0 comments/ 14902 views/ 6 favorites Bill and Sarah's Storm By: c1992w Hurricane Sandy's Legacy for Bill and Sarah Bill Harrison and Sarah Harrison were conferencing in Sarah's divorce Attorney's spacious, modern architecture office on a beautiful September 12, 2011. The greenery still dominated the small Northern New Jersey community outside the office building in this township, although it was now early fall. In the conference room the arguments were sometimes shouting matches but the four participants, in time, hammered out an agreement (in lieu of a threatened court date) of Joint Custody with a sizable total package of payments to the wife, and children's residency to be with the wife. The most important thing in Bill's favor was that she got almost none of the couple's extensive cash holdings because Bill's attorney successfully argued that the Dad used it to operate his business - the profits from which would come Sarah's rather large monthly check. So in time the agreement was duly signed, with no one happy with the outcome. After the conference Bill Harrison drove the few blocks over to his 16-bay automobile repair shop - and later, after the shop closed, to the few more blocks to the Zero Lot Line home. It was now exclusively his since he had purchased the wife's equity in the settlement. Sarah, who had gladly sold her share of the equity in their home, drove 40 plus miles southeast in New Jersey traffic to her lover's Penthouse. She and the children had previously installed themselves in the 'new Dad's' luxury home when her cheating had been discovered. After school started two months ago, she had even enrolled them in a Parochial school near the Penthouse. Sarah's co-worker, Jerry Jones, had been a household name sports figure for a winning football team. When he retired from sports he became a major investor in the manufacturing company where Sarah had been the office manager for 7 years - and where her staff secretly called her 'Chihuahua Bitch,' alluding to her petiteness. The CEO then created a not-quite-fully-defined-or-needed position and office for the star investor. Handsome, tall, rugged, and with pronounced whiskers matting his face, he considered himself still in the limelight, especially for the office manager, Sarah Harrison. He also was a gossip item in the news because of his own ongoing divorce. Jerry was in bed with his office manager in just over a month after he had moved into his newly created position. In time Sarah wrote the boiler plate letter to her husband - i.e., Dear Bill, I have met someone who etcetera etcetera - and moved her and the children in with Jerry, at his invitation and assistance. Both had announced plans to get married as soon as both their respective ongoing divorces were finalized. Having settled into a routine Bill routinely drove the 40-plus miles to pick up his children on two or three Fridays monthly and returned them to their school Monday mornings. In time the children had toys, clothes, and supplies to live in both places. My story starts on September 24th of 2012, 13 months later, when Sarah Harrison married Jerry Jones, her lover for the past two years. She had a fleeting moment of 'not doing the right thing' fear at her wedding because not a single one of her family or a former friend of Bill and hers would make the trip to East central N.J. to attend - not to mention all her staff were invited, but also were no shows. But the Dean's List MBA fancied herself madly in love with her new found god-like figure and found his friends just fantastic people. She chose to just overlook his rank stupidity, both on and off the playing field. As the ceremony proceeded she recalled that on TV he only talked to sports reporters after rehearsing what he would say because he was a down right embarrassing at impromptu speach. For their honeymoon they elected to take a round trip shoreline luxury cruise out of New York to Halifax the next day. The ship would be stopping at a number of ports to view the autumn leaves and then on the return from Halifax stopping at more small ports for tours and scenery viewings. Sarah had made arrangements with her ex-husband to keep the Children in her absence. Her excitement was high as they boarded the shoreline luxury cruise ship in Manhattan. Sarah and Jerry's cruise North was sometimes wonderful, filled with lots of fucking and site seeing at the stops. What was slightly upsetting to Sarah was that a young lady with an elderly escort was on the cruise and sat at their 12-person table for evening meals. Jerry couldn't keep his eyes off the stunningly beautiful lady. But, back in their stateroom, Jerry would 'take her to heaven again' and she would conclude that her anxiety about Jerry's true feelings for her was misplaced. Once Sarah used the bathroom and later followed Jerry to the gym, where she found her new husband chatting up the same young lady outside it. But, again, Jerry later said, "The small gym was crowded and we were chatting while awaiting you and some of the passengers to exit." She sort of believed him and they continued to enjoy the cruise. The honeymooners started having palpable problems on their first night traveling South out of Halifax. In the dining room, Jerry had purposely chosen two seats where his was beside the beautiful 20-something blond hair woman. Sarah was livid with anger but not wanting to start an argument, she took her seat on Jerry's other side. The group conversation at the table was about the poor nutrition of most food stuffs, although on this luxury cruise it had been prepared by a celebrated chef. The stunning lady announced to the table, "The only food I normally eat is vegetables, fruit, and meat so, needless to say, this has been a near starvation cruise for me - and, keeping my energy up is important since I am very active. For example, I biked 100 miles for charity in July around Lake Tahoe." Sarah's new husband was suddenly star-struck and shifted his seat angle so he could look directly at the stunning sexy lady and asked, "Tell us more about your diet?" She smiled and said,, "It's call the Paleo diet, and ..." The other diners immediately lost interest in the beautiful young lady as well as her diet and her conversation. They began talking amongst themselves. Sarah tried twice to interrupt her new husband's and the goddess's conversation about the wonders of the paleolithic diet, but afterwards gave up. Jerry, by way of contrast, completely ignored his wife as she sat idle because he was mesmerized by the young lady's explanation - and probably by her warm blue eyes and pronounced breasts with much cleavage showing. An elderly woman sat to Sarah's right and was busy in a conversation with the gentleman on her right. Forty-five minutes later the other eight had finished dinner and left the table. The elderly gentleman escorting the young lady then asked the waiter to bring his walker and afterwards ambled away himself. Sarah rose livid with anger, leaving the two alone and blindly went to their stateroom. She used the toilet and then lettered a message for her husband that she was in a particular bar, mid ship, and to please join her. She sat at the bar becoming more panicky and inebriated with every drink. As the abandoned wife kept watching for her errant husband, she kept saying, "Surely he will be here soon." One hour later she returned to her stateroom because Jerry never joined her at the bar. The seas were high and she was inebriated. So, she staggered into their stateroom. Jerry Jones was there. But, to her horror, he was packing his suitcase, and she slurred, "Jerry, what the hell happened to you and to us? What are you doing?" He condescendingly looked at her and said "There is no 'us,' Sarah. Our marriage was the shortest on record. Read my lips, it's over! My attorney will contact you about a no-fault divorce." Her Irish temper flared and she slobbered while squalling. She kept standing up by holding on to Jerry. She tried to beat the mountainous man on the chest. She asked, "What did I do to deserve this, Jerry?" "Goodbye Sarah, let's be civil to each other in the office and keep this quiet, O.K.," as he rolled his suitcase to the stateroom door? Her husband then gently took her arms and force-led her to the bed. She sat down and then lay down and then slowing started passing out as thoughts and memories of her first rejection by a man when a Freshman in college whirled in her head. As unconsciousness was just about to overpower her mind, Sarah's last thought was that this moment was the low point of her life. She was unaware that after checking that she was all right, Jerry clutched his suitcase handle and walked out of the stateroom and of her life. Full consciousness came the next morning when the captain announced, "Welcome to beautiful Portland. Passengers are now free to disembark..." Noting that it was 10:30 she showered and found some food and black coffee. The ship was almost deserted except for crew as most all the passengers were ashore. The captain gave periodic updates on Hurricane Sandy's churning north in the Atlantic, to which Sarah couldn't possibly grasp that a storm had anything to do with the insurmountable problems descending on her life. She stayed aboard ship and went to the small room that was the ship's public library and game room to see if she could join a domino or bridge game amongst the senior citizens. But she saw the gentleman who had escorted the young lady sitting along, with his walker beside him. She sat next to him and said, "Hello. My name is Sarah Harrison Jones, what is your name again?" "George Carver, pleasure to meet you," as he extended his gnarled hand, which she shook. She asked, "Were you and the young lady, who had been accompanying you to dinner, companions on this cruise?" He replied, "I am sorry, but no. I paid the single supplement and so did she. Miss Anna was kind enough to help me get to my room because she was behind me in line at check in at the cruise terminal - she carried my small bag for me as well." Sarah asked, "So you know nothing about her?" "No. She offered to take her evening meal with me after helping me navigate to the dining room. My morning meal is via room service." He hesitated for a moment and continued, "I will be leaving the ship because my great grandson is picking me up when we dock at Bar Harbor tomorrow morning. My children are frightened for me." Sarah thanked him and left. She thought to herself, "I had better find out about the hurricane because it might be big. But this isn't Florida? what is going on here?" She faced the most probable fact that her new husband moved into the young lady's stateroom and the two have by now left the ship together. Since they were both struck with each other, Jerry would not be returning because of the ship's terminus in the hurricane and the excitement of his new squeeze. Since she was in port she turned on roaming and called her ex-husband so she could talk to her children. Bill answered, "Yes, Sarah." "Will you put the children on your phone so I can talk to them?" "Sarah, they are at the same drop-off child care center that we previously used. I had to come into the shop because we are busy nailing up plywood on the windows and tying down tools and objects. We want to be prepared when the hurricane damage comes this far inland. I will pick them up about 4 if you will still be ashore at that time? I have also bought some canned and dried food and water so we three should be able to weather the storm - you don't need to worry about them. This evening I will be taping my patio door." She said, "That is alright, Bill. I will be in Bar Harbor in the morning and I will call back then. Thank you for taking care of the children." That evening, Sarah helped the old gentleman from his stateroom to the dining room table. There were only ten passengers at the table tonight. As if it were calculated to make Sarah feel even worse, the others wouldn't even look at her or include her in any bit of their conversation. Their topic was the coming hurricane and how it might affect the cruise terminus in Manhattan. In Bar Harbor the next morning, Sarah helped the old gentleman into the tender boat and the two went ashore. He said, "Thank you so much Ms Jones for helping me," as they were now standing on the tender boat dock. He continued, "Oh! I see my great grand son over there who is walking this way." After an introduction, the young man hugged his grandpa and said, "I am double-parked about about 50 feet away. Can you walk that far, Papa?" Sarah went alone to a pastry shop and ordered coffee and blueberry pie. She then pulled out her phone and dialed her ex-husband's cell phone. The only sound was a busy-circuit signal. She sat stunned and for the first time was somewhat panicky. "What to do?" After a second cup of coffee her phone rang and it was her ex-husband. She said, "Thanks for calling, Bill. The children and I drove into Western NY to buy some more supplies. We are on our way home, now. I will give the phone to them so you can talk." Sarah really enjoyed talking to her children, and they to her, but about 10 minutes into the conversation, the circuit again went dead." The morning of the 30th the captain announced over the ship's intercom, "Welcome to historic Boston," waking Sarah again! She walked off the ship alone, and had zero interest in visiting the historic sites there - although that is one of the reasons she and Jerry had planned this honeymoon cruise. She took a bus to the South Station and then walked across the street to a Starbucks. While looking at the Globe's car dealer ads for the kind of car she was interested in, she made up her mind to lease a car drive the 200 plus miles home. Then the full reality of, "I have no home because Jerry's Penthouse is not my home and I couldn't get there anyway!" hit her between the eyes. She then found the dealer and the sport van she thought her first husband might want to buy off her hands ultimately, because, hopefully, his business could use it. While she studied the paper she watched the monitor in the coffee shop detailing the storm that had just this morning was approaching landfall. During this time she repeatedly attempted to call Bill and was met with a busy circuit signal. She then called her office and again the same busy signal. When it was sailing time out of the Boston Harbor, the captain announced, "Both cruise terminals in New York City are closed. We will stay in the Boston port overnight and make an announcement in the morning. The gangway will be open at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning." The following morning, Sarah forced herself to eat breakfast aboard ship and then walked off rolling her luggage. The rain was falling in torrents but she finally managed to jump into a taxi and gave him the address of the car dealer listed in the ad. With her credit card and near perfect credit score, the dealer salesman went out of his way to write the lease papers for the sport van and even timidly asked her to have lunch with him afterwards - which she declined. Her goal was to drive to Hartford and get a room. She finally found a nice hotel that had as its only vacancy their honeymoon suite, and she rented it. This was near downtown Hartford. After learning that she could not call her children, she saw on the news that the entire county where Jerry's Penthouse and her place of employment was located, had no power and that officers were out to deal with looters. The more northern and inland city, where her children were, was not mentioned on the news. Her dilemma was that her relatives were in the Mid-West and she was friendless and she literally had no where to go, perhaps no job, and no home to go to either. She laughed like an insane person and said to nobody, "How can so many major disasters happen to one person at the same time?" Laughably, In the dinning room of the hotel, a stranded business man plaintively asked her to his room to have a drink... She declined, the thought of getting it on with this man was making her nauseous. When she finally lay in her hotel bed to sleep, Sarah's complete exhaustion promptly put her into a sound slumber. The next morning she breakfasted and loaded her luggage and sat in her car. She sat thinking about her options, and was forced against her will to come to a momentous decision - she would drive to her ex-husband's house where her children are. Remembering the map, she would turn south into Northern New Jersey from I-84, and throw herself on Bill's mercy. There literally was nothing else she could do. Burning the miles she began to think about her ex-husband and beat her fist on the steering wheel saying, "How could you, Bitch...?" as she recalled her perfidy. A few miles west on I-84, she had another nightmare thought, "What if Bill says, 'Hell no! Go check in at the homeless shelter'?" Then she countered, "No! Bill would not do that to the mother of his children! He is not capable of revenge. Besides, there is a storm... Well, I am going to tell him everything and the complete truth. Then the chips will fall where they may." Inexplicably, Sarah's entire body then relaxed and she turned off the radio and just listened to the windshield wipers oscillate. She kept refueling the vehicle each time the Gage reached a half tank - for fear of long lines after she turned South. ——- AT 12:33 A.M. just after midnight, on October 1st, Sarah looked and felt like a tramp as she drove into her darkened township in the rain after fourteen grueling hours. Her exhaustion was almost life threatening and the eerie feeling of disaster was everywhere. At several points tree limbs were blocking her path, forcing her to back up and go another route. She had seen civil defense workers moving some of the debris from major roads but not in her former neighborhood. She pulled into her ex-husband's driveway with her gas Gage pegging empty. She willed herself towards the house and pounded on the front door. In about a minute, she saw a flash from a camper lantern through the side window and Bill Harrison called out, "Who is it?" She replied wearily, "It's Sarah Harrison and I am alone, Bill, and I am in trouble. I need your help. Please help me!" The dead bolt and safety chain coming off seemed to Sarah as if it were taking an hour, but Bill finally got the door opened to face his soaking wet, unkempt and decidedly ugly-duckling (at this moment) ex-wife. She took a step inside the open door and then collapsed into her ex-husband arms. She was now unconscious. He gently laid her on the carpeted floor. He then got his rain coat and went out to her vehicle to fetch her suitcase, but found the vehicle locked. He then returned and rummaged through her wet pockets to find her car key and then brought in her suitcase. Kneeling down beside her, Bill said softly into her ear, "Sarah, wake up! You have got to get those wet clothes off of you. He could not revive her, try as he might. She only mumbled, "hmmmmmm" each time he would roust her. He opened her suitcase and got a gown that was on top. He then fetched some towels and pulled off all her clothes and put the gown on her after he dried her. His only thought was, "Dear God! She is so beautiful." He marveled that, at a time like this, he even had an erection. He got some clean sheets and put them on the couch with a couple of blankets and a pillow. Bill lay her on the sheets and then wrapped her up in the blankets and smiled because she was now comfortable. Then he had a thought, "Will she piss on the couch if she doesn't go to the toilet?" He picked up her wet designer jeans and noted that she had done so already in her pants. So he checked on the children and then returned to bed. ———- At 10:30 the next morning consciousness returned to Sarah. She lay on the couch trying to recreate the previous 24 hours in her mind. She did remember going to the guest toilet once and then returning to the couch to sleep. When she finally opened her eyes, her 8 and 10 year olds sat on the floor in front of her cross-legged, just looking at her, but saying nothing. Bill and Sarah's Storm She smiled and raised her arms but the children remained sitting. Then she remembered that she must look like a scare crow. She said, "Hello Janey and Jason, it's Mom." As soon as they heard her voice both were on their knees at the edge of the couch hugging her neck while crying with happiness to see her. After the warm greeting, their Mom said, "Janey, are the bathrooms working?" She replied, "Yes. Daddy said that special generators run motors that makes the water flow." She replied, "Mom needs to go to the bathroom. Will you two stay right here and wait for me?" She returned 15 minutes later and there stood the 13 year old middle schooler who lived across the street. "Hello Betty, is your family O.K.? And how long have you been here?" "Yes, our only damage was a large limb broke off dented Dad's pickup. Mister Harrison asked me to stay with the children until you wake up - he knocked on our door and I came over about 7:00 this morning." Sarah handed a $10 bill to the youngster and said, "Thank you, Betty." After she had gone Janey said to her Mom, "We were afraid that the hurricane would cause you to drown at sea. Where is our 'new Daddy'?" Sarah started crying while formulating the words to say and replied, "He is not and never was a 'Daddy' and Mom is sorry I used the word to describe him. He's alive, though. The only Daddy you two will ever have is the one who cooked your breakfast this morning. Please, let's not ever talk about the 'new Daddy' again. Could you help me find some breakfast?" In the kitchen there was a large pot sitting on a camp stove with some Oatmeal left in it, as if Bill had cooked an extra generous portion for her. With both children beside her and holding on as if she might disappear again, she dipped up the remaining cereal into a bowl and ate it cold. She took one of the apples in a fruit bowl and ate that as well. They returned to the living room. The younger Jason asked, "Are you going to live with us here now?" "Oh my darlings! I won't know how long I will be staying until I talk to your Daddy, but for a few days, anyway." They both jumped up and down exclaiming, "Oh Boy! I have really missed you." No further comment about Jerry Jones was made and the game board was brought out. Sarah joined the children in a new board game they had never played before. Occasionally she would miss her turn because Sarah kept saying a prayer of 'thank you' for being alive and safe and here with her children. ---- It was just before noon and Jerry was in his 16-bay garage that was, of course, closed for business. He ascertained that all seemed well inside in that the preparations for the storm they had made were adequate. He then poured water from the bubbler into a large paper cup and then began driving home. Once he got close to his home he got out his portable hot water heater and made a cup of hot water for his ex-wife. He then poured the packet of instant coffee in the hot water. He arrived home and opened the door with one hand and held her cup of hot coffee with the other. Sarah stood up, obviously smelling the hot coffee and said, "Bill, is that for me?" He shook his head, 'Yes.' She said, "You must know the ordeal I had getting here," as he handed it to her along with the condiment packets with the other hand. She began to cry loudly. She said, "It's wonderful that you did this nice thing for me. How did you know I was getting a no-caffeine headache? It makes my body feel better, anyway. God! If I only had something to make me feel better about myself!" Ignoring her rant, Bill hugged both children and said to them, "Why don't you continue with your game? Your Mom and I will sit at the kitchen table so she can put cream and sugar in her coffee and we can talk. In a few minutes I will call you for lunch, O.K.?" He then led his ex-wife to the kitchen. Once they were sitting on opposite sides of the table and Sarah's facial expression indicated the coffee was 'medicine' really needed, she said, "Thank you, Bill, for saving my life, loving our children, and being a thoughtful gentleman, even after all the pain I have caused you and me and the children." Bill asked, "Care to tell me why you are here alone?" She said, "We did get married and did go on our honeymoon cruise. But Jerry fell for a young, athletic woman who sat at our dinner table during the cruise. The two left the ship together in Portland. He did say that he would have his attorney contact me about a divorce." Bill looked directly at her and asked, "Do you love him?" "I never loved him, dear ex-husband. I only was enamored with all his high flying friends and parties and excitement that he had bought and paid for when he was a star. His attorney prompted him to 'get married to a woman with baggage' as a legal defense stratagem, because his ex-wife was agitating to sue for more of his wealth. That was his only interest in seducing me. Trust me, I was just side-interest pussy for him, while he went on with his life. I can not tell you how badly I feel inside right now, and how thankful I am that I made it to here in the storm." "What happens now, Sarah?" She said, "I am at your mercy. I would appreciate your input on what to do." "O.K., Sarah. Thanks for the explanation. Continue sleeping on the couch until power comes back on anyway and then we will talk." Then he called out to the children, "Who wants a PBJ sandwich?" Both came running into the kitchen. ———— Two days later the electricity came back on again in their township and slowly the traffic on the streets picked up. Bill called his shop foreman and said, "If the circuits are available to call the technicians, lets open up tomorrow. What do you think about calling two technicians who have the skills to operate all the equipment to come in?" His foreman said, "Good idea. I think we can gross enough to pay the overhead, but it will be slow going until commerce is back up to normal." After finishing the call, Bill walked into the living room where his ex-wife was still asleep on the couch. He knelt down beside her and whispered softly, "Sarah, wake up! " She suddenly reached up and hugged Bill's neck tightly as full wakefulness came to her. Her ex-husband's first thought was, "How soon can I get this slut out of my house?" But his second thought was, "I want to hold her so badly." Bill said, "What you need to do is to find out when you will start back to work, look for a place to live, and then plan to move your things into the new place. " She asked, "How about renting me the second bedroom and move the children to the small one you use for an office and move your office to the living room? I would like to live here with our children - and with you, if truth be known. Until now, I never fully grasped just how horrible weekend visitation is for the non-residency parent. Worse, I can see in the children that the visitation is a barrier to their development so that happiness and success might someday follow." "Sarah, you are hallucinating. The only reason I tolerated you crashing here is that the children missed you and I am a Good Samaritan." She plaintively replied, "Bill, why can't we live together as room mates independently? We both could influence the children equally since the visitation would be daily for both of us and it would cost you a lot less money, as I would pull my weight." "Sarah, I don't know how much clearer I can make this but you are Nasty and I want you out of my life! I am not talking about your fucking around with the football player and his friends either. That can be washed away and forgiven. I am talking about the stimulants, music and the kicks and the lifestyle you have embraced and absorbed into your view of life - that doesn't wash away." She asked, "But can't you see that this ordeal I have suffered has changed me fundamentally?" "No, Sarah. I can not see that. If you were once again living quietly in a suburban home and commuting to work, then boredom would overcome you again. You would pine for the rocking good times that the go-go crowd showed you. Then, living with a simple shop owner would again become intolerable to you. It would only be a matter of time before you were in someone else's bed." "Bill, I understand why you feel that way, but you are so wrong because I have changed. The very thought of listening to obnoxious and mindless party music anymore disgusts me. In fact I never liked it - I only went along to get along. Oh God! What have I done to my life and to my children's life?" Bill said, "Sarah, I will help you get yourself reorganized as much as I can, but understand there is no 'us.' I propose that I enroll the children in a local school when they re-open. And, if you choose not to settle in our township then you certainly can take them out and re-enroll them wherever you choose to live after you are settled. By the way, power has not been restored to the area you live and work and have the children enrolled in school - according to the news this morning - so take your time but please move as soon as possible..." Resigned to the reality staring her in the face, she said, "Jerry Jones is a major stock holder so I might not even have a job when things get back to normal. Yes, Bill, please enroll the children in the parochial school. I will countersign the monthly check you send me and give it to you - believe me, profiting from our divorce was never one of my goals. In point of fact, I don't want un-earned money, and, I admire you so much until I just couldn't take yours. In fact, I love you so much until...," she said, not finishing the sentence. Her last statement hit Bill Harrison squarely in the face, as he carefully considered the details of her statement. —— Two days later, power had been restored in the town where Sarah's plant was located. She drove to the plant and went inside. The Plant Manager and the CEO greeted her. There were some employees doing preventive maintenance on the machinery and retooling to start production. The obese CEO said "Hello, Sarah. How is the newly wed doing?" It dawned on the distraught woman that Jerry Jones had already talk to him since he didn't use plural on the 'newly wed.' She said, "Between the storm and my recent ex-husband, Jerry Jones, life is pretty grim. At least my children and I came through and safely - thanks to the children's father who saved our three lives. The ship stopped in Boston and I leased a sport van and drove to the house my first husband and I shared for years." He said, "Well, your second husband called this morning. It seems that he is still in Nevada and will be relocating to Boston shortly. He asked me to give you a message that," pausing to get a piece of paper to read to her, and continued, "Reads, 'I am canceling my lease on the penthouse and Sarah, you are welcome to stay there until October 31st. A friend will be moving my personal effects out to public storage. Best of luck to you.'" She asked, "Is he not coming back to work in his office at all?" "What work? heh heh He just disrupted things. But, Apparently he will, thankfully, not even come to say hello or goodbye. We finally will have some peace and productivity around here. The work force starts Monday if we can tool up in time - we have lots of back orders. Plan on starting back then, if you would?" "I will be here and ready, Mr. Grimes. Thank you." Later at the Penthouse, Sarah had a crying spell again and even heard ghost sounds of their twosomes and occasional threesomes in this bedroom. She looked at Jerry's round bed and grimaced with pain. She found a new determination to press on and estimate how much of the material she would bring to a new rental place and what would be left behind for Jerry Jones to dispose of. After her inventory lists were completed, she picked up the children's school books and took them to their school to turn in. After she told the Sister the children were safe, she then had her transfer them to "Our Lady of the Lake" in Bill's township. The Sister then asked, " Janey is such a smart, full-of-life young lady. Is she and her brother taking the divorce of her parents well? I hope Jason comes out of his shell-shocked state since he is back with his father." "Yes, much better. Both children were awfully glad for my safety and to see me. My seeing them again was a major miracle in my life. I had driven from Boston just north of the main thrust of the storm and I wasn't sure I was going to make it." They said their goodbyes. Back at Bill's home, she noted that he had been there and brought in some groceries. She called him. "Hello Sarah," "I am back at your house with Betty and the Children. I saw you bought some groceries, mind if I cook dinner for us?" "That would be great. I should be home by six. We will talk when I get there." Later at the dinner table, the children were cutting up and talking excitedly about a new game that Betty had taught them. Both adults were forcing back tears of happiness that their children's life was almost back to normal. She briefed Bill on what the CEO had told her. After she washed the dishes she joined Bill in the living room while the kids worked on a puzzle on the floor in front of them. Sarah showed her list of things to move and said, "I can live in Jerry's penthouse until the 31st if I wish, but I have got to find a place to live, and I want to find it close by you - like find a house to rent." Bill said, "Well, there just happens to be a house that is a cookie-cutter copy of this one for lease on the street behind us, four houses down - It is vacant and has a sign in the yard as of this morning. If you rented that house, the children could walk to our respective houses down the alley. Also, I have tech helpers and trainees who are laid off right now. You could hire one to drive the company truck over to your penthouse and assist you in getting your things? It would cost you, at most, a couple of days of his wages wages." "Oh yes, gladly! I will check out the rental tomorrow. Thanks, Bill." She looked him with pleading eyes but Bill apparently felt nothing since there was no response. The two adults read to the children, taking turns, and put them to bed. ———— Two days later, Bill's employee, Luke, and Sarah sat in the cab of the bob-tail driving to Jerry Jones' penthouse. The two of them rolled flattened boxes up to the top and packed her things and placed them in the boxes. Then Luke two-wheeled them down to the transport. After one last walk through, Sarah took one final look around and grimaced that all the fun parties she once had remembered were now a nightmare memory. All of the once exciting people were now viewed by her as rancid. She locked the door and stopped the elevator at the building security post to turn in her keys and then rejoined Luke. She got into her own sedan that she had left parked in her assigned spot. The shuttle picked her and Jerry up for transportation to the cruise terminal. She drove to Bill's home in her sedan while Luke drove to his home in the Bob-tail. Luke would be joining her at the new home the next morning for unloading. When Sarah got to Bill's house and let herself in, it was past supper time and Bill was reading stories to both children. She was exhausted but joined them in their bedroom. Both screamed, "Mommy" at the same time holding their arms up. She rushed to each of them. She said, "It's bedtime, sleep tight. I will see you tomorrow. I love you two very much." She went into the kitchen and broke into tears because Bill had left her a plate with meatloaf and vegetables in the refrigerator. After warming it up, she sat down to eat. Bill joined her. He asked, "Is the new place you rented furnished?" "Yes, completely, as the owners have moved to Florida - 'not wanting to spend another winter freezing their asses off,' to quote their agent. I paid a first and last month rent payment. This should be the last night I will sleep on your couch, though I am reluctant to live alone in my new residence. In fact, if truth be known I would rather sleep on your couch permanently, and stay with you, than to live alone in the house behind you." "Sarah, that can not be, but I don't see why we four can not have dinner together occasionally." She smiled and said, "Well, that is worth a whole lot." ——— By November 1st, their township in Norther NJ was almost back to normal. On several days Bill's sixteen bays produced good revenue and Sarah had adjusted to the long commute again. Typically the school bus would deliver the children to the 13-year old Betty's house who would accompany them to their home where the three would do their 'homework' or played. When Bill came home he would cook dinner, sometimes enough for Sarah who always came late because of the NJ traffic. In time, Sarah found herself reluctant to leave Bill's house and go to her own. Sometimes one or both of the two children would go with her, but in their mind it was obvious to Sarah and the children that 'home' was Bill's house. Later Bill had checked out his furnace because winter was upon them. After he finished, he walked over to Sarah's house to check out hers as well. He walked in and Sarah was playing Sinatra and other 'Great American Music' on her table top Bose. Stunned, Bill paused and enjoyed the song being sung. He thought, "She had no idea that I was coming over here so she couldn't just have turned this on to impress me." He walked into the living room where she and the children were playing a game on the floor. All three stood excitedly. Bill said, "I just want to check out your furnace if you don't mind. You guys continue what you are doing." "Oh please do. I was chilly this morning, already." After Bill returned from the basement and showed her how the energy efficient thermostat worked, she said, "The children are going to bed soon. Want to say good night to them?" After he hugged them both he walked out of their bedroom. He found a cup and made himself a hot tea and sat down at her dining table. Soon she came out and said, "Oh! You are still here. Good! Let me make one and join you. I have some pretty good lemon pie, want a piece?" "That would be nice," he replied, and thinking, "God I want to touch her so badly, but if I do there is no turning back. I ought to get the hell out of here because I am too old to have blue-balls." The two ex-spouses then chatted amiably about general things like work and the children's school progress and an hour later, Bill went home. ———— After several weeks of this routine the weather had turned very cold and this Friday night Sarah came in to Bill's house an hour late from work. She obviously had been drinking some. She looked in on the children and then came back to the dining room smiling. Bill asked, "Have you had dinner?" "Two highballs and several bar snacks. Bill for the first time, in the years I have worked at this job, the ladies who work for me asked that I happy-hour with them. Maybe they think I am no longer a 'Chihuahua Bitch.' They confessed to me that that is what they use to call me. " "That is completely apropos and hilarious - a tiny dog in heat - and I am glad you had fun. I sometimes join the techs for a beer, but not often." She continued, "Also, a supply parts salesman asked me to lunch yesterday and I declined." "Was he not your type?" "No he wasn't, as you are my type. Bill, have you still not gone out with your cashier - she is awfully cute and available." "No. She is not my type either, because you...," and he didn't finish the sentence. She was quickly on the floor kneeling beside Bill and said, "Dear ex-husband, the last time a man was inside me was in Halifax. I am clean and disease free now. Can we not be what you men call, 'fuck-buddies?" Bill and Sarah's Storm Bill chuckled and said, "That's what a couple of my techs have but I care too much for you for that and you know it." "Bill, think of me as a fallen women and lets enjoy each other. I can see that you have an erection so I know you want me at least as much as I want you. I don't expect and don't ever want the kind of cheap thrill from you I experienced when I went off the rails with those phony merrymakers." "Sarah, I love you but I don't trust what you might do in the future - your perfidy really, really hurt." She reluctantly got off her knees and said, "I know it did and words can not undo that. There is nothing I can say to make the pain go away and convince you that I have changed. But I am sorry and I am patient and will keep trying." Sarah reluctantly got her coat out of the closet and made her way to the front door. She said, "Good night!" ——— Saturday night, two weeks later, Bill was in bed trying to sleep. He recalled the details of his and Sarah's honeymoon right after they both graduated from college. He remembered that they couldn't get enough of each other then. All his muscles ached wanting her again and he was torn about what to do. His introspection went, "I don't want anyone else and yet I don't trust a future with Sarah. What to do? Could we be simply 'fuck-buddies'? No! But damn it! At my age I should not be masturbating, but..." He suddenly stopped. Remembering that the children were asleep in their room in his house he dialed Sarah. "Yes, Bill." "Would you like to spend the night with me?" "I will be there in ten minutes." The End Epilogue: The four lived and loved together for three years and then signed a prenup separating their assets. They then got married the second time. They had planned for a small civil wedding, but all of Sarah's staff and Bill's employees attended. Sarah's Mom and Dad flew in from Peoria. The topic of Sarah's perfidy never came up so they never discussed it again.