Right In Front Of You

Chapter 14 - I'm Not Ready!

A WEEK LATER; Friday;
The Core Lounger; Raleigh, North Carolina;
Suzie's POV;

It had been a long, tiring week. Everywhere I turned, Shaun seemed to be there but now that I had been gone from him for a week, I knew that I could do this alone, it wasn't easy but every day I could feel myself getting stronger and more confident with being alone.

Brittany was in school, she was studying for her exams before the end of semester. My youngest sister had always wanted to follow in our Father's footsteps and become a top prosecution lawyer. Heather and I supported her the way we always supported one another and we encouraged her as I told her stories of our Father's trials. Stories that she had just been too young to remember.

Heather was currently sat on my leather sofa reading through some trashy tabloid as I went through the invoices from the delivery that we had taken in an hour ago. Glancing up at my middle sister, I was as proud of her as I was of Britt, Heather had also followed her dream and was slowly building up her reputation as a physical trainer.

"Hey check this out Suz," She said looking up at me and smiling when she caught me watching her.

"What?" I asked unable to stop thinking that I had done an ok job with my younger siblings. I had instilled them with the believe that they could do absolutely anything that they set their minds too.

"A woman over in Charleston, South Carolina has been charged and placed in custody after stabbing her cheating husband, of twenty seven years, 37 times!"

"37 times...? I admire her restraint!" I muttered dryly causing my sister to laugh out loud.

"You know you better watch that bitterness honey," She threw the magazine down on to the table and fell back in to the sofa watching me closely.

"It's not bitterness honey, it's anger..."

"Is there a difference?" She asked resting her feet on the coffee table and catching the cigarette that I threw to her.

The sound of the phone ringing saved me from answering that question and I silently thanked God for the interruption as I reached for the phone and placed it to my ear.

"The Core Lounge, how may I help you?" I asked.

"Suzie?"

"Bill?" I asked resting back in to my chair and whirling around so that I had my back to my sister while I talked to my Father's old partner and my lawyer. "Is everything ok?"

"Yeah honey, everything is fine! I am just calling to tell you that Shaun has had his lawyer call me,"

"For what?" I asked inhaling deeply on my cigarette and blowing smoke rings out in to the air.

"About the fact that you have taken money out of your joint account,"

"That was my money Bill; it was what I had left of my inheritance and some other money that I had left over...he has absolutely no claim on that money, right?" I asked feeling my insides churning at the thought of him getting his grubby little paws on the money that my Parent's had left me.

"No he has no right sweetheart. You were not married, you have only been living with him for two years, you were not classed as common law, so he can't make a claim for anything from you,"

"And I am not liable for half the mortgage on his house right?"

"Is your name on the deeds?"

"Nope," I sighed heavily.

"Then no; you have no financial commitment to him, in fact you have nothing to tie you to him honey,"

"Thank you Bill; just send him a letter to that effect!" I said running my hand through my hair and feeling the weight of burden being lifted from my shoulders where it had been weighing me down for the past week.