divorce and your subsequent accident caused you to
be weak in Sheila’s eyes. That’s what I think happens a lot in
these employment cases where the employee is long term. I can’t use
that theory in a court of law, of course.”
“ Of course not,” I said,
wondering what I’d gotten myself into.
“ But you’ve definitely got a
case, there’s no doubt about that,” Janice said. “And I’ll
drive the point home that they fired you after you had an accident
and after your years of service to the university.”
That sounded good to me. “Okay,”
I said.
“ I’ve got trial for the next
two weeks,” Janice continued. “Can you come to my office week
after next and we’ll hammer everything out?”
“ Yes,” I told her. Janice
seemed a little loopy, but Wesley had recommended her, and that meant
a lot.
The thing about it was, I didn’t
have to work. I had the assets worth nearly half a million, I had the
house free and clear and when I sold it I would have four hundred
thousand dollars, minus the realtor’s fee, and I received a regular
alimony check of four thousand dollars a month from Jim. But the
other thing about it was that I had worked hard for the university. I
considered myself a working person. It gave me a sense of value. So I
couldn’t let the university get away with such shabby treatment.
Knowing that I had done all I
could for the moment, I allowed myself to enjoy my time as a
nonworking person. As I sat in the den or limped through the house, I
wondered sometimes how the office was functioning without me. I
wondered how the brochures were being handled, the databases for
mailing the brochures, the press releases. All of those things I
supervised in my job as director of communications. But I didn’t
have that job anymore, I reminded myself over and over.
At the end of the week, Melissa
called to say she had some interested buyers for my house. They
wanted a second look. That was a big pain, since I was relaxing in my
house unemployed. But I had to make accommodations. I had, after all,
put the house on the market.
Melissa made arrangements to
bring the buyers by the next day. I decided I’d go to the movies
during that time. I hadn’t been to a movie theater in years, not
since that movie with Zoey Deschanel and Marky Mark. I couldn’t
remember the name of the strange movie about the wind blowing and
people going crazy.
I looked at the theater offerings
on the Internet and decided to see The Lone Ranger, even if it had
gotten terrible reviews. I loved Johnny Depp, so reviews be damned.
It was Disney! How bad could it be?
I spent the rest of the day
watching television. I tried to determine if the male guests on Maury
Povitch were or were not the father of the baby. I played Jeopardy,
doing pretty well. I scanned for movies and dropped in on a few in
progress, watching the last half or even fifteen minutes of some of
them. All in all, it was a full day.
Midnight started to meow, letting
me know it was time for her supper. I opened a can of her expensive
gourmet cat food and set her plate on the floor. I looked in the
fridge for something to eat. There wasn’t much—three eggs and a
half dried brick of cheddar cheese.
Midnight was eating better than I
was.
When Jim and I were married, the
refrigerator was well-stocked with condiments lining the door
shelves, eggs, several varieties of cheese—Jim loves
cheese—luncheon meat, yogurt, cream for our coffee, milk for Jim’s
cereal, fresh vegetables, imported beer, wine, and any number of
leftovers from the fantastic meals I made.
In the latter years of our
marriage, my cooking was just about all I had to offer to Jim that he
wanted. He rarely wanted sex, and that was actually fine with me. I
didn’t want his hands touching my rolls of fat; I didn’t want to
be naked in front of him. I guess I thought I could make up for it
all with a pan of lasagna.
Out of all the things I cooked on
a regular basis, I was known for my
be weak in Sheila’s eyes. That’s what I think happens a lot in
these employment cases where the employee is long term. I can’t use
that theory in a court of law, of course.”
“ Of course not,” I said,
wondering what I’d gotten myself into.
“ But you’ve definitely got a
case, there’s no doubt about that,” Janice said. “And I’ll
drive the point home that they fired you after you had an accident
and after your years of service to the university.”
That sounded good to me. “Okay,”
I said.
“ I’ve got trial for the next
two weeks,” Janice continued. “Can you come to my office week
after next and we’ll hammer everything out?”
“ Yes,” I told her. Janice
seemed a little loopy, but Wesley had recommended her, and that meant
a lot.
The thing about it was, I didn’t
have to work. I had the assets worth nearly half a million, I had the
house free and clear and when I sold it I would have four hundred
thousand dollars, minus the realtor’s fee, and I received a regular
alimony check of four thousand dollars a month from Jim. But the
other thing about it was that I had worked hard for the university. I
considered myself a working person. It gave me a sense of value. So I
couldn’t let the university get away with such shabby treatment.
Knowing that I had done all I
could for the moment, I allowed myself to enjoy my time as a
nonworking person. As I sat in the den or limped through the house, I
wondered sometimes how the office was functioning without me. I
wondered how the brochures were being handled, the databases for
mailing the brochures, the press releases. All of those things I
supervised in my job as director of communications. But I didn’t
have that job anymore, I reminded myself over and over.
At the end of the week, Melissa
called to say she had some interested buyers for my house. They
wanted a second look. That was a big pain, since I was relaxing in my
house unemployed. But I had to make accommodations. I had, after all,
put the house on the market.
Melissa made arrangements to
bring the buyers by the next day. I decided I’d go to the movies
during that time. I hadn’t been to a movie theater in years, not
since that movie with Zoey Deschanel and Marky Mark. I couldn’t
remember the name of the strange movie about the wind blowing and
people going crazy.
I looked at the theater offerings
on the Internet and decided to see The Lone Ranger, even if it had
gotten terrible reviews. I loved Johnny Depp, so reviews be damned.
It was Disney! How bad could it be?
I spent the rest of the day
watching television. I tried to determine if the male guests on Maury
Povitch were or were not the father of the baby. I played Jeopardy,
doing pretty well. I scanned for movies and dropped in on a few in
progress, watching the last half or even fifteen minutes of some of
them. All in all, it was a full day.
Midnight started to meow, letting
me know it was time for her supper. I opened a can of her expensive
gourmet cat food and set her plate on the floor. I looked in the
fridge for something to eat. There wasn’t much—three eggs and a
half dried brick of cheddar cheese.
Midnight was eating better than I
was.
When Jim and I were married, the
refrigerator was well-stocked with condiments lining the door
shelves, eggs, several varieties of cheese—Jim loves
cheese—luncheon meat, yogurt, cream for our coffee, milk for Jim’s
cereal, fresh vegetables, imported beer, wine, and any number of
leftovers from the fantastic meals I made.
In the latter years of our
marriage, my cooking was just about all I had to offer to Jim that he
wanted. He rarely wanted sex, and that was actually fine with me. I
didn’t want his hands touching my rolls of fat; I didn’t want to
be naked in front of him. I guess I thought I could make up for it
all with a pan of lasagna.
Out of all the things I cooked on
a regular basis, I was known for my
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