Early Retirement Chapter 11

Early Retirement Chapter 11

After that we made love every day, sometimes in the morning, sometimes at night, and sometimes both. The days melted together and before we knew it, I found myself in court. “Your honor,” Joe began, “we have here a case of desertion by my client’s wife. It would be easy to claim that he did something wrong to cause his wife’s disappearance, but in this case, we have the wife’s own words condemning her.” He called me to the witness stand. Suzanne squeezed my hand as I walked to be sworn in.
 
“Mr. Young, will you please tell the court of the events which led to your wife’s departure? Please address your remarks to her honor.”

“Okay…your honor, my wife Sandra and I moved here from New York seven months ago after we had retired. We were unpacking in our new home when we met a couple who lived down the street—Frank and Janet Sturgis. They invited us to a welcoming party where we met all our neighbors. Later that evening I learned from Sandra that they were swingers and they wanted to swing with us.”

“What was your reaction, Mr. Young?”

“Truthfully, I was appalled. I was not in favor, your honor, but Sandra was. I tried to dissuade her, but I was not at all successful. In fact, she informed me that she was going with or without me. I could not let her go into a potentially dangerous situation by herself so I agreed on the condition that I would try it, but if I did not like it, we would not do it again.

“We went to their house the following Saturday night and we paired up with each other’s spouse. I am not going to tell you that it was bad because it was not, but I felt dirty…filthy afterwards and I took Sandra home as soon as possible. I thought it was done, but I learned later that Sandra had cheated on me with Frank whenever I played golf and several times during a weekend long teasing session.”

“Teasing?” I explained what had happened and how we had made wild love as my reward all Sunday night and the following two days, as well.

“Then one Wednesday after golf I found this letter.” I read it aloud, my voice cracking several times from the emotion I felt as I relived the horror, I had experienced that miserable day—one of the worst in my life. I explained how after a week I decided not to allow Sandra and especially not Frank to destroy me. I went on to describe how I met Suzanne and her friends.

“I was wondering if you were that Robert Young. You have been through a lot recently.”

“Yes, your honor, but I have also met someone who loves me completely and without reservation. I will marry her as soon as the divorce is final.”

“Have you had any contact with your wife since she left?”

“I sent her an email about a month after to let her know that Bank of America wanted her to pay her credit card bill. She has her own cards—American Express and Visa—based on her earnings just as she has her own investments in her own name. I told her about the bill and informed her that I would not pay it. She never responded, but I never received another bill, so I assume it was received. We do know that she and Mr. Sturgis left the country that morning. Their passports showed that they flew to Mexico and from there to Belize.”

“Excuse me, your honor—I have the documents here from Homeland Security.” Joe passed them to the bailiff who handed them to the judge.

She read for a moment before commenting, “I see. Thank you for your testimony, Mr. Young. Normally a divorce in this state would take a year and I would often require marriage counseling, as well. However, in this case I see no reason for either of those steps. May I assume that the young woman I saw you with earlier is your fiancé?”

“Yes, your honor; she is and I’m extremely lucky to have found her.”

“Yes, I believe you. Very well, if you will return here in thirty days—the seventeenth of next month—I will finalize your divorce, granting your request for sole ownership of your domicile, the only property in question here and, if you wish, I will also marry you at that time.”

“Thank you, your honor. That would be great.” She banged the gavel and adjourned, returning to chambers. I stepped down to thank Joe.

“No reason to thank me—you did it all—a fantastic job. I will see you in a month and I will send you the bill then, too. You know us lawyers.”

“It will be money well spent. Thanks again.” I rushed into my love’s arms. “C’mon, I think we can find the license bureau. It must be around here somewhere.”

“Up the hall and turn left—third door down,” said the bailiff, a huge smile on his face. We followed his directions and less than an hour later we had our license. All I needed now was the divorce to become final.
I was holding Suzanne’s hand when we left the courthouse. “You know, I’ve been thinking.”

“Uh oh, it’s usually trouble when you think, Bob.”

“Not this time—you are entitled to have your own bedroom set. It will be a clean break—a completely fresh start—for us. We will put all of Sandra’s stuff in storage for a year in case she shows up some day and we will donate it to charity if she does not. I also think we should redecorate—unused furniture, too, if you want.”

“I will take the bedroom set, but I like the rest of your stuff and it goes against my grain to spend money wastefully. The paint and carpeting in the house are almost new. Re-doing it now would be a waste, too. I have some photos of my family I would like to bring over and—that reminds me—I think you should meet my parents. Do not worry, I am still going to marry you regardless of what they say or do. After giving you that sad news I am hesitant to tell you that I will let you buy me lunch.” We were downtown in Asheville, so I suggested the Red Stag, the site of our first dinner together. Once we were seated and given our menus, I asked what could be so bad.

“What religion are you? I have never seen you go to church.”

“Uh, well, I was brought up Methodist, but I have not practiced in years. I have never been much for organized religion. I believe that a person who lives a good life—not cheating, lying, stealing, or worse—is doing a lot better than some of the so-called churchgoers. I have known some people who would go every Sunday and then commit every sin in the book on Monday. Why do you ask?”

“Well, I am like you except that I was brought up Catholic. My parents are what you would call religious fanatics. You should have heard them when I got divorced from David. They still invite him for Thanksgiving and Christmas in the hope that we will get back together again.”

“That should make the holidays interesting then—you know after a judge marries us. Yow! I will bet that will light them up.”

“No bet…and no fair laughing about it. They are my parents and I do love them even if they are a colossal pain in the ass on occasion. Let us drop it for now and enjoy our lunch. I love this restaurant. Thanks for suggesting it.” She leaned across the table to give me a quick, but sweet kiss.

“Just one more thing; where do your folks live?”

“Arlington, Washington—north of Seattle.”

“I know where it is. I had to go out there quite a few times on business. How would you wind up here in North Carolina?”

“Dana and Lisa were relocating here, and they suggested I join them. I did not care where so long as it was more than 1,000 miles away from my parents. You know, Bob, you never did tell me about your work.” So, I did, or at least I tried. Investment banking is complicated, especially since there’s little actual banking involved. My work involved evaluating companies for takeovers or mergers and working with the management of both companies to grease the wheels whenever possible. Even earning one or two percent commission earned our firm millions and millions of dollars every year. I was less than halfway through my explanation when our salads were served. “You might as well stop there, Bob. You lost me about five minutes ago. It was honest work, wasn’t it?”

“Oh yes, because one wrong word could mess up the deal big time. My teams were sworn to secrecy and anyone who blabbed about a project was done—fired on the spot. I have seen stock prices increase very quickly once a merger or acquisition is announced. Anyone having prior knowledge could make a fortune—even millions. So, yes it was honest and ethical work.

“I will want to talk with you once we get back home about our finances. It is important you know about my investments and whom to contact if anything happens to me.”

“Bob, please do not talk like that. I want you to live a long time.”

“So do I,” I said between forkfuls of salad, “but it always pays to be prepared.” We did not say another word for the rest of our meal. We both had jumbo prime Angus burgers that were juicy and delicious (and expensive) with cheddar and bacon. I continued once we were back at home.

“Sandra and I had a bit more than thirty-five million in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds when we retired. Almost eight million of that was in Sandra’s name. I made more than enough to support us so all her earnings other than a thousand a month were invested. There is a joint account, too with almost two million in it. I will have to phone my financial advisor about that because it is an “AND” account that requires both of us to buy or sell or liquidate. The rest—more than twenty-five million is in my name. I am also still on the payroll and will be for another four years at $500,000 a year although I am putting $50,000 into my 401(k) because the company is matching that dollar for dollar.” I spent the next hour familiarizing Suzanne with my extensive portfolio. I could see that she was confused, but over the next few months, she would learn more

To be continued