SLEEPING PARTNER

My name is Jack. I am 32, 6 feet tall and slightly bald. I would say I am not unhandsome. I got a degree in software technology followed by one in business management. I would say I was always on top of my class. So it won’t be surprising if I said that the international consulting firm Hesketh Associates picked me up from college to be a manager. Old man Hesketh told me when I joined “Jack, you’re single and you’re going to be involved supervising a number of women. You know what it could do.”

I smiled and accepted the advice meant.

I will now tell you about Ruby. She was a very good looker. She was about 25 and was a lawyer who worked for a real estate developer.  I met her at the airport. After we had landed it was found the baggage of about 10 of us had been miscarried.

Ruby who was irate said “Jack I’ll slap the airline with negligence after collecting the details of all 10.”

In the end we each  got an apology letter and a bottle of French pernod.

My contact with Ruby grew. We would phone each other and even had dinner dates a few times. But my romance with her did not get off further.

Ruby was also not too talkative. I knew she had a fat salary and had accumulated property in her name. About her future and what she wanted to do were never discussed.

Like I said I never disclosed about the future after 4 years with Hesketh. So when one day I suddenly told him that I was quitting he was quite surprised. He said “Jack, you’ve been a pillar of strength to my organization. Our staff think highly of you. Our clients swear by you. I’ve given you bonuses and even a new luxury car. Why do you want to leave?”

I was silent.

He said “You’ve introduced me to Ruby. Aren’t you anxious to settle with her? She is a very good looker and you say she is talented.”

“It’s now almost a year since I met her. Neither of us has shown…..”

Hesketh laughed and said “It is up to you to take the initiative. Go home and rethink.”

I had to do what he said. I thought long and hard. As to Ruby I had a feeling she could find someone in the real estate firm to wed her. I again met Hesketh and said “I feel like being an entrepreneur myself. So kindly allow me to quit.”

Hesketh had no alternative but to let me go. Sometime after I had left Hesketh, I got a call from Ruby.

She said “What is it I hear? You’re no more with Hesketh. I hope it is….”

I said “We parted in a very friendly way. I’m going to be on my own.”

Ruby almost shouted saying “You’re not in your right mind! You quit a paying job where you’re established and say you’re going to be on your own. I can see you’re going to lose whatever money you’ll put in. I would have counseled you if only you had consulted me.”

I was silent. I thought she had exceeded her limits in dealing with me. We parted. I had felt a bit unhappy that a romance with Ruby had been cūt. But I knew I would get over the sadness and times would be normal again.

Meanwhile I had found premises for my firm very near to where I lived. I had hired a couple of competent and reliable staffers and would walk to my office every day. That morning as I was on my way, it started raining and I stood under the eaves of a shoe store. The rain was intensifying and an old man inside signed to me to come in. I smiled and entered.

The man said “This shop is Trotsland and we’re wholesale and retail dealers in every brand of footwear.”

I exchanged info on me. Suddenly the man cliutched his chest and fell. I knew what to do. I massaged his chest and was wondering how to carry the man to hospital when what looked a mother daughter duo walked in. They guessed what had happened and I said “Let us take Trots to hospital.”

We loaded the man into their car and I drove it. At the hospital the doctor said “Another couple of minutes and he would’ve gone. You’ve brought him here in the nick of time.”

I arranged for the man to be sent into the ICU and the duo drove me back. I learnt the daughter’s name was Ivy. She looked around 27 but as far as looks were concerned Ivy was nowhere compared to Ruby. But the mother and daughter were very grateful to me for all the help I had rendered. Over the next few days I would drop in in Trotsland and enquire about Trots. He had recovered well.

Trots invited me to their home. It was a spacious well-appointed building. I learnt Trots was a nonresident Indian who had come back from abroad to settle. He was head of Trotsland an international chain which was managed by Trots’ sons in different countries. I guessed they had a heap of money. Now that Trots was normal again, I ceased visiting Trotsland. But Trots and his wife would not keep off me. They beseeched me to visit them again and again and I was happy to do it due to the warmth. I got to know them all very well.

One day Trots said “Jack I appreciate your sincerity. I would like to choose you as my son-in-law. Ivy thinks very highly of you.”

My mind was on rapprochement with Ruby and I said “I’ve just invested on a start up.”

He was thoughtful as he said “I’m not very learned but Hesketh is well-known to me from Australia. I told him about how you had saved my life and he said he has the greatest regard for you. I’ll finance your start up to the fullest extent.”

His wife was equally vehement in supporting me. But what about Ivy? She had spoken to me and said “I don’t want a sleeping partner. I want someone active to help our wealth to grow. I choose you as you’re hard working.”

News got around that I would marry Ivy. The first to come and have a showdown with me and Ivy was Ruby. I was surprised at the language used by Ruby in abusing Ivy! In the end she cursed us as she broke off. I thought “Now I feel alive.”

Ivy said “Jack I’ve planned our honeymoon in Japan where we could wander around the beautiful cherry blossoms in bloom.” And that is the way it went.

END