His Appeal

Chapter One

Doug Masters was bored, and that was a very bad thing.  At 31 he was one of the youngest partners of a major law firm in the country.  He had great friends and enjoyed his godchildren as if they were his own.  He never lacked for female companionship and had even been involved in one or two serious relationships.  But something was missing.

Doug looked around his boring, bland office with the fish tank wall and expensive chairs.  Disgust filled him when his gaze landed on the pre-nuptial agreement on his desk.  It was more like a divorce decree before the wedding, the couple bickered over the details so much.

With a heavy sigh, Doug tried to recall the last time he’d done anything he felt was worthwhile.  Mentally sifting through cases and contracts, pre-nups and divorces, Doug realized the last time he’d felt passionate about his job was when he was fighting for Camille.  He still had a bad taste in his mouth from the way that ended, with Camille just giving up the fight.  She’d even forced he and Thad to drop all attempts to purchase the nursing home.

Doug grabbed his jacket and strode out of his office.  He didn’t know where he was going or what he was going to do, but he knew if he sat there another minute he would begin drawing up the dissolution of partnership paperwork he’d been contemplating for the last year.

**** 

Doug glanced in his rearview mirror one last time before deciding that losing the jacket and tie, unbuttoning his shirt collar, and rolling up his sleeves would have to suffice.  The parking lot he was sitting in belonged to a middle class bar where you rarely saw anyone in a business suit.  But going home to an empty condo wasn’t going to help his mood and he wasn’t fit company for his godchildren at the moment.

Stepping out of his car, he hit the auto lock, and made his way into the smoky barroom.  As he pushed to the bar, Doug took in the crowd.  For a Thursday afternoon, the place was fairly packed.  He supposed it was a good way to judge the economy.  Good or bad, bars always had business; but how early that business got rolling in the day or during the week often was better than any flow chart a high paid economist could draw up.

“Guinness on tap?” Doug asked the bartender.  The man didn’t respond, just grabbed a clean glass and began the slow pour of the thick Irish lager.  When his drink hit the bar in front of him, Doug watched the foamy head disappear into dark waves of liquid before putting it to his mouth.

Spinning around on his barstool, Doug took note of the drinkers.  Many sat at tables alone, pretending interest on the same sportscast that had been looping since Sunday.  He surmised that he wasn’t that much different from the people here.  Sure, his problems weren’t monetary, but he was unsatisfied and unhappy nonetheless.

A glance across the room and a meeting of eyes caused Doug to groan internally.  He quickly averted his gaze from the woman he’d accidentally locked stares with a second ago.  There was an unwritten rule in bar etiquette that if you held a gaze for more than ten seconds it was an invitation.  Doug wasn’t looking for a hook up nor was he interested in a bored housewife who came out to prowl mid-afternoon.

Another long swallow of his draft had Doug hoping he wasn’t sinking back into depression; if he was, drinking wasn’t going to improve the situation.  Very few knew that the normally lighthearted joker had battled clinical depression for most of his life.  Countless therapists had tried to figure out a root cause, but no one could find anything more specific than a lack of self-esteem due to a higher intelligence than his peers.  Even at ten, Doug knew they were just trying to find a nice way to say he was a nerd.

Thad coming into his life had made a huge impact, though.  Fifteen and the smartest kid in college, he’d made a few enemies right off the bat.  But for some reason, the 18-year-old, larger than life Thaddeus Kline had taken him under his wing.  Doug learned to mask his feelings of inadequacy with humor until one day he realized that he truly enjoyed joking around.