Short Stories

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The Deal
By Micheal D. Woodruff


“The dang meeting lasted for fourteen hours and all we got out of it was a big fat maybe.” Johnson threw his suitcase on the hotel bed and rung his hands through his hair.

“Most of the time a maybe ends up being a no.” His wife said. “I’ve been with you on these trips enough to know that.”

Johnson paced the floor, still wringing his hair. “If this deal falls through I’m finished. No more room service for you, no more fancy trips and no more of your shopping sprees. It will be dirt eating time and God knows what that will be like.” His wife tried to rub his shoulders but he jerked away.

“Everything will be fine.” She said. “Just wait and see.” His irritation started to rub off on her and she snatched her purse. “I’m going out, maybe you’ll calm down by the time I get back.” She slammed the door behind her. Maybe she was right, he thought. But the facts remained the same. Ninety nine percent of the time when you’ve been in a meeting that long it falls through. This time would be the last. She was too much into herself to stay with someone who couldn’t pull a deal but even worse she wouldn’t stay with him if the bank account fell. Her shopping was what she enjoyed, not him, and without the money she had no other reason for staying.

When she came back several hours later Johnson was asleep on the couch. The papers he had been reviewing lay sprawled on the floor and drool slithered down his chin. His wife picked up the mess and wiped his face. She gently kissed him on the forehead and jumped when the phone rang. Not wanting to wake him she quickly answered it.

“Mrs. Johnson,” It was Pete, her husbands partner. “Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but the deal fell. They didn’t buy it. Tell Allen I’ll talk to him tomorrow.” She gently laid the phone on its cradle and looked at her husband. He had been under so much stress today that she didn’t want to wake him. She wrote him a note and quietly slipped out.

Allen woke up to the dark room and looked around. There was a note on the bed and his wife was gone. The deal fell through, he read. He tossed the note in the trash. So that was it. I lost the deal and my wife. He thought. “Thanks a lot.” He said to the ceiling. He opened his suitcase and threw his clothes inside. When he finished he opened the door and his wife stood in front of him. She held a small wrapped box in front of her.

“It’s for you.” She said. Allen opened the gift. It was a lighter, engraved on the back. “To my loving husband, I’m yours through every deal.” Tears rolled down his face as he read it. She loved him after all.

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