Harvey and Anita

Harvey heard the whispers. The mayor had been caught in an affair, but the media hadn’t gotten the news. Yet. Harvey straightened up and walked into the room.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning,” they all answered. The new guy scuffled off to his desk. The boss said, “I need to see you.”

“Sure. I’m here.”

“I put a new job on your desk. Tell me what you think before noon. I need to let them know this afternoon if we can meet the deadline.”

“I’ll look at it first thing. After that, I’m still tweaking those air vents for Schimmer.”

Marianne looked up from her coffee mug. “Have you heard about the mayor?”

“No. What’s he done?”

“His wife caught him with another woman. A married woman. At least she wasn’t a hooker. She’s thrown him out of his house--dumped his clothes on the front lawn for all the neighbors to see. He’s gonna have a hard time living that down.”

“Any chance the mayor’s wife damaged the other woman’s car?”

“Dunno.” She paused. “Oh. . .”

“I gotta get to work.” He walked out with the cup of coffee.

At his desk, he propped his forehead into his hand, elbow on the desk top. He breathed heavily. Then he drew in one more long, deep breath, and picked up the papers from the boss. He scrutinized them as usual, then did some calculations.

Anita walked into their shared work space and sat at her area. “Hey, Harve.”

?Hi,” he halfway smiled. His air was relaxed and cool. He liked working with Anita. They shared things they couldn’t say to anyone else. They helped with each other’s work load and used each other as sounding boards for their projects. It was a good working relationship. The fact that they were both conservative, reserved people with mellow personalities helped them get along so well.

“What’s the name of that place that fixed your windshield when the gravel hit it on the interstate?”

“Galyen’s.” She answered. “They were quick and reasonably priced.”

“I’ll give them a call. Sheila’s been up to her tricks, and someone wanted revenge.”

“On her car?”

“You know how people are when they’re angry.”

“What did she do? Or should I ask?”

“Don’t ask. You know I don’t like to talk about it.”

“Did you two fight about it?”

Harvey didn’t answer, but stared into his papers and made some computer entries.

“No, of course not. You never said a word. She didn’t say anything either, did she? You’ll just fix it as usual. “

He didn’t reply or look up. Anita drew a long, silent breath, turned to her screen, and they both continued working intensely. After about 15 minutes, Harvey turned towards her desk and spoke in his husky voice, “You know me too well.” He turned back around, and they continued working.

At lunch time, he called Galyen’s and arranged to replace the windshield. He joined everyone else in the break room. Harvey was well-liked and respected among his fellow employees. He was a good worker, polite, honest, steady, and helpful. The women thought he was good-looking, but knew very well that he was a committed, married man.

Rural Retreat Engineering Group, Inc., was a small company. No more than twenty employees worked there. Most were engineers or drafts people. Some did the field work, visited the job sites, wooed the customers, and landed the deals. There was one accountant/office manager, one receptionist and general office worker. who had picked up their terminology and had learned tasks related to their occupation only. The rest all had degrees in math and engineering, with a variety of specialties. The owner thought of himself and his staff as an amiable group of “nerds”. They were problem solvers and logical thinkers.

Their personal lives for the most part were comfortable. Anita and Harvey both had dramatic personal lives. They managed to leave them at home. At work, they were happy and agreeable. They played well with others and were very reliable employees. If only their spouses had been worthy of them. They shared only with each other, sparing their coworkers from the daily drama scenes at home. What neither of them realized was that everyone knew in this small community that both had to be unhappy with their home life.

Harvey’s wife was beautiful and very noticeable. She’d had several high profile affairs and more the public didn’t know about. Harvey had made quite a bit of money with some very wise investments early in his career, while his children were small. He made a comfortable living, but the investments had made his family secure. His sons were getting an excellent education. They lived in a nice home. His wife didn’t want to leave that security and comfort, but craved excitement and attention. Harvey was patient, kind, and devoted. He was old-fashioned in his belief that once married always married. He’d never leave her, but would forgive her over and over, no matter the shame or hurt she brought him.

Some people felt sorry for him. He was a good man with an undeserving wife. Others thought he was a fool and a wimp. Anita knew his pain, but admired his strength, his convictions, his endurance, and his commitment. She felt this was what love was supposed to be, true devotion to the end, no matter what.
She couldn’t feel that way herself, although she tried to tell herself she should be more like Harvey.

The only thing high profile about her husband was that he was very successful in business. He traveled a lot, not just in the state but the whole East. He made plenty of money in land development and being a silent partner with other entrepreneurs. George was a handsome man who drew the ladies, not just for his looks, but his money and power. He liked to party and entertain business associates. It was easy to charm superficial women with outgoing personalities. Anita knew she didn’t fit in with that kind of women. So she generally stayed out of his business functions. She liked a simple, logical life. He was frequently absent. When he was home, he was disagreeable.

Anita was a natural beauty with a simple, elegant style. She was suspicious of George, believing he had casual affairs, but couldn’t find any proof. She didn’t need to work, but wanted to do so. She felt like she needed a safety net in case they split up. In fact, George didn’t spend a lot of money when it couldn’t be tied to business. As his wealth had grown, he had remained the same. Their home hadn’t changed. He didn’t start buying expensive clothes. He didn’t have a lot of toys, or buy jewelry for anyone. He just kept working, building his empire. They had no children on whom to lavish their attention, so they both worked. No one meeting them for the first time would have dreamed that either could retire today and be very comfortable for the rest of their lives.

While Harvey’s wife was a blatant cheater with a flair for drama, but made no money, Anita’s husband was probably a cheater who knew discretion, and had a flair for making money. Harvey’s wife needed Harvey’s money. Anita’s husband did not need Anita’s money. Harvey was patient, forgiving, long-suffering. Anita was ready to throw in the towel.

Today everyone was talking about the mayor. By afternoon, it was on the media. His wife had gone on record without naming the woman. But all the folks at the engineering company knew it was Harvey’s wife. Harvey knew that they all knew, but no one discussed it in his presence. He acted as though nothing had happened.

In mid-afternoon, Anita had a call on her cell, which hardly ever happened.

“Hello?” Her voice was soft and soothing to Harvey. “You just got back late last night. You’re leaving already?. . . Yes, I understand. Business is business. If they’re having a crisis, you have to go. So you won’t be there when I get home?”

There was a long pause. Harvey straightened his shoulders and pretended not to listen.

“Thanks. I’m glad you took care of that. I don’t mind pushing the lawn mower, but I hate pulling weeds. Do I need to give him a check or did you take care of it? . . . OK. You’ve already packed? . . . Hmm, mmm. Well, have a safe trip. Maybe next time you’re home, we can go out to dinner or something. . . .Sure. Bye.”

She put away her cell without saying anything.

“Sorry, I couldn’t help overhearing. You gonna be alone this weekend?”

She never looked up, but refreshed her screen. “Yeah, I guess he’s made a new friend in Connecticut who needed him this weekend. He claims one of his latest ventures needs his expert advice or something like that. He was home less than 24 hours.”

She was entering statistics for a technical drawing.

“You know I don’t mind his absence so much. When I’m feeling lonely, I do, but when he’s there, I kind of like it when he’s in his study or at the bank or playing golf. This sounds weird to me, but I like knowing that he’s there or around, but I don’t want to be with him. You think I’m bad?”

“No. I think you’ve gotten accustomed to not having him there. So when he is there, it interrupts your routine.”

She turned and looked at him.

“I think you nailed it. You know me better than I know myself. I really don’t want to be in the same room with him, but at least he’s home. It’s not so lonesome. I feel like he’s having little flings all over the place, no real ongoing affairs. So I don’t want to be with him intimately.”

She paused to let her own words sink in. “Sounds like the marriage is over.”

Harvey turned back to his work. “I’m sorry, Anita. I don’t know what to tell you. I wish it could be better. For both of us.”

“It will be eventually. At least for me. I’m biding my time, waiting for the right moment. Maybe he’ll give me some reason. Or he’ll ask out. I don’t know why he’s hanging on. He doesn’t seem to be interested in me. I just represent home base.”

Harvey adjusted some papers and squinted at his screen. Backing up, he said, “You know, I think there’s more hope for you than for me. You’re willing to change, to make a big change. You’re just not rushing into it. My beliefs, my conviction is that I have to endure. It’s unlikely that I will ever change. I will hang on and be abused until I die, or she leaves me, which she won’t do unless she can have all my investments and leave me penniless. As it is, she has access to everything I have. She has access to everything I will continue to make. A good husband hangs on even to a faithless wife.”

“Oh, Harvey, you can’t mean that. You don’t have to stay in a loveless marriage. You won’t change her by waiting patiently, hoping she’ll love you the way you love her. A love like that, well, it’s not really love. An obsession, maybe. It sounds like a perversion. Maybe you should get . . .”

“Don’t tell me I need counseling. We tried marriage counseling, years ago. The counselor told me to let her go, at least until she went through some intensive therapy. I’m aware of all that. I never said I still love her. I did when I married her. She was beautiful and still is. But I made a commitment, through sickness. She has a type of sickness. I don’t stay with her for love. I stay with her because I gave my word. That means everything to me. I honor my commitments. My sons are almost grown, so my family is not my excuse. It’s my word. My word. How can I live with my own conscience if my word means nothing?”

Anita had tears in her eyes, but she said nothing. She gazed blindly at her computer screen. Harvey turned back to his work numbly. As the minutes passed, each began to focus on the work. The afternoon passed quietly. A lot of work was done. No expression of what they felt for each other was ever made