Jim laughs and he's very embarrassed. He lectures me, "I work out, in a gym, at the end of my work day, to relieve my tension. After a while, I was approached by punk boys, who claimed to have screwed Linda. One such claim, I might have just ignored. When it got to be a half dozen, I realized that true or not, the claims were what the people of the town thought of Linda. Then the claims inflated to more than one punk boy at a time, screwing Linda. I really didn't need a gang bang girl. However, I realized that others, around town, would view Linda as a gang bang girl. Her status as a gang bang girl was probably of no consequence to the punk boys, but it would have destroyed my career, if I were stupid enough to continue to date Linda. No girl is worth the price of the destruction of my career."
I say, "It would appear that I don't need to worry about Linda."
Jim laughs, "After I told the little girl goodbye, she never bothered to find out why I said goodbye. Obviously she would just patch things up after the imaginary high school junior senior prom, as I would have forgotten about some little thing."
I sigh, "You fed the little girl, then punk boy screwed her."
Jim says,"Wounds to my pride, I can recover from. Bullet wounds are an entirely different matter. When a little punk boy sees a man taking a girl home, probably from a date that little punk boy can't afford, maybe a drug fueled rage leads to murder."
I say, "Yes, a punk boy, hidden in a girl's bedroom, can lead to a shooting.
Jim sighs, "Linda played me like a master violinist plays a symphony. Then she started to hit some really sour notes. However, her pretty face would obviously cover any sour notes that she might hit. Hell, that worked with the punk boys."
I say, "Just the pretty face didn't work with you."
Jim laughs, "Corrine, the deceptionist at the front counter, in the lobby, at work told me, 'Getting rid of the glamour girl was a good move.' I had never told anyone at work that I was dating Linda."
I ask, "Then, you were surprised when Corrine knew that you had left Linda?"
Jim says, "Corrine expertly redirects my calls in from a customer site, if the guy I'm calling is on another line or she notifies me if there's one of my customers in the plant, when I come in. If one of the female employees is wearing something that's not quite up to company standards, or not wearing something that's required by the company, Corrine gives the woman the, 'This is a computer programming operation not a strip bar.' talk. Corrine is a pretty girl, but no way would I take her, as a date, to a company function. However, Corrine knows everything about women at work and even some things about girls outside of work."
I ask, "But, you are friendly with Corrine?"
Jim looks at me and then laughs, "If Corrine asks me, I will fetch a box of high speed printer paper which is very heavy for Corrine, but not very heavy for me. In return, I might get a useful tidbit of information, from Corrine, information that she might not give to the average guy. It never hurts to be nice to low level people and it can pay back big dividends."
I ask, "Then you're not interested in Linda or Corrine?"
Jim says, I have no further interest, ever, in Linda. Corrine is a main source of useful information for me. Corrine doesn't tell me that one of the women didn't wear a bra in to work. She does tell me that one of my customers is in with the CEO and mad as hell about a demo given him by one of the politicians in my group."