Tim Rodgers was so ecstatic when he hung up the phone and went to his computer. He just got done with a productive conversation with the Dean of Business at Northeastern Wesleyan University. He was offered a full-time professorship chair there. The man was going to end the business world section of his life. No more late night at the office, daily meetings to just make some paper-pushers look busy or meaningless paperwork to give to some hoarder to file only to never see the light of day again.

The liberated man’s first order of business was to open up a new Word document to start his exit strategy from his current job. Being President of Production and Quality Control made it so he needed to schedule for his company to find a replacement. Then after taking care of his professional duty, Tim was going to call his wife and give his Tabby the great news.

Tim still loved his job, but not as much as he used to. His heart was not in it as much as it should be. The higher up he went up in management, the more he lost his passion for forecasting. He loved working with the numbers and with each promotion, he got to do so less. He had to do more supervision, which he felt was just being a glorified babysitter. He had to go to more meetings, which he felt was just what the other upper managers scheduled to feel important. Lastly, the cog in the machinery had to do more paperwork, which made him feel like he was just a bureaucrat doing busy work.

With him feeling so withdrawn from what he was originally hired to at this company, the less he wanted to be there. Tim was dreading the rumors that he was up for the final promotion he could get were true. If what people were talking about at the water cooler was true, then, he was going to get the promotion to CEO of Paulson Corp.

That was another reason he was conducting a job search, he did not want to be offered the job. He knew that if or when he was offered the job he would turn it down. People did not believe him when he said so.Tim could not blame them for he had said this each time he was offered a promotion and took it anyway.

This time it was different, he knew he would decline the job. He now had no reason to take it. He was financially secure for the rest of his life. His house was paid off, his youngest son was in his last year of college. He actually had more of a social life. With all his friends also being empty nesters they were able to socialize more often. Lastly, his priorities had changed, he did not need the prestige which went along with getting a promotion. He was no longer worried about keeping up appearances. He much rather spend his time with his wife and friends than running a company which needed major changes.

Tim felt so relaxed as he started to write the timeline of his departure.

Chapter 2

Tim was finishing putting the timetable together for his departure and going on to write his letter of recommendation for Naomi Bonilla, his personal assistant. He hated that her job title was personal assistant for she was far more than a glorified secretary. He wanted to recommend that she got the promotion to Production Manager. Yes, Tim wanted her to skip the level of being a Production Planner, but she was ready. Naomi knew the job and filled in some of their job duties when they were busy or on vacation. Tim leaving meant one of the current Production Managers should be who got Tim's old position. Promotion from within was the way of doing business at Paulson Corp.

Tim heard his door open and saw Naomi come in with some more paperwork. As always he got up to meet her to get the paperwork. Tim like to start looking at what he needed to read while walking, for some reason that got him more engaged into it. Tim thanked her for delivering the paperwork and started to look at it.

Naomi told her boss to turn around because she thought she saw a smudge on his face. Tim turned around and Naomi got in closer to inspect his face. Tim was wondering why she was so close to his. Then she went in to kiss him. Tim tried to stop her but could not. He pushed her away and asked, "What the fuck are you doing Naomi?"

Right after he said that he heard his wife ask him the same question. He looked in shock and saw his wife, Tabitha, with Faith Paulson, the current CEO of the Paulson Corp. The man in the compromised position said, "My Tabby, I do not know why but for some strange reason Naomi kissed me and I pushed her away.”

Naomi, with tears running down her face said, "You are lying, you kissed me Tim! You have been trying to get with me for a while and this was not the first time you made a sexual advancement on me. I am so sorry Ms. Rodgers."

Tim could not believe what he was hearing. He started to deny it and Faith told him to go straight to her office as they needed to talk. Tim started to object to it. Faith did not listen to him and told him to get out right now.

Tim left the room feeling furious and dejected. He was mad that he was not going to be part of the conversation about what happened. He was saddened that Faith, his friend of over 25 years, was so dismissive of him. His dejection grew as he walked past his wife. As the man who was set up walked out of the office, his wife had a hurt look on her face and with her voice cracking said, "How could you do that to me?"

Chapter 3

When Tim was out of earshot, the ladies started to talk. They laughed and agreed that he bought that they were all mad at him. Faith thanked both of them for going along with her plan. Naomi told her she was welcome and was happy to be helping the company. Tabitha also welcomed her and said she understood why she needed to do this to her loving husband. Both Naomi and Tabitha were not admitting to themselves a huge reason they went along with pulling this con, was for themselves, Naomi was going to get a huge promotion out of being part of this test and Tabby was going to move up in the social circle by being the wife of the CEO of one of the biggest employers in the valley. They waited ten minutes and all went to do their next part of the plan.

Faith saw what was just put into action as a loyalty test to Tim. She was forced to step down as CEO of the company which her grandfather had founded 70 years ago. The board of directors had picked Tim to be next CEO and Faith just wanted to make sure that he was the right person for the job. That Tim would be able to handle the worst day as the CEO of her family’s company. The lady would not admit that she wanted to vent her frustration from her father thinking Tim could do a better job at steering this company into the future than she could on the unwise test taker.

Faith was just the third CEO of the company. Her Father and Grandfather were the other two. The hurt woman told herself that she wanted to make sure that the first non-Paulson who was CEO was totally loyal to those around her. Loyalty was extremely important to her. Whoever was appointed to be CEO would be the first outsider to run her family empire and needed to know she had their unwavering devotion. She was willing to go to the extreme to make sure the right person was picked.

Faith stormed into her office and started to read the riot act to a confused Tim. She was reaming him and her mark could not get a word in edgewise. In her lecture to Tim, Faith said, "Tim I am so disappointed in you, you know this is going to be a huge legal issue for Paulson Corp.

“Naomi said you told her she needed to always wear a dress and look more ladylike at work. That made me sick just hearing that poor girl saying it. , I’m so disappointed in you, and this is going to be a huge legal issue for the company. It is ironic that a man, and I use that term loosely, who put together the sexual harassment seminar for the company is now an offender.

“You should have never done sexual advances on your subordinate, yet you kept on doing so when she turned you down. You know what the worst part is, that your loving and faithful wife had to see you be a predator.” Faith went on to tell Tim he should have never kept on pushing his sexual advances onto his subordinate.

You better get yourself a great team of lawyers for not only will Naomi be suing you, I am going to look into suing you for what you did to my family's company and I think your wife will be filing for a divorce. I hope that little kiss was worth everything it is going to cost you."

Tim was not worried about lawsuits or losing his job. Those lawsuits would be thrown out of court for Naomi could not prove her lie and he had another job lined up. He was worried about his wife. He knew the heart of his better half must have been broken from seeing Naomi kissing him. He also knew that his wife would believe him once she has a chance to recover from the pain.

His wife, his Tabby. She was the reason he worked so hard and was able to move up the corporate ladder. He loved her with all his heart and wanted to provide everything she ever wanted or needed. Her support gave him the strength to work those long hours. Her giving up a career to raise their family made him able to ensure he did his best at his job. She gave up her goals to be the best mother and wife she could be so he made sure he was the best father and husband he could be.

He could not believe she was at the office. This was the first time in the 22 years he has worked for Paulson she showed up at the office. He was too concerned about her feelings to even question why she was there.

Faith's phone rang and she answered it. She walked away from Tim for some privacy. It was a one way conversation. She kept on agreeing with whoever she was on the other line with.

Faith hung up the phone and said, "Timmy you are a lucky bastard. Naomi said she is not going to file a sexual harassment lawsuit as long as we follow the settlement which she came up with. She now has your position, President of Production and Quality Control, and you will be her personal assistant. Timmy, you will also dress like a woman at work until she feels you have learned your lesson.

“Your wife has agreed that you should do so to show your loyalty to her and this company. To show your wife that you have true remorse for your philandering ways.

“This will start tomorrow. Your wife has been so kind to go buy you an outfit for work and you can go home right now to start to get ready.

“Timmy, you don't won’t have to worry about the other workers seeing you at first. You can still use the executive elevator and until you get comfortable dressing how you wanted Naomi to dress I will keep all of them off of our level. Unlike you I do worry about other people's feelings."

Tim hated that he could do nothing about Faith talking down to him. The minor annoyance the man who just got berated was feeling, was overpowered as soon as he found out about the dressing part. He was ready to quit at that moment. He quickly changed his mind when he heard his wife wanted him to do it. His Tabby, he would do this for his wife. It will not be long. It can't be. Faith knew the kind of person he was and so did his wife.

Tim said, "Ok Faith."

Faith scolded him, "Timmy, you do not call me Faith anymore. You call me Ms. Paulson from now on, understood?"

Paul said, "Yes, Ms. Paulson"

The newly demoted man left the room fuming. Tim was pissed off that his friend did not hear him out, that she was not loyal to him and she saw the worst in him. He was disappointed and angry at Naomi for setting him up. He hated himself, for somehow, he did not see how much of a conniving bitch Naomi was. He was upset at the universe for the dumb luck of his wife seeing that.

Chapter 4

Tim got home and found his wife waiting for him. He saw shopping bags on the table. He was too dismayed to question how she was able to shop for his new outfits and get home before him. The man in his wife's dog house started to tell her that she had to believe him. Tabitha stopped her husband and said that she was too mad to talk to him about anything else other than getting through tomorrow. That he is lucky to be in the house right now and they had too much work to do to get him ready.

Tim agreed with her. The perceived philander did not want to upset her anymore and knew once she calmed down she would listen to him. Tabby's husband loved how understanding she was and how well she knew him. He knew that her love for him will help her find her trust in him again.

She told Tim to go take a shower and gave him a bottle of Nair. The hurt wife explained how to use it and made sure he knew, other than his genitals, it was for his entire body. Then after he was done to meet her in their bedroom.

Tim went up to take the shower and Tabitha was upset. She did not like seeing her husband this down. She only went along with this for he was going to get to be the CEO. The social climber told herself her better half worked so hard to provide for her and the family that he deserved to get that promotion. Tim was strong and could go through this day of hell. Hell she knew many people who would do a lot more to be CEO of a company which is almost worth over a couple of billion dollars.

Tim took the shower. He hated how the nair felt on his skin. It was warm and tingled in a funky way. He then washed his body hair off. He could not stand seeing it just wash away from water. He was disgusted when he felt how smooth his legs were.

Tim met his wife in their bedroom and said, "What is next Tabitha?"

Hearing her Timmy call her by her proper name set the conniving wife back some and asked, "My Timmy, why did you use my full name?"

Hearing his wife call him by her favorite pet name for him set Tim back. The man walking on his wife's broken heart was not going to ask his wife why she did so. He did not want to tempt upsetting her any more. The unknowing test taker said, "I know how much you hate me calling you anything other than Tabitha when you are mad at me."

Hearing how considerate her husband was being, stopped Tabitha in her tracks and cursed herself for forgetting how much she hated being called by her pet name when angry at her husband. She got a gut feeling that she should abort this test right now. The loving wife talked herself out of it by saying it was for Tim and she could feel a little hurt so her husband could get that huge promotion. Tabitha said, "I wish that you would have been more considerate of my feelings when you kissed Naomi."

Tim went to defend himself but did not. He knew he would have to take everything which Tabitha said to him for she was hurting bad. He looked down in shame for something he did not do. Tabitha looked away from her husband. She hated that she once again falsely accused her husband of cheating on her and added to him feeling down.

Tabitha hated how she felt and tried to console her husband to feel better about herself. "Tim we are all human and you made a huge mistake. I just need some time before we talk about it. I know I will forgive you, but I am just too mad at you at this moment. Trust me, this ordeal will make us a stronger couple and we will be in a better place in our relationship soon from it."

Her words did nothing to change Tim's mood. She was concerned about how down her husband was but had some reassurance for she knew this would not be long and Tim would be richly rewarded for his suffering.

Tabitha then helped Tim put on the pantyhose. He could not stand how they felt on his legs. It felt like they were restricting them. He could not understand why anyone would want to wear them. He dared not ask that as it might upset his wife.

Then they went on with the rest of the outfit,and Tim hated every part of it. The panties were too tight, he had no room down there. The padded bra dug into his shoulder. The skirt made him feel exposed plus there were no pockets in them. The blouse felt wrong on him. The suit jacket felt decorative for it had no buttons. The heels made him feel like he lost his coordination. He felt totally wrong in this outfit.

The beaten man stood there sulking. He tried to hide it but could not. He was disappointed in himself for he could not be mature enough to be comfortable in those clothes for his wife. Tabitha saw how much discomfort Tim was in, and told him to change. Tim said, "I cannot change, I need to get comfortable wearing this kind of outfit. I will be doing so for the foreseeable future."

Tabitha said, "I do not think this will be for long, Naomi is just hurt at your actions It is more to make a point."

Tim inquired when he said, "What point?"

Tabitha answered, "You should not tell women how to dress."

Even with being a strong man and wanting to take all these false accusations to protect his wife's feelings, the man in a dress could not take it anymore and asked, "Do you think I would say that to anyone?"

Tabitha knew her husband was a man of integrity and would not tell others what they had to wear. She saw how badly her accusing him of being sexist affected him, but kept the test going. So she lied to her husband and said, "I do not know."

Tim was hurt hearing her say that for she knew how much he had defended his daughter's right to wear whatever she wanted. How many times had he said in front of his wife that the clothes do not make a person who they are. How could the lady he loved forget his actions?

Tim felt his sadness turning into anger so he excused himself to the study to read. The upset man needed some alone time to recenter his emotions.

Tabitha so wanted to comfort her husband and not let him alone to stew in sadness and dejection. The caring wife said, "Tim, come on let us watch some television together. Supper is almost ready and you will not be able to get much reading done."

Tim said, "I am going to skip supper tonight, I am not hungry at all."

Tabby did not know what to do, she did not want to guilt him into doing anything else but she wanted to be by his side to make sure he was alright. Tabitha went with a compromise when she said, "How about after I eat you join me and we will watch anything you want."

Tim was confused by that offer. Tabitha was acting like he was wronged and not her. He told her that he will join her after supper but she got to pick what they watched. She grudgingly agreed.

Tim went into the study and Tabitha called Faith to ask her to end this loyalty test. Faith told her no and explained why. That Faith needed to not only hear that Tim would do it but see him go through with it. She was going to trust Tim to run a company which is fully owned by her family.

Paulson Corp was divided three ways, her aunt and uncle with a fourth each and her dad with a half. That she was going to trust Tim to be in charge of making sure he can keep over 2,500 well paying jobs in her hometown. That it is worth Tim having a bad day to ensure that he was the right person. Think of all the people who will have bad days if he was not loyal.

Tabitha did not like Faith’s test, but thought she understood why Faith was doing so, the lovely wife agreed. Greed and jealousy does funny things to people. Faith was really concerned about her inheritance and making her replacement know who really was in charge. Faith hated that her dad believed more in Tim than herself. She lied to herself into believing the other reasons were why she was doing it. It was all about her wanting to make sure her future part of the company was in good hands.

Tabitha asked for reassurance that it was only for a day, for Faith did say she would back out of this if Tabitha wanted to. Faith told her of course she had the press conference lined up for Monday morning. This part was true, Faith was being forced out by the board of directors and they wanted a new CEO as soon as possible. The worst was the ouster was led by her father.

Being CEO was harder than she thought it would be. Her company’s sales were not growing as much as the rest of the industry and she did not know how to deal with it. She was mad that her father did not give her a chance to right the little bump in the road.

Faith believed that Tim could correct the ship when he had control. She just could not let him implement those plans while she was in control. Her name and reputation was on the line, and could not handle failure if the idea came from someone else. She also could not handle success if the idea came from someone else.

Tabitha to feel like she still had veto power over this said, “Then Tim does get to eat with us tomorrow and not just serve the meal. We tell him as soon as he sits down to eat.” Faith agreed to it.

Tabitha then called Naomi and told her to be extra nice to Tim, still be distant but not mean. Naomi asked if Faith was on board with this change of plans. Tabitha told her no but it did not matter, they are talking about Tim, her husband so she can change or veto the plan.

Naomi agreed and made a mental note not to tell Faith and be mean to Tim when the CEO came around. She wanted to be super nice to Tim but at the same time she was not going to ruin her chance at that great promotion. She knew that Tim would understand for even with being a personable person he always told her not to take business personally.

After making the phone calls Tabitha went to eat supper. It was strange to eat by herself. Tim made it a point to be at home to share dinner with her. If he had a business dinner he made sure she was there. She missed the small talk they had about their day. With the food being so bland to her she thought that the spice which was missing from it was Tim.

Chapter 5

Tabitha finished supper and went into the study to get Tim. Her husband was just sitting there staring into space with an open book in his hand. Tabby called him Timmy. Tim did not like that one bit for how Faith talked down to him earlier in the day by using it. He never allowed anyone other than his wife to use it. He had to allow Faith to do so as his wife wanted him to do this strange exercise.

Tim’s response was delayed so it took him a moment to respond and ask his wife what she wanted. The loving husband used Tabitha when inquiring and hearing her husband use her full name made Tabby cringe inside. Having Tim be in her doghouse did not feel right. The love of her life still thought she was mad at him. How could he not, she thought. If this was not for what she believed was Tim's dream job, so many people depending on his loyalty, and her moving up the social ladder she would have regretted not calling it off on the phone with Faith.

Tabitha thought that getting Tim out of that skirt would lighten his spirit and said, "Before you join me in the living room why don't you change? You had enough time in that outfit to start to get used to it for work. You will never have to wear women's clothes while at home with me. I agreed to your work attire as Naomi so wanted it."

Tabitha smiled for she made sure that she drove home the point the clothing was not her idea and she did not like it.Tim mentally agreed it was a good idea to get out of that uncomfortable outfit and just get ready for bed. He told his wife her idea was a good one. Tim slowly walked down the stairs to join Tabby in the living room in his sleeping shorts and t-shirt.

The loving wife knew her husband was doing worse than he was letting on. The energetic man was not the type of person to just lounge around in what he wore to bed. He might want to do something quick before bed like take the dog for an extra walk. He looked worn out, depressed and lethargic, that was not her Timmy, Tabby thought, her Timmy was full of life and energy. She needed to know what was going on with the man who owned her heart and said, "Why are you ready for bed, what is wrong dear?"

The answer was a shot to Tabby's heart. "I am down because you, my wife, do not believe me on what happened with Naomi today or even want to hear me out."

Tabitha’s face grew a frown. She really did not want to talk about it, for it did hurt her helping Faith do this test on her husband. Tim saw that frown and said, "Also that frown is another reason. You are so devastated by what that scheming lady did and there is nothing I can do to cheer you up, for you think I am the cause of that frown."

Tabitha corrected Tim, by saying none of that is true, without giving a reason. She knew that her husband did not believe what she said. Tim tried to make his wife feel better when he told her in an understanding tone, "I know why you feel upset, hurt and betrayed. I am looking forward to when we will be able to talk about this and what really occurred."

Tabitha did not want to talk about what happened today anymore. She told Tim to drop it. She wished that he would bring up another topic other than anything tied to this loyalty test. Tim was not going to for early that night she told him she was not going to be in the mood to talk about anything else. He was going to respect her wishes and was just quiet.

After sitting in the loudness of them saying nothing, Tim thought that he better bite the bullet and finally ask about makeup and his hair. Tabitha cringed when she heard him bring it up. She knew it was coming but did not want to deal with it right now. She said she would help him with his makeup in the morning and she got a wig for him to wear.

He asked her what was the style of the wig. She told him not to worry about it. Tim was getting sick of not having any control of what was happening and told her it was going to be on his head so he will worry about it. He did not want to look any more foolish than he already was going to look the way he was going to dress for work tomorrow.

Tabitha quickly apologized and told her husband she meant it was a nice pageboy wig which looked very professional. Tabitha then explained that she did not mean it as if he did not have the right to know.

Tim told her there is no need to be sorry, he understood that he was not in her good graces right now. That made the room silent. It was an uncomfortable one. Tabitha could not stand how much her Timmy was beating himself up. Tim could not stand how hurt his wife must be and how she was still trying to be nice to him.

After a while of both of them just staring at the television, Tabitha told Tim she was going to call it a night and asked him if he was going to join her. Tim lied to her and said he would be up in a couple of minutes. He did not want to sleep in the same bed as her. He knew how emotional she was and did not want her to have a constant reminder of being hurt next to her. Tim drifted off to sleep on the couch.

The alarm woke Tabitha up and she reached over to give her husband a loving hug. Her arm hit the mattress. She saw that he had not joined her in bed. The frustrated wife was so happy that this was going to be over so soon. He will be so happy later tonight and they will sleep together. The stain this ruse was putting on her made Tabitha look forward to tonight when she would fall asleep with her wonderful husband spooning her. She loved the secure feeling she had in his arms.

She woke Tim up and told him to start to get ready for the day. She did not want to talk with him for it was too painful. He took her being short as a sign her anger was growing and not ebbing away. His simple reply was yes Tabitha.

Hearing him say her full name got her mad. It was not at him, it was about this stupid loyalty test. It was hurting her husband too much. Seeing the flash of anger on her face made Tim think that now the sound of his voice got her upset. Tim told her that they needed to talk about what happened. Tabitha told him they will tonight after supper.

Tim was not happy with having to wear makeup. It felt like his face was covered. It made him feel like a clown. Tabitha asked him what he thought after she was done with the makeup and the wig. He told her he felt like this was going to be a long day but it would be worth it if it helped him earn his wife trust again.

Tabitha was stunned at hearing that Tim thought she did not trust him. How could he not think so, she was always there for him. She then quickly thought about how she would have felt if Tim would not hear her out. That devastated her. The woman with the self inflicted wound had solace in the fact this would be over soon.

Chapter 6

Tim made it to work an hour early for he wanted to make sure no one other than Faith and that bitch Naomi saw him. He had a faint hope that this would be over soon. Either Faith would come to her senses or he would be able to finally tell his wife about his new job over the weekend.

He sat at his new desk and opened his emails. He saw that Faith was true to her word and sent an interoffice memo which stated her floor was off-limits today for all personnel. He sat there just waiting for his new boss to come in. He felt his hatred grow the longer he had to wait. He was praying to any god which would listen to him for her to fail, a pox on her.

Naomi came in with two cups of coffee in her hand. She got one for Tim, she was going to keep her word and be as super nice to him today. She greeted, "Good morning Tim, here is a coffee for the best personal assistant I could ask to have. I got it the way you like it."

Tim took her gesture as her mocking him. That little ball of hate he had in his stomach grew at a cancerous rate and was ready to explode. He held it in as much as he could. He did not say what he wanted but the tone of his voice was poisonous.

Tim said, "Good morning Miss Bonilla, thank you for the coffee, but I have to decline it. I do not want anything from you other than knowing what you want me to do."

Naomi was hurt by his words. She told him she was trying to be nice for she knew today was going to be hard for him. Naomi said, "Tim you should follow what you told me many times and not take what this is personally, this is business."

Tim replied, "I am taking my own advice Miss Bonilla. Me being your personal assistant is a business arrangement. That means I do not want anything other than a business relationship with you from now on. Also, as soon as I do not have to be your personal assistant I am done dealing with you.

“I am following some more advice I gave you, don’t trust anyone who is not loyal. You betrayed me by lying about that kiss."

Being seen as untrustworthy hurt Naomi even more than Tim saying he was done with her. She wanted to reply, but did not know how to. Naomi wanted to get control of the situation and the best way to do so was to remind Tim who was in charge today. Getting under Tim’s skin should make him think twice before he showed his true feelings for her. Finally, she thought that she would hold this situation over his head. She mentioned, "If you are not nice to me like you used to be, I can drag this out as long as I want to. You might retire wearing a nice dress."

Hearing that threat did not change Tim’s attitude. He knew he was not long for the business world so he did not have to kowtow to this bitch who ruined his life. His reply was, "Miss Bonilla I hate wearing this skirt and would do almost anything to get out of it right now. One thing I will not do is be nice and friendly to you."

Naomi was stunned to hear that from Tim. He was not only her boss, he was her mentor. Tim had her as a personal assistant for 10 years now and helped her grow so much as an employee and a person. She could not comprehend why he was so mad. This was only for a day and a test. She forgot he did not know those facts. She also did not know that once he found out this was a test he was going to explode.

Faith came in and asked those two how they were doing. Naomi said, "Great until I had to deal with my new personal assistant giving me a bad attitude."

Tim said, "I am fine Ms. Paulson and turning down a cup of coffee from someone is not having a bad attitude."

Faith saw a chance of making Tim's day a little more miserable so she told him, “Tim you better take the coffee. The agreement is still in legal so Naomi has not signed it yet. She could just change her mind and take you to court.”

Tim thanked Miss Bonilla for the coffee and took it. Then he threw the cup in the bin. The reaction made Faith feel justified in giving Tim the Loyalty Test. The test-taker just failed. The man her dad had more faith in than her could not even handle the pressure of a little lawsuit. He put his emotions in front of doing what was best for the company. How could Tim face running a multi-billion dollar corporation?

Faith said “Tim, I think it is best for you to leave. You are not helping the company with settling the lawsuit. Come back in on Monday and we will have a long talk about your future here.”

If only Tabitha knew about Tim’s new job he would have left right then. The break in communication made Tim have to stay. He needed to do what his wife wanted so she would be open to believe him. Not wanting to leave without putting up a fight Tim said “Ms. Paulson, you informed me that Naomi was never going after the company. The only lawsuit which anyone has to worry about is against me. With you making it clear I was not getting any legal help for Paulson Corp you need not worry about how I act. This has nothing to do with the company. I would never do anything to jeopardize your family’s company.”

The response put a stop to Faith’s coup of her father’s plan. She had to let him stay. Making Tim leave would make Naomi question the reason behind the test. Faith could not let anyone know that the test was more about proving Tim was wrong than proving his loyalty.

“Fine you can stay, but be more cordial to Miss Bonilla. Treat her like you have no personal history with her. By the way, Miss Bonilla and I are coming over for dinner tonight so we can talk about your performance today. Keep that in mind also with your interactions with her.”

Tim objected “No. I have to work with you and her, but I do not need you in my personal life.”

Smiling Faith said “Oh, Tim you have no say. Your wife already said yes and you don’t have to worry about interacting with us. You will be too busy serving us as we discuss your behavior today.”

“This is about me so I will have a say. I am not letting Naomi, someone I will never trust again, talk about me to wife without me there.”

Faith had no real plan to have a dinner party at the Rodger’s until Naomi once again went against some of the advice she just mentioned to Tim. She took Tim finding her untrustworthy personal. The thin skin came from Naomi being overwhelmed with her new position and not being able to deal with how her old friend turned his back on her. She lost her restrain and said, "I think he should dress as a maid while he is serving us dinner tonight." Make Tim feel the pain she was feeling the hurting lady suggested, “We should have Tim dress like a maid.”

Faith agreed it was a great idea. Tim objected again and Faith told Tim she would call Tim's wife to see what Tabitha thought about it.

Hearing those words brought relief to Tim. He knew that Tabitha would never agree to that. She reassured him that he would not have to dress like a woman in his own house. Naomi, on the other hand. hated to hear that. She did not mean for Faith to act her suggestion. It was just to make Tim feel small, like he was making her feel.

Faith was going to her office and told Naomi to walk with her. As soon as they were in the office Faith commended Naomi on the great maid idea. The idea was proof that Faith made the right decision to take a chance and give Naomi a huge promotion. That she really helped in making this day as miserable for Tim as it could be.

Naomi was ashamed that the action she took out of spite was going to have this effect. Naomi said, "Faith I think that time just having to think about dressing like a maid is good enough. I will still have to work under him after this is done and doing this humiliating act to him will do more damage to our relationship.” Also, she thought, Tabitha would be furious at her when she found out that Naomi came up with the idea.

Faith did not care, she loved the idea for the more miserable Tim was doing with what they wanted him to do, the more he had to do to prove his loyalty to the company meant the more he would remember she had the real power at Paulson Corp. She explained to Naomi, "Tim is a very understanding person. He will get over this once he gets the promotion. You will get back on his good side once you excell at your new job. Remember, Tim does not take business personally. Also, I will take the blame from Tabitha."

Naomi relented as hearing about how great she was doing did stroke her ego. It helped that she would not have to take the responsibility for her mistake. She was a great lady but vain and did not want to own up when she messed up. It was easy to butter her up and have her see things your way if you knew she was more concerned with people seeing her as a talented business lady and not just a good looking lady. She knew that looks faded but skills were forever. She also looked for the easy way out of trouble.

Naomi left the office and Faith called Tabitha to tell her the change in plans and also get Tim’s dress size. The woman scorned by her own company was going to have to get a maid uniform right away to put her replacement in his place. Tabitha heard the plan and objected. Faith said this was going to happen. Tabitha said that Tim was going to eat dinner with them and he should not have to be dressed as a maid then. Hell, he should not have to dress like a maid at all. She knew that Tim was going to be upset at them all when he found out what they did, him becoming CEO will lessen it, but Tabitha would have to deal with any more repercussions at home.

Faith knew she needed it so that Tabitha would not have to deal with any more of Tim's wrath. She knew that she had to sell it in a manner that would not cost her friend anything. Faith gave the potential buyer of her new plan her sales pitch, "Tabitha, I will make sure that Tim knows it was not your idea. The brunt of his anger will not be at you, he will be focusing it on Naomi and me. You do have final say about this test but I have final say on if Tim becomes CEO."

Tabitha convinced herself that she was only going along with this so her husband could get his dream job. After the call, Faith made the necessary arrangements to have a maid outfit delivered to Tim's house.

Tabitha reinforced to herself why she relented and went along with this change. She always wanted Tim to get this promotion for she would be the wife of one of the most powerful men in this valley. It will help with her social standing in the community.

Tabitha was going to call Tim and start to smooth it over in a couple of minutes and that will help calm him down. The reason she waited was so she could get the right words to have her husband understand. She will use please do this for me to show me how serious you are about showing me you did not kiss Naomi. She hated that she was going to lie to him, but she told herself it was for the common good.

Faith called Tim and told him the great news. He denied it and she insisted it was true. He just could not believe it. Then the office phone rang. He answered it and it was his wife. She said, "My Timmy, I have to tell you something. Please do not freak out. At dinner tonight you will be dressing as a maid. Please do not be mad, Faith asked me if it was fine and I thought that it would be a good way for you to prove to me you are telling the truth about not kissing Naomi."

Tim was destroyed hearing the news. He could not believe his wife was acting so childish in making him do humiliating actions to show her he was telling the truth. Tabby going back on her word made Tim question if she was telling the truth. Maybe his wife was so mad at him she was now just toying with him for revenge. In a weak voice he said, "Tabitha I cannot talk about this now, I am at work. I am not the boss anymore."

Tabitha knew she needed to explain more. The woman who was trying to smooth things over said, "Dear, this will only take a moment."

Tim took the first pause to cut off his wife in a polite manner, "It does not matter if it will only take a moment. You are not the only person who is mad at me. Naomi is very pissed at me and I cannot be caught on a personal phone call. I do not know what she will do next, it was her that came up with the maid idea."

Tabitha could not believe what she heard. She told that cunt to be extra nice to Tim and she did this. Tabitha asked if she could be transferred to Naomi and Tim did so. Tim put his wife on hold and buzzed Naomi to tell her she had a call on line two.

Naomi was all excited about her first business call at the new position she forgot that the promotion would not happen for a couple of months. She picked up the phone and proudly said her name and future title. The response she had she would have never expected. She was called a no good cunt bitch. She had no idea who was on the other line. She asked, "Who are you to think you can talk to me in that manner?”

Tabitha said, "The wife of the man you are fucking with by making him dress like a maid."

Naomi quickly started to backpedal. "I am sorry, I said that because I was mad at Tim for not taking my peace offering of a cup of coffee. I was trying to be nice like you told me. I didn't mean to actually have Tim dress like a maid. It was Faith's idea to actually do it."

Hearing that weak excuse for the new hurdle Tim had to jump just added to Tabitha's bitterness towards Naomi. "Listen here, I do not care whose idea it was to go through with this. You came up with it. You are a part of Tim having to serve us. You are making it so that Tim and I cannot start getting on the same page when he gets home. Own up to this you bitch. I want to let you know that I will make sure that Tim never forgets how you treated him and once he is entrenched as CEO you will be fired."

Naomi was mad that Tim would let his wife know who was really responsible for the maid outfit. She was going to get him back. He told on her after she gave a sincere apology about making that joke and Faith taking it seriously. She called Tim in her office and berated him. She said, "You have no right to tell on me to your wife. If you are going to gossip and act like a hen I will just call you Tammy for the rest of the day."

Tim did not care, he had such a low opinion of Naomi right now her words could not hurt him. He smiled at her when she gave out that punishment. She asked him why he was smiling.

"It is simple why I am smiling Miss Bonilla, you are so immature that you think calling me Tammy would hurt me. It does not for I do not care what you call me. I do not care about what you think of me. I am only in this dress because my wife thinks I cheated on her with you. Once this is cleared up you will pay."

The sincerity of those words made Naomi realized she was on Tim’s bad side. Even after her boss passed the loyalty test, he was going to repay her for being one of the proctors. Not wanting to have a reminder of the upcoming bad times ahead Naomi dismissed him from the office by saying "Tim get out of my office right now."

The man who finally was broken and started to fight back saw that he got to her and could not resist getting her more annoyed. He said, "You can't even keep your word and call me Tammy for the rest of the day."

Chapter 7

Naomi did not know what to do, she was not acting her normal self. She chalked it up to being nervous about her new position. The nerves got worse when she saw that her mentor was not going to be there to help her today. She called Faith and left a message to be called back.

Faith called her back and asked what she wanted. Naomi told her about blowing up on Tim and how she told Tim she was going to call him Tammy. She wanted to know how Faith was going to take Tabitha's response if Tim's wife now knew who was really to blame about the maid outfit. Naomi reminded Faith about taking the blame from Tabitha. Faith said she did agree to take the blame from Tabitha she could not help it that Tim told his wife who came up with the idea. This was an important lesson for Naomi, learn to damage control and not to lash out.

Naomi could not believe what she was hearing. This was well beyond damage control. She knew she caused the rise in Tim’s anger by taking his reaction personally. Still she needed help, she thought the best course of action was to cut off any interactions with Tim for the rest of the day. She called Tim and said to just have all the calls to go straight through to her office.

Naomi was able to not have any contact with Tim until lunchtime. Needing to leave her office meant walking past Tim. She was hungry and did not bring a lunch, she never had to for her boss always got her lunch. It was one of the many perks she got from having such a great person as her superior.

She called her temp PA and asked about lunch. There was a long pause before Tim gave his response. During the time waiting for an answer, Naomi was dreading hearing his response. Was he going to point out that she did not call him Tammy? Was he just going to laugh at her? Was he going to blow up on her, like she deserved?

None of that happened, Tim in a professional voice said, "It is not my job to bring you your lunch. Is there anything else you need?"

Naomi said no and hung up the phone.

The timid VP left her office to get lunch and saw Tim at his desk talking to Faith. Tim had a bitter look on his face. Naomi asked Tim if he wanted her to pick up anything for lunch. The lady wanted to keep her word about being extra nice to Tim and offer to buy him lunch. Faith corrected Naomi., "Naomi remember you wanted to call him Tammy today so you better keep your word. I do not like my upper management not to do what they say, isn't that right Tammy?”

Tim responded, "You are correct Ms. Paulson." Then the man in a dress looked directly at his new supervisor. He wanted to make sure his new boss saw his expression when she called him Tammy. Tim’s look of contempt made it clear to Naomi she made a new enemy and was in over her head.

Naomi hated herself for what she was about to do. Doing power plays on people beneath her was not who the lady was. She knew she had to do things which was out of character in her new position so Naomi put on her happy face and said, "Sorry Tammy, do you want anything for lunch?"

Naomi lied to herself afterward and said she would make sure that she made everything up to Tim. The lie came not from her intending to try to make amends to her mentor. The lie came from Naomi knowing she was not going to be able to do much to undo the damage she had done to Tim. She started to try to put down easy Tim when she said sorry. Tim did not take the apology how it was meant. He took it as her being smart. Matching the look of contempt on his face Tim said "No, Miss Bonilla and you know why."

Naomi knew any interaction with Tim would be taken the wrong way until the test was over. She made the decision to leave his presence and quickly left. Not being around Tim took away the shovel away from Naomi so she could not dig herself a deeper hole with Tim. She cannot imagine how much Tim despised her at the moment and could not blame him. He thought that she set him up and ruined his marriage and his business career. Her friend must think that she was only keeping him around to relish in getting his old job. Naomi then realized, no, Tim saw her as a heartless bitch. She was thankful that the promotion he was getting later today would help smooth things out between them.

Chapter 8

Tim was looking at the clock and counting down every minute until the end of the day. The clock showed 3. The man was happy because he came in early today so he got to leave at 4 o'clock instead of 5. The happiness also came from him having nothing left to do but wait to get home. He had all the paperwork filed, responded to all the emails, and made sure that the new VP of Production and Quality Control's schedule was set. He thought it was a little weird that Faith had him do so as Naomi. The reasoning had to be that the CEO wanted to make the announcement of Naomi's promotion on Monday. His logic rang true to Tim because in Faith's daily memo it was mentioned there was a company wide meeting for a major announcement.

One great thing about Paulson Corp is they made a huge deal about internal promotions. Management believed in loyalty and a great way to foster it was to show people got rewarded for good service. Many of middle level and some upper-level management actually started on the factory floor.

The time was 3:45 when Tim's intercom buzzed. It was Naomi and she asked him to come into her office. He wanted to scream, it was 3:45 and he never did this to her on a Friday. He could not stand that she was doing yet another power play. She has already won, why rub it in?

He went into the office and nicely Naomi said in her sweetest voice, "Tim, it is almost 4 o'clock and I am not close to being finished with the production plans for next week. I need to leave soon to pick up Saul from daycare. Can you please do me a favor and finish them so I can be on time to see my pride and joy."

Naomi was under the wrong impression that Tim will not take his anger of her out on her son. He loved that kid, and she was very nice in asking her friend to perform this extra task. Plus, the task at hand will only take him a half-hour at most. The request was not adding that much time added to his work day.

Tim looked at her in disbelief, she knew that he had to go home put on a stupid maid outfit then cook and serve them dinner. He said, "No, I am done in 15 minutes and I have too much to do for tonight. Plus, even if I did not have any prior engagement, I am the personal assistant and that is way above my pay scale now."

She pleaded with him, "Come on, do not do this for me, do it for Saul. Do not make him pay for how you feel about me now.”

Naomi using her son as a pawn to get her way added to Tim's hatred of her. He sneered when he said, "No! This is not about seeing your pride and joy. If you wanted to spend time with your ‘precious’ Saul you would not be coming over to my house only to gloat at me dressed as a maid."

Naomi was not going to let her son down and have him at daycare one moment longer than he had to. The dedicated Mother was also not going to take anyone questioning her feeling for her son. She decided to not accept the fact that nothing could make her former mentor do anything extra to help her. Naomi tried to play on Tim's outstanding character. "Don’t question me wanting to spend time with my son. I love him and will do anything for him.

“Come on, where is that nice man who took me under his wing? I know you are mad at me, but we will be able to work past this and become friends again real soon."

Tim could not take how manipulative the lady behind the desk was anymore. This vile person thought that he was enough of a fool to be on social terms with that user again. He said with strength in his voice, "Listen here Miss Bonilla, I am not a nice man. I can be nice to my friends but never mistake me for being a nice person; I am just a man who treats people nicely until they do not do the same with me.

“Tell me why you think I would help a self-centered person like you who is now in over her head? Tell me why you think I would help a person who treated me like shit when she thought she did not need me anymore?

“You do not know how well you had it when I was your supervisor. I always made sure you were taken care of. I made sure you were respected. I made sure you had a chance to shine. I let you leave work early without using vacation or sick time when you had to take your father to chemo. I looked the other way when you had long personal calls while dealing with your divorce. I took less of a pay raise and added it to yours for I wanted to make sure you got compensated well for your work.

“I did all this and the thanks you gave me was to ruin my life. Not even the nicest man ever would help you after what you did to me. The weakest man would, but not a nice man. So unless you need anything which is actually in my job description I am going to excuse myself."

Naomi again brought up Saul. Tim thought that she was trying to use her son to try to get her way and hated how she was attempting to play him.

He turned around and said, "Again listen here you bitch. I do not care about your brat. He can stay at daycare a little longer. The workers will stay there with him. You are just worried about having to pay the extra fee for being late. I know that is true for you showed you only care about yourself with your actions the last couple of days. It is sad to use your son in that manner."

Tim went to leave and Naomi had to defend her love for her son. She said, "Never talk about Saul like that again. You will pay for what you just called him. He is my pride and joy and I will do anything to defend him. I will not let anyone, not even you Tim talk badly about my Saul. I would never use my son to get my way."

Tim laughed off her threats. While leaving Tim rhetorically asked, "What can you do to me to make me pay for calling that brat a brat? You already took everything away from me which I hold dear."

Naomi smiled for she believed there was one more thing she could take away from him, his promotion. After he left she called Faith and told her how Tim treated her badly. Faith in a matter of fact manner said, "So what."

Naomi was livid and said, "Here is what, with Tim not staying on to help and calling his superior a bitch and her son a brat, he failed being loyal."

Faith corrected her, "If anything, Tim passed with flying colors. He did his job, and for the most part, took all the humiliation which came his way. You had no right to expect him to stay past his scheduled work hours. You should not have expected him to do the production scheduling. Tim was your PA today. You had no right to bring up your personal issues.

“How could you not blame the man you got demoted, put in a dress, verbally humiliated, ruin his marriage and have him dress like a maid not to flip out when you finally pushed him too much. I give him credit for not doing so earlier.

“You better get used to long nights here at the office with your new position for you are not as skilled as the old VP. I also think that you will not really be getting that much training from him either at first."

It finally dawned on Naomi how bad she had treated her friend and mentor, there was no way she could face him until he found out the truth. The remorseful lady said, "Faith, I am not going to be at dinner tonight. I cannot face Tim and Tabitha until he knows the truth about what has happened."

Faith was still under the assumption that everything will be fine once Tim became CEO. She also was not scared of Tim being mad at her for she thought that she could talk her dad in not promoting him. They could hire a high profile headhunter and get someone who by reputation alone could improve the company's current state of affairs. She reassured her employee, "Naomi, listen you are strong enough to face him. He is going to be dressed like a maid. He will not have the courage to talk back while we still have power over him. It will be three against one.

“Plus once he gets that promotion he wants, this will start to become water under the bridge. Yeah, a couple of uncomfortable weeks at work are ahead for you, but think of everything good which will be coming with the promotion. I know you can handle it."

Faith told Naomi what she wanted to hear so she changed her mind and told her she would be at the dinner.

Chapter 9

Tim got home and his wife was waiting there for him with a whiskey in her hand. She offered the drink to him and he politely turned it down. She asked why and he told her, "I do not have the time to relax for I need to change into the maid uniform and start dinner. I also am pissed off and do not touch alcohol when I am mad. Finally, Ms. Rodgers, a maid cannot drink while on duty."

Tabitha did not like that Tim was being sarcastic by calling her Ms. Rodgers. She was having a bad day also for she felt that she made a bad decision in going along with Faith's test. She was going to go off on Tim but controlled herself. She knew he was very upset about what he thought was happening. She did want to show him that she was not going to let him take his frustration out on her and said, "Listen here Tim, you might be having a bad day, but don't get smart with me."

Tim was not being sarcastic. He has finally snapped on Tabitha. His wife going back on her word was too much for him to take. Ms. Rodgers kept on changing the parameters of his penance. She kept on hinting that her catching him kissing Naomi was not affecting her as bad as she was acting. The man standing in his kitchen in a dress felt that instead of trying to find a way to get their marriage healthy again, his wife was being vindictive. Their relationship was quickly becoming toxic. Tim quickly corrected his wife, "Ms. Rodgers I am not being smart with you. You agreed to me being a maid for the night and the help does call the lady of the house Ms.”

Tabitha interjected, "I never agreed to that!"

Tabitha stopped speaking for she was amazed at hearing what she said and what she was going to say next. She was denying having her husband dress like a maid. She could not believe that she went along with this loyalty test. Tim becoming CEO was not worth it. She did not know what to do for she saw Tim’s anger growing each millisecond.

Tim could not stand that his wife just lied to him. He could not stand that she did not hear his side of the story. Those were two more signs their marriage was not in a good place. Once again Tim corrected his wife. "You did not agree to me being a maid then what is in that white box behind you? Then why did Faith tell me so? Then why did you call me at work to tell me about the changes in plans for tonight and said to do this to prove I did not kiss that bitch, Naomi?

“You would not hear me out about what happened in my office yesterday. I went along with this stupid punishment not to keep my job, not so Naomi, that cunt, would not sue me. I do not care if she sues me. I went along with it for you were hurt.

“I really do not know where we are going to go from here. I thought you would have calmed down by today, but it is getting worse. Instead of thinking about if I did this, you are taking your anger about thinking I cheated on you out on me. You are now having me dress like a maid and act like a servant. You said it would never be at home!

“You do not trust me, you think I am not loyal to you. You think it is fine to go back on your word when you are hurt. I do not see us being able to reconcile the difference between what you think happened and reality. Having to prove my loyalty like this to you shows me that I will never really have your trust again."

Tim stopped for what he wanted to say next was going to be hard. He was going to tell her he was done with this stupid game. He did not care if his wife left him, for in a way she already did by not trusting him.

Tabitha knew her husband well enough to know what he was going to say next and why. She knew that prideful stubborn bastard she married treasured trust and loyalty. She knew that if he walked in on her kissing a man and pushing him away he would have automatically thought that the kiss was unwarranted by her. She knew not showing him the level of trust and support he thought he had from her that the marriage was over in his eyes.

Tabitha started to cry. "I love you Timmy, go change and we need to talk."

From Faith and Naomi calling him Tammy, he heard that name instead of his own when she said I love you Timmy. Now, his wife was resorting to name-calling. That was yet another sign their marriage was toxic to Tim. He screamed, "Never call me Tammy again, my name is Tim!"

Tabitha was confused. How could the man she loved think she would ever demean him? She swore to set the record straight. "I would never call you Tammy, I said Timmy. You have to believe me."

Tim had to get the toxins out of his system. He did not want it to consume him. The only antidote he knew was to expel it by bringing up exactly how his wife just demeaned him and lied about it. With venom in his voice, the hurt man fired back, "Just like you said that you would not have me dress like a woman at home and here I am going to put on a maid outfit."

To defend herself Tabby said “This was Naomi’s idea.”

Tabby trying to blame someone else for her decision was the wrong course of action. "You are still having me do this. You went along with it.” Tim grabbed the white box and just stormed out of the room muttering to himself, “It’s over."

Tabitha prayed that Tim was talking about the stupid loyalty test or talking with her but feared he was talking about their marriage. Her husband was talking about all three. At that moment Tim was not trying to make her believe the truth. With Tim not caring about what Tabby believed having a discussion with her was not something he wanted to do. The fact that Tim did not care that Tabitha thought he would cheat on her made him believe his marriage was over.

The loyalty test turned out to be more than she agreed to. Tabitha hated that she was going to have to deal with the brunt of Tim’s anger after he found out about her part in it. She would not lie to her husband about her part in this test. Even if she could in some manner it would make the situation worse. He would think that she did not trust him. Her knowing the truth would not matter to Tim, Tabby not letting hearing him out to get to it would.

The questions came so quickly as the frantic lady was following her new unwanted maid. How could this situation went so wrong so fast, why did Faith and Naomi not go along with their original plan, why did I agree to this, was being higher up in the social circle so important to her than she did not see how the loyalty test would affect her relationship with her husband.

Before Tabitha caught up to her husband she made a huge decision, this stupid test was over now. She came to this conclusion, not for damage control, she knew she was going to have to face the wrath of her husband. Ending the test was the right thing to do. Tim never deserved having his loyalty question.

When Tabitha caught up to Tim she said, "This is over and we need to talk."

Tim stubbornly said, "No, I will be your maid tonight. You demanded it and I agreed. I am not going to let you say I did not do what was asked of me. I will keep my word to you. I always had and always will.

“Also, you do not get to keep on changing what I have to do to prove to you I did not kiss that slut. You do not get to keep on changing when we talk about me being set up. It was going to be today right after work. If I knew you were going to treat me so badly, I would not have agreed to any of this. We would of had the talk when we should had.

“I have a say in when we talk. I do not want to talk until I do what you agreed I would do. You want me to be your maid and wait to talk until after I waited on you and those harpies; then Dammit I am going to be your maid at your dinner party before we talk. You want this from me, so now you will get it. Remember that when we talk. Remember everything you had me do to prove I was loyal to you. Remember you did not want to clear this up right away. So, let me go change into my maid outfit so I am ready when your guests arrive, Ms. Rodgers."

Then before Tabitha could say anything Tim slammed the door in her face. The frustrated lady leaned against the door and let out a sigh. She knew it was pointless to go into their bedroom to talk with him. He would be deaf to anything she said. Tabitha gave in to the fact that Tim and her were going to have the biggest fight of their marriage when this was over. No, it was not going to be a fight, a fight needed two people in it and she was not going to do anything but take what was coming to her. It was going to be a lecture from Tim and he was going to be cold towards her afterward for a long time.

As Tim was putting on his new outfit, Tabitha did start dinner for him. Tabitha would tell Tim that he did not have to cook supper for that was not agreed to. She hoped it would help bring calm her husband down, but knew it would not. She was trying to use the letter of the agreement to get out of the spirit of it. He hated that in his personal life, he had to deal with that too much in the business world. He felt when people did that they were just trying to back out of what they agreed to.

Tim put on the maid uniform and yearned to have the women's business attire back on. He really felt exposed and the petticoat was so uncomfortable. The fishnet stockings pushed into his legs as a constant reminder they were on him. Wearing the lacy headband made Tim feel silly. He made his way down to the kitchen and saw that Tabitha was working on dinner. That raised his anger even more.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Tim yelled at his wife, "I was supposed to be doing that and you are now. Do you think that somehow this is going to make it better that you went back on your word so many times yesterday and today? It will not."

"Don't raise your voice at me!" Tabitha quiped back. "You cooking was never agreed on, it was only serving. I can help you if I want."

Even with knowing that she was wrong, Tabitha had that outburst at her husband for she needed to vent her anger. The two ladies she had a legit grievance against were not there so she took it out on Tim.

"I will raise my voice at you when you are acting as immature as you have been. Act like a child, then be treated like one. You pouted instead of even hearing me out. Instead of thinking of who I have been the last 30 years, you think I cheated on you. I think you are just punishing me instead now. You have your mind made up and just want me to feel more pain. I am feeling pain, but not from wearing this stupid outfit. The pain comes from you not trusting me.

Lastly, you know damn well that me also cooking the meal was implied when you agreed to me being the maid for the night. The lady of the house does not stoop down to doing domestic chores.

Now get out of the kitchen right now. I am going to do exactly what you agreed for me to do."

“Tim, trust me, you are wrong. I do trust you”

“I’m wrong, I’m wrong, Ms. Rodgers. You trust me? If you trust me then answer these questions. Why the hell did I have to wear a dress at work today? Also, why the hell am I now dressed like a maid? Why the hell did you agree to me being a servant in my own house?”

Tabitha just stood there. Any answer she gave would be the wrong one. If she told the truth she would hurt the trust between them. If she lied then she would hurt the trust between them even more.

“If you can’t answer those questions then get out of the kitchen Ms. Rodgers. I’m not playing this game anymore. Instead of being constructive and talking with me, you have me doing stupid tasks. Instead of you being straightforward with me, you have been talking out of both sides of your mouth since you showed up to my office yesterday. I am sick of your games. We’ll talk after dinner.”

As she left the kitchen, Tabitha realized that she made matters worse with Tim. How mad he was at the situation he was looking for a fight and Tabby showing her anger brought the eagerness out to fight in him.

Ms. Rodgers was hurt at her husband saying she was acting like a child, first, it was because she thought he said it to hurt her. Then the reason quickly went to the truth. Tim was right, she was acting like an immature child. Not listening to her husband’s side of what happened, expecting him to jump through hoops to please her, and not keeping her word was all immature behavior. The reason why was also immature. Going behind their spouse’s back to trick him was not something an adult would do.

As Tim was in the kitchen, Tabitha stared out the living room window looking for their guest to pull up. She was going to greet them at the door, there was no way that Tabby was going to have Tim answer the door for those two. As her time as being a sentinel slowly passed her sense of fear was raising. She was scared that she still has not realized how much she messed up by agreeing to this test.

Being on edge made Tabitha jump when her phone rang. She saw the call was from Cathy Kulinski. Going to answer this call brought some relief to the stressed lady. Tabby’s friend had to be calling about their tennis match tomorrow. Everything will be back to normal tomorrow. Tabby and her husband would be going to the country club with the Kulinski’s. Tabitha was going to see Tim’s smile and her husband was going to be his energetic self again after his round of golf. The only thing which was more delightful than the lunch Tabby and Tim would have at the club was the company of their dear friends.

Tabitha feeling better only lasted until her friend told her the reason behind the call. Cathy wanted to make new plans because Tim cancelled playing golf with her husband. Tabitha’s stress level rose back up quicker than a rocket into space. Thinking that everything would be fine Tabby just said the plans were still the same. That Tim was confused and thought they had other plans tomorrow.

Wanting to make sure they had their day out together Tabby went back into the kitchen. “Tim you are playing golf tomorrow.”

With how Tabitha forced Tim to prove his loyalty to her, Tabby’s statement came off as an order. “Ms. Rodgers you do not control me. If I do not want to play golf then I will not. Anyways, even if I did, I am too busy tomorrow to play.”

“Quit it with the Ms. Rodgers and you are not busy.”

“No, until I am not your maid you will be called Ms. Rodgers.

“Oh, I am busy. I need to go shopping for my new work outfits. Naomi informed me this might be for a long time today. Even if she did say that I cannot wear the same outfit every day.”

Tabitha’s anger at Naomi and Faith rose just as quick as her frustration did when she learned about why Tim cancelled playing golf. Her cohorts were not sticking to the plans. If Tabitha knew they were going to go off script she would have never agreed to the test. Today was supposed to be about testing Tim’s loyalty by making his day a little uneasy, not miserable. Tabitha’s voice reflected how mad she was at the two improv artists who took too many liberties with her husband. “You can go shopping on Sunday.”

Tabitha thought the reason why Tim did not want to go golfing was because she thought he would cheat on him. Her husband would not be able to enjoy a round of golf with thinking about how hurt she was. Once her husband found out she never lost faith in him, he would change his mind. Tabitha was about to find out how wrong she was when Tim replied “Even if this stupid punishment ended tonight I still do not want to go golfing. I will not be golfing for a while.”

“Tim, we are so close to being back to getting over this. Trust me on that. Once we are back to normal you will feel like golfing. You will not be thinking of this.”

“Don’t tell me how I will feel. I know I will not feel like golfing for a long time. I will not be comfortable in shorts.”

“Why wouldn’t you be? You have great legs.”

Tabitha loved her husband’s legs. They were extremely muscular. Tim’s calves were defined as good as a sprinter. This compliment came out as her making fun of Tim’s situation. This was the first time she ever made mention of his legs. With Tim being in high heels and fishnet stocking

“Don’t mock me!”

“What?”

“Making fun of my shaven legs. I don’t want people to see my legs like this. You think I hurt you so you are just lashing out at every chance you get. You think those comments are cute and funny they are just cruel.”

“I would never….”

“Tabitha don’t talk about how you been treating me right now. I am not ready for it.”

“I want to clear this up. I love you Tim and would never be cruel to you.”

“I wanted to clear up about Naomi kissing me yesterday but you were not ready. I am not ready to talk about how vindictive you been to me since you declared me guilty. If you do not think what you have done to me is not cruel then you are not either. So no, we are not going to try to clear up why you have been so mean.”

“I need you to know that I would never treat you how you think I am. Tim, I love you.”

“You need, You need. Don’t you think I also needed to clear up, you think I would cheat on you? If that can wait until you are ready, then this can also Ms. Rodgers. Let me get back to making supper in peace.”

Tim ended the fight by turning his back to resume work on the salad. Tabitha was not going to stop trying to get him to talk. Knowing how bad her husband was hurting was causing her so much pain. Tabby needed to stop Tim’s pain to start to put an end to hers. Tabby was doomed to make the situation worse. Trying to be the remedy for what you cause would never work until a person comes clean.

Hearing that his wife did not respect his wishes raised Tim’s anger. When she asked for something huge from him, Tim did it without question, and Tabitha would not even do something small for him. He lashed on by throwing the tomato in his hand down on the kitchen counter. The fruit most people call a vegetable smashed like Tabitha’s hope that there would not be any long lasting damage from this test. Then he turned around. “I now see why you put me in a dress and are having me as your maid. You do not respect me.”

“I do Tim, that is why I am here trying to clear this up right now.”

“You don’t. If you did you would have listened to me when I told you to leave me to the chores you agreed I would do.”

Tabitha actually heard her husband this time. She paid attention to his words. She knew right then all her worries about the loyalty test turning out bad were wrong. By being a proxy for this test she treated him with no respect. Loyalty was something which can only be shown. Testing it broke it. The test was devastating and would have a huge effect on her marriage, herself, and worst yet her husband. Before she left the kitchen the remorseful wife said “Sorry.” Tabitha felt numb as she was returning to her outlook post.

Finally, Faith's BMW pulled into their driveway. Seeing the mastermind behind Tim’s pain got rid of Tabitha’s numbness. She was rejuvenated with finally being able to start the others in the plan to feel her pain. Tabitha ran out to the front yard to greet her unwelcome guests.

The two dinner guests were not ready for the appropriate greeting they were about to receive. They were both flying high on how well they thought the day went. Faith was happy that Tim was shown who was really the boss, her. On the drive over she made Naomi feel better about the day by stroking her ego by saying that she showed great leadership skills with how she handled the day. Faith and Naomi were chatting and laughing about “Tammy” until they saw Tabitha’s unsmiling face with a stony stare greeting them. Naomi went from walking casually to being tense and Faith started to act more seriously. Naomi felt that she was going to have to justify her actions while Faith was going to defend hers.

Hearing Faith say Tammy made Tabitha realize why her husband accused her of calling him by a woman’s name. Those two spent the day demeaning him by calling him that. Faith and Naomi went too far. Them degrading Tim anymore than him being in a dress was not part of the deal. Tabitha then knew that those two must have taken more liberties about not following what was agreed upon. Tim’s day must have been so horrible. No wonder he was looking for a fight. “His name is Tim. You had no right to call him Tammy today. You had no right to have him dress like a maid. You had no right to suggest this was going to last for a long time. We did not agree to that. You both went too far.”

Naomi gulped while saying defending using Tammy as being a slip of the tongue and Faith sneered. At that moment the former knew they were in over their head and the latter was offended that she was talked down to. When they got close to Tabitha, sounding like a mother seeing their children come home late, told those two to get in the house right now. Naomi knew the dinner was not going to be a pleasant experience, while Faith was appalled Tabitha kept talking to her in a harsh tone.

Naomi ran right in and Faith stopped. Faith was not going to let a housewife win a power play over her. Tabitha kept the pressure on her disobedient guest, "Faith what part of get into the house right now do you not understand?"

Faith said, "I heard you but it is such a nice pleasant day. I think I will take my time."

Tabitha said, "Listen here, you will get in there and just sit in the living room until I call you for dinner. Right now, I do not care if my husband does not get that promotion. It was not worth him having to show what we all know about him. It was not worth us not being loyal to him. Like I said before, you went too far. Now, get in there or else just go home right now."

Faith knew that Tabitha was not bluffing. To save face as the lady who lost the power struggle walked past the victor said, "I would like a glass of red wine while I wait for dinner."

Tabitha to make sure that there was no misunderstanding who was now in charge of how Tim was treated said. "No, you came over for dinner. There was no mention of pre-meal cocktails being served. Just sit in the living room and be quiet until dinner is ready."

Chapter 10

Tim started to serve dinner and Faith and Naomi both called him Tammy. Tabitha told them to stop that right then. He finished serving dinner and Faith asked him where was his plate. He informed her that he would not be eating with them tonight for he passed on the offer from his wife. Faith told him he would want to eat with them. Tim responded no he did not for he will not socialize with people who do not respect him. That he also hope the only reason his wife was having dinner with those two harpies was so to get this over.

Faith said, "Fine have it your way, go in the kitchen and pout Tammy."

Tabitha had enough. She threw her napkin down while raising her voice and said, "Dammit Faith! I told you to quit calling my husband Tammy. Just tell Tim the great news now. He has proven how loyal he is and he does not deserve this anymore. He should not be dressed like a maid right now. He should be sitting with us ready to celebrate. In fact, he never deserved any of this. I have no idea why I went along with your crazy plan. I was blinded by you saying he would get his dream job of being the CEO and I would be the wife of the CEO. "

Tabitha got up and went to hug her husband. He backed away from her and told her to not come any closer. He was processing what he just heard. His wife was in on the set up along with Faith. Hearing this made him feebleminded for a second. He knew one thing, he did not want his wife to touch him.

Faith wanted to act like she still had control of the situation and smiled when she said, "True, he did show how loyal he was today. Congratulations Tim, you are the next CEO of Paulson Corp.

“You also showed your integrity by your actions today. I know you will stay with the company until you are ready to retire. I am so happy that the company will have stability into the future when we go public. I know you will be able to lead us well in the future. I am so happy for you. Sit down and I will get you your plate and serve you. That is the least I can do for how well you handled yourself today."

Tim just stood there he was still processing what was happening.

Naomi took this chance to defend herself, "Tim please do not be too mad at me. I am sorry for everything. Faith asked me to help her to see if you were right for the promotion. She offered me your old position for doing so. How could I pass it up? She said she knew I was the right person for the job. I just needed to show her that I was capable of doing what was right for the company. You will not be CEO for three months and I cannot wait for you to mentor me in my new position. You will do a great job at having me ready to take over."

Tim finally was able to talk again. He knew where he was going to start with Faith.

"Faith, listen here you stupid, stupid bitch. I am not going to be the next CEO of your company. I do not want to work for someone who is not loyal to me. You doing this sick test shows me you are not loyal to me.

“You know, the only reason why you were named CEO was for your father was blinded by being related to you. You would have never made it out of lower management if your last name was not Paulson. He finally opened up his eyes and is forcing you into an 'early retirement’. He saw that your inaction was causing the company to fall behind. I know it is not too late to turn that company around but I am not going to be the one to do so."

Naomi was next. "Miss Bonilla, I am not too mad at you. It would be impossible for me to be too mad at you after what you did.

“How could you pass up this chance? I will answer that question. You never take a job which you are not ready for and is too good to be true. You will be in over your head and knew it. Whoever will be the next CEO will get rid of you quickly.

“Now both of you get out of my house before I drag you out by your hair."

They both got up and ran out of the house with their tails between their legs like the bitches they were.

As Tim was walking out of the room, Tabitha said “Wait we have to talk about this. We agreed to talk about this after dinner tonight.”

Tim quickly turned around to face his wife, “You really do not want to talk about this now. You will not like to hear what I have to say.”

“My Timmy we need to. We cannot let the bad blood between us grow anymore. We need to start to work on getting this behind us.”

“Tabitha, you were part of planning this. You knew that I did not kiss Naomi; yet, you acted like I would cheat on you. You saw how distraught I became and did nothing to help me. You used my guilt about how you were feeling against me so we would not clear this up. You went back on your word. You lied. Did I cover everything we need to talk about?”

“Yes, but you know why I tricked you. I thought I was helping you.”

“You did not get my input. I would have said no to this and quit working at Paulson right away.”

“You couldn’t know. That was why I didn’t get your input. Faith would have called this off and not given you that promotion which you deserved.”

“Quit making excuses! You did this to help me. This test was someone else’s idea. I am pissed off. You destroyed our marriage with this.”

“Come on, I messed up but we can work it out. You are going to be a professor and now we will have more time together.”

“I don’t want to spend time with you. You deceived me, made me think that you were hurt and now will not give me time to process it. I am done. No, we are done. I am out of here.”

“We are not done talking about this, nothing is resolved.”

“Oh, everything is resolved. I did not mean we were done talking. I meant our marriage. I can’t trust you and I do not want to be in the same room as you.”

“Tim, think about what you are saying.”

“I did. You were not loyal to me. Being around you right now makes me sick. I know that I cannot feel as close to you as I did just two days ago. You betrayed me and tried to justify your actions by saying you did them for me. If you did this for me, then I do not want anything to do with you.”

“I messed up, but when I figured out the mistake I tried to stop it. You would not let me. If I knew how bad this would have turned out I would have never agreed to it.”

“You only tried to stop once you knew you were in over your head. You knew you messed up with how withdrawn I was yesterday. You only tried to stop this when it was too late, and so much damage was done. You tried to stop this for yourself, not me.

“You did not know how bad this would turn out. Really? How could you not know this would turn out this bad? I mean what man would like it that his wife would not believe him when he said the truth and then make him wear a dress to prove he was faithful. Me kissing Naomi and telling people what to wear are so out of character for me. You acted like I was capable of doing those actions.

“Then the penance of me dressing like a woman. You saw how that affected me. You saw how humiliated I was. You should have ended it then. We would have fought, but I could have seen that you just did not think. You knew how bad I felt yet did not do anything to comfort me.“

“You know that I didn’t believe any of that. You will not let me comfort you now.”

“You made me believe that you did. You caused the pain. I felt a great pain in my heart when you said ‘I wish that you would have been more considerate of my feelings when you kissed Naomi.’ Those words got burned in my memory. Those words kept replaying in my head. My heart ached each and every time I heard them. I felt so much pain about something I didn’t do.

“You are part of the reason why I need comfort. I don’t want any comfort from you. I did all of this to show I was loyal to someone who was disloyal to me. I am going to change and I am out of here. You make me sick.”

“Dammit Tim! Stay and talk. I know you are mad, but I don’t make you sick.”

“Tabitha do not tell me how I feel! You do make me sick. Right now, my blood pressure is high and I want to throw up. A man should not feel that way around his wife. You wanted to talk and we did. I respected your wishes when you made me think you felt wronged by me. You treated me wrong, so please do the same.”

As Tim left the dining room Tabitha just stood at the dining room table not able to move. It was her turn to be flabbergasted. She felt dizzy and lightheaded as her world was spinning out of control around. Tabitha composed herself enough to take a seat. The stunned lady did not want to pass out and fall over. The nauseous lady knew feeling sick came from her actions. If Tabitha felt that sick about what she had done to her husband, then she knew Tim was not speaking in hyperbole. She made him sick and their marriage was over.

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

Faith was sitting in her favorite chair relaxing after a long week. The lady was finally having that glass of red wine she wanted since before dinner was served. As she sipped her drink Faith reflected back on the day. She could not believe how rude Tim and Tabitha were. All she did was protect her assets and they took offense. Having reinsurance that she was putting her company in loyal hands was more important than Tim’s hurt ego.

The overreaction showed that Tim did not have the right temperament to be CEO of Paulson Corp. Faith believed his skin was thinner than the sheer pantyhose he wore today. In truth he was not thin-skinned, it was thicker than cotton tights.

Then the doorbell rang. Faith wondered who would come over to visit this late on a Friday night.

“Dad you should have told me you were coming over. What do I owe this pleasant surprise.”

“That Paulson Corp does not have a CEO.”

“You know that Tim is turning down the job offer. Not to worry we still do have one. I will stay on and start to implement some of those new ideas. I am the CEO we need.“

“Paulson Corp does not have a CEO. You are about to give me your resignation letter.”

Still acting on the bad assumption that her dad did not know why Tim rejected the job offer, she said, “You can’t blame me for Tim saying no. He knew he could not handle being in charge. I am not going to be forced out because of this.”

Young Mr Paulson stopped the charade. He was hoping his daughter would come clean right away and her response was like how she ran the business, a huge disappointment to him. “Faith I know why he is not taking the job. What the hell were you thinking? You had no right to do what you did. The board wanted you out and picked him as your successor. We are just hastening the process of you leaving.”

“I was trying to protect our company. I wanted to make sure Tim was going to be there for the long run.

“Anyway, you could have called and I would havef had the letter ready for Monday. It will not be done tonight. I want to make sure the letter is worthy of me leaving the company.”

“There is no need for you to write it, we already wrote it for you. All you have to do is sign it.”

Faith read the letter. The letter stated that she was stepping down for personal reasons and it was effective immediately. Also, because of how hastily she was leaving her post Faith was giving up her severance package. “You think I am going to sign this. I am not going to give up my compensation package”

“Yes you are, it is part of the settlement. The company cannot take the PR hit from the lawsuit which Tim has against us.”

“There will be no lawsuit. Tim will never make public what happened today.”

“You don’t know the man you played a stupid game with. He will. You cost him what he held most dear, his marriage. He wants to burn down everything you hold dear.”

“It was not a game, it was a test. Like I said, I wanted to make sure you picked the right person. Someone who was willing to stay the long run. Plus Dad, if Tim wants to burn everything down then he would not agree to only this. The company will still be.”

“Faith it was a game. You played a game with a man’s life. He was your friend and trusted you. He was loyal to the company. You knew that, him staying with us after the many times headhunters came sniffing around to try to poach him showed he was loyal. You just wanted to try to show you were still in charge.

“Tim might want to burn down everything you hold dear, but what he wants even more is to make sure that Tabitha is taken care of. They are getting a divorce over this. Tabitha has a job in the logistics department. Your game cost him his marriage, his life. Tim wants you to pay and you will.

“Now you can either sign the letter or else get ready to see Paulson Corp implode from your actions.”

Thinking that she would still have a seat on the company’s board and get a quarter of the company after her father passed away, Faith begrudgingly agreed to sign. Young Mr. Paulson left out an important detail, he wrote his daughter out of his will. This reason was why he kept on saying Paulson Corp instead of our company. Faith was not a stakeholder in the company anymore. Faith’s actions today showed to her father that she would always look out for her best interests, instead of the company’s.

Mr. Paulson mentioning that he was going to write his daughter out of the will was what opened Tim up to coming to an agreement. Money and power was what was really important to Faith. Now his goal of burning down everything which was important to Faith could be done without hurting the company. Tim did not want the Mon Valley to lose any of those well-paying jobs.

After signing the paper Faith invited her dad to stay. She wanted to talk with him more about what exactly a board member did. Young Mr. Paulson wanted to be back at home so he declined. Faith then came straight out and asked her dad to just quickly tell her about what being on the board entailed. As he was walking out of his daughter’s house Faith’s dad said “Faith, that is none of your concern. You will not be on the board. You are not having anything to do with my business ever again.”

Hearing her father’s statement about his business made Faith just stand there. He always made sure to call Paulson’s Corp their business. Now it was her turn to be flabbergasted by the results of the loyalty test. She knew right then she was never going to have anything to do with the company her family built up from nothing.

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

Naomi got no offer for a ride home from Faith after those two were kicked out of Tim’s house. Faith’s tense body language and her ignoring anything which Naomi said were signs enough there were going to be no passengers in the BMW. The pawn was not useful to Faith so she abandoned Naomi. Being left to get her own way home was a relief to Naomi. She called a cab.

The words of wisdom and lessons Tim gave her along with their personal history played over again and again on the cab ride home. The lady knew the biggest mistake she made was not listening to the biggest one. She made business personal. She took offense when Tim was mad at her. Naomi never took into consideration Tim was right at being mad at her. She saw what was happening as a test, but most of it was real. Tim was in a dress, the trust between him and his wife was damaged by the false accusations and he did not have his job.

The newly unemployed lady walked into her home defeated. Her shoulders were slumped, eyes looking downward and moving slow. Seeing her son Saul actually made Naomi feel like she lost even more. She had to provide for Saul and that was going to be hard. She lost a great paying job today and will not find another PA job which paid as well. She had the skills to be a production planner but not the official experience or college degree. Tim made sure she was paid better than people who were starting out in production planning.

Not wanting Saul to worry she told him that she was tired. Saul believed her and went back to drawing. Saul’s babysitter, Naomi’s mom did not. They talked in the kitchen and Naomi asked her mom to have Saul for the weekend. She needed the time alone to come up with a plan to get a new job which would let her still provide for Saul the same.

Rosa Bonilla quickly agreed. The grandmother came up with a couple of quick day trips they would do as an excuse why Saul was sleeping over on such short notice. He might be seven but he would pick up on the change of plans.

Even with being fired a foregone conclusion Naomi’s first order of business was to write a resignation letter. This simple straight forward letter was hard to write until Naomi remembered what it was, a simple straight forward letter. Then the three-line flowed out of her.

The next course of business was to line up some references. She called the man she tried to jump ahead for the promotion, James Brunnel. He was shocked that she was leaving Paulson Corp and was happy to give her a glowing recommendation. She repeated the process of lining up references. Then she updated her resume put in on what she thought were the best job websites. Then a little search of those sites to be proactive and find jobs which she wanted.

After the weekend filled with preparing and starting a search for new employment, going to work on Monday was hard for Naomi. Her day was going to be the shortest one she ever had at a job. Hopefully, they would have her personal belongins boxed up and waiting for her at the receptionist's desk. If she was unlucky enough they would make her gather her personal belongings. So Naomi’s last day was going to be a half-hour at most.

Walking into the building Naomi found out she was even more unlucky than she thought she could be. The receptionist, Mary, told her Mr. Rodgers wanted to see her in his office first thing. The lady must have somehow broken a mirror as walking under an open ladder while holding a horseshoe upside down.

The lady who was about to get fired went to do what she has done countless times before, walk into her boss’s office. Entering without giving notice and permission felt wrong this time. The lady knocked and waited until her boss for not that much longer said “Come in.”

Naomi stood tall like a guilty person waiting for the firing squad to execute her in the door well. She was going to own up to what she deserved from Mr. Rodgers. Tim looked up and told his employee to close the door and have a seat. He offered her coffee and she declined. Naomi was waiting for the man who was performing a power play to make her take the drink, like she did to him on Monday. All he said was fine. Tim respecting her wishes made Naomi feel even smaller than she already did.

The lady wanted Tim instead of taking his time and gently fire her to do it like he was ripping off a Band-Aid. She said, “Just get it over with Tim.”

As Tim was pouring his coffee he said. “Call me Mr. Rodgers and get what over with?”

“Firing me.”

“If I was going to fire you I would have done that Friday, Naomi.”

Thinking that she knew what her boss wanted she jumped in before Tim could continue. She wanted him to know at least her resigning was all her idea. “I understand Mr. Rodgers. I have my resignation letter. Please just let me get my stuff and not be escorted out of the building.”

“Naomi, I am not your boss anymore so I cannot accept the letter. If you want to quit you need to give it to James Brunnel. You are now a Production Manager trainee. I was planning on recommending you got that promotion after I left.

“You messed up by going along with Faith, but I messed up by making sure you stayed as my personal assistant. Instead of doing what was best for me, I should have done what was best for you and the company. You had no path to advance your career and took one when one was offered.”

“Thank you Tim.”

Being more personal and calling Mr. Rodgers Tim was a mistake. Hearing Naomi being personal got to Mr. Rodgers. He instructed her to be formal and she should have listened; instead, she started to act in a more personal manner. Tim could not understand how the lady who was scared of losing her job act like there was no major damage to their relationship. He knew somehow his old PA thought they were on the path of reconciliation. With the right amount of self-righteousness in his voice, Naomi’s old boss said, “Naomi, like I said, call me Mr. Rodgers.

“Also do not thank me. I am not doing this for you. I am doing this because like I said, I made a mistake by keeping you instead of having you better yourself. If you would have gone to move up, you would have not been put in this situation. You still should have said no to helping in with the test. Now go and report to James. He is waiting for you in his office.”

Naomi knew her mentor was stressing her to call him Mr. Rodgers to make a point clear. Their friendship was over. Those two would never have any interaction on the personal level again. The lady with one less friend got the point, got up and said, “Take care Mr. Rodgers.”

Mr. Rodgers to show there was no he was not harboring ill will he said “You also, Miss Bonilla.”

Once alone in his office, Tim started back on working on the epilogue of this part of his life. Some people might think that even with his marriage ending with being able to leave the rat race and start to wind down towards retirement finishing this chapter in his life would be bittersweet. They would be wrong. No amount of good could get rid of the bitter taste in his soul from losing what mattered most, his Tabby. Only the true conclusion of his time at Paulson Corp would make anything in life truly sweet again. The coda will not come until three months from now and then Tim would be able to start anew.