S I X T E E N Moving ahead.
Devereaux’s POV
Waiting outside, leaning against my car, I was ready for her and Jenson to come out of the office.
They had been at this mediation for months!
The first time, they had to reschedule because Will-But-Won’t wanted to bring his side piece for ‘support’.
Jenson said he shut that down after she attempted to take over negotiations for them as a couple.
Like she was in the divorce, also. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at the audacity of this woman.
The second attempt at mediation was much the same until she left willingly, sitting in the hallway.
I was sitting there for that meeting, waiting to go over a few invoices with Sarah for the upcoming events we had.
The mistress sat there, stewing, rubbing her pregnant belly, trying to vent to me about not being able to be in there since this had to do with ‘family’.
I told Jenson and Sarah about the comment and how she seemed completely unhinged.
After that, Jenson sent a letter to the courts, detailing Paloma’s behavior and words, asking that she be barred from any further discussions because she is not a part of the marriage, even as the other woman.
A fitting title based on what I had heard from Petey about her childhood. Like mother, like daughter, it seemed.
After today, if they could hammer out all of the details without other parties trying to nudge in, and both parties signed the paperwork, there would be only a month left in the waiting period.
Then the divorce was final. I was hoping that, since they had finally come to an agreement about the assets in the last meeting, three weeks ago, things would start moving forward in a somewhat positive manner ever since this fucking moron decided to give up his rights to the kids, and the waiting period could start for everyone to sit with it.
I knew my girl could do this last month of marriage to him, even though they were already separated.
I knew that she was ready to move forward.
I saw it in her a little more every day.
I just didn’t know how the boys would take it, how they’d handle never seeing their dad again.
He was hardly ever present, but he was still their father.
I knew she and I were ready to never see him again, but it might be different for the boys. I knew what it was like to have only one parent who wanted you. I didn’t want them to ever feel that way.
She was itching to sign the papers so badly that she had requested the first appointment on the day the waiting period was over, before we even came into mediation today.
She wanted to be done with all of it, move on to better things.
When I would ask her why she was in such a hurry to be done with it, she told me, “Because. I’m trading up.
In every aspect of my life. I know one day I’ll be trading up my love life too, and I want to make sure I’m ready for him when he’s ready for me. ”
I think my heart about stopped. I’d been ready for her for years. Fucking. Years.
There were flings over the years, girls I’d fuck, but none of them lasted, none of them stayed.
None of them even got added to the contacts in my phone.
That’s how insignificant they were in my life.
They knew the score before anything happened.
I was just looking for someone to warm my bed; in no way would I ever catch feelings, nor would they ever have the chance to have my babies.
I was ready for her. Always had been. I’d wait as long as she needed because now, I had a chance.
Now, she was so close to being free from him.
And I didn’t blame her for being ready to be done with him.
She had a high-profile gig this month, working with Silver Spoon to cater the mayor’s wife’s end-of-summer party.
She was going to bring the big boards, decked out with assorted fruits, crackers, cheeses, meats, bacon-wrapped and cheese-stuffed veggies, raw veggies with dips, sliders, desserts, the works.
She’d been working with the Browning’s, the mayor and his wife, to get the largest variety of finger foods and appetizers possible on ‘The Big Boards’.
I’d been working with her to coordinate meals to go with the finger foods, appetizers, and desserts.
She had boards, on a much smaller scale than the big ones, for my servers to walk with, while the two large boards would be set up on tables.
One was completely desserts, the other was all of the finger foods and appetizers.
The servers would be walking around the guests serving most of the same things on their boards, but that way, people didn’t have to be surrounding the big boards if they wanted something to munch on.
I smiled, thinking about all the fun we were going to have after the event.
It was two days after she signed the papers, after the waiting period.
Until then, I loved all of the excuses for us to get together.
Like right now. We were on our way to what had quickly become a tradition for us.
We would have dinner at Silver Spoon multiple nights a week, the kids and her lawyer present each time, as well as my parents.
I wanted to make sure that these taste-testing dinners couldn’t be classified as dates, but I still tried to make them special.
I would have her favorite flowers on the table, pull her chair out, as well as the kids’ chairs, while Pops pulled out Ma’s chair.
I would make sure their favorite desserts were prepared and waiting for them.
I did everything I could to make sure that my girl had whatever was needed to feel special.
***
Three weeks should have gone by in a flash, but it did not.
Each day that passed seemed like it took forever.
Even the nights that should have passed in a blur of dreams, I couldn’t remember; they dragged on.
I still spent time with them, but it seemed like no matter how many days passed, I was still so far from seeing her divorced.
I was so far away from kissing her again.
From confessing everything and begging her to let me date her, showing her how much I loved her, and the boys.
Will and Paloma had upped the content on social media, pushing the campaign that they were happy and everyone else should be happy for them.
Her parents and his were laughing with them in what looked like a backyard BBQ at the house she was looking to sell.
She had told me there was no way she’d be able to stay there knowing they were in that house.
She planned to sell and had a realtor scheduled to be there to start the selling process the day the papers were signed.
She took immediate ownership as soon as the papers were signed and filed.
Jenson said he’d stay and wait on them so we could get to work for a few hours and then to the house at the end of the day to meet the realtor.
Volunteering to be the one to work with her, and spending all of the time as a friend, of course.
It was as close to her as I could be before the divorce was final.
I was holding myself back by a fucking thread, a very worn thread, ready to snap the closer we got to the final day to sign the paperwork and her freedom.
Tomorrow at eight in the morning. She’d sign the papers, and she’d be a free woman by late afternoon.
My heart was pounding so hard I was sure there’d be no sleep for me tonight. When she smiled from where she sat across the table, the twinkle in her eyes, I knew I’d never be able to let her go.
She was bone marrow deep in me, in my heart.