CHAPTER 36

I closed the office early the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. The house had been completely cleaned and Sara and I had bought everything the weekend prior. I'd have two pounds of jumbo shrimp and a variety of raw vegetables in addition to chips with onion dip and nuts as snacks before dinner. Mom had agreed to come over around ten that morning to help with the meal. I had cleaned and rinsed the twenty-pound turkey on Tuesday night, saving the heart and liver for the soup I planned to make on Friday morning.

Sara and I drove into the village for bacon and egg sandwiches at the deli early Thanksgiving morning then we set to cutting the vegetables and making the dip, setting out bowls of nuts and chips and peeling all of the potatoes we would need to boil for mashing later in the day.

Mom arrived, bringing Dad who promptly sat down in the living room to watch the Macy's Parade on TV. I loved my father, but he was essentially useless in a situation like this—better if he could just stay out of our way. Mom had brought her sensational stuffing in addition to some traditional Gotti family treats, like the creamed onions that I loved. I stuffed the bird and covered it with strips of thick bacon to keep the meat moist before placing the heavy load into one of the two ovens in my stove. The remaining stuffing went into a ceramic bowl for baking later then Mom and Sara made a small tray of candied sweet potatoes.

Sara and Natalie arrived at two and I could see immediately that our parents would get along famously. That was only magnified when they learned that we were trying to become pregnant. I actually saw my father cry. To this day I still don't know how the subject was breached, but all of a sudden the room was deathly silent and a second later there was hysteria. Cara hugged me first then Natalie took a turn, followed almost immediately by my mom who would have hugged me sooner had she not been hugging Sara at the time. I broke the spell by bringing out the tray of shrimp.

We ate dinner at five sitting around the large table in the formal dining room. My house was big in almost every regard—five good-sized bedrooms , three full baths, an eat-in kitchen and a large dining room to supplement the living room that had two couches—one a sectional--and three chairs in addition to the fireplace and large flat screen TV.

We took turns before eating, telling each other what we were thankful for. There were the usual—my dad's health, new job for Natalie, potential grandchildren for both sets of parents. Not surprisingly, I went last. "I think that mostly I'm thankful that I have a secretary who loves me enough to trick me into a relationship with her sister and, of course, I'm thankful that the relationship between Sara and me has worked out so well. I had lost hope and trust and found it again almost overnight. So, now I think we should be quiet and eat." And that's exactly what we did. Well, we did eat, but there was plenty of lively conversation, especially about the future heirs. All we had to do now was deliver.

It was after dinner that Natalie told us about her meeting with Sheldon Mayer and how she had trapped the prime asshole who had been her supervisor. "Shelly gave me a miniature recorder to keep in my pocket. Our lunch kept me away from the office much longer than allowed so I did hear from Jonathan when I returned.

He really let me have it, but unknown to him I was recording the entire conversation. He threatened to have me fired if I didn't come across. I asked him how many times he had tried to force me into sex with him. The fool admitted that he had been after me from the first time he had come into the office. It went on and on and it was all on tape. So, as instructed by Shelly, I told him I'd do it tomorrow, but only if he was able to get a room at the Smithtown Sheraton. He told me he'd be there and how much better I would be than his 'fat slob of a wife.' Those were his exact words.

"I took the rest of the afternoon off after gathering my few personal belongings. Of course, I never showed at the hotel and, following Shelly's instructions I never returned to the job. Instead, Shelly showed up, insisting on speaking with Mr. Barnes—the agency's owner. He told me that he was in the office for more than an hour and when he left he had a check for $100,000 to avoid a messy lawsuit and possible criminal prosecution. Jonathan was fired that same day and my friends there have told me that his wife was livid when she heard his remarks. She's thrown him to the curb…just what he deserved. When Shelly delivered my check I asked him what his fee was. I was really surprised when he said he'd like to take me to dinner and that was all. I thought about the great time I'd had at lunch so I agreed. I'm seeing him again tomorrow night. You were right, John. Shelly is an extremely interesting man."

I thought that was great. Shelly Mayer was a great guy who was married to his job. He was even a bigger nerd than I was, but he could be funny as hell and he was a real gentleman. I hadn't hoped for any connection between Natalie and Shelly when I suggested that she meet with him, but maybe I had been able to get two birds with but a single stone.

The rest of the day was just as great. We set the table again around nine for turkey sandwiches and pie. Mom had really outdone herself by baking apple and pumpkin pies, and making a chocolate cream, too. That had always been my favorite so I had two pieces. We bid everyone good night around eleven and I knew that I was blushing terribly when Natalie told us, "Be sure to practice a lot. We really want that grandbaby you're going to make." Mom and Dad laughed like hell and after a few seconds Sara and I joined them, but my face still showed my extreme embarrassment. Once everyone had gone Sara pulled me up the stairs, stripping my clothes with every step. We followed directions very carefully—several times, in fact.