Rob's Revenge Ch. 02

At the end of the third week came the expected invitation. We were having dinner at my place when Connie said:

"Mom and dad would like you to come to dinner Friday."

"I know what it is going to be about so I might as well head your father off at the pass."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that your mother is going to want to talk weddings and plans and your father is going to get around to talking money."

"So what does heading him off at the pass mean?"

I got up from the table, got my briefcase and took a paper out of it. I came back to the table and handed the paper to Connie.

"What is it?"

"A pre-nuptial agreement. I've all ready signed it and had it notarized. All you have to do is sign it and when your father starts to talk money all I'll have to do is hand it to him."

She read it, shook her head as if she didn't believe what she was reading and then looked at me and said:

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"This is going to shock my dad. After what both my sisters did he just knows that any man I marry is going to have my trust fund on his mind and will try to find someway to access it."

The dinner went pretty much as I had predicted except for her father being a little pissy toward her for not coming to work for him when she graduated. She explained that she wanted to make it on her own and not have it said that she advanced because of favoritism. That didn't mollify him. Her mother talked about the wedding and I could see her father waiting for his chance to jump in, but I did just what I said I wanted to do and I cut him off before he could say a word.

"There is something that needs to be cleared up before the wedding takes place" I said and I took the envelope out of my sports coat inside pocket. I handed it to her father as I said, "It is quite clear and to the point. In the case of a divorce for any reason whatsoever both parties leave the marriage with what they brought into it. Any acquisitions during the marriage will be split equally. Simply put, Connie's trust fund, all of it, stays with her.

"There is one more item to take care of and I haven't discussed it with Connie yet, but it is my intention to draw up a will that will make sure that if Connie predeceases me -- God forbid -- her funds will go to our children and not to me and further, you two will be named as joint executors of the estate."

The look on Barrington's face was priceless, but Connie's mother was smiling as she nodded her head as if she knew something that the rest of us didn't. While the help (yes, the Barrington's had a butler, maids and a chef) cleared the table Connie and her mother went off to look at some material that Connie's mother had found for the wedding gown and the brides maid's dresses leaving me alone with Barrington. We retired to his den and he poured me a brandy and then said:

"You surprised me, but then that was your intention wasn't it?"

"Yes and no."

"Yes and no?"

"I knew it would surprise you, but it wasn't intended. Connie has told me about her two sisters and how you view their husbands so yes, I figured that you would be surprised to find out you were not getting another one like them in the family."

"Yeah? Well I was right about the both of them. Houses bigger than they need, new cars, expensive toys and the trusts are being depleted. Neither one of them has a job worth spit and when the trust money is gone they won't be able to continue living high on the hog and they will start losing things. When that happens they will be coming to me for a hand out which I will probably give them. After all, they are my daughters. I have to ask. Why did you do it?"

"No need to lie to you at this late date. We both know I deliberately got Connie pregnant and then walked away so you would suffer the social stigma of having an unwed pregnant daughter. It wasn't much, but it was the only thing I could think of to get back at you for what I thought you did to Samantha that wouldn't have me sitting in jail. Then I found out you had nothing to do with turning Samantha into what she was. That left me with the responsibility of seeing to Connie's child.

"I was totally up front with Connie and I told her what I did and why and then I told her that I would marry her and give the child a name. Connie surprised the hell out of me when she said okay. I thought for sure she wouldn't want anything to do with some one who could be asshole enough to do what I'd done. I'm going into this marriage fully expecting that it will end in divorce. Connie will have the baby and then six months or so later she will ask for a divorce. The child will have avoided being born illegitimate, Connie will have avoided being an unwed mother and she will be wanting to get on with her life.

"I've planned ahead. I'll buy a house before we get married so it will stay with me when the divorce happens. When Connie sues for divorce I won't fight it. She will have her trust and so I won't have to pay alimony. All I'll have to pay is child support."

"That's a pretty cold blooded way to look at it."

"Think about it. If you were Connie would you want an asshole like me for a life partner?"

"You aren't a complete asshole. Once you had all the facts you stepped up. You could have said "Fuck it! What's done is done" and walked away."

"That isn't the point. What I did I did deliberately and I don't believe Connie or any other woman for that matter would want to stay with a man who could do something like that."

"How about we change the subject? What are your plans for the future work-wise?"

"I'm happy where I am. I like the work, the money and benefits are good and they seem to like me. It has been suggested that I'll be able to climb the ladder after I've been there for a while."

"Never given any thought to going to work for a civil engineering firm? No thought to eventually starting your own company?"

"Not really. My father indirectly taught me a lesson where work was concerned. He got up every morning and bitched about having to go into "That damned place" again and every night over dinner I heard about all the stupid things that management, his foreman and his lead mechanic did. I once asked him why he kept working there if he hated it so much. All he could say was that it was a steady paycheck; had good benefits and he had too much seniority to get laid off.

"He pretty much convinced me that what I needed in a job when I grew up was a place I enjoyed going into every day and that is what I have right now. I'm happy there and they are happy enough with me that they paid for half of my tuition and books as long as I agreed to sign a three year contract to work for them after I graduated."

Before the talk went any farther Connie and her mother joined us and then all the talk centered on the wedding, the honeymoon and where we were going to live. We talked about how it Connie and I couldn't seem to agree on a place and while that conversation was going on it occurred to me that I was looking at things wrong. I'd just told Barrington that I was going to buy a house before we got married so that it would stay with me after the divorce that I saw coming. I needed to be looking at houses that I wanted and would be happy with when Connie and I split up. With that thought in mind I went back over the houses that we had looked at and two of them stood out. I decided to take a closer look at both of them.

When it was time to leave Connie's mother (please call me Maggi) cornered me and reminded me that she wanted me to call her and set up a lunch date or come see her so we could talk privately and I told her that I would.

As I was driving Connie back to her place she asked, "What's with this predeceased bullshit?"

"It isn't bullshit and it could happen. Just because you are young and healthy doesn't mean you are immortal. Look at Samantha. Young, vibrant, full of life and dead at twenty-three. The will takes care of the child and that is what this is all about." She sat silent for a few miles and then said:

"I don't want to go to my place."

Accordingly I steered the car toward my apartment and what followed was another exhausting night.

To be continued...