"What the hell do you expect me to do?" Ray Norris demanded of his wife. "Where the hell am I supposed to go when I get out of the hospital? Jesus, Marion, you sure picked a hell of a fucking time to dump me! I thought a wife was supposed to stand by her husband when he's in trouble."
"Stand by you?" Marion responded. Her husband was acting exactly the way he always did. She wasn't sure why she'd come to the hospital to see him. "I don't believe you, Ray! You have a lot of nerve! Do you think I'm so stupid I don't know what you and that girl you almost killed were doing?"
"I don't know what the hell you're talking about," her husband replied. "I had a late business meeting and I was giving her a ride home, is all."
"Ray, I don't believe you!" Marion said, exasperated. "And I don't care any more. I've already talked to a lawyer and he'll be filing divorce papers as soon as he gets them prepared. He's also going to get a restraining order to keep you out of my house."
"Our house," her husband replied. "I..."
"It's my house, Ray," Marion said. "My parents gave us the down payment, remember? And the money I inherited when they died paid off the mortgage. What, exactly, have you put into it?"
Ray lay in the hospital bed, glowering at her.
"I've said all I want to," Marion said. "And I've seen all of you I want to as well. Have a good life, Ray!" She turned and stormed out of the room, brushing by a good-looking man in a three-piece suit as she started down the hall.
The man turned and watched the attractive woman in the pink dress walk away from him, down the corridor. He smiled. "Not bad, not bad at all!" he thought.
Then, forcing the smile from his face, he turned and walked into Ray Norris's hospital room.
"Are you Raymond Norris?" the man asked.
"Yeah, that's me," Ray replied. "Who the hell are you?"
"I'm Dean Abbott, Mr. Norris," the man said. "I'm with the law firm of Allen, Manekwitz and Yahn. You contacted our firm about representing you on a DUI charge?"
"Yeah, I did," Ray replied. "While you're at it, do you have any good divorce lawyers working for your firm? I'm probably gonna need one of them, too."
"Was that your wife who just left?" Dean asked.
Ray nodded. "Yeah," he said. "The bitch just told me she'd been to a lawyer and is filing for divorce."
"I don't handle divorce litigation, but I'll be happy to have one of the partners who does handle divorce cases give you a call," Dean said. He sat down in a chair next to Ray's bed. "In the meantime, why don't you tell me about this DUI charge?"
Marion was so angry she was shaking when she got to her car. She had to sit for a few minutes and let herself calm down before she felt it was safe for her to drive. Finally, she started her car and drove to the restaurant where she and Len had agreed to meet for lunch.
Since she'd been to the lawyer before going to the hospital, Marion was wearing a pale pink halter dress with a full skirt that wrapped around her lush, lovely body. It was loose, yet displayed her fine form wonderfully. The pink material looked good on her, and the pink kerchief tied in her hair made her look even more beautiful.
Len looked across the table at her and smiled. "You look terrific, today," he said. "That's a really pretty dress."
"You think so?" Marion said and flushed a little.
"You're a knockout," Len said.
"You're prejudiced," Marion replied.
The young black man grinned at her. "You know, that's the first time I've ever been accused of being prejudiced," he said.
"Len...I-I'm sorry," Marion replied, "I..."
"I was just teasing," Len said. His face grew serious. "What happened when you told your husband you were getting a divorce?" he asked.
"He blustered and claimed he hadn't done anything wrong," Marion said, "but I think he knew there wasn't a chance in hell he'd be able to talk me out of it."
"What are you going to do now?" Len asked.
"Tell my lawyer I want to get the divorce over with as fast as possible," Marion replied. She laughed. "You should have seen the look on Ray's face when I told him I was keeping the house."
"You think he'll try to block the divorce in court?" Len asked.
Marion shook her head. "My lawyer says he doesn't have a chance, even if he tries," she told him. "Ray's a fool, but he isn't stupid. A messy divorce would kill his business." She grinned. "If this DUI charge hasn't already done that."
The waiter took their order, brought their food, and they ate. The food was excellent, the waiter attentive and pleasant. Len insisted on paying and left a huge tip.
"How much did you tip him?" Marion asked as they walked out to the car.
Len shrugged. "I don't know," he said, "five bucks, I think."
"My God, Len! That's way more than necessary," Marion said.
Len grinned sheepishly and shrugged. "Hey, I used to wait tables, I know what a tough job it is," he said.
"Why don't you leave your truck here and come home with me?" Marion asked as Len held the door so she could get into her car.
"My truck isn't here," Len said. He smiled. "I was kind of hoping you'd ask me over to your place after lunch. I took a cab down here and left my truck at your place." He walked around and slid into the car on the passenger side.