TITLE    : Even When She's Right
STORYID  : even-when-shes-right
SUMMARY  : She's still wrong for... for me.
AUTHOR   : Ephesus14@lit
DATE     : 2020-04-25
CATEGORY : adult-romance
FLAGS    : h
TAGS     : |cheating wife|loving wife|loving wives|romance|wife|romantic|


As with most of my stories, there is very little sex. Thank you, again, you know who you are!



Even when she's right she's still wrong ... for me!



*****



The car sputtered, then ran okay for half of a block, then sputtered again. This went on for several minutes until it finally stopped running. I was able to coast around a corner and down a small hill. I stopped the car and turned the ignition off.



My name is Anthony (Tony) Barone and I own my own limousine service. My business actually got its start when I was 18. I rented a limo to take my date to our senior prom and felt that I overpaid. I thought that I could do it better and cheaper, so at age 19, I bought my first used limo from the company I had originally rented from. It was the oldest car in their fleet and they wanted to get rid of it.



My parents wanted me to go to college, but I convinced them to hold off for a couple of years. If my idea worked, I wouldn't have to go; but if it failed I would go to college, and I'd be in debt to boot.



In addition to delaying college, I convinced my father to loan me enough money to make the down payment on the used limo, buy a used tuxedo, and a pair of used patent leather shoes. The tux and shoes came from one of the formal attire rental stores in town. They periodically sold out of date tuxes and shoes which have reached their rental limit. I managed to get them to toss in two slightly stained formal shirts which were no longer able to be perfectly cleaned.



And the Complete Limousine Service was established.



I barely made it through that first year. In fact, had there been any major repairs on my one and only limo, I would have been screwed. As it was, the car held together and I made it through. My second year was somewhat better; In my third year, I was able to buy another used limo and hire another driver. The fourth year was better still and I added a 15 passenger party bus to my fleet. I was just short of 24 years old with a successful business. 



One of the bigger and better hotels in the city leased one of my limos when theirs blew an engine. It had to be on call 24/7 for a week. We made it with no problems. The hotel management liked me and I liked them, so they started recommending my company when their limo was unavailable. Then another hotel did the same. Pretty soon, the five biggest and best hotels in town were either using my company or recommending us to their clients when their cars were not available.



The years went on and my business grew. My social life suffered because I was either driving at all hours of the day or night, or at the junkyard scheduling trips, talking to drivers, changing oil, fixing flat tires, or working on one of the hundreds of things the business required. The junkyard was not really a junkyard. It was the garage where all of my equipment was garaged. I had people who could do everything that needed doing, but I felt that it was mine and I needed to be there. That attitude came to cost me dearly. One of the hotels in the city had a major international company book a weeklong seminar in their hotel. The company had a manufacturing plant locally, and one of their requirements for the seminar was that at least three limos had to be available for the use of the company VIP's 24/7 for the week. My company was chosen by the hotel to provide them. By then I had I had nine limos and three party buses and none of them were over three years old; and two of the cars were brand new.



My point of contact for the contract was Wanda Dedham. She was the Director of Marketing for the Company's local plant. She was on the fast track with the company and she worked hard to let everybody know it. I had met her several times and had even driven her on more than one occasion. She was all business all the time, and was neat, tidy, and reminded me of a "Schoolmarm". Do you remember them from the old Western movies? They wore long, straight skirts and long sleeved blouses buttoned up to the neck. Their hair was fixed in something I believe was called a "bun". I'm probably wrong about the name of the hairstyle, but I think you get my drift. 



Her breasts, what there was of them, were tiny. Not that there's anything wrong with small breasts; I've fondled, pinched, pulled, squeezed, kissed, and sucked on my share of them. As a matter of fact, most of the ones I've seen have been small to average. There was one girl, however, who made up for all the small ones.



Wanda Dedham really liked being the boss and that was okay with me; after all, I was in the service industry and the customer was always right ... except when it came to my cars. Her job was to ensure that a car was available whenever it was needed and that the interior was clean and met the conditions of the contract. Her job was not to lift the hood and check the oil, or the coolant; which she did. One time.



One of my drivers told me that she had done exactly that to his car, so I took a copy of my contract and went to see her. We met in the hotel lobby. "Would you be so kind as to show me where it says you are required to check under the hoods of my cars?" I stuck out my hand with my contract in it.



At that point, one of her minions came up to us, excused himself and spoke. "Miss Dedham, would you look at these please?" He handed her a clipboard.



"Of course," she said and started to take the clipboard. I reached and took it then handed it back to her minion.



"I don't know where you come from, but here if we are engaged in a conversation we have the good manners to finish that conversation before starting another one," I said to her. Not that we had actually engaged in conversation, but I figured I was there first.



"But this might be important," she said reaching for the clipboard.



"I hope it involves getting a new car service because you just lost this one." I tossed the contract on a nearby table and left. Was it a stupid and rash move on my part? You bet your ass it was, but I was pissed. I have no idea why something as minor as her checking under the hoods of my cars pissed me off, but it did. I guess I could offer the excuse that I was exhausted, but, hell, I really don't know why I did it. Maybe I was just having a bad day. 



I had gotten outside. My three cars and drivers were there. "All right. Saddle up and get the cars back to the junkyard. This contract is over," I announced. 



"Mr. Barone. Mr. Barone," I heard, "if you move those cars, I'll have your ass."



"And if you did. It would be the best ass you would ever have. Take 'em home boys."



"Wait. Please." There was a pause. "I may have been a bit hasty. As I recall, you wanted to discuss this." She had my contract in her hand. 



"Not anymore."



"Mr. Barone, I apologize. You are absolutely correct. I should have told that person to wait."



Her apology sounded sincere so I softened a bit. "Hold on, boys." I told my drivers. 



"What would you like to discuss?" She asked.



"I'd just like to know where it says you have the right to look under the hoods of my cars."



"I was just trying to make sure they were ready for our executives."



"Have any of your executives ever ridden in your personal car?"



"Of course."



"Did you inspect under the hood before they got in?"



"I don't have to. I know that my car is ready."



"So do I Miss Dedham. I know that my cars are ready, so I don't need or want you inspecting under their hoods. You are free to inspect inside the cars at any time to make sure your standards are met, but I am responsible for the mechanical end." I realize that I was responsible for their cleanliness as well, but that wasn't germane at that point. 



"It is important that my people get a good ride," she said.



"I'd be surprised if you know what a good ride is," I countered.



"I've had my share of good rides, Mr. Barone. One of the rides you gave me was a good one." It was at this point that I saw her start to smile.



"Only one? I'll have you know, I give the best rides in town." Her smile was contagious. I smiled back and my attitude softened. Now it was just a game.



"I doubt that you give better rides than anybody else, Mr. Barone." Her eyes locked on mine.



"Let me give you another ride and it will re-define for you what a really good ride is, Miss Dedham." I heard laughter coming from my drivers. She reached out my contract to me and I took it.



I watched as she went back inside. Her ass moved with a rhythm she couldn't hide; not that she was trying very hard. The hotel doorman was holding the door for her and just before she disappeared inside she looked over her shoulder at me and smiled. I smiled back. Maybe she wasn't as bad as I thought.



"And just exactly what are you three monkeys laughing about?" I asked my guys as I turned to them.



"You should have heard yourselves, boss," said one of them. "It was like the two of you were talking about fucking, er ... uh ... riding each other."



"You're nuts. I don't even like her," I said laughing.



"Sure didn't sound like it," said another one.



"Just make sure we don't fuck up this week," I said as I walked away and they started laughing again.



We made it through the week in fine shape. She even told the hotel manager, Nathaniel (Nate) Limon, that our service had been excellent. 



That was that same day my car sputtered to a stop on my way home. I guess it was like the story goes; that the mechanic's car is always the worst mechanically. I put a lot of effort into making sure my limos and buses were in top notch condition, but tended to ignore my personal car. 



When my car died, I had to walk the three or so blocks to my house. Cutting through the 'Green Area' behind my neighborhood, I was within sight of my home when I saw my wife and a man in my back yard. Our backyard was situated so that the County Green Area, which was used for walking, jogging, bike riding, pet walking, or any anything else people wanted to use it for, almost encircled our whole yard so none of our neighbor's yards were visible. My wife, Janice, was wearing shorts and a white tee shirt. The man was wearing either very small underwear or very small swimming trunks. Since we didn't have a swimming pool, my money was on the underwear. My body is better than average, but this guy was tanned and buff.



He had our water hose and was spraying Janice, who seemed to be trying to stop him. At one point, she turned her back to him and I could plainly see her nipples through the thin shirt. 



"Stop," she said. "I'm soaking wet and it's cold."



"I've seen parts of you wetter." He said.



"That was different." She said. She turned around to face him.



"You might as well not have anything on." He said. "That's a really nice view."



She said something I couldn't hear and took a step toward him. When she did, she slipped on the wet grass and fell on her ass. He dropped the hose and jumped on top of her, straddling her. She squealed. He reached down and moved some of her wet hair out of her face. Then he moved his hands to her breasts and started squeezing them. I could almost hear her moan. I watched as he slid down her body, pulled her shirt up and started sucking on first one breast then the other. She tried to push him away.



Janice Cooper and I had been married for just over two years. We met when I drove some women to a bridal shower in one of my party buses. They were a rowdy bunch of partiers. I got them to the party and waited. Unless we contracted otherwise, whenever we took passengers somewhere like a party, or dinner, or other event, we waited for them. That way if they decided to leave early, or decided to go someplace else, we were readily available to them. 



On that particular evening, a car with two males in it arrived shortly after I got there with the ladies. At one point during the evening, the males came out wearing towels around their waists. They came over and asked me if I had a cigarette. I told them no. I asked if they were strippers.



"Well, we start as strippers, then we do whatever they want us to do. We generally wind up getting blowjobs or laid; or both."



"How often do you do this?" I asked.



"Every weekend, man," they said at the same time with huge grins.



We talked for a bit longer until one of the women came to the door and yelled for them to come back in.



"Have fun," I yelled after them.



"We always do!"



It was two in the morning when the women came out. Two of them were sober. I dropped them off at the bride's house. The last one out of the bus, handed me an envelope and thanked me.



"You're most welcome." I said. "Why aren't you drunk?"



She laughed. "Because I have more fun sober. I'm Janice Cooper by the way."



"Tony Barone." We shook hands and she went inside.



I took the bus back to the junkyard and cleaned it inside and out. It had been one of the good trips and nobody had thrown up. Cleaning a bus or car after someone puked in it was always the worst part of any trip we made. 



I looked in the envelope and it contained $100. They had paid in advance for the trip so this was a very nice tip. My policy was that whatever any driver was tipped, he, or she, kept it all. The only exception to that was if one driver picked someone up and another driver, for whatever reason, took them home, any tip received was divided between the two drivers. I relied on their honesty to split that tip. I never kept my tips. They went into a Company Party fund, which is where I put that $100.



It was two days later when Janice Cooper called. She was taking her parents to dinner for their anniversary. She asked specifically for me to drive, and I picked her up at her house. She sat in front with me until we got to her parent's house. 



I had driven by that house literally hundreds of times and always wondered who lived there. It had an electronically controlled gate and the house was massive. The family obviously had lots of money.



The evening went well. After we dropped her parents off at their house after their dinner, Janice, again, sat in front with me on the drive to her house. 



She had gone to a private girl's school before going to The University of Nebraska where she received a BA in Mass Communication. She was never able to fully explain what Mass Communication was or what you did with a degree in it; and for the time that I knew her, she never used it. 



Her private school was all girls but it was near an all boy's school so they had no shortage of male companionship for dances, movies and the like. In college she dated "several" boys. Several is defined as being more than two, but not many. Her bed companions could also be classified as "several". Given the definition of the word it would be easy to assume that she slept with everyone she dated, but that wouldn't be the case. She, in fact, slept with three men in college; all of them were relatively long term relationships, if you define long term as being longer than six months; at least that's what she claimed.



After graduation, she came home to Omaha. She was very close to her parents, especially her mother, who could only be defined as being a "volunteer". She volunteered for every needy cause that came down the pike. She was on the board of directors for every charitable organization, service organization, musical organization, and amateur dramatic organization in town. As a result, Janice was the same way. The two women felt that by working as volunteers, they were filling a need in their community and they were out to meetings two or three evenings a week.



And so it began. The phone calls, then the dates, then the sex and finally the wedding. Her parents were perfectly happy with her dating me until they found out that I was the guy who drove the limo the night of their anniversary dinner. That's when the shit hit the fan. They tried every way they knew to stop us from seeing each other. Her father even called my company and wanted to talk to the owner. When he found out it was me, he just hung up.



When we told them we were getting married, they really exploded. Their daughter was not going to marry a chauffeur under any circumstances. 



After three months of crying and begging on Janice's part, combined with threats that I would just move in with her, they relented with the proviso that I sign a pre-nup. They weren't too happy when my attorney ripped theirs to shreds and wrote a new one. The bottom line was that whatever was mine before the wedding was mine in the event of divorce and vice versa.



So we married and after our honeymoon in Greece, I moved into her house. It was a very nice house. I even had an office.



We were as happy as I thought any married couple should be. I had my limo business and Janice had her parents and volunteer work. We never hurt for money because they still gave her an allowance and the business was providing me with a very nice income; more than I had ever hoped it would, and, of course, my parents were more than pleased with my success. She spent a lot of time with her parents, which was fine by me; besides, I had heard all the stories about workplace love affairs and I was just insecure enough to prefer her shopping and going to meetings with her mother than having water cooler chats with some asshole trying to get in her panties.



Then my car broke down.



I watched him sucking on her tits for a while then I backtracked and came around to the front door. Upstairs in our bedroom, I found their clothes and a very rumpled bed. I took his wallet and looked through it. His name was Robert Brown and he lived on the other side of town. I copied down all of his personal information for future reference. I also found some business cards. "Vinnie The Bull" It said. "Specialty Dancer". Available for Bridal Showers. On the back of the card, it had a picture of him wearing nothing but a jock strap.



I returned his wallet to his pants.



He could have been one of the dancers at that bridal shower I had taken her to several years previously. I wondered if she had been fucking him all the time we were married. I looked out the bedroom window and he was still on top of her.



I took his clothes downstairs, and went out the kitchen door into the garage. We had coyotes and other critters in the neighborhood, so we kept the trashcan in the garage. I dumped his clothes, including his keys, shoes, and wallet into the trash bin. 



Our garage windows looked out over the backyard. I looked out one of them as I called her. I saw them stop and look around. My ring tone on her phone was the loud cannons from the 1812 Overture so she knew it was me calling. She pushed him off her, jumped up, ran to the deck, picked up her phone, and answered.



"Hi, sweetie," she said to me as he came up and stood beside her.



"Hi," I said. "You sound out of breath."



"I was just watering the back yard."



"Why? Isn't the sprinkler system working?"



Just then, I watched as he reached under her shirt and pinched her nipple. She moaned.



"Are you okay?" I asked. "You moaned like someone just pinched your nipple."



Her eyes got big and she looked around quickly slapping his hand away and pulling down her shirt. I didn't give her a chance to say anything. "Listen sweetie, I'm in a big hurry. I left a contract on my desk and I'm going to swing by and pick it up. I'll be there in about three minutes."



"Holy shit. You have to get out of here. He'll be here any minute," she almost yelled. I heard them slam the back door as they ran inside and upstairs. I cracked open the kitchen door and I heard lots of yelling. They were both soaking wet and had tracked water inside the house and they slipped and slid on the tile floor. It was almost funny to watch them in their panic. They ran upstairs and I heard lots of yelling as they tried to locate his clothing. Then I heard them running down the stairs. He slipped on a stair about halfway down the flight and fell the rest of the way. He was obviously in pain when he stood up.

<hr pg="2" />"Well where the fuck are they?" he groaned as he limped toward the door.



"I don't know. I didn't move them."



They headed for the door as he held his apparently sore ribs. He stopped. "My fucking keys. They're in my pants."



"I don't care. Get out of here." She had taken off her wet tee shirt upstairs and had carried a dry one downstairs with her and was just putting it on as he went out the front door. 



She was standing in the door with water still dripping off her hair as I walked up behind her. "Look at that son of a bitch run. I bet he could run faster if he hadn't fallen down the steps," I said. She literally jumped a foot in the air when she heard me. I never looked at her. "Run, motherfucker," I yelled. "I'm getting my gun." I started laughing as he picked up speed.



I stepped back into the room. "I'll take some of my clothes now. I'll come back tomorrow with boxes and a truck to get the rest." 



She started to say something, but I held up my hand and shook my head as I reached for my phone to call one of my drivers to come pick me up.



Twenty minutes later, I had a ride. I had packed a single suitcase, so didn't need any help. Neither Janice nor I spoke. I got in the front passenger seat and we drove off. While we were driving, I called and made arrangements to have my car towed to our junkyard. Our mechanics could take care of anything that was wrong with it. My driver didn't say anything and didn't ask any questions.



At the junkyard, I had a regular sedan we kept for the few folks who didn't care for limos, but still wanted to be driven someplace. I decided to use it until my car was repaired.



I spent the night in my favorite hotel, The Lincoln. Mr. Limon saw me eating breakfast the next morning, He sat and had coffee with me. I told him why I had spent the night. He told me I was welcome to stay as long as I wanted. I received four calls during breakfast. None from Janice.



At work, I took the garage door opener out of my car and put it in my pocket. I drove the company sedan to a truck rental facility and picked up a small truck. I didn't have much in the house, so didn't need a big one. Robert (Vinnie The Bull) Brown's car was gone when I got to the house.



I backed the truck almost to the garage, took the garage door opener out of my pocket and opened the door. I loaded my tools first. Out of curiosity I looked in the trash can I put his clothing in the day before. They were still there. 



I took four empty boxes with me when I went into the house and to my office. I didn't see Janice. I emptied my desk then took my computer and some other personal stuff and put it in the truck.



Then I went upstairs with more boxes. She was sitting on the bed. She stayed there not speaking as I made two trips to the truck and was back for my third. I figured I had two more trips after this one.



I took a box and went into the bathroom and started cleaning out my side of the cabinet. I felt her behind me.



"Don't you want to know why?" she asked.



"Nah. You'd either lie or figure out a way for it to be my fault, so why bother." I picked up the box and pushed my way past her. A short time later, I put my last load in the truck, took out my key ring and took off the house key. I started to put it on the table by the front door. I looked around and she was walking into the room. She had been crying. I held the key up so she could see it, then put it on the table. I took the garage door opener out of my pocket and put it beside the key.



I walked out and closed the door behind me. I was at the truck with my hand on the door handle when I heard.



"Tony." I looked in her direction. "I'm sorry. Please don't go."



I opened the door, got in, started the truck and drove off.



It took me two days to find an apartment and another week to find an attorney and have the divorce papers served. During that time, she never tried to contact me.



The day after she was served, I was eating lunch in my office when she came in and closed the door. "We have to talk," she said.



"No we don't. There is absolutely nothing you can say that can justify your cheating. Nothing. You can offer any explanation, or make any number of excuses. You can cry or beg, but the fact remains you had sex with another man while married to me. That's inexcusable in any language. If you were unhappy, we could have talked. If I've done something wrong, I should have been given a chance to fix it." I stood, walked to my door and opened it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a business to run."



"You said that if you had done something wrong that you should have been given a chance to fix it. Well, I've done something wrong, so please give me a chance to fix it."



"You can't fix adultery. Once it happens, it happens. You can try to fix problems before they reach this stage, but once adultery happens, there is no fix.



"Tony, please. That was the only time." 



"One time or a thousand, it's still cheating."



She wouldn't leave so I did. I went to the shop area and stayed until I saw her leave a few minutes later.



I never saw her again until we went to court three months later. It was very quick and dirty. Her attorney entered the pre-nup and allowed as how Janice wanted none of the assets earned during the life of the marriage. I certainly didn't object to that and with her parents money, she certainly didn't need any of our relatively small net worth. The judge looked over the paperwork, basically said, "okey doakey", signed the form and we were divorced.



As we left the courthouse, her father passed me. "I told you you didn't deserve her."



"You're right," I said. "I didn't deserve her, but not for the reasons you have in mind."



"What do you mean by that?"



"Why don't you ask her?" I said as she walked up. 



"What did he mean by that?" He asked her.



She looked at me then her father. "It means I cheated on him and he didn't deserve being treated like that ... and he's right." She looked back at me then walked away.



He followed her.



I was in my office one afternoon a few weeks later. My workday was almost over so I was getting ready to go back to my apartment when the Schoolmarm walked in. We had some business with them in the recent past, and I had even driven her on three occasions. All three were company functions when she was hosting a visitor or two from their home office in Philadelphia. We had chatted a couple of times, but nothing of a personal nature.



"Good afternoon, Miss Dedham."



"Oh, come on, Tony. We're old friends. Call me Wanda."



"We're old friends?"



"Well, aren't we?" I smiled. She continued talking. "I thought I'd bring this to you in person. I was going through my after action files for the seminar and came across it. I thought it had been sent, so I decided to bring it myself and apologize for its' delay."



She handed me a letter.



Dear Mr. Barone,



I would like to thank you and your personnel for the outstanding job you did in support of our Seminar at the Lincoln Hotel.



The care and concern your staff showed for the safety and comfort of our senior company officials is something you and your organization should be proud of, and reflects favorably on your leadership. 



Pride in self and profession can't be taught, but it can be encouraged and nurtured and you, apparently, do that very well.



Again, my personal "Thank you" for a job well done.



Wanda Dedham



"That's very nice. Thank you. The staff will appreciate it." The seminar had occurred several months earlier. It would have been easy to just throw the letter in the trash, but she didn't do that. She admitted that it had been overlooked, brought it herself, and apologized. Her stock went up several points in my book.



"You're most welcome." She stood, walked to my office door, turned and spoke. "You and I are friends, you know. She smiled broadly, then left.



A week or so later, I received a call from, Mr. Limon, the Manager of The Lincoln Hotel. He was in a bind. His limo was committed and he needed a replacement stat. He had asked another company for help, but their only available limo broke down. That was the first time he admitted using another service. I thought we were their "go to" company for stuff like this. Maybe I would have to rethink the rates we had been charging them. "Where and when?" I asked.



"The airport in half an hour." 



"Airport?"



"That's right. On the General Aviation side. His name is Smithers. Bring him back here."



"Got it."



"Thank you, Tony." He said.



I grinned. Thank me after you get my bill, I thought. The General Aviation side? That meant he was coming in by private plane.



I made a call over our PA System and there were no drivers available and the cars that were out all had jobs, so I put on my suit coat, grabbed a set of keys and took off. I was cleared through the General Aviation security gate twenty-nine minutes after I got the call. The trip usually took 45 minutes or so. I waited in the waiting room until I was told that my plane was just touching down, and I could drive right up to the plane after they shut down the engines. I didn't need to be told that, I'd done it many times before. I watched as a BBJ (Boeing Business Jet) touched down and taxied over. It had barely stopped when the door opened and the stairs were rolled over to it. At the door, a man with a telephone stuck to his ear stood waiting for the stairs to be readied. In his other hand was a briefcase which cost at least one alligator its' life. Behind him coming down the stairs was none other than Miss Wanda Dedham. Behind her was a man carrying two carry-on cases which looked as expensive as the briefcase. I had opened the trunk expecting there to be some luggage. The man carrying the carry-on's put them in the truck and closed it.



I opened the rear door and Mr. Smithers got in like he did it every day of his life ... which he no doubt did. Miss Dedham opened the other rear door and got in.



"This is the man I was tell ..." Was all I heard her say before the privacy window which separates the driver's compartment from the passenger compartment, closed.



It took forty-five minutes to get to the Hotel. I had barely gotten the car stopped when Mr. Smithers' door was opened by a member of the hotel staff, and he stepped out. Miss Dedham was out almost as fast as he was. I had hit the trunk release and another hotel staff member was there to immediately take the two carry-on bags. I stepped out to see if there was anything I could do, but it was all done.



Most bigwigs when being driven will take the time to at least acknowledge their driver at the end of the ride. Mr. Smithers did not. He still had his phone to his ear as he walked inside. I walked to the passenger side and closed the door, then I closed the trunk lid. Miss Dedham had closed her own door.



Mr. Limon came out and thanked me.



"That's okay, Mr. Limon; but it's gonna cost you."



He laughed. "I assumed it would. He is going back to the airport at two tomorrow afternoon. You interested?"



"Sure."



I drove back to the junkyard, dropped off the limo and went home.



Mr. Limon called the next morning. "Tony. How about it? Will you take him back to the airport?" 



"Still at two?" 



"Yep." 



"I'll be there."



I was there at two when he came out accompanied by Miss Dedham. The trunk was open and only one carryon went in. I opened the door for him. "Come on, Wanda, ride out with me. The driver will bring you back," he said.



She and I just looked at each other. 



We dropped him off at his plane. She walked with him to the stairs, hugged him and kissed him on the cheek then came back to the car. I held the door open for her.



"Would it be okay if I sat up front?" She asked.



"Sure."



The first five minutes were quiet. Then I spoke. "Thank you for the letter. Most people don't take the time to do things like that."



"You deserved it."



"I didn't do anything. My drivers did it all."



"True, but good business and good business practices start at the top. You're a good leader, Tony Barone."



"Thank you. I try."



"You're also pretty calm."



"Usually. Not always." I remembered back to the day I almost pulled my three cars and cancelled our contract.



"What upsets you? Wait, I take that back. What was the last big thing to upset you?"



"That's easy. The last big thing to upset me was finding out my wife cheated."



"Oh, shit. When was that?"



I started telling her just the basics, but ended by telling her the whole story. 



"Well, hell. That would mess up your day."



I chuckled. "It certainly did mine."



"Why?"



"Why what?"



"Why did she cheat? Did she ever tell you?"



"No. She started to, right after I caught her, but I told her I wasn't interested."



"Christ, I'd sure want to know why."



"Like I told her, I figured she'd either lie or figure out a way for it to have been my fault."



"Was it?"



"Was it what?"



"Your fault."



"You, know, I've thought a lot about it and I'm sure a big part of it was."



"What part?"



"Well, I was so busy with my business that I ignored her a lot, I suppose. I worked some ungodly hours and spent very little time with her. Dinner together was a rarity and conversation was almost non-existent."



"Christ, Tony. No wonder she cheated. If I were that far down on your food chain, I'd cheat too, just to get some attention. You didn't want her to tell you why she cheated because you knew why. You were an asshole. If I had been her, I would have done something worse.



"What could be worse?"



"Oh, I don't know. Cut off your dick, stick it in your mouth and make you watch some guy fuck me."



I fought to regain control of the car as it swerved all over the road. Never in a million years would I have expected words like that out of her mouth. "Where in the world did you ever come up with something like that?" I asked her.



"When I was small, I heard my mother say it to my father."



"Did he cheat?"



"Not after she threatened to do that to him."



"No, goose. Did he cheat to cause her to threaten him?"



"I don't think so. The next time you see him you can ask him."



"The next time?"



"Yeah."



"When have I ever seen him?"



"You just dropped him off."



"Smithers is your father?"



"Yep."



On reflection, I should have known when she kissed him.



"Holy shit." I said. 



She smiled. "Does that mean you're not taking me out to dinner tonight?"



For the second time, the car swerved almost out of control. I managed to get it under control in time to see the blue lights and hear the siren behind me. "Well shit." I said as I pulled over.



"So, Mr. Professional limo driver. I certainly hope you aren't demonstrating your superior driving skills with paying passengers in the back seat," said the State Trooper.



"No sir. I was distracted for just a second."



"Distracted, how?"



"It's my fault, officer," said Wanda. Wanda? Since when did I start calling her Wanda?"



"Exactly how is it your fault?" He asked.



"I told him I was going to cut his dick off, stick it in his mouth and make him watch some guy fuck me."



His mouth opened and he looked at me then at her before he spoke as if not knowing what to say. "Well ... uh ... Mister, I ... uh... I can't think of anything I could do to you that compares to that, so ... uh, be careful what you do, and, ... uh, keep your eyes on the road, and uh... I'd watch my step if I were you. I believe she means it. Have a nice day." He seemed in a hurry to leave and I thought I heard him laughing as he walked back to his patrol car.



I looked over at her and she was smiling.



"Should I ask again?" She asked.



"No, once was enough. If you ask again, I could kill us both."



"Okay, what's the answer? I'm single, and you're divorced and we both have to eat. Are we having dinner or not."



"Oh, what the hell. Why not."



She told me her address but nothing else was said until I dropped her off.



"What time will you pick me up?" she asked.



"How about 7:00?" That was just a couple of hours away.



"Okay. Where are we going? I have to know how to dress."



"Do you eat meat?" I asked not knowing if she was vegetarian or vegan.



"Yes."



"Then how about Johnny's Steak House?"



"Great. See you at seven."



My head was still swirling in circles as I stood in my shower, then got dressed. At 7:00, I pulled in her driveway in my personal car. She must have been watching for me because I just barely had time to shut the engine off and get out before her door opened and someone stepped outside.



At first, I just stared at her, thinking whoever she was, her husband or date was one lucky man; but why was she coming out of Wanda's house. She was an absolute beauty. I just stood and stared as she glided toward me. That's the only way to describe how she moved. She glided. (Or is it glid?); anyway, she moved toward me like she was floating on air. 



She got within five feet of me and spun around. "What do you think?"



I just stared.



"Well? She asked.



I was still staring so she came up to me and snapped her fingers in front of my face. "Earth to Tony. Earth to Tony. Come in Tony."



I shook my head to clear it. "Who are you?" I finally stuttered.



She laughed and grabbed my arm. "I'm a pretty lucky girl, that's who I am. I'm going to dinner with Tony Barone." She said as she led me to my car. 



I managed to have the presence of mind to open the door for her and I watched as she turned to face me, then sat with her legs together, then turned in her seat to face the front. Never once giving me a glimpse of what promised to be perfect legs. I almost ran around the car to get in. When I did, she was sitting, looking straight at me with the biggest, most beautiful smile I had ever seen.



"Where did you say we were going?" she asked.



I ignored her and just stared.



She laughed. "Is that all you're going to do all evening?"



"God, I hope not." I said. "What happened to the Schoolmarm?"



"The what?"



"The Schoolmarm. A few hours ago, you were a Schoolmarm. Now look at you."



"Is that good or bad?"



"Oh my God, it's Great. You're beautiful. Why do you hide it?"



"Let's go eat and I'll tell you about it."



At Johnny's we ordered our meal and she started talking. Her whole name was Wanda Dedham Smithers. Dedham was her mother's maiden name. She grew up in a regular family. They weren't poor, but they were far from wealthy. In fact, her parents spent their first married years living in a trailer so he could finish school. Her father started as a mechanical engineer and worked his way up through the ranks. After 30 years with the company, he was made the CEO.



It was always assumed that Wanda would follow in her father's footsteps; after graduating Penn State, she worked at Company Headquarters in Philadelphia before being sent to Omaha where she had been for two years. 



The Seminar they recently held in Omaha was the first one not conducted at Company Headquarters in Philadelphia, and was brought about by Wanda's perseverance and hard work. Of course, the fact that her father was the boss didn't hurt.



Every man in the restaurant and some of the women stared at her when we walked in. I tried not to stare at her, but it didn't work. I don't know what she did to make her breasts look small at work, but they certainly weren't. She must have wrapped her chest with Ace Bandages or some such I guessed. But tonight they look big and I was hoping to get a closer look at them to make sure.



During the course of the evening she told me she had three serious relationships in her life. By serious she meant that she liked them well enough to sleep with. I remembered that Janice had told me basically the same thing. Neither of them, she said, was long lasting because of her dedication to her father and her job. She dressed the way she normally did because she didn't want men, especially at work, constantly ogling her and thinking she was where she was because she was sleeping with some company muckity muck. She just wanted to be one of the boys so she dressed as she did and dropped the name Smithers.

<hr pg="3" />I had never had a date where I was given that much information on a first date. She was putting it all out there from the git-go.



The evening went well. I took her home and walked her to her door. A nice soft, gentle kiss on the lips and it was my turn to glide (or glid) to my car.



We had been seeing each other for a month before I saw her breasts in the flesh and as my mind's eye had suspected, they were fabulous; as was the rest of her. She was not shy about undressing with all the lights on and I took full advantage of that as I watched.



One of God's greatest gifts to man is the female body. It is a thing of Devine beauty and is meant to be admired, appreciated, adored, and made love to; and once in a while fucked good and hard. 



She was also not shy when it came to giving and taking sexual pleasures. We did everything either of us had ever done, saw, or thought about, and probably invented some of our own.



After the second month we were together, it dawned on me that I was treating her differently than I ever treated Janice in that I actually listened to her, and I talked to her, and I made every effort to do what she wanted. I even went out of my way to spend time with her.



I came to realize that Janice had been lower on my food chain than my cars.



I called an old friend. 



"Hello," she answered.



"Hi Susie. This is Tony. Tony Barone."



"Oh, my God, Tony. It's been a long time." 



"Yes. It has." Actually it had been about a year. "Listen, I have to talk to Janice. Would you have her number? I deleted it after the divorce."



"Uh, yes I do, but I'd feel uneasy about giving it to you. Why don't I ask her if it would be okay to give it to you?"



"Fair enough and thank you."



I was just going to bed that night when my phone rang. The number looked vaguely familiar so I answered. "Hello."



"Hi. It's Janice. You wanted to talk?"



"I did ... uh, I do. Could we meet somewhere tomorrow? It shouldn't take long."



"Where and when?"



"I don't care. Whatever you're comfortable with."



"Broad St. Café at 2:00 PM? The lunch rush should be over and we can have some privacy."



"Good. See you then."



Broad St. Café used to be our favorite place for breakfast.



I walked in and looked around. She was sitting in the same booth she and I had always tried to get when we came in. It looked out over a small garden. The garden had a fountain that was relaxing to look at and it was heated so the water flowed year round. 



She was looking at the fountain when I approached. I stood there for several seconds before she realized I was there.



"Oh, hi. Have a seat."



I sat. We just looked at each other before I spoke. "How've you been? Everything okay?"



Before she could answer, a server was there asking if we were ready to order.



"Just coffee for me," said Janice.



"Same," I said.



We waited until our coffee was served. I handed Janice two containers of creamer. 



"You remembered," she said.



"I remember a lot. But the thing I remember the most is how badly I treated you. I never gave you 100% of me. Ever. I cheated you out of everything the whole time we were together, but mostly I cheated you out of love and I wanted you to know how sorry I am for that."



She looked at me for several seconds before speaking. "When did you realize all that?"



"I've been thinking about it; besides I've been seeing a young lady and I enjoy her company. It dawned on me during one of our dates that I really liked being with her and doing things for her. I don't remember doing anything for you. I never opened doors for you. I never gave you flowers. I never did anything to show you that I loved and needed you; and I never listened to you. I am deeply and sincerely sorry for being the asshole that I was; and probably still am."



She looked out the window and spoke without looking at me. "Do you know why I cheated?"



"Does it matter anymore?" I asked her.



"I think it does. Three weeks before I cheated, I went to Fran Jades' bridal shower. They had those male strippers there. Their job was to strip and then give lap dances to some of the willing ladies. I had been to two other showers where they were and it was mostly innocent fun. But with enough alcohol and coaxing from your friends, anything can happen and at Fran's shower it did. The three strippers seemed to be able to pick out the drunkest and most susceptible ladies there. The first lady, and I won't tell you who she was, was sitting with another lady when one of the guys stood in front of her and started rotating his hips. This lady reached up, pulled down his jock strap and started sucking him off.



"Things got crazy after that. Those three guys each got fucked and blown. In all honesty, only one of the ladies who participated was married. I was told later that the guys never intentionally went after ladies who were wearing wedding rings. I got that bit of information from Vinnie. He was the guy I cheated on you with.



"Anyway, sometime after the party, I had asked you to help me paint our bedroom and rearrange the furniture. Do you remember what you said?"



"No."



"You said, 'Who cares what color it is. We just use it for fucking and sleeping.' I was deeply hurt. That room was our sanctuary. We told each other our deepest wishes, thoughts, dreams, and desires there. It was not just a place for fucking and sleeping."



She took her first sip of coffee but it was too cold to drink so she pushed it away. It reminded me of the way I pushed her away.



"After you said that and refused to help me, I lost all feelings for you. My love was gone. I sat on the bed and wondered if you loved me, or if you had ever loved me. I cried for an hour. The next day I was cleaning out my purse when I came across Vinnie's business card. Did you know that strippers, at least some of them, have business cards?"



I remembered taking one out of Vinnie the Bull's wallet the day I caught her with him. "I heard that," I said.



"Anyway, I looked at his card and decided to call him. Apparently, you didn't love me, and I didn't love you anymore, and I wanted to be fucked. So I called him. Tony, I cheated on you on purpose. With malice aforethought, I called Vinnie the Bull and made arrangements for him to come over the next day and fuck me. I even paid for the privilege. It cost me two hundred dollars to end our marriage. Actually, in the end, it didn't cost me anything because the same day you took your stuff out of the house, I was throwing away some trash and I found his clothes in the trashcan where you must have put them. I took my $200 out of his wallet and put his wallet back in the trash. I framed the money and it's on my wall as a reminder of how stupid I was. His clothes, shoes, and wallet went to the landfill with the rest of the weekly trash.



"He fucked me twice. I expected he would be better than you, but he wasn't. While he was pumping away, I got the impression that he was thinking about what he was going to do with the money and I lay there beneath him feeling him going in and out of me thinking about what color to paint the ceiling. I never came either time. After we were finished, I felt dirty so I put on a tee shirt and shorts and went outside. I didn't want to take a shower because I didn't want him to get in there with me and I thought he might.



"So l was outside and he came out wearing his underwear. He had one of our beers. I thought I should charge him for it; after all he charged me to fuck me, but I didn't say anything. He picked up the water hose and turned it on and started spraying me. You pretty well know the rest.



I had pushed my coffee away just like she had done. "When I first saw you, you looked like you were having fun," I said.



"I wasn't. The water was cold and I wanted him to stop. I realized I had made a mistake and I wanted him to leave so I could take a shower and wash the filth off me."



The server brought us new coffee. I, again, handed Janice two creamers.



She spoke again. "I don't care that our love was gone. I don't care how mistreated you think I was, the fact is, I was married and I cheated. I wasn't raised that way, and it was wrong, and I am sorry for having done it. Please forgive me."



Then I spoke. "We both made mistakes and apparently we're both sorry. We're divorced and lead separate lives and life goes on. It appears that we may have learned from our mistakes. I know I did, now let's try to make sure we don't repeat them."



We chatted for a few more minutes before we stood to leave. On the sidewalk outside, we hugged and said goodbye.



My life went on and I fell in love for what I hoped would be the last time in my life. I thought Wanda was falling in love as well. I did all the things for Wanda that I didn't do for Janice and I was much happier in our relationship. We spent a lot of time together and both my business and my life went merrily on ... for another four months; then she called me.



"Are you available for dinner tonight?" she asked.



"Of course."



We met at our favorite restaurant. She was not her usual self.



"My father wants me to come to Philly and work for him and I've decided to go."



Bam! She didn't beat around the bush. Right between the eyes. I sat for some time without saying anything. Finally. "When do you leave?"



"Tomorrow morning. There is a big meeting he wants me to attend in the afternoon. I'm having my assistant ship my household goods and my car. She will also arrange to sell my house."



"This is pretty sudden, isn't it?"



"Not really. He and I have been talking about it for a couple of months. It was a hard decision, Tony."



"Why didn't you say something? I could have been a bit more prepared."



"He asked me not to."



"Wow. What does that do to us?" I asked.



"Lots of people have long distance relationships, Tony. We can too."



That pretty well settled that. The deal was done. Neither of us ate much so after dinner we gave each other a short kiss and went our separate ways. There was no suggestion of maybe spending the night together.



The phone calls and declarations of love lasted about a month then stopped after she was on the cover of a national business magazine with her father and the National Director of Production for their company. The following week there was a picture in our local paper of her with the same National Director of Production at a dinner hosted by them here in Omaha. We had furnished three cars for that event, but I never knew she was there and she certainly never called me. Apparently when she needed a ride, the hotel provided it.



So much for long distance, or any other kind of relationship.



After I saw the picture, I bought a new limo and another bus. The two actions were unrelated. I didn't buy them because I got upset and did something stupid.



It was Saturday night and all of my limos and buses were busy except one limo. I was in the office when my assistant, Lana, came in. She didn't always work on Saturday, but she was working that one. It was a very busy weekend. "Tony, some ladies going to a bridal shower need a ride. Their car broke down and they're desperate. Can you take it?"



"Sure. Make sure they know it's a cash deal."



"I already told them." She told me where they were and ten minutes later, all six of them were in my limo. When I drove up, I didn't have time to get out of the car. They all piled in. One of them opened the privacy window, dropped a pile of cash on the seat beside me and then gave me the address of where they were going. It took about thirty minutes. Again, I didn't have time to get out and open the door for them; they just piled out and literally ran for the front door. I sat there and tuned the radio to the only light classical music station on satellite radio. I counted the money, put it in my pocket, then lay my head back, and closed my eyes. Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream was playing. I think I dozed off, but the opening of the privacy window caught my attention and I heard a voice. 



"Nice music." I jerked my head up and turned to see who was talking.



"Hello Janice. Why aren't you at the party?"



"I've had enough parties."



"Are the strippers here?" I asked.



"No. Not this one."



We were both quiet for awhile. "Can I come up there or you come back here?" she asked.



There was more room back there so I went and sat beside her. "Won't they miss you?" I asked.



"Probably not." There was a pause. "Do you know what today is?" she asked.



"The first anniversary of our divorce," I answered.



"Did you celebrate?"



I chuckled. "No."



"Why not?"



"I didn't look on it as a reason to celebrate. I screwed up a perfectly good marriage to a perfectly wonderful lady by being a perfectly sorry husband."



She picked up my hand and held it in her lap between her two hands. They were warm. We sat like that for a long time before she said, "I miss you."



"I miss you, too." I relaxed and closed my eyes.



The next thing I knew voices were all around me. I woke in time to hear one of the partiers say. "Holy shit. I bet these two had more fun than we did." 



I gathered myself, climbed out, and held the door while the rest of them climbed in. Then I got in front and started driving. Even with the privacy window closed, I could make out some of their talk. Janice was catching a lot of kidding from the rest of them. I opened the privacy window and asked where we were going. One of them gave me an address and I headed in that direction. When we arrived, they all piled out and dragged Janice with them.



I arrived at the office late the next morning and spent most of the day leaned back in my chair thinking about Janice.



The next morning I received a call from her. "Would you consider having dinner with me?" She asked.



"When and where?" Was my reply.



"Would you mind it being at the house?"



"Of course not. That takes care of the where, what about the when?"



"This evening too soon? Seven? I don't want to lose my nerve."



"This evening at seven would be perfect."



At seven that evening, I rang her doorbell. She answered it wearing a dress I'd never seen. "Come in. I think you might remember your way around."



I walked into a room that hadn't changed since I'd been there last. I handed her the bottle of Stag's Leap wine. It was our favorite. "Have a seat. Dinner will be ready in just a couple of minutes."



Instead of sitting, I walked around looking. Nothing had changed much except for the small frame on the wall which held two one hundred dollar bills. The shelves were still coated with dust. She never did like to dust.



"Dinner's ready," she announced.



A place was set where I used to sit and she indicated I should sit there.



The dinner was perfect, but her dinners, when we had them together, always were. Cooking was something she did very well.



Dinner conversation included almost everything but the two of us. After dinner, we left our dishes on the table and took our wine to the living room. She indicated that I should sit in my old chair. I did and it felt good. We sat there like we had many evenings before. There was no need to talk, but she did.



"We've talked about why our marriage failed. Do you remember why we married in the first place?" she asked.



"Because we were in love and wanted to spend the rest of our lives together," I answered.



"That's right. Wouldn't it be nice to have those feelings again?"



"To be honest, I thought I had," I said.



"Really? What happened?"



I told her about Wanda.



"Obviously she didn't deserve you," said Janice.



"In her defense, she is the one who made me realize how bad a husband I had been to you. I came to understand that a good solid loving relationship wasn't, and shouldn't be just about one person or a business. I spent more time thinking about my business than you."



"What happened to her?"



I told her the whole story.



"She must have been something up until she decided to leave."



"She was and probably still is."



We talked for another couple of hours before I went home. Again, we hugged goodnight, but we held the hug longer this time.



What a stupid, fucking asshole I had been, but the fact remained that Janice had cheated. That was the bottom line. There were other ways she could have addressed our situation, but she chose to fuck a male stripper.



The next week was a busy one for me. I hardly had time to think. Two cars needed major engine work and we had more business than we could handle, so I was juggling vehicles and drivers all week and it didn't end until early Sunday morning when all the vehicles were back in the junkyard, cleaned, serviced, and ready for their next trip.



It was four on Sunday morning when I got to bed. It was ten when my phone woke me.



"Hello."



"Was my cooking that bad?"



"Wha?"



"I asked if my cooking was that bad?"



By then I was awake enough to recognize the voice. "Oh, hi. What time is it?"



"It's 10:00. Were you still asleep?"



"Yeah. I got to bed late. It was a busy week."



"Well, maybe you can give me a call later, if you feel like it."



"No. No. Now is fine. I'm awake."



She laughed. "You were always hard to wake up on weekends when you didn't have to drive. You always wore yourself out during the week."



"It hasn't changed much. Only now the problems are bigger and they cost more to fix."



"I was hoping you would call me last week."



"I started to a dozen times, but something always came up."



There was a long pause and I could feel a change. Her voice went from light and friendly to serious and warning. "It's going to be like that forever, isn't it?"



"What?"



"What was it? An oil filter? Flat tire? Maybe even a dead battery?"



"What are you talking about."



"Your life. Regardless of how hard you try to change, you're always going to be too busy for a real relationship. The job will always win."



"Is that how you see it?"



"It's not just how I see it, Tony, that's the way it is. I was hoping it would be different, but I don't think so. I was going to see if you wanted to have another dinner, but I've changed my mind. You're never going to change. Goodbye Tony."



She never gave me a chance to plead my case; probably because I didn't have a case to plead. She was right.



The next time I heard from her was three weeks later. I had dropped a couple off at a restaurant for dinner and I was sitting in the limo outside the restaurant waiting for them. A couple came walking down the street. It was a chilly night and they were huddled together. It was Janice and a man. She glanced over at me for just a second then turned her attention back to her date. She stopped him and gave him a long hard kiss. Then she looked over at me as if to make sure I had seen it. She smiled at me and they continued walking.



I thought the man she was with could be very lucky; if he treats her right and she doesn't cheat on him.



A month later and I was still working long hours. I had just bought two 4-Wheel Drive SUV's. Lots of folks here had 4-Wheel Drive vehicles, but I figured that some did not and it was them that I wanted to reach. I started a small advertising campaign extolling the virtues of our new service. It worked. The first snow of the winter brought eight inches and my SUV's stayed busy, but the limo service fell off a bit as it always did in the winter.



The main roads were clear the next day as they usually are in Nebraska Urban areas. Secondary roads take a bit more time so my SUV's continued to stay busy.



Just a few days after the eight inch snow, we had a cold, windy, and sleet filled day. Mr. Limon called the office to see if we had an SUV available. Lana told him I was dropping off some folks at the airport so he called me. "Tony, Lana told me that you were dropping some people off at the airport. Are you still there?"



"I'm just leaving. What do you need?"

<hr pg="4" />"I have three people at General Aviation who need to come here. Can you do it for me?"



Mr. Limon and his hotel had been very good to me over the years so how could I say no. Besides, I was already there and had to drive back to town anyway. Might as well get paid twice for it. We always charged for a round trip when we went to the airport so I had that money plus what Mr. Limon was going to pay me. It was a good day. "Sure Mr. Limon. What's the name?"



"You'll know them when you see them."



"What do you mean?" He hung up.



I went through the security gate and they were standing inside the General Aviation Terminal Building looking out at the miserable weather. When I saw them, I almost turned around and left. Had it not been for Mr. Limon, I would have. There they were; the same three who were on the cover of the business magazine. My attitude went from pretty good to outright hostile in nothing flat.



I pulled up and got out. They were as surprised to see me as I was to see them. At least Wanda and her father were. The third person didn't know me from Adam.



"I thought the hotel was sending their car," said Wanda.



"Well, you got me instead," I said as I threw their expensive carry-ons in the back of the SUV. 



"Hey," said the man. "be careful with those. They cost a lot of money."



"So go kill another alligator or two and get new ones." I said. I was not in a good mood.



The three of them got in back. Wanda got in first, then her father, then the man. He left the door open expecting me to close it for him. Instead, I went around the driver's side and got in. His door was still open as I put the SUV in gear and stepped on the gas. The sleet had made the surface slippery and we started to slide.



"This door is still open." The man said. 



"Then you better make sure your seatbelt is fastened." I said. I found out he knew how to close a car door because he grabbed the handle and closed it. Good boy. I had never acted so unprofessionally in my life, but seeing her put me in a foul mood. 



Since it was the SUV, there was no privacy glass. We were almost at the security gate when I heard the man speak.



"Wanda, didn't you used to date some dumb assed schmuck here?"



"Shhh." Came from Wanda.



"Yes, she did. But she doesn't anymore." Came from her father.



The rest of the ride was in total silence. When we got to the hotel, I stayed in the driver's seat. Wanda was the last one out. She leaned forward, put her hand on my shoulder and said. "Tony, we need to talk."



Looking straight ahead I shrugged my shoulder causing her hand to fall away. "Sure," I said. You can call me anytime. I hear those long distance relationships work pretty well. No, wait. Maybe they don't. Well, then, you can call me next time you get to town. No, wait, that doesn't work either; at least it didn't the last time you were here. You just had time to have your picture taken with your new boyfriend and published in the paper."



"That wasn't my ..."



"Just get out, Wanda."



She sat there for a couple of seconds before joining her father. I drove off. Even with the bad weather, my day had started off nicely. It wasn't until I saw them that I turned into a bad tempered jerk.



We were expecting another snowstorm in the next several of days, but it hit early. Eleven inches and everything was paralyzed. The major roads were plowed and passable if you had chains or a four-wheel drive. The airports were closed. Old reliable, Mr. Limon, called. 



"Tony, can you get to Kansas City?" 



"Probably. Why?"



"Mr. Smithers has to get to Philadelphia. His plane can't land here, but it can in KC. Apparently, there's an emergency in Philadelphia he needs to take care of and he's desperate. He's willing to pay almost anything."



"Hold on." I called to Lana in her office. "Lana check the highway to KC and see if we can make it." It took her about two minutes. 



"Highway Patrol says four-wheel drives should have no problem," she answered.



"Thank you." Then to Mr. Limon. "We can do it, but it's going to cost him."



"How much?"



"A thousand dollars. Cash. Before my car leaves your hotel."



"Holy shit, Tony. That's robbery."



"Yes it is. See what he says, and I'll get a driver ready."



"Okay, but he's going to be mad."



"Fuck him, Nate. It's either important that he gets there or it isn't and I'm the only game in town. You've dealt with him; do you think he would hesitate for one minute picking your pocket?" That was the first time I had ever called him anything but Mr. Limon. He had asked me to call him Nate many times, but I never had. 



Nate chuckled. "No, he wouldn't. I'll tell him and call you back." It took less than five minutes. "It's a go, but he's not happy."



I laughed. "I couldn't care less. Skip will be there in less than an hour."



Skip was my "go to" driver in bad weather. All my drivers were good, but Skip had a knack for bad weather driving. I also told him that Smithers might be a bit antagonistic on the trip and to make sure he had $1000 cash before leaving the hotel. "Call me when you get to KC," I told him.



He did. "Hey, Skip." I said when I saw that he was calling. "Everything okay?"



"Sure is boss, but he bitched the whole way about being robbed."



I laughed. "Good for him. Adversity builds character. If the weather's too bad, stay there until the roads clear."



"No sweat, boss. It isn't bad."



"Okay, Come see me in the morning."



"I'll see Lana first. I want to get rid of this pile of cash." We laughed.



I was in my office the next morning when I heard him giving Lana the money; then he came into my office.



"So, how did it go?" I asked.



"Man, was that old man pissed."



"What about?"



"Other than the cost of the trip, there was something about someone named Wanda." I think Lana and I were the only people in the company who knew Wanda was his daughter.



"What about her?" 



"Apparently, she told him he could stick her job up his ass and resigned."



"What did she say?"



"I don't know other than what I heard him say."



"Wasn't she there?"



"No. Was she supposed to be?"



"I assumed she was going to be, but what the hell do I know. Thank you for taking that trip. I know it must have been shitty."



"You're welcome boss. Any time."



So she resigned. Good for her. The roads still weren't their best but I had a meeting so I got in my car and went. Years ago, when I bought my first limo, I bought it from Luxury Limousine Service. Luxury was owned by Dan and Dede Meyers. He was a mechanic by training. Over the years, I got bigger and they never grew. Eventually they started getting smaller. I heard a rumor that they might be interested in selling so I called and set up a meeting. 



When I got there, they were waiting for me. We had a good initial meeting and agreed to meet again.



When I got back to the junkyard, Lana stopped me outside the building. "There's someone in your office waiting for you."



"Who is it?"



"Smither's daughter."



"Wanda?"



"That's her name. I couldn't think of it."



"What does she want?"



"She wouldn't say."



"Okay. I guess I'll find out." I went in my office and she was standing looking out the window. 



"May I help you?" I asked as I closed my door, took off my coat, and hung it up. She must have been deep in thought because she jumped when I spoke.



"Oh, God. You startled me." She said.



"What can I do for you?"



"Come on, Tony. Give me a break."



"Give you a break? You mean like the one you gave me? Why don't I do like you did; leave and promise to try a long distance relationship and then after a few weeks stop calling you. Not only that, but I could stop taking your calls on my cell phone and tell Lana not to put any of your calls through to me. That way you would always know where you stood with me and there wouldn't be any confusion. Better still, I could come back to town with my father and girlfriend, and stay here for a couple of days and still not call you. That would really help. Wouldn't it?"



"Tony, you have to understand what I was going through."



I tried to remain calm. "Did you care what I was going through? I knew nothing other than the woman I loved stopped having any communication with me and I didn't know why."



I no sooner had gotten that out of my mouth than we heard a huge bang. We ran out of the office to the front door and there was a huge cloud of smoke coming from the plant. Without thinking, I jumped in my car and headed that way. Wanda managed to get in just as I pulled away. The only words spoken during the trip were by Wanda. "Please God, don't let anyone be hurt."



We got there and it wasn't the plant. It was the mobile home park next door. There were about 15 trailers there and two of them were in flames. The fire Department was already watering down the adjacent ones to try to prevent them from going up. At one of them, we saw two adults trying to get their kids out of harm's way. I started running toward them to see if I could help. Wanda was right behind me. The woman was standing at the door with one child and the man ran back inside.



I pushed the woman out of the way and went inside with the man. The place was filling with smoke as he handed me a small child. "Get her out of here. I'll get the other one." He said. Just then, the trailer leaped about three feet in the air as the trailer next to it exploded. I felt something on my arm. I looked and it was Wanda. "Give her to me." She said. I did and made my way toward the man. He was under a chest of drawers holding another small child. I pulled the chest off him and took the child.



Holding the child in one arm, I helped him get to his feet and we got out of there just in time to feel a blast of heat as his home exploded knocking us to the ground. We were both dazed but otherwise unhurt. I looked and he was on his knees.



"Oh my God," he said. "Next door. We have to get him out."



"Who?" I asked. 



"Dave Johnson. He's bed ridden."



Wanda was beside me again and I handed the child to her.



Both the man and I started to run, I slipped and fell face first into the snow and mud combination. The man helped me up and we headed for the next trailer. A lady, who I assumed was Mrs. Johnson, was yelling for help as we crashed through the door and followed her yells. She was trying to lift her bedridden husband. I shoved her into the arms of the man I was with, picked up her husband, and carried him outside and headed for my car. Wanda saw where I was going and got there first. She had the door open, and was lowering the back of the passenger seat as low as it would go. I managed to get him inside. Wanda had gone to the driver's side, started the car, and turned up the heat. Then she made sure Mrs. Johnson, if that's who she was, got in the car with him. We turned just in time to see the Johnson trailer being lifted into the air and flipped on it's side. 



Then we, along with others, started going door to door to make sure everyone was out of the other trailers and safe. After the fires were out and the natural gas line to the park was turned off, we helped the families with destroyed or damaged homes recover as much as they could. Two of my drivers had driven two of our party buses down so there was a warm place for folks to sit.



We were there until dark doing what we could. Members of the press constantly hounded us for an interview, but neither Wanda nor I were inclined to chat with them. Finally, darkness and exhaustion overtook us. One of my drivers took Wanda back to the junkyard to get her car, and I went home. 



It was mid-afternoon the next day when she came back to my office. "We didn't finish our discussion." She said as she came in and closed the door.



"What's there to finish?" I said looking at her. "You left, found a better deal, got a new boyfriend, and forgot I existed. End of story." Then I said much softer. "Thank you for your help yesterday."



She sat in one of the chairs in front of my desk. "I'm glad I was there." Pause. "You're partially right about me. I did leave, but I never forgot about you."



I looked at her again. In my mind's eye, I saw her as she was last evening; covered with smoke, soot, snow, and mud. She was as beautiful then as she was now, all cleaned up with perfect makeup on.



"My father doesn't know you, but he doesn't like you. The reason he doesn't like you is that he doesn't think that a chauffeur, even a chauffeur who owns his own company, is good enough for his daughter. He has tried, since I told him about you, to convince me that he is right. He keeps insisting that you and I are from different worlds. Over a period of time, he's tried different ways to keep me away from you. Finally, he promoted me and took me to Philadelphia. That's when I left. I was torn between the new, bigger, better job and you. In my heart, I thought you and I could continue our relationship and I could have the job, as well. 



"Almost as soon as I arrived in Philly, he introduced me to a man he thought was better for me than you. He did everything he could to push us together. He went so far as to send us to Paris on a phony business trip hoping it would get us closer. I already knew that John, that's his name, John Philborn, was smooth and romantic, because we had gone out on a couple of dates; but in Paris he pulled out all of his big guns and tried to get me in bed with him. We were in his hotel room having a drink when he tried to unbutton my blouse. I slapped the shit out of him, went to my room, and called my father. I told him I resented what he had done and that I felt dirty and used. Then I got the first flight home."



Jesus Christ, I thought. What kind of father pimps his own daughter out? What a sorry bastard.



"When I got back from Paris, I told my father I wanted nothing more to do with either him or John. He apologized profusely and told me that he was only thinking of me; that you and I would never work and that I needed someone more in my social circle. Then he insisted he needed me to come with him on a trip out here. Again, I didn't want to, but, like I said, he insisted. He wanted to reinforce for me the difference between the "big city" and "Hicksville" as he called it.



"You and I had stopped talking before the trip to Paris. That was my fault and started when John and I started dating. I was feeling guilty about dating him so I stopped taking your calls on my phone. I even, as you pointed out, told my assistant to not put your calls through on the company phones. 



"We were here for a couple of days and I left the hotel only to go back and forth to the plant. That was the trip when my picture was in the paper. I even ate in my room to keep from accidently seeing you. We used your service, but I made sure you were never the driver when I had to go someplace. I was a wreck. I wanted so badly to see you and talk with you, but I didn't want to be humiliated and embarrassed by the way I thought you might react if you saw me. 



"Then came this trip. My emotions were, again, were in a turmoil and I was almost in a panic. I didn't want to see you or talk to you because I was even more ashamed and couldn't face you, but my heart yearned to hold you and touch you. But the longer I avoided you, the harder it got to face you.. 



"When we landed and I saw it was you who was to drive us to the hotel, I wanted to run and hide. But at the same time, I wanted to talk to you and tell you how sorry I was, but you wanted nothing to do with me. I told my father that I wanted to talk to you and apologize and maybe get you back, but he exploded and told me that if I did that, I was fired. I went him one better and resigned. He got really pissed and made up an emergency in Philly and flew home leaving me here."



I was disliking her father more and more. What a bleeding fucking asshole.



"I came here," she indicated my office, "yesterday hoping to apologize and talk, but then we sort of got sidetracked." She paused. "Could I have some something to drink, please?"



"Of course." I went to the front office and returned with a glass of water, and handed it to her before returning to my seat. We sat in silence for a long time before I spoke. When I did, any anger I had was gone. She had filled in most of the blanks and left me with few questions left to ask but with an empty heart to fill. "That's quite a story," I said.



Lana interrupted us. "Boss, It's Mr. Limon. He wants to chat."



"Take care of it please, and get used to it. Effective immediately, you're the General Manager and will be making lots of decisions. And hire yourself an assistant. You're going to be too busy to answer the phone."



I heard her scream with excitement and joy.



Wanda and I both smiled. "What brought that on?" she asked.



"I've been meaning to do it for a long time. She deserves it. This just seemed like a good time."



It was quiet again as we were both deep in thought. She took a sip of her water and spoke. "So where do we stand?"



I looked directly at her. She was beautiful and I missed her, but maybe her father was right. Maybe she was born to the "big city" and not "Hicksville". 



"I honestly don't know. Maybe you do belong in Philadelphia with someone like John whatsis name.







She stood, picked up her coat and got as far as the door before she turned back to me. "I don't belong there. I belong here. My job is here and the man I love is here." She closed the door slowly behind her as she left.



I spent the rest of the afternoon deep in thought. The phone rang a lot, but Lana obviously took her new job seriously and didn't bother me. I didn't sleep much that night. My heart was going in one direction and my hea in another.



The next morning, after an almost sleepless night, I had made up my mind. I stopped by my office and told Lana what I had in mind. 



I had my second meeting with Dan and Dede Meyers. It was a good meeting and we cut a deal, Then we shook on it. Dede hugged me then kissed me on the cheek as I left.



There was another stop I had to make; I had to stop by the hotel and talk to Wanda. I was driving past the burned out mobile home park when I saw the Lincoln Hotel limo there with several press and TV trucks so I pulled in. Being interviewed on camera was Smithers. Standing beside him was Wanda and another, older woman. Smithers was talking.



"So when my wife and I saw the picture of our daughter saving that child, we jumped on the plane and got here as soon as we could." There had been several pictures of both of us in the newspaper and even a couple made the national news. The most popular one on the National News showed Wanda carrying a child with me beside her carrying Mr. Johnson and a big fireball behind us. That picture had been photo shopped because those things never happened simultaneously. Smithers continued. "My wife and I started in a place just like this." He indicated the mobile home park. "And, for a while, we forgot those roots. When we saw the pictures of our daughter and the destruction here, it brought all the memories back. So I would like to announce that my company is going to rebuild this park in its entirety and the seven homes which were destroyed will be replaced and any damage to the others will be taken care of." 



Wanda beamed as she hugged her father and kissed his cheek. Then she did the same to the woman who I now assumed was her mother. I decided to forego the stop at the hotel because it appeared that Wanda and her father had made up and she would be returning to Philadelphia.



I turned around and headed for the junkyard. On my way, I called Lana and asked her to have all of our available drivers meet me there for a meeting. That wasn't unusual, because I periodically had safety meetings with them. Somebody apparently saw me coming because the door of the garage where I normally parked my car opened and I drove in. 

<hr pg="5" />As I opened my door and got out, Lana handed me a cup of coffee. Everybody gathered around me and I started to speak. "I had a meeting this morning with Dan and Dede Meyers. Effective Monday their company and ours become one. The name remains Complete Limousine Service, but they will own 35% of us. I have the remaining 65% so I'm still the boss." There were a few comments and chuckles by the drivers. "Lana has already been acting as our General Manager and will continue in that role. Dan Meyers will be in charge of maintenance and Dede will be our bookkeeper. Their drivers and cars will be integrated with ours and will be dispatched on a first in/first out basis the way we have always done it."



I took a deep breath. "I have also taken myself off the driver's board so I won't be taking any more runs unless it's an emergency, and I'm depending on all of you, but especially you, Lana, to make sure those are kept at an absolute minimum. In that regard, nobody works more than 40 hours a week unless it's cleared by Lana. Also, in addition to the two weeks paid vacation you get every year, everyone gets one day a month off with pay. That time is to be used to spend with your wife, husband, children, or significant other. Okay, Let's go to work."



I went to my office and closed my door, but I still heard the cheers. I was hoping they would take the hint and spend more time with their families. I ruined my marriage, and I was determined for it to never happen to me again. I may get married and divorced again, but it would never be because I was an asshole ... at least in my mind. I was also hoping that my actions just now would help the staff to make sure it never happened to them, either.



I called Nate Limon.



"Hey, Tony. What's up?"



"Dan Meyers and I just joined forces and became partners."



"That's great, Tony. Who's the boss?"



"I am." 



He chuckled. "I figured as much. It's a good move."



"We think so, too. By the way, Is Smithers still there?"



"No. The whole family left over an hour ago. My car took them to the airport."



"Okay, Nate. Thank you." I had figured as much. I went to the outer office for a cup of coffee. I had just sat in my chair when my phone rang. It was Wanda.



"I thought you were on your way home," I said when I answered.



"I am, but I need a ride."



"What do you mean?"



I need a ride home."



"I'm confused." 



"If you would come pick me up maybe I can un-confuse you."



"Where are you?"



"At the airport. My parents just took off and left me so I'm stranded."



I thought about it before I spoke. "I'll be there as soon as I can make it." 



I was in my personal car on my way to the airport when my phone rang again. I didn't recognize the number but figured it might be a business call. If it were, I could refer them to Lana. It wasn't a business call. It was Smithers.



"Listen, Barone. I don't like you. You're brash, and arrogant, and one of these days your mouth is going to write a check that your ass can't cash. But it seems my daughter does like you so here's the deal. If you hurt her, I will destroy you. Do you understand?"



"What I understand is I don't like you either. Any father who would send his daughter to Paris with a man on a phony business deal hoping he would win her over is a sorry-assed excuse for a father. Besides, your daughter dumped me, so you don't have to worry about it anymore now get off my ass."



"All right. I made a mistake and I apologized to her for it and was forgiven; and as far as her dumping you is concerned, I should only live so long. So, if you're half the man she seems to think you are, take care of her or I'll be on your ass like stink on shit."



I laughed and ended the call, but I wasn't laughing inside.



She was waiting outside the terminal building after I went through the security gate.



She just jumped in. "I just got off the phone with my father. He doesn't like you," she said, "but I get the feeling he's beginning to respect you a bit more."



"I don't care much for him, either." I said.



"Well, the two of you are going to have to at least make an effort to get along with each other."



"Why?"



"Because he's going to be coming out here to visit."



"And that affects me, how?"



She turned in her seat and looked at me. She took off her gloves and put my right hand between her two hands. They were chilly. She rubbed my hand for a couple of seconds still looking at me. "I love you, Tony. I do. I loved you yesterday, I love you today, and I will love you for the rest of my life. I told my parents that and that I was going to stay here and do everything in my power to help you remember why you used to love me, too."



I looked at her. She was looking straight at me and there were tears in her eyes.



"How can I believe that?" I said. "You went back to Philadelphia and in a very short time, I was almost forgotten. Some smooth talking big city playboy took you to dinner a few times, danced with you a few times, kissed you a few times, played with your tits a few times, then fucked you a few times, and 'poof' Tony and Omaha were forgotten."



"It's true. I did date one guy and I did dance with him and kiss him, but look in my eyes." I did and she continued. "I swear before God and all I hold holy that except for the dancing and kissing the last time anything on this body was touched other than by me ... was by you, and if you let yourself love me again, that's the way it will be until the day I die." 



I turned and faced forward in my seat and started to drive. We were almost half way to town when I asked her if she was going back to the hotel.



"No. Take me to my house please. My father wouldn't accept my resignation and since I told him I was going to stay here regardless, he told me I was getting my old job back and since my house hasn't sold I'm going to live there again." 



"So what happens when he calls and says he needs you in Philadelphia. Are you going to just leave me again? Maybe the next guy you date will convince you to stay in Philly with him." 



"I'm sure there will be times when I'll have to go there, but when those times come, you'll go with me ... if you want to."



The thought of that didn't trip my trigger. "Why would I do that? I would either trust you or not, and the fact is that you so easily forgot me the last time, that I don't see how I could trust you."



"Stop the car," she said. I pulled over to the side of the road. Again, she looked at me then took my hand and put it on her heart. "Can you feel it, Tony? Can you feel it beating? Can you feel how fast it's beating? That's because of you. Every beat it makes is because I'm here with you. Just a few minutes ago while I was waiting for you, the thought that I was going to see you started it beating fast. I love you and I want you to love me back. And I want your heart to beat as fast for me as mine does for you. Everyday for the rest of our lives, I want both of our hearts to feel this same way in anticipation of seeing each other, and holding each other, and loving each other." She put one of her hands over my heart and smiled. "Does it always beat this fast?"



I answered honestly. "No. Only when I'm with you."



"You love me, Tony, and I love you. Give me time and you will trust me again because I will never give you reason not to." She took her hand back. 



I pulled back into traffic.



A few minutes later, I pulled into her driveway. I turned the key stopping the motor. We both got out and slowly walked to the front door. She took out her keys and opened her door. "I'll go in with you and check the place out. It's been awhile since you've been here." 



She just nodded. We were both inside. The thermostat had been turned down, so it was a bit chilly. All of her furniture was still there. "I thought you shipped all of your stuff to Philadelphia?"



"There was no big rush since I stayed with my parents while I was there, so it never got shipped. Neither did my car." She put her purse on the coffee table. 



I reached for her and turned her to me. "How often?"



"How often what?"



"How often will your father be visiting?"



She smiled and put her hands on my shoulders. "That depends."



"On what?"



"On how many grandchildren we give him and my mother."



I pulled her to me and we kissed. "When do you want to start working on that?"



"Is now too soon?" She asked as she pulled me toward her bedroom.

