Through the cracks

Chapter Eight

It was Monday morning and Ava woke up with a slight headache from constantly crying, trying to figure out where it all went wrong for them. Was she really that arrogant to think that she had the perfect life and the perfect marriage? She gets dressed and goes to the office. Lucas ignores her and when she goes to his office, he is rude and treats her like a stranger. Bravely, Ava starts talking to him about the divorce and his young family.

"I don't want to interfere in the decision you made, I just need to understand," Ava started calmly.

"All I can say is that I did not ask for this. I did not plan to fall in love with another woman. Now you are telling everyone we know that I am this evil monster!", he says, trying to make himself the victim of the situation as he always does.

"I never said you were a monster, and you are the one telling people I am a criminal! Do you know how embarrassing that was for me? I did nothing to deserve all this! This isn't something that happened yesterday. This is something that has been going on for years. The least you could have done was to have the decency to tell me and not let me go on to believe that what we had was special." Ava said, and she could feel the tears starting to dwell up in her eyes again.

"Well, maybe if you took better care of yourself. Or maybe if you had done more things with me instead of just lying around the house being lazy. You knew I had always wanted more children, but you only thought of yourself. And the reason I canceled your signing powers was because you paid some lawyer out of my bank account" He started to speak louder.

"You mean our bank account?" She said. She could see that he was not willing to be reasonable.

He looks at her with no affection or even empathy in his blue eyes.

"You have always told me what to do. I am sick and tired of you deciding on my behalf. I will make my own decisions,“ he screamed at her.

She sat there glancing at him and at the moment he did not look attractive and Ava felt tears sting her eyes. She is exhausted and discouraged. He obviously does not care anymore. Ava just gets up and leaves the office. He will not listen to her nor does he care what she thinks.

She phones the divorce lawyer and confirms the appointment she had already paid for the day before. Thankfully, she did, or she would not have been able to after Lucas blocked her from the business account. She had her own account, but she rarely transferred money to it as she did not need to. Now she was angry at herself that she didn't do what he accused her of. She should have taken more money from the account and saved up, but there was never any reason to do that.

On her way to her car, she walks past his car. She can see little hand marks and there are scratches on the door on the passenger side. Strange….his car has always been his pride and joy and no one would have dared to touch his car, but it looks as if a child drew something on the door. Maybe the same rules do not apply to his new family.

Ava is very nervous when she gets to the lawyer’s offices. An assistant showed her to the boardroom. When James Jones enters the room where Ava is waiting, her heart misses a beat. James Jones is a tall, athletic man in his early fifties. He has got the most beautiful dark green eyes. It held a depth that immediately captivated Ava. There were a few strands of gray in his dark brown hair. Wow, what an attractive man she thinks. Her hormones and the rejection make her very vulnerable, she realizes and forces herself not to think of her attorney as attractive.

James looks at the women in front of him. His marriage ended five years ago and although a lot of women try to get his attention, he cannot commit again and is known to have several girlfriends mainly to accompany him to social events. He looks into her beautiful green eyes and feels something he hasn’t felt for a long time. Maybe it is the sadness, the unsure look in her eyes that fascinates him. He must remember it is a potential client, and he quickly turns to professional mode.

"What can I do for you today?" he says with a smile that makes her knees go weak.

"I want to get a divorce because my husband is cheating on me. He also cut me off financially. I signed an antenuptial contract when we got married, but that was when I was financially independent and I, at the time, had more to lose than him. I helped him start his business and supported him financially in the beginning. I gave up my career to save his, and now he blocked me from the accounts, and I am dependent on my job at his firm. I have two properties in my name that we bought when we first got married, but everything else is in his name. The properties we rent out, the business, the house, the cars, all the policies, everything. But that does not mean that I did not contribute to the costs and payments thereafter. And I am also the one who maintains all those assets. I am the one who makes sure we get the money from those properties, and I was the one keeping the policies in place even though they were in his name. Every time I would suggest that I get some policies in my name, he would say it is not necessary, because of all the ones he had in place! I handled all of our financials because he lacks the knowledge. I know I should not have been so stupid to allow him to put everything in his name only, but he convinced me that it was better for business. What chance do I have if I proceed to sue him for what I have now lost? I am too old to start over, it is not fair that I have to be the one who starts with nothing again?" she asked, hoping that the attorney would not laugh in her face for being so irresponsible.

"It will be difficult, but not impossible," he said after listening to her story.

They discuss all the options. Ava becomes very emotional, and although he seems sympathetic, he handles the situation very professionally . He gives her time to compose herself and keeps on making notes. Again, he gets this urge to protect her, but he realizes that he will have to stay objective and not get emotionally involved. He explains the process to her and they end the meeting. He walks her to the door. He is well-mannered, a gentleman, and again Ava feels a little self-conscious when he shakes her hand.

He had a disarming smile that seemed to defy the gravity of her situation, a glimmer of warmth and hope amidst the turmoil in her heart. His hand is warm and Ava blushes when he looks into her eyes and turns around to walk away.

The next few days are hectic. When the sheriff serves the summons for divorce on Lucas, he storms into her office and screams at her that she will not get his belongings. She looked at him in disbelief, as this selfish man, with his eyes full of hate, was a stranger to her. How is it possible that someone you love so much can be so cruel and mean? Why is he even mad at her? He is the one that started a new family whilst still married to her. He is the one that lied to her and the children. What is wrong with him? Why does he want to fight with her? It is already causing her and the children so much pain . He can just at least be decent and give her her fair share so that they can all start new lives. He, because he wants to. And she, because she has to.