No More Tomorrows

Chapter 26: Hello and Goodbye

It was the longest five days of my life waiting for Thursday to roll around after Emily agreed to talk with me. I'd decided to get to the park early so I could claim Emily's favourite seat. The one with the view of both the duck pond and the kid's playground. I'd grabbed the apple crumble muffin and cinamon iced latte she loved. Trying to think of things to make her smile. I'd missed her smile.

I was hopeful that her bringing me here for our chat was a good sign. We'd sat here for hours during the last two years of high school, having conversations about what colleges we'd apply to, what dreams we had for our life. When we would return from college to visit my parents at Christmas or Thanksgiving we always took a walk down here to sit and talk. By then we were discussing where we would live after college and how many kids we'd have together.

It was the place I'd officially asked her to be my girlfriend. It was the place I asked her to move in with me during college and today it was the place I wanted to get us back on track and propose with the ring burning a hole in my pocket.

One good thing about the fall out at Kent and Brockman was the sizable payout I got to quietly walk away from the company. It paid for a beautiful three carat ring that I hoped Emily would have on her finger before the afternoon was over. They had presented the cheque as a settlement for my bonuses earned for the excellent work I'd done with the Kingston and Flinders accounts, but the amount given was definitely a "keep your mouth shut" payment. That was fine by me. 

I certainly wasn't going to broadcast what I'd done to anyone else in the industry. I didn't want anyone to know about my despicable behaviour. With my job already lined up at Baxter and Finch I'd arranged to take two weeks off to get myself in a good headspace before I started. I wanted to start there fresh and be the kind of employee I always thought I'd be once I finished college. I was also taking the time to cause as much havoc as I possibly could for my old boss and his team of assholes.

The Tuesday following my "resignation" from Kent and Brockman I'd made a bunch of phone calls with my number blocked so the callers wouldn't have a way to trace me. Each conversation went the same way. I let them know that I had photos, videos and proof that their partner was being unfaithful. I was happy to provide it to them for use in their divorce if they wished. Six of the seven asked to meet up. One said she already knew what her husband got up to, it had started long before his role with Simon. She sadly had the kind of prenup that kept her in her marriage because she enjoyed her lifestyle and regularly had her own fun on the side. To each their own I guess. 

The women who agreed to meet with me had been skeptical until I showed them still photos from the video surveillance I'd organised at the Club. Two had been heartbroken and openly cried when shown the proof their partners were unfaithful. Three were furious and said they would be immediately contacting their lawyers for advice on how to proceed. And the final one, Simon's wife, was thrilled to finally have the proof she needed to file for divorce and take him to the cleaners. They'd apparently married without a prenup and she'd had her suspicions for years but never had any proof. When she'd let me know she planned to take him for half of everything I'd felt triumphant that at least he would be punished in some way. 

The day before reaching out to the women I'd met with a lawyer to double check the wording of the NDA and ensure it didn't specifically cover what I was about to do in terms of telling the wives and gilfriends about their cheating partners. He reassured me I was not in breach and also gave me his business card in case any of the women needed legal counsel. I'd chuckled at that, he was a shark. He'd also helped me set up trust paperwork in Emily's name for her share of the payout and I had that in my pocket along with the ring. I was hoping that both these things would prove how serious I was about our future.