Chapter 25
Colt
I was getting a weekly update from my lawyer about the divorce, or the lack of any information. Thankfully, I got busy at work when a couple of my clients had done some very stupid things that were taking up all of my time. It was nice because I didn't have to worry about thinking of Candy and the knots in my stomach that it would cause. Instead I could just throw myself into work and try to forget everything.
Nights were still hard, and I still dreamed about her every night, but it was getting easier. This is what I had to tell myself anyways. That it was somehow going to get easier.
“So, tell me some news.”
“Well colt, I was actually going to call you in a little bit because I did finally get some news.”
He was watching his wording and that made me a little nervous. When my lawyer started sounding like a lawyer, even when he was talking to me, that meant that he was going to tell me something that I certainly do not want to hear. I didn't know what it was, but since he knew that I didn't want the divorce, maybe it finally been filed. Maybe I had missed my chance and she was sick of waiting.
“So, what is it that you got to tell me?”
“I don't really know how to say this Colt.”
“Well just say it then. I've never seen you not able to talk, what is going on? You’re freaking me out.”
“Well, something did get filed a couple days ago and I'm just now seeing the copy of it. I don't know why it took me so long, but I have a couple of days to make a response. I need to know what you want me to do.”
“Well if she wants to divorce me, there's nothing I can really do about it. Just go ahead with it. What more is there to talk about?”
I was getting short with him, which I knew it was because I was upset. I had started to believe that somehow this was all going to turn out okay, but I should have known better. I should have known that she was going to file eventually, I just didn't understand why it had taken so long. In a way, it felt like she was fucking with my head.
Investigators told me that she’d found a place to live by herself and that had given me more hope. Now I was pissed at myself, as well as everybody else who had told me that I still had a chance.
The lawyer interrupted my thoughts with the next sentence.
“I know that you said you were going to let it go through, but this isn't the same one that she had you signed, I don't think anyways. I know that you love her or loved her, but there is no way that you would have signed this document.”
“I didn't really look at it. So, there is no telling what is in it, why?”
Something told me that I wasn't going to like what he was about to tell me next. I really wasn't going to like it by the way he was acting. How bad could it be?
“Because she is asking for half Colt. Not just half of what you have now, but she wants half of what you're going to make in years to come as well. She wants alimony from you too.”
His words were almost foreign to me and I couldn't believe what he was saying. There was just no way that Candy had made a document like that and had me sign it. I know that I haven't looked at it, but it wasn't that thick, more like a standard divorce decree. It wasn't thick enough to have added all of that in there.
“It had to have been changed after I signed it. Is there a signature at the bottom?”
He said that there was, but that it could easily have been transferred.
“There was no case number on the last page, something that maybe you didn't see before, but it could have easily been added in later. They could have transferred your name, forged it, there really is no telling. It could just be a good old forgery. Are you sure that you didn't sign this?”
“Come on, you know me better than that. There is no way that my family would that fly anyways. A lot of my net worth is in stocks and there is no way that they would let her get a share in the company.”.
“So, what do you want me to do Colt?”
It was becoming clear what had to be done. I wasn't going to be able to go through the lawyers and get through this unscathed. Apparently, I was going to have to call Candy and find out what was going on. I told him that I would get back to him shortly and he told me to hurry it up, because he only had a couple of days to answer.
I got off the phone with him and I wasn't sure what to think. There was a lot going on in my mind and I just couldn't believe it. She had even said something about it when I’d joked about it, but now I guess I was seeing her true colors. I can't say that I liked it all that much.
...
When I tried to call Candy, the number was disconnected. I had called it a couple of times before, hanging up when she answered or before the answering machine could pick up, and it always worked. I didn't understand why it wasn’t now and it started to make me believe my lawyer even more. I had wanted to think that this was all some sort of mistake, that she would never do this to me, but apparently, I was wrong all along.
I checked the number that the investigator had given me and then I called him to make sure that it was a current number.
“It was current two days ago.”
It didn't make sense that I couldn't get ahold of her and I thought about going to California to see her. It certainly was worth the trip, considering how much money she was trying to get out of me. I knew that it may be the only way that I was going to see her. I had to talk to her before I decided one way or another how to handle it. I still was trying to hold on to the idea that this was a big misunderstanding. There was no way that she could do this to me, right?
***
I wanted to leave right away, but since work was so crazy, I wasn't going to be able to. I knew that I was going to have to talk to Candy about everything, but I can't say that I was really looking forward to it. I was more in shock than anything else and I was hopeful that everything was just a misunderstanding. If it wasn't, I really wasn't sure where to go from there. I loved her, and I certainly didn't want to fight with her, but at the same time, I certainly didn't want to give her all my money either.
My lawyer called me back a couple of days later and asked me what I wanted to do. I had told him that I would call him when I found out, but I still didn't know.
“Can we delay it?”
“Yeah, but we need to have grounds.”
I told him that I didn't really care how he did it and what the legality of it was, I just wanted a little more time to figure out what was going on.
“It is pretty clear what is going on Colt. The woman is trying to take your money. I don't know how else to say it.”
His words hurt, and it must have been because I knew that it might be true. There was a part of me that didn't want to believe it, to believe any of it, but it was becoming apparent that I was going to have to. He had sent me the paperwork and it was all in black and white. He also said that Candy’s lawyer wouldn't return his calls, so I had a feeling that he knew that there was going to be a war.
“Hell Chis, I don't really know what to say. You know that I'm not going to give her half of my money. I don't give a damn how much I care about her, there is no way that she's getting half. Can't you defend with desertion or neglect or something like that?”
I was half joking but when he agreed that he could have, I told him to write up some papers and just send it my way. I wasn't going to represent myself and I didn't really have time at the moment to get into it. I trusted Chris and I knew that he would figure it out. If nothing else, I just needed a little bit more time to figure out what was going on. I still wasn't convinced that she was trying to rob me, even though all of the proof pointed towards that conclusion. Not everything was how it seemed.
The next few days were full for me and I didn't get talk to Chris until the third night. He had sent over the paperwork, but I still hadn't taken a look at it. I think it was easier to be in denial, if I didn't have to see it written out.
When I finally did call him back, it was after hours and I knew he was going to charge me an arm and a leg. I really didn't care though. I needed to talk now, and this was the only time that I could.
“So, what do you want me to do Colt?”
“I don't know, I guess this looks good enough. I hate to have to fight her in court, but I'm certainly not going to let her get away with this. She really didn't seem the type.”
“You know that they're all that type. They can't help themselves or something. All they can think about is money. That is why I don't marry, I date, but I will never get married again. My first ex-wife was the one that made me want to be a divorce attorney, did you know that?”
I told him that I didn’t, and he told me why. She had gotten him for half, and she got the kids, and the house, and pretty much everything else she’d asked for, including his own aunt’s ashes. It was all done legally, and he hadn’t gotten over it. I didn’t want to turn out bitter like him, though I could already feel it creeping in.
“I really didn't think that it was going to be like this. For all intent and purpose, what we had wasn't even a marriage. I was under the assumption that it had to at least be a marriage before the half rule applied. You know that I don't really mess with divorces, so I'm depending on you to help me out.”
“You know that I will Colt, and this is the best way to go about it. You have to be careful how you approach this, and you have to show them that you are not going to just roll over and take it.”
After going over the documents, I agreed to them, and I told him to give me a call when he heard something. Chris promised that he would, but it was all still up in the air. Now I had more questions than answers and I just wanted this to be over as quickly as possible.