Chapter 8. Carly
Carly had been my ex wife's divorce lawyer. She was my age or maybe a bit younger, fairly small, a green eyed redhead with freckles that she did not bother to bury under makeup. I liked freckles.
At our meeting when my lawyer presented her with all the evidence of my wife's peccadillo's she quickly convinced my ex that her best bet was to sign everything and disappear, that with any luck she would not end up in jail.
Before the day was over Carly had the signed papers and I was soon a single man.
Two weeks or so later Carly called me and asked me to go by her office so I could pick up some documents. Late on a Friday afternoon I visited her and she handed me a large envelope that had been addressed to me in care of Carly.
It was from my ex.
I saw that Carly was exhausted and I asked, "Rough day Miss MacDuff?"
"Rough week ending on a very rough day."
"Sorry to have kept you after quitting time."
"No problem, nobody is waiting on me."
"In that case let me take you to dinner and I promise to buy as many drinks as you need to put it all behind."
Carly seemed ready to decline so I added, "Remember, I was the good guy."
She gave me a genuine smile and said, "Sure, why not."
I took her to a very fine Italian restaurant hidden away on a corner of Chinatown. She did not know it existed and was further confused by the fact that most of the staff was Asian, including the cooks. The aroma and the decor were definitely Italian and the food was terrific Italian food.
She did have a couple of glasses of wine but nowhere near enough to wash her week away.
She could not give me details of course but said she had been stuck representing people she would cross the street to avoid.
"Starting with my wife?" I asked her with a sympathetic smile.
She shook her head and wondered out loud what I had ever seen in her.
"She was beautiful, the model girlfriend, the sex was good. After we got married she went to drugs and to other men and to men with drugs. The woman you represented was not the woman I married."
"You spent a lot of time and money trying to get her straight."
"Yes, I did not realize that she had no interest in going straight. When she started stealing from me I gave up. Has she paid you?"
"No."
"I will see to it that you get paid. Do you need another drink?"
"Maybe, but not here. I think I want a beer."
"I know the best place for beer."
As we went outside I hailed a cab.
"We drove here, right?" she asked.
"Yes, but we are not going far and the cab fare will be less than the parking."
She was delighted when the cab pulled up at the ballpark. I got us good seats on the club level and we had our beer and peanuts just before the first pitch. It was a good game with several amazing plays and one gigantic homer on each side. Our team won on a wild pitch.
We had a great time and held hands walking out of the park until we got in a cab. As we got into my car at the Italian restaurant lot she asked me if I had picked up the package from her office. I did not remember but a quick search of my car told us I had not.
"We need to go back to my office and I will need to get a cab home. I missed the last bus."
"You take a bus to work?"
"Yes, I do park and ride. It is cheaper and I am a panicky driver. Rush hour traffic eats this small town girl's lunch."
"Well since I was the reason you missed the last bus you don't need a cab home so let's just go by your office and pick up the package."
A few minutes later we had the package and were winding our way south.
Her home was in a large suburb about twenty five miles from downtown but the freeway traffic was moving easily that evening and I was soon stopping my car next to hers in the park and ride lot. I was about to get out my door so I could open hers but she placed her hand on my arm and said, "Wait a minute, please."
I settled back in my seat and looked at her; she looked embarrassed.
"I hate to admit it but I am very curious, I would like to see what your ex-wife sent you. It's just that I have some inkling of how her mind works. I will understand if you tell me it is not any of my business, it isn't. Sorry I asked."
This time it was my hand on her arm stopping her from opening the car door.
"Will you make me coffee?"
"Absolutely," she said with a big smile as she jumped out of my car and into hers.
I followed her for just under a mile until she pulled into the driveway of a nice looking townhouse. I parked next to her car then I fished the packet out of the back seat. I was going to also get her suit jacket from the back seat but then realized that overlooking it would give me a good excuse to see her again.
I put off answering the question as to why I wanted to see her again until later.
She was already preparing the coffee when I finally made it into her home.
"Cafe DuMond," she said as she quickly went down the hallway into a bedroom. "Make yourself at home."
I found a bathroom just off the living room and took a much-needed piss.
The coffee was ready by the time Carly joined me in the kitchen. She had changed to a t-shirt and shorts.
I had though she was braless when she took off her jacket at the restaurant but now I was positive she was braless because even though her breasts were small her nipples tented her t-shirt. That got my cocks attention. She may have noticed.
She asked me to call her Carly. I asked her to call me Your Electric Magnificence. Or just YEM if she wanted.
She laughed. "I think I will call you Jimmy instead," she said.
I was about to correct her, most people called me JC for James Corland but I suddenly decided for her Jimmy would be fine.
As we sat at the kitchen table and drank our coffee we talked about her law firm and her career. She confirmed that she occupied the "low man on a totem pole" position in her firm, which is why she ended up with the crappy cases. "Speaking of crappy cases..." she prompted me.
We went to the living room and sat on her sofa, I had placed the packet on her coffee table. She sat close to me as I unsealed it.
"It's probably a letter bomb or anthrax, I said."
