my wife had been working on her special project for 4 months now it was not her personal project but she was the lead person and responsible for its success the project was designed to save her company Bixler Enterprises the last four months had been difficult due to the fact that she was forced to work hard it was important for both her and the company there was a good chance that Bixler Enterprises would go under if the project didn't get done Sarah had a bachelor's degree from Albright and an MBA from Wharton she was the smartest
one in the family I started working as an auto mechanic right out of high school and after 21 years I was still an auto mechanic I didn't mind because I liked the work and it paid well it was enough to pay for Sarah's college and raise two kids we weren't living luxuriously but we were doing well the kids had already shipped out and things were going pretty well with our income Sarah got pregnant 3 months after we were married at the age of 18 for the first few years we were married we lived with my
parents they had a big empty house as four of my siblings had moved away that meant we had a babysitter while Sarah got her first few years of college because of two pregnancies the 4-year degree took six years to complete it was hard but she made it through I always had a job and never lacked for overtime if I needed it after Sarah Gra graduated from Wharton we rented our own place she had job offers from several large firms but they all required us to move I didn't mind but Sarah wanted to stay close to
home that's why she decided to work at Bixler Enterprises it paid well but most importantly it gave her responsibility and the opportunity to advance Sarah was a hardworking dedicated employee the presentation is Thursday at the Rison Hotel in Philadelphia I took a few days off work to assist her as needed in the end all I accomplished was making her something to eat when she got home I didn't know anything about her job nor did I want to know highlevel corporate business bored me businessmen from Europe Asia and South America came here the company paid for
their airfare and provided rooms at the Rison Hotel while they were here it was expensive as hell and from some of the things Sarah had said said the company was overestimating its finances her presentation was important to her to the company and to over 200 employees until Tuesday evening everything was going well Sarah came home in a new outfit a gray suit with a white blouse she laid out everything she needed on the bed in the guest room when it came to housekeeping she was normal but when it came to work she was meticulous I
didn't understand why she needed to pull out her fancy underwear but I didn't say anything in addition to her suit for the presentation she had several cute little cocktail dresses for social events before and after the event I had always avoided such events but felt obligated to go with her if she wanted me to she thanked me for the offer but said it wasn't necessary all the materials and Equipment she needed were neatly stowed in the trunk of her Volvo before she left work she drove the car herself to make sure everything was in perfect
condition she had all day Wednesday to get ready and all evening Wednesday to socialize with her guests Sarah was so good at what she did that I felt it would have been better if I had just stayed away from her finally she was done she had checked and double checked everything all she needed now was a hot shower and a good night sleep I guess my mistake was that I started checking her stuff after Sarah started showering I thought I was helping but it turned out to be the opposite I was shifting things on the
bed when a small white envelope fell out of the side pocket of her makeup bag an envelope from a drugstore but not the kind we usually use inside were 10 pills I had no idea what pren was and the instructions were confusing if necessary take one pill and then a second pill 12 hours later I thought it might be something she got from anxiety or nerves but the instructions didn't make sense the prescription was written in her name on Monday I put the envelope back in as she was finishing her shower I decided I wanted
to find out more about preven before I told her about it of course if I mentioned it it would mean I was going through her things I hate dilemas while Sarah got ready for bed I went to our home computer and typed in PR 10 minutes later I joined my wife under the covers I lay awake all night wondering why my wife had picked up a prescription for the morning after pill especially after I'd had a vasectomy 10 years earlier the next morning I got up early but I wasn't rested I took a long walk
hoping it would clear my head I reluctantly headed toward home afraid of what I might do or say when I got there my son Josh joined the Navy after high school and was in his freshman year in San Diego our daughter Gloria married her childhood sweetheart last year and just moved to Dallas that left just Sarah and me I missed the kids but looked forward to growing old with my wife she was the only woman I'd ever been interested in and now it was all turning to [ __ ] if Sarah was having an affair
she hid it well of course I never checked up on her I never looked at her emails or cell phone calls I had no reason to I had no way of knowing what she was doing at work or after work I trusted her completely John where the hell have you been you want some eggs or something no just coffee I wasn't feeling very talkative what's wrong honey it's only for 3 days you can come if you want but you'll be bored to death no I really don't want to go but I hate leaving you alone
I worry when you're not here that's very sweet darling but it'll be all right I'm not going to leave the hotel all this time I'll spend most of today making sure the conference room is ready and tonight I'll have a nice chat with our potential clients tomorrow I probably won't even get a chance to pee I'll be home as early as possible on Friday I promise you a great weekend if you know what I mean that all sounds good but you can't blame me for worrying I'm an auto mechanic and I have a beautiful and
successful wife sometimes I get the feeling that you're less interested in advancing your family situation than you are in advancing your career stop it damn it John I've always respected what you do for a living and never pointed out otherwise you raised two great kids and put me through college you are a great husband a great father and a good provider and never forget that I finished my coffee while she cleared the table do you want me to call you no that's not a good idea I'll have my cell phone off and I'm going to
turn off my room phone for the night so I can get some sleep I'll call you every chance I get I helped her load the car she was as fussy about it as she was about everything else work rated it would take her 3 hours to get to the Rison Hotel I stood on the porch and watched her leave I didn't bother asking her about the pills I spent the rest of the morning on the porch I don't remember ever worrying as much as I did now I felt small and insignificant I felt out of
my league I was a small town guy with a mediocre job and a successful wife it was a mismatch I should have noticed it earlier I felt stupid the best suit I had was a blue blazer and a pair of of pants at least I had a few ties even if they were 10 years out of date I had just finished getting dressed when the landline phone rang hey sweetie I just wanted to let you know I got here okay you had a good drive I'm assuming the traffic wasn't too heavy it was fine I'll
call you tonight now I got to go I'm in room 714 Sarah I can be at my parents or my brothers tonight if you want to call me on my cell phone okay cell phone rings I love you got to go I took my time getting to Philly I didn't go straight to the Rison I stopped first and got a steak and cheese it promised to be a long night I wasn't sure what I was going to do I parked in the hotel garage and just waited sooner or later I had to enter the hotel
I just couldn't decide when to do it the ringing of my cell phone helped me make my decision John I just wanted to let you know that everything has settled I'm going downstairs now to meet some people and have dinner you didn't forget anything did you no everything's fine I've got everything in my room for tomorrow do you need anything no John relax I'm going to turn my phone off I'll call you tomorrow morning all right Chuckles have fun it's not fun John it's work I didn't look too out of place the lobby restaurant and
conference rooms were full of people so I could remain inconspicuous there was a cute little brochure that showed the layout of all the hotel rooms I wandered through the different rooms and stopped at the walls looking around at the crowd I had no idea what I would do if Sarah saw me I would find out if and when that happened I found an event board that listed all the rooms that were being used by the various groups Bixler Enterprises didn't have any rooms available for Wednesday night I found this interesting Sarah had said she wasn't
going to leave the hotel but now I wasn't so sure about that there were three dining rooms family casual and fine dining Sarah wasn't a big fan of dining with kids so I went to the Casual room first it only took 5 minutes to make sure she wasn't there I had better luck in the Gourmet Lounge it was a cozy little booth nestled in the corner the kind of table people Reserve to have a private rendevu Sarah was wearing a black cocktail dress with a deep neckline and Pearls she looked elegant and her companion looked
like he appreciated it I knew a few of the people Sarah worked with and he wasn't one of them he was familiar to me but there was no way I could remember him there were plenty of free seats so I had no trouble crossing the room there were candles and small glass candles sticks on the tables I blew mine out and told the waiter it was bothering my glaucoma I ordered the usual chicken dish and made myself comfortable the waiter poured my coffee for the third time excuse me the guy at the table across the
table looks awfully familiar do you know who he is uh sure that's Malcolm Eugene foot he's a member of the town meeting he's expected to run for Congress in the next few years is that his wife with him she's very pretty no this is the first time I've seen her he always uses that table for special ladies if you know what I mean I just smiled at him and asked for the check I had never seen Sarah so sensual with a man before she seemed to catch every word he said like he was God or
something they weren't doing anything inappropriate but it wasn't platonic or businesslike when I left they were finishing their second bottle of wine now I understood why she had taken her fancy lingerie I made myself comfortable in the corner of the lobby so I couldn't be seen 10 minutes later they walked out of the restaurant she held his hand as they walked across the lobby to the elevator I watched the floor indicators carefully that the elevator stopped on the third floor was a good sign it meant she hadn't taken him to her room it was a
bad sign when the elevator didn't go to the seventh floor it meant she went to his room just in case I was wrong about something I sat in the lobby and watched the elevator for an hour people came and went but Sarah was not one of them I got my empty suitcase out of the car and walked up to the front desk even though I could prove I was her husband I had a hard time getting a key card they relented after calling the room but no one answered finally I was on my way to
room 714 with the key card I didn't even turn on the lights at first I just sat in the dark room for over an hour it wasn't hard hard to make sure she wouldn't come back to the room first I packed all her clothes and personal belongings I didn't leave anything behind I checked the package of preven there were still 10 pills left in it on the dresser very neatly laid out were all the items she would need for her presentation the next day I began to fill the suitcase there were 24 specially bound promotional
folders and another 20 regular folders all of them went into the suitcase a digital projector went in next followed by a laptop I took her purse and cell phone which she'd left in the room all she had with her was a clutch and probably a tube of lipstick I walked around the room as carefully as she did to make sure I didn't miss anything once I was satisfied I put her car keys and my wedding ring on the dresser other than those two items the room was completely empty the elevator headed straight for the parking
garage I had no trouble carrying two suitcases and 20 minutes later I was on the expressway heading north it was well over 3: in the morning I had no idea it had been that long an hour or two later my cell phone rang caller ID showed it was the rison's phone number uh John uh yes where are you I'll be at the house soon that's all I said it was quiet on the other end of the line salesmen have an old saying the first one to talk loses it seemed like an eternity before she spoke
John I'm sorry she didn't ask anything and just hung up I turned my phone off it was obvious that she had gone back to her room later that day she was to give a presentation that would save her company and bring her a promotion I put the suitcases in the Attic of the garage Sarah never went there and never thought to look for anything there of course at this point I'm pretty sure it didn't matter first I gathered all my clothes and personal belongings most men have their own tools it's usually a requirement for the
job I stopped by the store loaded mine into the Subaru and picked up my last paycheck by then the banks were already open I didn't have to do any fancy money and asset manipulation I just withdrew all the money from my accounts I had lunch in hagertown Maryland I had enough money to live on for a few years but I knew I would be looking for a job very soon Sarah and I were alike in that we both loved to work I'm going to miss her I killed a couple hours in the Luray caves and
rented a room near Whiteville I had no idea what I was going to do it was Saturday and I found myself sitting at the Chattanooga aquarium watching nature I had never seen before I spent a few hours just relaxing and decided it was a good place to be I bought a year past to the aquarium and by dinner time I had a place to stay it was a mobile trailer in the park but it was furnished and cheap I didn't need much first thing Monday morning I was going to get a job a good handy
man can always get a job especially if he's willing to work hard I could remain inconspicuous until it was time to renew my driver's license or car tags I'll worry about them when the time comes Sunday afternoon I called Gloria I felt obligated to let her know what was going on but Sarah had already told her she was pretty Frank with Gloria about what happened she said she cheated I caught her I left and she lost her job I felt bad that she lost her job but that was the price she had to pay I
asked Gloria to tell Josh what was going on the next time she talked to him I also told her that I would call about once a month to check on how things were going I didn't tell her where I was by noon the next day I had a job it was actually a short walk from the trailer park with the waffle house about halfway there what more could a man want I don't know how they handled the paperwork but I was getting 20 bucks an hour with no questions asked I was happy and they were
happy I wouldn't even have to get into my money that I brought with me about 2 months later Gloria informed me that Sarah had moved out of the house and was living with her parents Gloria didn't know anything else but was happy that I was settled and doing well Josh called me from San Diego just to let me know he was going on a cruise he was an avionics technician on an aircraft carrier he tried to explain what he actually did but it was over my head I never really knew much about technical stuff both
of them were careful not to say anything bad about their mother I appreciated that after that it was business as usual I started talking to Gloria at least weekly Josh and I started emailing regularly Gloria talked to Sarah regularly but she said very little about what she was doing or where she was I never filed for divorce and it seems Sarah never did either I have a Tennessee driver's license and the tags on the Subaru I started going to one of the local bars a couple times a month and even got laid two girls took
turns becoming regular nighttime companions they weren't looking for commitment and neither was I it seemed to work out well for all of us life was good that was a long time ago and I gradually forgot about Sarah eventually Subaru started giving me trouble I'd forgotten how long it had been it was over 200,000 mil I was pondering this over a mug of beer one day when I realized that it had been almost 5 years since I'd left home I had kept in close touch with both children Gloria had two children of her own by this
time and wanted me to come visit them Josh almost married a thae woman but at the last moment he refused I usually worked 6 days a week and used Sunday to recover from Saturday night there was no good reason for someone knocking on my trailer door at 6:00 on a Friday morning their rudess was rewarded by a half- naked man opening the door day jockey shorts are disgusting and the lady at the door judging by the look on her face agreed with me she looked away but her companion didn't seem to be impressed Norm I
would have worn pants but at a time like this guests annoyed me we're looking for John Terell I don't know you my name is David Simmons and this is my wife Mara we have a problem and we're hoping you can help us I'm so sorry I don't work by Moonlight if you need something done on your car you'll have to go to the store this elicited several blank stairs and finally a response it has nothing to do with your job it's more of a personal problem can we come in the trailer Inside looked like crap
I rarely had guests so I rarely cleaned it even my girlfriends insisted we go to their place be my guest let me put on my pants real quick as I entered the bedroom I left the door open just to show them what a welcoming host I am I also put on a shirt would you like some coffee it'll only take about 10 minutes I moved some things off the couch so they could sit down there was no answer to the coffee question we have an adopted daughter of 4 and A2 years old who needs a
bone marrow transplant and we are hoping you can help us we are willing to pay you if needed by my bone marrow no we want to use it and we're willing to compensate you for any inconvenience I think you want to buy it I was acting like a wise ass and I suddenly realized it these people were serious they had a real problem and they were looking for help I'm so sorry I didn't mean to interrupt please continue our best chance of finding a donor is next of kin you're our best hope watch this I
don't mean to be a smartass but I think you got the wrong guy when was your daughter born she'll be 5 years old in July Marsha Simmons spoke for the first time and she sounded sincere I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I had a vasc 15 years ago there's no way I could be her father why was your name on the birth certificate I can't answer that maybe you should ask her mother that statement was met with silence I felt sorry for these people but I didn't know how to help them
what's the mother's name Sarah Lise Terell I couldn't find the words maybe I shouldn't have taken those damn pills from her of course then those people wouldn't have a daughter at all all I thought I was done with grief and here it is again old memories of my wife having sex with that damn Philadelphia politician I was starting to forget it all and now it was back God damn it I Now understand and apologize for my rudess and insensitivity I will do everything in my power to help you first of all why can't Sarah get
a bone marrow transplant medically she can't why not she's a mother she has to be a worthy donor oh she's a suitable donor but she's too sick the doctors refused to even consider using her sick with what she's dying of liver failure she's got less than 6 months to live this doesn't make any sense she's always been in perfect health besides I don't believe a diseased liver will prevent her from donating bone marrow the hospital won't accept her signature on the consent form are you saying there's something wrong with her head they both looked at
me in silence they knew the answer but they didn't want to say it at that moment I didn't want them to feel even more Awkward 10 minutes ago I didn't care about them but now I felt like I had to protect them and help them how did this happen could any of my kids help maybe but we thought you were our best hope why don't you go after your father your real father we thought it was you we have no idea who else it could be Sarah didn't tell us anything about another possible father in
fact she was in no condition to explain anything Mara added we got most of our information from the adoption agency I had to get coffee and take a leak excuse me for a moment I left my guest sitting there while I brewed the coffee it only took a few minutes while it brewed I did a much needed morning pee I tried to be discreet I'd embarrassed Mara enough already where do you live Westchester Pennsylvania I'll make you a deal if I tell you who your daughter's real father is you have to promise me you'll pursue
him relentlessly until you get what you want what are you talking about your daughter's father is a prominent politician in Pennsylvania he will of course deny everything and will probably provide you with legal documents to stop your efforts if you agree to push hard enough to get him to admit that the child is his you can shame him into getting a bone marrow transplant that's what you want right yeah sure but how do we do that I don't know I'm a mechanic I work metal for a living I think the best way would be to
use television radio and newspapers politicians will do anything to avoid bad press do you have any friends who might be able to help well now they were both smiling I must have said something that gave them hope I think we can do this who the hell is he Malcolm Eugene foot he's running for US Senate I bet he'll do anything to avoid bad publicity coffee was ready but David and Marsha couldn't wait to get home before they left I told them how to contact Gloria and Josh in case they needed them I was sure they
would help I also had them tell me where Sarah was I would most likely be in Pensacola before they even got back to Westchester I got a haircut and bought a new shirt Sarah was a cheater who had ruined my life but I still wanted to look good when I saw her it was another trailer but this time it was a nice new double there stood her Volvo with a flat tire and a broken windshield the woman who opened the door wasn't Sarah she looked like she'd been doused hard and left soaking wet she was
at least 45 maybe 50 and must have had a hard life the lack of makeup didn't help and she just looked awful I didn't get a chance to open my mouth damned if it wasn't John Terell I never expected to see you here I had to use the old line you're putting me at a disadvantage Sherry Hart come on in Honey can I get you a beer no but thank you I'm here to see Sarah Sherry walked across the room and stopped at the buffet in the dining room here she is John look all you
want her hand pointed to a brass n that stood in the middle of the empty Buffet I guess I was too late I didn't move just stood there staring at the container in front of me can I have a beer now Sarah moved to Pensacola after giving up her baby for adoption she bought the trailer with the money she got from Bixler Enterprises after she was laid off she had a profit share 401k and vacation and sick leave she eventually took a job at a local garment Factory where she worked in the shipping Department that's
where she met Sherry Sherry rented a room from Sarah every dime Sarah earned went to booze she started with wine and gradually switched to Stronger drinks the cheapest ones eventually she lost her job because of her drinking and was forced to use her savings she never dated anyone or went out anywhere Sherry stayed with her paid her utilities and bought food that Sarah wouldn't eat it took her over 3 years to kill herself amazingly she had a will and left me a double trailer and a Volvo Sherry explained that Sarah was so upset about what
she had done that she just gave up she didn't try to prevent the pregnancy or even terminate it the adoption had been arranged months before the baby was born she never went back to work except for the black jobs she did poorly Shar said that Sarah didn't seem to have any ambition or purpose in life Sarah talked about me a lot but was afraid to try to contact me Gloria gave her my number but she never called me it was as if her one night Affair had hurt her more than it had hurt me I
was there for 2 weeks and then I sold Sherry's trailer for a dollar and got a th000 for the Volvo 2 days later I was in West Chester visiting my new friends David and Marsha Malcolm Eugene foot resisted at first but David and Marsha turned the screws until he gave in he insisted on DNA tests which proved he was the father to save face he was more or less forced into a bone marrow transplant which was successful Malcolm's political career and family life did not make a favorable impression either his decline in the polls was
so rapid that the party replaced him with another candidate a few months before the election his wife filed for divorce and was very public about it Sarah and I are now traveling to Dallas to see Gloria and my grandchildren I don't know how long I will keep Sarah with me probably until I have someone
