Expiration Date

Note: I am not a lawyer and all references to legal stuff are strictly imaginary. Please enjoy the story and don't critique my legal expertise.

Sorry but there is no sex in this story.

This is a repost of an older story so there will be no voting.

*

My wife, Marcie, was in London again, shopping. She has been spending more time away from home every year. We no longer have a marriage but I cannot afford to give her a divorce and she has no desire to apply for one. In the last five years my software company has taken off, For over ten years, I was struggling just to keep our head above water, and than the hardware technology caught up with my software package and things went sky high. Three of the big companies had expressed interest and I was just waiting for the right one to grab it. The actually value now was well over ten million, mostly in stock, which I held.

About eight years ago Marcie was working for a legal firm in Reading. The paycheck was a big help at the time. Her hours were long and she ended up making several over night trips for the firm, even thought she was just a paralegal. I was tied up with the new software so I didn't give a lot of thought to her absences. Up until that time everything was OK between us. Our sex life was great and we seemed to spend a lot of time doing things together and enjoying each other company, even with my erratic work habits. After she was with the law firm about a year, the sex dropped off to almost nothing and our life together became barely platonic. I was unhappy with the situation but I was sure it was just a phase she was going though. We had two sons who were both in high school. They pretty much took care of them selves. Bradley was getting ready for Penn State and Scott was looking forward to the Marines.

Marcie's boss, at Berks Legal, was Robert Logan. I met him and his wife a few times at company functions and he seemed like an OK guy. One day Marcie came home very upset and told me that Robert was dead, shot by his wife. She didn't go into any other details but shortly afterwards she quit, and never worked again.

Our marriage did not improve. She became surly and argumentative. I would like to say she had some redeeming features or good traits but I can't. I would try to avoid her as much as possible, but it was difficult. To make matter worst she was pregnant. I was hoping the new baby would improve our home situation but it didn't. Marcie named our new daughter Glenda. She adored the girl and fussed about her constantly but our relationship continued to get worse.

As Glenda got older Marcie started to spend more time away from home. The company was making money so we ended up in a new house with servants. Marcie had a live in nanny for Glenda and took full advantage of it. I never asked where she went or why. All I knew was there were a lot of expenses. Luckily, I was making the money faster than she could spend it, but I was upset never the less.

I tried to talk to her and find out what happen between us, but she refused. Of course the separate bedrooms didn't help. I had no idea what I did wrong and so I had no idea how to fix it. I finally just gave up.

A divorce would cost me a couple million dollars and probably ruined the new company. I was upset with myself for letting it go this far. I had my own legal staff on retainer, but still could not see a good way out.

Glenda was growing into a fine young lady. I spent as much time with her as I could. Marcie usually kept us apart, but since she was gone so often, Glenda and I became good friends without her knowing. It was our secret and Glenda enjoyed it. She was in third grade now and doing well. I got to go to the PTA meetings and the teacher conferences. Marcie was usually busy with other important things. Bradley and Scott were both on their own and doing great. My marriage sucked but my kids made up for it.

Then one day I got lucky.

===========================

Janet Logan was sitting in my office waiting for me. I was surprised because I thought she was in jail for killing her husband. She had aged well. Her hair was shoulder length and was a smooth mixture of gray, silver and a little black. She had on very little make up and her skin seemed to have a gentle smoothness without being soft. Her eyebrows were natural and fit her face perfectly. She appeared to be hard and feminine at the same time.

"Janet, this is a surprise to say the least. You look good."

"Thanks Grady. I wasn't sure you would remember me. It's been eight years and I was certain I would be a forgotten person by now."

"Would you like some coffee?"

"Black would be great."

"Janet, I am in a very embarrassing spot here. I am, of course, aware of your situation and don't want to say anything to upset you. If I say or do anything that might be inappropriate please feel free to correct me."

"I have been in jail for the last eight years, Grady. I am pretty well calloused about the whole thing. Don't worry about my feelings. By the way, how is Mrs. Stevens? "

"Not something I want to talk about. Shall we just say that things could be better?"

"Sorry, but that is the reason I came to see you. I have to talk to you about Marcie. I am not being vindictive or revengeful but there are some things that I feel need closure."

I placed the cup of coffee in front of her but sat in the chair aside of my desk rather than behind it. I wanted to hear what she had to say and I wanted her to feel comfortable while she was doing it. I hit the intercom button and instructed my secretary not to interrupt us.

"Grady, did you follow the trial at all?"

"No. Marcie mentioned what had happened but I didn't have any particular interest in it myself. I was busy with the business start up and she wasn't very talkative at the time. I guess she was upset at his death."

"More so that you would imagine I guess. It appears that you have no clue about what was going on so a lot of this will come as a shock to you. You said you didn't want to get me upset, well I feel the same way. I am going to explain things to you that are not pleasant to hear. If it becomes to difficult, just tell me and I will stop."

"Maybe we should have had some scotch instead of the coffee."

There was a little half laugh from both of us.

"On the day that I shot Robert he was planning on leaving me and running away with Marcie. Robert had stopped by the house just long enough to present me with divorce papers. Your wife was waiting in the car. They were going to come see you after they finished with me. I had been aware of their affair for sometime and had documentation and a few pictures. The fact that he was asking for a divorce didn't bother me because I was planning the same thing."

"Janet, I had no idea. I was living in my own little world at the time. I guess it was my fault in a way that the whole thing happened. I am sorry that my poor performance as a husband contributed to your marital problems."

"There was more, Grady. Robert had always wanted a family and we were never able to have children. He was constantly complaining about my shortcomings as a wife and blamed the entire thing on me. When he handed me the divorce papers he told me that Marcie was pregnant with his child and that she was going to provide him with the family he always wanted. I turned and started to walk away from him, but he continued to insult me and call me all sorts of demeaning names. It was not enough that he was leaving and divorcing me, he insisted on making me feel as if I was less that a person. It seemed like he was never going to stop berating me and finally I snapped, reached into the buffet drawer and pulled out the revolver. I don't remember shooting him."

"Do you mean to tell me that my daughter, Glenda is Robert's?"

"Glenda is not Roberts daughter but I would imagine that Marcie thinks she is."

"Can you explain that?"

"I had myself checked several times. The doctors never found anything wrong with me. I finally got a sample of Roberts sperm checked and he was totally sterile. I never told him. By the way, Glenda is the name of Roberts mother. I assume that was the name they agreed on when Marcie found out she was pregnant."

"Marcie picked out the name, but I had no idea where she had gotten it from. I think you are right though, she believes that Glenda is Robert's child. Knowing that, explains a lot of things. Would you like some more coffee?"

"No but I have some more things to discuss. Are you sure you have the time?"

"We are fine. Don't worry about a thing. That's the nice thing about being the boss."

"When I went to prison all of the things in the house went into storage. Roberts' briefcase was included. I was going though it last week and found this."

Janet handed me the original divorce papers that Marcie was going to give to me the day that Robert got shot. The papers were signed, dated and notarized. Robert and Marcie worked for a law firm so the terms of the divorce were very precisely spelled out.

"Is this still good?"

Janet laughed. "I have no idea. I'm not a lawyer. Check out paragraph seven."

"She is giving me completed custody of all children. Wow, this would really piss her off if she found out I could get Glenda. Of course the boys are long gone but if I got custody of her little angel she would go bonkers. Can I have this so my legal people can look it over?"

"It's yours' Grady. It has no value to me. I wish you well with it. Here are some more things you might or might not be interested in."

Janet handed me two manila envelopes. "The pictures that my detective took are in the small envelope. They are very sexual in nature. I have no use for them but maybe they will be of value to you. The large envelope contains the investigation results that my PI gave me and some other interesting papers. You can look them over and decide what is important to you. "

"Thank you. I really don't want to look at them but I will give them to the lawyer with the papers."

We both sat and looked at each other of a few moments. She was a very impressive women and I was glad she came to see me.

"I better go and let you get back to work. Thanks for seeing me. I feel better getting these loose ends wrapped up. By the way, you don't have any job openings for an ex-con do you?"

Seymour Schlamp, my personal and favorite lawyer, was all excited about the eight year old divorce papers with no expiration date. He was like a kid in a candy store and could not wait to get started. Marcie had not asked for percentages of anything but for hard figures. She wanted fourteen thousand dollars from the checking and savings accounts. That was about half of the total eight years ago but next to nothing today. All the other items were similar. There was only one gotcha; she wanted the 1995 Volvo station wagon that she had at the time. I sold it about five years ago. I had to find that car.

Janet Logan started work in the software testing division of the company. It was an entry-level job but I felt she would be comfortable with it. It also gave me a chance to see her on a regular basis. I liked Janet and hoped to get to know her better.

Glenda and I kept our DNA tests secret from Marcie. It would be a few weeks until the results came back, but Seymour needed the time to make sure there were no loopholes in the divorce papers. I felt confident that the results would show Glenda was mine.

With a little bit of help from friends at the DMV I was able to locate the Volvo wagon at State College. The frat boy was happy to let me have it at twice what he paid for it. A week later I had the new title with Marcie's name on it.

Seymour explained to me that as long as nothing was changed on the original request for divorce it could go through as written. We were not able to find anything serious enough to make us want to change it. Marcie's signature was notarized and still legal even after eight years. I signed in my place and Seymour's notary put the seal on it. Now all we had to do was wait.

Time passed very slowly. My relationship with my wife did not improve. My relationship with my daughter grew stronger every day. My relationship with Janet Logan grew stronger every day. After about a month I convinced Janet to have lunch with me, on a non working day. It was pleasant, with no strings attached and I assured her that I would do nothing that would indicate to the other employees that I was interested in her. She replied that her relationship with me was more important than her job. I had a feeling that things would improve but I was not going to rush anything.

Over the next few weeks I tried several times to talk to Marcie about our marriage. She refused to open any discussions or even respond to questions. I did not tell her that her petition for divorce from me was being processed and in a short time she would be notified that it was final.

It was the middle of the week and the middle of the day when my loving wife, Marcie, came storming into the office.

"What the hell is this?" she demanded as she threw some official looking papers on my desk.

"I am not sure, but I believe the divorce request that you made eight years ago has just been finalized."

"You son-of-a-bitch. You can't do that. Everything has changed since then and if you think I am going to let you get away with this crap you are crazy."

"What has changed Dear? Just because your lover died doesn't mean we could not proceed with the divorce. I agreed to all of your terms so you have no grounds to protest. I suggest you get a lawyer if you want to contest the divorce and in the mean time I would like you to get all your things out of my house, which you gave to me."

"I will gladly get out of your house and I will get this piece of shit, divorce notice thrown out. You will pay and you will pay big. Glenda and I will be gone this afternoon and I will sent somebody for my stuff tomorrow."

"Sorry Dear, but if you read paragraph seven you will notice that you gave full custody of Glenda to me. Until you get it resolved, she is mine. If you try and take Glenda without my permission I will have you arrested, I promise."

By this time Marcie was boiling mad. All of her words were not spoken but screamed. Her neck muscles were tense and the veins in her forehead were popping. Her lips quivered every time she talked. For the next minute I didn't hear what she was saying. I just stood there stunned by her rampage. Finally she grabbed the papers and stormed out.

The peace and quiet was wonderful. I sat fully relaxed and relieved as my secretary brought me a cup of coffee. She didn't say anything, just smiled. I spent the rest of the afternoon canceling cell phones, credit cards, bank accounts and insurance policies.

I called Janet and she agreed to have supper with Glenda and me that night. I needed a friendly shoulder to lean on. Glenda and Janet spent most of the night talking to each other. Things didn't work out as I had planned.

Seymour called me a few days later. Marcie had retained legal counsel and a meeting was set up to settle and resolve the problems with the divorce. A family judge was going to sit in on the proceedings and act as arbitrator. Seymour indicated that Marcie's lawyer did not seem to have much confidence in getting the divorce decree thrown out but seemed more interested in getting me to relinquish custody of Glenda as an addendum. I agreed to compromise but not concede.

The meeting started off slow and consisted mainly of reviewing each of the demands that Marcie had made in the divorce request. Seymour handed over checks for the agreed upon amounts and we sat quietly and endured the formal protests relating to the unfairness of the settlements. Seymour gave no responses what so ever. Marcie seemed shocked when I slid the car keys and title for the Volvo across the table. At last the question of custody was reached. Marcie asked the judge if she could make a statement, which was approved.

"For the last eight years I have forced myself to live in a loveless marriage for the sake of my daughter. I loved Robert Logan with all my heart and I was proud to give him the child that his wife was unable to. Robert Logan is the father of my daughter, not Grady Stevens. Mister Stevens has no rights what so ever to Glenda and I will not tolerate having the daughter of the man I loved raised by a stranger. I am seeking sole custody of Glenda Stevens based on this."

The judge who had been quiet doing the entire proceeding spoke up. "Mrs. Stevens are you saying that Glenda Stevens is the off spring of an adulterous relationship that you had with Robert Logan while you were married to Grady Stevens?"

"Yes, your honor. It sounds a little degrading the way you put it, but Robert Logan and I were lovers and soul mates. We never felt like we were doing anything as dirty as adultery. We were planning or starting our own life together when his tragedy occurred. Glenda is the proof of our love and I don't want Mister Stevens having contact with her in any fashion."

"Your revelation concerning this matter would in most cases make you less likely to get custody due to the infidelity. If what you say is true, however, we might possibly have to reconsider." The judge looked over to Seymour. "Do you have anything to offer?"

Seymour and I sat and looked at each other. "Are you sure you want to do this Grady?"

"Yes. Lets do it."

My friendly lawyer pushed a piece of paper across the table to Marcie's lawyer. "This a report made approximately six weeks prior to the conception date of Glenda Stevens. As you can see, the report indicates that Robert Logan had a sperm count of zero. Mister Logan was completely sterile and there is no way he could ever father a child. That is the reason Janet Logan, who is fertile, was never able to conceive."

Marcie went pale and her eyes opened wide. She was getting agitated again as she did in my office. "That's a lie. That report is not authentic. This is something that you are making up just to steal Robert's child away from me."

Her lawyer whispered something in her ear as he tried to calm her down. Finally she seemed to relax a little bit.

Seymour pushed three more pieces of paper across the table. "The first form is a DNA analysis of Glenda Stevens. The second form is a DNA analysis of Grady Stevens. The third report is a comparison of the two, which shows that Grady Stevens is without a doubt the father of Glenda Stevens. Are there any questions?"

By this time Marcie was in tears. She wasn't mad any more, now she was simply crushed. She was bawling uncontrollably as her lawyer asked for a short break.

After the break my ex wife's lawyer conceded custody but asked for some type of visitation agreement. I agreed to let Marcie have Glenda every other weekend and two holidays a year of her choice. Marcie decided that she would like to have Glenda on Christmas and on her birthday. Marcie sat quietly the rest of the session. I went back to work without saying anything to her and left Seymour to finalize the paperwork.

I could not believe that I got off that cheap. If Marcie had been a better companion the least few years, I would have been willing to share the wealth. I never denied her anything, emotionally or materially. I was willing and able to do anything for her but somehow, someway I had not met her expectations as a partner. I never was able to figure out what Robert Logan had that I didn't or what he did for her that I could not. The pictures that Janet left did not show him to be anything special in the physical department. I gave copies of the pictures and the investigation to Marcie. Inside the investigation were two reports of motel meetings that Robert had with other women at the same time he was seeing Marcie. I hoped she enjoyed reading that.