Muddle on! (#Wattys2016)

Chapter 15

     Zachary Taylor Leonelly

 

 

 

 

     I was tired of cutting circles in full silence by my lawyer’s office. Well, I could hear my feet tapping by the marble floor and my own breathing, but other than that it was mute in the room.

     Tobias was busy going through the divorce papers that we were going to present to the court. His head was snapping up and down, while reading some parts of the papers and every time he would look down, he had to fix his reading glasses that constantly slipped down his nose.

     Tobias was my personal lawyer. A few years back I figured it wouldn’t hurt to hire my own attorney that would deal with my personal issues, rather than use my father’s company team, or even our family one. Some stuff like prepare the divorce papers to the girl that I married by mistake I proffered to fix on my own. Moreover, Tobias was the type that didn’t snoop into my private business. He really didn’t care what my situation was like. He did his job clean and on time. Just like I liked it.   

     Taking two huge steps I reached the window and pulled it open. Instantly, a wave of fresh of air hit me into my face and the room filled with the sounds of busy street. I took a deep breath and rubbed my forehead. Shit! Shit! Shit! My body started buzzing with an annoying feeling of dread.

     When I asked Tobias to prepare the papers, I hadn’t fully grasped how serious it could be. Only now it started catching up to me. I was f*cked up. Marie was underage. She wasn’t twenty-one and if to start explaining to court that we got drunk and married by mistake, I could lose my license. Heck, they could make me pay a huge ass fine or even close the casino resort altogether.

     “I understand that the matter is rather delicate. How much of the compensation you are willing to offer your wife to go with the easy divorce pattern?” Tobias asked me in his business like tone.

     I spun around facing him, and pressed my lips together. I had no clue how much money was enough for Marie Belle to keep quiet about the alcohol involvement and just go with the divorce on “irreconcilable differences” ground.

      “I don’t know,” I sighed. “Let’s offer her a quarter of a million. If she’ll refuse the amount we will go from there. But I’m not willing to give her more than half a million.”

      “The matter is delicate, indeed,” he murmured to himself. “In order to file for a no-fault divorce, you need to at least live together. The Judge might deny your request for poor conduct and lack of trying, and force you to stay together for a certain period of time. Even if the marriage itself was a mistake; it’s a serious matter. The other way around it is to live separately, but you need to live apart still staying married for a certain period of time. It could be a year or two or even five. Depends on the state law on the matter.” He lifted the papers. “I’m sure you can file a joined petition with your wife saying that both of you leaving the marriage willingly by mutual desire due to your incompatible characters. But you need to live together, or have a prove of joined residency to actually have a none-complicated divorce.”