February Sucks -- Big Time

"It was just one night," she sobbed as she left. After she left, I held the children as they cried on my shoulder. They eventually quieted down and I kissed both of them good night and left after saying my goodbyes.

I got home, and had to remind myself to go in through the garage, since my front door wasn't working. When I got inside, my phone buzzed. I looked and saw I had a call from L.W., a close friend of the family who recently retired after working many years as an attorney. He was one of the sharpest and wisest men I knew, and he was the best friend a family like ours could ever have.

"Hey, L.W.," I said when I answered.

"Hey yourself," the old man said. "I saw that report. I've been following the story, and recognized Linda from the photos in the paper. Are you and the kids okay?"

"Not really," I said.

"Is it true you cleaned LaValliere's clock with a skillet?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's true," I said. He laughed.

"Good for you," he said. "I take it you're getting a divorce from Linda?"

"I am," I told him.

"No chance you can work this out with her?" he asked. "I'd hate to see you kids split up."

"No chance, L.W.," I said. I told him about the videos LaValliere sent and the things he said.

"Well, that seems to complicate things a bit," he said. "Have you spoken to an attorney yet?"

"I have an appointment with Lisa Hawkins in the morning," I said.

"Hawkins, huh?" he asked. "The Ice Queen herself."

"Ice Queen?" I asked.

"Yeah, she's cold as ice in the courtroom," he said. "If it's scorched earth you want, she's your girl. But she's also one of the most expensive family law attorneys in the state. Are you sure you can afford her?"

"She said she'd take my case pro bono," I said.

"Really?" L.W. asked. "Any idea why?"

"No, none," I said.

"Maybe you should ask," he said.

"I will," I told him. We talked for a bit longer about this and that.

"If there's anything I can do for you, let me know," he said.

"Thanks," I told him, ending the call. I ate some dinner, then got the stuff Lisa said she would need to see. I crawled into bed and slept fitfully.

The next morning after breakfast, I headed out the door. About halfway to Lisa's office, my phone buzzed. I saw it was a call from Linda's mother, so I answered, using my Bluetooth headpiece so as not to get caught talking on the phone while driving.

"Jim, you have to get to the hospital," she said frantically.

"Why?" I asked.

"It's Linda," she said. "She tried to kill herself last night. Took an overdose of sleeping pills with some alcohol. They took her down and pumped her stomach, but she's still not out of danger."

"Tried to off herself and fucked that up, too, did she?" I asked, coldly. "Sorry, I have a pressing engagement right now. Maybe I can swing by after my appointment."

"Jim, she's still your wife and the mother of your children," she said. "And she's in the hospital. Don't you have any feelings for her at all?"

"Why do you think she's there?" I asked. "And do you think she thought once about the kids when she took off with that Asshole? Or me? And where was she when Asshole hit her daughter? I have an appointment with my lawyer. I may swing by when I'm finished there."

"Please, Jim, she's a wreck," she said. "This has completely destroyed her."

"She has no one to blame but herself," I said.

"How can you be so cold?" she asked. "Linda loves you and the kids."

"I'm feeling the love, let me tell you," I said. "I'd better go now. I'll swing by when I'm finished." She gave me the room number and I hung up after saying goodbye. I got to the parking structure downtown, then made my way to the building where Lisa's office was located.

I was met by an attractive young brunette receptionist, who directed me to a chair in the waiting area as she called Lisa. A few moments later, a petite blonde in a pant suit came out and ushered me inside. Once in the office, she turned and offered her hand.

"I'm Lisa Hawkins," she said with a smile. "Good to finally meet you, Jim."

"Likewise," I said. "Although I wish it were under better circumstances."

"Me as well," she said. "Well, let's get right to it, shall we? Did you bring the information I asked for?"

"I did," I said, pulling out the folder with all our financial information. I also handed her a USB drive with the videos Asshole had sent me. She looked through it all briefly, nodding her head and making notes as she went.

"So," she said when she was finished. "Here's what I think we should do. We'll file citing adultery as grounds for divorce. In this state, adultery can be used as leverage against any form of alimony, plus, it looks like the two of you make almost the same amount. Normally, the state splits everything down the middle, but in your case, I think we can get a little more than that. We'll ask for physical custody, but you should know that most of the time, the court awards that to the mother unless there's something that indicates she's not a fit mother."

"Well, she did try to kill herself last night," I said. "And she wasn't there when her lover hit my daughter." Her eyes sparkled as she smiled.

"Very interesting," she said. "I suppose one could make the argument that a person who tries to kill herself isn't exactly stable enough mentally to look after children. And, as you said, her lover did attack your daughter. Which reminds me, I'll need to file for a restraining order against both her and LaValliere."

"Even though he's in the hospital and will be facing charges?" I asked.

"Especially since he'll be facing charges," she said. "He's already shown that he's willing to break in and assault you and the children. I'd say that makes him dangerous. And I think the court will agree. Just because he's being charged doesn't mean the court won't let him out on bail or on his own recognizance. Do you own a gun, by the way?" I shook my head.

"No, I don't," I said. "That's why I used the skillet." She laughed.

"Okay," she said. "Remind me to never piss you off, at least not in the kitchen. By the way, where are your children now?"

"They're at my parents house," I said.

"Okay, we'll include them and their house in the restraining order," she said. She then pulled out another set of papers.

"I also started working on the lawsuit against LaValliere and the team," she said. "You should know that typically, alienation of affection lawsuits generally don't go very far. However, I think your case will be helped by the videos he sent you and the charges stemming from his attack on you, your house and your daughter. I did a bit of research and found that with everything, he's worth about $125 million. I think that $12.5 million would be a reasonable figure, given what he's done to you and your family. That doesn't mean you'll get that much, but it's worth a shot. Since we know he's done this to other people, maybe we can see if they'd be willing to come forward. Perhaps we can make part of this a class action. What do you say?"

"You're the lawyer," I said. "Do what you see fit."

"Okay," she said. "It won't be easy, but we can try. I think we can make a similar case against the team, since all of the players are required to sign a morality clause. It depends on what they do to him after the charges are made, however. You should know this isn't going to be an easy battle."

"I already figured that much out," I said.

"For what it's worth, I think the divorce itself can be handled fairly quickly," she said. "In this state, adultery is still a misdemeanor, even though no one's ever been prosecuted for it. I don't agree with the law, but it's still on the books. We can use that to our advantage, though. If she tries to fight the divorce, we can use it as leverage. If she doesn't contest the divorce, it can be final in as little as three to six months. The lawsuits will take more time and work, but I think we'll come out ahead in the long run. Any questions so far?"

"Just one," I said.

"What's that?" she asked.

"You said you're doing this pro bono," I said. "Why are you doing that?"

"You know you're not the only one LaValliere has hurt, right?" she asked. I nodded my head. "He seduced my fiance several years ago, before he became the star he is now."

"Wait, what?" I asked. "I'm sorry to hear that. Is he bisexual or something?" She shook her head.

"No, not at all," she said. "But apparently, my fiance at the time was." I was still confused and it apparently showed on my face. She smiled and explained. "We got engaged after the Obergefell decision allowed same-sex marriage nationwide in 2015. It was a similar situation to yours. She fell for him on the spot, pretty much the way your wife did. Things were never the same between us after that. I broke off the engagement and to be honest, I wanted to get a measure of revenge on him, but the opportunity never really presented itself until you came along. Most of his victims usually hid in shame after they were cuckolded."

"I'm sorry to hear that," I said. "Are you two still friends?"

"We're friendly, but I wouldn't say that we're 'friends,'" she said. "I've moved on and so has she." She stopped and looked at me seriously before continuing. "Does my lifestyle choice bother you?" she asked. I shook my head.

"Not at all," I said, causing her to smile.

"Good," she said. "I'm glad to hear you say that."

"So, are you and Audrey Tanis, uh, together?" I asked. She laughed and shook her head.

"We're good friends, but that's all," she said. "And no, there's nothing between us, but I wouldn't mind spending some time with her. Why? Were you thinking of hooking up with her? She likes you, you know. I've never known her to take a story personally before."

"That's the last thing on my mind right now," I said. "These days, my children are the most important things in my life."

"As they should be," she said. "They need their father now more than ever. Listen, let me get started on all this, and I should have the paperwork for the divorce ready to be filed in a day or two. If your wife is still in the hospital, maybe we can serve her there."

"I'd like to be there when she's served, if that's possible," I said.

"I think we can arrange that," she said. She stood up, indicating the meeting was over. "I'll be in touch. You be careful, okay?" I stood and we shook hands one more time. After I left her office I headed for the hospital to see about Linda. I parked the car, then headed inside. When I got to her room, her mother was talking with a doctor. I looked and saw they had Linda connected to tubes running in her arms and she was hooked up to a ventilator. She looked like hell.

"Oh good, you're finally here," her mother said. "They've got her on suicide watch and they're going to be running tests on her. They're concerned she may have some brain damage since she was out for so long. She nearly died, you know."

"What happened?" I asked.

"After she got back from seeing you and the kids, she went upstairs. I heard her crying her eyes out and went to check on her," she said. "I held her for a long time and she seemed to be okay, so I gave her a nightcap to relax her. When I checked on her early this morning, I saw an open bottle of sleeping pills next to her glass, which was empty. Her face was blue, and I thought she was already dead. I called 911, and they brought her here. They pumped her stomach and gave her something to counteract the pills, but she's not in good shape. Once the doctor says she's stable, they're going to have a counselor come talk to her. They may keep her in the psych ward for a while. I don't know."

"How long will she be here?" I asked.

"A few days," she said. "I called her work and they put her on sick leave. Why? Are you going to serve her with divorce papers here in the hospital?"

"If this is where she is, yes," I said.

"How could you?" she asked. "That'll kill her. She's already devastated enough."

"Tough shit," I said. She looked at me, shocked.

"Jim Carlisle, how can you be so cold and cruel?" she asked. I looked at her before speaking.

"I can be as cold and cruel as it takes," I said. "She knew what she was doing when she left me, but she didn't care. Now she has to pay the piper for what she's done to our family." I looked at Linda, and could see a tear trickle down her cheek. I shook my head and left the room.

After I got home, I did what I could to keep Linda off my mind. The first order of business was getting the door fixed, so I went online and priced doors. I realized I would have to pay for the jamb as well. Damn. I took measurements and ordered a new door online. I also ordered new door locks. The site said my order would be delivered the next day, so I went to see my neighbor, Fred, who told me he'd be willing to help me hang the new door when it was delivered.

The next two days were pretty much the same -- I got up, ate, checked out the news, then worked around the house. When the door arrived, Fred and I hung it and I replaced the door locks at the same time.

I then spent some time with the children. My parents were kind enough to drop them off at school or day care and pick them back up, but I wanted to see them as much as possible. It was hard getting them to understand that their mother wouldn't be around as much as before. Emma was still frightened of adults, especially men, and I spent as much time with her as I could. Damn Linda to hell for doing this, I thought.

The day came when Linda would be served divorce papers, so Lisa called me to let me know when the process server would show up. She advised me to not say anything until the papers had been served. I gave her the room number and headed out. I met the process server at the door and saw Linda's mother standing there, wiping tears from her face.

"Please don't do this to her," she begged. "Not like this." I shook my head and went into the room with the process server. Linda was now off the ventilator and lay in her bed, tears falling down her cheek. The process server approached her.

"Linda Carlisle?" he asked.

"That's me," she said quietly. He handed her a manila envelope.

"You've been served," he said. "In addition to divorce papers, you'll also find a restraining order has been put in place against you and Mr. LaValliere. You are both ordered to remain at least 500 feet away from your husband, your children, your husband's residence as well as the residence of his parents. That also includes your husband's place of employment. Failure to obey that order could get you arrested and thrown in jail. Is that understood?" She nodded her head before turning to me.

"Can't we get past this?" she asked. "It was just one night."

"One night too many, Linda," I said. "Emma's still messed up from what your lover did to her. It never would've happened if you hadn't done what you did. Sign the papers, Linda."

"But I don't want a divorce," she said. "What if I decide to fight this?"

"Then you'll leave me with no other choice but to have you formally charged with adultery," I said.

"Adultery?" she asked.

"Yes, my lawyer says adultery is a misdemeanor in this state," I said. "No one's ever been prosecuted for it, but there's always a first time. Just sign the papers and finish it. If you look, you'll find that we're asking for half of what we already have in the bank. You'll also find that I'm asking for custody since you seem incapable of taking care of yourself. Once the doctor says you're okay, I'll let you see the children, provided they want to see you. Right now, they don't. We're asking for a minimal amount of child support from you, but nothing more. You get what's yours, I get the house and what's mine. Under the circumstances, I think I'm being more than fair."

"Can I at least look at them before I sign?" she asked.

"Of course," I said. She read through the papers, tears flowing down her cheeks. After a few minutes, she sighed and asked for a pen. The process server handed her one and watched as she signed the papers. He signed as a witness and took them back from her.

"I'll get these back to Ms. Hawkins," he said. "Good day." After he left the room, Linda looked at me, hot tears pouring down her face.

"Isn't there any way we can get past this?" she begged. "I didn't set out to hurt you. It just happened."

"Actually, you did set out to hurt me," I said. "You wasted no time leaving with Asshole when he picked you up in that club. The second you saw him, he had you. You didn't even give me a second glance. There's no way I can get past what you did. Ever." She began crying even harder.

"I'm sorry, Jim," she said. "Can you ever forgive me?" I shook my head.

"No," I said. "I have no forgiveness for you, at least not now. Maybe in a few years, but not now. God knows I'll never be able to forget what you did."

"I'm so sorry," she cried. Normally, I would've reached out to her to comfort her, but at that moment, I felt nothing for her. It was as though she was a stranger on the street -- one of thousands of others I might pass in the course of a day without giving so much as a second glance.

"Yeah," I said quietly. "Me too." I turned and walked out of the room and out of her life.

Epilogue:

The next few months were rough on all of us. The children and I learned to cope without Linda, and we settled into a routine. I learned all the things Linda used to do, mostly by trial and error. It wasn't easy being "Mr. Mom," but I managed with some help from my mother.

After a while, the children got to where they didn't miss their mother as much. Emma had been undergoing counseling, which helped a lot.

Linda, by the way, tried killing herself two more times, and was saved, again by her mother. After the third time, she was declared incompetent and placed in a long-term mental health facility run by the state. I've heard that she spends much of her day in a near-catatonic state, not speaking to anyone. She eats, breathes, goes to the bathroom, and sleeps, but that's pretty much it. The rest of the time, she sits in her room, rocking back and forth, apparently dreaming of happier times.

I no longer associate with the circle of friends we used to have. Dee flipped her lid when she was served papers. Of course, I never saw a dime from her, and I didn't really expect to. I just wanted her to know just how much her action -- or lack of it -- helped to destroy four lives. I saw Dave a few months after that eventful Friday, and he told me they were getting divorced. It seems she tried the same thing Linda did, while their so-called friends covered for her.

"Now I know what you went through," he told me. "I can't tell you how sorry I am for all that."

I didn't get as much in my lawsuit against the Sharks as I had hoped, but I still managed to get a very nice sum of money from them, which was enough to put both children through college and still have a lot left over. I also managed to get season tickets for life. They ended up firing LaValliere, but only after he was on his way to prison to serve his eight to 15-year sentence, having been found guilty of all the charges against him.

We actually ended up filing two lawsuits against the Asshole, by the way. More than 50 men came forward to say their marriages had been destroyed by LaValliere. Lisa put together the class action lawsuit, and presented it to the court. Several months later, a judge said it could go forward, and the games began. Lisa told me that no matter what -- win, lose or draw, Asshole will end up broke.

I had a separate lawsuit against him, for intentional affliction of emotional distress and damages as a result of his attack on me, the house and my daughter. We won that lawsuit, getting a healthy $1.5 million award from the jury. It wasn't as much as we originally asked for, but it was nice that we won. Even though Lisa didn't ask for anything, I gave her a percentage for all her hard work.