Regret

© 2025 JoshFrom53

Dear reader.

For a long time I was in doubt whether to publish this on.

Then the question became: in which category does it belong?

Loving Wives? Romance? Neither category covers it, so I decided on Novels and Novellas even though it isn't very long.

This is a story about two people who are not meant for each other.

There is a slight burn and little sex in it and if you look for 'fast and furious' this is not for you.

I don't know where this came from. It just nestled itself between other stories I'm working on. I hope you enjoy it

WollyBuffalo did the hard work. He edited it for me for which I'm grateful. thanks.

Prologue.

The elderly woman sat behind the wheel of her car. Her name? Elin Hull.

At 76, she was in reasonable shape for her age, extremely wealthy and to her great regret, very much alone.

In her hands a pair of binoculars. She had used them to observe a man sitting in his front yard.

Elin noticed that the man, who was 75 years old, walked upright and hardly showed the unsteadiness and jerkiness most elderly people show when moving around.

The man of her interest, Patrick Thompson, was restless. It was as if he was impatiently waiting for something.

He walked around, removed some dead leaves from the Japanese Barberry and looked down the street again and again, never noticing Elin sitting in her car.

Finally, another car rounded the corner and Patrick's head shot up. He looked hopefully at the car and suddenly a wide smile appeared on his face.

The car parked and a woman in her mid-forties stepped out, walked around the car, opened the passenger's door and helped a much younger woman holding a baby out.

Elin studied the woman and found a lot of resemblance to Patrick who hugged the woman and kissed her forehead.

Patrick walked over to the younger woman holding the baby, kissed her cheek and was handed the baby.

Through her binoculars Elin noticed tears appearing in Patrick's eyes before they went inside. She sat back in the car, her memory replaying the reason for her regret.

Chapter 1

Forty-eight years ago.

Elin and Patrick were for five years married to each other.

Elin was working for an investment company and Patrick was a teacher at a primary school. They had just decided that their marriage was solid enough to start a family.

Both would start working part-time. Elin four days a week and Patrick three and would become a tutor at home if the occasion arose.

**********

Out of the blue Elin was offered a promotion and without a second thought she accepted it, even though it meant that working part-time was out of the window.

Worse, it meant working weeks of sixty hours and more.

At home, during dinner, she told Patrick what happened and that she had decided to accept the offer. She also told him that consequently having children was out of the question for the foreseeable future.

Patrick took it badly. He asked where his participation in this decision tree was showing as he was the other half in their marriage. That, in turn, inflamed Elin and she told him that it was her life, her body and therefore her decision to take. She was an emancipated woman after all

When Patrick retorted that emancipation meant equal rights for men and women and not reversing the classic roles, Elin went nuclear.

Harsh words were said, like Patrick was an inept, spineless wimp without ambition. After saying more things that never could be unsaid, she stomped to the bedroom leaving her husband destroyed behind.

At 6:00 a. m., after a sleepless night, full of worries, Patrick decided to go for a run, to clear his mind. He had a class full of children to take care of.

When he got back, he found Elin in the kitchen having supper. At the door was a suitcase. He looked at it and Elin told him that she was going to stay in a hotel for a while so that their tempers could cool down a bit.

Patrick looked at her, sadness carved into his face, when he asked why it had to come this far, they always were able to talk themselves out of their problems, Elin bit into him that it was his rigid conservative attitude.

That said, she donned her coat, took her suitcase and left without saying another word. During the rest of the week Patrick tried to call her, to no avail. She refused to answer his calls. Finally, Saturday, he gave up and prayed for the best.

**********

Monday, it was obvious to every colleague of Patrick that something was seriously wrong and they started to ask questions. The only answer Patrick gave was that there was trouble in paradise. After a short interlude everyone went to their classroom.

That afternoon, during lunch break, most of the staff of the school were in the coffee room when the concierge announced a visitor for Patrick Thomson.

Patrick looked up and the woman handed him an envelope telling him that he had been served and walked quickly out of the room.

A deadly silence spread around the room when he opened the envelope and went white as a ghost.

The vice-principal gently took him by the shoulders and led Patrick out of the room. She took him to her office and called a legal advisor.

The man said that whatever happens, the divorce was a done deal and Patrick couldn't stop it whatever he tried. It looked like he was offered a fair deal. It was for him to decide if he wanted to fight it or not.

Patrick took the papers and signed them. He told himself that it seemed that Elin would be happier without him holding her back. Next, he asked the vice-principal if he could be transferred to another school since he wanted to leave in order to try to make a restart.

Patrick was transferred to a school with a dependence for children with learning and educational difficulties. They had a vacancy for a remedial teacher in the Midwood School Community.

Patrick moved across the state lines to a town four hundred miles away.

Chapter 2.

Fast forward. Two years later

Elin sat behind her desk. She just had been told that her bonus this year would be the highest in the history of the company.

She also heard about her nicknames. 'The Dreadnought' was about the most complimentary. Everybody was well aware now how she sacrificed her marriage on the altar of ambition and greed and that she was ruthless in achieving her goals.

Her influence within the company grew by leaps and bounds and her bank balance grew exponentially with it. She had used the money from her bonuses to invest in some very lucrative funds and promising start-ups.

Being financially independent now, she thought it was time for a family.

She never envisioned that she would have a problem with finding a suitable husband-slash-sperm-donor.

She wanted children and was convinced that now was the right time. She was young enough that after having children she would be able to return full force back to her job.

Somehow in that pink idealistic cloud it had never occurred to her that children had to be raised and cared for as well.

Even though she had some lovers, she hadn't found a suitable husband. The men who were eligible were either married, or didn't want anything to do with her except for being a one-night-stand.

Each and every time she was thinking about motherhood, she also thought back to her marriage with Patrick, the gentle, unassuming, mellow, clever and witty husband she, in a pique of anger, ruthlessly threw aside. He would have been the ideal husband and would have been the perfect father of her children. Sometimes she even regretted shoving him out of her life.

Some thinking and a few glasses of wine later, she decided to win him back. After all he had loved her with all he had and she was certain that with the right amount of eating crow, and flashing her upgraded assets she was convinced that she would be able to seduce him back into a relationship with her.

Elin surmised that she would start with a simple phone call and the rest would soon follow suit.

**********

At the same time Patrick led a busy life. A year ago, just after he started to study for his PhD in Pedagogy and Education, and he met Annabella.

He had no social life to speak of and Elin's remarks, especially the one about him being without ambition had hurt him deeply and ruined his self-esteem.

Annabella was a newly hired assistant teacher. She was assigned to Patrick and worked mostly with the same classes as he did.

During the daily, after class, meetings where they evaluated the children and planned for the next few days Annabella learned to appreciate the withdrawn man who came only out of his shell when interacting with 'his' children, as he called them, in and around the classroom.

The defining moment that she knew that she was falling hard for Patrick was that she realized that, on Sundays she was looking forward to seeing him again the next day and the thought of missing him for weeks at holidays.

With purpose, Annabella started to whittle down his defenses.

Soon Patrick behaved increasingly relaxed in her company, but still he remained distant and formal. Annabella wanted to scream and was almost at the end of her wits.

The day before the summer holidays started, they were alone in their shared office talking

Annabella thought Patrick was behaving awkwardly and asked, "What's wrong with you? Why are you so nervous?"

Patrick mumbled something unintelligible.

"Sorry, I didn't understand that.

"They offered me the assistant principal position." Patrick sighed.

"But, that's wonderful. You accepted of course." Annabella gushed, but inside her stomach dropped with a pang of fear.

Patrick nodded, "No."

"Why not? For Pete's sake."

Almost too faint to hear, Patrick replied, "Because I can take someone with me as my secretary and I'm afraid that you will say no."

"What! Why?" She almost shouted.

"I hate the idea of not working with you and not being in the same room with you anymore."

In a flash of understanding she stood. "Stand up please?" she asked.

He did as asked, not understanding.

Annabella walked around the desk, took him by the arms and turned him so that he was facing her.

He never forgot what happened next. He looked down at her when she lifted one hand, he thought to touch his cheek, but instead it went behind the back of his head.

She pulled his head down while kept looking him in the eyes with a slight smile playing around her full lips.

When his lips were within reach of hers, she pressed on in a soft, emotional and sensuous kiss that conveyed all her feelings in a few, but beautiful seconds.

She let go and for a few moments Patrick swayed unfocused in front of her. Suddenly he snapped back. His eyes focused again and bored into her eyes when he grabbed her waist and pulled her against him.

Annabella's heart thundered in her ears when she felt her body mashed against his sinewy hard torso. She felt his soft long fingers caressing her face and carefully forcing her to look upwards into his eyes again.

Now he kissed her back. Gentle but full of passion and a bit of tongue. She returned the kiss and time stood still while the world dissolved into nothingness.

An indeterminate time later they let go. Both chests heaved from emotion.

Annabella stepped back into Patrick's embrace and spoke. "I finally kissed you and I want more. Much more. I'm not going to let you out of my sight. So yes, if you want me as your secretary, I'll go with you when you become assistant principal."

After another, but this time steaming kiss Patrick said, "Let's find the principal. We need an exemption on the fraternization rules when I become his assistant and you, my secretary.

Over time Annabella stimulated Patrick to keep developing himself and, in his turn, he helped Annabella to overcome her shyness and inferiority complex about her body.

She was about five feet, four inches and 120 pounds. Her problem was her breasts. She had a generous D-cup and at high-school she was constantly teased about them. Later men started to hit on her to the point that it almost became an assault.

To be able to keep those men at bay, she went to a self-defense class and now she was a Wushu black belt. She convinced Patrick to free-up some time to do the same, telling him it would do him a world of good. He gave in and ever since they trained together.

It didn't take much time before they found that they couldn't live without each other in other ways too and before long they sat again in front of the principal because they wanted to get married.

Chapter 3.

Elin, to her dismay, discovered that finding her former husband wasn't as easy as she thought it would be.

First, she drove to the house they used to live in. Patrick had inherited it from his grandfather, so she just assumed that he still lived there.

To her astonishment an unknown woman opened the door who asked with a foreign accent, "Ja, can I help you?"

When Elin started to question her. The answers were, no, she didn't know who Patrick Thomson was. She, and her husband rented this house from an estate agency and no she wasn't going to tell Elin which agency. When Elin tried to bully the woman into giving her the estate agency name, the woman slammed the door in Elin's face.

Elin tried his parents next and was met with a wall of hostile silence about his whereabouts. She was brutally told that she was the reason that they had to miss their son for such prolonged periods and they too slammed the door in her face.

Next, she went to visit the school Patrick had been teaching, only to find that he didn't work there anymore. The person running the administration remembered the whole sordid affair and just plainly refused to hand over any information about Patrick. She, while smirking, invoked the privacy rules at school, even though those rules mainly applied to the children.

Elin was back to square one. Her parents refused to cooperate with her. They were proud of what she had achieved but appalled at the ruthlessness she showed while doing so. And they had liked Patrick very, very much.

She started to get a bit desperate. Patrick's friends told her that they knew where he lived, but nothing else, and all refused even to tell her whether he was doing alright.

When she asked them to tell him that she was looking for him and maybe he could contact her, they all told her that they wouldn't even tell Patrick that she was asking about him.

Elin, now some months further, without any result to show for, decided to throw a bit of money at it. She was going to hire a private investigator.

It took some time before she thought she had found the right one and another few weeks before she could make an appointment. Finally, she was sitting in front of him.

The man was a character straight out of a cheap detective novel. Elderly, smallish man dressed in a wrinkled shirt complete with a dirty tie, a wrinkly, stained suit and scuffed shoes.

In the middle of his cluttered desk was an ashtray with a half-smoked cigar, a typewriter and several piles of folders in very contrasting colors. A state-of-the-art photo camera with a telephoto lens attached to it and an electronic flashlight on top were on a table next to the desk.

The investigator introduced himself as Jonathan Smythe-Caermichel with ae and please, call me Joe and asked what he could do for her.

Elin gave him the name of her ex-husband, date of birth and an old photograph she had found in one of her books, she took with her and told Joe that she wanted him found.

Joe raised an eyebrow and asked whether she had any idea where Patrick could have gone?

Elin just nodded negatively.

**********

At last, a long-time later Joe was able to produce an address and that he could do so was through sheer luck. He had tried to use the school for information but encountered the same wall of silence Elin met.

In the end, he found someone working at the school where Patrick used to work and after generously being plied with the beverage of his liking the man, who was still remembering the whole scene, told Joe in utter confidence that Patrick didn't resign, but was transferred and where Patrick had been transferred to.

It was all Joe needed. Now he knew which school Patrick most likely worked at; it became very easy to find out where that school was.

Next day Joe called that school and asked for Mr. Patrick Thomson. When the woman who answered the call told him to hold, he knew enough and disconnected.

From now on it was just a matter of a long drive and searching the city's records. To Joe's relief, there he was. Arrived almost three years ago, married for one-and-a-half year to Annabella Moreno, and now the vice-principal of the school he was transferred to.

Now Joe became curious as to why such a powerhouse of a woman wanted to know the whereabouts of a Johnny Average. He already looked into the woman, as he did with all his clients and knew that her career rocketed sky-high in a very short time.

He delved deeper and found out that she had been married for five years to the man she was looking for. Inquisitive as he was, he wanted to know why they were divorced because he hated cheaters and refused to work for them whatever they offered to pay him. On the other hand, if the man cheated...

The records of the courthouse weren't conclusive. Irreconcilable differences could mean anything. Joe decided to throw another few drinks at some of Thomson's former colleagues.

This time it took some serious effort and more than a couple of drinks to entice one into telling what had happened. That man had witnessed the whole episode from up-close and was the one who had enabled the transfer to Patrick's new working environment.

Joe was appalled when he finally had the complete story. It seemed that Patrick had told some of his colleagues about what happened at that time.

A divorce, completely out of the blue, because of a row about a one-sided decision and career opportunities? It was completely out of his personal world of experience. Himself being married for 36 years and having three grown-up children.

Joe did some serious soul searching about wanting to enable his client to find her ex-husband. What does she want from the man? he wondered. Finally, after some soul-searching he decided to give her what she wanted, an address. He needed bread on the table after all.

The rest he kept to himself. If she wanted to reconnect, she was in for a rude shock. The man had moved on and built a new life for himself. Joe wanted her to dangle for a while.

Finally, almost a year and a lot of money, after Elin decided to have her ex-husband back, she had an address.

At home she sat behind her desk and started checking her atlas for the town in the address.

It took her a while to shut her mouth again, appalled that he moved so far to get away from her. When she decided to go for a divorce after consulting the one of the managing directors who offered her the promotion, she knew he would be hurt and angry. But to move over 400 miles and out of the state was one move she never expected him to make.

Chapter 4.

Elin absolutely didn't want to drive 400 miles; she hated driving and she started looking for alternatives.

Finally, she found something, she thought, to her liking. About 40 miles further on there was a proper airport that was serviced by a small airline using the flying equivalent of rowboats. She could rent a car and drive the remaining distance.

Another lemon was that there was no hotel available in the neighborhood. Just a B&B and a family restaurant.

She called the airline and was told that the first available opportunity was over two weeks away. A little aggravated, she asked why there wasn't an earlier availability. The woman on the other line, also the wife of the owner, told her that they didn't want to fall in trap of some (now not in existence anymore) major airlines to have sitting aircraft on the tarmac when their overall, average, seat occupation was less than 65%. Non-operating aircraft are an extremely expensive hobby they couldn't afford themselves. Elin just had to wait or book a ticket to the major airport another 50 miles further from Midwood.

**********

Two weeks later Elin had, by far, the most horrendous experience she ever had. She had a feeling that the little airplane was tossed around by a storm. She was airsick and to add to that humiliation, the other passengers were about their businesses like they were traveling by train.

An elderly man smiled at her. He said to her that, over time, one gets used to it. For the other passengers it was just a weekly commute to the factory they worked for. The rest of the time they worked from home.

Still shaking and white around the nose, she arrived at the B&B in her rental.

There she waited till the next day to drive the 40 miles to the address Joe gave her. She still couldn't understand what Patrick was looking for in this neck of the woods.

She overlooked the fact that, what she called, 'that neck of the woods' featured a school-community that served a wide spectrum of pupils. From children with learning difficulties or other problems to craftsmen such as carpenters, plumbers, blacksmiths and electricians, together with elementary school, junior and senior high-school and a college.

**********

The next day, a Saturday morning with beautiful weather, she set out early. She wanted to observe her ex-husband and see how he was living before she would try to reconnect. She was fairly certain that Patrick would still have some anger about the way she had shoved him aside. She also was quite convinced that that wasn't going to be insurmountable.

She parked her car in an inconspicuous place where she could observe the house without being noticed herself and got out a pair of binoculars and had a first look in almost three years at her ex-husband.

She took a sharp breath. Patrick was sitting on the veranda of a small, two stories, brick house. The house itself was surrounded by a beautiful and well-maintained garden.

What took her breath away was the way he was changed. He was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. The t-shirt couldn't disguise his toned body. He was lean, muscled, tanned and sat relaxed in a chair looking at something in front of him.

A few moments later the screen door opened and a small woman with a baby in one arm and a bottle in her other hand came out and handed the baby to Patrick.

Patrick smiled, took the baby and the bottle and said something to her.

Elin could hear her laugh and witnessed the woman kissing him full on his mouth.

Elin could see the kiss heating up quickly and she felt a pang of jealousy, while the ground swallowed her.

Defeated, she looked at Patrick who was now feeding the baby and oblivious to the rest of the world, whispering sweet nothings to the little pink bundle.

She had never expected that her ex-husband would move on after she discarded him and it seemed, he was forever unreachable. She knew him well enough to know that when Patrick bonded with someone, it was a near unbreakable bond.

Frustrated and angry at herself, the PI and the rest of the world, she started her rental and drove back to the B&B.

During the ride, she became angry at Patrick, too. In the back of her mind, she knew she was unreasonable, but the disappointment was too big to see reason. It had taken her almost a year to find him and, in the meantime, he had the audacity to marry another woman and have a baby with her!

Suddenly it dawned on her that that clown Smythe could've known all the time and hadn't told her.

Back at home, she confronted Joe Smythe and the discussion was short and brutal.

The private investigator told her that his brief was to provide an address and nothing more and showed her signature on that contract. He also told her that the costs of a full report on the man would have cost more than she had paid for the trip.

Chapter 5.

Fast forward another fifteen years

Elin walked a little unsteady from the restaurant to the car. She, together with Kevin, her secretary, had brokered a very lucrative contract and Elin wanted to celebrate. The negotiations had been difficult and she and the young man had made long and intensive hours together to find and implement the right strategy to reel the client in.

Thursday morning, she noticed the first signs that the deal was swaying their way and that was also the moment that the heady feeling of being successful came to be.

Elin also knew from previous experiences that when the negotiations were successfully concluded she needed relief in the form of dinner and as dessert a hard cock pounding her insides. She already made Kevin aware that he was expected to provide that as well.

By now she was a partner in the company where she started out just before her divorce.

She also had a reputation as a man-eater. No unmarried, and also some married males were safe for her when she had an urge, despite the strict fraternization rules in the company's code of conduct.

Only the company as a whole turned a blind eye to the shenanigans of the higher management.

Elin's secretaries were always bright good-looking males in their early 30s and this one was no exception. He walked, almost as unsteady as his boss, just in front of her with the keys of his eight-cylinder new Land Rover Defender. The car was brand new. He had treated himself to it when he was promoted to his current position because he loved the solid feeling of the sturdy vehicle.

They celebrated in a good restaurant after they had a few drinks in a pub. At the restaurant they started with a bottle of Champagne. During the meal they went through two bottles of wine and had port and cheese as dessert.

Kevin helped Elin into the passenger's seat and while doing so copped the first feel of her butt. Elin just giggled.

Kevin hauled himself in the driver's seat and turned the key in the ignition. The car came rumbling alive.

Even before they left the parking lot Elin had her hand on his crotch and started to massage his swelling one-eyed appendix while telling him to hurry.

Kevin pushed the accelerator down and the car shot forward. They sped down the lane when Elin already slipped her hand inside his pants.

Kevin was distracted, looked down at the cleavage of Elin and missed the red light. Doing 40 miles an hour he realized his lapse and tried to correct it by steering hard right and applying the breaks. He grazed another car before slamming straight into the side of an aging Ford.

The little car stood no chance whatsoever against 4400 lbs. of speeding, angular steel. It crumbled and in doing so, crushed its driver.

Half an hour later a paramedic, standing over the victim, bowed his head sadly and closed the eyes of the woman. He turned around and told the police officer that she never stood a chance.

The officer walked to the pair from the Land Rover, congratulated Kevin with his first kill and told his colleagues to take them to the police station to be processed.

**********

A few hours later, late in the evening, Patrick answered the door. Someone rang the bell insistently until he opened the little window in the door.

Two detectives identified themselves and asked if they could come in.

Five minutes later Patrick had been told that he had become a widower.

Until then Patrick did very well. His PhD had done him no harm. He was the principal of the school-community now, taught computer-science at a nearby university and recently had become an outspoken advocate of using computers in the school by teachers as well as pupils. He had read about the Arpanet and already had heard about a project called 'The World Wide Web' being developed at Cern in Switzerland.

Patrick predicted that before the end of the century this web would be common good. A few years earlier he had invested in a few software companies and in a Dutch company making machines for the production of computer-chips. Financially he was well to do, to say the least.

Now, he was sitting in his living-room thinking about how to break this terrible news to his children.

After a week of being lived and ruled by the circumstances, such as arranging the funeral and the estate, the pain and grief struck mercilessly.

Patrick, together with his three children decided that they wanted to revert to some form of normalcy as soon as possible so a week after the funeral he found himself lecturing again.

Chapter 6.

Last thing he remembered was that he stood before a lecture hall full of students. Now he was lying on his back looking at a white ceiling with TL lights.

Some woman he never had seen appeared into his field of vision. With a smile she asked him if he was aware that he had put a scare on a lecture hall full of students and half the staff of the university.

Patrick nodded and hoarsely asked, before anything else was said, whether his children were taken care of.

The woman introduced herself as the day-shift nurse, Andrea Berrigter, told him that his children were indeed taken care of. She informed Patrick that he collapsed while he was giving a lecture. Now the doctor needed to ask him some questions because there was no physical cause whatsoever that had been found for that.

About 15 minutes later the doctor concluded that emotional stress combined with a severe lack of sleep had forced his body to shut him down.

"Your children told us what happened to your wife and I wanted to offer my sincere condolences. Now I need to ascertain your mental capabilities before you are to be released from here."

"Where am I anyway?" Patrick asked, confused.

"The Academic Hospital of course. It was the nearest available."

"Of course. Did I really collapse in front of my students?"

"Yes, and witnessing the reports of the emotions shown when they carted you off, you are quite popular, loved even. Now, please, can you tell me the name of your children."

There is Amanda's, our... My eldest, 16 now and she takes after her mother. Bright, cheerful and she has a serious knack for languages. Then comes Sebastian, or Seb, 15. With his 15 years, the analyst and mathematician of the three. And last but not least; Benjamin, almost 14 now and very handy with everything mechanical. We had them all shortly one after another. "

Patrick smiled briefly until he remembered why he was in the hospital, the first place. Exhaustion because of pushing himself too hard after becoming a widower and finding out that his ex-wife was partly responsible for the death of the love of his life.

He mumbled to himself, but loud enough to be overheard, "I know that I can't bring her back to me, but if she can take my wife, I can take the only thing she appreciates: her money and reputation."

Andrea heard everything Patrick mumbled and was taken aback at the vehemence.

"You're not going to do something stupid, are you? Your children need you. I know, I had a very serious conversation with them and they love you to bits."

"No, I'm not going to do something irresponsible, but I want my pound of flesh. They can't get away with this."

**********

It took some time before Patrick was released from the hospital. He used that time to collect all information about the accident including the police reports stating that both occupants of the other car were well over their limit. He also found the company's code of conduct together with the registration in the Chamber of Commerce.

Aside from the fraternization rules there was a paragraph that said that no employee is allowed to behave in public in such a way that the interests of the company may be harmed.

As soon as he was released and home again, he started looking for a lawyer and he found one! A corporate lawyer with a grudge against that company for their way of doing business. Actually, when Patrick heard about the way they were doing business he was glad that Elin had divorced him. The company used napalm where they could do with a box of matches.

When the lawyer and Patrick agreed on lawyer's fees and the strategy, in effect plainly scorched earth, the lawyer went to war.

Chapter 7.

About a year later.

Elin was beside herself with frustration. The company she worked so hard for to become a major player in its business had its reputation destroyed by the man she, once, intended to have children with.

Her reputation was completely scorched due to the publication of the police report of the accident and the pictures taken by a young student. The pictures showed her hand in her secretary's trousers with her face just above his plainly visible penis. It depicted a very sleazy tale. To make things worse were the alcohol levels from both of them shown at the public hearing. Both were way above the legal limits and she was held responsible.

Both were sentenced. Elin had to serve community duties but Kevin went to jail for a long time.

She was offered a parachute and politely asked to remove her name from the current company payroll.

**********

For as long as Patrick was busy comforting and taking care of his children and forcing retribution from the ones responsible for the death of Annabella, life went on as usual. At least on the surface.

As expected, the company hired some sharks to steamroll over the court case, until Patrick's lawyer showed that the company habitually neglected to implement the rules where management was involved and that the accident was a direct result of that.

The lawyer had played it very smart and after the first hearing the press was having a field day. Everything that the company had tried to bury was unearthed and shown to the world.

It left Patrick with a staggering amount of money in his bank account. Since the last occurrences he was very pessimistic about what the future might bring.

He divided the money in three equal parts. Two-thirds went into three trusts. One for each child. The rest he used to build, with the help of his children and an architect, his forever-home.

Chapter 8.

Even a year after everything started to settle, payments had been made and scores settled, Patrick hadn't allowed himself to grieve and to find some form of closure. He lived in a formless gray mist except where his children were involved. Work went on automatic pilot.

He was sitting in a lunchroom overlooking the adjacent park, staring at nothing, seeing nothing and feeling nothing but a deep formless melancholy. A voice shook him out of his dark reveries. "Hello, I know you from somewhere. Have we met before?"

Patrick looked up and recognized the smiling face immediately. "Nurse Berrigter, I presume?"

Her laughter dispelled a part of the darkness surrounding him. Suddenly she said, "I can't remember your name, I only know that you once were in the hospital I used to work for because you collapsed in front of 50 odd students."

"Patrick Thomson at your service." he replied with a ghost of a smile.

She gasped, "Please call me Andrea and you're the man that lost..." She didn't finish the sentence

"Yeah, I am."

Andrea sat herself in front of Patrick and asked softly, "And you're not doing very well handling it, are you?" The sincerity of the question and the almost tangible empathy it was asked with, triggered something within his head.

Suddenly he was at a loss of words. Even his verbal automaton failed him.

Patrick turned his head to the other window, tears flooding his eyes and spilling onto his cheeks.

"Oh. My poor man. You haven't given yourself time to grieve. "

She went to the register and paid for the coffee and told Patrick, "Come along, you and I need a good walk."

They walked in silence into the park. There, Andrea hooked her arm through his and softly started to talk.

"You know, since you left the hospital, I wondered what became of you. I'm shocked to see you like this. You are in a really bad place and need help. Help and a friend."

Andrea was silent for a moment and then asked, "Can I be that friend?"

By this time Patrick had overcome most of his emotions and started to think straight.

"Why would you want to be my friend? You don't even know me.

"No, but I see someone in turmoil. I've been there myself though not as bad as yours. You seem, no I know you are a decent man. Both my children go to your school and they talk with nothing but praise about you. Please let me be that friend?"

Patrick shrugged and answered reluctantly, "If you want to. I'm not much company to you, I'm afraid."

"Yes. I would like that. But before everything else I advise you to seek a counselor. You can't do this on your own anymore. You kept it inside for too long and it's festering. Your anger and grief are like a boil that needs lancing.

"How do you know?" Patrick, now curious, asked.

"Been there, done that. Only for me it was an extremely nasty divorce. I'll tell you all about it. Later, when we get to know each other better. For now, let's be content with a walk and enjoy the park. And your children, how are they doing?"

The sudden change of topic startled Patrick a little. "How do you know that I have children?"

"Have you forgotten? You told me in the hospital when I had to assess whether you were conscious and lucid after you passed out in the lecture hall."

Patrick nodded and whispered, "It's something I'd rather forget. I was so ashamed."

"Why? You were physically and mentally exhausted."

Patrick shrugged and together they walked around the park in what could be seen as companionable silence. At the end of the afternoon, they had been talking about this and that, the weather, the neighbor's cat and so on and Patrick finally started to unwind.

Patrick looked at the time and with regret in his voice he told Andrea, "I would love to continue this, but I need to get home for the children."

"Of course." She smiled, "Would you like to have lunch, or dinner some day?"

"I would like that very much. You're doing wonders for my mental health." Patrick smiled.

It was the first time that Andrea saw a smile on the man's face, and she thought that it transformed him as suddenly the years seemed to fall away.

"Can we plan something for the weekend? I don't have to work. It's my weekend off. Or is that problematic with the children?"

"No, they're big enough to take care of themselves for a day. They are also quite mature for their age."

"How old are they now?"

"Amanda is almost 18 now. They're all a year apart and they are doing quite well." Patrick told her proudly.

"Of course they are. With such a role model..."

On that note they parted.

Chapter 9.

Over time they had lunches together, dinners and went to an occasional concert. Slowly Patrick started to come out of his self-imposed isolation.

One evening Amanda asked just before he started dinner, "Dad, the mother of Judith is having problems with her paper. It's rejected twice now and she doesn't know why exactly. She is a nurse and is studying for her BSN. Her mentor wants to show what's wrong after she had dinner with him and she doesn't trust him. Can you have a look at it?"

""Of course I will, but I don't know anything about medical matters. I can discuss language, layout and the like with her. But, only if she wants that."

Amanda beamed at her father. "Judith will be so happy; I call her immediately."

"After dinner, dear it can wait a few minutes, don't you think?"

Desert wasn't done and Amanda had her phone out.

"Judith, Dad agreed to look at your Mum's paper. Can you come over?"

"Mum is working. Late shift. Let me check the calendar. Tomorrow she has a late morning shift from 9:00 a. m. till 6:00 p. m. She will be back home at 6:30 and then we have to eat. Is 8:00 a good time? Will that give your father enough time to have a proper look at it?"

"I'll ask."

Amanda looked at her father, "Dad Judith's mum has to work till 6:00, and 8:00 is the earliest they can be here."

"Why don't you ask them to have dinner here, if it's that urgent."

Amanda lighted up at that idea and almost squealed at her friend, "Dad tells me that you can have dinner here!"

"Oh, yummy. I hope he makes his lasagna. I'll call my mum and let you know as soon as I can get hold of her."

Amanda and Judith knew each other since their freshman's year but only recently became friends. That friendship developed rapidly and deepened as their trust in each other grew. Amanda had never met Judith's mother because she was always working when they were at Judith's home.

Judith had been a guest in the Thomson household several times and had even stayed for dinner a time or two. Afterward, Patrick and Amanda always dropped her off at her home.

Therefore, Judith only knew that Amanda's father was a widower and Amanda knew that Judith's mother was divorced, but they were not in the stage, yet, they had talked a lot about their parents.

The next evening.

Judith, nervously, rang the bell and waited with her mother until the door opened. Amanda appeared and greeted them warmly. "Hi, good evening. My dad is still busy in the kitchen."

"Who is in the kitchen? Oh, hello Andrea, it seems that we will be having dinner again together sooner than expected. This young lady," and he pointed at Judith, "asked for lasagna. I hope you like it too."

Two mouths dropped open and two pairs of eyes swiveled from one adult to another. Finally, Judith asked, "Do you know each other?"

Andrea answered ambiguously, "We've met before and I would like to get to know Amanda's dad much better, if the two of you don't mind."

That said, she winked at Patrick while the two young ladies squealed with joy like little girls.

Patrick was only blushing. After some moments he said, "we still have some time before lasagna is ready. Can I have a quick look? After I fetched you something to drink, of course.

Andrea handed over her paper, which she had printed for the occasion. Patrick scanned it, shook his head and started reading again, but now with a lot more concentration.

All the while Andrea was chewing nervously on her lower lip. Until Patrick looked up and said, "I don't know biology, but I do know how to write a paper. There's nothing wrong with this at all."

"Not?"

"Nope. Who is your mentor?"

"Ian Short."

"Ahh."

Patrick took his phone and dialed a number.

"Charles, Patrick here. How are you doing?"

Patrick was silent for a moment, listening to the answer of his friend. In the end he spoke, "Listen, are you still the second reader for the papers from the BSN nurses?"

"Yes and let me guess. She's female, pretty and her paper is rejected and her mentor is Ian Short."

"Spot on."

"Tell her that I'm in my office Monday. I'll have a look at it then."

"Or you can come over and eat lasagna. You can't tell me that you cooked dinner for yourself, have you?"

"You made lasagna? Give me half an hour."

An hour later, Charles Bodin shook his head and asked Andrea, "And Short wanted to explain what was wrong after you had dinner with him?"

Andrea answered affirmatively and Charles said, "I can't fault this paper. It's very well written and it is an excellent piece in terms of content. I am in the position to overrule Dr. Short and I will pass this paper. The failure notice will be removed from your stats."

Andrea beamed and from happiness she kissed Patrick full on his lips causing him to blush furiously.

Judith chuckled and whispered to Andrea, "Way to go Mum. Go get him."

Andrea smiled, turned around and kissed James on his cheek and said, "A burden has been lifted from my shoulders. I just couldn't understand what was wrong with it."

James smiled and replied, "A colleague of mine is gathering evidence about Short's practices. Would you mind giving a statement?"

"Of course not." Andrea said.

Charles turned to Patrick who had his normal color back by now. "I think you need some privacy to see to some family matters I presume?"

Andrea beamed and laughed out loud. "He doesn't know it yet. I think I need to club him over the head and pull him by the hair into my cave!"

Again, Patrick did a convincing imitation of a beet.

Charles left after dinner and suddenly the children had all kinds of outdoor obligations to fulfill. Quickly they made themselves scarce.

"Club me over the head? What did I miss?"

Andrea's smile lit up the room. "Nothing yet, but now that I'm here, I'm going to stake my claim.

"Since I met you in the hospital and learned your story, I wanted to get to know you better. You are exactly the opposite of my ex-husband. After your wife was killed, you did everything to raise your children in a loving environment and ignored your own needs. The happiness of the people you love, or like, is more important than your own."

Patrick raised his hand to stop her, but Andrea wouldn't have it and went on, "You intrigue me and I want to get to know you better, much better, because after tonight I'm also starting to have some very warm feelings for you."

Patrick smiled and asked, "And what are your intentions regarding these warm feelings?"

"Putting them to the test." And she kissed him hard.

Patrick amazed himself by kissing back just as hard and before soon they were making out on the couch.

Andrea took his hand and placed it under her blouse on her breast. She wore a soft thin bra that was designed for comfort and not to show the girls off. It had one big advantage; it hardly restricted the feeling of his hand on her breast. She moaned softly and pushed his other hand between her tights.

Patrick got the hint.

His fingers were in her panties caressing her clit and the precious velvety stamp inside quickly enough to please Andrea. When Andrea reached her crescendo for the second time in 20 minutes she panted, "Please no more. It's becoming too sensitive and it's time I reward you for services rendered. It's been a long time since I got off on anything other than my own fingers or toys and you did a very good job."

That said she pushed Patrick back into the backrest of the couch and started to release him from the barriers obstructing his erect penis.

Slowly she pulled back the foreskin and licked the precum from the swollen top, then she started to lavish his rim with her wide tongue until she heard the man, she wanted to share her future with, started to grunt to keep control.

"Please, my love, just let yourself go. I need the protein and I don't mind swallowing."

That said she pushed her head down until her nose reached his pubics.

That sensation was too much for a man that had practiced abstinence for a very long time. He exploded into her throat. Andrea kept him there until he was done. She came up panting.

Patrick hoarsely spoke, "Come here, you need mouth-to-mouth" and when she came up, he kissed her with all the tenderness he could muster.

Before he could say anything, Andrea whispered, "Consider this a promise for the time to come."

That time came soon enough and the year that followed was very turbulent, to say the least. During that year Andrea moved in with Patrick. Judith and Amanda were now occupying Andrea's house and both were going to college.

The fly in the ointment was that a hatchet-fund saw a business opportunity in private schools and universities and over the years they gobbled up more than a few learning institutions. This time they had set eyes on the school community where Patrick was the principal.

As soon as the rumors started to raise their heads, he started to investigate the 'Collective for Educational Advancement' or CEA and he didn't like what he found.

Chapter 10.

Some weeks earlier and hundreds of miles away.

"Mrs. Hull, we can't stress enough that it's imperative to add the Midwood School Community to our Collective. To ensure a smooth assimilation it's very important to have the principal on board until we have had enough time to restructure the school and turn it into a profitable institution.

"Midwood School Community has an excellent reputation, so it shouldn't be too hard to make it quickly profitable. The only fly in the soup until now is the principal. He is deadly opposed. He is the one you have to win over twice. Stop him from opposing us and keep him at his job until we don't have a use for him anymore. Then you become the administrator and financial director and he is needed to ensure the proper pedagogical climate. After two years his contract runs out and you can appoint someone with a better understanding towards CEA."

Elin looked thoughtful, though she already had her mind made up. The idea of a cushy job and time left to deal with the stock market appealed very much to her.

"Okay, I'll do it. Give me some phone numbers and I'll woo that principal till he melts."

Present again.

In the boardroom of CEA were representatives from CEA and the board of directors of Midwood School Community waiting for the last person to arrive and Elin sitting at the head of the table felt tense.

Her first call to the principal of the Community shocked her to the core.

Overconfident she refrained from checking the file on the who's who of the community and when she finally reached the principal, she almost fainted when she heard the voice and the name and realized that her job suddenly became infinitely more difficult.

"Thomson here, how can I help you?"

It started so innocently and Elin hadn't put two and two together yet until she replied, I'm Elin Hull from... and then it hit her like a sledgehammer.

"Patrick?" She stammered.

"What the fuck do you want Mrs. Hull? Was my wife's life not enough? Patrick growled and disconnected.

Patrick's research into the CEA made him try as hard as he could to prevent the merger. That was what the Collective labeled it; in fact, it was an ordinary takeover. The door of the boardroom opened and Patrick entered, holding a folder in his hand. He looked around and noticed the last empty chair next to Elin.

Without even acknowledging her he walked over and took the seat placing the folder in front of him. Only then he looked up and around with a weary smile around his lips.

Elin kicked off the meeting with the usual blah blah blah and then asked if there was someone who needed more information about the merger.

That was the moment Patrick had been waiting for.

"I have some information and I'd like to share with you."

Elin didn't like it that Patrick took the floor, but couldn't prevent it without being rude.

She nodded for him to go on and he did.

"From the start I opposed the merger, which in fact is nothing but a takeover. In this meeting the decision will be made whether it's a go, or not.

"I researched the last five mergers and I discovered the following facts:

"First: the money that is needed to acquire the buildings of all five institutions was borrowed from an affiliated bank of CEA and was recorded on the school's books as a debt on which a high interest rate must be paid.

"Second: CEA offers all pedagogical staff, including me, contact for two years under the same conditions the staff has now. After those two years a new contract will be offered. It's a do, or die contract. One's salary will be cut by forty percent with the excuse that the school is financially in dire straits.

"Of all staff that signed such a contract more than half left before the end of the contract due to a poisonous work environment.

"Three schools were relocated in hardly adequate buildings with the same excuse. The buildings they had left were redeveloped into upscale apartments and in one case the buildings were demolished and the land sold to someone who wants to put a hotel on it."

Patrick looked around and went on, "I will not sign the offered contract for two reasons. First: I will not associate my good name with such a despicable institution, but more importantly is the second reason.

"Under no circumstances will I work, or cooperate with the woman who was responsible for the death of my wife.

"I'll await the outcome of this meeting in my office. Thank you for your patience."

Patrick pushed his chair back, stood up and walked, under deadly silence, out the door.

Elin felt sick. She never expected that Patrick would attack her like this. In one fell swoop, he had made sure that she had lost most, if not all of her integrity. It made the last hurdle to assimilate this community into the Collective much harder.

**********

After a five-star lunch where they served beside delicious food, some very heady wines, she finally began to feel the tingling in her nether regions. She was winning. The board of directors was coming around.

Just pointing out some of the extra benefits to be had, made her win the day. The community was hers for the taking.

That night she screwed her assistant into the mattress and left him sleeping in her hotel room to drive alone to Midwood for the confrontation with her ex-husband. Keeping him on-board was still, although a minor, part of her mission here.

She arrived at the main building of the community and wanted to enter it, only to be stopped by the doorman.

"Can I be of service Ma'am?" He requested.

"I need to speak with the principal, Mr. Thompson. It's urgent. " She replied acidly and thought, This is the first one to go. Cutting costs becomes very easy if there are more of these redundant functions here.

Unperturbed by her arrogant, bitchy tone the grizzled man replied, "Dr. Thompson is in the main hall, briefing the staff about the upcoming merger Ma'am. He is not to be disturbed."

What! How did he know the outcome so quickly? Not from the board. That's for certain. That's not what we had agreed upon. I would do that briefing. Damn!

Out loud she said, "You like your job here?"

"I wouldn't call it a job. It's more of a hobby. I'm a veteran and do volunteer work here. Me and another dozen men. All veterans. Dr. Thompson arranged with the Ministry of Defense that we are allowed to do the odd jobs here for hand-outs without our benefits being cut.

"And we are among people instead of hanging around in a shoddy pub, drinking and the like. Keeps us straight, being here."

Elin swallowed. Bloody hell. Patrick has it all together and quite comfortably so. Twelve employees paid by a ministry. I really need to keep him here for the time being.

She walked past the doorman and into the main hall. There she witnessed Patrick giving a speech, or worse: a lecture about the Collective's working method after taking over an educational institute and what the long-term consequences were, especially for the teachers.

She had to admit that he was a compelling and convincing orator but at the same time she became aggravated. He was undermining the Collective's position in the negotiations for the new contacts for the employees!

She was thinking furiously, what shall I do? Interfere? Put a stop to it?

In the end she decided to do nothing at the moment, but to wait in his office and chew him a third.

Elin finally found where Patrick had his office. She expected it to be like the upper-management at the Collective's buildings. The opposite was true. It was sparsely furnished and had no decorations at all, but for two pictures. One of a woman she didn't know and one of three children, presumably his.

She tried his desk and it was locked. She looked around and wanted to try the filing cabinets when Patrick arrived.

"What the heck do you think you are doing? You don't have the right to search my office."

"Yet!" Bit Elin.

"That's right. Yet. So, you better stop what you are doing and tell me why you are here." He retorted while he was settling in his desk chair. The only real luxury in the office.

Elin took a deep breath, "First of all: what were you doing when you gave that speech? You were undermining the position of the Collective there. We can't have that! You better retract that, if you know what's good for you!"

"Don't try to intimidate me, Mrs. Hull. I did nothing but inform them about the methods used by your hyenas. I didn't lie, I just told them the facts as they happened after the last four takeovers by your precious collective."

Elin bristled, "If you go on like that, your career may be in jeopardy."

"Still trying to intimidate me Mrs. Hull? That won't work with me. Anyway, my career here is over as soon as this charade of a merger is approved and ratified by all parties. Not a minute sooner."

"You are obliged to stay until the merge is complete and the Community is well and truly part of the Collective. That's in the contract."

Patrick laughed out loud. "You're either bluffing, or have not studied the merger documentation properly. My contract is with the Community and ends when the merger has been ratified. The documentation states that l have to re-negotiate a new contract.

"I don't intend to do that. I'm not going to cooperate with a bunch of scavengers to force my people into a strait jacket from which they can't escape. Besides the fact that I find the methods of the Collective revolting and the chance that I'm going to work in the vicinity of a person who is for the most part responsible for the death of my wife is less than zero."

Elin was taken aback by the hatred in her ex-husband's voice when he said that, but soon recovered, "Then I demand a complete financial overview of this puny community."

She hoped to get him off-balance so she could force him to stay. Among others, she needed to know how he arranged those so-called volunteers. That would benefit the whole collective and she would gain some more status and that would benefit herself of course.

But Patrick leaned back with a smirk and said, "You can demand all you want, as long as the merger isn't ratified. I'm the principal here. Until that moment, I have a responsibility towards the employees entrusted to me. That includes their right to privacy from prying eyes.

"Now if you excuse me, I have the Midwood School Community to run. You'd better start looking for a young horny new principal and get stuffed."

Stamping her feet, Elin left the office feeling deeply offended. Mostly because Patrick was spot on.

Where did he learn that? she thought. I need to watch him. He's too clever by half for my liking.

Elin realized that unlike the other school leaders Patrick was trusted and well liked. According to the reports the Community had very good results with their pupils and the whole ran like clockwork. The Collective needed to find a way to keep him on board until he had outrun his usefulness.

**********

It took another few months to get the merger ratified and approved by the authorities.

The day that the news came that the merger was a fact, Elin stomped into Patrick's office.

"I demand that you produce all financial arrangements at once. I also want the files on all personnel working for Midwood School Community."

Patrick grinned and said, "I told you that I won't help you, but also, I can't help you now. I'm locked out of all systems."

"What the fuck are you talking about! You're the principal, for God's sake. Now hand over the fucking files!"

With the disdain obvious in his face Patrick replied. "I can't. I never signed a contract with the Collective for Educational Advancement and since the merger my contract with the Midwood School Community is void.

"As a result, your IT department locked me out of your systems."

Elin almost screamed from frustration. It took a serious effort to get a hold of herself.

She was aware where that frustration came from. Each time when she met Patrick something in her mind fired up. As long as she didn't have anything to do with that man, everything was okay.

Every time; she only had to hear his voice, her heart gave a jolt and now she found herself within arm's reach of him and she couldn't touch him like there was a chasm between them a mile wide.

He hadn't changed. He didn't show his age. He was slenderly built, with strong hands and long fingers and she knew that he could use them to bring her to heavenly heights. The rest of him was hidden under his suit. But that suit made her aware that he didn't sport a pouch like so many men his age. He took good care of himself.

She wanted nothing more than to be lying spread eagled on the bed with Patrick pounding her into the mattress, but that wasn't going to happen.

"Then I need the hard-copies."

"Mrs. Hull, you know, just as I do that hard-copies are not allowed if there is a digital archive, therefore; no paper." And he smiled that lopsided smile she remembered so well. It advertised mischief.

Elin was furious. She had seen the filing cabinets full of folders and documents, but back then he had no authority over this school. Patrick would have destroyed everything by now, no doubt.

"Just tell me where the contracts for the volunteers are, they're not in the database." Elin fumed.

Patrick laughed out loud. Finally, he said, I have them under contract, not the school. They're totally outside this merger. If you want them you need to broker a new contract with the Ministry of Defense and good luck with that."

Elin didn't like where this was going and she was fed up with the carefree cynical attitude of her ex-husband and she supposed.

"Get the fuck out of here before I call security to throw you out."

With a big grin Patrick replied, "Your command is my wish madam." Deliberately switching the words.

"I'll see to it that you will never work at another school!" She shouted after him.

"Oh, that's okay. We'll be meeting again, I think." Patrick's parting words came back to her.

Dammit! How does he do it? You'd think I'd be immune to him by now.

What does he mean by; 'We'll be meeting again? I must have someone check up on him.

**********

It didn't take long for a lawyer in service of the CEA to compile an in-depth report on Patrick.

Professor Doctor Patrick Thompson.

Lecturer of Information Technology at the University of St. Christopher's Crossing.

And so on, and so on.

She came to the financial part and her jaw dropped.

She had always shunned investments in computer businesses and high tech. Patrick went the opposite way. He did nothing but invest in it. His portfolio was rivaling hers in value!

She remembered the words bit at him just before she divorced him: an inept, spineless wimp without ambition. Girl, did he prove her wrong.

But nothing about the future of Patrick.

**********

The news about Patrick's future came next week in a memo from the Ministry.

It said:

The Ministry of Education has decided Prof. Dr. P. Thomson to be appointed as director of the Department of Education Inspectorate.

The memo was a bit longer, but Elin stopped reading it when she exploded in the privacy of her office.

"Why can't I get rid of that man?" She screamed.

**********

The CEA immediately started a charm offensive and also traveled with a heavy lobby to the ministry to curtail Patrick's influence.

It eventually resulted in an official visit by Patrick to the Collective for Educational Advancement.

They tried to set him up.

When he arrived, they offered him a stay in one of the most expensive hotels in the city. He smiled and declined, stating that he himself already made arrangements for his stay and skillfully avoided questions about where he was staying.

They tried to wine and dine him and again he brushed them off. "I'm so sorry, but I promised my wife to take her to dinner and to see L'Orfeo from Claudio Monteverdi.

"It's our wedding anniversary."

Someone immediately contacted the Ministry and insinuated that the professor was having his wife traveling on their dime.

The man was laughed at and threatened with a lawsuit for slander on his behalf as the professor himself paid for the entire excursion and told the minister that since he was there, he would interrupt his vacation for a short moment and pay the Collective a visit.

That afternoon Patrick gave his address to the management and supervisory board. Elin Hull was one of the attendees because she, recently, became one of the directors.

Prof. Dr. P. Thompson's speech was short and blunt. He held up a thick stack of paper and spoke,

"Ladies and gentlemen,

"I'll keep it short.

"I have a report here that states that the quality of teaching in your schools is seriously lacking.

"The early dropout rate of students is thirty percent higher than comparable schools and the pass rate of your exam classes is well below the national average.

"The housing of some schools does not meet the requirements and regulations and an investigation has been launched into whether they meet the safety requirements.

"I conclude that your business model is a threat to the education of the children who are the ones that this country needs in the future.

"In consultation with the minister, I have decided that you will be given one year to ensure that the buildings under your responsibility meet all requirements and two years to bring your educational institutions up to national level.

"I am tasked by the minister to see to it

"I thank you for your attention.

"After my vacation is over, I will be available for questions and advice."

Patrick laid the report down, stepped from behind the lectern and walked out of the room, leaving a stunned host of men and women behind.

In all it hadn't taken him more than fifteen minutes before he could go back to the B&B where Andrea was waiting for him.

After his chore, he had a wonderful evening. Good food, extraordinary music and fabulous love making made that a night he would never forget.

Chapter 11.

It took more than two years for Patrick to get the fighting and screaming Collective where he wanted them. Being a good education system in proper housing.

Elin was assigned as the Collective's representative to the ministry despite her misgivings about that.

In that meeting where they forced her to accept that role, she almost shouted, "For God's sake, that man hates my guts. He holds me responsible for the death of his wife! The only thing he is going to give me is enough rope to hang myself."

In the end she had to admit that her ex-husband was right. To her utter astonishment he had convinced her.

"If proper education is only available for people with high incomes you fail to unlock a vast reservoir of potential. Don't make the mistake that all blue colors are stupid. A lot of them never had the chance to study.

"We need that potential to keep our edge in the world. We need them to enhance our research. We need them to be the teachers, the doctors, the engineers and so on in our future, otherwise we have to rely on knowledge from abroad.

"That knowledge will be expensive and never cutting edge because that is not in the interest of the country that sells us their know-how.

"The interest rate of tapping that potential is vastly greater than the short-term profits you gain now."

That little speech of Patrick changed her mind and she started to preach his creed instead of trying to divert his efforts to upgrade their system.

**********

Patrick maintained a cold, but professional attitude toward Elin even when she started to cooperate with him. Elin would have liked it much warmer. She had observed him on official occasions and at some of the cozy get-togethers where a lot of lobbying took place.

At these 'receptions' he was a charming, erudite conversationalist and she thought him darn good looking too. Still broad shouldered, slender, without any sign of a flabbiness and always dressed to the nines.

When his wife accompanied him, the affection and love they had for each other was obvious to everyone. It showed in how their eyes searched each other out in company, the small gestures, like a little touch to the hand when they met after mingling, his hand protective on the small of her back

Elin was a guest too on such an occasion and saw the couple get together after mingling. She looked at the woman and with a pang of jealousy she thought, that could have been me!

Suddenly, with a lot of nostalgia and melancholy memories of happy times forced themselves into her mind.

Memories from the evening that they decided that it was time to start a family. They were staying in a B&B and took the most romantic walk along a beautiful forested lake.

In the evening, after a simple, but wholesome meal they were sitting on the veranda and sipping their drinks.

It was the moment that she whispered in the ear of the man she had loved so much, "Isn't it time that I stop taking the pill?"

Half an hour later they had hammered out their plans for their future and went to their room to practice baby-making.

Elin and Patrick were so in love at one time. Until the snake entered paradise. The snake was in the guise of wealth and power, and the snake was a very convincing seducer. She fell for it, hook, line and sinker.

Empathy, conscience and love went out of the window when she was offered that promotion and when Patrick objected and stood in her way to success, she had no qualms with divorcing him.

Seeing the interactions between Andrea and Patrick, the past caught up with her and showed her a raw reality. Here was her ex-husband with a woman at his side that obviously still was very in love with him.

Through research into his private life trying to find something to hold over him, she knew that he had three children and a stepdaughter and each of his children had families of their own.

She was also aware that his retirement portfolio exceeded hers now in value, and he was one of the most influential men in the ministry. He was also an advisor to several universities.

And she had called him an inept, spineless wimp without ambition. Look at him now!

He has a family and people who care about him. If I want some company to keep me warm for a night, I have to pay for it. Shot through her mind, but she was realistic enough to suppress the rising jealousy.

She decided to make it an early evening tonight and feeling depressed, she went home.

Chapter 12

A few years later Elin retired. She was fed up with the rat-race, the constant bickering over profit rates and the pathetic attempts to trump or circumvent the education inspectorate.

She dreaded the idea of being alone and she had to find something to occupy herself with. The last few years she became aware that she didn't have real friends, she had no family nearby and those she had were quite indifferent to her.

She left the Collective without much fanfare. She was well aware that most people were rather happy she left. The nickname 'Dreadnought' that had stuck to her since the start of her career was well deserved.

In the years that followed she became obsessed with the man she deserted.

Patrick retired from the Ministry not long after Elin retired, but he had a grand farewell party organized by the Ministry.

He was awarded an honorary doctorate in school administration for his efforts to streamline their educational methods without compromising on quality.

Elin was able to keep informed about his well being and that of his family until he and Andrea disappeared altogether.

It was a few years later that she noticed when she drove by his house that she it was inhabited again.

**********

A few weeks before Patrick retired, he had a heart to heart with Andrea about what they wanted to do with their golden years.

Their children were happy and well on track in their own lives and hardly needed them anymore and their eldest grandchildren were nearing adulthood.

Above all, they were mentally and physically hale and hearty.

They hadn't made a bucket list when both decided to stop working. Andrea with her work counseling policemen, firemen and medical personnel after terrible events they had witnessed or had to experience themselves.

Patrick would stop with everything he did. The work for the Ministry, the Universities and he handed the management of his portfolio over to Sebastian, his eldest son.

Independently, they wanted to go to France and travel around there for a few months. Eventually, they decided to walk the Hexatrek and see where they ended up. They weren't under the illusion that they would be able to walk all of the almost nineteen-hundred miles in a few months and planned to stay in France for two years

It took them a year to prepare. They found someone to coach them during their training. They went to information evenings and lectures, went to a gym and started to walk longer and increasingly difficult trails in the mountains.

The moment they left for Strasbourg was the moment Patrick dropped from Elin's radar.

**********

Two years later they were back.

They returned to their family and were welcomed by four children and nine grandchildren and with one underway.

During the 'we're-so-happy-that-you-are-back' barbecue in the large backyard of Patrick's and Andrea's house their eldest grandchild called Annabella after her grandmother, daughter of Amanda, dropped a little bomb.

"Rick and I decided to get married. Rick has a good job now and I am offered one as soon as I finish college. Thanks to Granddad I am debt free and Rick had a full scholarship, so financially we are quite secure.

"We have known each other for years now and can't envision our lives without each other in it. We could start living together weren't it for the fact that we would like Granny and Granddad to meet their future great-grandchildren.

"So, we planned the wedding for the twenty-first of June. The start of the summer and only direct family and some best friends are invited. We want to keep it small."

Epilogue.

Elin Hull watched Patrick and the rest enter the house.

**********

What she just had witnessed was the result of Patrick's granddaughter marrying and giving her grandfather a great-grandchild.

Throughout her life Patrick and her paths crossed and at one time the consequences were horrible. She saw that now.

Sitting in her luxury car, having no companion in her life and sick of the superficiality of the people surrounding her, she bitterly regretted the prolonged moment of madness forty-eight years ago.

That decision she made, fueled through greed and lust for power, to dump Patrick so long ago had not only cost the man she had loved dearly, but the prize seemed extremely high for herself too, looking back at it.

He walked into his house to his loving wife, children and grandchildren and the baby was probably his great-grandchild. He had company and someone to keep him warm at night in bed.

If she wanted her bed warmed, she either had to turn on the electric blanket, or she had to pay for a rent-a-body for the night.

He didn't live in a grand house like she did, but his house was comfortable, full of warm memories and Patrick had his personal wall of fame with pictures of him and his first wife with their children. A family picture with him, his children, his stepdaughter and Andrea.

But also pictures from Patrick and Andrea meeting the president and other dignitaries.

She had seen it during a visit when she was a member of a committee he presided over. They just finalized a report and Patrick had offered them dinner at his home and he wasn't so rude that he excluded her from the invitation.

It was that evening in a private conversation that he spoke, "For a spineless wimp without ambition, I did rather well, didn't I?

"You did well too, but there is a difference in how we achieved it all, how we got here and where we are in latter stages of our life.

"My wealth lies in my family. I can be alone, but I'll never be lonely. I will never lack caring and loving company. The wealth I accumulated takes care of my family and that's all I need. I have a loving wife, doting children and grandchildren.

"With you, however, the end always justified the means and now you are alone and lonely because nobody wants to get involved with the 'Dreadnought'.

"I know what you were like before money and power went to your head and we could have had a beautiful life together.

"It was your decision that made our paths diverge. And I will never forgive you for the death of my wife. I found a new love, but my children had to do the rest of their lives without their mother.

Therefore, I live my life and you live yours and those lives will never converge if I can help it."

It took Elin a few moments to see the implications of Patrick's little speech. This was not what she had hoped for. After all those years she still held a kind of candle for him and she wanted to be part of Patrick's life, however small.

He just torpedoed that hope.

**********

And now she sat in a car looking at an empty street and she felt cold, despite the warm afternoon sun.

THE END.