Unrestrained Behavior: The Pleasure and Risk of Choice (The 'Un'missable Series Book 3)

by Jerry Summers

  Covering her disgust, she says, “Jim, how are you?”

  “I’m fine. I hear you’re in town, can we get together?”

  “I’m spending the day with Bonnie and flying back to San Diego in the morning, so I really don’t have any time for you. Maybe next time.”

  “I figured you would try to put me off, but I have some business matters I need to speak with you about soon, per your rules according to Mona. I’m going to be in San Diego next Monday can we have dinner then?”

  “Fine,” she grinds out between her teeth. “Call me Monday morning and we will arrange a time for dinner. There’s a new restaurant that I want to try that supposedly has great sea bass. Will that work for you?”

  “Perfect. I love a great sea bass filet. Thanks for agreeing to meet with me, and I promise after this meeting, if you don’t ever want to speak with me, I’ll honor your request and never bother you again. Fair enough?”

  She rolls her eyes, realizing that this promise is probably empty. “Sure. I’ll give you the address of the restaurant Monday. I can’t remember the name of it right now. Buh-bye, now.” After they hang up Wendy turns to Bonnie, asking, “What business does he have to discuss with me?”

  “Probably none. He just wants to try one last time.”

  “Yeah, it would be just like him to pull that kind of low life trick.”

  Bonnie shrugs. “That’s enough about that douche bag. Dinner’s ready.”

  They spend the rest of the evening talking, and Wendy takes the time to tell Bonnie how much she loves her and would do anything to protect her. She expresses how much she truly appreciates her insights and advice on relationships.

  After dinner, they enjoy the cannoli and coffee spiked with brandy before saying good night and heading off to bed. It’s the first time in a really long time Bonnie sleeps peacefully throughout the night and wakes up truly refreshed.

  She makes a light breakfast of epic proportion with bagels, cream cheese, smoked salmon, and red onion for Wendy.

  Wendy walks out into the kitchen and is surprised to see all the preparations Bonnie has made.

  “This is why I always hate leaving, it seems you go out of your way to make it difficult for me to say good-bye,” Wendy says, accepting a cup of coffee from Bonnie.

  “I rarely get the chance to do this, so allow me this one little indulgence. Besides, I used to love getting up and making Mark a special breakfast before he went out of town. I guess it’s my way of showing you that you have something special to come back to.”

  “Honey, you don’t have to make me breakfast for me to know that, but thank you. It is truly very special to me that you would go to such an effort.”

  “I do it because I love you, and you’re welcome.”

  Wendy simply hugs her, enjoys the breakfast, and promises to call Bonnie after she has dinner with Jim to let her know what they discuss. Bonnie drives her to the airport and wishes her a great weekend then heads off to the office.

  CHAPTER 20

  bass attack

  Jim calls Wendy’s cell phone on Monday morning and gets the location of the restaurant. When Wendy arrives, she finds Jim has reserved a booth towards the back of the restaurant and away from most of the clatter. Wendy gives him a quick kiss on the cheek and hugs him. He is somewhat surprised by her display of affection and seems puzzled.

  Wendy shoots him a look. “Is something bothering you?”

  “Well, the hug and kiss for one. I thought you hated me.”

  “I don’t hate you, I hate what you did,” she replies matter-of-factly.

  “Then I have to ask, is there a chance we can get passed that and start dating again?”

  She sighs. “Let’s just take things slowly. What you did has destroyed my self-confidence.”

  “I never intended for that to happen, and I’m sorry.”

  The server comes to the table then. “What can I get you two to drink? Is this a special occasion, because that’s the vibe I’m getting from you,” she says with a smile.

  Wendy chuckles and explains. “Well, we were dating, but we broke up. Now we’re hoping we can work out our differences and start fresh.”

  Jim’s expression is one of total shock, not expecting anything as wonderful as that. He orders a gin and tonic, and Wendy orders a bottle of Chardonnay. When the server returns, Jim proposes a toast to fresh starts and Wendy leans in a gives him a soft kiss.

  “So what did you want to talk with me about?” she asks after a moment.

  “Well, I have been approached and offered a job at MEC. It’s a great offer. The salary is the same, but I’d also be getting a ten percent bonus for the dollars raised and fifteen percent for any money I recruit away from SERF.”

  “Interesting. What are you going to do?”

  “I don’t know, now that there may be a chance we can get back together.”

  “Why would our relationship, or lack thereof, have anything to do with your business decision?”

  The server arrives to take their order, and Wendy orders the sea bass filet. Jim follows her lead, but asks for additional vegetables rather than rice pilaf.

  “Anyway, I just figured I could make a lot more money winning the dollars back to MEC that I raised for SERF. If SERF doesn’t want to lose the exceptional work I did for them, they should raise my bonus percentage to fifteen percent.”

  “Well, regardless of what happens between us in the future, you need to know that as a board member I will never agree to raise your percentage to fifteen percent.”

  “Why is that?” he asks, bemused.

  “Because what you are doing, in my estimation, is really sleazy, and trying to extort additional dollars from the people I love is just wrong. So if you want more money, my suggestion would be to go to MEC and do your best.”

  “You know, none of this is personal.”

  “I know, I know. It’s all about business and the money.”

  “Exactly!”

  “Then you’ve got to do what’s best for you, and SERF has got to decide what’s best for us. You must believe me when I say, it really is nothing personal.” Then, Wendy offers a toast raising her glass to Jim, and leans in and kisses him. “To new beginnings and focusing on what’s best for us, without regrets.”

  “Perfect toast. I’m so glad you understand me, Wendy.”

  They chat for a few minutes until their food arrives.

  She smiles and takes a bite of her meal. “Wow! This fish is awesome.”

  Jim follows her lead and takes several bites. After a moment, he clears his throat, takes a sip of gin, and looks concerned.

  Wendy watches him without emotion. “Everything okay?” she asks.

  Jim reaches up to his throat, clawing at it and making the universal sign for someone choking.

  Wendy slides over next to him, reaches into her jacket pocket, retrieves a syringe, and injects the contents into his hip. He gives her a panicked look as he becomes fully conscious of the fact that he is now unable to move or breathe, while still being aware of his surroundings.

  Wendy leans into him and whispers in his ear, “It’s Succinylcholine, a strong paralytic that will release histamines which will exasperate your bronchoconstriction caused by the bass. The paralysis you’re feeling is because it’s also a mild anesthesia. Poor Jim. You forgot to ask about the bass. It was pan-seared in peanut oil. Soon, all of this together will lead to cardiac arrest.”

  She pauses as Jim lays his head on her shoulder and she feels him begin to spasm. Then she continues to whisper. “I swore after my father committed suicide I would never let anyone hurt or steal from the people I love. Not even the man I made love to and trusted. Good-bye, Jim.”

  She allows him to slide off of her as she sees the server heading in their direction. Quickly, she grabs the Epi-pen from Jim’s left jacket pocket and slams it into the seat cushion underneath him, discharging its contents, then yells for someone to help her.

  The server rushes over now, and Wendy
tells her to call 911 while another customer helps Wendy pull Jim onto the floor. After making sure everyone sees he is not breathing, Wendy begins mouth to mouth while the customer tells her he has a pulse. Wendy watches as each breath delivers the customary rise and fall of the patient’s chest as air reaches the lungs but she knows, with each breath, life is losing its grip.

  By the time paramedics arrive four minutes later, Jim’s face is ashen and there is a slight bluish tint to his lips. Checking for a pulse, they find none and have Wendy move back while they administer the AED shocks, to no avail. They intubate him and begin quickly loading him onto a gurney in order to rush him to the hospital. One paramedic pulls himself away to ask Wendy several questions in quick succession.

  “He just started choking, and he told me if that ever happened I should get his Epi-pen. So I did, and stuck it in his hip, but it didn’t seem to help. After that, we got him on the floor and I began mouth to mouth, and for a while he had a pulse. What happened?”

  The paramedic considers for a moment. “He had an Epi-pen. What is he allergic to?”

  “He said he was allergic to peanuts. But we were eating fish! I’m so confused,” Wendy says, allowing a little hysteria to creep into her voice.

  As the paramedics are rushing Jim out the door, one of them says, “Could you please stay and give his basic information to the police? They’ll be here in a moment.”

  “Yes, of course. After that I’ll meet you at the hospital,” Wendy replies, then turns to the crowd of customers that have gathered at the scene. “Excuse me. I need to go throw-up,” she says and rushes toward the bathroom.

  Once there, she moves quickly into a stall, and a woman follows her into the bathroom. Wendy closes the stall door, drops the syringe into the toilet, sticks her fingers down her throat, and vomits several times. She flushes and watches as the syringe disappears, then waits a few more seconds and flushes the toilet again.

  As she walks out of the stall and over to the sink to rinse her mouth and wash her face, the woman who followed her introduces herself.

  “Hi, my name’s Sarah. Can I help in any way?”

  Wendy gives her a shaky shrug and leaves the restroom. Sarah walks with Wendy back out into the restaurant and into a ring of police officers.

  Wendy introduces herself to the patrol officer and answers each of his questions.

  The server, hearing that Jim was allergic to peanuts, asks Wendy, “Did Jim read the menu? It clearly identifies in the small print that we fry our fish in peanut oil.”

  Wendy plasters a horrified look on her face. “Neither of us looked closely at the menu. Our focus was just on enjoying our date.”

  The officers interject again, and as soon as she has answered all of their questions, she rushes to the hospital. Upon arrival, she is ushered into a private office. Within seconds the doctor arrives and informs her Jim has died.

  “I’m sorry, ma’am. We did everything we could to save him. Why didn’t you use the second Epi-pen?”

  “What second Epi-pen? Jim only carried one, and it was always in his left pocket. I used the only Epi-pen he had with him.”

  “Individuals with this type of sensitivity know they should always carry two Epi-pens with them at all times.”

  Wendy shakes her head morosely. “Jim has never carried two of them with him for as long as I have known him.”

  “That’s unfortunate. If he had followed the instructions I’m sure he received, it might have made a difference in the outcome today.”

  Wendy begins to cry as the doctor leaves, and a nurse comes in to determine Jim’s next of kin. She gives the nurse Jim’s parents’ names and phone numbers, asking, “What is going to happen with Jim’s body? I’ll take care of any costs not covered by the insurance.”

  The nurse explains, “Since this was a physician attended death, the hospital will conduct an autopsy tomorrow to determine the actual cause of death. After that his body will be released.”

  The two of them make arrangements for his body to be delivered to a local funeral home after the autopsy so his parents can decide on the next steps. The nurse calls Jim’s parents and tells them about his death and introduces them to Wendy via telephone.

  Wendy expresses her condolences. “What would you like done with Jim’s body?”

  His mother tells Wendy Jim wanted to be cremated.

  “Okay, Mrs. Bush, I can have him cremated in San Diego, and then the funeral home can ship his remains directly to you.”

  Jim’s dad asks, “How much is something like that going to cost?”

  Wendy hears the tentative nature of the question and replies, “Don’t even worry about it. I have it covered.”

  After a few moments of protest that Wendy will not succumb to, they both express their gratitude. “We can’t thank you enough for doing something like this for our boy,” Jim’s father says, and Wendy can hear his mother crying in the background.

  Wendy makes the arrangements that once the hospital has completed the autopsy they can call the funeral home to pick up his body. Wendy then instructs the funeral home to cremate Jim as soon as they pick him up and send his ashes to his parents so they can hold a service for their only child.

  After all arrangements are made and paperwork is signed, Wendy returns home. She makes herself a couple of Snakebites and drinks them before calling Bonnie to give her the news about Jim’s death.

  After explaining what happened and how she tried to stop the allergic reaction, she reveals to Bonnie that Jim had decided to ask for a fifteen percent bonus from SERF to not accept MEC’s job offer.

  “Jesus, what a sleazebag!” Bonnie exclaims, then cringes. “Sorry, I shouldn’t speak ill of the dead. What did you say?”

  “That it was nothing personal, but SERF would do what was best for itself and I couldn’t have much to do with it anyway,” Wendy replies.

  “Never mind about all the business crap. How are you doing? This whole incident has to be devastating to you.”

  “Well, of course it is! And especially disappointing,” Wendy says, tears clouding her voice.

  “What do you mean?”

  “When I first met Jim for dinner, I had decided if things went well and I liked his answers, I would try and overcome the infidelity and begin dating him again. But our conversation was interrupted by his allergic reaction and all we were really able to discuss was the business matter he brought up. He seemed okay with going to MEC, which I told him I thought was a sleazy move on his part but I didn’t want to focus on business.” She pauses, sniffling. “I wanted to see if we could work out our differences, and if there was any possibility of continuing a personal relationship, but we never got that far into our discussion because the egotistical ass died!”

  “Well, I don’t think Jim planned on dying to avoid this conversation with you,” Bonnie says, only partly sarcastically.

  “Probably not, but you know what I mean. Once again there is no real closure for me, and it pisses me off that I’ll never get answers to any of my questions.”

  “Maybe it’s better this way.”

  “How can that be?”

  “This way, Jim will always be the asshole who cheated on you in your bed. In the long run, there will be fewer regrets about what might have been or what could have been.”

  “Hmmm, I hadn’t thought of it in those terms. Perhaps, you’re right and thank you for pointing that out to me.”

  “You’re very welcome, and I’m glad I was able to help in some small way.”

  “You always have the right words at the right time.”

  Bonnie sighs. “Hopefully that will help me in the coming days. I need to notify everyone about Jim’s death and will call you tomorrow after you receive the autopsy results verifying the actual cause. Sean will hold a press conference about this tragedy. I’m sure you’re going to be inundated with media calls on Wednesday after the press conference, so you better let Mona know so she’s prepared to handle the shit that’s going to hit th
e proverbial fan in La Jolla.”

  “Oh, man, you’re right. Thanks. I hadn’t thought of any of that. I’ll call Mona right now, and we can talk later.”

  After they hang up, both go to work making the necessary notifications. Sean gets to work contacting the press and setting up the necessary press conference for eleven o’clock Wednesday morning in his office, Bonnie notifies every employee at SERF, and when Mona hears Wendy’s story she offers to bring the kids over and be with her.

  Wendy declines politely. “There’s no need to disturb the kids. Besides, I’ve been drinking since I got home and I don’t want your kids to have to see me this drunk.”

  “All right, then we’re going to talk this through on the phone until I’m satisfied you’re okay to be alone tonight.”

  “Mona, I’m fine.”

  “Did you get to talk about anything? What business item did he want to talk to you about? Or was that just a ruse to get you to have dinner with him?”

  “He wanted to talk to me about a job offer he received from MEC and to see if I would support his attempt to extort a raise from SERF. We didn’t get to talk about anything else before he died.”

  “Well, I know it’s not good to speak ill of the dead, but what a complete douche bag. Really, he was trying to get you to support him? I hope you told him not only no, but hell no, and you were surprised he asked.”

  “Funny, that’s almost exactly what Bonnie said. I didn’t tell him that in those terms, but I did tell him some other stuff that shouldn’t be said now that he’s passed. I stuck by SERF because that’s my job.”

  “So you didn’t get to ask any personal questions about your relationship with him?”

  “No, we hadn’t gotten that far in our conversation.”

  “Well, that’s too bad.”

  “Perhaps. But Bonnie pointed out that it’s probably for the better because now there won’t be any regrets about what could have been with him.”

  “There shouldn’t have been any anyway. He was an asshole, and he’s lucky you didn’t cut his penis off in front of his boyfriend. I know I would have been tempted to do so.”