All the characters depicted in this story are 18 years old or older.
*
Rachel Griffith was not a happy camper. She had married her high school sweetheart and eighteen years later she had had enough. Her husband John had been quite the catch when they started dating back when dinosaurs ruled the earth. He was an athlete, competitive and smart, qualities that would serve him well as he went on to be a successful lawyer. Rachel was completely in love with him back in school. That probably explained why she was knocked up when she graduated.
John went on to university while Rachel kept house for him and their daughter. They had kept the spark alive for a long time. But then Melissa had hit her teens. She had cut her hair spiky short and died it peroxide blonde. She had become rebellious and started giving them problems. Real problems. Drugs, boys, sex, girls, sex, more drugs. It was hard on both of them. They did the best they could but as their frustrations grew they started taking it out on each other.
Rachel hadn't really been with any other man besides John. John hadn't been with any other women. His career was very demanding and he didn't have any time to fool around.
Rachel, on the other hand, with Melissa away more and more, had plenty of time on her hands. She got in with a group of girl friends at the Country Club, some unhappily married, some divorced, all of them on the prowl. In their company Rachel began to realize that at 36 years old she didn't have to settle for a second rate life. She was still young and attractive. She started working out at the gym. She went shopping with her girl friends and got some new clothes that showed off her curvaceous figure.
The next thing she knew, men were starting to pay attention to her, to flirt with her. All kinds of men. Men John knew, men he didn't. Younger men, interesting men. She went out a couple of times and she was surprised to find out how exciting it was to be with someone new, to have sex with him. She started to see other men regularly.
Then suddenly Rachel decided she wanted a new life. She deserved a new life. To hell with John and his boring lawyer friends. To hell with their delinquent daughter. She talked to a couple of women at the club, women who had done very well in their divorces. The name of one lawyer kept coming up. Amanda Starr had represented a number of the divorced women she knew and won them lucrative settlements. Rachel decided to go and see her.
Mrs. Starr, as it turned out, was an extremely attractive red head about Rachel's age. She was easy to talk to and still professional. Rachel immediately felt comfortable with her. She told her the whole story. Well most of it anyway. She told her about her 18 years of marriage. She told her about her daughter. How Melissa had been the love of their life and then all the trouble she had been in. Rachel told Amanda about her vision of a new life. Then she told her about her problem. She didn't think John would care all that much about her leaving him. Aside from having to shoulder more of the burden of dealing with Melissa, he didn't really pay that much attention to her anymore. The problem was that she'd need a pretty substantial share of the money, his money, their money.
But she didn't think she had very good grounds. Melissa was no longer a minor and wouldn't need child support. John hadn't been cheating on her. In truth she was the one that was screwing around. But she couldn't live on air. She needed a settlement and a good one.
Ms. Starr looked at her new client with an amused smile.
"Rachel. You're a good mother, a good homemaker and you're a very attractive woman. Doesn't your husband realize how lucky he is?"
"Lucky!" Rachel snorted.
"John thinks getting lucky is sex for his birthday. Other than that, as long as dinner is on the table and Melissa isn't passed out in the living room on any given night then he doesn't even know if I'm there or gone."
"Are you saying that your sexual relations are infrequent?"
"Once every couple of months if he can stay awake long enough is damned infrequent. It's sure as hell isn't what I'm looking for."
"Is he gay?"
"Gay! Hah! He isn't gay! On the odd occasion that we do go out his eyeballs are on stilts every time a good looking woman crosses the room. It's just me he doesn't have time for and I'm fed up with it!"
"I see..." said the smiling attorney.
"Do you Ms. Starr? Do you see my dilemma? I want a divorce. He won't care. And I want enough money to live, to live well. He won't be so agreeable about that. And if there's an appearance in court and evidence comes out about who did what to who, then I would be the guilty party and I'd get nothing."
"And you're sure his lack of interest isn't because he's indulging himself in his own extra-curricular activities?"
"Positive! He's got his work, he's got his buddies and a wife who is there for him...well most of the time anyway. He plays golf every Saturday and he isn't fooling around, I god damn guarantee it!"
"Be that as it may Rachel, I suggest we proceed as follows. We bring an action for divorce naming your husband as the unfaithful party. We acquire evidence to substantiate this claim, evidence that is damning enough that your husband will not want to see it presented in open court. It then becomes a matter of simply negotiating an appropriate agreement in light of these circumstances. We make an out-of court settlement that, even after my fees, I think you will find to be very...comfortable."
"But Amanda. I just told you he isn't having an affair. He never did. How can you provide evidence to the contrary?"
Ms. Starr looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Rachel, trust me! This is what I do. Wendy Adamovich recommended me didn't she? Her circumstances weren't all that different from yours. Men are nothing if not predictable. In certain circumstances they all have their Achilles heel, or perhaps Achilles dick might be a more appropriate reference. I don't think you really want to know the nuts and bolts of how I plan to resolve this thing. Let's just say that I have several highly skilled operatives who will uncover the evidence we need in this matter. Leave it with me for a couple of weeks and I'll get back to you."
Rachel actually was quite curious about what Mrs. Starr was planning to do but a couple of more questions got her no further details. So Rachel just signed the ream of documents that promised the attorney 30% of whatever settlement was reached, payable over the duration of the agreement. She tried another question but Amanda just responded that she'd be in touch soon, so Rachel left.
John Griffith was at work a couple of weeks later when an interesting brief landed on his desk. It was another divorce action, his bread and butter. In itself it wasn't all that intriguing. The plaintiff was a Mrs. Rachel Robinson (his new client). Her husband John was a noted neurosurgeon at the Royalmont Medical Center. There was a daughter, a minor named Melissa. That was the interesting thing that caught John's eye, John, Rachel, Melissa. The big difference was that the doctor's daughter was much younger than his Melissa. John smiled at the coincidence for a moment and then scanned the file.
It seemed Rachel Robinson had caught the good doctor with his pants down. She named two co-respondents specifically while alluding to innumerable others.
Doctor Robinson was being represented by an Amada Starr. John had heard of
Ms. Starr. Apparently she was the lawyer of choice these days for 'hard done by' female spouses. She didn't usually take on the husbands. But he had heard that she was good, that she had won some pretty healthy settlements. Not much court time though. And that was where John earned his rather outrageous fees. Well this should be interesting.
He had interviewed the husband. This was before the good doctor signed on with Ms. Starr.
Dr. Robinson had flatly denied that he had been fooling around. Never happened! His wife was a demented bitch. She could hit the road any time she wanted. That was fine with him. But he'd look after the daughter. And not a dime for his cunt of a wife.
So it looked like there was going to be a big custody battle here with a well known neurosurgeon in the middle of it. John started to day dream about that new Lexus he'd been lusting after. Maybe he could afford the bigger model after all.
After meeting the doctor, who John didn't find very believable at all, he booked a meeting with the women named in the suit to take their depositions. Well he booked one meeting with an Amber Lane. The other woman named, Tiffany Andress, had yet to be located. But his staff were working on it.
Amber Lane worked late apparently and asked if she could come in on a Wednesday evening about seven, just before her shift. By now Mrs. Starr had refused access to her client or the witnesses unless she was present. John had his staff check with Ms. Starr who said she could make herself available to appear with Ms. Lane.
So John agreed and the following Wednesday evening he walked into his conference room 'C', the small one, to talk to Ms. Lane along with Ms. Starr.
