Chapter 7
Becca stayed in her room for the next three days and they had to force her to eat. She thought about her times with Howard and tried to figure out how they had stopped loving each other. She really couldn't put her finger on a certain month or year that they had grown apart. She really didn't know if Howard was all that fond of children or if he really cared that she could not have children. The last few years of their life they were two people sharing the same house and different lives. She had taken courses at the community college to fight the boredom. Her studies were usually subjects that interested her and would never have taken her to a degree. When the money started getting tight, she took courses on finance, investing and real estate. At first she didn't realize that the money was being gambled away by Howard. She even completed the real estate course to become a real estate agent but she had never taken the licensing exam.
Carl was sitting in the living room working on the computer when she walked in and sat next to him. He had sent Marie out shopping when she threw a minor tantrum, telling him that she was bored and if she didn't get out of the suite she was going to jump out of the window. Becca did not speak right away and he continued to work to give her whatever time she needed.
"Carl, can I talk to you," she asked.
"What did you want me to do now? You know that I can never repay the money Howard stole from you and I don't have a job and my house is going into foreclosure and I don't have any money in the bank. And..." she knew that she was rambling and stopped, trying to figure out what to say.
For the last three days she had been trying to figure what she would say. She had thought about what she would do now that she was totally broke and would be homeless soon. She did not think that Carl would try to control her now that her husband was dead. Several times in the last three days her thoughts were of him. She wondered where he had gotten his attitude toward women. She had never heard him discuss any women in his life. As she looked at him she thought that he must be really lonely inside, never having had the real love of a woman.
Carl turned to her, "I really think that it is too soon for you to make any major decisions about your life just yet. Just stay here awhile and take a while to decide what you want out of life. I won't make any demands on you and when you feel that you are ready to leave I'll send you back to New York on the plane. As for the money Howard stole, I think that both you and I know that you can never pay that back and I'm just going to forget about it. It's over and in the past. Now what's this about your house? Who holds the mortgage?
When she told him the name of the mortgage company he smiled and asked if the mortgage was from FHA, VA or HUD. She told him that she had used some of her inheritance and they had gotten a conventional loan.
"Ah, that's good then. You see, I own that company and since it's not a government backed mortgage all I have to do is declare it a "non-performing mortgage." I'll keep it on the books and that will give you time to figure out what you want to do."
"Now, here is something that I have been thinking about since Monaco. I want you to help me at the office everyday. I'll train you to assist me and I'll pay you your husband's old salary until we decide to go back to New York."
He didn't really think that she would really be any help to him but he figured that he should help her out after all he had put her through. He knew she had never completed college and had never held a job, so what help could she be?
Marie came back from shopping and the chauffeur made several trips to the limo to bring all of the packages to the suite. She was exuberant and she showed them everything that she had bought. Becca guessed that she had spent at least fifteen thousand dollars. Marie seemed to take a special thrill in waving each purchase under Becca's nose as if she was jealous of her.
The next day Carl took Becca out and bought her business suites for when she accompanied him to the office. He didn't really feel that she needed such expensive clothes for the little that she was going to do, but he wanted to make her feel a little better about herself. He intended to make her feel that she was contributing something, even though he was sure that she would not be much help. He mused that he was getting soft at the ripe old age of forty-two.
That evening he went over how she was to act in the office the next day. Carl never admitted to being the owner of any of his companies and he instructed her not to divulge any information about him or her. Any questions she was to refer to him. He was the COO and that's all. If anyone asked, she had never met the owner of the company. She was to act like she was a new employee and didn't know much about the company or Carl. Her salary was not to be discussed with anyone and she was to keep her eye out for any changes she thought were needed. He gave her rundowns on several of the managers that he did not feel were performing as he expected and asked her to gain their confidence and report back to him.
He went over what the company did and how his business was transacted across borders. He printed out a conversion chart for the Euro versus the dollar and warned her to make sure she got the latest exchange rates before she Okayed any deals. He almost laughed, there was no way he would allow her to make any deals for the company. Becca asked many questions and he answered them as fully as possible. He was surprised when she made a comment about one of the derivatives that she saw in one of the files. Not many people outside of the business even knew what a derivative was. She smiled and remarked how all of the derivatives were weighted in his favor.
Becca stood up and told him that she was tired and went into the bedroom. He shut off the computer and put the files in order and packed the briefcase for the next day. When he looked at the clock he was surprised that it was past midnight.
Marie came over and sat next to him, "We going to play tonight?"
Carl patted her leg, "I don't think I would be much good to you tonight. I'll have to owe you one."
Marie got up and looked at him with fire in her eye and stormed into her bedroom. The door slammed with a loud bang and he smiled. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
Becca was lying on her side and he undressed and slid in behind her and put his arm around her. She grabbed his arm and held it to her. She lay still for several minutes and her breathing became even and he knew that she was asleep. She let out a sigh and she hugged his arm tighter. Carl let her sleep. He had heard her tossing for the past few days and he knew that she had gotten little sleep. He was surprised that she didn't cry during the night. Howard had probably killed most of her feelings for him. What a fool!
Carl heard Marie leave the apartment quietly. He knew that she was
going to go to Chico's room. Chico would calm her down.