How I started writing fiction on a semi-regular basis, while trying to practice law.
Contemporaneous notes from a journal I kept while taking a writing class.
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Monday, February 19, 1996
I'm gearing up for two weeks of solid Mr. X. At least, predominantly Mr. X.
Wednesday will, in fact, be a Mr. X day, as we'll be in depositions all day. March 1 has turned into an all-day deal, too. A motions hearing in the morning and a PL [pendente lite] hearing in the afternoon. What a waste.
I guess I was wrong about not deposing Mrs. X. I still don't know what Ms. W hopes to gain from this. Damaging admissions about past indiscretions, I guess.
We have our office meeting today. In the grand scheme of things, I'm still not sure which is worse—deposing Mrs. X or going to this meeting. Either way, I suppose I'll benefit, but I have to put up with so much to get that benefit.
I had an interview with yet another office of the AG scheduled last Friday. It snowed, and we rescheduled for this Thursday. This would be a staff attorney job. No benefits, a lower salary than assistant AG, but a foot in the door, as they say.
I finished another draft of my short story. It came to just over 13 pages. Quite a condensation of the original 48.
I'd like to try another short story, and this time, do something with a little more humor and suspense.
Thursday, February 22, 1996
I woke up at 3:30 this morning and couldn't get back to sleep. It's a great way to start off a day when I'm being interviewed for a job.
Yesterday's deposition of Mrs. X was like the March to Bataan—endless and exhausting. Mrs. X was evasive, contradictory, sarcastic, unresponsive, and made personal attacks on me. It went on for five and a half hours. It would've gone longer, if I had not thought the whole exercise was a complete waste of time.
Monday, Ms. W made a settlement offer that led me to believe we might actually be getting somewhere. They asked for $500/month alimony, which is the most realistic figure they've come up with so far. I was feeling pretty hopeful, until Tuesday, when I asked Ms. W about Mrs. X's job. She has a job now. I wanted to know a few pertinent details—type of job, income, benefits—the kind of stuff you need to know before you agree upon alimony. She wouldn't give me the information. So we were forced to do a deposition based on my inability to get a few scraps of information. Unbelievable.
Sunday, February 25, 1996
The interview on Thursday went fine, especially considering that I got maybe three or four hours sleep the night before. I stumbled through the rest of the day. I tried calling Mr. X a few times—couldn't get through. The automated voice messaging service didn't answer—it just rang and rang.
On Friday, the phones worked, but I couldn't reach him. I left three messages, I think. About stuff we're supposed to provide them.
Yesterday, for the hell of it, I checked my voicemail. He had called, I'm not sure what time. Apparently, they [Mr. and Mrs. X] got together after her deposition. You have to admire this woman's energy. It was all I could do to drive home, eat half a sandwich from lunch, and drag myself to bed. Anyhow, now they're talking settlement again. Now it's $400 a month for 3-1/2 years. Why 3-1/2? Who knows. Then $300 a month to go toward the daughter's education. For how long? Who knows. I'm supposed to call him tomorrow. I thought about doing it today, but y'know, I just couldn't bring myself to do it.
I spent some time at the office, mainly organizing my desk and planning for the coming week. Then, I went for a walk around Centennial Lake. I'm not looking forward to going to a hearing, but I will need to prepare for it anyway. Even though they're talking settlement. After all, the last time we went through this, it all fell through when someone wouldn't tell us her income from her new job. Ridiculous.
Monday, February 26, 1996
So now there's a new drug. "Roofie"—it's some kind of depressant. It's got other names—"Mexican Valium" is one. It causes blackouts, amnesia. It's often used to come down from a cocaine high, according to the news. New and better drugs—let's hear it.
Mr. X and I discussed the possible settlement. $400 a month for 3-1/2 years. Then, $300 a month into an educational trust, until the daughter turns 18. Unused money reverts to him. Now she wants part of his pension. Oh, and by the way, now unsupervised visitation is okay. Why do I get the feeling she planned to do this all along? That she just wanted him to spend money on a deposition?
I keep thinking, could I have done things differently? Should I have? Did the depo make a difference? Would she have settled without it? I don't know.
So when this winds down, where will I be? In financial crisis and insecurity about everything. Why am I doing this? I quit EPA for this? Ugh.
It's unbelievable. This case has taken so much work, time, energy, money. Now it ends, like that. Maybe. It's not over yet.
