Slowly and Then All at Once

"But what am I going to do, where am I going to live?"

"That falls under the category of Not My Problem.'"

He heard her muttering to herself and thought she was about to explode. Instead, she changed to yet another topic. "We still have to talk about Kyle. We agreed to joint custody."

"I'm glad you finally got around to remembering your son," he said sarcastically, "But you don't need to worry about him. Kyle has adjusted to the changes in his life. He's doing well in school, he has new friends, and he's living in a stable environment. And given that you're essentially homeless and about to move out of town, I'd say joint custody is off the table. Maybe later on, after you've relocated, if you want to talk about him coming for a visit, I'm happy to discuss it."

Then his voice grew menacing. "But don't even think about asking for full custody. Throughout our whole separation and divorce, Kyle has spent way more than half the time living with me. I've kept a record of every time I had to pick him up and keep him because your work took precedence. I seriously doubt any judge would award custody to a parent who's been out of her child's life that much."

He heard her sniffling on the phone. "I can't believe you're being so heartless, John. I didn't think you were like that."

"You shouldn't be surprised, Martina. After all, I learned it from you." With that he disconnected and sat there thinking. I have to admit: I don't feel any sympathy for her at all.

As he sat there thinking about his conversation with Martina, he remembered he had an important task to accomplish. Picking up his phone again, he opened the text he'd received from Nadia Ingersoll that morning. "Thank you," he wrote back. "Now it's my turn to do you a favor. Can I come see you tomorrow?"

It was almost the end of the day before she replied. "I don't have a lot of time, but I can see you if you come at 1:00 p.m. tomorrow." He quickly confirmed.

With that, John left work a little early to pick up Kyle. The two of them were waiting in the after-school parking lot when Allison drove up to pick up Stevie. With a big grin on his face, John marched over to her car. When she got out to greet him, he grabbed her and kissed her soundly. The teachers who were watching laughed and cheered.

Stevie and Kyle had been watching too, and they were agog at the sight. "Daddy kissed Mommy," Kyle explained to his friend. That brought smiles to both John and Allison. The latter turned back to him. "Not that I'm objecting, but what brought that on?"

John smiled. "First, as of today I'm officially a single man. Second, I think my schizophrenic life is about to get a whole lot simpler. I'll tell you the details later, but how about we all go out for dinner to celebrate?"

That suggestion brought more cheers and smiles, even if the boys were a little uncertain what they were cheering about.

Back at his house after a big dinner at a family-style restaurant, John told Allison about the day's events while the boys were playing. "The big news is that Martina may be moving to the West Coast and leaving Kyle here with me. I'm not saying that everything's going to be smooth sailing from here on, but a lot of the chaos in my life is going away." He reached over to take her hand. "And I'm hoping you and Stevie will let me spend a whole lot of my new chaos-free time with you. For starters, I'd like you two to spend the night here again." He lowered his voice to make sure only Allison could hear. "Only this time, I don't want to spend the night on the couch."

She took his face in her hands and kissed him. "That's very good news indeed, John, and yes, I'd like to stay here very much."

When the boys were finally asleep, John led Allison back to the master bedroom. Dimming the lights, he began to undress her. Once he was done, he quickly shed his own clothes, then picked her up and deposited her on his bed.

As he sank to his knees and began to caress her, she surprised him by interrupting what he was doing. "Not now, John, please. I've been wanting this for so long. I'm so, so ready -- please don't make me wait any longer."

When he heard that he climbed up beside her, then spread her legs so that he had access to the intimacy they both wanted. As he finally entered her, she gasped and held him tightly as though afraid he'd get away. After that, the semidarkness was filled with soft sighs and quiet moans, as both partners tried not to wake their sleeping sons.

As they built toward a climax, he whispered, "Should I pull out?"

She grabbed him and pulled him fully into her. "I'm on the pill" she whispered, "I have been for weeks." After that, there were no more words, just the urgency of two people finally experiencing what they'd both been wanting for so long. Neither was disappointed.

After lunch the next day, John made the drive out to the Ingersoll estate. When he rang the doorbell, Nadia herself was waiting.

After they were seated, she proceeded in her usual curt manner. "I did not expect to see you again, Mr. Meadows. I fulfilled my promise, as you're no doubt aware. So why are you here today?"

"Mrs. Ingersoll, it was obvious to me when I visited before that you love your son very much."

"Of course I do. Rodney means everything to me."

"Am I correct that he suffers from Down Syndrome?"

"He does," she said defensively, "but that in no way affects how I feel about him."

"That was also obvious to me," he said, nodding, then went on. "I've done some reading on the topic. As I understand it, children born with Down Syndrome can now be expected to live a full lifespan. Is that right?"

"Yes," she said warily.

"But, of course, he will need lifetime support."

"That's correct, and before you ask, I've made careful provisions to ensure he gets that support."

John nodded. "Please forgive me for asking, Mrs. Ingersoll, but are you older than your husband?"

"I'm not ashamed to say that I'm fourteen years older than Ivan. Candidly, he wanted a partner with the financial resources to support his ambitions, and, thanks to my inheritance, I fit his needs. Likewise, as a widow who was still young and attractive, I wanted a piece of arm candy who was worthy of me. It was a marriage of convenience, but it's worked out well for both of us."

"Statistically, of course," John went on, "it's likely that you will pre-decease your husband."

"I know the actuarial tables, Mr. Meadows. So what?"

"And one can never discount the possibility of a fatal disease or accident."

"I know very well that I'm not immortal, Mr. Meadows. What exactly are you driving at?"

"All I'm saying is that that at some point in the future, it is likely that Ivan will take over sole responsibility for caring for Rodney."

"Yes," she acknowledged after a moment's hesitation.

John reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a sheet of paper. "Mrs. Ingersoll, you told me you had no need to review the evidence I had collected about your husband's affair with my wife. But I think it's vital that you read this. It's a page from the transcript of their time together. The section I've highlighted pertains to Rodney."

Apprehensively she took the page from him and began to read.

Martina Meadows

"When we get married, I'm thinking about asking for full custody of Kyle. Are you okay with that?"

Ivan Ingersoll

"Sure, as long as you do all the parenting. I'm not much good at the father-son thing."

Martina Meadows

"What about Rodney, do you want custody of him?"

Ivan Ingersoll

"God no! Have you seen him? The kid is damaged. Nadia dotes on him, but if it were up to me, I'd slap him in an institution in a heartbeat."

Nadia gasped in shock.

"You see why I had to share this with you, Mrs. Ingersoll. I could tell how much you love your son, and I felt you should know what is likely in store for him down the road once you are no longer around to protect him."

Obviously shaken, it took the woman a minute to regain control of her emotions. When she finally did so, she stood up. John did as well. Clutching the transcript in one hand, she extended her other to shake his. "Mr. Meadows, you have indeed done me a favor. Please leave now so that I can consider how best to deal with this development."

"Good day, Mrs. Ingersoll, and good luck to you and Rodney," John replied before turning to leave.

As he drove back to work, he couldn't help thinking, I don't know what that woman has in mind, but I wouldn't want to be Ivan Ingersoll.

It would be three weeks before John learned the answer to his question. And for the third time, his source was none other than Clare Garrison.

This time she called John, and she started talking before he could even say hello. "Remind me never to piss you off, John. When you get revenge, you go nuclear."

"What is it this time, Clare?"

"I guess you already know that Nadia Ingersoll is the real owner of Triple I?"

"I do," he admitted cautiously.

"Well, this morning Nadia shows up at the office and calls us all together for a special announcement. And guess who's missing: Ivan. Anyway, she tells us that Triple I has been sold to some big consulting firm in New York. Our new owners will be flying down tomorrow to let us know who'll be offered jobs and who'll get the axe."

"Wow!" John exclaimed. "I did not see that coming."

"Uh-huh, sure," Clare shot back sarcastically. "Anyway, that's not all. Nadia also told us that Ivan has been fired for violating the company's policy on sexual harassment. The two of them are getting a divorce, and she told us she plans to devote herself to the care of her son Rodney."

"So what do you think will happen to Ivan?"

"Frankly, I think he's toast. Nadia told made a point of telling us their pre-nuptial agreement means he'll get very little from their divorce. As far as him finding a new job, nobody is going to hire a guy with a reputation for sexual harassment. And I can't see any venture capitalist investing in a new company Ivan might try to start." She snickered. "If you want my guess, he'll probably wind up as a barista at Starbucks."

"Interesting. And what about you, Clare? Are you going to try to get back together with him?"

"Well, he's kind of lost his appeal, if you know what I mean," she admitted.

"What about Triple I -- are you going to stay if the new owners offer you a job?"

"I don't think so," she told him after a moment's hesitation. "Honestly, I don't know why I hung around after Ivan dumped me. I'll probably look for something somewhere else." She laughed. "Maybe I'll go out to Seattle and see if I can team up with Martina again. At least we've got something in common now -- we're both Ivan's exes!"

"Well, I wish you luck," John told her. After he'd disconnected, he added, "and it won't break my heart if you leave town." Then he sat back, savoring the news. Clare thinks I'm a badass because I made Martina and Ivan pay for what they'd done. And I guess I did play a big part in their downfall. But she was wrong about one thing: the person you really don't want to piss off is Nadia Ingersoll!

By the next summer, John and Allison were married. At Christmas he had given her a ring and she'd accepted his proposal. In January, when Allison's lease was up, she and Stevie moved into John's house. The couple had a small wedding ceremony in John's backyard on the first day of spring.

As far as Martina was concerned, John had neither seen nor heard anything from her since she'd phoned him after getting fired. So he was startled when she unexpectedly showed up on his front porch one Saturday morning in August. He almost didn't recognize her: she looked tired and there were gray threads in her dark hair.

"Martina, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I came back to town for a couple of days to sign some papers. I hope you don't mind me dropping by -- I was hoping I could see Kyle."

Reluctantly, John let her in and then went to get his son. When he came back with him, Martina stared at Kyle in wonder. "Wow, you've really grown. You're quite the young man now." Then, seeing his hesitation, she went down on one knee and held her arms out to him. "Don't you remember me?"

Before the boy could answer, Stevie walked into the room. Seeing Martina, he asked Kyle in a loud whisper, "Who's that?"

"That's Old Mommy," Kyle answered.

His words hit Martina hard. Quickly she stood up and turned away from her son to hide her tears. "Maybe I'd better go, John. I don't want to upset him."

"I think that would be best," John agreed and walked her out the door.

Before she got in her car, she turned and looked at her ex-husband ruefully. "It looks like your life is going well, John. I promise, I won't do anything more to disturb it. I just hope you'll remember the good things when you think about me."

She waited a moment, but he said nothing. She quickly turned, got in her rental car and drove away.

He was watching her car disappear when Allison came out to stand beside him. "Are you okay, babe?" she asked.

He turned to her. "Yeah, I'm fine." He looked at her thoughtfully. "It's funny: seeing her reminded me of a business school lecture I heard about bankruptcy."

She looked at him uncertainly.

"Our professor told us Ernest Hemingway was asked how he managed to go bankrupt. He answered, 'Slowly, then all at once.'" John smiled at his wife. "I think that's what happened to Martina and Ivan. For a while it looked like they could do whatever they wanted and never suffer any consequences. But there were things happening behind the scenes that they never noticed. When it all fell apart, there was nothing they could do to prevent it."

He put his arm around her shoulder and reached down to pat Allison's belly, which was only just starting to show. "I think the same thing applies to us, only in reverse. We both went through a long period of hard times. But there were good things happening, even if it was hard to see them sometimes. And then, all at once, everything came together for the best."

She nodded and he kissed her.

"Let's go inside and see what the boys are up to."