The Fall and Rise of David Beckman Ch. 03

"He's in Los Angeles?" I managed to ask.

"Yes."

"When did this come up?"

"He found out about the conference last Wednesday afternoon."

I was almost too afraid to ask the next question." Where is the conference?"

"It's at the Westin Bonaventure," she said. "Oh, here's Bill's cell phone number."

Diane gave me the number and I didn't bother to write it down.

"Actually I don't think I want to talk to him now, Diane," I said.

I suddenly had a horrible picture in my mind of Erica and Bill boarding the plane that morning and laughing about what a fool I was.

"When did Bill leave?" I asked.

"He had an early flight this morning. He called me about an hour ago from the hotel to tell me he had arrived," she said.

For some reason, that made me feel a little better just knowing that they weren't traveling together. My mind was already working on what I was going to do. I had no plan yet but I knew that I wanted to talk to Erica before Bill found out that Diane told me he was in LA.

"Do me a favor, Diane. If you talk to Bill again today, don't tell him I called."

"Why? I am sure he would want to talk to you," Diane said.

"Maybe but I am not ready to talk to Bill yet. I thought I was but now I am not so sure. I'm just not too sure of things right now. Please don't tell him I called. I'll call him later in the week when I am ready to talk."

"If that's what you want, I won't say a word."

"Thanks, Diane."

*****

When I set the phone down, I felt all of the energy drain from my body. Just ten minutes earlier I was feeling good for the first time in months and I thought that I could finally see the light at the end of my tunnel. If I had only known that it was the light from an oncoming train, I would have been better prepared for what I learned from Diane. Could Erica really be having an affair with Bill Nelson?

Erica and Bill both attending college at SUNY Binghamton could have been a coincidence but both of them going to LA the same day and staying at the same hotel was not a coincidence. I had the last pieces of the puzzle that I had been trying to put together and I didn't like the picture that was being formed.

I sat for maybe ten minutes with random thoughts spinning through my mind. I was powerless to hold onto any one thought for more than a few seconds before another thought replaced it. Finally, with a great deal of effort, I was able to force myself to stand up and walk to the kitchen. I got my Maker's Mark out of the pantry and poured myself a double and then sat at the kitchen table and tried to get my head around what was happening to me.

I asked myself, "If Erica is having an affair with Bill, how long has it been going on?"

When I thought about Erica's behavior over the period of time since Bill Nelson had come to Atlanta, I really couldn't find anything that would point to them having an affair. Erica never worked late, never had nights out with the girls that would given her a chance to sneak off and meet Bill someplace. I also knew that Erica only got a half hour for lunch and that Dean Healthcare wasn't the kind of place that allowed employees to take extra long lunches. Erica always ate in the company cafeteria so she wasn't meeting Bill during her lunch breaks. I hadn't done any overnight business trips since Bill arrived on the scene. I just don't know how they could have gotten together but if they were going to spend the week together in LA, whatever happened before didn't rally matter.

Then another thought struck me. Up until that moment I had just been thinking that Erica probably knew Bill in college and that was what drew them together but it suddenly occurred to me that Bill might have been the boyfriend that Erica had dated for more than two years while they were in college. The attraction between the two of them apparently was still there.

As I sipped my drink, I remembered the way Erica had made love to me the night before. She told me over and over that she loved me. Then this morning before she left for the airport, she said, "I love you. You know that, don't you?" and then she said, "Everything is going to be okay now."

What the hell was that all about? Was she feeling guilty or was she just trying to keep me from becoming suspicious? She certainly can't love me when she is spending a week with her old lover. I looked at my watch and saw that it was 4:15 PM. Erica's plane was due to land in LA in fifteen minutes. I wondered if Bill was going to meet her plane at the airport or if he was waiting at the hotel. I also wondered if they even bothered to get separate rooms. I decided that I would call Erica at six o'clock. I figured that by then she would be in her room. I planned to tell her that I knew what was going on and that there was no reason for her to even bother to come back home.

For the next hour and a half, I tried to keep my mind off of Erica while at the same time I tried not to drink too much. I wanted to be sober when I spoke to Erica. For short periods of time, I was able to think about the meeting I was going to have with Jeff on Tuesday morning but it was hard not to think about what my wife was doing to me.

I had gone back into my office and was looking at the copy of the Clinton Products proposal when I was struck with another disturbing thought. I had suspected that Bill must have known I was working on the Clinton Products deal before I submitted the proposal to Fred Allard. He had given the WSJ article to Mike before Mike had even seen the contract. Now I knew how Bill knew about the deal. My faithful wife told him what I was working on. Another betrayal. My anger was building and I was worried that I would lose control when I called Erica and not be able to speak a coherent sentence.

I turned on my computer and went to the Delta Airlines site and typed in Erica's flight number. According to Delta, Erica's flight had landed on time at LAX. That meant that Erica should be in her room by 6:00 PM my time, 3:00 PM in LA as I had figured.

At six o'clock I thought over what I wanted to say to Erica. I didn't plan to give her a chance to lie to me, I would just say my piece and then hang up on her. It's funny how plans can change so quickly.

At 6:05, I call the hotel instead of Erica's cell phone. I wanted to make sure she was actually registered there. When the hotel operator answered, I asked to be connected to Erica Beckman's room. The operator said, "One moment, sir," and a few seconds later I heard the phone ringing. The phone rang twice and then I heard Erica's voice on the phone.

"No." She wasn't speaking to me. She had to have been speaking to someone else as she picked up the phone.

"Hello?" Erica said, this time into the phone.

"Hey, sweetie," I said. I don't know why I called her sweetie. Under the circumstances it didn't seem appropriate but it just came out that way.

Before Erica had a chance to respond I heard a man's voice in the back ground say, "Who is it?" The voice was so faint, just above a whisper, that I wasn't really sure if I heard it or not. "Hi, honey. I was just about to call you. I just got here," Erica said.

I don't know where the idea came from because it certainly wasn't among any of the things I had thought of saying to Erica. The words just came to me and I spoke them.

"What's your room number, Erica?" I asked.

"Why do you need my room number?" she asked.

"The girl at the front desk wouldn't give me your room number," I said.

I thought I could hear concern in her voice as she asked, "What did you need my room number for?"

"This morning after you left I was feeling lonely and the idea of you being away from me for a whole week was more than I could bare. Then I realized that you were also going to be spending a few lonely nights. That's when I got the idea. I called the travel agent and got the next available flight to LA. I am calling you from the courtesy phone in the lobby."

"You're here? In LA? At the hotel?

"I thought I just said that. As soon as you give me your room number I will be on my way up."

"I'm in room 2215."

"I'll see you in about two minutes lover," I said and then I hung up the phone.

I almost laughed when I thought about the panic that might be taking place in Erica's room. I could almost see Bill hoping around on one leg while he was trying to get his pants on and Erica in the bathroom trying to clean herself up and get dressed before I got to the door. This vision lifted my spirits for only a moment and then the reality came crashing down on me. My worst fears had been realized. Bill had been in the room with her when I called. Was this the end of my marriage? Almost certainly.

I don't know why I bothered. I guess I just had to know. I called the hotel again and asked for Bill Nelson's room. The phone rang several times and then rolled over to the hotel's voice mail system. I didn't bother to leave a message. I just wanted to know that he had his own room. It was just one of those things that didn't seem to make any difference but it was still important to me.

I sat by the phone for several minutes, not expecting it to ring and not planning to answer it if it did. It was just that I could think of no reason to move. As I sat there, I started to think about what was going to happen as a result of my call.

Erica would wait fifteen or twenty minutes before she would start to really panic. Then she would call my cell phone and, when I didn't answer, she would begin to worry that I had seen Bill leaving her room and that I had left the hotel. She would make several attempts to reach my cell phone and would finally call Bill. Bill would tell her he didn't run into me in the hall and that I couldn't have seen him.

In time, Erica would start calling the house but she would get no answer there either. While she was trying to figure out what she should do, Bill would probably check with his wife and when he asked her if I had called the house, Diane wouldn't lie to him. She would tell him that she told me where he was. Then Bill would tell Erica and she would know that I had found out what she was planning to do while she was in LA. After that, she would stop trying to call me and I might never see her again other than during divorce proceedings.

I tried to think of a reason to get up from where I was sitting. I thought briefly about starting to pack up Erica's belongings but that idea didn't hold much appeal for me. It would be an admission that my marriage was over and, even though it did appear to be the case, I wasn't ready to give in to that reality.

My stomach finally interceded. I hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast that morning and my stomach started to let me know it. I stood up and started to leave the room when my cell phone began to ring. I looked at the caller ID. It was Erica. I looked at my watch and said to myself, "Seventeen minutes, right on schedule." I turned my cell phone off and plugged it into the charger on my desk.

I went out to the kitchen and began to look around for something to eat. I made a ham sandwich and washed it down with a beer. After dinner, I got another beer and dropped down in front of the television and tried my best to become a zombie for the rest of the night. I went up to bed at eleven o'clock and I was brushing my teeth when the phone beside the bed began to ring. I didn't bother to even look at the caller ID. I wasn't about to take a call from Erica or anyone else calling at that hour.

*****

Erica did me one favor; she didn't call me again until morning. I was afraid that she would keep calling and interrupting my sleep. I was up and ready to leave for Augusta when the phone rang at six o'clock. I looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Erica so I picked up my briefcase, my keys and my cell phone and headed out to my car. I had to laugh at the thought of Erica sitting in her hotel room at three o'clock in the morning trying to call me.

I jumped onto the inner loop of 285 and drove around to Exit 46 and took I-20 East. I drove for about an hour and then stopped at a Cracker Barrel restaurant for breakfast. While I was waiting for my food, I turned on my cell phone and screened through my calls. There were seven calls from Erica, four of them from Monday evening and three from Tuesday morning. The voice mail indicator was on but I really didn't care to hear anything Erica had to say so I didn't bother to listen to it.

I found H and S Computer and Network Services on a side street just off of Wrightsboro Road in Augusta. It was a small storefront with about 3500 square feet of space mostly taken up by computer and network hardware and a section of shelves containing software. As I walked through the front of the store the first person I saw was Nancy Henning. Once again she had a basketball hidden under her dress.

Nancy rushed over to me and gave me a hug and kissed me on the cheek.

"David, it is so nice to see you again. How is Erica?"

"Erica is in Los Angeles," I said.

I could tell that Nancy sensed the tension in my response but she didn't comment.

"When Jeff told me you were coming over today, I just had to hang around here to see you. Can you come over for dinner tonight?"

"I would really like that but I have to get back to Atlanta tonight," I responded. I didn't really have to go back to Atlanta but I didn't want to have to talk to Jeff and Nancy about Erica and, if I went to dinner at their house, I knew that they would ask about Erica and I would have to tell them.

"That's too bad," Nancy said. "We were hoping you could stay over."

"I see you've got another bun in the oven," I said.

"Yep. I am due in October, thanks for noticing."

"How could I miss it?" I said. "Where is that luck SOB that married you?"

"Here he comes now," Nancy said.

I turned and saw Jeff coming out of an office at the back of the store.

"Good to see you, David," Jeff said as he reached out to offer his hand. "Pretty good, I don't hear from you for months and the first thing you do when you get here is hit on my pregnant wife."

"Look at her. Who wouldn't?" I said.

Nancy punched me on the arm. "Okay, that's enough of this BS, I have to get back to work. Tell Erica I said hello."

"I will," I said as I thought to myself, "that is if I ever see her again."

Nancy gave me another kiss on the cheek and turned to leave.

"Don't I get a kiss?" Jeff asked.

"You'll get your kiss and more when you get home tonight." Nancy said as she headed out the door.

We both watched her leave and then Jeff guided me into his office and poured me a cup of coffee.

"It seems you are always getting me a cup of coffee when I need it the most," I said.

"What happened? Did Mike drag you through the coals again?"

"Something like that," I said and then I proceeded to tell him everything that had happened since he left BDS. Everything, that is except for Erica being with Bill Nelson in LA.

"Christ, what a load of shit to have dumped on you. So, Mike wouldn't even talk to you yesterday?"

"No. I had hoped that I could straighten everything out and get my job back but now I am glad that he wouldn't see me. Now I have the chance to start over," I said.

Jeff looked down at the floor and then cleared his throat. "David, if you are here to ask for a job... You know I'd love to have you working for me but we just don't have enough business yet to allow us to hire another sales person. You know I would help you out if there was any way that I could but ..."

I smiled at Jeff. "Stop wringing your hands. I am not here to ask you for a job. I want to talk about something else but I think you should have your partner in here for this discussion," I said.

Jeff looked at me for a minute to see if I would say anything more but I sat quietly and waited for Jeff to make the next move.

Jeff shook his head and picked up his cell phone and pressed the walkie-talkie feature.

"Don, where are you right now?"

Almost immediately there was a response.

"I'm picking up two spools of cat 5e cable."

"How soon can you get back to the store?" Jeff asked.

"I should be there in ten minutes? Why?"

"Remember that I told you that my buddy, David Beckman, was coming in today? Well he is here now."

"Sorry, man, I thought he was coming a little later this morning. I'll get there as soon as I can."

"I think you'll like Don. He and I have been friends since we were kids," Jeff said to me.

"I am sure that if he is your friend he would be a good person. I guess that's why you were never a friend of Mike's."

While we waited for Don Spears to return to the store, Jeff showed me around. In addition to the front of the store where they had their products on display there was a small shop in the back with three work benches and Jeff told me that they had a small storage room on the second floor.

When Don arrived I was a little surprised at his appearance. I somehow picture him as being about the same size as Jeff and me. Don turned out to be about six feet five inches tall and must have weighed at least 220 pounds. He looked like a linebacker for the Falcons but there was something about his mannerisms that didn't fit his large size.

When he spoke, his voice was soft and friendly. His handshake was firm without trying to crush your hand to show you how strong he was.

"Glad to finally meet you, David. Jeff has been talking about you ever since we started this business," Don said. "Sometimes I think he would rather that you were his partner."

That last was said in obvious good humor and it made me feel welcome.

"Well, that is kind of why I am here," I said. "I want to be Jeff's partner and your partner as well."

The two men looked at each other and then Jeff turned to me.

"David, I would like nothing better than that but we just aren't big enough to take on another partner. Things are going well but we have at least one maybe two more years before we can expect to start making a profit," Jeff said.

"If you don't mind my asking, what do you expect to do in revenue this year?" I asked.

"About 750K," Don said. "But with that we still won't break even."

"What if by making me a partner I could bring in an additional 1.5 million this year with an estimated gross profit of 25%. Along with that 1.5 million, I would deliver an additional 2 million a year over the next five years," I said. "Actually it would be a little more that that. The total would be ten mil over five years but this year is already nearly half over."

"If you can deliver that, I'll kick Jeff out and you can be my partner," Don said and laughed. "If you are serious about that, I think I speak for Jeff when I say we would be very interested in hearing your proposal."

I opened my brief case and pulled out the Clinton Products proposal. When I told Jeff about how I got fired, I didn't mention the size of the contract involved. I handed the contract to Don.

"I worked out this deal with the CEO of Clinton Products and then BDS screwed me over and by doing that they pissed off the customer. BDS still thinks that they can win this contract. What they don't know is that George Harris, the CEO of Clinton Products, told me that the only reason he was going to sign a contract with BDS was because of me. I am absolutely certain that, if the three of us can find a way to deliver what Clinton Products is asking for, George Harris will give us this business. If you check out the last page of the proposal, you will see the break down of the ten million dollars over five years.

Jeff and Don started to study the contract and talked excitedly about the possibilities this contract could provide. As they dug farther into the contract, they became quiet. I sat watching them as they digested the terms and conditions laid out in the proposal. Jeff had pulled out a note pad and was making notes as the two partners went through the proposal line by line. I got up and was pacing around the room when my cell phone rang. It was Erica. I waited for the phone to stop ringing and then changed the ring tone to vibrate and put the phone back into my pocket. For a moment, I wondered if Erica had figured out that I knew about Bill and her yet. Every time I thought of them together I felt a shooting pain in my stomach.