“Well… you see, Gabe’s been having an affair. I kicked him out and I’m currently sitting at his computer reading the messages between him and his college lover.”
Silence greeted her for long enough that Tess pulled the phone away to look to see if the call had dropped before Elizabeth shrieked her rage along with a slew of inventive curses that Tess gave her solid points for.
“What do you want to do? I was already planning to take a few days off to head down to Key West to treat myself. I can’t leave work any earlier than planned this week, but I can change plane tickets and spend the weekend in Chicago with you instead. We can sit on the couch and drink too much and cry or go out… whatever you need,” Elizabeth said, still cursing every other breath.
“I don’t know what I need. I can’t seem to look away from these messages,” Tess breathed, still reading as her idiot husband messaged his love to this girl.
“You have to get the locks changed.”
“I guess I can call someone. I’ve barely processed the fact that I kicked him out. I haven’t even thought about what my next steps are. He kept saying he wanted a life with me away from here. Like, oh, let’s move to Colorado and all our problems will go away. Of course” – Tess started giggling – “he left out the part about the other woman he was sleeping with the whole time. I don’t even know if he was serious about Colorado, or what.”
“There’s a term for that.”
“Denial?” Tess asked.
“No, like an actual term. I think it’s used for addicts. Relocation sobriety or something like that. Where they think if they just move and start fresh all their problems go away.”
“Yeah, this isn’t going away,” Tess said, half-listening, half-engrossed in the text conversation.
“What are they saying?” Elizabeth asked, just as curious.
“What… no! Uh-uh…” Tess shook her head.
“What! Speak! I can’t read through the phone,” Elizabeth complained.
“It looks like he had planned to have her come here while I was in Indianapolis on Saturday. I was only going to be gone for one day,” Tess breathed, reading the messages. Her stomach roiled in disgust at the thought of this woman in her bed, looking through her things, trying on her jewelry.
“Shut up. That’s a new level of ballsy. He was going to have her at your house?” Elizabeth’s screech caused Tess to hold the phone away from her ear.
“She says, and I quote, ‘Awww babers, you’ve never invited me to your place before. It will be a first for us. I’m going to be so nervous though.’”
“Damn right, she’d better be nervous! She’s going to a married man’s house,” Elizabeth shouted.
“Oh. My. God.”
“What?” Elizabeth breathed.
“He goes, ‘Don’t worry babers, my dogs will make you feel all better.’” Tess glanced down to her two dogs – her babies – sleeping at her feet.
“Oh, hell no,” Elizabeth whispered, knowing Tess’s deep love for her dogs.
“Bitch already pet my man – she’s sure as hell not petting my dogs,” Tess swore, her dogs popping up in shock as Tess dropped to the floor and wrapped her arms around them, tears of rage clouding her eyes.
“I’m coming there,” Elizabeth decided.
“No way. Let’s go to Key West together,” Tess declared.
“Even better. Just change the locks before you leave.”
“On it,” Tess said, promising to call her later before immediately looking up a locksmith. Her phone buzzed with a text message.
Tess, please. Can we talk? I know we can work this out. We’re meant to be together.
Tess glanced back at the computer screen to see what the lovers were messaging about now.
Babers, you’d better get some money off her. You have rights, you know.
I’ll take care of it. I miss you.
Come see me later… I miss your body on mine.
Tess got up, refusing to read the rest, and stomped her way into the kitchen, grabbing the vase of flowers – red roses; how unimaginative could Gabe be? She slammed out the door, shivering in the sleeting grey rain that had just begun to fall, and tossed the vase of flowers into the garbage can, relishing the sound of shattering glass.
Wiping her hands, Tess indulged in a floor cuddle-fest with Red and Ringo before pulling out her phone and texting a contact at a law firm she used to work at.
Send me the info for the best divorce attorney you know.
Chapter Six
Tess smoothed her skirt, her riot of curls pulled back demurely from her face, and tried not to fidget as she sat in the lush waiting area of one of the top divorce attorneys in Chicago. A line from a song kept repeating in her head: Separated we stand, together we fall apart.
Had she stood stronger before Gabe? She certainly knew she’d had a more individual voice. It was as though she’d lost herself for years; only now had she begun to find herself again. Her voice needed to be heard one way or the other, and if it fell on the deaf ears of her husband, then she’d show the world who she was.
It appeared that didn’t sit well with Gabe.
Same old story… Tess switched to another song, humming away, briefly wondering if she was going mental, as she thought about all the people she’d have to tell. All the expressions of barely-concealed glee from those who loved a tasty tidbit of scandal. Not from her best friends, of course, but everyone knew people who secretly relished dirty gossip and would pick everything apart. Her story wouldn’t even be that interesting, Tess mused, the author in her annoyed by it all. If anything, the mid-thirties man sleeping with a younger intern was about as trite as it could get.
“Tess? She’s ready for you.” A well-groomed younger man beamed at her, and Tess silently applauded her attorney’s choice of a handsome male assistant. It was nice to see the status quo turned on its head every once in a while.
Tess was ushered into an office designed in muted shades of grey and lavender, where a sleek woman in an even sleeker suit sat behind a shining glass desk. Rising, she held out her hand and gripped Tess’s firmly.
“I’d say welcome, but I understand you’re here under trying circumstances. I’m sorry for that, but I’m here to help.” Sandra Moriarty, the attorney who had come highly recommended, gestured for her to sit and then discreetly nudged a velvet-lined tissue box across the desk.
“Thank you,” Tess said, unsure where to start. “I… well, I guess I’m just here to learn my options.”
“Do you want to tell me what happened?” Sandra asked, clearly expecting Tess to launch into a tirade.
“Same shit, different day for you, I’m sure,” Tess murmured and then smiled weakly at Sandra’s raised eyebrow. “Sorry, I’m sure you’ve heard the likes of this story a million times. It’s really very boring. He’s mid-thirties and slept with a young girl interning at his office. He was asked to leave his job, but he told me that he quit. It’s been going on for months now.” Tess shrugged and looked out the window at Lake Michigan, the water gray and choppy on this blustery spring day.
“I’m sorry. Truly. I’ve been there and it’s awful. You deserve to trust and rely upon the person you’ve promised your life to,” Sandra said, sympathy lighting her pretty face.
“Yes, well.” Tess, usually so articulate, didn’t know what else to say under the circumstances. “What now?”
“Ultimately, it’s up to you. I can’t advise you on whether you should file for divorce or not, but I can certainly outline your options.”
“Please do.” Tess strongly believed that knowledge was power.
“We live in a community property state. It doesn’t matter whose fault it is, because the judge won’t listen. Assets acquired during marriage are meant to be split fifty-fifty unless a marriage settlement agreement is signed prior to going to court. And based on the information you’ve sent me, it seems you’ve accrued considerably more assets than he has.” Sandra eyed her over the top of the paper she was reading.
&nb
sp; “I have,” Tess agreed.
“Congratulations. Let’s protect them then, shall we?”
“I’d like to. How does… how does this all work? Run it down for me.”
“It takes at least four months from filing before you can divorce. At any time, you can decide to pull the papers and it all goes away. Even six months after your divorce is final, you can annul it and go back. Otherwise, with no children, it will simply be a division of property and moving on with your life.”
“So, in theory, I’d have at minimum four months or so to change my mind if I file for divorce today?”
“Yes,” Sandra said.
“Okay,” Tess breathed, and blinked back the tears that threatened. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t cry, that this was just the smart thing to do, but in the actual moment, the decision felt like a three-hundred-pound weight on her shoulders.
“I know this is hard, and again, I’m so sorry for that. But you have a company to protect. Even if the marriage isn’t worth fighting for, your business is.”
“How do you know when a marriage is worth fighting for?” Tess asked, meeting Sandra’s steady brown eyes across the desk.
“I don’t think you’d be sitting here four days after you caught your husband cheating if you thought it was,” Sandra said, her tone gentle but her words like a bucket of ice water dumped on Tess’s head. The woman was absolutely right.
“File. Today,” Tess said, sliding a retainer check across the desk and rising before the panic that clawed at her chest made her collapse on the pretty floral rug.
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll have copies sent over to you once filed. Don’t worry, Tess. I’ll get you through this.” Sandra led her out to where the handsome assistant gently walked her to the elevator.
In moments, Tess found herself on the sidewalk, the bracing wind off Lake Michigan all but barreling her over as she forced herself to plod back to the parking lot where she’d been lucky to find a space in the middle of the day. Numbly climbing into the car, she almost ordered her Bluetooth to call her sister and tell her the news before she realized she owed someone else a call first.
Better yet, she’d go there.
Twenty minutes later, Tess sat on the street and eyed the little brownstone house that she’d been to many times before for friendly cookouts and to pick Gabe up after a guys’ day of drinking and sportsballing. Gabe’s truck was at the curb. Steeling herself, she got out of the car and walked up the sidewalk, the wind still buffeting her, and rapped loudly on the door. Tess stepped back, and saw a curtain twitch, but nobody came to the door. She knocked several more times, but to no avail.
On the way home, Tess called Gabe and he answered just before it went to voicemail. She pulled into her driveway and sat in the car, looking at the house that had been meant to hold their future.
“Gabe, I just stopped by Ryan’s, but you didn’t answer the door.”
“Oh, I just got home, I must have missed you, babe.” Gabe’s voice sounded as contrite as it could.
“Uh-huh. So, I wanted to tell you this in person as I felt it was important to do so as adults, but I’ll have to do it this way. I’ve filed for divorce, Gabe.”
“You… you did? Already?” Gabe’s voice shot up an octave.
“I did.” Tears were filling her eyes. “I… I don’t know what to say. What you did was so wrong. I’m just… I’m just done, Gabe. I can’t do this. I can’t trust you.”
“But I can change, Tess. I can build on this and change, and you can trust me again.” Gabe was whispering now.
“I think you have some major things to learn about yourself… about life.” Tess ran a hand over her face. “You can’t live like this or be this type of person. Not if you want to get anywhere, Gabe. I tried so hard to be a good wife to you.”
“You were… you were a great wife to me. I don’t know why I was so weak. What am I going to do? I don’t know where to start. I don’t know what to do.”
“I…” Tess almost leaped in with suggestions to help, as she’d done for years. She stopped herself. “I’m not sure what to say. Maybe you should ask your mistress.”
“Tess,” Gabe warned, an edge to his voice.
“You’re not my problem anymore, Gabe.” As Tess said it, a weight seemed to release itself from her chest, those chains that had tied her down for years.
“Tess, please don’t do this,” Gabe begged. “I don’t know why I do the things I do.”
“If you had tried any therapy, you might have a better understanding of yourself. Now might be a good time to go.”
“Like I can afford it,” Gabe shot back, annoyance lashing his voice.
“Again, not my problem. You could go back to your job; I thought they loved you there?”
“I’m not going back. For many reasons,” Gabe said, his voice haughty.
“Why not? Really? I’m curious.” Tess wondered if he would admit the real reason he’d left work.
“It’s not what I want for my future, okay? I’m not going back.”
Tess felt the old frustration build up. Years of his half-lies and never getting a straight answer from him made her surly. “Well, it seems you’ve chosen someone else for your future. Perhaps she’ll help you with getting a job. Though I’m not sure what pull she has as an intern,” Tess mused.
“Knock it off, Tess. I don’t want to be with her. I just want to work this out with you! Look, let’s just… let’s start over. We can move to Colorado like we planned. Everything will be different there.”
“I’m sorry, Gabe. That option is no longer on the table.” Tess nodded at the locksmith van that pulled in next to her car. “Oh, I’m having the locks changed, by the way. I’ll let you know when you can come get the rest of your stuff, or if there’s anything you need, just text me and I’ll leave it in the garage.”
“Wait, what? You’re changing the locks? Can you even do that?”
“I am. Honestly, Gabe, I’m alone here. I really just want to feel safe, you know?” Tess smiled brightly at the locksmith who waited for her.
“How would you not feel safe? I’m not going to threaten you.”
“How can I be sure of that? You slammed my head into the bathroom wall not so long ago.”
Silence greeted Tess.
“That’s what I thought. Listen. I don’t really know this girl you’re hooking up with and how do I know you won’t bring her here while I was gone? Plus, it would just be awkward for our dog-sitter. So, just to be on the safe side, I’m having the locks changed. I’ll let you know when you can come by. In the meantime, please respect my space.”
“Tess… wait, I…”
“Yes, Gabe?” Tess paused, wondering if he would say or do anything that would actually make her consider going back to him.
“Can I get my computer?”
Tess closed her eyes, willing back the tears. She’d made the right choice in filing for divorce.
“No, Gabe. You’ll have to use your laptop.”
Chapter Seven
“You did what?” Vicki’s voice went cold – harsher than Tess had heard it in years.
“I filed for divorce,” Tess said, smiling at the airport bartender on her layover in Atlanta. He winked and gave her a thumbs up when he overheard her conversation.
“But you just found out on Monday. Are you out of your mind?” Vicki asked.
“Maybe. What do you care? I thought you’d be happy I’m divorcing him. Didn’t you call him incompetent and boring?” Tess sipped her bloody Mary and checked the time. Elizabeth should be arriving any moment now.
“Irrespective of such. You can’t just file for divorce and fly to Key West. It doesn’t work like that. You have responsibilities to deal with.”
“Like what?”
“Like handling your marriage. Yes, you may have committed to not the best guy in the world, but it’s still a commitment. Go to marriage counseling. Fix what’s broken. You don’t just go off on a girls’ weekend when everything’s
falling apart. You stay and face the hard stuff. That’s what marriage is about.”
“Perhaps that’s your definition, but I’m done fixing it, Vicki.”
“You’ve barely tried.”
“Bullshit. I’ve tried for years. Years, Vicki. I’ve supported him through everything – bailing him out of jail for drinking, paying for lawyers to protect his record, paying off his debt, helping him to advance in the career he threw away – and all for what? To be shit on while he plays with some intern. For years I’ve listened to him talk incessantly about all these things he wants to do with his life. But you know what? It’s all talk. No action. And I’m so damn tired of carrying the burden of this relationship. I want a partner, Vicki. I’d think you could at least understand that.” Tess bit vehemently into the pickle that came with her drink, idly pretending it was Gabe’s member.
“All marriages have tough spots,” Vicki said, her voice prim. “That doesn’t mean you just give up on them.”
“I’m done, Vicki.”
“I have to say, I think this is too sudden. I think you’ll regret this,” Vicki insisted.
“I don’t recall asking your advice.” Tess heard the big intake of air that signaled Vicki was about to unleash a tirade on her. “Gotta go, Elizabeth’s here. I’ll call you when I’m back from Key West.” Tess waved cheerfully to signal Elizabeth.
“Tess, wait. You’d better know what you’re doing. The world isn’t kind to divorced women. It’s not as easy to find love at your age.”
“I’m thirty-six, Vicki. If I’m lucky, I have a good sixty years to find love again. I’m not too fussed about that,” Tess huffed.
“You will be when you’re all alone.”
“That’s the difference between us. I don’t mind being alone,” Tess said. “I’m hanging up now. Bye.”
Tess jumped off the barstool and into Elizabeth’s hug. They rocked back and forth, just as happy to see each other as if no time had passed at all. Elizabeth pulled back to look at Tess. Blonde, blue-eyed, and quick to laugh, Elizabeth was light to Tess’s dark, a cool breath of fresh air to Tess’s stormy seas.
Ms. Bitch: Finding happiness is the best revenge. Page 4