The Unforgiving Minute (28 page)

BOOK: The Unforgiving Minute
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It was a blessing when the Lord released her from him. I loved

her very much and when you love somebody truly, anything that

brought her happiness is wonderful to contemplate. I think that

so many people who love, only love themselves and therefore

resent anything that brings happiness to their lover which was

not instigated by themselves.”

I looked at this man and felt a marvelous sense of

admiration. I thought of what he said and how true it was. Most

people don’t know what loving someone is all about.

“Albert,” I said, “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate

what you just said. First of all, I’m relieved that you don’t

hate me and second of all, I appreciate the wonderful piece of

philosophy you have expounded. I’m awed by it and would love to

be your friend. I think that there are still things to learn

about life and how to live it that you could teach me.”

After that lunch, Albert and I were fast friends until he

passed away in 1994. I cried at his funeral almost as hard as I

had at Ann Maries’.

***

I spent my spare time in the summer playing golf and

tennis and writing pieces for magazines.

In 1990, we decided to sell our house and move to Florida.

We bought a home on the intracoastal and a boat. Julie and I

became closer as we got older. The thought of another woman in

my life was totally out of the question. I spent my time

golfing, fishing and writing. We found as much culture in

Florida as we had in New York. We had theater, opera and our

choice of about twenty movie theaters. We socialized often and

joined a country club so that I could play my beloved golf. When

my children, each in turn, moved to Florida, I was totally

content. Robin was a pediatrician, Andrew a lawyer and Gary,

after a short try at minor league baseball was attending college

locally and had his own apartment. Robin and Andrew were married

and each had two children. I had two grandsons and two

granddaughters to further joyfully occupy my time. Every once in

a while, I looked at a woman and imagined what she would have

been like as a mistress but it never went further.

One day in 1993, I decided that it would be great fun to

track down some of the people I had met during that five month

odyssey in 1985, so I set to work tracking them down. I used a

computer program with telephone numbers all over the country and

several sources I knew through business. It took me two years,

but I tracked most of them down.

Laura Morrissey married a New York City fireman soon after

breaking up with me. The marriage lasted for two years and broke

up because of incompatibility. She quit her job in the large law

office in New York and took a job with a small law firm in

Queens. I actually spoke to her at one point and she told me she

often thinks of me and wondered what had become of me. With her

children in their teens, she decided to move to Boulder, Colorado

and has started a new life. She works as a secretary at the

University of Colorado.

Jane Brubaker returned to Michigan, at first heart broken

over the end of her love affair with me. At that time, she felt

her world was falling apart but soon realized that she had been

rescued from the depths and went on with her life with only good

thoughts of what went on between us. She is, at present, a music

teacher in her home town and is married to a high school teacher

and has two children of her own. She had often thought of trying

to contact me but decided just to consider me a pleasant memory.

Dr. Chen Lee reached the depths of despair after finding

out the truth about me. She was treated by a psychiatrist in

London for severe depression and spent a year in a private

sanatorium. She was embittered by the episode and for five years

kept away from all men. In 1993 she met a physician of Chinese

descent and they were married in 1994. According to the

Dinsmores, when she thinks of me, she does so with extreme

animosity.

Yvonne Metrier continued to pursue a successful career in

architecture throughout Europe. She and her husband were

divorced in 1989, when he met and ran off with a young student.

She took this setback with no bitterness and continued to dally

with men during her travels. In 1990, she was severely beaten in

one of these encounters and changed her ways. She met and

married a fellow architect ten years younger than she. They live

in a town in the hills above the Cote D’Azur.

Semyon Gorodetsky lost his position when the Soviet Union

came apart. He ran and successfully won, a seat in Russia’s

parliament and is a strong ally of Boris Yeltsin. In nineteen

ninety two he visited the United Nations in New York and actually

made contact with me. We had a few drinks and laughed a lot but

in no way approached the debauchery of our last meeting. We

often write to each other and a strong international friendship

has been forged.

Don and Marie Wetzel broke up their marriage in 1990. The

AIDS scare made it difficult for them to be promiscuous with many

same-sex partners. Each finally selected one partner and moved

in with them. They still are very friendly and love each other.

They meet for dinner once a week and seem to be happy with their

new partners.

Scott Cleary became extremely successful in aeronautics

and is an executive with a large aerospace company. He and

Adelaide Loomer broke up soon after their ski trip. He has been

happily married since 1989. He and his wife have two children.

Adelaide Loomer met a fashion designer in New York and

moved to Los Angeles, where they married. They lived in Los

Angeles for five years and finally were divorced. They had no

children. She moved back to New York City and is a computer

consultant.

Maude Blaney is managing editor of a major tabloid in

England. Her affair with the Italian auto magnate ended in 1986.

She is married to an important minister in John Major’s

government. They have one child.

Julie Boyd is very happy. She has a husband that is

content to stay home and enjoy his life and family and has a good

life. Most bad memories of 1985 have faded and her disposition

has mellowed with age.

Last but not least. Me. Robert Boyd. I feel that I

lived a fantasy most men would die for and literally got away

with it. I still miss Ann Marie and I still feel a great deal of

guilt over Lee. I know I can never make it up to her so I try to

block it out of my mind. It seems that no one else in my path

suffered permanent damage. My kids seem to have forgotten my

indiscretions and all have a great relationship with dad.

By the way. This time I parred the hole. It just goes to

show you. If you don’t run away, anything’s possible.

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