The Violinist's Cherrytree

Chapter 15

"What?" Cameron's eyes were wide. 

"I said I want a divorce." I crossed my arms, refusing to submit to his anger yet again.

"You can't." He whispered. "I love you."

"You put me through hell. You feel a lot of things for me, but not one of those things is love."

"Don't tell me what I feel!" He raised his voice.

I didn't flinch this time. "If you truly loved me, you wouldn't have hit me. You wouldn't have made me terrified of walking through my own home."

"We were both stressed, but---"

"We live in the middle of nowhere and barely see our friends. We didn't have kids like everyone else. I won't let you isolate me anymore, Cameron."

"Jules, this is a wake-up call for me. I'm so sorry for everything. Please don't do this."

"No more chances." I stormed out of the room, ignoring his protests.

***

My mom opened the door of my old house. "Jules! What a lovely surprise!"

She embraced me and I reluctantly returned it.

I haven't spoken to my parents since they found out about the PCOS. 

I touched very little on Cameron and I's financial issues, and even more little on the abuse. But I need to tell the whole truth now.

When I finished telling my parents about everything I went through, they were both stunned.

My mom was crying, covering her mouth. My dad's face with grim. He reached into his wallet, pulled out a card, and handed it to me.

"This is Ben Lake's number. He's the family lawyer. Give him a call, honey. He's the best with these kinds of things. He helped your aunt when---"

"Okay." I cut him off. I smiled gratefully. "Thank you." 

My mom snapped out of her trance and dug into her purse as well and handed me another card.

"This is Scott Rollins' number. He's a family friend, a therapist. He's helped us a lot in the past and if you schedule an appointment---"

"Thanks, Mom."

I said a quick goodbye to my parents and went to the coffee shop.

I sat down in the booth and was reminded of when I was in college, and I had just met Cameron.

I was sitting in Starbucks running lines...

Stop it. You can't do this to yourself anymore.

I took the cards my parents gave me and placed them side by side on the table.

I definitely had calls to make.

One month later

I smoothed out my dress and my hair. My leg was shaking uncontrollably.

Ben leaned over and whispered to me, "You okay?"

"I will be," I whispered back. "Once this is over with."

We sat at our table on the left side of the courtroom, while Neil Overstreet, the Gold family lawyer, sat on the right side. The seat next to him was empty.

The Judge, Judge Reagan, had already been presented to the court and we had been waiting for ten excruciatingly long minutes.

Judge Reagan sighed loudly. "Mr. Overstreet?"