Bob and Brenda Jackson

Believe or not, I am a fan of Matt M stories, MM is one hell of a writer. You know a writer is good when his writing can walk you right into the messed up trials of marriage and then piss you off to the core. This story was inspired by MM. While I'm not in his class when it comes to writing, I'll try it just for fun.

*

Bob Jackson was a simple man. All he wanted was a worry-free life, a wife, kids, a nice house and a toy or two.

Bob drove the Ford F-150 his dad had left him when he passed away. That happened ten years ago and the truck was fifteen years old then. Bob's father was a carpenter and a farmer; his mom worked as a maid at Hotel 'Route 66' outside of Bells, Tennessee.

Bob grew up in Bells. In Bells, Bob lived the typical small town life. Bells was so small, when you saw the "Welcome to Bells" sign, the back of the sign said, "Thanks for Visiting." Bob attended Bells Elementary, Middle, High School and Mini Mart — they were all in the same building.

Bob's nickname was "BJ" and the only thing that kept Bob from being picked on was his sister, Carrie. Carrie's boyfriend was the local thug, and his girlfriend's brother was off-limits as a consequence.

But as I said before, Bob wanted a simple life. School was okay for Bob; he had a few friends, a girlfriend and a bucket (a cheap car) that got him from A to B, maybe C if he got it tuned up. The one thing Bob did great was hunt. Bob had a gun in his hands from the time he could walk — okay, stumble — and so what if it was a cap gun. So when the Army recruiter came to town, he sold Bob on becoming an Army Ranger.

Bob's dad wasn't pleased but he understood that Bob needed to make his own path in life.

After graduation, Bob joined the Army. He was stationed at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina.

When the drill sergeant first saw Bob, he told him, "Get back on the bus and go home. Ranger school is for grown ups, not little boys!"

Bob was a little over 5'7" and weighted about a buck fifty. But it didn't faze Bob; he was used to people under estimating him. After the first night in the field, the drill sergeant never under-estimated Bob again. The drill sergeant thought he would sneak up on Bob, but instead he ended up looking down the business end of Bob's M-16. It was 3:00 am and Bob was the only one who heard the drill sergeant moving around in the woods. By the end of Ranger school, Bob was ranked first in his class. Bob did his parents proud.

Time marches on and by the end of Bob's enlistment, he had seen some action. Bob was sent on missions that left you wondering just where in the hell had he been, but Bob just kept to himself and never told anyone anything.

While at his last duty station, Bob had gotten a degree in accounting in his off-time. That's where he met Brenda.

Brenda was a very good looking woman. She was about 5'2", 103 pounds, with auburn hair with hazel eyes. Brenda turned heads wherever she went. Brenda was hot and she knew it. Brenda was offered the moon by every Ed, Eddy and Eddie on the base and in the town.

But Brenda was looking for a certain type of man: quiet, easy going and last, but not least, someone who she could control. When Brenda met Bob, she knew she found the perfect mate. The only problem was Bob knew she was out of his league and acted accordingly. When Brenda would smile at Bob, he would look away. When Brenda would walk toward Bob, he would walk away.

Finally, one day Bob was in the chapel waiting on Saturday mass. When Brenda saw Bob, she knew she had to move fast to catch him before he saw her.

Brenda sat down on the pew behind Bob and before she could tap him on the shoulder, Bob said, "Yes, what can I do for you?"

That threw Brenda off a little because she didn't realize that he knew she was there. Once Brenda smiled Bob's heart melted and that was it. That was all it took for their romance to start. From that moment on they were a couple.

When Bob took Brenda home to meet his family, they were in awe. Brenda had her MBA; she was first in her class and she also spoke four languages. In Bells ,the whole town wondered how Bob got so lucky. Remember — Bells is very small town, population around 225.

Bob's dad was happy for his son, but told him, "Keep an eye out, son, when you have a woman like that. You always have to keep your eye on the prize. Be sure you treat her right and love her as she needs.

"But don't ever let her disrespect you. It's okay to let her have her way as long as you don't give her everything. You have to stand up sometimes and say no!"

Bob made a promise to his dad that day and he always kept his promises.

************

Time flew by; in the blink of an eye it was ten years down the road. Bob had a nice little auditing business, and Brenda was a mid-level sales executive for a major department store. They had no kids and were the perfect little married couple.

Thing were going great as far as Bob was concerned.

Bob was had just finished an audit on a client's factory, when he decided to stop by Brenda's office and see if she wanted to go to lunch. Bob had never been to Brenda's office before. He never wanted to interfere with her at work; likewise, she had never called him at his office either. She would call him or leave him a message at home to tell him if she was going too be late.

Once he found where Brenda's office was located, he walked up to her secretary, whose desk sat outside the office, off of the corridor.

"Who are you?" Brenda's secretary asked him when he stopped in front of her desk.

"I'm Brenda's husband," he informed her.

She laughed and told him, "Just move right on. Brenda's husband is 6'3", blonde, good looking and he works upstairs"

"Could you just buzz Mrs. Jackson right now. I'm sure we can get this straightened out."

Instead the secretary called security.

When the security men got there, they grabbed Bob to escort him out of the facility. Right at that moment, Brenda, not knowing that her real husband was being treated as if he were some sort of nut job, walked out of her office holding hands with the same guy that the secretary had described.

Brenda was in shock, but she didn't say or do a thing as Bob was led away. Brenda never thought Bob would ever find out about her and her boyfriend Don. She and Don had everyone at work convinced they we're married, but now things had gotten out of hand.

As soon as Bob was escorted out of the building, he headed directly home to pack his things . Bob was crushed, but he also was a realist. Bob knew that Brenda's affair had to be a long term thing. If the people at work thought she was married to the guy, it had to have been going on for awhile.

On the drive home, his phone rang. The caller ID showed it was Brenda's cell phone. He didn't answer it, but it just kept ringing. Bob threw the phone out of the window and kept driving.

Once he arrived home, he started packing and thinking. Bob finally realized why Brenda didn't want kids —well not his, anyway. He was sadden by the thought but it didn't really change anything. She had made a cuckold out of him and he wouldn't live with that.

"Can you imagine it?" Brenda's secretary told her, "That bland, little, nothing of a guy came right up to me and claimed he was your husband! You! I mean, that guy was delusional!" They laughed at the thought of Brenda with Bob.

"I don't know what to say! I don't mean to brag, but honestly — in his dreams!" Brenda agreed.

It occurred to Brenda, that she had always felt that she was out of Bob's league. After all, Bob was a simpleton and he had served his purpose.

Brenda finished out the rest of the day at work and headed home. She didn't have any idea of what to do. She had fucked up, and now he knew what was going on. But she was convinced that Bob would listen to her and she could think up some kind of lie that he would accept.

When she pulled in Bob's car was sitting in its normal spot. Brenda opened the door and called out for Bob. Nothing — it was eerily silent. Brenda looked all over the house. Bob was gone! But Brenda didn't cry, she didn't think about it twice. In her eyes, Bob had served his purpose, and now it was on to bigger, better things. She was actually glad that she didn't have to explain the reality of the situation to him.

Two weeks later, while she was out to lunch with Don (her 'work husband') and a couple of the companies VP's, a man dressed like a waiter walked up to her.

"Are you Brenda Jackson?" asked the man impersonating a waiter.

"Yes?" she responded, curious, but not especially worried.

The man handed her a package and said, "You've been served."

Brenda turned bright red, grabbed the envelope and ran for the ladies room. Brenda was fucking pissed — how could Bob have done this so fast? And what kind of gall, to have her served at lunch in front of everybody! By the time she came back from the restroom, Don had straightened out the mess; he'd told the VP's that it was an insurance claim. Brenda was glad that Don was there.

Three months later, Brenda was sitting in the attorney's office going over the divorce related paperwork. Bob wasn't asking her for anything, but Brenda found out a few things herself.

"Well," Bob's attorney explained, "Bob has sold his company."

That got Brenda's attention.

"What! Who did he sell his company to?"she demanded.

"His sister, Carrie, I believe,"he calmly responded.

"For how much?" she asked.

"For two dollars. You will get your check for your share in the mail once the divorce is final," he informed her, with a small smirk on his face.

"How can he do that?" she asked her attorney. "That company is community property, and half of it belongs to me!"

"How dare he! And where is he anyway? Why isn't he here?"she continued, her voice getting louder.

Bob's attorney looked at Brenda and laughed, then he picked up his briefcase and handed his card to her attorney and walked out of the office.

About the same time, Bob was back home at his dad's old house in Bells, listening to an offer for the property. Since his dad had passed away, the farm belonged to him and Carrie. There was a rumor going around that Nissan would be opening a plant up in Tennessee somewhere. An executive VP in charge of development from Nissan was talking to Bob about building the plant in Bells, on Bob and Carrie's property. The farm was a little over 200 acres, so it was the size that Nissan had been looking for. That, combined with its easy access to the freeway, and that fact that a railroad line already existed on one side of the land, made it the perfect location.

Everyone in the town understood the stakes involved, because Nissan building the new assembly plant in Bells would also draw other businesses into the area.

Bob and Carrie agreed to the deal with a $35,000,000 price to be split between the two of them. Nissan even signed a 6-year deal with Carrie's firm to provide consulting services.

"Bob," asked the VP, after they had signed off on the land deal, "What are your plans, now that you have sold your business?"

"I haven't really thought about what I am going to do for the immediate future, to be honest. Why do you ask?"

"Bob, we at Nissan have done our 'due diligence', and that included researching your background. We were wondering if you might be interested in becoming the new head of accounting for the plant?"

"I think that I might be very interested. Of course, I would have to look over the whole package that Nissan offers. But my inclination is to say yes," Bob agreed.

In the meantime, Brenda and Don had gotten a tip that Nissan was building a plant in Bells. Brenda and Don envisioned themselves as Bells' new 'power couple.' But for that to happen, Brenda needed to be divorced. She decided to accept Bob's settlement, and to put a rush on the divorce. She asked her attorney to push it through the court system as fast as he could and 45 days later Brenda and Bob were divorced.

A week after the divorce was final, Brenda married Don in small ceremony at a wedding chapel in Las Vegas. Bob heard about it through the grapevine, and while he frowned, he didn't say a thing about it to anyone.

Bob started at the new Nissan factory, where he put in his usual 110% effort. Top management recognized talent when they saw it, and in what seemed like no time at all, Bob was promoted to VP of Finance and Administration, which included the HR department. Bob directly reported to the Executive VP of the region, a long-time Nissan employee, Henry Misaugie. Henry like Bob's no nonsense management style.

*******

It was two years after his divorce and Bob was doing very well. He was good at his job, and he enjoyed it. He had been very pleased with how his relationship with his boss, Henry Misaugie, had developed. They had a great deal of mutual respect, and had become close to each other, each relying on the other's judgment.

When Henry had asked Bob if he could come by his office, Bob had no idea of what to expect. And he was even more surprised when Henry explained to him that Nissan had purchased the department store chain whose headquarters were based close to Bells, to keep it open and viable.

Henry explained the situation and asked Bob's to evaluate the new business — paying special attention to headquarter's personnel and payrolls.

Bob took the information back to his office, where they performed a detailed analysis. Then they assembled a set of recommendations to present to Henry. The bottom line was, it appeared that to stop the financial bleeding of the business, they would need to let go of about 10% of the people in management and nearly 15% of the hourly labor force.

After Henry had received Bob's plan, it was time for the bad news to be given to management. Henry had all of managers come to the staging area where they had folding chairs set up. At the front were a pair of large tables on either side of a podium.

Brenda and Don were hoping that they could talk to Henry alone before the reorganization was announced, but Henry asked them to wait for Bob. Henry never mentioned Bob's last name, so when it was Bob JACKSON, Brenda's ex, who walked in, Brenda and Don almost shit themselves. They were in shock.

Henry couldn't help but notice the look on Brenda and Don's faces. Henry said something in Japanese to Bob, who laughed and replied in Japanese as well. Brenda had no idea Bob knew any other languages — after all Bob was a simpleton, right? She was bright enough to know that the fact that he was talking to management sent to this country from Nissan Japan, in Japanese, was a bad sign — at least for her and Don.

Henry introduced Bob to the gathered managers as the head of Administration, which included both the HR and the Accounting Departments.

Brenda sat there dumbfounded. When did this happen? When did Bob become 'the man.' Where was she when this happened? Oh yeah, she was getting fucked by Don. Brenda was so deep in thought that Don had to elbow her to get her attention.

At that point, Bob was explaining why, if they were laid off, they would not be getting severance packages. This was a surprise for Brenda and Don as well as the other middle managers, because they knew that when the owners and top management sold the company to Nissan, they left with 'golden parachutes' for themselves. But at this point, there was no money left in the business; in fact Nissan was having to make major cash infusions just to keep the doors open. So the most any laid-off managers could expect would be the state unemployment compensation, which was a pittance.

Bob also warned the middle managers about the upcoming cutbacks and how he and Henry had decided to cut 25% of middle management rather than downsizing the labor force.

When Bob had finished with his presentation, Henry announced that HR would be speaking with each manager individually, and then they would determine who they would keep. They would be informed of when and where the interviews would take place, but they were being held ASAP.

As Bob was leaving, Brenda tried to get his attention, but he just walked out talking to Henry. He never even looked her way.

"Holy shit!" Don turned and said to Brenda.

"Holy shit is right," she replied. "And this is a 'discharge at will' state," she added with a worried look on her face.

"Meaning?" Don asked.

Brenda looked at Don, wondering how he could have reached his position and still know so little about business.

"Meaning they can fire us for any reason, or no reason at all," Brenda explained.

Don looked at Brenda and thought for a minute.

"Brenda," he said, "You are going to have to get back on the Country Bumpkin's good side."

Brenda looked at him like he was crazy.

"And how, pray tell, am I supposed to do that?"

"I don't know — you're the one who fucked him over; you're the one who has to fix it. Hell, fuck him if you have to. Shouldn't be any big deal; you fucked him for years while you were married.

"But understand something: we have a mortgage on the house, and we've got bills to pay, and if either one of us is fired, we will be in deep financial trouble. Shit! And we don't even get the severance pay package that they promised. Those bastards!"

Brenda looked at Don, but she didn't say anything. This was just another instance when Brenda felt like a whore. Over the past few years of their marriage, if Don needed to get someone on board one of Don's money making schemes, Don would just pimp her out like a piece of meat. And when Don wanted sex, he would just took it — ass mouth or pussy, he treated her as if she was his property.

Brenda and Don's appointment was set for that Saturday. They followed the directions that had been provided, and found themselves at a 25-acre ranch. As they drove into the driveway and up to the house, Brenda and Don concluded that Henry must be loaded. When they rang the bell, this cute little Southern Belle answered the door.

"Hi y'all," she said, with the most charming southern accent. "My name is Pam, and please come in; make yourselves at home."

Once inside, they were in awe; the house looked one of those mansions on 'Life Style's of the Rich and Famous.'

As they moved further into the mansion, they saw co-workers walking around, exploring the house. Most of them were having a ball. Some of them knew it would be their last days working for the company, but it was a party. The smell of BBQ permeated the house.

Brenda and Don noticed Henry and made a beeline right for him

Brenda said, "Sir, this is just a wonderful home you have!"

Henry laughed at her compliment.

"Oh no," Henry corrected them, "This isn't MY house."

Right then, Bob walk up and glanced briefly at them before he turned and spoke to Henry in Japanese again. Brenda became very nervous when Bob seem to look right through her, not even acknowledging her presence.

"Bob, what did you just say?" Brenda asked, miffed a little at Bob's minor impoliteness.

It was Henry, though, who responded.

"He asked me if I liked the house."

"If it's not yours, then who's house is this?" Brenda asked, because she knew that there was no way in hell this big-assed house belonged to Bob!

"It belongs to Bob, of course," Henry replied with what some might interpret as a slightly malicious grin on his face.

Just then Pam walked up.

"Bob, can you tell Jeff to go to the wine cellar and bring up about thirty more bottles of wine and five more cases of beer?"

Bob nodded in agreement and walked over to the intercom and started issuing instructions.

"Pam, you've done a wonderful job of redesigning the house," Henry remarked.

"Why thank you Henry! You're so sweet. And did you like the new pool that we put in?"