I drove back to Tom's reflecting on the encounter with Charlotte. There was no way I would ever have turned her down last year, I thought to myself, actually impressed with how much I'd matured. I threw the paper with Charlotte's phone number out of the car and watched it fly away in the wind. Ma was wrong about me, I had changed. Pa would be proud.

I walked inside Tom's home like a king. I had conquered the world, and I did my own way. Today I had gone from being a smooth talking nobody to upper management. This is the life.

Tom was in the living room sitting on the sofa with Julie. He seemed happy enough, but something was missing.

"Have you told her, partner?" I asked referring to whether or not Tom had told Julie the news.

"I haven't had the chance," he answered.

"But you've been home for a while now," I replied, wondering why it's taking him so long to tell the girl of his dreams that now he's someone worth being seen with.

"And what do you mean by partner?" he asked, confused, because he knew about the bank job offer.

"Why did Adam just call you partner?" Julie asked Tom with an inflection in her voice that said if you and Adam are going to be partners in anything then it's because he's taking advantage of you.

"I'll explain later," Tom said nervously. "Oh by the way, you'll never guess who just dropped by."

"Who?" I asked.

"Betty," she's in the bathroom.

Oh my God, Betty, Lost in Big Al's proposition was the fact that I'd already agreed to work at the Bank of Beverly Hills, and I was getting a new Cadillac out of it for good measure. Her parents and I had agreed that I would start at the bank after the wedding next summer but still, how do I explain to Betty that I've agreed to stay on as a manager with the culmination being that I'd own the place. At least I've got a year to figure it out.

"Tell me now," demanded Julie. "This sounds way too interesting to wait for later."

"Well you see, it's like this..."Tom was stalling. He realized I'd goofed with whole partner thing and was waiting for me to figure a way out of this. Knowing Tom, he wanted to tell Julie while they were alone. In his mind he probably felt that once Julie found out she would jump into his arms and they would live happily ever after. Hey, at least he had a plan, or so I hoped.

"Big Al just gave us a huge account," I said. "It's corporate."

"Wow," replied Julie. "I thought Big Al only did private homes."

"Not anymore," I said with pride as if I was already an owner. "Big Al's going big-time."

"That's terrific," said Betty who heard what we were saying form the hallway. "You'll be able to help him out for the next year before you move on to the bank. It's true that good things happen to people who are nice." Betty's eyes sparkled with love. "Big Al has always been nice to you and now that you're leaving, he's going to be growing. It's as if he's being rewarded for all the good things he's done over the years."

"It does seem that way," I replied.

"So how did Big Al react when you told him you were leaving," Betty asked. "He must have thought it was good of you to stick it out until next summer."

"Big Al was very happy about my opportunity," I replied. "He said that my father would be proud that I would be more than just a salesman."

"Well, a personal banker is a salesman of sorts," she said, "but it's just temporary. You know, my father says that they'll be starting you at around six thousand dollars a year."

My choices were now earning six thousand dollars at the bank working for other people or nine thousand dollars owning my own business. I think this was a fairly easy decision that Betty would understand.

"Have I got good news for you," I told Betty.

"Adam," Tom interjected, "maybe you should think about this carefully first?"

"I have. Betty, you can tell your family that I've made a success of myself on my own."

"They know that," she replied.

"Big Al has offered Tom and I the opportunity to own Big Al's. He wants us to take over from him in few years and he's paying us nine thousand dollars a year each until we take over."

"When did this happen," Betty asked.

"This afternoon."

"Did you say yes?" she asked.

"I did."

Betty turned around and started to head out the door. "Julie, would you mind taking me home?"

"Not at all," she replied as she angrily looked at Tom with an expression that said, you see, this is what you get with Adam. For a split second I actually regretted throwing Charlotte's phone number out of the car. Serious relationships were just too difficult.

"I thought you would be happy for me," I said to Betty.

"Why would I be happy for you, Adam Baker? You gave your word to my family, and now you're taking it back. The worst of it is that you're making decisions that affect me without so much as a discussion. That's not the Adam I met. That's the Adam everyone has warned me about, the Adam that was only concerned with what's in it for him, today. "

Once again Julie gave Tom a snide look.

"I'm sorry, it's just that..."

"Don't give me any excuses," Betty said to me, nearly in tears. "Excuses and sorry can't be in the same sentence. Do you know how much money you would have been earning in a few years? Do you? My cousin Earl works at the bank. He's only twenty nine and he earns over thirty thousand a year. My father doesn't make that much. The bank has done my grandfather so well that he bought a house at the very top of Beverly Hills. I really believed you had changed."

Did she just say thirty thousand dollars? What have I done? Betty was right. I only think about the present and what I could get now.

"I'm sorry Betty. I should have discussed it with you. It's just that I thought you would be relieved that I was a success on my own and that I didn't have to rely on your family to earn a living. I wanted you to know that I love you for you and not what your family can do for me. I actually believed that they would have preferred it that way as well. You remember what your Uncle Tex said about there being no way he was going to let you marry a drapery salesman. I thought if he knew I was a business owner then he would respect me."

"Wyatt, may his soul rest in peace, also felt that way. Actually he never accepted anything from my family. I wish he had. Grandpa was willing to use his connections to keep him out of the army."

This was the first time Betty had ever talked about Wyatt. I was beginning to understand a little more as to why she liked me. I don't believe she saw me as a replacement for Wyatt but it made me comfortable that we had a few similar traits and I wasn't some mistake she would later regret.

Betty gave me a warm embrace. It was obvious that I made her feel bad for the way she had judged me; even though I knew she was absolutely right. She was always right. Julie, on the other hand, nearly gagged.

"My family knows that you can succeed at anything you put your mind to," Betty said.  "That's why Uncle Tex and Grandpa argued over you. They're not just doing you a favor, Adam. It's good business for them as well. Do you think that my grandfather would offer to hand over to you his few remaining clients, his best clients that he had spent a life time cultivating if he didn't believe with absolute certainty that you were going to be terrific at it?"

I hadn't thought about that. Right then and there I made myself a promise that this was the last time I would ever do anything without first speaking to Betty about it.

"And what about you, Tom," Julie asked? "Did accept Big Al's offer?"

"I did." he said with an uncertain look.

"That's wonderful," Julie replied as she hugged him. "You're going to make the place huge success. I just know it."

"Please forgive me," I whispered in Betty's ear.

"No Adam, please forgive me," she answered. "I shouldn't be so hard on you. After all, you've been nothing short of wonderful with me since the first day we met."

Now I really felt horrible. Betty took me by the hand and brought me outside.

"I asked Julie to bring me here for a reason," she said to me with a huge smile. "Grandpa booked the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills hotel for our wedding reception next August."

The Polo Lounge, even I had heard about it, the place where the stars mingle, where the Rat Pack would have wild drinking bouts until all hours of the morning. This is where we were going to be married. Now I would definitely have to tell Big Al that I would be leaving him although maybe he'll feel better about it if I invite him to the wedding.... I wonder if I should invite Ma.