Halley
I stared up at the imposing, brutalist building, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.
“Come on,” Tiffany said, putting a hand on my shoulder. “I mean, after all the shit you've had to deal with living with Brian, this should be, like, the least scary thing you've had to do in years.”
I gave her a look. “Not helping.” It was kind of funny, sure, but it hit a little too close to my already frazzled nerves.
Tiffany sighed and squeezed my shoulder. “Halley, you know as well as I do that things are only going to get better — for you and Cole both — once you guys officially start working on a divorce. And forget for a minute about the whole custody thing. I know you've only been putting off signing the divorce papers because Brian told you he was going to sue for custody, but you know the judge would be mad to award custody to that drunken asshole.”
I sighed, closing my eyes for a long moment and counting to ten. “You're still not helping,” I told my best friend, but when I opened my eyes again, I was at least able to crack a small, amused smile. “Let's just get this over with.”
I led the way into the building, trying to ignore the way my high heels echoed on the smooth tile and the way it was just this side of too cold in there with the air conditioning turned up high. I had my task in mind, and I made my way quickly to room 239 with Tiffany trailing along behind me.
When we finally sat down in front of the attorney, Mr. Barry Esposito, I was a jittery mess; the only thing keeping me even remotely sane at the moment was Tiffany's never-wavering grin of encouragement. “So, Mrs. Scott,” the man said, drumming his fingers on his desk as he opened up my file. “How are you today?”
“I'd prefer that you call me Ms. Talin,” I said, grimacing. “'Scott' was my married last name, and as you know, I'm hoping to get that ... fixed.”
The attorney smiled at me. “And we can do that,” he said. He handed a stack of papers across the table towards me. “These are just the standard legal documents for the divorce. You'll need to sign them today, and then a copy of them will be delivered to Brian which basically says that we're opening the divorce procedures against him. It also lists all the assets and the splitting of them, as we had discussed before. Since all that you've asked for out of this is custody of Cole and you've left the house and everything else to Brian, I don't foresee him wanting to fight you on it. It should be a fairly easy split.”
I cleared my throat a little awkwardly. “I expect that Brian may try to. sue for custody of Cole.”
Barry's eyebrows rose towards his hairline. “Oh really?” he asked. “But isn't one of your main complaints about your marriage the fact that he is an alcoholic and prone to drunken rages?”
“Yes,” I said quietly, twisting my fingers together. God, I'd be so happy just to be done with this whole business, with this whole awkward mess.
The thing was, Brian had been so nice to me for the month that we'd dated, and he'd promised he would take care of Cole and me. He came from a family that had money, and he met me just when I was beginning to realize how much those diapers and early childcare bills were going to add up. And he'd been so sweet and charming for a while, such a perfect gentleman.
It was only about two months after our wedding that things started to go downhill, and fast. Of course, there had always been the little selfish things that he'd done, but I had written those off, reminding myself that he was an only child in a rich family; he was just used to getting his way and always being right.
But then he had started drinking more and more, and getting angrier and angrier. What had started out as mean teasing whenever he had one too many drinks of rum then just turned into meanness overall, and then turned into epic screaming matches that often ended in broken glasses or vases.
I still remembered the first time he had hit me. He didn't do it often, but when he was a certain level of drunk, and especially back before I'd been able to reign in my own temper, there had been quite a few black eyes.
I shook my head. “All the same ... I don't expect him to go quietly. And he...has a lot of money. He could hire a good attorney, someone who could…” I clapped a hand over my mouth. “Not that I don't think you're a good attorney, it's just that—”
Barry held up his hand, cutting off my babbling. “I understand what you're trying to say,” he said. He frowned a little, tugging at the edges of his mustache. “Well, you being the mother, I still think that we can get a judge to award you sole custody, especially since Brian's name isn't on the child's birth certificate. Of course, that case would look stronger if there were a father's name listed on the birth certificate...”
I glanced over at Tiffany, who was still giving me that same, encouraging look. “I might… well, I'm not sure I'll be able to do that, but I was recently in contact with Cole's father...” I trailed off. Of course, it didn't really count as being in contact with him when the man still didn't know that he was a father and when I still hadn't managed to call him. But maybe, given a little time, I'd be able to.
“These things move fast,” Barry reminded me. “If you're planning on getting Cole's father's name listed on his birth certificate, that's something you'll want to get started on sooner, rather than later—before they even think to try to sue us for sole custody. Otherwise, things are only going to get messier.”
“Okay,” I said, my voice barely audible.
“So, if you just want to sign these, then...” Barry prompted.
“I have one last question,” I said, risking a quick look up at the man. I cleared my throat again. “What do I do if…” I swallowed hard. “See, the thing is, I don't expect Brian to really appreciate the fact that I'm divorcing him,” I said carefully. “So, what do I do if he gets upset?”
Barry shrugged. “Well, once you two have legal dealings with one another, you're not supposed to have any contact with one another without your attorneys being present,” he said. “So, unless you think Brian is going to come over to your house begging forgiveness—”
“More like come over to her house drunk and looking for a fight,” Tiffany muttered loudly.
Barry looked surprised and gave Tiffany a sharp look. “Ms. Talin, do you really believe that might be something he would do?”
“It wouldn't be the first time something like that happened,” I admitted. “Especially if he's been drinking, he has a tendency to be … I mean, usually he reigns it in if he knows that Cole is around, and I doubt he'd do anything at my parents' place, but … well, I just never really know with him.”
“In that case,” the attorney said grimly, reaching into his drawer and pulling out another sheet of paper, “I'd suggest filling out one of these before we serve him the divorce papers. This is a request for a restraining order. Of course, it may not do anything to stop him from coming after you, but at least if he does come after you, it'll help us ensure you get custody of Cole, and may even help us put him behind bars.”
I breathed a small sigh of relief and grabbed the paper from him. “That's good,” I said. As he had cautioned, I didn't think a piece of paper was really going to stop Brian, especially not if he was, as Tiffany had suggested, drunk and looking for a fight, but it at least gave me a little peace of mind that maybe the courts would be on my side, despite the fact that Brian could probably buy everyone in the justice system off if he really wanted to.
Twenty minutes later, Tiffany and I were back out in front of the building.
“See, doesn't that feel better?” Tiffany asked cheerfully, linking her arm with mine.
I took a deep, shuddering breath, and unexpectedly felt tears pricking the corners of my eyes. I bit my lower lip as it wobbled. And then, I totally burst into sobs.
“Hey, hey,” Tiffany said, pulling me into her arms. I expected her to ask what was wrong, but seemed to already understand, despite the fact that she had never gone through this herself. “Easy,” the other woman murmured, stroking her hair back.
I finally pulled away, taking another deep breath and putting on a brave smile. The papers were all signed, and it felt, at long last, as though I might one day be free of Brian again.