Old Sayings Hold True

So after working the land for nigh on 45 years between the both of us, we had found about $1800 worth of gold. I know, not a great return for the effort. But grandad was absolutely adamant that there was a seam of gold there that would rival Fort Knox.

Not long before he passed, he sat me down one day and asked me "If I leave you our mine, do you promise not to sell it and keep looking for our fortune?" I genuinely promised him that I would. After all, it had become a sanctuary to me when things had become too much for me to handle. The other bonus was, it cost me nothing to keep it. It was so remote, the local council had no services to it and therefore never send me a bill for anything.

I sat in our mine, (I always thought of it as grandads and mine) digging away and just thinking. 10 years previously, I had started my own business as I wanted more flexibility to help raise my children.

I found a workshop in an old, mostly abandoned industrial estate about 15km from town. The best thing it had going for it was it was cheap. For the first couple of years I would hire on extra guys as needed. In my third year, I picked up 4 ongoing maintenance contracts.

With these, I knew I would need permanent employees, so I hired 5 of my casual guys. All 6 of us were kept busy, but I had the added onus of trying to keep up with all the office work as well. Which meant using a computer. The auditor from the tax office really didn't like so much paperwork to look through. He gave me a filthy look every time he got a paper cut.

Not my problem. Harden up buttercup!! He seemed even more sour when he washed his hands with the extra-strong antiseptic hand wash I gave him. While he couldn't find anything wrong, he still gave me a couple of small fines for putting claims in the wrong box. Prick!!

I was telling my guys what happened and said that I really needed to find someone to run the office side of the business. Young Mick told me his older sister was looking for some part time work if that would help me. I told him to send her in.

That's how I met Alice. She was a 31 year old mother of a 6 year old daughter, who divorced her abusive husband after one too many trips to the hospital. Even after the divorce, he still tried to get back together with her, until Mick and a few of his football mates convinced him it would be extremely detrimental to his ongoing health if he stayed on this side of the country. He took the hint.

Alice could only work during school hours so she was home when her daughter was not at school. This suited me perfectly. I warned her that the language around the workshop would get pretty bad at times. She just looked at me and laughed, then said that wouldn't be a problem.

I then told her that I have only 3 hard and fast rules.

#1 Do not lie to me.

#2 Do your job as best you can, and if you have any problems, I don't read minds, so talk to me.

#3 Do not ever try to screw me over.

I also told her if there was anything she needed for the job to just order it and bill it to the company. I would trust her until such time as she did something to lose that trust. She agreed with everything and said she would start on the following Monday.

After a month, the office was purring along. If any document was needed, Alice would find and print it in less than 4 minutes. Much better that the 30 minutes or more it took me. She then told me we needed somewhere secure to store all the legal documents. I looked at her dumbstruck. This was the first I knew about any legal documents.

Alice went on to explain that every contract I signed, all the tax receipts and expenses invoices can be classed as legal documents. I had no reason not to believe her, so I had the guys build a secure room at the side of the workshop. When I saw it, I asked Joe if they didn't overdo things. When he started to say "Alice said....", I stopped him and just told him "OK".

4 months later, Alice came to me with a worried look, so I asked her "What's up?" She said, "You told me part of rule #2 was, if I had a problem, I was to talk to you. So here I am. The problem I have is, that no matter what you think, you really need to learn how to use a computer. I can't be here all the time as you know, but there will be times when you need to access files without me. I'm happy to teach you all I know, so when do you want to start?"

I actually agreed with her, as I had been thinking along the same lines myself. And so began my, albeit slow, introduction into 21st century technology. Thankfully Alice was very patient with me. There were some things we had to go over a dozen times or more. Others only 2 or 3 times. Some 6 months later, I was what would be considered (marginally) computer literate.

I decided to wait a while before I told anyone at home of my newfound skill. I wanted to surprise the kids. In the meantime, I would let them get their digs in about how dad was still a dinosaur, living in the last century.

For the next 6 years, the business grew. I now had 35 guys in the workshop and 4 office staff. Alice still ran the office and taught me about computers. Her daughter was in high school now and she had gone full time.

We even had to set up an I.T. department because we now used CAD drafting and CNC machines in the shop. I had employed Rick on the recommendation of one of my guys who knew him from school. Even though he had done 3 years in prison for fraud, he really knew his stuff. Luckily I had him with me when we started building our system. After I had 3 companys come in to give quotes, Rick told all 3 to fuck off because they were nothing but thieves.

He then proceeded to build all our software from the ground up. It worked out 40% cheaper to do it this way than what we were quoted. Along the way he taught me a few things about how code works and what can be done when it's set-up properly. Not that I would ever be able to use that information myself.

*****

As I sat in our mine thinking, my dad's teachings came back to me. I had a family to defend. So I started to look at Alistaire as my enemy and the agency as enemy headquarters. I knew I needed intelligence on how he operated.

I knew I could never do this by myself, but I loathed involving other people in my problems. I came up with a basic plan to buy some cameras and voice recorders for the house, and I would run an idea by Rick to get his opinion in regard to Alistaire.

The next morning, I packed my gear and hooked up the water trailer and headed back home. I pulled into the pub and dropped off the trailer, then went inside for my usual counter meal and lite beer. I was more than happy to spend a few dollars there considering they never wanted anything to store my trailer.

When the publican had put my order to the kitchen, he came and asked me "What's wrong, you look like your dog just died, but I know you don't have a dog?" Was I really that transparent?? I looked at him, but before I could say anything, he stated "It's woman problems, isn't it!!"

He went on to tell me that he had 'Been there, done that, got the t-shirt...twice', so if I wanted someone to talk to or a shoulder to lean on, or even a gun to borrow with an attached alibi, just call him. Not exactly sure if he was joking about the last bit or not...!! I thought 'not'.

After I had eaten, I pointed the car toward home, knowing I had to work on my game face. I had 6 hours to get it right. It must have worked, because when I arrived Jill said that I was looking happier. I told her I had found a couple of flecks of gold, which always cheered me up. She then came back with "Keep going like that and we can finally take that world cruise in 2245!" Unfortunately, I don't believe she was joking. Made me wonder whose side she would be on, his or mine. For the first time ever, I started having real doubts about my marriage.

The next morning, Tuesday, I headed to work with a new resolve. One way or another, I was going to find out just what was happening. If I had to break some laws to do that, well, it's only illegal if you get caught. But this is my family, and there is nothing, and I mean NOT A FUCKING THING I would not do to protect it. Belinda and Allan, my kids, were my two first priority's, with Jill and I after that.

I caught up with the guys in the shop, and copped their shit about striking it rich, until Alice called me to sign some papers. When I walked in her office, there was paperwork spread on her desk. She just pointed and said "Sign there, there, there and there." So I did. After all, I trusted her enough to give her free reign over the whole office and she had never given me cause to doubt her in the nearly 7 years I had employed her.

I told her I wanted to see Rick when he had a spare half hour. She said she would let him know. Then she turned to face me, took off her glasses, looked me straight in the eyes and said, "You will tell me when you are ready, won't you?" I stared at her for what seemed like an hour, but was more like 15 seconds, nodded my head once, then turned and walked to the shop.

Just before 11am, Rick came in the shop and said Alice told him I needed to see him. I picked up a tape measure and note pad and had him follow me out to our steel storage area. When we stopped, he gave me a strange look, as he had never been involved in the shop side of the business before.

I told him this was a personal matter, nothing to do with the business, and asked for his utmost discretion. He said that after all I had done for him, he had no problem with that. I asked him what he was talking about, and he said that when he left prison, no-one would even consider him for any job. Not only had I looked past his previous mistakes, but had given him a well paying job and trusted him enough not to be looking over his shoulder every minute of the day. For that, I would have his undying loyalty.

I filled him in on everything I knew so far and my plan for cameras and recorders at home. He gave me a sly smile and told me he had some friends who would take care of that for me, as long as I signed a form giving them permission to enter my house and install the "security system". I happily agreed to that and told him to put it on the company credit card he had. He promised me he would take care of everything.

As we walked back to the shop, it felt like a great weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Now I understood when they say, 'A problem shared is a problem halved'. Rick said they would need about a week to have everything installed and running. Now all I had to do was hurry up and wait.

*****

While I had always been a patient man, waiting for something I expected was never a strong point for me. So I had the bright idea of using my newfound computer skills to start snooping. I thought I could crack Jills password on her email and maybe find something. What I did find was, that I am still a fucking dinosaur around computers.

All I managed to do was lock Jills account. Not knowing what else to do, I called in the cavalry. Rick was able to make it look like a random hacker tried for Jills account. Then threatened to tell Jill about me himself if I was stupid enough to try anything like that again. Next time I had to get him to do it.

0It took the best part of a month before Rick took me aside and said they had something. At lunchtime, we went to a small café near the shop and sat in a corner booth. He pulled out his phone and set up a video, then plugged in an earpiece and told me to watch.

It was a video of Alistaire and Jill, in his office, discussing an upcoming weeklong conference he had booked for them. It was being held at a resort that was a 2 hour flight away and they weren't talking about business. It became obvious their affair had been ongoing for at least a year. I knew then my marriage was done. She knew my views on infidelity, honesty and loyalty.

I asked Rick how he got the video and all he said was, 'Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies. He also said, this way I had plausible deniability. I wanted to know what he meant by that. All he said was not to worry my ugly head about it.

I decided I could at least use my new computer skills to find out what I needed to do about preparing for a divorce. After a couple of hours, I wasn't so sure I wanted these new skills. It was depressing to say the least. There was a 85% chance Jill would have custody of the kids, even though she very rarely spent much time with them.

I was the parent who took them to school sports and after school activities, helped them with their homework and spent most of my free time with them. I didn't mind doing all that because it was the whole reason I started my business. But from what I could find, some judges just didn't give a fuck about that. Especially female judges.

The financial side was another shock. While I had no problem supporting my kids to the full extent I was able, I had a real problem having to support someone who had no qualms stabbing me in the back. No matter what else, if I had my way, that's something was never going to happen.

I found out I live in a no-fault state. I could file for divorce without giving a reason, but I wanted, no needed, to put some hurt on Alistaire and Jill. Would that impact on my kids? I'm sure it would, but then again, the divorce would hurt them as well, so a little more wouldn't do too much damage.

In my meandering around the internet, I found a site called "Literotica" and started reading some stories. One of the sub-headings on the site is 'Loving Wives'. While I know those stories are fictional, I understand that good authors write about subjects they know. It gave me some small insight of what I could be up against.

I may have been highly intelligent, scoring an average 133 in a couple of tests my parents sent me to when I was in my late teens, but I knew I didn't have the skillset required to see this through by myself. I knew from past experience with supposedly brilliant engineers, that just because you are smart, it doesn't mean you know how the real world works.

I think by default Rick had become my 'go-to guy' in this situation, so I walked to his office. When I got there, I found Alice sitting on the corner of his desk and they were in a deep and hushed conversation. All 3 of us looked at each other very embarrassed and I quickly offered an apology while backing out of the office and headed to the shop to give them some privacy.

I never had a problem with a workplace romance, but knowing that if there was a bad break-up, I could lose a valued employee, I had my concerns. I know they are both single, and being in their 30's, are certainly over the age of consent. I believe they are keeping things quiet due to my situation. I am not naive enough to expect Rick had not mentioned something to Alice about me. When they make their relationship public, I will be among the first to congratulate them.

A few minutes later, Rick caught up with me and asked what I needed. I told him I required a private conversation with him and asked if he was available for lunch. He said he was, and we agreed to meet in the café again at lunchtime. With that sorted, I went to my office and started making a list of what I wanted (hoped) to happen.

Rick arrived a few minutes after I did and after we ordered, I gave him my list. While he looked it over, I explained that I had no idea of who to ask for help with making things happen. I explained I was sorry to dump this on him, but I hoped he knew of someone.

He proceeded to ask me how I came up with this list. I told him I found a way to use my computer skills without fucking up. I searched around the internet for divorce outcomes in this state, and what I could expect to happen. He then asked what computer I used and I told him my laptop. He looked at me and shook his head and said "You fucked up again, Rex!!"

I said to him he knew my name is Jay, so why did he call me 'Rex' and how did I fuck up this time? He went on to tell me I was such a big dinosaur with a computer, I reminded him of a "T-Rex. He also explained that by using my laptop, there was now a trail linked to me, of my planning to divorce Jill which could be used against me in court. Back at the office, he confiscated my laptop and told Alice not to let me near any other computer. I just hung my head in shame.

Back in the shop, it didn't take long for the guys to start calling me 'Rex'. If you have never worked in a workshop environment, just know that a reason for a new nickname for someone is not required. Everyone will just use it until such time as the person who gave it to you explains why.

Rick took it upon himself to get as much information as possible regarding my list. Three days later, on Friday afternoon, Rick stepped into my office and sat down with a strange look on his face. He asked me exactly what it was I wanted the outcome to be. I thought for a few minutes, then told him I wanted custody of my kids along with the house, to keep my business, and not to pay Jill any alimony. If I could keep the majority of the other assets, that would be a bonus.

In reply, he said that's what he thought I would want, then he frowned and said 'maybe', 'probably', 'doubtful' and 'highly unlikely'. He went on to say "But I have come up with a plan if you can stick with it for 12 months!" When I asked why it would take so long, he replied "Rome wasn't built in a day!"

We agreed to meet the next day at the pub, where he proceeded to fill me in on his plan. He had consulted with some of his trusted friends, and between them had come up with a way that, if it worked, would change the outcome of my wishes to 'probably', 'definitely', 'certainly' and 'absolutely'. I loved the sound of that. So with that as the end goal, 12 months would be a piece of piss.

All I had to do was keep the status quo of the last couple of months. The kids and I even started doing a few more things together. I purchased a caravan and we started going away for the weekend when the kids had nothing happening.

Rick and Co kept up surveillance of Alistaires office. I knew their conference was coming up in a week, but Jill had neglected to inform me about it. The kids started school holidays at the same time, so I booked a week at a kid friendly tourist park 3 hours away.

Jill was to leave on the Saturday morning, so I decided we would leave Friday morning. It wouldn't hurt the kids to have an extra day off. I spent the week getting the caravan packed with everything we needed before Jill got home each day. The kids packed their own bags and left them in their rooms where Jill would never find them. She never did any housework these days, so had no chance of seeing the bags.

On Wednesday night, Jill finally told me about the conference. She explained a vacancy became available at the last minute and Alistaire insisted they needed to go. Apparently, it was a very prestigious event and very hard to attend. It would be an arduous 2 week conference, but the information and new contacts would make it all worthwhile. Yes, I noticed it is now '2' weeks.

She had to go into the office early on Thursday in order to get everything organized for them being away. By the time the kids got up and had breakfast Thursday morning, she had already left. I said to myself "Fuck this!" and asked the kids if they wanted to start holidays now. It took at least 0.001 of a second for them to agree. I quickly emailed the school (at least I could do that correctly now), threw the bags in the car and jumped behind the wheel.

I had a flash of evil genius and raced back into the house and fired up the computer. I quickly composed an email about the kids and I going away and sent it to Jill. It was a shame I fucked up and sent it to the wrong email address... Ho-Hum!! At least I tried... I was in such a hurry, I even left my phone on the kitchen table.