ROMANS & PARTNER'S ATTORNEY AT LAW
1804 Words
As luck will have it, the door to the apartment opens at that moment and the man of the conversation walks in.
“Babe, are you here?” Alexander calls out, slamming the door shut and his footsteps walk towards the living area.
A partition wall obstructs the view of the kitchen from the door so he won’t see them until it is too late.
“Alexander! Entre ici!” Priscella calls out in fluent French, anger in her voice and Tanya smiles stiffly. Get in here!
Tanya had expected him to have other girls, after all, he’s a player. She may be enjoying their time together but she knows Alexander’s type and no matter how much she adored his company or liked him, he isn’t the type to settle.
She knows this…but now finding out he had a fiancée at home waiting for him—if it is indeed true—paints him in an ugly light and makes her seem like a homewrecker. After all, wasn’t he the one talking about the horrors of marriage…yet he has a fiancée.
Oh, he’s really in for it.
“Qu'est-ce qui ne va pas ma ro—?” Alexander starts to say as he enters the kitchen and he freezes as he takes in the scene. “Merde…”What's wrong my ro—? s**t…
His eyes flicker to Tanya and she raises a brow, smiling tightly. He looks over at his fiancée noting the pissed-off expression she wears and he visibly gulps.
“Tanya, Johnattan was supposed to bring you here an hour from now,” Alexander states, his voice low as he gazes at the two, angry women.
“He was but something came up,” she smiles stepping from around the island. “…and it’s a good thing too, I would have never met Priscella, your fiancée.”
“…and I wouldn’t have met your wife,” Priscella hisses, walking towards Alexander.
“I can explain-” he starts to say but Priscella holds up her hand, indicating she wants him to be silent and to Tanya’s surprise he shuts up.
“No, I don’t want to hear it!” Priscella hisses, stopping in front of him, her finger pointing into his chest. “You can explain it all to your father when he hears about this!”
Alexander’s eyes widen in fear and he grabs Priscella’s hand trying to console her, causing Tanya’s eyes to widen and sharp pain strikes her chest.
“Babe, Cella… Don’t go to my father. This was a mistake. I didn’t mean to marry her,” he pleads, staring at a pouting Priscella and Tanya’s chest constricts at his words. “We were drunk. I’m working on it… She’s here so we can get a quickie divorce and move on with our lives. So, I can move on with you.”
Tanya knows his words are true but hearing him disregard her in such a manner, pains her. She didn’t expect him to love her or anything but they have shared moments and she had hoped he would’ve actually had some respect for her.
…but that’s what she gets for sleeping with a guy hours after meeting him…treated like the tramp she is.
“—angry, but I won’t tell,” she catches Priscella say in a sickly sweet voice as she comes from her thoughts.
“I’ll give you three days to get started on sorting this out,” she continues, wrapping her arms around Alexander. “…or I tell Nicolas and he will take care of your mess.”
She plants her lips on his with a prolonged kiss, staking her claim in front of Tanya, hoping it hurt her and in the most twisted way it does. Priscella pulls back, glancing over her shoulder at Tanya with a grin before turning her attention back to her fiancé.
“I will leave you now,” she says caressing his face. “Remember the gala is in three days. Fix your mess by then and remember we wear red.”
She pulls away from him and smiles at Tanya. “Au revoir.”
With that she leaves the apartment with a slam of the door, leaving Tanya and Alexander in awkward silence.
“Tany-”
“Save it, Alexander,” she quips walking past him into the living room.
“Gazelle...”
“No!” she shouts, turning to glare at him, a heaviness settling on her chest. “You had a fiancée all this time and you slept with me! That’s disgusting Alexander!”
Her temper flares as the hurt on her chest intensifies. “You went on and on about the horrors of being married yet you had a f*****g fiancée! God, I am such a fool!”
“We had an understanding Tanya!” Alexander argues, silencing her. “This was not a real marriage and we were just having fun!”
“You have a fiancée!” she shouts in disgust. “You cheated on her with me! Do you not see something wrong with that?”
Alexander runs his hand through his hair in frustration. “Priscella and I may be engaged but she does not mind me sleeping around!”
This causes Tanya to freeze and stare at him in disbelief.
“This is a business marriage. She has no obligation to me nor do I have any to her. She is mostly upset because I’ve brought you to my home and as my wife nonetheless!” Alexander explains and Tanya looks at him, hurt written across her face.
“You should have told me… I deserved to know before I slept with you!” she argues, feeling confused and …used. “Let me have a choice in the matter and then, you tried to keep it from me! Keeping me at a hotel, just so I wouldn’t find out!”
Alexander doesn’t like the way she speaks to him like she was promised anything more than brief companionship and s*x until they finalized their divorce. They had good moments and mind-blowing s*x but that does not mean they are a couple.
She is starting to sound like his wife and he can’t have that. It’ll only end badly if she gets attached.
“Tanya stop trying to be a wife! That is marriage is a sham and means nothing!” those words effectively shut her up. “We’ll split. You’ll get a hefty sum for your troubles and silence and you can go back to your job. It will be like we never met so save me the f*****g lecture.”
The silence blankets the room as the two stare at each other. Tanya’s heart hurts at the harshness of his words but she doesn’t let him see that his words affected her. Instead, she hardens her heart and stares him down with those dark eyes of hers.
“Duly noted, Alexander,” she says sternly and Alexander takes a deep breath, hating himself for losing his temper and saying those words so harshly at her. “Why don’t we just get to the appointment you mentioned in your text? We shouldn’t keep your lawyer waiting. I’d like to be released from this sham of a marriage as well.”
Alexander looks at the stiffness of her stance and mentally scolds himself. He didn’t mean to be so harsh and heartless but she was getting worked up over something that shouldn’t have meant anything, it was just s*x. He has a life he has to get back to and Tanya didn’t fit in that life.
He’s to be married to Priscella St. Lieu, and produce an heir before he takes over his father’s business by the end of the year.
Tanya is someone he didn’t expect. She’s the odd piece in this puzzle and he needs to get rid of her before his father catches wind. Nicolas Blake will not be as kind as Alexander has been, he would drag her for everything she has until she’s nothing…
Gazing at Tanya, Alexander knows he can’t allow his father to do that to her. She’s a kind soul, who doesn’t deserve to bear the brunt of Nicolas Blake.
“Let’s go,” he says curtly walking towards the door, holding it open so she can walk out of his apartment.
After she steps out, he closes behind him as they walk down the hall towards the elevator, their destination: Romans & Partners, Attorney at Law.
***
Tanya sits in the chair observing the large, chic office. The décor has an earth theme to it with shades of brown on the walls and dark brown carpeting. The frames hanging on the walls are white and the furniture in the room ranging from red, white and black. It has a professional yet feminine look, the floral arrangement in the room adding this touch.
Alexander sits beside her on the deep red, sofa speaking to Angela Roman, his attorney and old college buddy. She’s a bombshell with red hair and bright blue eyes, a hefty bust and killer curves. She wears a conservative, pantsuit that hugs her body and her hair is in a neat bun.
She’s been professional and conserved since they entered the office, glancing at Tanya now again as she leans back uninterested in their discussion.
“Tanya,” Angela calls out to her and she looks at her with a raised brow. She’s posed on the armchair, a notepad in her hand and a neutral expression on her face. “Do you have any conditions to add to the divorce papers?”
Tanya shakes her head, dismissing them with a shrug. “Nope. I want nothing from Alexander than to be free of this marriage.”
She smiles over at her loving husband, who looks at her blankly urging her to roll her eyes.
“Okay, so just to summarize. The divorce is no fault and on the grounds of irreconcilable differences. Miss Rhode gets nothing from Mr. Blake but a sum of 40,000 US dollars for her inconveniences and you want this done silently and quickly.”
Alexander nods and Tanya yawns, bored with the discussion.
“I will see what I can do but this may take a while to get down,” Angela says rising from her chair and Alexander rises, Tanya following soon after, happy to be leaving.
“How long?” Alexander asks Angela, fear in his tone.
“Well, I’d have to work with the laws of Nevada to get this filed so, we’re looking at a month or two. This depends on if we run into legal problems…”
“Um…my papers are expired… Could that pose a problem?” Tanya pipes up and Angela’s eyes widen.
“She was an illegal immigrant?!” she hisses smacking Alexander on his arm. “How could you have forgotten to tell me that important information? You’ve just made my job harder!”
Alexander curses, apologizing for overlooking that piece of information before asking Angela how long would it take with this added information.
“It may take an additional month,” Angela replies before turning to Tanya. “What visa did you enter the US with?”
“A student visa,” Tanya says and Angela hisses.
“…and you were working?”
Tanya nods.
“Alex, you’ll owe me one when this is through,” Angela says as she writes down the additional information.
“So what’s the final timeline for this?” Alexander asks, massaging his temple.
“Four to five months…that’s if I don’t encounter any problems.”
Alexander curses in defeat before looking over at his old friend with a nod. “Get on it then, starting with her immigrant status…”
Angela nods and Tanya watches them, silent as the weight of her predicament sinks in.
They are in some deep s**t.
- Writer
