by Lauren Wood
She had this dreamy look on her face and for the life of me, I would have guessed that she wished that she was in my situation. As crazy as it sounded, I felt like that was how she felt. That somehow, she could understand what Craig had done. I just couldn’t.
“It is romantic, if you see it the right way. It would have been a hell of a story to tell your children. It is really sweet.”
I told Candy that obviously she lost her mind. There was nothing romantic about someone marrying me without my consent. But then I forgot who I was talking to. She had married her husband when she was drunk and in Vegas. It had worked out for them, so Candy liked to think that it would work out for everybody. I don't think that was the case at all.
“I am not saying what he did was right Jeanine, but I am saying that it's, cute. You know how I feel about grand gestures. Fate.”
“I know that you like just saying that everything happens for a reason, but I certainly don't feel that way. I think it happened because he thought he could do it, and then I wouldn't do anything. I mean, what could he have possibly thought, that we would just go off into the sunset and everything was going to be fine?”
“I don't know him, but I do think it's romantic. He was that cute guy you showed me a picture of, right?”
I sighed to myself. Of course, she was worried about what he looked like.
“I don't think it's romantic at all and I want to divorce him.”
Candy said that she would help me get in contact with a good lawyer. I knew that it was going to be a little more complicated because he was out of country, but I didn't think that it would be as big of a deal as it came out to be.
Apparently, since I got married in his country, their laws applied and that meant I was going to have to jump through a lot of hoops. When Craig had said that people in his culture didn't get divorced, he wasn't lying. It was going to take a small miracle to get my divorce. I didn't realize how hard it was going to be, until I started the proceedings.
I met with the lawyer and told him a very condensed version of what happened. I made sure that he knew that I had been coerced and that I hadn't known that I was actually getting married.
“How did you not know that you were getting married?”
“We were in a church and everyone was speaking Spanish. Craig had my hand, and it just happened. I know it sounds crazy, but I really didn't understand what was going on. If I would have known, I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you now Candy.”
“And this is after only a couple hours of meeting him?”
I shook my head and told him that it was the case. He sat back in the plastic seat at the restaurant and whistled.
“You know this sounds crazy right?”
I knew that it did, but at the same time I didn't want him to tell me out loud. I could have lived without that.
“I know that I could have handled this better. But now I want to get this annulled. I shouldn’t have to be married to him, and go through all of this. I want it to be like it never happened.”
“Yes Jeanine, that is what it is. But there's certain things that have to happen, or not happen to get an annulment. Did the two of you have sex afterwards?”
The tall blonde-haired man was looking at me in a strange way and I knew that he was seeing me naked right now, and in some sort of sexual position. It was clearly written on his face. I wanted to say something, to tell him off, but Candy had said that he was the best lawyer around.
“Yes, we did.”
“Just once? Did you both complete?”
My face was getting redder. “More than once.”
“So, an annulment isn’t even an option for you.”
“Why isn’t it?”
“Because the marriage has been consummated. How many times?”
I didn’t like the way his line of questioning was starting to get to me. I hadn't talked about it, tried not to think about it since I left, and I didn't want to start now. That was one part of the relationship that had not been a problem at all. It was the other stuff, little stuff that was all around it, that was the problem.
“Yes, in fact many times. We didn't after I found out we were married, but many times after the marriage.”
“And how long before you found out?”
“About a week.”
“That wasn’t very long. How many times could you have gotten intimate?”
I thought for a moment and I knew that it was becoming a game to him. So I was going to play it. “I don’t know, thirty or forty times.”
“Oh, wow.”
He had a smile on his face and I didn't quite like it at all. I knew that he was just trying to get information, but I felt like I was being judged as well. I had made a lot of bad decisions in the last few weeks, going to see Craig was definitely one of them. But I wasn't going to let that stand in my way any longer. One way or another, I was going to have my divorce.
“So, we also have to make sure that you are not pregnant. It says here that a certain amount of time must be observed after the last time having sex, as well as a negative pregnancy test must be submitted to the court.”
“What?”
“Are you on a contraceptive or did you use protection?”
Again, I could feel my face getting red and I was shocked at his forwardness. He was shamelessly flirting with me, when it was time for me to get a divorce.
I sighed and told them that we hadn’t.
“It seems as though this will not be as easy as we’d thought. You also have to petition the judge and he will ask for you to go there and be seen. He holds special jurisdiction and can add conditions.”
“Why can’t this be easy?”
“Because you ran to South America and married a stranger.”
Crap. Jerk or not, the rude lawyer was right.
Chapter 51
Craig
“I got a petition today Craig. I wanted to talk to you about it.
He didn't have to tell me what it was, because I already knew. Jeanine had told me what she was going to do, and she was the type of woman to do it.
“Yeah, I figured that it would come through. So, what are we going to do about it?”
My lawyer just looked at me and shook his head. “What do you want to do about it?”
“I don't necessarily want to divorce her. I think if given enough time she would change her mind. So, can we delay it a little bit?”
He told me that he wasn’t sure if he could delay it or not.
“It would all depend on what sort of judge we got. If you want to fight it and bring it here, I can try to get a judge that would be sympathetic to your plight. What would you want done?”
If I had it my way, I would try to find a way to get her back to me. If there was a law that would bring her back here and make it so she couldn't leave again, that's what I would want. But I knew that wasn't an option. Unfortunately.
“I don't know? I think if we were together a little bit longer, she wouldn’t want to get divorced at all. Is there something like that?”
I knew it was a long shot, but I had to ask.
Lewis thought about it for a minute and told me that a lot could happen if we got Judge Karl.
“He likes to make things interesting, and he might just go for it.”
Louis wasn't for sure of course, but it was the best chance that we had at the moment to get what I wanted from this.
“I'll do some filing and then I'll get back to you. If we get a little lucky, maybe we can get this to all work out for you. I hope you're right about her. There is nothing worse than wasting your time for someone that is right for you. She's a foreigner, isn't she?”
Jeanine was, but that didn't matter. I knew that she was supposed to be mine, and I was still ready into do underhanded things to get her back in my arms. It was the least I could do, as far as I was concerned.
When Lewis left, I wondered how Jeanine was going to respond to it. I had a feeling that she wasn't going to be so happy about having
to come back down here. But once again, if it gave me her in the end, I was willing to take that risk. At this point, what else did I have to lose?
* * *
“I can't believe you did this Craig. I mean seriously. You told me that you were going to go with whatever I wanted to do. What happened to that?”
I told you that it was hard to get a divorce here. I wasn't joking. My lawyer says that it will depend on the judge, so we will just have to wait and see. When are you going to be here?”
Even though I was trying hard not to show it, I was dying inside to know when she was going to be here. Right now, I wanted to see her again. I didn't care what the circumstances were, though I wished that they would have been better. I was willing to meet her under this situation, whatever I could do to see her again. I was going to do it.
“I can't believe you Craig. I know that you had to push it this way, they wouldn’t have just done this on their own. You pushed it and I have to come down there. You know that I don't have time to take off of work.”
“I am sure that it will still be there when it's all over. That is, if you want to go. There are a lot of other things that you could be doing, besides working there, selling pills.”
“What is that? Having your children? That is all that I’m worth to you, isn't it?”
“You said that you weren’t ready for children yet, so I’m willing to wait. I am willing to do whatever it is that you . I just want you to come home.”
She made a discouraging sound on the other side of the phone and I knew that she wasn't too happy with me. Again, I was pushing her and I knew that I was wrong for it, but I couldn't stop it. There was just certain things that I needed to happen, and I was bound and determined to make it.
“That isn’t my home.”
“Your home is with your husband. And you are still my wife.”
“I will be changing that Craig. It won’t be that way for much longer.”
I didn’t like that answer at all and I wanted to make sure that she didn't get it. I was now hoping that the judge would somehow help me out, to keep her a little longer. Lewis said he was going to do everything that he could , even though he didn't understand it. The fact was that he didn't have to.
“You promised me that you would go with this, Craig. Why can’t you just stick to your promise?”
“Because if I lose you, none of this would be worth it. One day, you will thank me for doing this.”
Jeanine told me that she wouldn't, but I was hoping that she was wrong. The last thing I wanted to do was admit that I could be the one that was wrong. Something that feels so right, had to be. There was nothing else I could do now but wait for the judge to make his ruling and hope it was enough.
Or, I could just get my hands back on her and change her mind that way. I didn't want to believe that she could turn away from this, knowing that it was the right thing.
Lewis was right. I was putting a lot of stock on her feeling the same way about it as I did. She just had to.
Chapter 52
Jeanine
To say that I was shocked at the news that my lawyer gave me, would have been an understatement. I had known that things could go south, I just didn't know how badly. Not only was I going to have to show up in court there in a few weeks, we had to live together until then, and that was to start immediately. I had twenty-four hours to get back down there where he was in South America and to move back in with my husband. Apparently, that was where I was supposed to be.
I was shocked that a judge could do that, could make that sort of decision about my life. I wanted to fight the situation, but the supposed best divorce lawyer around, was telling me that I had to. He made it very clear that there was nothing I could do about it. I was just going to have to go with it.
“If you two are not compatible, all you have to do is spend a few weeks there until the court date is done. You still have a couple of weeks before we can take the test anyways. Just think of this as an extended goodbye. I knew that the judge had discretion about this, but I didn't know that he would go this route. It would be unheard of in America, but not so much here.”
“Yeah, sounds like you said, I shouldn’t have gotten married to a stranger another country, huh?”
He smiled at me and agreed.
“Now you're getting it.”
I was more than getting it. I was certainly be paying for it, in spades. For a wedding that I didn't even know I was in the middle of, I was starting to think that there was nothing I could do. I was starting to think that I wasn't even going to get the divorce I wanted.
“So, I really have to go back down there? I have to drop everything I'm doing and go back down there, live with him?”
I knew that I had to, but I was still hoping that there was some way out of it. I just didn't understand how I could be forced to live with a man whether he was my husband or not. It shouldn't matter. I should be able to get married if I wanted to, just like I should be able to get divorced.
“Yeah, I hate to tell you, this but yes. Just go and chill until you get your pregnancy test back. As long as it comes out negative, then there really shouldn’t be anything to worry about. Then they should give you the divorce that you want.”
“What if it is positive?”
I didn't like the look that he gave me. I felt like it was positive, he was going to own me for life. I hadn't even thought about it, but I wasn’t as opposed to the idea as I thought I would be. Especially with what was going on right now.
“We will cross the road, if we get there Jeanine. There's no sense of work ing yourself up over something that might not happen. Let's just deal with what we can deal with. That's all we can do right now.”
I agreed, but I still had a lot of questions. I still didn't understand what was going to happen next, or how in the hell I was supposed to go live with Craig now. It didn't seem like it was going to be a good idea. Not after how I left.
While my lawyer was sure that Craig didn't have anything to do with judge’s ruling, I didn't believe that at all. It sounded like something that Craig would do. He like to control thing, so I couldn’t really put it past him.
“I will answer all the questions that I can, but at the end of the day, you really need to get on a flight and get back down there. If you want the judge to get your divorce, you’re going to have to play his game. He wants you there, living with your husband, and you need to do that for a little while. At least until we get this all straightened out.”
Still unable to believe that I was going to be forced to move in with Craig, I knew that my lawyer was right. I didn't want to break the judge’s ruling, because then I would never get the divorce that I wanted. I just want to be done with this, so I was willing to go the extra mile to not be.
“Well, thank you for your help. You will be there for the court date, right?”
“Yes, I will be there. You just need to make sure that you are there and doing with the judge says.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
“Well, what you shouldn't do, is have sex. Whatever you do, don't have sex with him again. If you do, I don't know if I'll be able to get your divorce. Because then the timer starts all over again and you would have to re-petition the court, living with him the whole time.”
My cheeks were getting red again because he was talking about sex. And now I was thinking about it.
“Of course, I'm not going to have sex with him. I'm trying to get a divorce, remember?”
He raised an eyebrow to me and I could tell that he didn't really believe me. I can't say for certain that I believed myself. There was a lot that I wanted to do, and now that he told me that I couldn't do it, all I could think about was me and Craig back together. It was something that we did rather well together.
When I got on the flight, I was even more nervous than before. A few weeks ago, when I took this flight, I was naive, and I didn't know what I was getting into. I didn't know what kind of man Craig was, and what he could
do to me. Now, I did. And that was no better. Now, I knew exactly what it was that he could do to me, and how we could mess with my brain. He was pretty damn good at it.
It seemed longer this time, that I was in the air so much longer than before. I knew that I was going to have to just take it all in stride. But then why was my lawyer’s words still in my head? Why was I thinking about the fact that I couldn't have sex with him, knowing that I wanted to? I wish that he wouldn’t have even said anything, because it was all I could think about the very long flight there. How he would feel inside of me, just one more time.
Somehow, I knocked off, but I woke up in a sweat and thinking about where my dreams had left off. It was easy to say that I didn’t want to be married to Craig anymore, but it was another thing altogether to admit that I didn't want to be with him. Even after everything, I still wanted to be with him. I knew that was wrong, I really did, but it was the truth.
He was very good at making me feel like the only woman in the world and I’d missed that. I missed the way he made me feel when he touched me and I would have been lying if I didn’t want to feel that again.
Chapter 53
Craig
My hands were shaking, and my heart was racing in my chest. I was going to pick her up from the airport, and I knew that I didn't have much time to make this work. If I was going to convince her to stay with me, I had a lot of convincing to do while she was here. And she wasn't going to be here long.
“Jeanine, it is good to see you.”
I went to hug her and then stopped. This wasn't the same sort of meeting as before. I had forgotten that she wasn't happy to be here. Last time she was. We had been waiting for it for so long. Things were definitely different this time and I was going to have to act accordingly.