He was at the office early the next day, a Monday.

Green was there before him. They were alone, The secretaries had not arrived.

"I hope your trip was just half as successful as mine, Lafe. It’s all ready." He looked at Lafe expectantly.

"It was a good trip, a very good trip." As it had been, for Pride. New York had been ready to deal. Pride had a reputation there. He had a reputation there.

"I have a little surprise for you, Lafe. I came back a few days early, You know how I am. Once I decide to do something I do it."

Lafe knew what was coming. He had been expecting it.

He took a deep breath and sat down. Yes, he was ready for it. What was coming would mean he would have even less time for family. It all fit. No time for family and, he knew now, what had happened in New York was the end of sex for him.

Green was somber, as he tended to be on important occasions. "You know I’ll be retiring next year. And we both know how important an orderly transition is, especially now. Well, my old friend, my young old friend, the transition is starting as of this moment. I set it all up with the board when I got back. The company is yours." Green broke into a big smile. "I suppose you’ll be the youngest president of a major corporation in the country, maybe the world."

The promotion had been a foregone conclusion for a long time. Everyone at the top of Pride know it. And both men knew they were only acting out an inevitability. They started talking Immediately, as if nothing had changed, about the future of the company.

After an hour Lafe rose to leave.

Green glanced at him, then away. "Lafe, I'm sorry about the family."

How did he know?

"I don't know quite how to say this ... She came to see me to talk about it. Surprised the hell out of me. First time she's ever been up here, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Lafe, I had to tell you, so you'd know everything is always in the open between us. All I told her was to do whatever she wanted, women are so damn emotional, to do whatever she wanted but that I thought she was making a big mistake. I told her she was a fool to leave a man like you. Shit, Lafe, she shouted a lot. I had to get one of the secretaries to get her calmed down."

Lafe was silent.

"It doesn't mean a hill of beans, Lafe. You know that, don't you? You know none of us have a family life worth shit. I mean, there's a surface, a facade we all put up but it's empty. And you know why is it's just not that important. Oh we try, we take care of them, get them whatever they need--but this, this, here, is what counts, Lafe, This is it. This is where we live, really live. Every day when I come through that door I come to life. It's like walking in from a bad dream out there. Here's where we live, Lafe and the best is yet to come."