Fleur and Rachael, Stephen and Verity, an ending.
Stephen, Amos and Hugo were waiting at the prison sally port where they were told Verity would be appearing. Amos was now four and Hugo two and a half. Both were excited to see their Mum and were jumping up and down while hanging on Stephen's trousers. The last one and half years had been traumatic for them all with its extraordinary ups and downs.
Stephen and Verity had agreed to separate. The process of divorce under New Zealand law takes two years. Along the way they are allowed to live together for three months to work things out and they were commencing this today as Verity leaves the prison. After two years, if there has not been a reconciliation they could apply for the dissolution of the marriage. As part of the separation agreement Stephen had taken full custody of the children. If they decide to finally divorce they would review this.
They had discussed the possibility of finding another partner and for that reason they had declared their relationship open. However up to that point Stephen had never been tempted and despite the interest shown in her in the confines of the prison Verity had never taken up a serious lesbian relationship. Still with the conflicts and trauma of dealing with Verity's love affair with Brad, both lacked the trust to believe that neither had been faithful, be it motivated by revenge, resentment, lust or simply the need for intimate companionship.
Stephen and the boys could see Verity smiling and waving through the mesh of the gate. When the gate opened Verity rushed forward as her escort turned back. She had on jeans and a simple pale green sweater. Her attention was drawn to the boys who both grabbed her round her neck almost dragging her to the ground. Eventually she untangled herself and stepped back smiling awkwardly at Stephen.
They paused when Stephen stepped forward and they began a light hug which Verity increased in intensity until she was gripping closely on to Stephen. Her face buried in his neck, he could feel her tears brimming onto his skin.They stayed like that awhile then made their way across the car park. Stephen took Verity's duffle bag so that she could lift Hugo up and hold Amos's hand as they made their way happily to the car.
*****
Verity had been arrested following her assault on her former lover. The initial charge was intended to be attempted murder along with willful damage but Verity's father Arthur, a retired judge, while working with a lawyer had managed to get the charge reduced to assault causing grievous bodily harm for which Verity pleaded guilty. Arthur's relationship with Verity had not been close, especially since his wife had died but these events brought them together for the first time in Verity's memory.
Brad had been admitted to hospital with a broken neck and severe concussion. He spent some time in the ICU but eventually recovered without any lasting disability. The charge of attempted murder arose because she was shouting that she wanted to kill him as she hit him with a computer screen. The emotional context and the fact that she did not carry through became the basis of reducing the charge.
Although being a wronged party Stephen had been magnanimous in insisting in supporting Verity and paying her bail. Along the way she suffered severe depression. Her initial hearing resulted in Verity having to have a psychiatric assessment. Once she was out on bail Stephen rallied their friends around her in support and with her father ensured she had the best psychiatric help. By time the trial came around she was emotionally prepared both for the trial and the prison. This was important as Stephen knew that psychiatric support for prisoners would be minimal.
Initially Verity did not want the boys to come and see her in prison but Stephen insisted saying that they would not really understand why she was there. He believed that having a Mother and being in contact with her was more important than pride for their future welfare.
All this occurred in an absolute furor of public scandal. Brad had been a television celebrity hosting a reality series featuring property sales and his clients. Brad was an arch self-publicist and supported by his natural charisma and reputation as a property consultant, he managed to negotiate the series which in turn elevated his success in the property world.
Now he had been exposed as a serial womanizer. He had filmed his sexual affairs and some of these had involved well known people and celebrities. These had included a glamorous television presenter, a politician and several high profile sports women. In turn there had been small number of divorces including his. Clients were appalled to find out he had been using their properties for his sexual encounters. He was finished in the property world.
Sexual harassment was a hot topical subject in the media which sent the controversy rolling on including the trial, high profile divorces and subsequent revelations. Two other senior managers at Wild Cherry were also implicated with sexual impropriety as well as Brad. Apparently it had been going on for years.
A whirlwind of salacious gossip and opinion saturated the press for some time. Resurrected, was the past death of a former CEO from heart attack during an episode of asphyxiation as part of a sex act. It also came to light that two employees were coerced into having sex with clients seeming to confirm Leda's suspicions about what was planned for Verity. Verity was particularly stunned at this news exacerbating her trauma.
Verity reached a state where she could not be alone with any male apart from Stephen without suffering an anxiety attack. The chances of her dating another man seemed unlikely for the foreseeable future if their divorce did go through. Verity was now a badly damaged woman for whom intimate relationship seemed beyond her. All this had overshadowed Verity's trial. Even though she had instigated the affair and she had assaulted him, all the women involved including her were seen as victims to his predatory activity.
The very high profile of some of the women had meant that Verity's circumstances were not as newsworthy. Verity, being regarded as a victim herself, probably led to some leniency when it came to sentencing. Verity's case resulted in her being inside 18 months before she was released from prison.
Meanwhile evidence given by Rachael and others at Verity's and subsequent trials led to a heavy civil suit against Wild Cherry. Rachael among others received a substantial payout enabling her to start her own property firm. As an olive branch to Verity, Rachael actually offered her a job but by then Verity had moved on. Wild Cherry simply ceased trading. Rachael and Verity did become firm friends; their shared experience overcoming their former animosity. They found they could confide in each other in a way that others could not.
The mysterious Freida was never exposed. The Police did question Verity and Rachael about her. At Verity's trial Freida was never considered a material witness so when the police reached a blank they did not pursue it. The only avenue for exposing her was through Stephen but he was never interviewed at length.
For subsequent trials the mysterious Freida issue was resurrected especially by the press. Brad could not identify her so all assumed that she was some kind of private investigator working for a husband or rival.
The evidence against Brad and others was so overwhelming that the police again felt that her evidence would not be material. They did spend some effort to trace her but once again drew a blank. It was the media who were fascinated with this mysterious woman, concocting all sorts of theories with one fanciful one harking back to the death of the former CEO and original owner of Wild Cherry, Thomas Cherry.
In prison Verity had to undertake an anger management program but after her release there was no onerous follow up with probation or suchlike. In this period Stephen organized the separation but he was at pains to say that the divorce was not a fait accompli.
Through the period of imprisonment the boys became her focus. She suffered the shame and remorse of her neglect of them. She could not comprehend why she had become infatuated with Brad. She had developed a blind faith in him which transcended any obvious indications of his insincerity. She had taken Stephen's consistent support of her for granted and she had allowed Brad to undermine her respect for Stephen. She could not actually fully recall or imagine the feelings she had for Brad. To her the memory of it seemed to be a love affair that happened to someone else.
Stephen and Verity used visiting time when the children were not present for some heart to heart talking; especially around the subject of falling in love. Verity admitted that she felt she had not really been in love before Brad and with Stephen her relationship was more of comfort and dependence.
Verity had not had the emotional love experience to understand how she could rationally keep herself under control. She had the romantic notion that Brad was the one, the one for her. For her it was a matter of destiny and not something she could even attempt to control. Stephen and Verity had never previously talked about romantic relationships in this way.
Because she had never experienced it before, Verity would never really have understood. Stephen had experienced previous romances before he married Verity. To make her understand he described an experience he had in the past. It was one where he had to stop himself falling into the trap of love knowing that it was the wrong thing to do.
He pointed out that in cultures where people have arranged marriage they generally end up falling in love. There is no one path.
Stephen's point was the most important thing about marriage was commitment. At times in their life commitment might have to transcend love to cope with the stresses and strains that are put on them. It would have to if they wanted to sustain a stable base for their family.
Having children and then allowing oneself to fall in love outside the marriage was dangerous as the deeper in love the more the loss of rational decision making.
Could Verity understand all this? After all it was just words. While visiting in prison this was the only time he could reach her while drawing on her own experience to bring truth to his words; a captive audience in more ways than one. Fortunately Verity had come to realize this in the most traumatic way and she recognized some of this truth on her own. She also recognized the commitment he had shown to her and his rallying of their friends.
Verity's feelings toward Stephen were totally confused. She could not understand why he did not hate her. He had obviously been deeply hurt but had forgiven her. She knew he would always remember her actions and this had created a self-sustaining wall between them.
Through all this, Stephen still had his own demons of trust to work through and he was not convinced in his heart that there was any path leading back to their reconciliation. None the less, Stephen continued to support her all the way. A jail bird does not get a job easily so Stephen was able to resurrect the position with Charles that had been originally intended for her. Verity took to interior design with relish. She would learn on the job but Verity was to be a talented and fast learner.
In the three months they were living as a family they treated each other as best friends, flat mates, but not as lovers nor as husband and wife. In this time Verity asked for nothing but wanted for nothing.
With Stephen, Verity was in limbo. Their friends had always praised Stephen's strength in supporting Verity but she did not know what to make of it. She suspected some ulterior motive while Stephen felt that she had never loved him and that he could not trust her to ever love him.
