Glimmer

"Not according to the paperwork," I said. "It's in my sole name. So, until the courts determine otherwise, GET THE FUCK OUT!!!"

She jumped a little when I shouted. James came into the room.

"Mommy?" he said, "Sonia fell down."

Caroline, a stunned expression on her face, and tears wetting her cheeks stood and went to see to her daughter.

I closed my office door and stayed inside while she got some things together. After a few minutes, she came back in, Sonia in her arms.

"Are you going to say goodbye to...."

"Don't say it," I said. "She is not my daughter, and he is not my son. Take them to Daddy Bill and let him look after his progeny. They are nothing to do with me."

"Gary I..."

"GET OUT!!!"

I heard the front door close, and after a few minutes, her car start. It drove off.

I let go of the breath that I had been holding for, it seemed like, forever.

I shattered.

I didn't hear the door open, and jumped as a pair of arms surrounded me as I broke down, my head in my hands. I looked up to find Michelle holding me. She pulled me close and held me while I sobbed.

It took me a good while to get myself together again. I has just thrown away nine years. My marriage, my children, my life was gone. I really didn't want to face the world any more.

Michelle once again took charge.

"Come on," she said. "Lorraine said that it would take about four hours for Caroline to get an emergency occupation order. Since she has the kids, and this is the marital home. She'll be back. Do you really want to give her the satisfaction of being able to throw you out of your own home?"

We gathered some of my clothes, and all of my important paperwork together. I would have to figure out somewhere to stay, but I loaded up both mine and Michelle's car with my stuff, and left. Initially we went to the office, where I was served later that day.

Lorraine had called me to expect service. There was not only an occupation order, there was a restraining order meaning I was not allowed within one hundred yards of the house. If I wanted to collect anything I would have to make an appointment and be accompanied by Caroline's lawyer, at my expense.

Without really knowing what was happening, I found that I had moved into Michelle's spare room. All my clothing was in the wardrobe, and all of my paperwork was now neatly filed in cabinets at the office.

It had been a week since Caroline had been served. I had spent the time working, and then going back with Michelle to her house to eat, and then sleep. She brought me coffee in the morning, made breakfast and then we travelled into the office together.

Nothing seemed to change between us. She was still all business, and other than the hug when I had broken down at my house the first day, I hadn't so much as smiled at her. Not that I'd had much to smile about in any case.

Monday morning, we had an appointment with the lawyers of the company that Caroline and Bill worked for. I wasn't aware of the particulars, but we were apparently suing for an amount that the company could ill afford. They had insurance but that maxed out a million, and we were suing for significantly more than that.

Their lawyers were all business. Lorraine, my lawyer, was grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"What will it take," asked the lawyer, "To get you to settle on this?"

"Immediate and permeant termination, with loss of pension, of the senior party involved," said Lorraine, "Also an undertaking to keep Caroline on the payroll for at least three years, and one point five million."

I wasn't really listening as they batted things back and forward between them. Eventually they settled on all of the above, but I would only get about seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. That at least would take care of a chunk of the debt I had to the company pension fund.

"All this to be paid after the divorce is finalized," said Lorraine. They nodded. They understood.

Lorraine stayed with us for our next appointment also. This was with Bill Wainwrights lawyers. I left their office half a million richer.

I now had enough money to pay off the pension fund loan completely, and still have a nice little amount of money in my hand. Or I would have, after the divorce.

My last appointment of the day was with Caroline's lawyers. Caroline was in the office with them, but didn't look at me as I entered. Michelle was with me, as was Lorraine.

"This accounting on the divorce petition is ridiculous," was the opening gambit from Caroline's lawyer. "Your client is a majority shareholder and CEO of a company that is worth at last estimate somewhere in the region of twenty million dollars. Not to mention the assets in the house, savings, and 401k. I suggest...

"Let me stop you there," said Lorraine, pulling out a sheaf of papers from her briefcase.

"The company is out of scope for the divorce, as per the pre-nuptual agreement signed by all parties. My client, recently made a significant further investment in the company, which took up the majority of his savings, all of his 401k and a loan taken against the house. He also had to take a loan from the company pension fund. One of the partners wished to divest and it was important that the shares not be allowed to fall into the hands of a competitor who has been attempting to take over the business for some years.

"Since the loan form the pension fund means he now has a reduced salary -- he is now paid less than your client, and I will be asking the courts for some kind of maintenance agreement to tide him over while he finds his feet."

"What about the children?" asked her lawyer.

"There is DNA proof that those children are not his," said Lorraine, "That she knowingly falsified birth records to show my client as the father with the intent to defraud. Also, and as a separate matter, we are looking into seeking damages for a serious assault, where she knowingly convinced him to have a surgical sterilization which he agreed to , believing he was the father of the children.

"The alternative is that your client sign the divorce petition as is, pack her stuff and leave the marital home in his hands. She will get half the joint account, the balance of which currently stands at nine thousand four hundred and forty three dollars and fifteen cents."

Her lawyer looked at the paperwork, at the pre-nup and then at Caroline. For the first time, she looked at me.

"Gary, Please," she said. "I..."

"Nine years," I said. "Nine fucking years. You lied to me for nine years, day in, day out. You have nothing to say to me that I want to hear."

Caroline looked at her lawyer and nodded. She signed the papers.

I wasn't there when she moved out of the house. I just got an email from her Lawyers to say that the restraining order had been rescinded, and the house was now mine. I could move back in at any time.

I considered it, but decided against. Instead I put the house on the market, It didn't quite meet the outstanding owed to the bank on it, but I made up the difference and the bank went away satisfied.

Two months later, and I was still living in Michelle's spare room.

After our divorce Caroline had moved in with her parents. Despite all the evidence I had provided they were firmly on her side, and were not talking to me. It was no loss to me.

For some reason Stephanie had not divorced Bill as she had promised. I didn't know why, and I had no interest in finding out. Since he lost his job with the company, and his pension, they had had to sell the house in the gated community and had moved into a smaller apartment. Bill still had contacts and marketable skills so he managed to find himself a reasonable job, and was making a living, although not the living he had been making.

I didn't know he and Caroline were still seeing each other, I had not laid eyes on her since that day in her lawyers office, nor was I interested in doing so.

I was sat at my desk at work, when Michelle knocked and came into the room, not waiting for a reply.

"Bill Wainwright is dead," she said without preamble.

"What?" I said "How?"

"Apparently Stephanie caught him with Caroline again," she said. "She shot him."

I sat back in my chair, a huge grin on my face. I tried to remove it, but was unable to.

"Couldn't happen to a nicer guy," I said eventually. Michelle laughed.

"Am I evil?" I asked her, "For being happy about it?"

"Not at all," Michelle said. "That sleazeball got what he deserved. Oh, by the way, this was just delivered."

She dropped an official looking envelope on my desk. I looked at it with trepidation. We both knew what was in there.

I picked it up and tore it open.

"That's it," I said. "I'm finally a free man."

"Finally," said Michelle. Then she did the very last thing I would have expected.

She kissed me.

It was not some peck on the cheek, or even the lips, it was a full on, tongue battling, lip locking toe curling kiss.

When she finally released me, I slumped back in my chair breathless, amazed, and as rigid as the mainmast of a tea clipper.

She giggled as she looked down, seeing my obvious arousal.

"For nine years," she said. "I've looked after you. You are the most perfect man I have ever met. Not once did you even look at me wrong, check out my legs or my ass, or cop a feel, and I loved you for it.

"I have waited nine years for you. And now you are free. I know that you have always respected me, and that is a kind of love too. We make a great team. I know you as well as any wife knows her husband, and if you think about it, you know me in the same way.

"Give me a chance to show you that not all women are lying, cheating, conniving bitches. Please?"

I was stunned. I thought back to all the time I had spent with her, before I knew about the cheating. I thought about how I'd felt about her. I'd defended her vehemently against my business partner, to the extent he was kicked out of the business.

I realised then, that I'd had, and still had real feelings for Michelle. I guessed it was impossible to work that closely with someone for so long and not develop something. While I was with Caroline, there was never a need to examine those feelings, to quantify them. But there was definitely a need now.

"Say something?" she said. There was a look of worry on her face. That was the first time I had ever seen her uncertain.

"How many?" I asked.

She looked puzzled.

"How many what?" she asked.

"Children," I said. "How many children should we have?"