Of course, I should have known that my lawyer and closest friends would never let me forget once I got back to work.
I managed to avoid them for the first couple of hours, catching up on emails and setting up meetings that I had postponed. But the good luck could only last so long, and it was still well before lunch when my secretary buzzed me on our intercom.
“Sir, your lawyer is on the phone.”
I just stared at the speaker, as if I could will it away in just a glare, but that only resulted in an unnatural silence that had my secretary asking if I could hear her.
“Put him through,” I said in what I hoped was a neutral tone.
“Yes sir, of course.”
There was another brief pause as she transferred him and then my desk phone was ringing. He’d probably been calling my cell all morning, but I conveniently had it on silent in my pocket and hadn’t checked it since I had arrived.
“So, custody agreement?” His tone was flat, perhaps what some people might even mistake as inviting, but I knew better. I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could, he was talking again. “And what’s this lease that’s been faxed to my office? Not to mention that the insurance packet we were sent from that department for a non-employee receiving full coverage.”
I steeled myself, putting on my most profession, in charge voice. “I-”
“Look, I know I’m just your legal counsel and not your friend, but after working together for quite a while, please, please tell me that this isn’t all for the woman we have been searching for.”
I didn’t know when he learned that he could talk to me like that, but it was something that I would have to rectify quickly. “I can’t say that because then it would be a lie.”
I could hear him trying not to sputter in exasperation on his own end and failing miserably. “Not- I… Are you serious?”
“When am I not?”
I couldn’t blame him for his incredulousness, the situation was certainly anything but typical, but that didn’t mean I was going to let him talk to me disrespectfully. I was going to give him a minute to calm down before I put him back into the pocket he seemed to be acting out of.
“You… you do know that she is absolutely taking you for a ride, right?”
“I can see how you would assume that, but that is not the case here.”
“Not the case here?” He countered. “Not the case here!? She’s a no name woman from Vegas who just happened to get married from you when she was drunk and now, since I’m guessing she pregnant from the whole child custody thing, she’s having you support a baby that you don’t even know is yours!”
“What reason would she have to lie?”
“Every reason! You’re her golden ticket! You’re her easy street and you’re falling for it hook, line and sinker!”
“I’ve let you go on because I realize this situation is no doubt baffling from your perspective, but I’m going to remind you that you are my employee, not my friend, so if you cannot have a professional conversation with me, I recommend you hanging up and calling me back when you’ve collected yourself.”
“I… right. Apologies. But certainly, you can understand why I am concerned.”
“Of course, the situation has all the ingredients for a classic gold digger scenario. But in what world have you heard of a gold digger running away, trying to keep their identity a secret and never asking for anything. She even agreed to the divorce immediately.”
“With the caveat that you take care of the child?”
“No, that was my idea. She refused me several times at first, but I was… persistent.”
“Wait… you offered? Why in the hell would you do that?”
“I’ll remind you that I have no need to explain myself to you.”
“I know, I know,” he sighed, taking a long breath. “I just…I know my job is just to give you what you need, but if you explain the whole situation to me, I’m sure that I would be able to protect you better and make sure there are no unexpected bumps in the road.”
That was fair. I was sure that if my mother was alive for this, she would be reacting quite similarly. She always was far more practical than me. “She was living in her car,” I said, deciding on just how much I wanted to reveal. “The only reason I found out is because after I took her to dinner to explain the divorce, I had to drop her off back there.”
“She was homeless?”
“Yes. And you understand why I couldn’t let her stay that way. Even if I hated her, which I don’t, if I’m going to have a child, I want them to be healthy.”