Not surprisingly, they had a very similar change in their eyes. They were sisters after all. But Shannon wasn’t Susan, so I wasn’t 100% certain.
“Wh… what are you asking?”
“What I am asking is if I told you I would take you upstairs to the bedroom as long as you did anything and everything I wanted. Would you let me fuck you?”
OK, now I was certain. However, women always seem to find something very interesting about tables right in the middle of conversations. I was never going to understand that.
“Yes, Dave,” she whispered.
“Susan would be hurt if she knew.”
“She doesn’t have to know…”
“I am only going to use your body for my own pleasure. Like you’re my own personal fuck toy. Doesn’t that offend you?”
“No, Dave. I am a big girl….”
“And that is why I appreciate the fact that you have never hit on me, Shannon. That is how I have always known you are a good person and a good sister. Shannon, I asked your sister to share my life. In exchange she asked me to make a promise. She asked me to be faithful to her. I knew what I was giving up when I made that promise. Do you have a sense of what I gave up?”
Shannon nodded slowly.
“And now to the point! It was no contest. I would have given up a thousand sure things for one chance to be with your sister. In fact I think we both know that is what I actually gave up, maybe more. And I would do it again for the woman that I married. But your sister isn’t that woman anymore. Also, I think we would both agree I would have a reasonable shot at anyone I wanted.” She was nodding more now. “But I chose Susan and gave her everything I had to give. And it wasn’t enough.”
I think she was beginning to understand. I stood and walked out of the room.
“Thanks for stopping by Shannon. It was nice to talk to you. Let yourself out, OK?”
I am not sure how long she stayed. I fell asleep almost as soon I hit the bed. But she was gone when I woke up the next morning.
***
“So, how did it go?”
“It was… interesting.”
“Does he know I asked you to see him?”
“No. I don’t think so.”
“So did you make any progress?”
“No. I don’t think so.”
“Jesus, Shannon, is that all you can say? Do you have anything that will help me?”
“Well, Susan, can I ask you if you told him the truth?”
“Well… everything I told him was true, but I didn’t tell him everything.”
“Well, then. I can tell you this. You’re fucked.”
***
Before we move forward, I feel that I should address the elephant in the room. I am not psychic and I can’t read minds. I live in the real world, and even though my company had worked with some very interesting technology, this isn’t a piece of science fiction.
I didn’t set out to try to develop any special skills that let me know what Susan was thinking or feeling. I didn’t do it with Maggie either for that matter. I just loved them. That love made me hyper sensitive to their feelings.
I do have a fantastic memory. I mean I can’t tell you what page 26 of my senior high school yearbook, but the important things, like things that my two favorite women were involved with? I remembered every one of them. Every look, every feeling. After a very short time with each, I had developed a little database in my head of every facial reaction, most importantly their eyes. Hell, I was always staring into their eyes anytime they were around me. So remembering an event, their reaction to it and the look that was in their eyes was easy. Sometimes I wouldn’t know all the details, but they would get filled in later. I would just add them to my list.
After decades knowing Maggie and 15 years with Susan, there were no surprises. I just knew. With one look. It wasn’t superhuman or anything, but it was kind of special.
***
Maggie told me that counseling was the best option. Which, I have to say, kind of surprised me. During our initial meeting with Susan and her lawyer, I thought Maggie was dead set against counseling. She was making some great points about why I shouldn’t agree to go. She said I had nothing to gain and everything to lose.
“Emotion has no place in the practice of law, David. Emotional decisions are almost always bad decisions. Susan is distraught. She wants you back. Her lawyer is trying to give his client want she wants, not what she needs. We have no evidence, David. No video, no pictures, no receipts. Just some very good speculation based on hearsay. ‘I saw it in her eyes’ will not fare well in court. If we are going to enforce the infidelity clause of your pre-nup we need evidence. During your counseling sessions Susan is going to give us that evidence. And because medical records, including marriage counseling session notes, can be easily sealed by the court, Susan will be protected. I can’t do anything about the rumor mill, but all her dirty laundry doesn’t need to be part of the public record. So you see, counseling is good for you, David.”
“Two things, Mags. Remind me to never get on your bad side and thank you for taking care of Susan when I can’t.”
***
When I first took over my father’s firm, the staff treated me to a healthy dose of positive skepticism. I didn’t blame them. I had the education, but I didn’t have anywhere near the level of real world experience I needed to take on a project this size.
When I spent the first three months learning about how my father’s office was currently operating, the staff was mostly positive. When I handed out a detailed plan of my suggested operational changes and gave everyone a month to provide feedback. It got better. And when I spent the next two months reviewing that feedback with senior staff, seriously considered all of their suggestions and implemented those that were innovative, I had won the room. During the next six months, as I laid out my 10 year plan and vision of transforming the company from an accounting firm to a full blown management consulting firm, specializing in information management, the staff was excited, engaged and firing on all cylinders.
Well, everyone was excited except Jason Smith, the head of the audit division. During my first six months, my initial evaluation of Jason Smith hadn’t changed. He was a brilliant tax accountant and a giant asshole. My next six months confirmed my concerns. Jason was willing to protect his turf at all costs. Even at the expense of corporate progress. As the head of the tax audit department, Jason had been the big man on campus and my father’s right hand man. Now, being in charge of only a small portion, of one third of our overall portfolio he would be obsolete. He didn’t have the necessary skills to lead larger projects and honestly he was barely treading water.
Dealing with his stall tactics was easy enough. Accounting was still our base of operations. So I left him in charge of his little kingdom. As his peers were promoted to other areas of operations he was simply left behind. After a year, he was not involved in any part of our company transformation and I never dealt with him as part of my day to day activities. A year after that, I had forgotten he existed.