Chapter 54

Renee’s POV

“Can you take Debbie to school today?” I ask, placing my bowl in the sink. I avoid eye contact with Eric, he’d be able to tell I was up to something.

There’s a pause. I buy more time by opening the dishwasher, rinsing my bowl, letting the water swirl around, then placing it in the rack and shutting the door. After all that, still no reply. Maybe he didn’t hear me. I finally turn to look at him.

He heard me, that much is clear. He’s eyeing me suspiciously, his breakfast plate pushed away from him.

“Why?” He asks as soon as we make eye contact. It shouldn’t be a big deal, a father dropping his daughter off at school, but of course with Eric everything is a big deal. Unfortunately, I can’t even blame him for being suspicious.

Not when I do actually have an ulterior motive for wanting him to take Debbie to school.

My coffee date with Emily lasted for a few hours, over the course of which tears were shed. Tears of the realization that while I think I might want things to work out between me and Eric, I know they won’t.

The moments I see him interacting with Debbie as a loving father are the moments I want forever, those are the times that Annie longs for. Unfortunately, the Eric that eyes me suspiciously all because I asked him to take his daughter to school is the Eric that I’ll always get.

Which is why I am meeting with a divorce lawyer today.

I dry my hands and toss the damp towel down on the marble countertop. I put my hands on my hips and sigh. I think of how I want to spin this.

I could be incredulous that he has to question everything I do. Maybe I outright tell him the truth. I freeze at the thought of it.

Eric can’t know I’m meeting with a divorce lawyer, not at least until I see if a divorce is even an option.

“I’m meeting Emily,” I lie. Eric raises his eyebrow at me.

“You met with her yesterday,” He says more-so of a question than a statement.

“Yeah, so?”

Eric rises from his seat. He’s in a sleek black suit with a maroon tie. He looks achingly handsome. “So, I have a meeting with a new big client today. Coffee with a friend can wait,” He says.

“No, it can’t” I argue back perhaps a bit too impatiently. “Emily has other plans she has to get to, I’m on a time crunch too,” I say.

I hate that I sound like Mia right now, whining because I won’t be able to make a date with a friend.

Eric grunts. “Fine,” he agrees.

“Thank you,” I tell him, worried he’ll change his mind. I scoot past him before he can do that.

The clouds are gray and heavy, and an ugly winter storm is threatening to break loose from the sky.

I make it inside the attorney’s office just before the flurries begin to fall. The lobby is warm.

There are black leather seats positioned in a circle around a mahogany coffee table, tall green plants are placed in each corner f the office, and a large crystal-like chandelier dangles in the center of the lobby.

“Annie,” I hear someone say. I stand from the leather couch and turn to see a gentleman in a navy blue suit and a forest green tie cross the white tiled flooring. “Good to meet you, my name is Al,”

“Hi,” I say and take his hand.

“Please come to my office,” He extends his arm and points to the way of the elevator. As we cross the floor, his business shoes tap against the tile. He walks with his head high and chest out, moving quickly like he’s had too much coffee.

Which if I know anything about lawyers it’s the crazy work hours, so it’s likely he’s been non-stop drinking caffeine since the wee hours of the morning

I try to keep up, putting some pep into my own step. Unfortunately, I lose him when something, no someone captures my attention out of the corner of my eye.

I skid to a stop and look at someone sitting on one of the black leather chairs that’s facing the direction of where I’m walking. Andrew?

I try to get a better look, but the man sitting in the chair snaps open the newspaper in his hands and brings it close to his face, up to his eyes.

“I wish we were meeting under better circumstances,” I hear Al say. I turn back and am forced to move further away from the seats and up to the elevator. I murmur an agreement and look back over my shoulder, but whoever was sitting in the chair is now gone.

I’m positive that was Andrew, or am I being paranoid? Then again, it wouldn’t be the craziest thing Eric’s ever done- hiring his beta to gather information on me.

The silver doors split open and Al let’s me on first. Al steps in and reached over to press the number seven on the wall.

I can’t shake the feeling that something bad is about to happen, or that something wrong did just happen- and this time it has nothing to do with being in a confined space.

Just as the door is about to close, a dress shoe wedges its way in and the elevator doors halt. They begin to re-open and that’s when I see him.

Andrew steps in. He’s dressed in a business-formal suit with a briefcase, he looks like any other attorney speed walking around this building. Al gives him a firm nod, greeting him as though he’s one of his own. “Thanks,” Andrew says

“Timing is everything, right?” Al says with a grin. Andrew sounds an agreement as though he’s on the inside of some lawyer joke.

I keep my eyes trained on the floor. I’m screwed.

“Divorce is never easy,” Andrew says, directing his comment at me. “The least we can do is be timely with our clients,” He says with a wink.

“Right,” I say nervously, pretending to go along with his game that we’re strangers.

The elevator dings and the doors open to floor seven. “Right this way,” Al says.

“Actually, I’m not feeling well. I think I’m going to go home,” I blurt out. Al gives me a puzzled look.

“I’m pregnant,” I lie. “Morning sickness can be really unpredictable,” I say. Al’s expression changes.

“Oh!” He says in shock, his eyes flashing to my belly and then back up. I suppose being pregnant might be something you want to mention to your divorce attorney. “I had no idea,” He says.

Just then the doors begin to close. “I’ll call later,” I try to yell through the closing gap between where he stands on floor seven and where Andrew and I remain on the elevator.

As soon as the door shut, I put that awkward farewell out of my mind and turned to Andrew.

“Please don’t tell Eric,” I beg.

“I have to,” Andrew says, dropping the lawyer act. My stomach twists into knots.

“Can’t I just do something for myself for once,” I practically yell. I know I sound pathetic, but I can’t help it. No matter what I do, Eric is there.

“You did for five years, and not once did you think about how your being gone affected Eric,” Andrew reprimands me. Something about his tone hits a nerve; it’s like he knows saying this is revealing something personal about Eric.

I stay quiet the rest of the elevator ride. When the doors open, Andrew shoulders his way through the now busy lobby. When I step out, I see that lawyers and clients aren’t just trying to hurry their way to meetings or hearings, they’re more frantic.

“What’s going on?” I ask aloud to anyone who will answer.

“There’s a blizzard, major roads are shut down.” Someone whizzing past me shouts. “I don’t think we can get out of here,”

What? I make my way through the crowd and go to the front door, but I’m not prepared for what I see. Just beyond the glass doors is a sheet of white. We’re completely snowed in.