The Empty Nest Pt. 02

"Can we talk?" She asked, quietly. Most unlike Rachel's usual take charge attitude.

"Yes, sure. What about?" As if I didn't know.

"I'm not coming home with you," she said flatly.

"I know." It was out of my mouth before I could stop it. "I only got tickets for the girls. I supposed you have to wait till the building is finished." What a recovery.

She had the chance to put this off. She hesitated, but obviously decided to continue on.

"I'm not ever coming home. This is my home now."

I think she thought I would explode. She didn't realize that I knew all about it. I decided to make it hard for her.

"After being here the last week I realize that dear, but I think we can work around this. You like it here, and I like it at home. We can have a long distance marriage. I will come and visit when I can. Who knows? France might grow on me."

The look on her face! I could see her brain trying to process an answer, but one wouldn't come. Finally she just blurted it out.

"I want a divorce!"

"Have you found a replacement?" I said evenly watching for her reaction. She didn't even twitch.

"No! No, but I don't think this long distance thing would ever work," She spoke sharply at first then more measured.

While she was speaking I took out my phone and was going through the menu.

"Will you put that thing away!? We are trying to have a conversation here!"

I found what I was looking for, pressed play, and then turned the volume up. It wasn't very loud, but the moans and French words were obvious. Rachel's mouth flew open and then she covered her face with her hands.

"You really should learn to press the end button on your phone, but I guess you were preoccupied!" I snarled bitterly, pressing stop so the room was silent again.

Rachel slumped down in a chair, her head still in her hands.

"Have you told the children?"

"What do you think? Really, do you think I'm that petty and nasty?" This bought another round of howls from her as I threw her plan back in her face. "I'll be leaving in the morning!" I said getting up and grabbing a pillow.

"Where are you going?"

"I'll sleep on a lounge."

"But the children will find out."

"They are no longer children and you just told me you wanted a divorce. I think them finding out is inevitable!" I shouted.

After pulling a blanket off the bed I stormed out, slamming the door. I had started off so calm but her hypocritical attitude really pissed me off. Rachel was crying, for herself not our marriage.

I walked through the living area and Mandy was still up with a glass of red wine

"Nice pajamas!" she said with a smile which disappeared when she saw my face. "Trouble in paradise?"

"As expected," I sighed. "I'm sleeping in the library tonight on a lounge then leaving tomorrow."

"What!" The voice came from behind me. It was my daughter and son-in-law that had stayed behind. They must have just been dropped off.

"Why are you leaving tomorrow? Are you and Mum fighting? You're supposed to stay for another week!"

Turning and looking into her confused face, my heart broke. I held my arms out and she came to me hugging me tight.

"Your mum and I are getting a divorce, pumpkin. After nearly thirty years we have grown apart." I said stroking her hair.

"But you can't! You're mum and dad! You never fight! You just do what mum...says..."

She didn't say anymore, she had covered the situation pretty well. I just do what mum says. I held her for another five minutes then passed her to her husband.

"Go to bed now. I'll see you in the morning when I tell the others."

She went with her husband, still sniffling, Mandy left for the cabana, and I turned the lights out and went to the library. After rolling around for hours I finally got to sleep. I woke at seven and immediately got my smart phone and started trying to organize to get out of this French shit hole today. Christmas Eve wasn't the greatest time to be doing last minute travel plans, but I worked out a way to get back to Australia. It was with a dodgy airline and I had to catch the train to Paris, then a plane to London, then Japan, then home, but it all worked if everything happened on time.

I got out to the kitchen and all my daughters were up. It had the atmosphere of a mausoleum. The youngest jumped up on seeing me and ran to me crying.

"Why? Dad, why?"

It looks like their mother had struck the first blow.

"People change dear. What was once very right is now broken."

Lifting her head up from my chest she looked at my face. "But can't it be fixed?"

"Both parties would have to want it and that's not the case here. Where is your mother?"

"Gone for a walk."

"Oh well...um...girls...I've organized to head home today so I'm going to miss Christmas with you, but I'll catch up with you when you get back to Australia."

There were howls of protest, but I think they realized that if I stayed Christmas would be worse. I made a coffee and went out near the pool to drink it. It was bracing outside but it meant I got to drink it in peace. I had just finished when Mandy came out of the cabana.

"How are you doing this morning?" she asked uncertainly.

"Fine, I've been doing my mourning for the past couple of months. It's actually a relief to have it all out in the open. We can all move forward."

"What's your plan?"

"I'm going home, organized it this morning. Any chance of a lift to the train station?" Mandy had organized a rental car in Aix De Provence.

"Yes, sure, I'm heading off, too. Mind if I tag along on the train ride?"

"Not staying for the festivities?" I said sarcastically.

"I've seen more festive people who have had their dog run over!" Mandy said pointing to the kitchen window and the long faces sitting around the table.

I grimaced.

"Yes, it would be nice to have some company." She added.

I went back to the main bedroom and packed up my stuff. I was putting my bag in Mandy's car when Rachel came striding up the drive. A car remarkably like Jacques' drove past the front gates and off up the road.

"You're leaving?"

"Yes, got a plane to catch." I mumbled looking at my watch.

"Home?"

"Is where the heart is!" My sarcasm made her bristle.

"We need to talk!"

"No, I don't think we do! For our whole life together, whenever you have uttered those words it's because you want me to do something, or buy something, or go to some boring social function. Well, now that you want a divorce there is no point talking."

She appeared agitated, shifting her weight from foot to foot.

"I need some money!" she blurted out.

"What? You have spent ten million dollars in less than a year?"

"No! No! It's...it's tied up in a land deal?"

"Let me guess, your real estate guru, Jacques, is looking after everything for you! Have you ever thought that Jacques might be more of an expert in milking desperate, rich, fat arsed women than real estate?"

"How dare...you...you...vulgar Australian! I'm going to get more than half of everything you have got!"

"And then you will give it all to your boyfriend Jacques and you will wake up the next morning alone! He will move on to the next old slag with a bag full of cash! Or maybe he will retire and trade you in on a newer, slimmer model with a lot less miles on the clock!"

There were gasps from behind me and I turned around to see the family standing on the paved area outside the front door. I had no idea how much they had heard. Rachel saw them too and with a strangled cry she stormed past me through her daughters and inside. They stood rooted to the spot, unsure whether to follow their mother or say goodbye to their father.

"Sorry..." I said weakly. "I'd best be going." I gave a miserable wave, slammed the boot of Mandy's car shut and got in the front seat. I prayed she wouldn't take long to get going.

Five minutes later Mandy appeared dragging her bag. My daughters had moved inside.

"Well, you know how to make a low key exit!"

"How does that song go, shut up and drive, drive, drive, drive!"

"Touché, are you going to be this friendly all the way to Paris?"

"Just give me a minute, I've got to calm down," I said deliberately, clenching my fists.

We drove in silence to the train station. Mandy went to return her hire car, and I went and got our tickets. We had five minutes so we grabbed a coffee and immediately regretted it. The French do bad coffee.

I had calmed down by the time we got on the train. We chatted about the ramifications of divorce. Mandy wasn't that much help as every country has different laws. My only knowledge of the Australian law was there was no-fault divorce. So, being the "guilty" party didn't matter. As long as there was a committed relationship that had lasted more than two years, then either spouse, or de facto, were allowed to make a claim against the other. Given that and Rachel's desire for money, we deduced that she was going to chase hard.

I was resigned to that and was willing to make concessions, especially if the money I gave my sister remained undiscovered. I reasoned that because it was paid straight to her and there was no record of it ever being linked to my accounts, that it was safe. Unfortunately a simple check of with the lotteries company would show I actually won thirty million.

Given Rachel and Jacques desperation to get money I would have to be careful. There would be no discussing money with my sister on the phone or by e mail. Everything would have to be face to face in a safe place. Maybe I was being paranoid, but I had hired a private investigator and I had to assume that they would do the same.

Getting off the train in Paris, we got on the airport shuttle and we were at the airport very quickly. We said our goodbyes, Mandy saying that if there was anything she could do to help, just let her know.

"For a small fee of course!"

"Of course," I laughed.

"Sure you don't want to come with me and have Christmas in London?"

"Tempting, but I just want to get home." I lied, I wasn't tempted. The way I was feeling about the opposite sex, Angelina Jolie could have walked up and propositioned me and I would have turned her down flat.

I actually missed Christmas, leaving late Christmas Eve I landed in Australia on Boxing Day. I suppose I didn't have much to celebrate. As I was in Sydney I texted my sister to see if it was alright to stay with her. I got a taxi to her place. She lived in a trendy terrace house in Woollarah. Her boyfriend and his parents were over for dinner. She opened the door with a smile but it soon faded.

"My god, you look ghastly! Are you okay?"

"Yes, a little...make that a lot tired. The crap has hit the fan."

"Rachel?"

"Yes, we are officially getting a divorce!"

"Oh dear, well come in, come in. I expect you don't feel like socializing much so go straight upstairs to the spare room and I will make excuses for you."

"Thanks, you're a gem!"

I staggered upstairs and slept for seventeen hours. I woke up at midday to a stormy Sydney, hot, wet and muggy. Coming downstairs I went into the kitchen and found my sister washing up.

"You look a lot better, do you feel any better?"

"Yes, it's good to be home."

She wiped her hands and gave me a hug.

"Sit down and tell me everything while I make you something to eat."

I did: I talked and talked. Ate, then talked some more. It was four o'clock in the afternoon before I finished. I went through everything, the money problems, and the fights. She already knew about the lottery win but I gave her some insight into why I was hiding the ten million. The recorded infidelity, Mandy's investigation and finally the Christmas holiday from hell and the confrontation.

When I had finished my sister went to the refrigerator and got out a bottle of wine and poured us both a large one.

"I know a good divorce lawyer, we went to school together."

"I think I'll use Brian at home. I know he isn't a specialist but he knows both me and Rachel. He is up to speed on our financial situation, except for your investment stuff, and he is just down the road. I don't fancy traveling to Sydney every time Rachel tries to pull some stunt."

"So you think it will get ugly?"

"Bound too, Jacques is obviously pushing hard. Do you still monitor your incoming calls?" My sister had an ex-boyfriend turned stalker.

"Yes, why?"

"How long do you keep the records for?"

"They just automatically upload to my computer so I think I still have them from when it was put on

"Could you check around the time I won the lottery. I rang you the day I bought the ticket. I only got your message bank but they won't know that. I can say we talked about splitting the winnings."

"Surely they won't find out. You're not going to tell them are you?"

"No, but any investigator worth a dollar will talk to the lotteries people. I have to assume they'll find out. Also I'll have to give them a list of companies I'm a director of. It will be a long list because I'm listed on a lot of family companies that use my accounting firm. I'm just an independent person that they trust to act as referee if any disputes arise. If they do go digging and find yours that got ten million on the same day Rachel and I did they might twig to it."

"Yes I suppose..." She raised her glass. "Good luck you old fart!"

We toasted each other and laughed.

"Speaking of luck how are the investments going?" I asked trying not to sound to desperate.

"Well, you know I'm not one to brag but they are actually going gangbusters!"

"Really? So what did you go for, bank stocks? Resources?"

"I steered clear of the stock market. I think too many companies share prices are way too high for their earnings performance. My boyfriend, he deals in futures so I went there."

"That's risky isn't it?"

She laughed." Spoken like a true accountant!"

"What futures then ASX? Metals? Currencies?"

"No soft commodities actually."

"Farm stuff? You're joking? Do you know how many clients I have who have been burnt by them?"

"That's because your clients grow the stuff! They can't be objective about them!"

"Really, and you know so much about wheat and canola!"

"No I don't but I know that when I started the prices were at historic highs and the US and Europe had just planted a massive crop."

"So?"

"So I took forward supply positions at the high prices then watched as they tumbled and then closed them out with a hefty profit."

"How much?"

"As it happens I have pretty much closed all my trades before Christmas. The market bottomed out with the US harvest in August. It's only been moving a little bit lately it's not worth the time to watch it. At last count I had made 4.2 million dollars!"

"Holy shit! How much did you risk?"

"Oh about seven million." She said nonchalantly.

My heart was pounding. "How could you sleep?"

"Like a baby, it wasn't my money it was yours." She smirked.

I was stunned. I opened my mouth but I couldn't think of what to say.

"Close your mouth, the wind might change and you'll stay that way! So when will you be needing the money?"

"Not too soon I hope. I can cover five million easy enough if that's what the court decides."

"Five million? You are joking! She got the same ten you did. It's not your fault she gave it to that froggy bastard!"

"Yes but we were still married then, I think they tally the personal wealth from the time of separation. Apparently she is broke now so they will want their pound of flesh from me."

"It's still bullshit!"

"Not really, the way I see it she is entitled to half the ten million I gave to you so five would be fair."

My sister was quiet as she stared at me over the rim of her wine glass for a minute before she replied.

"I didn't think you had it in you. You are as cunning as a shithouse rat! Here I was feeling sorry for you but you had Rachel in checkmate right from the start! You weren't planning for the divorce were you?" There was a hint of accusation in the question.

"No...no I don't think so. We hadn't been getting along very well. It was just going to be my rainy day money so even if Rachel churned her way through the rest of it there would be some to keep the wolves from the door. Maybe some left over for the girls. I have owed the bank money for so long if you add up all the interest I've probably paid back what I borrowed twice over, but I was still up to my neck in it before this."

"So what are you going to do after this is all over?"

"Stay in my little country town, walk down the main street every morning saying hello to the shop owners on my way to work. Put in a solid day then walk home talking to whomever I meet. In short do what I've been doing. Except I can have some peace when I'd get home!"

"No travel? Fast cars? Loose woman?"

"Not really my style. I might look around a bit. I've always wanted to walk the Kokoda track in Papua New Guinea. See what Uncle Jack went through fighting the Japanese in the Second World War. Maybe do some exotic fishing, but really I'm a simple man."

"A simple lonely man with a cold heart?" She asked sadly.

"Maybe, maybe I'll just be more selective who I give it too."

"Have you got someone I mind?"

"No, but I haven't looked," I momentarily thought of Charlie before continuing. "I suppose I didn't look the first time. Rachel had our courtship and wedding mapped out after our second date."

We sat in silence, sipping our wine. I was contemplating how Christmas had gone in my absence. My sister put her hand on mine she had started speaking again.

"Earth to Jeffrey!"

"Sorry I was miles away."

"You didn't hear anything then did you?"

I shook my head.

"Well I'll give you the abridged version. Don't change Jeffery, you have always been the good, decent, dependable one in our family. You may be boring and old but you're supposed to be! You're an accountant for god's sake! All this, hiding stuff, spying, telling people off, in the circumstances I understand, but when it's over go back to being the brother I love!"

"I'm glad I got the abridged version!"

"Oh very droll, well I'm glad you have taken my advice because that's the sort of Dad joke I would expect from you!"

I poked my tongue out at her and she pulled a face and then we laughed. It was like we were kids again.

I stayed another night with my sister and then went home. Things were quiet there and I pottered about in the garden for a week until I opened up at work again on the third of January. My daughters returned home that week. They took it in turns to come and stay for a night. They weren't very happy. They were angry at both of us. I tried to explain that people change. With them gone we were like two strangers being forced by circumstance to live together. The two older daughters seemed to understand, the youngest took it harder.

I had tried joking about them being lucky now they had somewhere to stay overseas. It didn't go down well. They may have been cranky with Rachel and me but they hated Jacques. He had moved into the house Christmas afternoon. On Boxing Day he started asking question through Rachel about my finances. They told her that I had given them some money, he had written down the amounts in a diary he carried with him everywhere. The planning for divorce was well underway.

Obviously lawyers have longer holidays because it was three weeks later that I had a visit from a courier. I signed for the package and was given a copy of the preliminary divorce papers. I had already spoken to my lawyer over a steak and beer lunch the week before. He had explained some of what to expect. I looked it over but really didn't get into it. I called Brian and told him I had received some stuff from Rachel's lawyers and I was sending one of the office girls over to his office with it. He said he would have a look and we arranged to meet for after work at his office.