That Phrase... Sylvia Ch. 04

After the amazing night of sex Rachel and I had shared, I was in a very positive state of mind when I met with Charles to go over the pre-nup Rachel's father insisted on. Those feelings would be replaced with anger and despair a short time later.

Charles was trying to read the document I had brought for him to review while eating the sandwich I had bought for him so that I could not tell if he liked or disliked what he was seeing in that document. After he finished eating, I could tell from his expressions that he did not like what he was reading. He looked at me when he had finished reading with a frown on his face.

"Did you read any of this, Don?" He asked me.

"No, I told you I didn't and that you would be able to understand the legal mumbo jumbo better than I could. Why?"

"Before I answer that, what kind of promises have you made pertaining to the pre-nup?"

"All I said was that I had no problem signing it if it was fair and reasonable."

"Then we have nothing to worry about because there is nothing fair or reasonable in that piece of crap."

"What do you mean, Charles? What does the pre-nup say?"

"It basically says you're screwed if you and Rachel divorce in the future no matter what the reason or who's at fault. You don't even get to keep anything of value you had before the marriage and that's definitely not fair or reasonable."

"I can't believe that Rachel knows anything about what that document says. She loves me and wouldn't try and screw me like that. Her father is behind this, I guarantee it. He doesn't think I'm good enough for his daughter and his lawyer is the one that drew it up. How much do you want to bet that Rachel will tear that "piece of crap", as you called it, up when I show it to her later today?"

"I would not take that sucker bet. Rachel's had to have seen this because her signature is on the next to last page, dated and notarized. Maybe you don't know Rachel as well as you think you do, Don. It goes without saying that I recommend you "Do not under any circumstance" sign the last page of this document. I'm done talking as your lawyer now, but as your friend. You need to take this to Rachel and find out what the hell is going on."

"I had already planned on doing that as soon as we were done. I'm having a hard time believing Rachel would do this to me. Can you put together a counter that would be as offensive to her as that one is to me?"

"Yes, I can but it will take a few days for me to prepare it and I don't want to waste my time and your money unnecessarily. Take this to Rachel, let her know how unfair to you it is, and see if the two of you can work this out. For all we know, she trusted her father to do the right thing and signed it without reading it."

"Okay Charles, I'll go see her right now." I told him as I rose to leave, snatching the pre-nup and the manila envelope it had been in up off his desk before stomping out of his office in anger.

At that moment I was mad at Rachel's father because I was sure he was the one trying to screw me over. That anger would bounce from one person to another much like a ping pong ball in the next few hours before it would be replaced by a vindictive mood.

I drove straight to Wells Industries and hurried up the back stairs to Rachel's office. I threw the pre-nup down on her desk without uttering any pleasantries. I could see by her expression that Rachel was frightened by my obvious angry mood.

"Tell me you signed that without reading it, Rachel." I yelled at her.

"I can't do that, Don, because I did read it. I don't sign anything before reading it first, not even documents from my father. Why are you so angry?"

"I'm angry because there is nothing fair or reasonable about that piece of shit and now I'm even angrier because the woman I thought loved me unconditionally is okay with me getting the shaft in case we don't make it as a married couple. I guess the wedding is off and maybe our relationship is over. I won't sign that and I think I need to reevaluate the way I feel about you now that I know you're not the woman I thought you were.

"I'll move my things into a storage unit and stay in a hotel until I can find myself an apartment. I probably ought to be thankful that your true colors came out before we got married. I wouldn't let Sylvia disrespect me and I can't let you do that either. Goodbye, Rachel."

"No Don, wait. Something's not right here. Please Don, give me a chance to read the pre-nup again because I swear the one I read was very generous toward you in case we didn't last which until this very minute I wasn't afraid of. I do love you with all my heart and swear I wouldn't do anything to hurt you. Please, wait a few minutes and then we can figure this out together. Please!"

"Okay, I'll wait in the outer office, but don't take all day."

I paced back and forth while Rachel read the papers I'd thrown on her desk. My pacing became too much for her secretary and she left her desk using the "Going on Break" excuse to flee. Forty five minutes later I heard a sob form the doorway into Rachel's office and looked over in that direction. Rachel was struggling not to burst into a major crying jag while tears ran down both her cheeks.

I did not think, only reacted, and had her wrapped up in my arms in a flash. Although she was trying to say something between her sobs, all I heard was her crying and some mumbled, indecipherable utterings. We stood like that until she had cried herself out and when she had; she grabbed the back of my neck and held me tight as she plastered her lips to mine and that sensation of electricity between us occurred again.

"Don, I swear to you on my mother's grave that piece of filth is not what I read and signed. I don't know how Daddy did it, but the next to last page is the only one I've seen before today. Please, can we sit down together and try to figure out what he's done?" Rachel implored of me.

"It's not hard to figure out, Rachel. Your father showed you one document, got you to sign it, and removed the page with your signature before placing it in the one he sent me. He must have thought I'd see your signature and sign mine without reading it. We both know he doesn't think I'm good enough for you, don't we?"

"Yes, as much as it hurts me to admit it; in the back of my mind I knew he didn't approve of you. He sees us both as stupid kids that don't know anything about life and from different ends of the social structure. Appearance is still big to him and my marrying you would tarnish his appearance in the social circles he is a part of.

"Don, I swear to you that I don't care about any of that. I love you and know you love me and will make me happier than I've been in a long time. That's what I care about. Please Don, let's get married and to hell with Daddy's precious pre-nup."

"We could do that, but what would your father do next to sabotage our relationship? We have to confront him about this now so that he learns that we won't let him dictate how our life together is going to go. If he tried this and we let it slide, he'll try something in the future to tear us apart and you know it as well as I do." I told the new love of my life with apprehension controlling my emotions at that moment. If she would not have my back in standing up to her father then our relationship was over before it got any farther along.

"You're absolutely right, Don. Let's go and tell him we aren't going to put up with any more bullshit like that worthless bunch of papers over there." Rachel exclaimed to me in anger and my apprehension was replaced with elation.

"Hold on one moment, baby. I need to do one little thing first." I said to the woman I knew was the true love of my life before using the multi-tool I always carried to remove the staple from the pre-nup I had received.

When Rachel and I looked closely at the page with her signature on it, we could see the two sets of staple holes that were in it. We walked hand in hand to her father's office, ignored his secretary as she tried to stop us, and entered his inner sanctum; interrupting him during a phone call to someone named Louie.

"What the hell...?" He started to yell after hurriedly hanging up the phone before Rachel yelled over him.

"SHUT UP, DADDY! JUST SHUT THE HELL UP!"

I squeezed Rachel's hand hard enough to get her attention and mouthed to her to calm down. Even though I was as angry as she was, I seemed to have mine under better control than she did so I began to speak in a close to conversational tone to Mr. Wells.

"This farce of a pre-nup you tried to trick me into signing is "What the hell", sir." I said to him before flinging it at him and watching as the pages separated and flew in all directions.

"Did you think I would sign on the dotted line without reading that because Rachel had already signed it? I love your daughter, but I'm not blinded by that love like some immature teenage boy would be. I've already told Rachel so now it's your turn; I can not and will not sign that or any other pre-nup that is not fair and reasonable.

"Rachel and I both know you don't approve of me as husband material, but I love her more than any other man can or ever will. I'll do everything I can to make her happy for the rest of my life and I'll do all that I can to provide her with what she needs, also."

"You can't possibly support her in the life style that she's used to and you know it." Mr. Wells blustered at me.

"He doesn't have to, Daddy. I can learn to live the lifestyle that he can support us in if that's what it takes for me to be with him. I finally know what love, true love, feels like and I'm not giving it up for anything.

"Don and I are going to get married when his divorce is final with or without your blessings. I don't need country club memberships, big fancy parties, or any of those other things that go along with the lifestyle you think I need to live. All I ever wanted was to find someone who loved me totally and unconditionally and now that I've found that someone; I'll do whatever it takes to hold onto him.

"Daddy, please don't try and force me to choose between you or Don because I promise you, you will lose. Don and I are together and are going to stay together until death separates us. Please Daddy, stop being an emotionless business tycoon and be the loving father you have been in the past. Leave my relationship with Don alone so we can continue to be happy."

"Fine, if you want to throw the good life away to live in mediocrity with him, so be it. I'll expect your letter of resignation on my desk by this time tomorrow. Now get the hell out of my office." Mr. Wells told us in a tone barely below a yell.

I expected Rachel to breakdown in tears after what her father said to her, but anger mixed with determination is what I saw in her as we retreated to her office.

"Demand my resignation. Thinks I'll give in like I have in the past. Thinks I don't have what it takes to stand up to him. What a surprise he's going to get come this time tomorrow." I heard Rachel reciting to herself as we walked back to her office.

"We're not to be disturbed for any reason, Lisa. For that matter, take the rest of the day off and lock the outer door behind you when you leave." Rachel told her secretary before going into her inner office and closing the door behind us.

Rachel immediately got on the phone as soon as she had sat down behind her desk. I sat and listened for the next two hours as she first called people I did not know and asked for their support at an emergency board meeting that she was going to demand for the next day and then called people I had deduced were the other board members and got the meeting she wanted for the next day.

She called her father last to inform him of the meeting and from the way she hurriedly hung up the phone; I could tell that he was not happy about it.

"Rache, baby, what are you doing?" I asked timidly from the couch I was sitting on.

"Something I should have done years ago but didn't have the strength to until you came into my life; standing up to my father. I'm not going to roll over and give into him anymore with you having my back. You do have my back, don't you Don?"

"Yes, I do, babes, now and for always as long as you don't do something stupid like Sylvia did."

Rachel sprang up out of her chair and sprinted the short distance between her chair and the couch I was now standing in front of before leaping into my arms. She began kissing me with passion which led to us christening her office couch with our combined sexual juices. It was dark when we awoke from the nap we took following our third and final coupling of the afternoon.

I had to know so on the drive to the house we were now sharing, I asked her. "I know you're standing up to your father, but what are you doing specifically, Rachel?"

"With the votes that were promised to me this afternoon, I have fifty one percent and can force the board to replace Daddy with me as CEO. I'm not going to let him force me out of the company without a fight and since I have to fight; I may as well fight to win. Together, the two of us can run Daddy's company as good as or better than he does." Rachel answered me, but I could see a glimmer of doubt in her eyes and face as she told me.

"Rachel, I can see that you have doubts about what you've just said. Please, don't do that. I know without a doubt that together, we can run your father's company better than he is. You don't have his fear of change and change is what needs to happen for Wells Industries' continued success. You told me you trusted me so let go of your doubts and trust in what I'm saying, Wells Industries will be better than it is now if you succeed tomorrow and we work together."

"Then you need to trust this, I am going to succeed tomorrow so you'd better be in for the long haul." Rachel said to me with a twinkle in her eye. Although Rachel tried to revive my cock for more sex when we retired to bed later in the evening, it would not rise to the occasion so we ended up cuddling and caressing each other until we drifted off to sleep.

Rachel was successful in ousting her father from both his CEO position and from his seat on the board which, after some heated discussion and threats by Rachel, I was installed in. Rachel's father stormed out of the meeting and, even though both Rachel and I tried to make peace with him over the next several years that was the last time we saw him in person until the day we stood side by side at his coffin during the wake his friends held for him before his funeral.

My ignoring her phone calls completely finally made Sylvia realize I did not want to talk to her and she quit calling me; but at least twice a week for the fifteen weeks between the filing of the divorce papers and the court date set for the finalization of our divorce, she called Charles and tried to get him to talk me into seeing her. He would tell me about the calls, but did not try and talk me into seeing Sylvia after my fit of anger the one time he did try. My hope that Sylvia had given up on seeing me was a futile one when she surprised me outside the gym I continued to work out in every day but Sunday a week before the court date.

"Don, please don't run away until you at least listen to me." Sylvia begged of me that morning.

"I'll listen to what you have to say, but I don't have all day here, Sylvia."

"Can't we go somewhere and sit down at least, Don?"

"No, we can't. Right here is good enough for me. Tell me what you wanted to tell me or I'm leaving Sylvia."

"Don, I'm sorry, so, so sorry about what I've done; but I still love you and don't want the divorce. Why didn't you want to at least try to help me fix our marriage, Don? I don't understand why you just gave up on our marriage. Did you hate me so much that you wouldn't even try?"

"It wasn't you I hated Sylvia, it was the disloyalty you showed to me. You listened to someone else instead of me, the one person you promised to share everything with, to work with through rough times, and to cherish, forsaking all others. You broke those promises, not me, you.

"I did everything I could to make you happy because you were special to me, but after you gave yourself to another man, you stopped being special and became just another selfish woman who didn't appreciate what she had until it was no longer there.

"We had something wonderful until your actions on that Friday night killed our marriage, Sylvia, and it wasn't going to come back no matter what either of us did. You know as well as I do that what I'm saying is true.

"Could we have gone to counseling and stayed together as a couple? Maybe. Would I be able to forget those marks you brought home that night from Jerry? In time, probably. Would I have ever felt the same about you as I had before your one night stand? Not a chance.

"Would you really have wanted to stay in a marriage like that, Sylvia? What would we have done about Jerry getting you pregnant? Did you think I'd raise another man's child as my own because that was what you wanted? I knew you still wanted children after we found out I couldn't sire any and since you're still carrying his illegitimate child; wouldn't have considered an abortion so how do you think we could have stayed together with you keeping his child?

"I'm warning you right now that if you're thinking about contesting the divorce; you better think again. What do you think would happen if one your nieces or your nephew got to the mail before Sydney or her husband did and started watching the DVD they found there thinking it was a Disney movie only to see you being spit roasted by two men? How long would it be before Sydney would let you near her kids again?

"You know you're going to need her for support after the divorce and her receiving a DVD of your debauchery would definitely strain the relationship between the two of you. Let the divorce go through so we both can move on with our lives."

"You...you...hate... me... that... much, Don?" Sylvia managed to stammer out between sobs after my little rant.

"No, I don't hate you, Sylvia. To be honest, I don't feel anything anymore when it comes to you. I have found someone that makes me feel more loved than I have ever felt even with you. I guess I owe you a "Thank you" for doing what you did because if you hadn't, I never would have found my true love. I hope you find someone else to love Sylvia and have a good life with him, but it is over between us and it's time to move on. Goodbye and good luck." I said to her before moving around her, getting into the Mercedes that Rachel had given me to drive after I had returned the car Fox Manufacturing had provided for me, and driving away while she leaned against her car and wept.

That was the last time I saw Sylvia in person because she did not appear at the hearing for our divorce which was granted after I assured the judge that I was fine with the terms set forth in it. Sylvia got the house and her car free and clear plus half of everything else and I got Rachel.

Epilogue

Rachel and I married two weeks after my divorce with my parents as witnesses. Wells Industries thrived under our combined management of it. Wells Industries bought Fox Manufacturing when it became available after Mr. Fox's health began to decline due to his age. Rachel and I lived in wedded bliss until her death from ovarian cancer twenty eight years after we found each other. I sold everything we owned, bought a motor home, and have spent the days since her death traveling the highways of the good old US of A.

I don't know what happened to Sylvia, but whenever I would think of her, I would imagine that she found a man who loved her as much as I loved Rachel and she had as good a life as I had.

The End