The refreshing shower felt good after a hot day on the golf course. Standing under the warm spray, Ed took a few minutes to reflect on the events of the day. He was upbeat when he met Jared at the airport that morning, looking forward to helping his young protégé navigate his way through the complicated merger talks with First Source Bank. But now his thoughts were all fastened on Alco, the overly aggressive company that was on the verge of sabotaging the whole deal. There were few positives to hang your hat on with Alco and like most poorly managed companies, they seemed determined to continue their reckless management policies.
Ed was angry at himself for not staying on as president long enough to hold off Homer Williams on the Alco deal and close the merger deal with First Source. He had left far too much on the plate for his new young president to deal with. But now the die had been cast and all he could do was hope and pray that First Source went through with the merger. If not, his retirement would be in shambles, and he would have a lot of explaining to do to his less than understanding wife. He stepped out of the shower and snatched the towel off the rack.
Ed finished drying himself and glanced in the tall bathroom mirror to his left. “Ugh!” he exclaimed. After the shower, his drooping gray hair, sagging face and deep wrinkles made him look ancient. Fortunately for him, he was distracted from the depressing sight by the Hoosier Fight Song blaring out from the bedroom. He wrapped the damp towel around his midsection and hurried to the bedroom to find his phone. He snatched the phone off the nightstand and checked the caller ID. It was Cathy.
“Hello, dear.” She didn’t answer right away; he could hear her giggling and there was music playing in the background.
“H…hello Ed, are you on?”
“Yes, I’m on, dear.”
“Oh sorry, you didn’t answer right away so I thought your phone was going to voicemail.”
“No problem. I’m staying at the Holmgren’s and I’m getting dressed for my dinner with the board at Tippy Country Club this evening.”
“Oh, how nice. If you see anyone I know be sure and tell them I said hi.”
“Certainly, dear.” Ed could hear male voices in the background. “Where are you?”
Cathy was carrying on a conversation with somebody while talking with Ed. “What was that?”
“I said, where are you? I thought you had a tennis match this evening.”
“Oh, the match was called off because of rain. Can you believe it? It’s actually raining down here. Since we were rained out, we all decided to stop at City Fire for a sandwich.”
The clock on the nightstand read five after six and Ed was running late. “Is everything all right down there?”
“Fine, dear, fine. I was just checking to be sure you arrived safe and sound.”
Ed’s curiosity was getting the best of him. Not suspicious by nature, Cathy’s behavior for the past several months was starting to make him worry. “Who are you with? It sounds like a party or something to me.”
“Oh, no, it’s not a party.” There was animated conversation and giggling in the background. “Several of the teams just stopped for a sandwich-that’s all.”
“How many teams?”
“Well, I guess there’s only two us-our team and the Stanwicks.”
Ed dropped to the edge of the bed. City Fire was a party place for sure and she was there with Eric and the Stanwicks, a heavy drinking, dysfunctional couple who had a history of late night partying and sleeping around. He felt sick inside. Cathy almost never called him to check in. She was only calling to be certain that he was in Indiana so she could have a free rein with Eric. He felt like somebody had punched him in the gut. “Have you eaten?”
“No, not yet, but our food should be here any minute.”
“So, you should be heading home soon?” Ed snatched a tissue from a box on the nightstand and dabbed his damp forehead.
“Certainly, dear, I’ll be heading home shortly.” There was muffled laughter in the background.
Ed took a deep breath and tried to get a hold of himself. It could all be very harmless. After all, they needed to eat somewhere, and he and Cathy had ended up with the Stanwicks a couple of times, so that wasn’t the end of the world. Besides, he had an important meeting to go to shortly and he wanted to be at his best. So, he did what he trained himself to do while going into combat in the Marines-he blocked everything out of his mind. “Well, drive carefully on your way home, darling, I’ll call you after the meeting tomorrow,” he said coolly.
“Okay, bye.”
“Bye, dear.” Ed punched his iPhone off and hurried back to the bathroom to finish getting ready.
* * * * * *
The next morning, Ed, pulled his rental car to a stop at the light on the street corner next to the bank. He smiled and nodded at several familiar faces doing some early morning shopping in the quaint little resort town. The light turned green, he flipped on his turn signal and cut a hard right and then another right a half a block later and ducked into the bank parking lot. Out of habit, he started to pull into the president’s spot, but the sign no longer said Ed Roberts. It read Reserved for Jared Holmgren. Ed drove to the next open spot in the smallish lot and pulled to a stop. He grabbed his briefcase from the passenger side and walked briskly from the parking lot toward the front door of the bank. He could see the young officers and tellers through the tall glass windows on the front of the building preparing for another day. He pushed through the heavy front door and stepped inside.
He was immediately met at the door by a young loan officer named Chad Oliver. “Hello, Mr. Roberts, how good to see you again. I’ve been waiting for you to arrive.”
Ed smiled at the young man and shook his hand firmly, “Good morning to you, Chad, and good morning to all of you,” he said with raised voice so the others in the room could hear.
Several warm and sincere “Good morning, Mr. Roberts,” emanated from the large open office area. The employees were obviously very fond of their former boss.
“Would you like coffee?” Chad asked.
“Why, yes, I would, thank you.”
“Black?”
“A touch of sugar, please and I’ll be in the boardroom.”
“One coffee with a little sugar, coming right up. I’ll bring you your coffee there,” Chad said enthusiastically.
Ed Roberts walked casually toward the boardroom on the far side of the office area, pausing for just a second in front of his old office which was protected by a wooden gate and tucked in the corner of the room. He tapped his fingers gently on the wooden gate that led to his secretary’s desk just outside the office. The sign on the door to his old office read Chad Oliver, AVP. Jared had moved the president’s workplace to the second floor to a much larger office, away from the hustle and bustle of the main lobby. Ed always loved the busyness of the main area and over the years of his presidency had resisted all efforts to scoot him upstairs. A social man by nature, he loved the daily exchanges with his customers. That was the part of his job that he really missed. The rest of it, he did not miss in at all. Shrinking margins, government regulations, increased competition and the constant threat of a merger or buyout had made his last few years on the job very difficult. He laid his hand on the gate and pushed it open slightly and was greeted by a loud squeaking sound. Still squeaks. He smiled and continued on to the boardroom.
Once inside the narrow boardroom, he sat down and sank into one of the soft leather chairs bordering the long oak table in the center of the room. He thought back to the previous evening and his dinner with the board. Everything had gone quite well. Even Homer Williams had gone out of his way to make the night a success. Ed thought Alco would be the elephant in the room. Surprisingly, the topic was never brought up. It had been a fun evening virtually free of serious business talk. But today would be another story. Ed wondered if First Source would go ahead with the merger and absorb Alco into their huge portfolio of commercial loans. Jared and his senior officers had scheduled a meeting with First Source early this morning in South Bend, some fifty miles away. He had promised to give a full report on the meeting when he arrived for the board meeting at ten.
Chad walked briskly into the room and set a hot cup of coffee in front of Ed. “There you are, sir.”
“Thank you so much, Chad.” Chad hurried from the room.
Ed wrapped his hands around the warm cup and gazed at the gray ropes of steam winding their way toward the ceiling. Cathy had been out of his thoughts for the most part the evening before, but this morning she was back. Waves of insecurity rushed through him. He glanced at the clock and then glanced at the empty seats surrounding him. It was 9:45 and the meeting didn’t start until 10:00. He reached in his pocket and slid out his cell phone and pushed 2 on his speed dial.
“Good morning, Ed. Is everything alright?”
“Yes, dear, I’m fine. I had a few minutes before the board meeting and I thought I would give you a quick call.
“Well, how sweet, but I really must be going. I just turned on the dishwasher and I am walking out the door to get my nails done. I have an appointment at ten.”
Ed could hear a toilet flush in the background. “What was that?” he asked.
“What was what?”
“That sound, it sounded like a toilet flushing.”
Cathy laughed nervously, “I’m afraid that would be impossible, darling, I’m here alone. Maybe it was somewhere in the bank.”
“I…uh, don’t think so.”
“Your hearing must be getting worse, old man, and I really don’t have time to argue. I’ll try and give you a call later, Good-bye.” The phone went dead on the other end.
Ed held the phone in front of him and stared at it for several seconds. He had a sick, helpless, feeling inside. He was certain now that his wife was having an affair and he was a thousand miles away. The thought of his wife of forty-seven years being involved with another man was devastating to him. He was crestfallen.
The door to the boardroom suddenly swung open and several board members came rushing in, led by Jared Holmgren. Shaken out of his depressing thoughts by the sudden intrusion, Ed jumped out of his chair and walked quickly to the end of the table to greet each of the other board members. Jared stopped at the head of the table, shook Ed’s hand vigorously and nodded at the seat next to him. Obeying the order, Ed retrieved his coffee from his previous seat and hurried up to sit next to the young president sharing several handshakes and greetings in the process. A short time later, Jared tapped his ball point pen on the table to announce the start of the meeting.