*Intro: Reddit says I have 230 followers. Not sure if they are real or bots but if you are a follower then you might know the style of my stories. If not, just know that I develop the story as I wrote it, or that it really writes itself. This is a 3 part story. I will be releasing all 3 parts within 24 hours of each other (I just need to proofread). I hope you like it and keep and open mind. Also, and as always, I love feedback, comment or DM me. I almost always respond.*
The divorce was a big financial hit, and a personal one too. That perhaps was more devastating. We had been together since I was 22, she was 18. I won’t bore you too much with the details of the divorce. It was just time to end it. It felt right. We were both at peace with the decision and the kids understood. They were basically adults now anyway.
I think the toughest part about this though was picking up the pieces of my life and starting over. We sold the house and she took her part so I bought a little 2 bedroom condo and moved my stuff in. She moved in with her sister. She sold her car and bought a newer one. I kept my truck. I tried not to change too much. But at the end of the day, I was a 40 year single divorcé who hadn’t been by himself in almost 20 years.
I knew it would be rough so I sank myself into my work. Mary and I had a small construction company that we both ran together. I bought out her shares in the divorce and that was a big hit to the company but I knew how to get it back up and running again. I had to sell some of the equipment and let go of a couple of my guys. This meant more work for me but hey.. it’s not like I had anything better to do. I was working everyday from 6 am to like 8 or 9 pm. It was a good escape and it was helping me get things back up and going again.
After about 3 or 4 months of doing this, I noticed that I was having some trouble with the record keeping part of things. That’s where Mary had spent most of her time. I told a couple of friends and put out a few ads. First lady that came in was qualified and seemed pretty smart and easy going. But when she realized that the job was hourly and more or less minimum wage she looked disinterested. The interview ended quickly. I interviewed another kid who looked like he was too much of a “bro” and would just pound beers on the job and then walk out in the middle of the day.
The third interview I had was Casey. She was more or less what I was looking for. She had taken a break from college but she wanted to save some money so she can go back. She had been a psych major. She looked focused and hard working. She had another job as a bartender on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights and said she wouldn’t be able to work Friday’s. I was fine with that. She seemed like a nice, hardworking girl. I offered her the job on the spot. She was surprised but accepted.
She picked up the job remarkably quick. In a matter of 3 weeks she had everything running smoothly. I was happy with myself for making an amazing hire. She even introduced me to a couple new things that made life easier in the office. She convinced me to buy a scanner which was helpful. Updated the office computer to something that didn’t take half and hour to turn on. Overall she was a breathe of fresh air in an office that had been running the same way everyday for the last 7 or 8 years.
I say “office” but it’s really not all that office-y. It’s 3 rooms in a small office building in an industrial park. The first room is reception, that’s where Casey now sat. The other room is my office which was stuffy, busy and full of shit that didn’t belong. And the third room was supposed to be a board meeting room for clients and stuff but it was messy too. Casey cleaned all that up. She scanned all the papers that were strewn about all over the place and made the place look as good as new. One day Mary stopped by to drop off something and didn’t recognize the place. I pointed to Casey with pride and said that it was all thanks to her. Mary gave me a look as she walking out.
I knew what the look was about. Casey was an attractive girl. She was tall and slender. She had black hair and everyday she dressed well and was well made up. She was a cute girl that knew how to take care of herself. But that’s wasn’t why Mary shot me a look. She was just projecting her insecurity about me replacing her with younger, much hotter woman. Casey was a hard worker and I respected that. She was motivated and hardworking. She was also sweet. I can’t deny that I enjoyed having her around. Not in a creepy old man who was creeping on the hot secretary way. I made sure to make that clear. I respected her boundaries. But I did enjoy having her there. She made my life easier and more efficient. She was also funny and lively and had a feisty sense of humor. It was undeniable, having her in the office made me feel more young and energetic. In the next few months I had gotten very dependent on Casey. Business had recovered and I was running things back at full swing. I re-hired the guys I let go and a couple extras.
…
After working me for about a year, Casey told me she was going to start to apply for schools. She had saved the money and was ready to go back. This news was a bummer but I knew that day would come. I supported her. I wanted to see her succeed. Everyday I would ask her, “any news?”
“Not yet.” But after a couple of months she hadn’t heard anything. That almost made me more sad. I stopped asking.
After that I could tell she was a little depressed. I tried to be as supportive as possible, bought her lunch a few times “on the company card” from her favorite places to try to cheer her up. We weren’t too involved in each other’s personal lives. I tried to maintain a professional relationship. But i could also tell she was having a hard time.
Then one Wednesday she sent me a text saying she wasn’t feeling well and probably wouldn’t be able to come in for the rest of the week. “That’s ok, hope you feel better. Text me if something changes.” I sent that but the bubble popped up as green and not blue. ‘Her phone must be off’ I thought. But Monday morning she wasn’t there. I texted, I called, no response.
I knew where she lived. I was worried. I decided to stop by. When I knocked her mom opened up. She still lived with her parents, I knew that. Her mom seemed nice. She invited me in. I refused. “I am just here to check on Casey. I tried to call but I didn’t get a response. I hope she is ok.” Her boyfriend had broken up with her. Between the school rejection and the break up she was taking it hard. “Well tell her that I stopped by to see how she is doing. She can take as long as she needs to come back.” I figured I could maintain myself for a couple weeks until she felt better. She was back in 3 week.
Initially she was a little “off”. I couldn’t put my finger on it. She apologized for not responding and I said it was ok. She had been with her boyfriend since high school. “We have been together since the beginning” is what she said. He left her to go to college. I think that made things worse. From that point on we because I little more friendly. She had already met Mary on a couple of occasions and knew I was divorced. But talking about her breakup led to talking about mine. She asked about how we met and when I knew it was over with Mary. “I didn’t… in hind sight, I can say that we didn’t feel married anymore. We would drive here in the morning in silence and then all we would talk about would be work until we went home. At home, we did our own separate things. I would watch TV or read or work on a project. And she would do her own thing separately. We wouldn’t run into each other until 10 pm when it was time to go back to sleep. It was like living with a roommate.
“But the thing is, it didn’t really matter to me. I could have gone on living like this many years. It was fine. It wasn’t bothering me. She was the one that asked for a divorce. It was only after it all went through that I realized how miserable I was. Maybe it was all my fault, maybe if I tried harder. Idk…”
“Don’t say that. Sometimes people just fall out of love. It’s ok.” We were now both depressed. “How have things been since you got divorced?” She tried to move on.
“It hasn’t been that bad.” I reflected. “It’s different. It was a lot of changes in a short period of time and I am not a fan of change. But I adjusted. And I feel like I am living for myself. I visit the kids every once in a while. Took a Vegas trip with the guys for a couple of days. But I think overall, I feel lighter almost. I don’t know, I can’t describe it.”
“Have you met anyone since?”
I blushed. “I have been on a couple of dates. Nothing that’s worth mentioning. You know about the Telco rep.” She nodded. She had been the one to suggest I ask her out. “It went ok, there just wasn’t a connection… or it’s possible I don’t know how to connect anymore.”
“Oh, don’t say that, Teddy” she had stopped called me Mr. Sullivan after working here for about 6 months. We were now on first name basis. “Sometimes it just takes a few tries to find what you are looking for.”
She was back in full swing in about a month. I was happy to see her happy. But she had changed a little too. She was a little more erratic. She showed up 10-15 mins late sometimes; she had been so punctual before. She once yelled at a deliver driver for getting her lunch order wrong. Things like that. But none of it affected her work ethic or efficiency so I didn’t say anything.
One day in January I felt myself getting sick. I left work early. Next day I couldn’t breath. I tried to tough it out but getting up to go to Kitchen, I fell, I couldn’t get up for some reason. I had to call 911. I had pneumonia and there was water around my lungs they said. I called Casey to figure out what to do about work. She came and visited me in the hospital and then again when I went home. She brought me soup and even did my laundry. It was very sweet of her. I didn’t know how to repay her. When I went back to work in a week she had gotten me a basket for fruit as a welcome back. Needless to say, she had pretty much run the place in my absence. I was grateful.
Source: reddit.com/r/eroticliterature/comments/jalrmy/midlife_crisis_part_1_mf