by Holt, S. w.
“Hmm. Maybe it was foretelling.”
Those words are resonating through my head while I reach into my purse and mindlessly slather on a pale peach lip gloss. Since the jerk demanded I wear nice attire, I decided to not only oblige, but to pull out all the stops. Remind him what he gave up. I took great care in putting soft curls in my hair. I am wearing his favorite perfume Dolce and Gabbana and a halter style silk chiffon dress in a soft melon color. I'm reasonably sure he will pick up on my blatant efforts but frankly I don't care.
“Here you are sir, do you want me to get a drink ordered for you?”
I look up just in time to see Marcus arriving at my table with the pretty hostess showing him the way.
He eyes the table, “Sure, just bring me whatever she is drinking. On second thought, I'll wait until my server comes to the table.”
“Well, you certainly cleaned up nice today. I'm glad you took my suggestion. I dare say that with that dress, you probably had every man's attention when you walked in the place. Nicely played Delaney.”
His voice is dripping with sarcasm, but I know that is his defense mechanism. He finds me attractive, and he doesn’t want me to know it, so he's poking fun at me. Before the demise of our marriage, he would have been thrilled to parade me around looking like I do tonight.
“Look, let's keep this brief. I have to drive to my folks still to get Charlie and it is a school night.”
“Of course. Always the dutiful mother and wife.”
He says once again with agitation to his voice.
“Technically you called this meeting but I have something I need to discuss with you. I'm going to go ahead and sign these papers now.” I point to the packet beside me on the table. “However, if I do that, I want your word that you won't stand in my way when I take Charlie with me to Ireland this summer.”
He lets out a guffaw, “Why would I want to stand in your way? Get your pen out and start signing.” Then he pauses as his face drops. “Wait, why are you going to Ireland?”
I decide to answer with as much bluntness as he affords me, “We're going with Grant.”
The look on his face reminds me of a child who just tried a lemon for the first time.
“In that case, I'm afraid we are going to have an issue.” He waves his hand in the air, and a server instantly comes to our table. “Bring me a glass of scotch, no ice cubes.” He starts to look at me with scorn but then says to the back of the retreating server, “Make it a double.”
His eyes nothing more than slits, for once, I am seeing this man for who he really is: a pompous, self-righteous...ass!
“Now then, where were we? Oh yes, no way are you taking my son anywhere near that traitor and that is final!”
“Then I guess we are at an impasse aren’t we Marcus? Because I have no intention of signing the divorce papers until I get what I want. Need I remind you that I can haul your ass in court and drag this out for years if I so choose? Oh and don’t forget that you get to foot the bill for that as well.” I hiss through clenched teeth.
With his finger no more than three inches from my face, he points at me like I'm an errant child, “You will do no such thing. I promised Amelia that I'd marry her before the baby arrives.”
As the words spew from his lips, my stomach drops to the floor. Pushing my chair back so as to get away from his wagging finger, I find the room to be spinning. I was not prepared for any of that and judging from his face, he didn’t mean to divulge it either.
He laughs nervously, “Now that the beans spilled, I suppose you have the upper hand. Just sign the damned papers and life will resume as it has been. The only difference is that I'll be a newlywed soon and then a new father.” The smirk that I used to find sexy but now find repugnant is parked on his face.
I fight the bile that is collecting at the back of my throat.
“Can we just back up for a minute...how long, er I mean how far along is she?” I demand while crossing my arms in front of me in an effort to keep my hands from reaching across the table and slapping his smug face.
“We've known for a while now. She's in the third trimester so we don’t have much time to get all of this finalized.” His look has changed to that of a plan forming in his head. I know him all too well.
Meanwhile, my stomach is churning and my mind is sprinting through the time line. No wonder Amelia was lurking behind Marcus that day at the club. I did notice that she was wearing a flowing maxi-dress, which is completely unlike her. With her height, she probably won't get as big as a house like I was when I had Charlie. I had nowhere else for him to go but outward.
“So aren’t you going to congratulate me? I'm to be a dad and hey, did I mention we are having a girl? Perfect don't you think?”
“I really don't know what to say...but if you are asking me to be happy for you... you can forget it! I'll never accept your relationship or devil's spawn with that woman!” I fight the tears that are forming, I will not give him the satisfaction of bringing me to tears. “How many people know about this?” I demand.
He chuckles which in itself is annoying, “Wow, devil's spawn? You sure are full of insults today.” He chuckles again, then his irritating smugness returns as he continues, “Not many people know yet. We've been keeping the pregnancy under the radar. But as soon as I'm free of this marriage, we'll make it public. We are anxious to announce our engagement as well, so we need to come to an agreement now. Otherwise, my fiancee' is going to explode if she can't show off her bump soon!”
Those words were specially chosen to rattle me. Especially since I had given up on having another child when he discouraged it every time I brought up the subject. “Oh trust me, I want nothing more than to be freed from this marriage as much...no more than you.”
He shovels a large bite of salad in his mouth and begins chomping. Funny how once you have decided you don't like a person, every singular thing that they do annoys the hell out of you. I cringe as he continues to chew his cud while watching me with amusement in his eyes.
“Sign the papers and it'll be done.” He hesitates and that look returns that suggest he's plotting something. “You know, since I'm to have a new family, the villa would be an ideal place. Perhaps you'd like to find a new home and let me, er us have the house?”
My heart about leaps out of my throat!
“Go to hell Marcus!” I hiss, “When we separated you agreed I got the house and a healthy monthly deposit in my account.”
“The car, don't forget I gave you the car too. Oh, and it seems you're getting all of our friends too. On second thought you can have them, it's easy enough to find new ones. Maybe people who aren’t so droll.”
“Maybe it's not our friends who are so droll, perhaps it's your own inadequacies that propel you to be so bored. You aren’t contented with yourself so why would anyone else hold your attention. The same will happen with you and Amelia that has happened to us. Just give it a little time.” I snap at him.
“Hitting below the belt will only turn me on Laney but then you only have yourself to blame for our marriage falling apart.”
My mouth flies open and I about shout an obscenity but for being in public, I might even have lunged at him.
“This marriage ending is certainly not my fault! Just where the hell do you get off?”
He smirks again, “Interesting choice of words, getting off? Isn’t it you that encouraged me to have sex with Amelia? If you recall, you even referred to her as my birthday present. You certainly can't take that back now.”
I look him straight in the eyes, “Do you think I'm a complete fool? I can add Marcus. By my calculations, you had to of had sex with Amelia almost a month before your birthday.”
“Correct. In fact, I've been screwing your best friend for over a year now. Well, even longer if you want to count the blow-job she gave me at your birthday party two years ago.” He looks at me then shrugs, “Don't look so surprised. You know a man like me has always had a wandering eye. Most men do Delaney and that
sleaze ball you are hooking up with is even worse than me. If you think I've broken your heart, just you wait, he will crush it and then take your dignity too. At least I'll leave you with that much.”
“That's debatable...I mean you have proven to be untrustworthy, conniving, and worse yet, a blatant liar and adulterer. So, I think I'll take my chances with someone who hasn't any reason to mislead me.” He starts to respond, but I hold my hand up, “Enough. I'm assuming Charlie doesn’t know about the baby otherwise he would have said something. I think it best if you wait until I've had a chance to tell him.”
“No way. It's my good news to share so it needs to come from me. It's been really hard hiding it from Charlie for long enough. We plan to tell him this weekend so don't you ruin it for us.”
“Fine. But you should know that once he's back home, I fully intend to give him my own version. I'm fairly certain you will have his mind tarnished with your lies by Sunday.”
“Careful there, you are the one who is shagging with a womanizer.”
“I've heard enough Marcus, besides, isn't that like Casanova calling Don Juan a gigolo? Get over it.”
Pulling out the final draft, I start signing the papers my own attorney approved. Hiring Stan's friend was the best thing I could have done for myself and Charlie. I even had him attach an addendum that allows me to take Charlie on extended vacations that I only have to give Marcus advance notice. Technically I don't have to get his permission but he can still oppose it if he so chooses. I have to just hope he doesn't exercise any of his rights when I do take Charlie on trips just to be a jerk. In the child custody part of the decree, we are sharing custody but he will live with me full time. A set visitation and holiday schedule have been designated. The other assets are divided according to the original prenuptial which includes my having the house, my car, and a large cash settlement that is to be deposited automatically from a trust every month. It is a very fair divorce in all ways but where mine and Charlie's hearts are concerned.
On the final page, I note that is where Marcus still needs to sign off on the addendum about taking Charlie out of the country with me.
“You need to sign this and then we'll be done. How many days until it will be recorded?”
As he signs, he doesn’t speak. When he's done signing both copies he sets down my pen then folding his hands in front of him on the table, he smiles, but this time it's of a genuine nature. “Laney, I guess I owe you an apology. I haven’t been emotionally fair to you. I'm not apologizing for falling in love with someone else, I'm apologizing for doing it while I was still married to you. I am sorry for going behind your back and starting a new family. That was not at all my intent, but honestly, I couldn’t control myself. I have never felt like this before.” He shakes his head. “Look, I know it’s too late for all of this but perhaps but for the sake of our son, you can learn to forgive me and Amelia and move forward with your own life.”
I start to speak, but he interrupts, “I know you said you don't want to hear this but just listen to me.” He pauses when I look at him he continues, “For whatever it's worth, I would much rather see you with someone like Ryan than Grant. He's bad news and for your sake, get out now while you still have the chance.”
I sigh deeply.
While shaking my head, “Thanks for your input but taking advice from you right now is like buying dental floss from a toothless man. As of this moment, we are as good as divorced and, therefore, I'm no longer any concern of yours. You can pick up Charlie from school as scheduled on Friday. Oh, and you still didn’t say how long until this is recorded?”
“It depends on how much of a case load they have but I suspect it should be within a week or two. I'll email you a confirmation when I receive the final word.”
Standing up and grabbing my clutch off the table, I start to walk away without another word when he calls out my name, “Laney?”
I turn around completely perturbed, “What?” I snap.
“Your copy.” He says as he hands me the second manila envelope. “Take care.” He mutters.
Snatching the envelope out of his hand, I head straight to the door of the restaurant while holding my head up high, and keeping the tears at bay. I will not let this tear me down not here, not now.
Chapter Fourteen
Within a week, as promised, I receive and email from Marcus which contains only three words: Congratulations, It's final!
The message came in just as I finished emailing my editor the most recent installment of my new weekly article for the online magazine, Southern California Living. I'm the style editor for the magazine. While it doesn’t pay very much, I'm having a ball and more importantly it keeps me busy once combined with my blog and other writing gigs. At this point, the money only equates mad money but I hope to make a name for myself eventually.
Staring at the screen of my laptop, those three words seem to be growing in size, practically leaping out of cyberspace and into my coffee cup. The longer I stare, the more I am convinced that I am going to lose it. Instead, I pick up the phone and call Grant.
“Well hello, this is a pleasant surprise, to what to I owe this call in the middle of my dreary work day?”
I giggle, “What's got you so down today?”
“Oh, nothing really. I'm just getting depressed about my father's condition, so I'm not into working. Anyway, what's up?”
“Well, its final...I'm officially a divorced woman!”
He whistles in my ear causing me to hold the phone a foot away from my ear.
“That's great news! We should celebrate!” He beams through the phone.
“You know what, I think you're right,” I say matching his enthusiasm.
“What are you doing right now?” His voice lowers.
“Uh well, I was going to finish up some things around here and then make myself some dinner. Charlie has an overnight activity with his cub scouts tonight.”
“Great, then you are free to come over and celebrate your new status with me.”
My stomach flutters, “I'd love to, and do you want me to bring anything?”
“Just bring yourself, that's all I want.”
“In that case, let me wrap things up here and I'll head over, see you in a couple hours.”
I start to do a little dance in the middle of the kitchen. Then I remember that I have a group of girlfriends who I need to inform of my exciting news...it is exciting isn’t it? I know I should be jumping out of my skin with elation that I'm rid of a man who as it turns out, has all the morals of an alley cat, perhaps even worse. I wonder how I could have been so wrong about him, after all of this time. The fact is that I didn’t know him at all.
After I send the group text announcing my new single status, I set it down on the counter. As I head out of the room, I hear it blowing up. One text after another is rolling in; I won't be surprised if the thing starts smoking from all the activity. I decide those messages can wait, I need to prepare for my evening with Grant.
I take a luxurious bath complete with jasmine scented bubbles. As I lounge in the tub, while my body is at ease, my mind is busy racing. I haven’t given Grant the go ahead yet to book us the tickets to Ireland. I suppose now I have no excuse to delay any further. I will tell him tonight that we would love to join him. After I signed the paperwork and Marcus agreed to allow me to take Charlie, things got crazy, so I haven’t seen Grant in the last several days. At any rate, I feel giddy about the idea of taking a long trip exploring and getting to experience his country through his sparkling eyes.
With the temperature outside climbing, I put on a sundress in a soft brushed cotton in a vibrant watermelon color. With a high-low hemline, it shows off my legs without being too obvious in my wanting to seduce him. With the dress, I put on a single gold chain and a gold cuff bracelet. After I put in a few soft curls in my hair and spritz on perfume in a light floral scent, I grab tan woven wedges and start down the stairs.
Halfway down the stairs, the doorbell chimes.
Looking out the peephole, I see its Ryan standing at my door.
I turn off the alarm and open the door to a disheveled man whose tendency normally is to be quite fastidious. His appearance is alarming, with facial hair grown out enough that one could call it a beard, gray sweats and a frat boy looking sports logo shirt.
He smiles weakly, “Hey Laney. I'm sorry I didn't call first.” He looks down at his Adidas slides then back at me with bloodshot eyes, “I guess I didn’t wait for your response to the text I sent either. Sorry. I just started driving here and messaged you from down the street. Can I come in?”