***AUTHORS NOTE: This Story is a 'sequel 'to Last Christmas. For better understanding, it would be best to read that one first.

I would again that ABSTRUSE for her assistance in the editing of this story. Her help, as always, was invaluable. Many thanks go as well to rozezwild for her editing, review, and assistance in the polishing the story. Their help made the presentation of this story possible. All the good stuff is because of them. The bad stuff is mine alone. **

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Laura plopped down in the high-backed chair in her high fashion condominium. She was tired to the point of exhaustion. It had been a busy eight...no, twelve weeks. It was all worth it though. The new contract presentation had worked and they had landed the multi-million dollar contract with the new clients without the slightest hitch. She would be getting the new partnership now, just as her boss had promised.

She would be going from Junior Account Specialist to Partner in one of the most successful advertising companies in the City. The time and work it took was well worth it if she could make a leap up the corporate ladder. She had put in more hours and worked harder than any of the actual Partners in the firm.

Having spent more time at work than even her boss had, plus her time warming his bed, she had not even been back to the condominium, except to change quickly and grab some clothes, during the entire time. She looked at the stack of mail laid on the table where she had just gathered and dropped it when she had dashed through. It was quite a large stack.

Luckily, her accountant paid her bills, so she knew everything was current. It was probably just personal notes of congratulations and junk mail. It would wait until she had a nice, slow relaxing bath. As busy as she had been, she owed herself to relax and take her promised week off.

Just as she was finishing getting undressed, her phone buzzed signaling a call from the front desk of her condo. Picking up the phone she answered, clearly annoyed at the interruption.

"Yes, what is it?" She inquired with clear impatience. "OK, why didn't you just bring it up? I am too tired to come down to get it. I don't care, just sign for it and give them a tip and I'll give it back to you when you get up here. I'm busy, so hurry, I can't mess with this all day!"

Slamming the receiver down, Laura stormed into the living room again, waiting for the doorman to arrive with her registered letter. Why someone was sending her a registered letter at home, she wondered. She saw them routinely at work, but very rarely at home. She popped up and down several times, looking to her entrance door, clearly impatient over what was taking the doorman some time to get to her condo.

The last time she went to her briefcase and withdrew her wallet. She eschewed carrying a purse, like so many of the corporate drones she saw every day. She pulled out a ten-dollar bill, shook her head, returned the ten, instead pulling out a five. She had to reimburse him for the messenger's tip.

Just as she was closing her briefcase, the buzzer on her front door went off.

"'Bout fuckin' time," she muttered to herself.

Jerking open the door, the startled doorman handed her the large manila envelope.

"I tipped the messenger five dollars, mam. It was all I had," he said apologetically.

"Fine. Here, I'll bring you something down when I go out"

Closing the door without even thanking the man or telling him goodbye, she turned the envelope so that she could read the sender's name.

"Burke, Burke, and Howe," she read as she began opening the large envelope. "I wonder who they are and what they want."

Then she remembered that she had used them before, for some of the legal work on the cabin and their house. Once she remembered that, she was doubly curious why they would have something for her sent registered and why it wasn't sent to her husband.

Dear Mrs. Houston,

Please forgive us for intruding on your privacy. We are about to close the office for our vacation month. We have been unable to deliver this receipt for, and accounting of services to your husband. We did not wish it left until we returned next month.

Thank you choosing to use our firm.

Sincerely,

Dropping the letter, she opened the accompanying envelope. Laura just stared at the itemization of services and her mouth dropped. According to the itemization the law firm had sent, the 'Paid in Full' account was for: Preparation of divorce on the grounds of abandonment, preparation of divorce on the grounds of adultery, the transfer of all real property into a single owner, listing their house in Westchester, their cabin the Catskills, all of their vehicles, and the preparation of legal papers.

Seeing red, Laura slammed her first into the table. How dare he think he could divorce her, not only that, but to accuse her of 'adultery'. She was not openly adulterous, well except for the Christmas Party. It was a party after all and he had not come to Manhattan to join her in attendance, not that she'd asked. Still she had only been sleeping with her boss and his boss to make her way to partner.

She didn't love them or anything. It just got lonely in the condo by herself all the time. It was surely not worth a divorce and she was certainly not going to give up everything she had worked so hard for, either. Well, to be honest he'd bought it all and worked to put her through school so she could go to work, but damnit, it was still half hers.

Going to the telephone, she dialed the number to the Westchester house. She would talk to him and get this all straightened out. Maybe she would go to the house and see him for Valentine's Day. She had not been to the house in at least a few months. She might give him a little; he was always good in bed. If only he had more ambition, she wouldn't be out working and playing among the power brokers, movers, and shakers. Laura frowned when the phone received no answer. The answering machine didn't even pickup.

'Well maybe he's out. It's Monday, maybe he went somewhere for the day. I'll try again later,' she thought.

As she was walking back to her bedroom, she again noticed the large pile of mail on the table. This time, noticing several large legal looking envelopes, she paused to look a little more closely. There were indeed several legal envelopes from the same lawyer's office as the registered letter.

Looking a little further she realized all the mail from the Westchester address was being forward directly to her condo. The effective date on the little Post Office stickers said 28 December. That was over a month and a half ago, she was curious that she had never noticed. She wondered why all their mail was being forwarded and why that effective date.

Before digging into the intriguing mail, Laura returned to her bedroom and slipped on some casual slacks and a jersey type pull over shirt. She hadn't earlier removed her lacy g-string. It was a Christmas gift from her boss and she had wanted to enjoy wearing it a little while longer. She didn't bother with a bra since she really didn't need one anyway. Everyone, besides her husband, had urged her to have a boob job. As it was she was so small chested, that she barely needed any kind of bra. Her tits were not even large enough to sag.

Sam had been the only one who had ever claimed to like her tits just as they were. He loved to play with her sensitive nipples, telling her if she enjoyed them, they were certainly large enough. Laura felt a small shiver go through her thinking of all the times Sam had played with her tits and praised them.

'Yes, she would definitely have to give him some for Valentines. Only Sam could make her scream like a banshee'.

More suitably attired for the time being, she returned to the mound of mail. She was curious. Before beginning on the large legal envelopes, she thumbed through the rest of the mail. Half of it was junk mail, just as she had guessed, but it was a mixture of her condo address and the house address. Apparently, the forwarding order that called for everything to be forwarded to her condo.

'That's unusual,' she thought. 'They don't usually forward all mail, just selected stuff. I'll have to remember to ask about that.'

In the stack was a post office confirmation copy of the forwarding order, dated December 16. It was in effect for six months. Her husband signed it at 4:30 in the afternoon. She thought and then remembered that day. That was probably the last time she and Sam had spoken. He had pleaded with her, repeatedly, to come spend Christmas up at the cabin as they always did.

He'd told her the firm could hold out a few days without her, and he really needed to see her. She had told him that he was being silly: She was too busy and needed to get to the Christmas party that night. She had been busy getting dressed when he had called. She had on her sexiest backless, knee length sheath dress.

Of course, she had to wear it sans underwear, since any underwear would show through the barely opaque material. If the night went well, they would just be something else to take off. She smiled embarrassed at herself. Boy had she enjoyed a good time.

She had done not only her boss, his boss, but also all the corporate VP's, all the 'big wigs' except for the president of the company. At least twelve in all, she wasn't really sure. She was so sore that weekend that her boss had to settle for blowjobs all weekend, her pussy and ass were so well used. It had been fun, having sex with all those big wigs, right there in the corporate conference room.

Ending her reminiscing, she resolved to make it up to Sam sometime. She had fun, but she did miss being on his arms and being squired around like a princess. Her boss let her pretty much fend for herself. She'd make it up to San, so things could get back to something like normal. It was just Christmas, nothing important. Just because he always wanted to do the tree and all the gifts and such, it was not that big a deal.

Making another mental note, she remembered she needed to buy Sam something nice for Christmas. Maybe she would buy him a Rolex: one of the cheaper ones. He wouldn't care for it anyway and probably only wear it when she asked. Thinking of Sam made her smile.

Returning to the mail stack, she saw notices of service ending for all the magazines and the newspapers. Opening a few, they all read the just about the same: 'Per your request, your service was terminated as of 28 December. No refund was requested. Should you request a refund at a later date, that will be handled by our circulation department.' Clearly, Sam had cancelled all their subscriptions.

She could not fathom what he hoped to accomplish by doing that. She seldom read anything that came to the house. She rarely had time to read the ones she received here at the condo. Her curiosity was moving higher on the intensity scale. Things just did not seem right. Some of the mail was over 2 months old. Had she been that involved that she missed something? No, she would know that. The mail must have spent a long time bring forwarded.

Having glanced through the rest of the mail, nothing was very important. All the mail that had been forwarded was some type of cancellation or junk mail, excepting the large envelopes. It was time to find out what resided in them. Reaching for the first one she came to, she was interrupted by the ringing phone.

"Hello?" Said Laura as she answered the phone, wondering why the office would be calling her at home. "Yes, this is she."

"Yes, I know who Mr. Sanchez is. He is the President of the company, and yes I know where is office is located."

"Yes, I can be there at seven am tomorrow. May I ask what this is in regards too?"

"Fine then. I will there in the morning."

Placing the handset back on the cradle, Laura wasn't sure if she should be excited or concerned. It was highly unusual for anyone to receive a summoning to the President's office. Either she was getting the promotion to partner and they were keeping it concealed, or something was terribly wrong. Well she would just have to see in the morning.

She was starting to get aggravated with whatever Sam was pulling; it looked as if he turned off every thing at the house but the power, phone and water. She had notices from every subscription, cable, and the internet provider. She had too much on her plate to deal with him right now. Who did he think he was? She would get this straightened out, as soon as she found him. She picked up the phone, tried the house again, and got absolutely nothing but eternal rings.

Her leisurely bath forgotten, she got up, went to the liquor cabinet, and fixed herself a drink. Once she had poured what she wanted she noticed the single malt scotch whiskey. Sam always drank that. She never did, thinking it tasted like medicine. She had tried to get him to drink some of the more fashionable drinks but he steadfastly refused.

'Just like Sam," she thought. 'Once he finds something he really likes, he doesn't change. Variety was not something he sought.'

He had always loved the cabin in the Catskills. He never understood her desire to live the fast life. The condo had been a major sticking point with him. She could commute like everyone else, he said. He could not understand her desire to separate herself from the drones.

"Maybe that's it,' she thought to herself happily. " He's at the cabin. I should have checked there.'

Dialing the number to the cabin, she met with a recording.

"We regret the extended inconvenience, but phone service to this area is still not possible. As soon as repair crews can gain access, your telephone service will be restored as soon as possible," said the recording.

'Gain access?' she wondered. 'Why was access denied? What had happened? There were just too many strange things going on today.'

A quick call to the sheriff's office in the town closest to their cabin told her nothing was really amiss, at least not seriously. The whole area basically had been snowed in by the blizzard on Christmas Eve, and with temperatures remaining unusually cold, it had remained well below freezing ever since.

They'd over flown the entire area slowly to check for problems or people in distress. Where they had seen evidence of people, they'd called on either phones, radios, or the helicopter through megaphones. They had evacuated a few people but most had chosen to stay. Clearing roads to inhabited places had been the priority.

There was an SUV at their place, but no sign of life in all their over flights. They had hovered, called, and called on several occasions. There was no evidence of tracks around the cabin even in their first survey, Their cabin was kind of isolated, but was on the general flight path in and out of the airport, so they checked it frequently.

Laura felt some better knowing that Sam was not stranded out there alone. However, it did little to ease her growing disquiet as to his whereabouts. He no longer seemed to fit in her life, but she still loved him. He just didn't understand how important getting to the top rungs of the ladder was to her.

She had to succeed better than everyone else did, but any means possible. Her father had instilled that in her. She missed him so much. Since the house was clearly closed down, and there was no evidence of anyone at the cabin, she had no idea where he might be. Moving to the liquor cabinet, she refreshed her drink.

'Maybe he went on a trip somewhere,' she pondered. 'He spoke of a trip before, but had decided against it since it would mean being away from the cabin for Christmas. She told him he was being silly; there was no way she was going to go up there just for a couple of days. He had pleaded with her not to break their tradition.

Laughing, knowing she would be spending Christmas with her boyfriend/boss. He was nowhere near the lover Sam was, nor was he the kind, considerate, or principled man, but he did hold the key to that partnership she wanted so badly. Sam held love and fun, but nothing to get ahead. Once she got the partnership, she'd quit sleeping with her boss and return to her husband. It was only temporary; surely he wouldn't mind that.'

As she actually thought about it, she also recognized of just how wrong she was. Sam always said any infidelity on either of their parts was grounds for immediate divorce. He might forgive an indiscretion if it was a one time mistake, but never her practically living with her boss these many months.

'He must never find out she vowed.' grimacing over the thought of Sam's reaction if he did. 'Wait a minute. What was that about adultery in those lawyers' papers?'

Frantically, she searched through the scattered mail to locate the letter she had originally seen from the lawyer. Finding it she searched for the list of 'services' paid for: preparation of divorce on the grounds of adultery.

"Oh! God! He knows," she exclaimed aloud in instant anguish even though she was alone.

'What am I going to do? I don't wanna lose him. He's the only one I love. The only one that's loved me, unconditionally,' she cried to herself. 'It may already be too late. Was he is gone already? Is that why I can't find him?'

Briefly lost in her confusion, Laura got up and aimlessly wandered around her condo. In her living room, she spied a picture of her and Sam together. A passing tourist, having stopped to ask directions, took it at the cabin one summer several years ago. Smiling and looking so happy, Sam had his arm around her, grasping her tightly to him. It was a good picture, with the mountain peak rising above the cabin and everything green with wildflowers everywhere.

'We looked so happy then because we were. What have I done to that? I can't lose him. I couldn't stand it. What good is any of it without Sam?' Still lost in her thoughts, she wandered back to the table full of mail. 'I guess I should see what the lawyers have to say. Maybe I can find out where Sam is and get this straightened out.'

Settling in to the chair at the table once again, she reached for one of the large manila envelopes again. This time she approached them, not with the annoyance or anger, she had earlier, but a fear of what they contained. For the first time she noticed there were actually six of them. Picking up the first one, she reached for the letter opener and slit the end. Pulling out the blue backed legal papers she saw that is was a Deed of Property. It named her the sole owner of the house in Westchester. There was a lot of legal jargon describing the house and the property.

What caught he eye was on the second page it stated there was no mortgage on the house. She wondered at that, since she knew the mortgage on the house was in excess of four hundred thousand dollars. The paper clearly stated that this was a free 'Deed of Property', having no liens, or mortgage. Far from answering any questions, it seemed she now had more than she did when she opened it. There was no explanation about any of the conditions causing the writing of the deed.

Reaching for the second envelope, she slit its end and pulled out the now familiar blue backed legal papers. At least this one she could partially understand the reasoning. The papers read, Divorce Decree. At least she understood what this one meant. The Decree granted her and Sam a divorce based on abandonment. What surprised her was it gave her everything, except whatever was in Appendix C. Although she didn't have extensive experience with divorces, she had spent some time years ago working as a legal secretary.

She'd never seen a decree quite like this one. Sam asked for nothing and except for whatever was in Appendix C, had assigned everything they owned together to her. No money division, no property for him, not even his beloved cabin, not even his truck or SUV, had been assigned to Sam. It had been all assigned to her. The other thing she noticed was the abandonment date: 1 January of the previous year. She was no expert but a quick calculation told her the divorce could have been final anytime after 2 January of the current year.

Knowing that intercourse between married couples made the abandonment null and void, it caused her to wonder when the last time they'd had sex.

'Dear God, has it been that long since I've slept with Sam? I moved out in September of two years ago. However, I know I spent a day and night at the cabin with him Christmas of that year. He begged me to come home then. I refused saying I needed to pursue my career and I was not going to commute.'

Having at least a minimal working knowledge of the law, Laura knew that 1 year was the magic date. It had been over a year. A feeling of despair and hopelessness washed over her.

The only bright spot she saw was that even though filed and legal, there was not a final adjudication date on the papers. If the court had not given final approval, there was still time to change Sam's mind. She hoped that was the case. She didn't want to look at the other papers, but she realized she needed to discover what other surprises they held. She was already in a state of shock over what she had found so far.

The next were no more shocking than the first, almost mundane. One contained the deed to the cabin. Just as with the house in Westchester, it showed a free property with no liens or mortgage. She didn't remember the exact amount left on the mortgage for the cabin but she knew it was well over two hundred thousand dollars because of the amount of land that was part of the property.

Moreover, Sam had spared no expense in building it exactly to her specifications, including the Scandinavian logs and European kitchen. He was always so good to her, what had she been thinking? She had been gone for over a year, not just an isolated blip, but over an entire year of whoring and playing the big shot without a thought about her husband.

Glancing at the clock, she was surprised to find that it was after eleven p.m. Wrapped up in the disconcerting things she had discovered in the mail, Laura found she had lost all track of time. Knowing she still had to sleep and at least shower before making her seven o'clock appointment with the company president, she very briefly considered saving all the papers for tomorrow, but knew she'd never be able walk away from them now. There were just too many unanswered questions. She didn't know if any questions would be answered, but she wouldn't know until she opened and read all of them.

Making up her mind at least partially, she rose from the table and headed for the bathroom. She quickly took off the clothes she had thrown on and walked into the bathroom naked carrying her robe. She turned on the water in the shower, so it would have time to reach the right temperature. Grabbing her cold cream, she removed her makeup with the practiced ease of long habit. With her makeup removed, she opened the door of the shower and climbed in.

The warm water felt good to her tired muscles. She still felt grungy from her day at work and even more so with the disturbing events she had discovered in the mail. It just felt good to take her loofa and scrub away all the dirt and grime. It did little to scrub away the growing guilt she was feeling, as much as she wished it would.

As she finished scrubbing herself physically clean, her hands strayed over her hardened nipples. Rubbing them felt so good. She was so used to regular sex that she felt deprived even though this was her first evening at her own condo in several months. When one hand strayed to her needy sex, it almost involuntarily started to gently rub the length of her and feel her dampness as she moistened from the attention. As the good feeling started to seep into her consciousness, she thought,' Sam used to turn me on so much with his caresses'. That thought brought her up short.

Thoughts of Sam, in light of all she had found so far in the mail, ended any feeling of sexy or horny she might have been having. In a rush, almost as if she were late for something, she hurriedly finished her bathing and exited the shower. As she dried herself, an unknown anxiety swept over her. It was like the realization that something was not just discordant, but seriously amiss, engulfed her. With out even paying any attention to her hair, she grabbed her fluffy terrycloth robe.

Returning to her room, she realized that she needed to do something with her hair, or it would be impossible to manage later. As she ran a comb through her hair to untangle and smooth it out, she thought about how short it was. Sam had begged her not to cut her long flowing hair but she had anyway, saying it was a proper business cut. What she didn't' tell Sam was that her boss had wanted her to cut it. He didn't like all her hair getting in the way during sex.

Sam had been heartbroken when she'd cut it. He had never given her any other directions or opinions about her appearance, but he had strongly expressed his opinion about her hair. Like pretty much everything else in the last two years she'd ignored him and did what she wanted or at least what her boss wanted, which amount to much the same thing.

The mail was still waiting for her when she returned to the table. Not that is wouldn't be, but she wished it were all a bad dream that'd just go away. Settling in the chair, she picked up the next to last large envelope. She devoutly hoped it would be something mundane, like the transfers of property. She realized that she'd seen the transfers of all of their major property, but while they were disturbing, they were not near as disturbing as the other papers. Using the letter opener, she slit the end and repeated the process of removing the blue backed legal papers.

When she saw the title page of the document, her eyes welled in tears and she almost broke down in the sobs she felt. 'Last Will and Testament', was the cover page and she looked at the papers with trepidation. She and Sam had prepared their wills together after they were married. She was curious and wondered what had possessed Sam to need to change his will. There was also a level of fear regarding just what it might contain.

When she turned the page, she was still perplexed. Basically, the will looked much like the one they had prepared together ten years earlier. The only difference she could see was another appendix. This time it was Appendix B, but no mention of what it contained. It was stipulated that everything in Appendix B was to be divided between some fraternity, the free speech coalition and the 'Old Soldiers Home'.

Laura had little doubt concerning the basic subject of the papers in the final envelope. Based on the 'accounting' letter, she knew they had to be the divorce based on adultery papers. She was very curious as to what Sam knew and what he suspected. If he suspected a lot maybe she would be able to bluff her way out of a lot of it.

It occurred that the duplicate papers could be why the other set was not marked as the final decree. Either these were or Sam would have had to choose between the two sets before one could be finalized. She did know that you could not divorce the same person twice, only once without a remarriage.

Opening the last envelope, she saw there were actually two sets of papers in it. The first one was the divorce papers. Skimming through the first couple of pages of the decree, she didn't see anything that damning. Sure, they accused her of adultery with her boss, and others but it did not go into great detail. She smiled, if it was just suspicion and circumstantial she could fight it. Again, it referred to Appendices concerning a portion of the award to Sam. There was a reference to yet another appendix that covered the details of the accusations.

Like the earlier papers she had seen, there were no Appendices present with the papers. She wondered about that, every legal paper she had ever seen had included all the appendices that were pertinent to the papers. This decree was far different that the earlier one in that it did cover a division of things far more explicitly. Basically she kept her condo and car, the adultery causing her forfeit of everything else. There was no alimony. Of course, there was no child support.

That had been another pint of contention between her and Sam. He'd wanted to start a family years ago, but she had repeatedly put him off with one reason or another. By the time she had taken the job with the advertising firm she was now with and started her climb, he'd stopped asking. Now she wondered if that was just coincidence or if it had to do with her sleeping her way to a new position in the firm. His silence had started about the same time she'd had the abortion, when she hadn't been as careful as she should. She didn't think much about it, she'd had one before.

She'd never told Sam about that one, either. The first was when they'd been married about four years and she didn't want to give up her schooling for raising some kid. Knowing Sam really wanted to have a family, she had never told him about it, just playing sick for about a month afterward. He had been so kind, looking after her and doing all the housework. He had taken every opportunity to pamper her; at the time she saw it as a weakness, now she wondered who was weak and who was the stronger.

At least she understood the divorce decrees, on the surface, she understood the transfers of property, but the underlying reasons still eluded her. The rational of the new will was also a mystery. Added into this were the curious missing appendices for all the documents. She had a very strong feeling that many of her answers resided in those papers.

As upsetting and bewildering as the papers she had so far seen, Laura was not even sure she wanted to see the appendices or find out what they contained. She realized that could she locate them, she would of course read them. She was intensely curious but she had little doubt at this point that she would not like what they contained.

Ready from a little break from the unpleasantness that was continuing to come with the mail, Laura rose and went back to the liquor cabinet. Fixing herself a new drink, she wandered to the picture windows. Overlooking the skyline of the city, she sighed. Surely it could not all be bad. She had to talk to Sam and try to get this nonsense straightened out. She just had a little more to go and she would have her partnership.

Then she could skip her boss' beds and return, at least occasionally, to Sam's. Maybe she could convince him to come to the city to live, probably not, but she might at least ask. Thinking about it, she had never even invited Sam to see her condo. It was really a nice condominium and was costing a pretty penny. She would at least have to have him come up and see it.

Feeling an overwhelming sense of dread, Laura returned to the table and the last legal papers remaining. As she opened them, they confirmed her suspicions. They were indeed the missing Appendices. A cover letter explained the reason for the separation. Since most were involved with Sam's retained portion of the divorce decrees or the settlement in his will, they had been delayed to insure they were as current as possible regarding the assets listed.

Slightly confused by the statement, she turned the page, to find that Appendix A was a great deal of legal mumbo jumbo concerning copyrights. Laura was especially perplexed since all the real property they owned had been listed elsewhere in the papers. She knew of nothing they had that would involve copyrights.

Turning to the following pages, she found Appendix B. What she saw there left her speechless and almost beyond thought with the shock. Sam had assets over one million dollars. There had been even more but withdrawals to cover the mortgages and loans on the house, cabin, and their vehicles had reduced it by an appreciable number of dollars. Part of the reason for the money was Sam had written several short stories that were used as the basis for computer games.

He'd managed to retain his copyright ownership when granting license for them being used and received a residual for sales for fifty years. It was written such that his demise would make no difference in the residual payments, they were simply assigned to his heir or designated beneficiary. The balance of the money apparently had come from the sale of several books. Laura recognized the titles of a couple of them. Sam used a number of pseudonyms, and of those, she recognized a couple as well. She had never realized they were rich. Maybe not outlandishly wealthy, but certainly far better off financially than she ever imagined.

With the realization of Sam's wealth, it dawned on her that it was not her money at all. The import of the Appendices was that they had always listed that which was being held out from the divorce decrees. With her having never known of their existence, prior to the decree, she would find it difficult to make any type of claim on the money or proceeds.

More than the relatively simple matters that the divorce decrees, property transfers, and new last will meant, it dawned on Laura that there was a finality to all the paperwork. It sounded like a person preparing to begin anew. If in the last ten years he had not revealed his income to her, him doing so now, brought the message home to her that they were through. She wondered how many times, when he'd initiated a conversation about his writing, she had just tuned him out or ignored him completely. Knowing Sam as she did, he had no doubt tried to tell her more than once. She had simply not listened.

"Oh! God! I would listen now, Sam. I would if you would just give me the chance," she cried, although there was no one there to answer her or even listen.

There remained in essence one Appendix to be explored. Most were just copies or a slightly different presentation of the recounting of Sam's wealth or his wishes for his wealth. The appendix containing the details of the adultery charges was the last appendix of the stack. As she sat there reading it, even in a cold legal accounting, she could not help but gasp. It was not suspicion nor was it circumstantial, no; it was hard facts concerning her activities for most of the last two years. Things that she had even forgotten about were there in black and white to refresh her memory. It listed the reporting of three different detective agencies.

There were in the possession of the lawyers' video tapes, audio tapes, still pictures and written reports concerning her activities. The report went so far as to list the last time she and Sam had engaged in intercourse, going even in to the detail that Sam had worn a condom in order to protect himself from diseases. She remembered asking him about that, on the last Christmas she'd spent at the cabin. He had said something about trying something different. She had wanted to get it over with so she could get to sleep. It was a long drive into the city and she had wanted an early start.

As she realized that even then, Sam had been trying to save their marriage, just like the many times in the months that followed. Even with what he had to have known about her activities, he had still tried to salvage them and make it work. She never realized just how much he must have loved her.

With the realization that any chance of preserving her marriage was probably long past, Laura stood up and moved over to the sofa. On her way, she detoured to get the picture of Sam and her, which she had looked at earlier. It was the only picture of Sam in the entire condominium. She kept him carefully hidden from her world. The regrets cascading on her now were so multitude, than she didn't know what to do. In body wracking sobs she sat on the sofa, holding Sam's picture and bawled.

The ringing of the telephone jarred her from sleep. She was curled up on the sofa shivering, even though she'd pulled the decorative afghan down to cover herself in the night. Moving over, she picked up the phone.

"Hello?" She answered with out even looking to see from who the call was.

"Yes, this is the Laura Houston that works there."

"I'm so sorry, I fell asleep last night, and I overslept. I can be there within forty five minutes, if that will be ok?"

"I don't understand. Look, I never oversleep. I can be there soon."

"Morals clause? No I don't remember one when I accepted the position there."

"If you say I signed it, then I guess I did. I needed to see the president about some paperwork I signed 4 years ago?"

"Yes, he is my boss, and yes, he is my boss' boss"

"Christmas, yes I see. Terminated with prejudice, I see."

"Good bye, then. Messengering them over will be fine."

Literally dropping the telephone to the rug in front of the sofa, Laura collapsed in screaming sobs. She was unsure at this point just how much more she could take. On top of being unable to find her husband, who was in the process of divorcing her for the adultery she was extremely guilty of, the firm she worked for just called. The short and sweet of that call was that they had been aware of her activities for some time.

She would not be getting a partnership; rather she, her boss, and his boss were being terminated with prejudice effective immediately for repeated violation of the morals clause both during work hours and on company property. No severance pay would be forthcoming and she should not ask for a recommendation. Laura did not think it could get any worse. She was wrong, yet again.

As she was on the sofa in a stupor, having cried herself out, her telephone began ringing, signaling a call from the front desk. By the time she got to the hall phone that connected to the front desk, there was a knocking at the door.

"Just a minute," she called to the door.

Picking up the phone, she said, "Hello. Ok, just sign for it. Oh all right, send them up."

'Damn that was fast,' she thought. 'They have the messenger here already. They must really want me gone.'

She looked though the peephole to see a uniformed police sergeant standing in the hall outside her door.

Opening the door, she said, "Yes? May I help you?"

"Are you Mrs. Samuel Houston? Laura Houston?" asked the cop.

"Yes I am. What can I do for you?"

"May I come in, Mrs. Houston?"

"Yes of course. Sorry for my appearance. It has been a long night."

"Yes mam. Do you have a sofa or chair you can sit in?" asked the policeman. "I think that would be best."

"Yes, come on in," replied Laura, as she led the police officer into the living room and seated herself on the sofa. With more that a touch of annoyance in her voice she continued, "Now, I'm seated. What can I help you with officer?"

"Sergeant mam, there is no easy way to do this. The local police went to check out your cabin after your phone call yesterday evening. The SUV parked outside had bothered them for a while, but without any other reason to check, they had just figured it was stored for use at the cabin."

"Is the cabin ok?"

"I was getting to that, mam. The cabin is fine. However, they tried the door and found it unlocked. Mam, inside they found your husband. I'm sorry,...ah... he's dead, mam. Apparently, it was a suicide on Christmas. It's been below freezing up there since then, so the scene was straightforward. I have a fax copy of the note, mam. They will forward the original when the inquest is over. It was addressed to you."

The officer reached inside his tunic and withdrew a piece if paper, folded in thirds, and handed it to Laura. She took it from him and began to read.

Dearest Laura,

If you are reading this, then I am gone. I know you have moved on with your life. Material wealth means nothing to me. Everything I am, and everything I have, are nothing without you.

Since you have refused to spend any time with me, and refused to participate in our lone tradition of Christmas together at the cabin, I have no choice but to realize that I am no longer a part of your life.

If I am not part of your life, then mine is not worth continuing.

Good Bye.

I wish you the best with the life you have chosen,

Sam

The officer watched as the note fell from her limp fingers to float to the floor. Laura just stared straight ahead. She made no further sound but her eyes ran freely with her tears.

"Mrs. Houston? Can I get you anything? Mrs. Houston?"

The ringing of the door chime interrupted the officer.

"Don't get up, mam, I'll get that for you," said the officer as he headed for the front door. He hoped the moments respite alone would help the woman. In all his years on the force, he had seen many reactions to someone's death, but he had never seen anything like this. Opening the door, he found a messenger, holding a bouquet of a dozen red roses in a vase. There was a card attached. The officer reached in his pocket, pulled out a five, and handed it to the messenger.

"Have a Happy Valentines, and thank you," he said to the messenger. "I'll make sure she gets these."

Curious about her receiving flowers on Valentines when her husband had deceased since Christmas, caused him to pause. Reaching into the bouquet, he removed the card. It was not sealed, just folded closed. Reading it resolved any questions he might have had. He returned the note card to its envelope and put it back on the plastic stalk in the middle of the bouquet.

"Here's Valentine flowers for you, Mrs. Houston. You husband must have ordered them before he...ah...Christmas."

He looked at Laura and shook his head. Picking up the telephone laying next to the sofa, he quickly dialed a number.

"Hello, dispatch? This is Sergeant Malone, badge number 7856, of the 78th precinct. I need an ambulance to this address, ...ah,... and better make it one of the ones going to Bellevue. I have a customer for them."