

Even though it wasn't true I couldn't resist saying, "How else can I get payback for what you did to me back in high school? You have no idea of how bad you hurt me."

"For Christ's sake grow up Robert. That was years ago and we were both dumb teenagers. Didn't you ever do something stupid back then?"

"I'm sure that I did, but I never deliberately hurt anyone. You on the other hand knew how I felt about you and you led me on knowing full well that you were going to kick me to the curb as soon as my usefulness was over. That wasn't being stupid Nanc; that was just flat out being mean and I didn't deserve it."

I walked away from her with a smile on my face. For her to approach me like that there had to be some undercurrents in her personal life caused by comments made to her by her husband when he didn't get the promotions he thought he should have gotten.

Fast forward to the company Christmas party. The news was out that Axel Martin would be retiring at the end of the year and there was speculation as to whom would be promoted to fill his vacancy. The rumor mill had it that the choices were down to Spenser Norman and Andy Baxter with Bill Neubert being a distant third.

Midway through the party Nancy was again waiting for me when I came out of the bathroom. Before she could say anything I said:

"We have to stop meeting like this Nance. It could cause talk."

She didn't catch the humor of it and asked, "Can I have a few minutes of your time? In private?"

I said, "I suppose" and I led her down the hall to a storage room. Once inside I said "This is as private as I can make it at this time. What's up?"

"What can I do to help you decide that my husband should get Axel's position?"

I smiled and said, "Just how far are you willing to go?"

"As far as I have to."

"Really?"

"Yes Rob. Really!"

"What if I were to say I want what you were leading me on to expect that I would be getting when we were dating?"

"It is what I was expecting you to say and I'm ready to do it?"

I didn't bother to question her motivation; I just assumed that her husband would hold it against her if he didn't get the nod and she did not want that to happen. Then again it could be that she loved him enough to make the sacrifice. I didn't know why she was making the offer; I just looked at it as a gift from the Gods. It was a Friday night so I said:

"Take the weekend to sleep on it and think about if you are really serious about wanting to do it. Call me Monday and let me know."

"I don't need to think on it. I've already made up my mind to do it."

"Humor me."

I gave her my cellphone number and we went back to the party.

I spent the weekend wondering if she would indeed call me on Monday and tell me she as going through with it. I doubted it. That doubt was removed when she called me at nine on Monday morning.

"I didn't really think you would call."

" I told you that my mind was already made up."

"How do you want to do this?"

"I can get away from my job whenever I want and I assume that since you are the boss you can to."

"I'm not the least bit interested in a wam-bam-thank you ma'am kind of thing. I'm going to want time to savor things."

"Fine with me."

"You have a cell?"

"I do."

"Give me the number. I'll set it up and call you back."

She gave me her number and when she disconnected I called the downtown Hilton and made a reservation for room 502 for noon the next day. I called Nancy back and gave her the information.

"They are expecting you so pick up the key at the front desk and go on up to the room."

I doubted very much that Nancy remembered or even knew that 502 was the numerical part of the license plate on that old Ford of mine.

I wondered how long she would wait in that room before calling me to ask where I was. She showed a lot more patience than I would have shown. I didn't get the call until three-fifteen.

"Where are you?"

"In my office."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not an asshole Nance. I don't screw other men's wives" and I hung up on her.

The decision to promote Spenser into Axel's position had been made months ago and he would be informed before leaving the office that afternoon. He could have the pleasure of telling Nancy that when he got home.

As I hung up the phone I knew I was going to spend a lot of nights lying on my bed, looking up at the ceiling and wondering what it would have been like to have the girl who had owned me for so many of my younger years.

I'd get over it.