This is actually the first short story I completed. It was my baby so I was reluctant to throw it out into the cold, cruel world. It's been fussed over repeatedly. Like every good parent, I know I have to let it go out on its own. So, here it is. Please treat it kindly.
*
The feeling of dread was nearly overwhelming. Sticking his toes over the brink of a bottomless pit couldn't have been any worse. His guts were so knotted up he could hardly breathe. Hand on handle; he stood before a door whose gold lettering read Hughes, Bivens, Gupta and Matthews, Attorneys-at-Law. This was the last meeting, the final confrontation with the woman who was trying to become his ex-wife. He'd also have to face the rat-bastard she was screwing.
Molly was no stranger to law offices. She was a paralegal. They'd both been excited when she landed a job working for Marcus Conroy, a big shot local attorney. She'd been there less than a year when Dan came home to find her gone; no explanation, just gone. Dan had no doubt that Marcus Conroy was orchestrating this whole mess. She'd been getting his special brand of legal counsel for at least the past year. His best guess was she wanted to trade up.
Focusing on his breathing, he made himself inhale and exhale slowly, deeply. Gradually, the dread drained from him unmasking a deep sadness. A single tear tracked down his cheek. He shuddered as he took a big, cleansing breath. Squaring his shoulders, he pushed through the door into the firm's reception area.
Dan's good friend and attorney, Chris Matthews was in a serious conversation with the receptionist. They both looked up as he entered. Something was very wrong.
Instantly, Dan's professional instincts kicked in. He did a quick mental inventory of the scene. Chris was perched on the edge of the desk looking concerned. The woman sitting behind the desk had quickly looked away but not before Dan noticed an ugly bruise on the far side of her face. Attempts to hide it with makeup had not entirely succeeded. She looked embarrassed, at the end of her rope and hanging on by the fingernails. Here was someone who appeared to be in greater agony than he was. It was a cold splash of water to remember that as bad as his situation was, there were many who had it worse.
"Hey, Dan."
"Hey, Chris."
"I need a couple of more minutes with Karen. Would you mind waiting in the conference room?"
"Are they...?"
Chris smiled.
"You didn't think I'd throw you to the wolves, did ya? They're not due for another ten minutes."
Dan tried to smile back but imagined it was a rather sickly imitation.
"Thanks Chris. You always did have my back"
"No more than you've had mine. Be right there."
Dan trudged to a door just past the reception desk. It opened into a typical attorney's conference room. The far wall was made up of bookshelves filled with weighty looking leather bound tomes. It was mostly for show since legal research was largely done on computers these days. The center of the room was occupied by a large, solid looking conference table surrounded by plushly upholstered chairs. There were no windows. The walls were broken only by another door at the other end of the room leading into the senior partner's office.
At his end, there was a credenza. Sitting on top were two carafes - coffee and hot water. A wooden box was open displaying an assortment of colorfully wrapped tea bags. Dan had taken a seat at the table and was still dunking his tea bag when Chris came in followed by the receptionist. Her arms were loaded with file folders. Smiling shyly, she set them down next to Dan. Karen hesitated as if to say something. Instead she gently squeezed his shoulder, giving him a nod that said "I see you're hurting too." Dan gazed after her until she left the room. As the door closed, he turned his attention to Chris.
"She's new. Where's Paula?"
Chris pulled out a chair and joined Dan at the table.
"Karen started six weeks ago. Paula's on maternity leave."
"Wow. Shows how long it's been since I've visited your office."
Dan's stared into his tea. He had asked Chris to do everything possible to delay the divorce in the hopes he could win back his wife. Most attempts were blocked by her lover. Exhausting their options, Dan insisted on meeting with Molly before signing off on the divorce agreement. It was a long shot, but it was the only chance to talk to her face to face since the day he'd come home to find a terse note and her wedding rings on the kitchen table. All it said was:
Daniel, I know now you never really loved me. I've met someone who does. I'm filing for divorce.
The note wasn't even signed.
Win or lose, he would go down fighting for his marriage, for the woman he still loved. With a sigh, he pulled himself back to the present. Dan looked up from his cup and Chris nodded understanding. They'd always had an uncanny knack for reading each other. It didn't need to be said that Dan wished he wasn't here now.
"What's up? Looks like a domestic situation." Dan sipped at the hot tea and let it settle his nerves.
"Nailed it." Chris sank into the high-backed leather chair. "Karen's jerkwad husband has been abusing her since they married five years ago. It started out as verbal and emotional, but lately he's been smacking her around. Two days ago, for no reason Karen can figure out, he went into a rage and punched her in the face. Worse yet, he did it in front of their four year old daughter. The little girl started crying and daddy dearest threatened to hit the kid if she didn't shut up. Karen jumped between them and hubby started choking her. Fortunately, the neighbors called the cops. They hauled his sorry ass off to jail, but he bonded out this morning. Karen took her daughter and whatever she could carry and went to a domestic violence shelter. She's terrified he'll come looking for her."
"You know I've been working with guys like that for years. She has a right to be scared. The biggest fear the worst of them have is that they'll lose control over their partners. Trying to leave a guy like that is very risky. That's when they're most likely to do something violent. Anything I can do to help?"
"Maybe. I was going to talk to her about an order of protection after our meeting. Hang around and talk to her. Might do you both some good."
Dan sighed. "Might as well. I have nowhere else I need to be until next week."
Dan mentally left the office again, but this time Chris knew he was trying to work out the best way to help Karen. The young attorney let out a deep breath and leaned back in the chair. When they first met, they were an unlikely pair to become lifelong best friends.
Dan and Chris started their college careers the same year, Chris in pre-law and Dan majoring in psych. Dan's goal was to become a family and marriage therapist. Their career goals reflected their personalities. Chris was an extrovert, a type-A - outgoing, always on the go, a bit of a party animal, very focused and very competitive. Dan was almost a mirror image. He was more of a homebody and a bit shy. Rather than party, he'd curl up with a book or put on headphones and lose himself in a Mahler symphony. On the other hand, he was a great judge of character and very good at defusing conflicts. Chris had seen Dan break up a heated argument and have the adversaries laughing and shaking hands. He always seemed to find a compromise that everyone could live with.
They both moved in different circles and probably would never have met except for their shared interest in Judo. Their freshman year found them eagerly lined up to join the university's Judo club. They got to talking. Chris' dad was a cop, a fourth dan in Judo and held black belt rank in two other martial arts. He was determined that all five of his kids - sons and daughters - would be able to defend themselves. Consequently, Chris had been doing Judo from the age of six.
Dan started Judo when he was thirteen and tired of being bullied. His diplomatic skills had evolved from being raised to avoid fights. His parents were both school teachers and were always going on about the importance of finding peaceful solutions to problems. They weren't bleeding hearts though. They also taught him that turning the other cheek didn't mean being a door mat. "Never start a fight," his dad said, "but if someone else starts a fight, make sure you finish it."
Evolved from the combat arts of feudal Japan, classical Judo could be lethal in extreme situations. If you were skilled enough though, Judo offered a way to defeat opponents without doing them serious harm. His parents considered it a win-win solution.
Dan was taller and outweighed Chris. Never the less, Chris consistently wiped the mats with him proving the claim that a well trained judoka could defeat a bigger opponent. It was their shared passion for Judo and Dan's good natured acceptance of getting tossed around by a smaller partner that led to their friendship.
After workouts, they'd often go out for a drink; Chris would nurse a Dos Equis and Dan sipped Pepsi while they talked about everything under the sun. Even when they had a difference of opinion, they found they could agree to disagree. Inevitably, the conversation would come around to the opposite sex and their views could not have been more different. Chris believed in playing the field, sowing wild oats while you were young and without responsibilities. Cutting a wide swath through the opposite sex was no big deal. Dan was a one man, one woman kind of guy. Hooking up was not his thing. He wanted a soul mate, someone he could spend the rest of his life with.
So, it became Chris's mission in life to get Dan laid -- or to at least go out with a girl. They went double several times, with Chris setting up the dates. Dan always made sure his date had a good time. He was always a gentleman and a great listener. Once word got around, girls were lining up to go out with him. Unfortunately for them, he rarely went out with the same girl more than twice. He even had a knack for turning down the eager ones without hurting their feelings. After gently rebuffing one particularly persistent hopeful, Chris chided him.
"Jeez Dan, you're turning into a real heart breaker. Don't you think you could give a girl more than two chances?"
Dan shrugged. "I just don't feel a spark with any of them."
"You're supposed to be having fun, not interviewing for a wife!"
"Well they can come along when we go out with a bunch of people. That's when I have the most fun."
Chris' eyes rolled in exasperation. Of the girls they hung out with, several had a crush on Dan but he seemed oblivious to the signs.
It was junior year that Dan literally bumped into his future wife.
He and Chris were deep in conversation as they entered the main campus library. They were in the same Criminology class (a rare event given their different majors) and were going to study for their mid-term. She was coming out of the stacks with an armful of books and trying to fish something out of her purse. They were all headed for the same study carrels when they validated the proposition that two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time. The collision sent her and Dan sprawling with books and papers flying everywhere.
They landed on their butts facing each other with legs spread-eagled. She was about to give him what for when she realized the hem of her miniskirt had ended up around her waist. Dan had a real good view of her rather sheer, blue bikini panties and what they barely covered. Tugging her skirt between her legs, she was ready to lay into him when she noticed the bright red flush spreading across Dan's face.
He tried to stammer out an apology but was interrupted by guffaws coming from his friend. Almost doubled over with laughter, Chris managed to get out,
"Dan, you sure know how to sweep a girl off her feet."
From the floor, the two stared up at Dan's friend, stunned by the uproarious behavior. When they looked back at each other, it wasn't long before they were laughing just as hard. As they stood up, their highly amused by-stander continued with exaggerated seriousness,
