The Life of Buddy

Chapter XXVI

Burt had met Pamela during the disintegration of his first marriage. She had been working for him for six months and during that time she had occupied his thoughts night and day. Even when he was with Elizabeth or the other women he was pursuing.

She was all he could think about. He would often find himself day dreaming about her barely able to concentrate on work or time with his family. He was incapable of excising her from his mind for even a few moment. Not that he was trying too hard. He had never been so obsessed with a woman and he felt as if he would explode at any moment if he was not with her.

He soon asked her out for a dinner promising that it was nothing more then a meal between colleagues. She eagerly accepted his invitation and they met at a restaurant in a nearby county far from their little town and it's prying eyes. He told her how lonely he was, how miserable he was in his marriage how long it had been since he felt any affectionate.

She laughed in his face much to his dismay. He could still hear her asking if anyone actually fell for that garbage and then took a sip of her wine as she playfully looked at him.

At first he was speechless which was not a normal state for him. He had first thought about lying, trying to convince her that everything he said was true. The words I would never lie to you went through his mind and for the first time he realized just how hollow they sounded.

He then looked in her eyes and knew that lying to her would be useless. Unlike many of the other women he had been with she was not naïve. And she would be insulted if he treated her as such.

It was time to change tactics he thought that night. He would have to try a tactic that he was unfamiliar with. The truth. He gave her a charming smile and told her most of the time. He then told her that he was not lying when he was said he was miserable in his marriage. The marriage had been nothing but one of convience, they only married for money and social status. Any feelings that they had for each other were long gone if they ever existed in the first place.

Pamela then suggested that they order another bottle of wine and take their conversation somewhere more private. They soon found themselves in a local hotel room and that night began a relationship that lasted almost ten years off and on.

Pamela was never under any delusions. She had never expected to marry him or that he would leave either of his wives for her. She knew what kind of man that he was. That his heart would not belong to anyone but himself. All she was to him was a diversion, a pleasant diversion like he was to her.

But their relationship had soon came to end after the births of Butch and Buddy. He came to her saying that they needed to end it. That he wanted to be faithful to his wife and that Elizabeth was going to be the only woman for him. She did not protest, she did not try to keep him, she let him go like he wanted. Even though she doubted that he had truly turned over a new leaf.

And three months passed she had not heard from him and she began to believe that he had truly changed. That he was completely committed to his wife and making his marriage to Elizabeth work. But then one night he showed up on her front door step intoxicated, telling her how much he needed her and missed her. And that he could not go one more minute without her.

A part of her wanted to turn him away. Tell him to go home to his wife and family. But she could not. She had missed him too and could not say no. She let him in knowing that he would once again be gone in the morning. But she could not resist him no more than he could resist his urges.

And nine months later Brooks was born and their relationship soon cooled again as she knew that it would. There was a new secretary, a new woman at one of his gas stations, a new conquest for him to chase after. And she had decided to focus on her career and child.