Chapter 20 #2
The dinner setup was different from breakfast. Two tables of four were spaced across the dining area, with our names in front of our plates.
The square tables were topped with white tablecloths.
Each place was set with fine china and gleaming silverware.
Crystal glasses of water were positioned beside each plate, and another crystal glass was ready for wine.
The scent of roasted meat and vegetables wafted from the kitchen, and my stomach rumbled.
“Someone’s hungry.” Avery patted my abs. “Maybe you should have eaten more at lunch.”
I placed my hand over hers and smiled. “Oh, I think I ate plenty this afternoon. But you are correct. I am hungry for more.”
She flushed, and I kissed her cheek before pulling out her chair. We were to be seated side-by-side across from Jack and Megan. It would not have been my first choice for dinner companions, but perhaps it would not be as difficult as I imagined.
“Could we please have one meal where you’re not riding my ass?” Jack grumbled at Megan.
Perhaps it would be more difficult.
“I’m not riding your ass. I’m asking about the interview. You called them, right?” Megan asked.
“Yes, mom!” Jack said as he rolled his eyes.
Megan huffed into her chair. “Dude. If I were your mom, I’d make you a thousand-calorie meal filled with lard and praise your ability to lay on the couch like a big, fat slug.”
Jack crashed into his chair and angrily shook out his napkin. “At least my mom is always happy to see me.”
“That’s because your mom thinks she’s the ‘first love of your life,’” Megan answered, then looked at Avery. “I’m not even making that shit up. She posted that on Facebook for his last birthday. ‘I was the first love of his life.’ It’s creepy and predatory, don’t you think?”
Avery held up her hands. “I don’t know his mom. It would be hard for me to say.”
Jack raised an eyebrow and then glanced at me for support.
I shook my head. “Do not look to me to validate that relationship. It does sound a little much.”
Megan laughed and banged her fist on the table. The cutlery and glassware bounced and clinked. “That’s what I’m talking about! Warren would know. He’s a divorce lawyer.”
“Family law,” Avery and I answered together.
Megan waved a hand. “Whatever. You’ve seen people break up over stuff like this, right?”
I shrugged. “Perhaps. But each divorce is different.”
“How so?” Avery asked.
A cater waiter arrived at our table with a full tray, passing out salads and bread, while another waiter filled the wine glasses.
I considered the question as I buttered my bread. “Every divorce is different, and that is accurate. However, they all have one thing in common: a lack of communication.”
“Gerald and Zelda said something like that during group therapy,” Jack admitted.
“Couples typically do not decide to divorce on a whim, despite what movies and the media will have you believe,” I began.
“Mind you, I am talking about a regular divorce, for whatever reason, not those marriages that are abusive. That is a different set of circumstances. But in regular divorces, the couple has likely tried therapy or separation or any number of other attempts to repair the relationship. And when those fail, they might drag out the separation as a test run for divorce.”
Megan pushed her salad around her plate. Jack was busy tearing his piece of bread into tiny crumbs. Avery leaned on the table and placed a hand on my arm. I gave her a sad smile as I looked at Megan and Jack. Avery nodded in encouragement for me to continue.
“One thing you do not hear about in movies and the media is when a couple goes through separation and decides not to divorce,” I said.
“Too often, a couple separates and thinks that is it. Once they are separated, they have to go through with the divorce. But that is not the case. There is no law forcing you to divorce, at least not in Florida. And it is your relationship. Who will stop you if you want to try again, perhaps with different boundaries and expectations?”
Megan’s head snapped up. “Really?”
I nodded.
“That’s interesting,” she said.
Jack narrowed his eyes at her. “It is?”
Megan sighed. “Yes, Jack. Contrary to popular belief, I took my marriage vows very seriously. Til death do us part. Don’t make me invoke that clause.”
Jack barked out a laugh and took a big bite of salad, chewing it while looking at his wife. After he swallowed, he said, “I don’t want to invoke that clause, either.”
“That’s good news, right?” Avery chimed in. “Neither of you wants to divorce, right?”
They both blinked at us as if they had forgotten we were sitting at the table.
I ate a forkful of salad and watched as they both struggled to answer Avery.
It did not matter what their answer to her was.
The only thing that mattered was how they wanted to live the rest of their lives - together or apart.
I never intended to reach my mid-40s and still be single.
After starting a law firm, I fully expected to get married in my 30s.
But when that did not work out as expected, I pivoted and began working independently.
One day, I looked up, and a decade had passed.
While I had a thriving law firm to show for it, that did not erase the empty echoes of my house when I returned home at night.
“Penny for your thoughts,” Avery whispered.
I shrugged. “It is nothing.”
She pointed her fork at my face. “Doesn’t look like nothing.”
“I was thinking about how things might have been different had I made partner at my first firm,” I admitted.
“You didn’t?”
I took a sip of water. “No. I was on the fast track, but one of the senior partners stole my work and claimed it for himself. Then, he accused me of stealing, and the firm fired me.”
Avery gasped. “Those assholes!”
“Yes. They were assholes,” I said.
“Did you sue?”
I snort-laughed. “Not all lawyers are litigious, Avery.”
“Said the lawyer who never met a waiver he wanted to sign,” Avery replied.
“Touché,” I said. “I meant that not all lawyers are driven to sue everything and everyone who walks.”
“You had a good case, I’m sure,” Avery said, angrily tearing off a bite of bread with her teeth.
“Believe it or not, I was not always as buttoned-up as I am now.” I reached for my wine and took a big gulp, feeling the burn as it went down my throat.
“Nowadays, I keep meticulous records of my work, but that was not always the case. When I was first out of law school, working as an associate in a big-city firm, I trusted my employers. I kept digital records on their servers, not thinking about what would happen if there was a server blackout or one of the senior partners wanted to accuse me of stealing.”
“They hacked your files?”
“Is it hacking if they exist on the company servers?”
Avery stabbed a tomato with the zeal of a mafia godfather. It made me smile, which surprised me. I had not been able to speak of my time at the firm without feeling regret and admonishment for myself for being too stupid to see the writing on the wall. But seeing her reaction made it worth it.
“It is okay.” I squeezed her thigh under the table. “Thank you for being mad on my behalf, but it was more than a decade ago. I had to sign many documents for them not to prosecute me, even for something I did not do. But I did not get disbarred.”
“You could’ve gotten disbarred?” Her eyes narrowed. “I need names.”
My mouth twitched at this vicious side of her. “No need. Karma will come for Langston, eventually.” At least, that is what I told myself. I had been waiting for Karma to deal those motherfuckers the hand they deserved, but I had yet to see it.
Avery stilled. “Langston?”
“Yes. Langston Hun—” I froze. That is not possible.
“Langston Hunter. Attorney in Tampa?” Avery asked.
I nodded. I could not speak if I tried.
She tore a piece of bread in two. “That’s my father. I had no idea you worked for him once upon a time. But that story about your boss getting you in trouble?”
I swallowed and stared at her.
“That is so like him. Only concerned with himself. He is a total narcissist, like the men he keeps throwing at me. Total fucking douchebags. It might have been a different story if he threw you at me.” She paused and tilted her head. “Are you okay?”
I blinked a few times. “You are not angry that I said those things about your father?”
“Are they true?”
“Yes.”
A cater waiter removed our salad plates and delivered the main course.
Avery shrugged. “Then I don’t give a shit. That’s your business. I am not one of those women who thinks her dad walks on water. I was definitely not a Daddy’s Little Girl. I barely saw him growing up. I’m just sorry you had to go through that.”
“I do not know what to say,” I admitted.
Avery harumphed. “Who says you have to say anything? Langston is the asshole. Maybe I’ll give him a piece of my mind about all his bullshit.
I mean, I normally do that. But you’re inspiring me to stick it to him.
Oooh. Maybe I’ll hide lemon peels underneath the seat of his Mercedes.
It will smell nice for a few weeks until the peels rot, and you cannot get that smell out of a hundred-thousand-dollar car. ”
“You see? That’s how I feel about your bosses at TSA,” Megan said to Jack as they re-entered the conversation. “I want names. I want addresses. Well, I don’t need addresses. I can sic my internet stalking friend onto them.”
“Internet stalking friend?” I queried.
“Yeah,” Avery agreed. “Everyone has that one friend who can dig into the social media platforms and open databases to find anything on anybody within thirty minutes.”
“It’s scary how much they can find out,” Megan whispered.
I chuckled. I did not have an internet-stalking friend, but I did have something better. Tatiana Martel at Saber Security. That woman could find anything on anyone, anywhere, anytime. She probably knew where I was right this minute.
I shivered.
“Cold?” Avery rubbed her hand up and down my arm.
And just like that, I forgot about Tatiana, Saber Security, and being incommunicado at a circus camp.