Chapter 1 #2
Of course, that wasn’t to say that my entire life had been nothing but bliss and good choices, because it hadn’t.
Upon getting my degree in business management and then landing a job at Carlie Incorporated, I’d met the one woman who would change my life forever, and while there was a lot of crap in my past that I regretted, meeting Ellen would never fall into that category.
Not only had she been what I’d needed back then, but she’d also given me a miracle in my son, River, and so no matter that we weren’t married any longer, I’d still do it all over again just so that River could exist, and not only because he was my son, but the kid was just an all-around good fucking person.
As for Ellen, we’d met when I’d been twenty-three, and she had just turned twenty-one, giving us one hell of a how-we-met story.
She’d been celebrating her twenty-first birthday, and I’d been the unlucky sap that she’d thrown up all over after one of her friends had thought it a good idea to spin her around before taking another shot of tequila.
Of course, she’d been drunkenly mortified, and like a forty-something concerned father, I’d gone into protective mode, worried that her friends might end up giving her alcohol poisoning.
So, like the wet blanket that I’d been-after cleaning myself up-I had insisted on getting her home, and the worst part about it was that her so-called ‘friends’ had let me.
They had allowed a total stranger to take Ellen home, and all because I’d been cute, whatever they’d meant by that.
At any rate, I’d taken her home, and then terrified that she might vomit in her sleep and choke to death, I had slept at her house, and she’d been so incredibly embarrassed the next morning that I just couldn’t let her carry that humiliation with her.
Women were funny about taking blame for things that weren’t necessarily their fault, and I hadn’t wanted that for Ellen.
So, that morning had led to us exchanging numbers, so that I could check on her during the day, and then one phone call had led to another, and before I’d known it, we’d been dating, and I’d fallen in love with the quirky girl, really believing that her face would be the last one that I’d see on my death bed.
How na?ve of me.
It hadn’t been until our fourteenth year of domesticated bliss that I had noticed a change in our marriage.
An elementary school teacher, Ellen used to come home with the sweetest and wildest stories about her students, but then I’d begun to notice how she had stopped sharing how her days had been.
Worse, I had stopped doing the same without even realizing it.
We had become roommates without warning, and it had sucked.
Nevertheless, we’d given it two more years of trying to recapture that earlier magic, but when it had become clear that our love story had come to an end, Ellen had filed for divorce, and even though it’d been amicable and mutual for the most part, it had still hurt like a sonofabitch.
Luckily, we’d been able to remain friends, and we’d both done our best to make sure that River hadn’t suffered for it.
We also hadn’t begun dating anyone else until after River had gone off to college, and while I was still single, Ellen was in a serious relationship with a man named Taggart Mills, and I was thankful that he was a good dude.
Though I didn’t speak to Ellen much now that River was twenty-years-old and in college, we still did speak on occasion, and she seemed very happy, which was very important to me, even all these years later.
As for me, I dated, but for the most part, it was to pass the time or get my dick wet.
Not only did I work a lot of hours, but I wasn’t big on wanting multiple marriages under my belt.
I’d said my vows, and I didn’t want to cheapen them by saying the same thing to another woman.
Yeah, Ellen and I hadn’t worked out, but since I planned on not having any more children, she was always going to hold a special place in my heart, and that’s where I wanted to keep her.
It also had nothing to do with carrying some secret torch for her or anything like that.
I was over my ex-wife, and I wasn’t confused about that.
I just wasn’t interested in getting married again, and when that was the endgame for most women, that put me off on dating anyone seriously.
Luckily for me, there were still some women out there that just wanted to have a good time, and I was all for that.
All in all, I had no complaints, and that included my job.
I was probably one of the very few people who could say that they enjoyed going to work, and unexpected challenges did nothing but kickstart the competitive streak in me.
I also didn’t mind putting in long hours since my son was grown and I had no wife to go home to.
Yeah, I had enough friends for a decent social life, but there was never any need for me to race home, so I didn’t.
Before I could give my boring existence any more consideration, there was a tap on my office door before Christy Lee, one of the administrative assistants, opened it, peeking her head inside.
While the professional thing would have been for her to wait for my permission, I preferred a relaxed work environment over a rigid one.
“A heads up, Simmons had me clear his calendar at two for a meeting with you,” she announced, a pointed look on her face. “He only does that when he’s on a mission.”
She wasn’t wrong on that score. Lyle Simmons was the vice president of acquisitions, and he was also my direct boss, and he was a bulldog when he had his eye set on something.
“Thanks for letting me know,” I replied, genuinely meaning it, but also wondering what in the hell Lyle wanted this time.