Chapter 15 - Carla’s missing chair
The $1,900 furniture charge eventually acquired an explanation.
A sectional sofa.
Not in my house.
Carla had purchased it for a storage unit.
Why?
Because she and Louis were quietly collecting furniture for whenever they moved out.
That should have comforted me.
It did not.
They used my card to furnish their future home.
Carla said:
“I planned to reimburse it from my bonus.”
“Did you get the bonus?”
“Yes.”
“Did you reimburse me?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“We needed it for something else.”
I wrote down the amount.
Then:
“Hotel charges?”
One was for a wedding out of town.
They had told me they stayed with friends.
Two were weekend trips.
“Handbag?”
Carla stared.
“Mine.”
“Beauty store?”
“Mine.”
“Senior transition company?”
She looked away.
“Mine.”
By the end, clearly personal charges totaled $11,460.
Louis’s personal charges added another $7,900.
About $19,360 together.
Some would be difficult to classify because I had never written spending rules.
That was my failure.
I gave cards and said:
“Use them for the house.”
Too vague.
But designer clothes and senior-placement retainers were not the house.
May you like
We needed a settlement.
Not a shouting match.
