Page 19 of Falling for the Unexpected

“Um, my name is Simone.” I paused. If I told her my last name she might have been able to connect the dots. Simone wasn’t a very common name and sharing a last name with two of the attorneys might be a dead giveaway. “He’ll know who I am,” I explained.

“Okay,” the woman said, a little uncertain, “hold please.”

I held the phone to my ear for what felt like a long time but was probably only a minute.

“Simone?” I heard the deep baritone of Kyle’s voice come across the line.

Just hearing him say my name was enough to set off my tears. I was really doing this. I was going to divorce Brad.

“Simone, are you okay?” Kyle asked, his tone laced with concern. He must have been able to hear my sobs through the phone.

I cleared my throat, trying to control myself. I wasn’t the hysterical type, I just felt all over the place and scatterbrained. “Not really. I was hoping to talk to you about what it would take to get a…” I couldn’t force the word ‘divorce’ out of my mouth.

Kyle sensing my hesitancy, gently prodded, “Simone, what do you need help with?” He was speaking to me in a quiet, gentle voice that immediately made me feel calmer.

“I need a divorce,” I finally blurted out.

There was no response for so long that I thought I might have lost our connection.

“Okay…” I heard him exhale loudly. “Are you sure I’m the one you want to get advice from?” he asked, carefully.

“If you aren’t comfortable talking to me… I’ll understand. I just didn’t know where to start and honestly you were the first person that came to mind. Could you please do me a favor and not tell anyone that I called you?” I asked hastily, ready to hang up.

“Simone, wait,” he implored. “Simone?”

Slowly, I brought the phone back to my ear. “Yes?” I whispered, my nerves getting to me. I was hot all over and sweating. How could a phone call freak me out that bad?

“I’m more than happy to talk to you; I just wanted to warn you that there could be a perceived conflict of interest,” he explained, his voice smooth and businesslike. Somehow his tone calmed me and I eased my grip on my cell phone. “Do you want to come down to the office today so we can talk?”

That spooked me and I shook my head vigorously a few times but realized he couldn’t see me. “I’m not really comfortable coming into the office. Could we meet somewhere else? Please?” I asked, almost begging. I hated how I sounded, but Kyle really was my only hope.

“How about if we meet for lunch,” he suggested, “around one. Would that work for you?”

“Yes that will work,” I said, not hiding the relief in my voice.

“Let’s meet at the diner down on Aspen Street.”

“Sounds good. Thanks, Kyle… Bye.”

“Bye, Simone,” he said. Even if Kyle wasn’t comfortable being my lawyer, I was hoping he could point me in the right direction so I could do this on my own. How I would pay for lawyer fees, on top of finding a new place to live, had me nearly in tears but I held them back. Stella needed me to be stronger than ever before. I had no time to break down.

I took advantage of Stella napping and grabbed a quick shower. Looking at myself in the mirror, I gasped at the dark circles under my red, puffy eyes. I decided I definitely needed a little makeup help before I left the house. After some concealer, I added some mascara and lip-gloss to complete my simple look that slightly reduced my zombie-like appearance. I pulled my hair into a low ponytail and went to the bedroom to pick out my clothes. Being in that room caused a strong wave of nausea to roll over me. When I looked at the bed, all I could see was Brad’s betrayal. If I could burn the bed, I would have, but that probably wouldn’t look good if I wanted sole custody of Stella and child support from my soon-to-be ex-husband.

Once I was dressed I moved quietly into Stella’s room and packed a bag for her day at the beach with her grandparents. I didn’t have to take much over there since they had almost anything she could possibly need. Today was going to work out perfectly because I had a babysitter for Stella yet I wouldn’t have to explain to them where I was going since their trip had been planned for a few days.

I wasn’t sure if Brad had talked to his parents so I made sure to act as though all was normal when I dropped Stella off and was relieved when Marla and Jim didn’t mention anything. As I drove my car to my meeting with Kyle, I thought about what I was doing. I knew I was making the right decision but it wasn’t going to be easy. The anxiety of the unknown was starting to get to me. My only wish was that Stella and I would make it through this okay.