We were laughing so hard it hurt. The fact that we were sitting outdoors at Jess Café in Paris, across from the Cathedral Notre Dame had very little to do with the great time we were having. OK, it didn’t hurt. But the real reason for my joy was a godly husband and a chance to serve God together in a place I knew we belonged. During a comfortable pause in the conversation and I asked, “Remember where we were a year ago?”
“Let me think . . . arriving on the plane from the States, anticipating this very excellent day?”
“No, just before that.”
“You mean the mess we left behind?”
“Do you think they’ll ever sort it out?”
“Not without you. And you’re all mine now! Well,…”he said looking up,” all mine down here, anyhow!” We laughed again and then smiled a quiet, satisfied smile.
It was hard to believe that only a year ago I was the supervisor of a small insurance call center in Texas, tearing my hair out over customers that couldn’t make up their minds and agents that didn’t check their work or were outright shady. The people I worked with were fine, but my heart was elsewhere. I had prayed for months–years! — to go to Turkey or France as a missionary but nothing happened. Always the answer came back “Wait,” or simply silence.
Even so, it wasn’t all bad. There were some interesting agents, and with the opportunity to talk on the phone or IM for business issues, there also were opportunities for socializing. Not a lot, not often, but there were a few guys that were… interesting. There were two in particular. One was very helpful when any computer-related problem came up. But Sean–he was an agent in a nearby city– who had been very helpful at first, got almost weird in his suggestions on how to improve the workings of the computer system that kept the call center up and running. The less we asked his help, the more anxious he was to give it. And the less we took it, the more irritable he seemed to get. His insurance policy production for us began to suffer too, declining in volume with an increasing error rate. He said it was someone fooling with his system, but he could never come up with a name or a confirmed instance of how. And being the expert he was, it was hard to imagine who could get anything past him. We eventually had to end our relationship with his agency due to financial irregularities. We hated to let him go, and missed his technical help.
And then there was Tom. God! How do you describe perfection? Had enough looks, money, cars and credit to make you drool. And he was actually interested in me! We talked, then IM’ed and finally we had lunch. I introduced him to my roommates. They were jealous and very happy for me. He and I had dinner, then several dinners and he became the only thing I talked about. My roommates began to question my “obsession” with him and his attentiveness to me. I chalked it up to jealousy. Finally, it happened.
“I have to go out of town for two weeks of business. When I come back, I want to bring you a ring. What do you say?”
“A ring?” I was so dense! It didn’t occur to me he meant something more than a present.
“Tina, the last few weeks have been great, like a vacation, only better. Much better. Business has always been my driving passion, but since I met you, I realize I have been filling my life with it, just to avoid the loneliness. I still love what I do, but I want more than a vacation. I want to make this permanent. Will you marry me?”
My head spun. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It sounded like a romance novel. But I was the heroine! The first thing that tumbled out of my mouth was:
“What about my job?”
“I know you are needed where you are, and I know this is sudden. But what if,… Well, I mean, someday they would have to replace you anyhow, wouldn’t they? “
Then things began to happen at work.
At first there were just little things. A phone would suddenly disconnect. A fax would never arrive even though we had a confirmation sheet. Annoying, but nothing more. Later that week the system slowed for no apparent reason, making business difficult to conduct. Then all the phones would cut off and come right back, making it look as if we all had hung up on the agents who we were talking to.
By Tuesday of the second week of Tom’s trip, I was ready to pull my hair out. The fax machines were possessed, sending one page through and not the next. The system seemed to be dropping and adding cars at will. Payment screens were all jacked up. And the phones were full of a horrible static that no one could cure. Serious business was impossible. Then Sean called.
It was Wednesday, about 2:30 and I was in my office. I had just gotten off the phone with an agent and a screaming customer with a claims issue on a canceled policy that had no reason to be canceled. My phone rang and I wasn’t going to pick it up until Mike yelled from the other room, “This one’s for you alone! And he’s not mad!”
I picked it up, “This is Tina. May I help you?”
“Tina? This is Sean.”
“Hi Sean. We’re kinda busy right now. How can I help you?”
“Tina, I know why you’re busy. It’s the same thing that put me out of business.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Sean. Is there something I can do for you regarding Texas Auto? If not, I need to get back…”
“Dammit! Listen! Someone we both know is trying to run you out of business like he did me. I know because until today I was a part of it. But an old customer of mine called and said her policy is all screwed up after a fatality accident and asked me to help…”
“Sean, I can’t talk right now. Have her call the Help Desk herself and I will take care of it per..”
“Are you even listening?! I said it’s Tom. I’m working for him, or I was working for him. Or with him. He drove me out and now he going to take you all out…”
“Goodbye Sean.” I hung up. He’s gone completely mad, I thought. The last thing Tom would do is hurt Texas Auto. He’s made more money off us than anyone. I wish he would call. I miss him.
Less than half an hour later he did call, from Atlanta.
“Do you still love me?” He purred.
“Oh, God! Come rescue me! This is a madhouse. I don’t care if they do need me. I’m going nuts! I turned in my resignation last Wednesday and it’s been a madhouse ever since!”
“Suppose it’s a sign not to leave?”
“NO! Maybe a confirmation that I should! This is insane!”
I could hear him smile. “Been to the best jeweler in town and found the biggest diamond in town that you could decently wear. Interested?”
“Yes! Just come liberate me! I’d take a cigar band right about now! It’s been a madhouse ever since you left.”
“I’ll be home Monday 10 a.m. Can you meet me?”
“Can you stop me?” I laughed. “What would they do to me? Fire me?”
“Gotta go. Another call coming in. See you then.”
“Bye.”
Just hearing Tom’s voice gave me the energy to finish the day. One of the girls asked me who I had been talking to. She said that look could mean only one thing. She was right! I was in love, madly in love. And only five more days til I felt his arms around me again!
The rest of the work week was just as bad as the first part. It was as if the place was coming unglued. Agents began to write business with other companies, citing the impossibility of service and even questioning our ability to keep records. Part of me cared, but then I would think of Tom and married life. A housewife. Me. Wow! I smiled in spite of myself. Actual time to breath. No one screaming at me from the phone. No carrot cake from Jen’s Catering either. That was one of the downsides: no more fellowship with the people at the office.
Friday afternoon I had the radio on and heard a news flash about a suspicious suicide on the east side of the city. They didn’t mention the name, but I had a horrible feeling. On the evening news, they told the name. It was Sean. I called Tom, needing to talk to someone, but got only voice mail. My roommates were all out on Friday-nighters. When Tom did call back he seemed distant, or maybe it was just the news. I couldn’t tell. When I told him what Sean had accused him of, he got really quiet and then said he really must have gone over the edge. He confessed they had been working together, to get Sean’s agency going again. “He must have cracked under the strain,” was his last comment on that. Then he said he’d come back early, but probably the soonest would be a Saturday night flight. I slept on the couch that night.
What happened next that night is sort of a blur. I barely stirred when my roommates came in, but later I became aware of someone standing over me. Thinking it was one of them checking on me, I mumbled something and rolled over. Then I felt strong hands on my throat. I tried to struggle and scream but couldn’t. As I was sinking into unconsciousness, I remembered hearing my little dog Tyla barking and then a crash.
I woke up in the hospital, and found a burglar had broken in and tried to strangle me. The dog had awakened a roommate who had hit the guy over the head with a lamp. It actually knocked him out, can you believe it! Broke the lamp, but who cares. It was long enough for the police to get there and take him away.
The scariest thing was that when the police began to investigate, they found the suicide was a hit job and our burglar was the hit man— hired by Tom! Sean had been right: he was doing his best to drive the company out and set up his own. In fact, most of the groundwork was done. That was when Sean blew his cover and he had to try to finish the job quickly. He got rid of Sean and almost got rid me after I found out about it. But the best part of the story? The investigator was a man on his last case, getting ready to end his police career and go as a missionary to-can you believe it?-France! And we, well… here we are in Paris! It is less than a year later, we are married, with Tyla and her puppies and a child of our one on the way!
Life hasn’t always been some kind of fairy tale for me. There were times before that last year at the insurance company…well, lets just say that was only one of many thrilling events. Believe me, there were more. Many more. But those stories are for another time. Today, all I can say is, thank God for being so-o-o good to me!