Thompson vs Thompson (closed for Gr8chtr)

That the Thompson case was moving along more rapidly than he expected pleased Daniel greatly. He never liked this case from the beginning and, when it was behind him and Teri, he could return to the lunch non-date scheme. But, the accelerated pace of meeting the next day to discuss property settlement meant that he had to meet with Mrs. Thompson within the next few hours to make sure that she hadn't changed her mind about her demands. Daniel called his client to set up an urgent meeting.

Susan Thompson appeared promptly. Her demeanor, Daniel noticed, was evident. When she talked about her future she presented as the love-struck teenager. When discussing her children she was vague, arguably to the point of indifference, although she would deny that. When addressing issues of the property settlement, Susan Thompson was acutely focused and clear of mind. In response to Daniel's query to confirm, or change, her initial statement to him, she reiterated her position with astounding precision.

"I have explained to you, Mr. Walker, why I am entitled to at least half of our combined assets given how Paul launched his business career on the back of my daily labor as a school teacher." She paused, anger clearly building. "By the way, did I tell you, Mr. Walker, that in the third year of Paul's undergrad studies that he came home one night all excited and puffed up, announcing that the business school students had chosen him as one of their representatives to the campus wide student government? He made a point to say that this would only involve two evening meetings per month. So, here I am working hard all day, cooking our meals, and cleaning the house, and Paul, then several years past when he should have been in college, is playing like he's a 20-year-old undergrad immersing himself in the joys of being a full-time student. I built the Paul Thompson Consulting LLC business just as much as he did. So, except for the children's college fund, I want half of our liquid assets - well, I have those now in my own account - , half of our non-retirement investment portfolio, half of his 401(k) and Roth IRA retirement funds, and half of the assessed value of our home here in Silver Lake and our beach house. I'm willing to let him have all of his precious boat, unless you think we should ask for half of that too as a bargaining chip. "

Susan Thompson was alert, clear, and, for the moment, in charge of the meeting with Daniel. "Now, Mr. Walker, I'm willing to negotiate a payout of the value of the houses to allow Paul to raise the necessary funds to pay me if he wants to maintain both properties. For example, I'd go as far as a 5-year payout plan or even 7 years if that's the best we can do. As for the non-retirement investment portfolio and the retirement funds, I want those as soon as practicable. And, let's not forget, Mr. Walker, for the retirement accounts the timing of the transfer is critical in order to avoid tax penalties. We'll need to get my half of the 401(k) funds under a "qualified domestic relations order", but we can get my half of the Roth fund just labeled as a "transfer incident to divorce".

Daniel seldom expressed shock, but as Susan discussed the details of divvying up the retirement funds his mouth literally fell open. Shit, this apparently love-struck, silly girl was, in fact, a sharp, highly informed woman. His expression didn't go unnoticed by his client. A grin spread across her face, "Mr. Walker, let me explain two things. First, before before I became a school teacher and before Paul dragged me out to this God-forsaken burg, I was a paralegal in a big Chicago firm. Second, I told you that I wanted to start over. Completely. I didn't say that I wanted to start over poor."

Daniel's head was spinning. It was clear that Mrs. Thompson was going for the financial jugular, and wouldn't back down. As her attorney, he was bound to represent her wishes and advocate forcefully for her position. He did explain to her that since she had easily agreed to not having custody of the children and had put up only token resistance to having very limited visitation, if their case went to a judge - which now seemed almost certain - her claim to half of the value of the house and the beach house, which would house her children was pretty weak. Not surprisingly, Susan Thompson did not retreat.

Daniel and his client appeared promptly at the courthouse conference room for the Friday meeting. Daniel dressed, as always, in his Armani suit. He had to work hard not to laugh when Teri appeared in her usual dress, tight-fitting blouse and all. A very small glint in Terri's eye made him think that she knew she was teasing him in a way that only the two of them understood. Daniel worked hard at being cordial and professional, and particularly respectful to Mr. Thompson. After all, he knew what they were about to present.

At Teri's invitation, the Thompson/Walker team went first. As calmly as he could, Daniel presented Mrs. Thompson's demands, including her rationale about her contribution to Mr. Thompson's financially successful career. Daniel softened Susan's language however, omitting the student government example. As he finished his presentation Daniel riveted his attention on the facial expressions of the other side. Mr. Thompson's face conveyed astonishment, maybe even shock, that seemed to be building slowly and surely to anger. But Teri's expression, to Daniel's mind, was even more intimidating. Hers was a look of cold, steely determination. This was going to be a hard fight. Daniel only hoped that he could be the forceful advocate for his client's position without ruining any chance of wooing her attorney.

Teri looked down at the folder of information in front of her. Her assessment of Mrs. Thompson had been right on the nose. She hadn't fought at all for her children, but suddenly, mention money and the woman went for the jugular. She gathered her thoughts and then went on her own attack.

“Mr. Walker, I believe you are aware that your client's demands are ludicrous considering that a) she is the one that walked out on the marriage; b) she is practically living with her boyfriend; c) she began a relationship with said boyfriend prior to walking out; and d) she has turned over almost all of her child custody rights to Mr. Thompson. To ask that both houses be sold is unreasonable, and I have to believe that you, as a reasonable lawyer, have brought this to your client's attention. Should we end up having the court determine the division of assets, it is highly unlikely that your client will come out in a positive light.” Teri wasn't sure she fully believed that Walker was reasonable but any first year law student would know this wasn't going to fly.

“If both houses are sold, this would take the foundation of security away from the children. First their mother walks out without any concern to their emotional welfare regarding their mother, their parents, then she wants to take away the only home in which they have lived?” Teri fought to keep her professional composure. But the urge to leap across the table and attack this heartless woman was strong. So strong, that Teri literally grabbed the arms of the chair. She glanced at Paul whose face had turned bright red. It was obvious that he was about to explode.

“My client and I need a moment.” As they stood to leave the room, Paul pushed his chair back so hard it almost toppled. Teri grabbed his arm and literally pulled him out of the room. Once in the hallway, he exploded.

“What on earth does that woman think she is doing?” he yelled. “Is that all she can do? All these years of marriage, two children and all she can do is think of herself and destroying everything? What kind of woman does that?”

Teri let him pace back and forth as he ranted. She completely understood and wished she could do the same. She leaned back against the wall and took slow, deep breaths. Counting slowly between each deep breath, she waited for Paul to run out of steam. Once they had both calmed down, Teri faced her client. “Paul, this is just the opening. Remember that we are working towards a compromise that works for everyone. Obviously, she is going to ask for the moon, but she had to also know that she isn't going to get everything she wants, just as we have discussed that you won't get everything you want.”

At Paul's acknowledging nod, she continued,”We have to maintain our cool. Be in control. Think of this as a business meeting and leave the emotions out of it. If we can remain calm in the face of her ridiculous demands, then we take the high road. Remember that these meetings are recorded and those records will go to the judge, so we want to be calm, professional, stoic in the face of the opposition. Let's go back in and continue the discussion. Okay?”

With his nod, they reentered the room. Walker and his client had their heads close together and were obviously discussing something that Mrs. Thompson didn't like as she shook her head vigorously. They immediately parted when they noticed Teri was back in the room.

“Shall we continue?” Teri asked. She continued without waiting for their response. “In regards to the family home, Mr. Thompson feels that it would be best if he retained ownership as this is the children's only known residence and they have already been disrupted enough. As to the boat house, he would be willing to allow Mrs. Thompson to buy out her half of the cost of the house based on an appraisal of the value of the property. He accepts the maintaining of the boat. While he acknowledges that Mrs. Thompson did contribute to his ability to get his degree, it was only with the urging of Mrs. Thompson who felt that Mr. Thompson needed a degree to improve his marketability in his workplace. At the time, Mr. Thompson was quite willing to forgo the degree and work his way up through the rank and discussed his concern that his pursuing a degree would put stress on the family, in particular, Mrs. Thompson. Mrs. Thompson insisted that a degree was needed so that Mr. Thompson could rise in the ranks quicker and therefore, bring in more income. At no time did she express to Mr. Thompson her displeasure with his acquiring a degree or becoming involved with campus activities that took 2 days a month. The other 28 days of the month, Mr. Thompson was home helping with the children and sharing in the household tasks as well as working full time and taking a full schedule of classes at Mrs. Thompson's insistence.”

Teri paused and took a drink of coffee. “As to Mrs. Thompson's claim that “she” built the Paul Thompson Consulting LLC business: a) not once has she ever stepped foot in the building; b) when Mr. Thompson tried to talk to her about his work, HIS business, Mrs. Thompson brushed it off going so far as to say that 'She really wasn't interested in the day to day business.' So it is hard to acknowledge her claim to the business as valid.”

“Moving on, Mrs. Thompson has her own retirement plan provided in part by the school district. She also has her own educators' 403b plan which is similar to an IRA and will provide her with a supplementary retirement fund in addition to her regular retirement plan. Therefore, we would like it put into the records that Mr. Thompson would like each party to keep their own retirement funds separate. He does not want to cash out the non-retirement portfolio, but he is willing to provide Mrs. Thompson with half of the quarterly dividends for all items in that particular portfolio.”

Teri paused again, letting opposing counsel note her counter-proposal. When Walker finished writing, she finished up. “In summary, Mr. Thompson would keep both houses, but allow Mrs. Thompson to buy out her half of the beach house. He maintains ownership of the boat. Each person would maintain their own retirement accounts. The non-retirement portfolio would be handled by Mr. Thompson and the dividends received from this portfolio would be split 50-50. In addition to this, keeping in mind that the salary of a school teacher is low in comparison to a CEO, Mr. Thompson is willing to set up an alimony account of $1000 per month.”

Only her intense need to be professional kept Teri from smiling at the screech that came from the other side of the table. Amid the foul language that Teri found appalling coming from a school teacher, she made out phrases of “are you nuts?”, “no way” and “absolutely not.”

Teri waited silently while Walker tried to rein in his client.

Daniel wrote notes furiously as Teri delineated the counter proposal. He successfully kept his expression wooden, displaying no emotion. In fact, he was nearly ecstatic. The other side had offered Susan Thompson a pretty damn good deal under the circumstances, presuming that one ignored Teri's sniping at his client. He would have to get a different narrative on the record, but all of that was just posturing anyway. Second, so far at least, he and Teri had not made any personal remarks about each other. This boded well for how they might perceive each other after this whole mess was over. But, Daniel knew that there was one big obstacle: his client. Would she see how good a deal she was being offered, probably not.

Almost in a mirror image of Teri's tactic, Daniel calmly stated that he and his client would need a few moments to confer privately. Before Susan could mutter more invective he took her by the elbow and lead her out into the hall. At his best Daniel could think very quickly. He had a plan for how to help Susan see the deal that they had just gotten objectively. First, side with her emotions; second, help her see this strictly as a business negotiation.

"Susan," he began, having never previously addressed her by her first name. This was a calculated move that could backfire, but, fortunately, apparently didn't. "Mr. Thompson said some awfully bad things in their about you. We are not going to let this stand. With your permission I will counter everyone of the negative inferences about you that Ms. Jackson delineated." He stopped to let that comment sink in, and for his client to respond. Daniel anticipated a strong emotional response; he didn't expect the school teacher to say, "Fuck yes! Slap it to Paul and that bitch attorney of his."

Daniel had to sit on his own emotion when Susan referred to Teri as a "bitch", but it reminded him of his next goal. "Susan, very important. While I attack their story line, and as we make a counter offer, it is critical that you control your emotions and don't make disparaging remarks about either of them. Remember, this is being recorded, and you will look bad if you lose your temper." Daniel then encouraged Susan to think of her demands and their counter proposal strictly in business terms and ihow likely they could be successful in court if the two parties could not come to agreement without a judge making the call. He did so methodically, point-by-point, even though they had now been in the hall for nearly 10 minutes. The resulting plan was still pretty hard to defend, Daniel thought, but it did move the needle.

Re-entering the room Daniel and Susan took their respective seats on their side of the table, as before. As he moved to sit Daniel's gaze happened to take in the view of Teri sitting calmly at the table. God, she looked good! He had never before had the experience that his older male colleagues reported of being distracted by her looks, but this time he found that he had to work to focus. "Thank you for allowing us to confer for some time. We know that both of your times are valuable.

Daniel tried to not look at Teri as he began. " We have a counter proposal. However, first, for the record, Mrs. Thompson demands to get on record a corrected version of several of the inaccurate information or distortions that opposing counsel articulated in her presentation. First, she is not 'practically living with her boyfriend'. True, Mrs. Thompson has a gentleman friend, but to refer to a gentleman friend of a 35-year-old woman as her 'boyfriend' is demeaning. Second, when her relationship with said gentleman caller began is a matter of conjecture. Mrs. Thompson categorically denies having had an extramarital sexual affair prior her decision to end her marriage to Mr. Thompson. Thid, the inference that Mrs. Thompson giving up her custody rights is somehow reflective of dishonor is unwarranted. She gave up such rights in the context of these negotiations and with the belief that this is in the best interest of her children." Daniel nearly choked on these last words, but he continued methodically. "Fourth, counsel's depiction of Mrs. Thompson as some sort of whip-snapping master to get Mr. Thompson to advance his career so that they would have more money is not only baseless, but completely wrong-headed. Mr. Thompson was aimless when he and his wife met. He had made little of his the considerable talents that nature gave him. Mrs. Thompson simply guided him to do what he should have done on his own. Finally, Mrs. Thompson is not claiming that she built Thompson Consulting LLC; she is simply presenting the fact that through the sweat of her brow for six long years, she provided the foundation for that business."

Daniel paused before plunging ahead with the counter offer. "As to our counter proposal. First, Mrs. Thompson makes no claim on the boat. She knows that that is one of Mr. Thompson's pride and joys, and she wishes him the best with it. As for the main family home, Mrs. Thompson acknowledges that her children will be living there, and probably throughout their college years. Hence, she is willing to keep the house jointly owned and titled, with Mr. Thompson paying all taxes and expenses, until their youngest child is finished with college. At that point Mr. Thompson could either buy out her half at fair market value or they could sell the house and split the proceeds equally. In exchange for an alimony account of $3,000 per month, she is willing to drop her claim to half of the value of the beach house. She accepts Mr. Thompson's proposal own and manage the non-retirement portfolio and split the dividends 50-50, with the provision that the 50-50 split would also include annual capital gains increases. Finally, she is willing to drop her claim to Mr. Thompson's 401(k) funds, but she continues her claim for half of the value of the Roth funds, which is the smaller of these two subaccounts."

Daniel tried to hide his exhaustion. He wasn't sure if it was harder to negotiate with Thompson/Jackson or with his own client. Daniel couldn't imagine that the other side would accept this proposal in its entirety. But, they were all still in the room, they hadn't yet gone before a judge, and, as nearly as he could tell from her expression, Teri Jackson was not particularly pissed off at him.

Looking down at the checklist, she had made earlier in the week, Teri put a check mark next to the boat and the separate retirement funds. Okay, she thought, two items down. In reality, this was more than she expected for this stage of the negotiations. She wasn't sure if Mrs. Thompson truly understood the financial process or if Walker was leading his client. If Walker was doing the leading, then perhaps he was more attuned to his client's greediness than Teri would have given him credit. If this bargain was Mrs. Thompson's idea then maybe she wasn't as greedy as Teri had pegged her. Either way, she was wary.

“Okay,” Teri said. We have come to an agreement on the boat and the separate retirement funds. This is good progress. Mr. Thompson does not wish the house to be in both parties' names and is willing to do a seven-year buy out as suggested by Mrs. Thompson previously, provided the title is switched as soon as possible to his name only. This will protect the house for his children from any future possible claims.”

She paused. Her phone in her pocket vibrated and she pulled it out and glanced at the screen. Charlie had information for her. Good, she thought, I need all the ammunition I can get.

“Concerning the Roth accounts,” she continued, “Mrs. Thompson did not put any money into either account as she funded her 403b account. Mr. Thompson is not willing to cash out those accounts as they are his funds for his future. He is willing to give Mrs. Thompson $5,000 cash immediately to relinquish all claims to his Roth accounts.”

Teri paused to see if Mrs. Thompson would do another freak out, but, despite the redness in her face and her clenched teeth, she remained silent. Teri noticed that even Walker shot a glance at his client to see her reaction. When nothing was said, Teri continued.

“As far as the beach house is concerned, Mr. Thompson would prefer to sell the house and give Mrs. Thompson half of the profits after then sale is complete rather than buy her out.”

Teri glanced at her watch. It was coming up on lunch time and she could use the break from the tension in the room. She also wanted to find out what Charlie had learned. She purposely had not mentioned the alimony as she hoped Charlie would give her ammunition to keep that amount down.

“Mr. Walker, it is close to lunch time. We would like to recommend that this meeting adjourn and reconvene in one hour. This will give you and your client time to consider what is currently on the table. Would this meet with your approval?”

Daniel was damn near astounded at Teri's reply. He quickly ran down the list in his head. Retirement funds: They had likely accepted the capital gains addition to the dividend sharing that they had proposed. Five grand to buyout the Roth - maybe Susan would buy this; she'll have to give up a little. Family home: they had gone back to giving Susan half, on a 7-year buyout. This was better, in many ways, than Daniel and Susan's counter offer. Beach house: half of the value, upon sale, to Susan; just what she wanted in the beginning. There was one potential sticker - Daniel noticed the obvious lack of reference to the original $1,000 per month alimony payment.

Teri seemed a bit preoccupied after her cell phone rang. Daniel decided to act quickly. "Ms. Jackson. I agree that it's close to lunch time and that a further meeting this afternoon would be appropriate and likely productive. However, I would like to ask for a brief 5-minute recess to speak with my client. After that we may ask for an additional 5-minute meeting before a lunch break." Hearing no objections immediately, Daniel preemptively said "Thank you", practically grabbed Mrs. Thompson by her elbow and disappeared into the hallway.

Less than three minutes later, Daniel and Susan Thompson reappeared, both seeming quite composed. Daniel sat up straight, looking as though a heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "We agree, as I said to a lunch break and reconvening back here. We propose meeting again at 1:30. In short, Ms. Walker and Mr. Thompson, Mrs. Walker accepts all of the conditions that you just proposed, and is willing to sign papers to that effect before we leave at the end of the day, with two stipulations: (1) That Mr. Walker establish an alimony account and deposits $1,000 per month into that account, as previously proposed by him, for a period of three years beginning with the date of the divorce decree; and (2) at this afternoon's meeting she be allowed to present, on record, a statement as to why she decided to end her marriage to Mr. Thompson at this time."

In the brief three minutes when Daniel and Mrs. Thompson had talked in the hallway Daniel simply advised his client to say "yes" to the deal that was offered, under the assumption that this was the best they could hope for. The $1,000 per month, 3-year alimony payments, totaling $36,000, was basically a face-saver, not a whole lot more than pocket change for Mr. Thompson. The idea of going on record with a rationale for leaving was Susan's idea. Unbeknownst to Teri, Daniel had absolutely no idea what his client was going to say.

Whoa! What just happened? One minute they were talking about lunch and the next Walker was agreeing to all that Teri had proposed? Teri had figured that they would have to go back and forth on the houses and retirement accounts. She certainly hadn't figured on this. What scared Walker into pushing his client into an agreement? What did he know that she didn't? She really needed to talk to Charlie.

“Mr. Walker, we appreciate the speed with which you and your client have agreed to the proposal.” Teri was shocked that they were going for a lower alimony with a limit to the number of years. This was pretty amazing. But she wasn't going to give them a chance to change their minds. “We agree to the $1000 per month alimony, with the limit of three years. However, as I am sure you advised your client, alimony is only paid as long as the spouse remains unmarried. Should Mrs. Thompson marry before the three years is up, then the alimony is forfeit at that time. I will have my secretary prepare the paperwork for signatures at the end of our afternoon meeting. Both Mrs. and Mr. Thompson will have the right to make any statement they feel the judge should hear and that they want on the permanent record for this meeting. Reconvening at 1:30 would be fine.

Teri got up and gathered her papers and her client and was out the door within seconds of finishing her statement. When Paul started to talk, she shook her head at him. “Wait until we get to the restaurant. I have to think.”

Something very odd was going on. Teri was concerned. She couldn't imagine any lawyer just accepting the last proposal. What could have happened that Walker would just cave in like that? This was very unusual? Teri didn't like unusual, unusual meant problems. She went back over all the points in the proposal. Did Mrs. Thompson not realize that she could have had thousands of more dollars if she had pushed for more? Did Walker not realize it? Did Mrs. Thompson have a reliable lawyer or did she just get tired of the process? Teri had expected the haggling to take at least two more meetings as they went over each item again and again. She had a very bad feeling about this, yet, if Mrs. Thompson signed the paperwork that day, Paul would definitely have gotten the better deal.

As Teri walked, she called Charlie and asked him to meet them at Quincy's. She and Paul were sitting at a table in the back of the bar waiting for their lunch orders. They were going over the items that had been agreed on and Teri was explaining how each item would affect Paul's future. Paul asked several astute questions and seemed surprised that he had come away with the house and boat, his retirement accounts and very little alimony.

When Charlie showed up, he carried a thick folder. Teri introduced him to their client and after the men shook hands and Charlie had a chance to order his lunch, Teri said, “Okay, what did you find?”

“First,” said Charlie, speaking directly to Paul Thompson, “I want you to understand that my office has been following Mrs. Thompson almost 24 hours for the past ten days. We have collected pictures, video and reams of paperwork regarding her activities and her financial funds. The sum of the information is on a flash drive which is in this folder, but we have printed out several pages to summarize the key points that we felt most affected the divorce proceedings. To begin with, our first task was to look into both the joint accounts and individual accounts of each party. We compared those findings with the information you provided Ms. Jackson. We found that while you were fairly accurate in the balances of your accounts and portfolios, there was one account that held $10,000 which was in Mrs. Thompson's name. Apparently, she has been skimming off the household accounts paid by Mr. Thompson. Granted it was small amounts, hundred here, fifty there, but over the years it has added up to a nice, tidy sum.”

Charlie paused and he took a bite of his sandwich. After swallowing, he continued, “Next, we were asked to find out about the other man in Mrs. Thompson's life. From what we could ascertain from talking with the children, childcare providers, teachers at Mrs. Thompson's school and neighbors, the two met about two weeks before Mrs. Thompson's departure. They have lots of public displays of affection as you can see from these photographs. There are also some more intimate pictures on the flash drive should they be necessary.”

As he passed the pictures around the table, Paul gasped. The photos showed the couple in restaurants, the park, even with the kids at the zoo. Mrs. Thompson was hanging all over the man, and in several pictures, had her tongue in this throat. Paul was furious, “She took the children to the park with that man?” he exclaimed. “I can't believe she would do that.”

Charlie went on. “According to sources, Mrs. Thompson has been telling anyone and everyone that she can't wait to get married. That the wedding is already planned except for the date which will be the day after the divorce is finalized. She is happier than she has ever been and can't wait for her honeymoon which 'Paul will pay for when I get my hands on his share of the houses and accounts'.”

Teri wondered if Walker had knowledge of his client's intentions and if that was why he hurried to settle. “There are copies on the disk of social media, Facebook and Twitter accounts, pictures the couple have taken of themselves out on the town and even looking at houses for sale,” continued Charlie. “They have looked at cakes and caterers, invitations, and even wedding dresses. Several of her posts have included virulent attacks on her marriage and Mr. Thompson that, when brought to the attention of the judge will certainly affect the outcome of the final decree.”

Paul had his head down. “I never knew she was so unhappy. What kind of husband was I, that I did not see these signs?”

Teri put her hand on his arm. “Divorce is not about one person. It takes two people to have a marriage and two people to let that marriage flounder. Yes, you probably didn't pay as much attention to her as she wanted, but, she didn't tell you what she wanted or needed. You can't blame yourself when she never told you want she wanted. Blaming one person or taking all the blame isn't fair and doesn't resolve anything. I am sure you have spent a lot of hours trying to figure out where it went wrong, but you need to accept that both of you did not communicate your needs clearly and then move on.”

Clearing his throat, Charlie pulled out another paper from the folder. “This is a record of Mrs. Thompson's movements. As you can see, she is living in an apartment on the west side, and while the lease is in her name only, her partner has spent the night on 7 of the ten nights. He has been observed carrying in bags and luggage in several trips. According to his landlord, he has given notice and plans to be out of his place completely in two weeks.”

Charlie put all the documents back into the folder. He sighed deeply. “I am sorry Mr. Thompson. I am glad that you have Ms. Jackson on your side. She'll do right by you.” He rose and walked out, leaving Teri and Paul with the folder.

“You have a couple of ways you can go with the meeting this afternoon,” Teri spoke softly. “You have the right to make a comment or respond to anything that was said during the meeting, including whatever is said this afternoon. You can choose not to make a comment, and accept that everything that was said during the meeting will be sent to the judge. You can bring up all the information in this folder, some of it, or none of it. You can choose to have it included in the paperwork to the judge or not. But it is up to you to tell me how you want to proceed. Why don't you think about it while we walk back to the courthouse.”

Teri paid for the meal, including Charlie's lunch, and the two walked slowly, quietly back to the conference room. Both of them lost in their thoughts.

Teri didn't know what way Paul would go. She suspected a lot would depend on what his wife had to say in her statement. It was going to be an interesting afternoon, that was for sure. On their way back, Teri stopped at her office and picked up the papers that would be signed that afternoon. She wished she felt better about this, but her stomach ached and she felt sad. She wondered if she felt sad that the case was almost over or if she felt sad that she wouldn't see Walker any more.

However, as I am sure you advised your client, alimony is only paid as long as the spouse remains unmarried.

Shit! Daniel had made a rookie mistake. Fuck! First-year law students know that alimony ends, almost universally, if the supported spouse remarries. Earlier in the negotiations the other side had offered $1,000 per month without any indication that their offer was time-limited. Daniel dreamed up the time-limited, 3-year proposal merely as a face saver for Susan who was willing to just say “Yes” to the entire current counter proposal that made no reference to alimony at all. He kicked himself for not keeping in mind Susan’s comment when he first met her that she had said that she planned to remarry in about six months. Where was his head? Too focused on Teri Jackson, maybe? As soon as Daniel and Susan left the building for the lunch break, Daniel pulled his client aside and apologized. Surprisingly, she seemed unperturbed by this information. “Oh, well,” she shrugged, “we’ll just see how it all works out.”

Daniel asked Susan if she wanted to have a working lunch. She demurred, saying that she would just meet him back at the courthouse conference room. He asked her if she wanted him to help her with the statement that she wished to make. “No,” she replied, “this is my statement and mine alone. Don’t worry. I’m not going to say anything that will cause Paul and his attorney to withdraw the offer to which I have now agreed.” With that, Susan turned and walked down the street. Daniel had seen the direction that Mr. Thompson and Teri were walking. It was likely they were going to Quincy’s. Not wanting to seem to intrude, Daniel headed to the local sub shop for a small sandwich and some more coffee.

Returning to the conference room Daniel found Susan Thompson, as always, having returned well ahead of the appointed hour. She seemed, Daniel thought, to have a serene look about her. Gone was the anger that he had seen at times and gone, also, was the vacant, dreamy look that she sometimes sported. When Teri and Mr. Thompson returned and seated themselves at the conference table, Susan indicated, through Daniel, that she wanted to make her statement first, assuming that Mr. Thompson also might want to speak.

Susan Thompson sat up tall and composed in her seat. “Let me start by saying two things. First, I have given Mr. Walker no clue as to what statement I am going to make. Second, my attorney was correct when he stated that I did not have a “gentleman caller”, as he so anachronistically referred to him, before I decided to end my marriage to Paul. Derek and I met about two weeks before I walked out of the house, but I had decided to seek a divorce several months prior to that, though I had taken no action on that front. So, for the record, I wish to explain my actions.” Susan spoke with a clear voice that seemed self-confident. She directed her comments first to Teri.

“Ms. Jackson, this may seem hard to believe, but I fell deeply, head over heels with Paul Thompson not long after we met. We were both living in Chicago then. I was working as a paralegal in a large firm and taking classes at night to earn my teaching certificate. Paul was aimless, having dropped out of college after only one year, but, God, he was handsome and sexy, and one hell of a lot of fun. We attended outdoor jazz festivals, spent long afternoons lounging in Grant Park, spent Sunday afternoons at the Art Institute. I fell in love with him within days after we met; within weeks I knew that I wanted to marry him. We moved in together and I encouraged him to return to college to make something of his truly remarkable talents. And he did so, and he, and we, ultimately did well as the result. You have already heard my rendition of how I supported both of us; I won’t repeat that now.”

Susan paused, a slight frown crossing her face. “But there was a price for getting Paul to marry me. Paul wanted children, I didn’t, but I wanted Paul and children were part of the bargain. By the time Paul was finishing his undergraduate studies we had our first child and another, our second and last, was on the way. By the time Paul finished his MBA he began to push to move out of the city. He argued that the Chicago public schools would not be a good place for our kids, and that we couldn’t afford expensive private schools. We had no idea at that time how successful his business career would become, so that was logical. I tried to persuade him that we should wait, that maybe some way would open for us, but Paul grew up about 50 miles from Silver Lake and he knew a few people here. So, he wouldn’t hear of anything other than moving to Silver Lake. I hated the idea. I should have just said “No”, but I still loved Paul and I still wanted him as my husband. So, to keep Paul I moved out here to this God-forsaken burg in addition to having children that I never craved. Goodbye art museums, goodbye jazz concerts, goodbye any career for me other than being a school teacher. At first it wasn’t so bad, but as the years wore on I just began to die on the vine.”

Susan redirected her attention once again to Teri. “Ms. Jackson, I need to go backwards now to a little bit of history. In Paul’s last year as an undergraduate he began to speak frequently of an undergraduate named Ashley Giordano.” Turning momentarily to face Paul, she continued, “I’m sure you remember that name, Paul. For a short while I wondered if Paul was having an affair with this young woman, but I was pretty sure that he wouldn’t do that, and now I know that I was right.” Susan paused to catch her breath before continuing. Daniel tried to keep on his poker face. What the hell was his client doing? And how could she now know that she was right?

Susan continued, “You see, Ms. Jackson, Paul would never do anything to destabilize the family unit that he had built up around our two children; it wasn’t the marriage to me that mattered so much to him, it was his children’s stable family that mattered.” She paused, a small amount of sadness crossed her face. “You didn’t have an affair with Ashley Giordano, Paul, but you did fall in love with her, didn’t you? The zip went out of our marriage then and it never really returned.”

By this time the conference room was completely silent except when Susan spoke. “So, moving forward until six months ago. Remember, Paul, when you were working on applying for that really big consulting contract? You worked day and night for weeks. You were exhausted, who could blame you? One night before the kids even went to bed you went up to our room just to rest for a minute or two, you said. You fell asleep fully clothed on our bed and slept soundly for 12 hours. You only stirred when I pulled off your clothes and tucked you in. I don’t think when you awoke the next morning that you even remembered coming to bed. But, Paul, in your exhaustion you did something that you never do. You left your computer running in your study. When I put the kids to bed I noticed the light still on in your study. I went in intending to shut down your laptop and turn out the light, but what did I find, Paul? Oh my gosh, a Gmail account of yours that I didn’t even know that you had, showing a long string of e-mails to or from who?, Ashley Patterson, nee Giordano, recently divorced with a young child.”

Remarkably, Susan’s voice was calm, showing what, Daniel wondered, sadness, resignation, acceptance? Whatever her emotions Susan was not finished. “Paul, I knew that I shouldn’t have read your private e-mails, but I couldn’t stop. I read for hours, skimming or reading dozens and dozens of e-mails for a several year period.” Susan paused just briefly, a hint of a choke in her voice. “I found the thread where you told Ashley how much you wished that things had turned out differently, that you and she had become a couple and started a family. That was hard to see, Paul, but at first I thought, ‘Well, many people may have wished that life turned out differently.’ Then I found the thread where you explained that you could never ask me for a divorce as long as the children were still living at home. Wow! But that wasn’t the pinnacle was it, Paul? No. In the thread that ended just a few days before my discovery you told Ashley that when our youngest child was through with college – I think you estimated that to be in about 2031 – if Ashley were single at that point, you would leave me and marry her, if she would have you, and that that offer would remain in effect until it was clear that she was not interested.”

“Undoubtedly,” Daniel thought, “you actually could hear a pin drop in this room right now.” His client was almost through. “So, Ms. Jackson, you see it’s not so clear that I ended our marriage unilaterally, is it? No, our marriage was over; I just moved the date up by 15 years. Paul, I’m not claiming to be a hero. I’m doing this for myself. I’m starting over. Completely. Derek and I will be married within a year. We’re moving to Denver. I have applications in to six law firms that have openings for paralegals. The Denver University Law School has an evening division; my application is pending there. I won’t be a second-choice wife school teacher in Dogs-Breath USA. I can have a career of my own, go to concerts and museums. Derek and I have the chance to have the married life that, Paul, I thought you and I would have when I met you. So, I’m not a hero or a martyr, but you are now free, Paul, to marry Ashley and, to be honest, she’ll probably be a better step-mom to our kids than I have been as their natural mother.”

Unexpectedly, Susan stopped speaking and stood up. “Ms. Jackson, I will drop by your office late this afternoon to sign the necessary papers. I don’t know if Paul wants to make a statement, but I am certain that I am not legally obligated to hear it.” With that, Susan Thompson turned and calmly walked out of the conference room, closing the door firmly behind her.

For the second time in as many days Daniel’s mouth was actually hanging open. He looked across the table. Paul Thompson’s face displayed so many emotions that Daniel couldn’t sort them all out. What was Teri thinking, Daniel couldn’t tell, but she looked just about as astonished as Daniel, himself, felt.

Teri sat in stunned silence. She could not think of one word, much less a sentence, to say. She looked at Walker and he literally had his mouth open in shock. Apparently this was all news to him. She looked at Paul. He sat hunched over the table, his head in his hands, looking as if all the air had seeped from his body.

Everyone sat in the uncomfortable quiet. Paul raised his head, his eyes were red around the edges. In a hoarse, broken voice he muttered, “The emails were a joke. Ashley has been a friend forever. We were always kidding around and telling each other how we would some day hook up. We never planned to really do it. It was just flirting, harmless flirting.”

He suddenly turned to both lawyers, “Why didn't Susan ever say anything?” he asked in anguish. “All I ever wanted was my family, including Susan.” He slowly got up. “I'll come by tomorrow to sign the papers. I need... “ His voice trailed off as he walked from the room, his body slumped and broken.

Teri sat there wanting to cry. This is what marriage does to people, she thought. It breaks them. She looked at Walker. “Why do people hurt each other like this?”

As Paul Thompson slumped out of the room, Daniel quietly leaned back and closed his eyes. He wasn’t buying Paul’s story that all of the e-mails were simply harmless flirting. Daniel once knew a woman who divorced her husband, explaining that she was having a “mental affair” with someone else. That’s what Daniel thought Paul was having with Ashley what’s-her-name.

This case had been hard on Daniel. After all, he, himself, had walked out on his wife, Jill, unilaterally ending their marriage for irreconcilable differences similar to what the Thompsons had. The roles were reversed. Daniel, like Paul, had wanted to live in a small town with plenty of access to the great outdoors, while Jill, like Susan, had wanted the fast-paced, young, urban professional lifestyle. Of course, the breakup of his marriage was far less complicated since there were no children involved and he and Jill had nearly identical incomes and assets. They simply each went their own way. Nor had Daniel left quite so abruptly. He even agreed to sessions with a marriage counselor, although he only went twice. Still, he had left what must have appeared to Jill to be a fine, working marriage, and he knew that his actions had hurt her deeply.

And what about his own parents’ divorce when Daniel was a junior in college? His father initiated that one and only a year later married a woman 12 years younger than his mom. Had his dad been just waiting, as Paul may have been, for he and his brother to become adults before breaking up his parents' marriage?

Daniel looked across the table at Teri. This morning when his gaze happened to fall on her she looked so good, no correct that, she looked so hot in her power suit and her tight-fitting blouse. Now, she just looked tired, as though she had suddenly aged by a decade or more.

Why do people hurt each other like this?

“I don’t know, Teri,” Daniel began, slipping unconsciously into the informal address, “I wonder if there’s any hope at all for us.” He paused only very briefly before quickly adding, “I mean, I mean for any of us.”

Teri nodded at his words. She gathered her papers. She was exhausted. Once the Thompsons signed the paperwork, it would be submitted to the court. The court would determine a court date for the judge to rule on the divorce. Then three months later the Thompsons would be divorced. Basically, Teri's work was done. Usually she felt some kind of satisfaction of having completed the job, but today, all she felt was sadness and disappointment in people. She didn't know if Paul was telling the truth or not, it didn't matter. At this point, nothing did.

She stood up and started to walk out. Pausing, she turned back to Walker. "I guess our work is done. I will send you copies of the paperwork after the Thompsons have both signed off. I guess I will see you in court when the case goes before the judge."

Turning to walk away, she hesitated with her hand on the doorknob. "I... I just wanted to say that...," she paused unsure of what she wanted to say. She felt like a fool. Just wanted to say what? He did a good job? In truth, he could have fought harder. She enjoyed the case? No, she definitely did not. Having no idea what she had started to say, she went with a lame ".. have a good day."

She opened the door and walked out the room, thinking she would rather be pounding her head on the door. Have a good day? Jeez, what a dope she was. Maybe she was 15 after all. Now she was not only sad and disappointed, she was embarrassed as well. Her heels sounded loud as she walked slowly down the hallway. What a crazy day!

Daniel just wanted to take the rest of the day off. He would go back briefly to his office, do a little paperwork, ride his bike home, then go for a very long walk in the woods before the sun set. He had a bit of a sad and empty feeling as he watched Teri walk to the door.

I... I just wanted to say that..., have a good day.

Daniel responded with the banal, "Thanks. You too," but Teri's delivery struck him as odd. This woman who always presented herself as self-assured and in command seemed suddenly inarticulate in giving the standard, American benediction. That thought rattled in his head as he heard the heels of her dress shoes clacking down the tiled hallway. Almost too late a thought crashed into his befuddled mind, "Fuck! I'm letting this woman just walk away, when what I really want to do is have contact with her."

Leaping from his chair, but trying not to seem too eager, Daniel bolted through the door. "Wait, Teri, please." Trying to calm his over eagerness he walked briskly to where she now stood. "Um...I...I...uh...I just wanted to remind you of my offer to...uh...buy you a sandwich at Qunicy's to make amends for my unprofessional behavior during my meeting with you and Paul Thompson, and my..uh..well..rather crass behavior when I called you later that afternoon."

As he spoke Daniel realized that he was staring at his shoes like a high school sophomore asking the homecoming queen for a dance. In the previous four cases when he and Teri had battled each other to a draw, two wins each, Daniel and she on several occasions had, almost literally, gone toe-to-toe during heated exchanges, yet here he was not even making the slightest eye contact. The thought of his previous self-confident, even brash, encounters with Teri, coupled with his sudden realization that her stammering while just saying "good day" might well stem from the same intimidation that he now felt woke up Daniel's inner adult. He steadily raised his eyes to meet Teri's and pulled himself up to his full height.

"Dammit!", Daniel exclaimed, not in anger but as a point of emphasis, "Teri Jackson, I'm asking you for a date."

Teri's first reaction was to decline. But, honestly, Walker was so cute getting all overly frustrated with himself that she found herself actually considering it. After the meeting they had just had, she wanted nothing more than to go home, find a nice romance novel where the people live happily ever after and forget the real world. She hadn't been on a date in...well, forever...so she was probably due. But dating was so difficult, what with all the small talk. Teri was not good at small talk. She got nervous and stumbled over words and came off sounding like a fool.

But he was standing there with such a look of hope in his eyes, that it would be cruel to turn him down. How bad could it be? One date and then, if it didn't work out, and it probably wouldn't since let's face it Walker was on the crazy side of the street, she could walk away.

"Um.. okay. I suppose we could have lunch sometime," she said hesitatingly.

Um.. okay. I suppose we could have lunch sometime.

Daniel's spirits rose some. Teri had - well, sort of - accepted his offer of a "date", although he couldn't recall any previously accepted date offer in his life that seemed less enthusiastic. On the other hand, strike while the iron is hot.

"OK. Good. How about this. Given that the Thompson's divorce papers will be submitted either later today or tomorrow and that the divorce is not being contested, the court date is likely to be in a week or ten days or so. We know that Judge Rafferty typically schedules these pro forma hearings in the late morning time slot. So, assuming that works out, how about we plan to have lunch at Quincy's immediately following our court appearance? You were right when you said that we shouldn't meet socially until the case was over, which it will then be."

Daniel held his breath, trying to seem calm. Teri could still back out by simply tabling scheduling their lunch date until a later time that might never occur. Or, she could take the leap and say "yes".

Nodding, Teri agreed to the lunch date after the court hearing for the Thompsons.

She wasn't looking forward to seeing the couple again and, if asked, would admit that this case was probably the most screwed up situation she could imagine. The best that she could say about the entire disaster was that she did her job as a lawyer and got her client the best deal possible. Unless one of the two changed their minds, this would be the fastest court hearing ever. Or, the judge could decide that it was too weighted on Paul's side and want to shift more finances or child visitation to Mrs. Thompson. But that would be highly unlikely. The judge tended to go along with whatever the clients signed off while meeting with the lawyers. So Teri was in the clear professionally, but emotionally, she was going to need those two weeks to get her head back in the game. Right now, an island in the middle of the ocean sounded about right. There were times when Teri really didn't like people and this was one of them.

Realizing that Walker was still standing there watching her as her mind wandered, she blushed. "Okay...yes..., that would be fine. Lunch ...after the Thompson hearing? I will see you in court, then." Her voice faded as she turned and continued down the hallway.

Her mind was still torn between the sad story she had heard in the meeting and a deep desire to run off to an island as she slowly walked back to her office. Once there, she handed all the paperwork to Patty, asked her to make appointments for the Thompsons to come in and sign the forms before sending them to the court clerk. The court clerk would then set a time and date for the hearing and Patty would send a copy of the signed papers and the date, time and place for the hearing to both parties.

Teri went into her office and sat down heavily in her chair. As far as she was concerned, this day was done!

Daniel executed the metal health plan that he had devised for himself. Stopping by the office for as little a time as possible, he biked home, put on his hiking outfit, and set off on 2+ hour hike along wooded trails. He needed to get the Thompson case out of his head. Doing so was difficult for several reasons. The case touched too close to home, with both his parents' divorce and his own, unilateral ending of his marriage to Jill. And then, there were the Thompson kids who were the losers all the way around, or at least likely so. He could understand Susan wanting to start over, given the circumstances as she saw them, but he couldn't really understand her leaving her children so abruptly. To cap it off, Daniel thought that both of the Thompsons were losers in this case. Paul Thompson was either completely disengaged from his marriage and having a "mental affair" with Ashley Patterson, or he was guilty of reckless endangerment with his marriage by playing a fantasy game with this woman. In either event he'd fucked up badly and hurt everyone in the process. Susan Thompson foolishly thought that she was "...starting over. Completely", but was she? How can one "start over" and leave one's children behind, plus she was "starting over" with a guy that she'd only known for a few weeks, an iffy choice, for sure. "Fuck!", Daniel mused, "why are relationships so damn difficult?"

After an hour or so of hiking Daniel had largely cleaned his mind of obsessing about the Thompson case, leaving room for pleasant thoughts about Teri to take their place. He actually had a scheduled date with Teri Jackson, well, or at least an agreed-upon plan. She could still back out of course, but he thought that unlikely.

How to approach this whole "date" thing, though? At 31 Daniel was not without experience with dating and romance, although he was less experienced than many men his age. He didn't date at all in high school; he didn't even attend the senior prom. However, he did date casually, sex included, beginning in his freshman college year, even having one dating relationship that lasted nearly a year. In his first two years in law school Daniel had a few, short-term, monogamous dating relationships, sex included. He and Jill began dating seriously in what was the third year of law school for both of them. Two months after earning their J.D.s he and Jill married, a marriage that lasted 3 years officially, a little less in actuality. Since moving to Silver Lake Daniel hadn't had as much as a cup of coffee with an eligible woman. Indeed, he had little social contact with anyone other than the interactions he had through his work.

Anticipating asking Teri for a date Daniel had a long e-mail exchange with Jason, his friend since college. Jason had thoughts on the matter, "First, if this woman is as accomplished and as attractive as you claim, she is not a relationship virgin, not even close, I bet. Now, gay or straight, I can't say. You'll have to figure that out for yourself. Second," Jason opined, "if she is even half as smart as you say she is, she is not so naive as to think that if you ask her for what is clearly a "date", that you are interested in her only for a platonic relationship. What this means, of course, is that if she accepts your date offer, at some level, she has the same, potential interest in you. " Jason ended their correspondence with some advice for his old friend, "Have fun with her; you always make everything so fucking serious. Enjoy. Given how you describe her, she could use a little lightening up."

"Fun? With Teri Jackson?". Jason rolled the idea around in his mind as he turned to begin the one-hour return walk to his house. Jason was right Daniel concluded. He had made this into such a big, intimidating, serious deal in his own mind, he had nearly forgotten that, at least in part, he just wanted the joy of Teri's company.

Teri went back to the office, walking on remote. She had nothing left inside:mentally, physically, or emotionally. She entered her office and emptied her briefcase. Then sat down with her hands in her head. After a bit, she sat up, put her head against the back of her chair with her eyes closed. After trying different spins, she decided the best she could get out of this mess was that she now knew what kind of woman Susan Thompson was. That didn't really cheer her up.

She trudged up to her apartment and took out the makings for lasagna. She enjoyed cooking and lasagna had a lot of components so it took time to make. Plus, it would give her meals that she could freeze and eat over the next month. After mixing up the pasta dough and setting it to the side to rest, she turned on her CD player and put in some upbeat, dance music. Dancing around the apartment she sang along with the music, mixing up her sauce and putting it on to simmer. Soon the wonderful aromas of garlic, tomatoes and ground sausage filled the room. By the time she was rolling out the dough she had forgotten all about the Thompsons and was thinking of Daniel Walker.

Daniel Walker, opposing lawyer and most likely, from what she had seen, heavy drinker had asked her out on a lunch date. Why? Outside of their careers, she couldn't imagine anything they might have in common. Teri seldom had an alcoholic drink outside of a glass of wine with dinner now and then, she wasn't a party girl, she didn't even go on dates often. She had gone on group dates in high school and college. Her first “real” relationship had been with Steve in law school, but when he started talking marriage, she had quickly shut him down. Since then there had been a couple of short-term relationships and the sex hadn't even been that good, so ending them hadn't been difficult. She had dinner/movie dates now and then, but really, she hadn't met anyone that really made her want a long term relationship.

Teri knew she had been affected by her parents “fake” relationship and, although she tried not to make decisions based on the cynicism she had gained from that experience, she knew that was the way her brain worked. So, she preferred single night dates and, although she missed the intimacy of a sexual relationship, as far as she could tell, it wasn't all that big a deal. She much more preferred snuggling to the messy sexual act. Besides, she had no plans for children so no sex made that easier to accomplish. Everyone knew that birth control was not 100% effective. Teri loved children, had thought she would want to have them, but after her parents's revelations, and having sat on several divorce cases, she just couldn't conceive of the idea of having children and then tearing them apart emotionally with a divorce.

She didn't know anyone who had a “perfect” marriage. Even her sister, who had two kids, talked about getting a divorce at least twice a year, if not more often. Her brother had given marriage a chance and ended up divorced after two years when he found his wife in bed with her supposedly ex-boyfriend. He was a cynical about marriage as Teri, maybe even more so.

While the lasagna baked, Teri changed into her comfortable pajamas and found an old western on television to watch. She curled up in her favorite chair, surrounded by the aromas coming from her oven, and settled in to watch James Drury solve everyone's problems. Too bad, she thought, that real life problems weren't set in definite right/wrong parameters where the good guys wore white hats and the bad guys wore black. The one thing Teri had learned in her lifetime... life was full of gray areas

As anticipated Judge Rafferty scheduled the court appearance date for Friday, July 9th at 11:15, perfect for Daniel's proposed lunch date following the court appearance. The judge informed both lawyers that their clients were welcome to attend, but it wasn't compulsory, a sure sign that the judge was simply going to sign off on the agreement that both of the Thompsons had signed.

For the few days leading up to that date Daniel tried, unsuccessfully, to not obsess over his lunch date with Teri. He turned over in his mind how to start out and what to say. He debated whether he should apologize, yet again, for his outlandish behavior, finally deciding not to apologize yet a third time. Then there was the issue that Teri undoubtedly knew that he was drunk when he called her at her office after he had stormed out of the meeting earlier in the day with her and Paul Thompson. She had no way of knowing that he hadn’t been that drunk since college. For all she knew he was a habitual heavy drinker. Maybe, Daniel thought, he should address that right up front and explain, but then he remembered Jason’s advice to “have fun” and keep it light. If he and Teri could get through lunch and feel at least reasonably positive about the experience, there was at least some chance of a second date. He could explain himself more later.

There was another thought, though, that Daniel had more trouble dismissing. What was his interest in Teri Jackson? What did he hope for or want out of this advance that he had made? Twice in his dating life before he married Jill, Daniel had, somewhat unintentionally, had a one-night stand. After the second one he vowed to never repeat that mistake, but he wasn’t a prude, he had nothing against casual, short-term dating relationships that included consensual sex. Was that what he wanted with Teri? His body reminded him daily that a large part of his attraction to her was physical, though certainly not entirely so by a long ways. However, Daniel was now 31. With his four-year relationship with Jill and his nearly three dateless years in Silver Lake, it had been seven years since he had been on the dating scene. Dating 30-something Teri was likely to be quite different than dating women in their early 20’s. Daniel was in uncharted water.

Besides the complexities of dating in general, and dating Teri in particular, in a town the size of Silver Lake you were known to the world to be a “couple” practically before your first date was over. Between Quincy, himself, and Meaghan, his bartender/waitress 20-something daughter, word of Daniel simply going to lunch with Teri would, no doubt, be on the street in a day or two.

Friday morning broke warm and very pleasant. Daniel awoke early, exercised, showered, ate a light breakfast, and biked to his office. In keeping with Jason’s advice about keeping things light, Daniel decided to wear his everyday suit to court, rather than his Armani battle dress. He hoped that the symbolism wouldn’t be lost on Teri.

With reasonable success Daniel took his place in the courtroom without seeming to have a non-professional interest in opposing counsel. Judge Rafferty spent less than 15 minutes walking everyone through the agreement to make sure there were no misunderstandings. The judge expressed some hesitation about the custody arrangement, but, assured by both attorneys that this was what both clients wanted, he demurred. At 11:30 Judge Rafferty signed the divorce decree, which would become effective in 60 days. Thompson v. Thompson was over; Daniel and Teri were free to socialize.

Daniel left the courthouse quietly by himself, assuming that Teri would join him outside. When she approached him, Daniel offered a light-hearted, “Ready for lunch?” Teri nodded. Daniel debated whether to gently lay his hand on the small of Teri’s back, leading her toward Quincy’s, but, given her less-than-wildly-enthusiastic acceptance of his lunch date offer, he decided that such a move might be unwelcome. They walked the two blocks to Quincy’s exchanging just a few words about the beautiful weather, and not much more. Arriving at Quincy’s this early meant that there were plenty of tables available. Daniel and Teri quietly took a table toward the back of the room and placed their sandwich orders. Given what he feared was his reputation with Teri, Daniel stuck with Pepsi as a drink.

Daniel wasn’t sure what to say. The brief conversation about the weather seemed to have exhausted their small talk. They couldn’t discuss the case in a public venue. Either because of the tension he was feeling, or despite it, or maybe following his friend’s advice to lighten up, somehow Daniel’s wicked humor exploded into his head, causing him to laugh heartily, hard enough that he couldn’t speak and to cause small tears to run down both cheeks. Taking deep breaths to control his laughter, Daniel began, “So, Teri Jackson, when you’re not beating the bejesus out of me in some legal proceeding, what do you do for fun?”

Both Thompsons came by the next day and signed off on the paperwork. Mr. Thompson came in around ten and looked ten years older than he had the first day he came into her office. Very little was said as Teri explained what needed to be initialed, signed and dated. When they were finished, Teri stood and shook his hand. “The papers will be submitted to the court, You may attend the court hearing if you wish, but it isn't mandatory. I will present the papers to the judge and if there are any questions I will call you. If there is something the judge questions, and I doubt if that will happen, then a new date will be set and you will be asked to attend that new hearing to answer the judges questions. Within five days after the hearing Patty will send you the invoice for the final billing. As Mrs. Thompson did not request that you pay for her half of the divorce proceedings, she will be expected to pay her lawyer. Once you have paid your bill to this firm, you will get a copy of all the paperwork and a receipt. The court clerk will send you the final divorce decree after three months. The waiting period is to see if either party changes their mind, again, I don't think that will happen here, and to give the court time to process the paperwork. You will receive a billing statement from the court clerk for the court costs for filing the papers since you were the one to initiate the divorce proceedings. I wish you and your children well.”

A couple of hours later, Mrs. Thompson came in and signed, initialed and dated the forms. When Teri stood to walk Mrs. Thompson out, she paused. “Mrs. Thompson, I know that you understand that I was representing my client to the best of my ability in this proceeding. However, I just wanted to tell you know that I wish you good luck in your new life.” Mrs. Thompson seemed surprised at the sincerity in Teri's voice, but she shook Teri's hand and said, “Thank you.”

The night before the Thompson court case, Teri slept fitfully, something she seldom did. She woke tired and nervous. Not about the Thompson's court case; she was worried about her lunch date with Walker. Teri stood in front of her closet trying to figure out what to wear. Did she wear the suit that she usually wore to court? It was sort of formal for a luncheon date. Did she go the opposite and wear slacks? No, she didn't like wearing slacks to court. To her, slacks on women lawyers made it seem as if they were trying to be men. Teri was in a man's world, but she was a woman and wanted people to know that women were just as good as men when it came to protecting their clients. So, no suit and no slacks. Definitely no jeans or sweats or pajamas. Teri sighed heavily, frustrated that she was making such a big deal out of the whole thing. She grabbed a dark blue blouse and a light blue pencil skirt. Getting dressed quickly before she could change her mind, she slid her feet into three inch heels and went down to her office.

When it was time for court, she walked down the street to the courthouse. One of the things Teri loved most about Silver Lake was that everything was in walking distance. When she had lived in the city, she had needed to take taxis, drive herself and fight for parking, or take the subway. Here she could walk to any business that she might need, the tallest building was the old brick and ivy courthouse which was three stories high. She could see the blue sky, see the trees in the park in the center of town and hear song birds trilling to each other. It was a beautiful day and, except for the looming of the date with Walker, Teri couldn't help but smile.

In the courtroom, Teri noticed that Walker was dressed more casually than usual. With a small grin to herself, she pictured him spending as much time as she had trying to figure out what to wear. As far as she knew men didn't spend much time thinking about what to wear, after all, it was either a suit or casual wear and even Walker wouldn't show up in court in jeans, sweatpants or, she grinned again, pajamas. Teri was not surprised that neither client showed up for the hearing. She couldn't imagine either of them wanting to see each other again.

The judge entered the courtroom and, as predicted, he questioned the alimony and visitation rights and when Walker assured the judge this was what his client wanted, signed off on the documents and handed them to his clerk. The process took little time and was just a formality at this point.

When the judge left the courtroom, Teri turned toward Walker and at his words, nodded and they left the building. They talked briefly about the weather and didn't mention the case at all. Teri wasn't sure what to expect with this lunch, but she had skipped breakfast and was hungry. As they placed their orders, she was pleasantly surprised to find that he ordered a soda rather than a beer. She had assumed he would order a drink to celebrate the termination of the case.

Once the waitress took their order and left them alone, she was surprised once again when Walker started laughing. She sat in her seat watching Walker laugh so hard, tears ran down his cheeks. There weren't many people in the bar, but the few were looking over at their table. Teri could feel her cheeks turning red as Walker's laughing continued. She didn't know what the joke was and wondered if he was laughing at her. She had begun to worry about his sanity, when he finally stopped laughing and said, “So, Teri Jackson, when you’re not beating the bejesus out of me in some legal proceeding, what do you do for fun?”

Teri stared at him, her eyes blinking, as her brain tried to register the meaning of his words. She wasn't sure what to say after his hysterical laughter. Her brain began to process and the first thing that it came up with was to wonder if men could be hysterical since that was a “woman's thing”, but he was certainly demonstrating a perfect textbook description.

“Um...,” she paused as her brain finally got around to what he had said to her. “I read a lot, cook when I have time. I like to walk.” She knew her answer sounded choppy and not like her usual speech but she was still floundering over the fit of laughter. “I ski in the winter.” She suddenly stopped talking as it occurred to her that her statement sounded dumb. Of course she skied in the winter, duh.

To take his attention off her and her red face, she turned the question back on him. “What do you like to do?”

Daniel was disappointed that his joke about Teri perhaps having fun beating the bejesus out of him in court apparently didn't seem funny to her. In fact, she looked a little pained. This "lighten it up" thing wasn't going all that well. However, he was delighted to hear her response to his question. They had common interests on three of the four things that she listed.

What do you like to do?

Having the question thrown back at him hardly surprised Daniel; it was the obvious rejoinder, and it kept the conversation going. "Well,", he began, trying not to show any disappointment at her non-response to his joke, "we have some things in common, and one that isn't. The one that isn't in common is cooking. To be truthful, I don't cook much. Oh, I make oatmeal for breakfast and for dinner I sometimes grill a hamburger or slop some store-bought sauce on some boiled pasta, but it's too easy to get a lunch sandwich at the Subway or here at Quincy's, or to get something from the deli counter at Safeway on the way home for dinner."

Daniel paused a bit and tried to slow down. He was worried that he was dominating the conversation. "I also love to walk or hike. For example, after our last joint meeting with both of our clients, I biked home and took a two-hour walk in the woods. Like you, I also read quite a bit, both fiction and non-fiction. In fact, I don't own a TV. I so much prefer reading. I've been skiing a few times, and I enjoyed it, but I don't do it that regularly." Daniel decided to take a small risk, "I guess I might ski if I had someone to go with."

About when Daniel had finished his list of his favorite activities, their sandwiches and drinks arrived. Turning to the obvious non-threatening question to keep the conversation going, he asked, "So, Teri, what kinds of things do you particularly like to read?"

As soon as he had finished his question, Daniel realized that he had not used the restroom since he left home this morning, and quite needed to do so. "Wait, hold that thought. I need to use the restroom." Standing and turning toward the restroom, Daniel touched Teri's shoulder lightly as he spoke, "I'll be right back." The physical gesture was nearly unconscious, something he might do with a male friend; his reaction was not. Dubious as he was about how this lunch date was going so far, the excitement that flowed through his whole body when he touched Teri's shoulder reminded Daniel why he had proposed this awkward event in the first place.

As Walker talked about what he liked to do, Teri could feel herself beginning to relax. They had gotten their food and she hadn't said anything too terribly stupid. Maybe she could survive this dating thing yet. When Walker left to use the restroom, he put his hand on her shoulder. An electric shock ran down her arm. It was getting harder and harder to explain these reactions to his touch by calling it 'static' electricity. She had read stories about these kinds of sensations when people touched but had always put it down to fiction novel silliness. Now, she wasn't so sure how fictional it was.

When he returned to the table, she set her fork aside. "You asked what I like to read. I like fiction: detective/mysteries, westerns, romance if there is a mystery or intrigue involved, some historical fiction. I don't really care for sci-fi/fantasy plots, although I have read a few. I don't really read non-fiction. I have to read enough law material to avoid non-fiction for my down time. Do you have favorite authors where you read all of their books, or is it more the plot/topic of individual stories that draws you to a book?"

She picked up her fork and took a bite of her salad. Although, there were enough toppings on the grilled chicken salad to make it a little less healthy and a lot more appealing, so maybe calling it a salad was mislabeling. It sure tasted good.

Good food and a good conversation meant she was a having a good time. With Daniel Walker? Who knew it was possible?

As Daniel made his brief trip to the restroom and back he had the opportunity to review how things were going with Teri. He realized that he hadn't really given much thought to the fact that she, like him, had chosen to dress a bit more casually than usual. Interesting, was she trying to project a particular image? Whatever her motivation she certainly knew how to pick out her clothes. The blouse/skirt combo that she sported today was, if anything, more enticing than her power outfit, at least to him.

Notwithstanding the energy jolt accompanying his having touched Teri and her very attractive appearance, it seemed to Daniel as though this encounter was pretty flat. She had looked pained and maybe even a bit scared, not a great way to start. Remembering Jason's advice, though, Daniel decided to play it cool. "It's just lunch," he told himself. "Yeah, right!", came the interior dialog in his head.

Seating himself back at their table, Daniel's assessment took an upswing. Teri's response to his question, without him having to re-ask it, showed interest and was even pretty animated. She somehow seemed more relaxed than even when he left to use the restroom. Her follow-up questions to him invited him to keep up an engaged conversation. On top of that, he rather liked this question. He always knew that Teri was really smart; he now learned that she could be interesting as well, even outside of the courtroom.

Daniel was warming up to this conversation. He still wanted to be careful to not dominate it, but he allowed some of his excitement about the topic to show through. "Well, I mostly get interested in the plot or topic of a particular book." He felt himself relaxing a bit, and chuckled, "I don't know if you can relate to this, but I've spent so much time in Hudson's News in airports reading the back cover of paperbacks that I'm always at some risk of being late at the gate." Daniel paused briefly before continuing, "I do have two authors that I like, though, and they both write sort of historical fiction. One is a woman named Ella Lefland. She wrote Rumors of Peace, about a California family in World War II, and my all-time favorite, The Knight, Death,and the Devil, a fictionalized story of the life of Herman Goering, a high-ranking Nazi. I also like Morgan Llywelyn, who writes historical fiction about ancient Ireland." He paused, deciding to add a personal note, "See, 'Walker', of course is my father's name, but my maternal grandfather was Daniel O'Connor. Ah...I'm half Irish. In fact," Daniel said rather self-consciously, "my mom still calls me 'Danny'".

Daniel stopped, fearing that he had run on way too much. He hoped that he hadn't offended Teri with his too-long narrative. He also realized that he was more than a little aroused. A very small grin crossed his face. "Hmmm, "Daniel chuckled to himself, "I never thought discussing literature could be quite this stimulating."

Teri smiled, her eyes flashing with humor as she heard "Oh, Danny Boy" in her head and envisioned Donald O'Connor dancing around the room. She couldn't imagine calling a grown man Danny, that was the name for a five year old. Dan Walker had a ring to it, or even Daniel. Still Walker would somehow always be Walker in her head.

To her amazement, he was actually turning out to be a nice guy. Still it was only the first hour, who knew what he was really like? She was still concerned about his drinking, but so far she had been enjoying herself.

"I haven't heard of those books. I don't think I would care for the one about Goering, I try to avoid things that are related to the Nazi Regime. It was just to horrible of a time. But I can see where trying to figure out how to humanize those guys would be an interesting challenge. I tend to like lighter fare: I read easy going mass fiction books like Evanovich's series about a female bounty hunter who isn't very good at her job, or Grafton's female detective series. I find once I find a series I stick with it. I get hooked on seeing what happens next.," She smiled. "I remember reading Steinbeck's book about a family moving to California to work in the Central Valley, but it was a long time ago, when I was in high school. I remember I liked it though."

She didn't want it to seem as if she was interrogating him by asking question after question, but she really didn't know what else to do to keep the conversation flowing. She liked that they both were readers, but since they didn't read the same books, she wasn't sure where else to go with the topic. She wished she was better at this, that the small talk just came naturally to her.

"What about music? What do you listen to?"

"Hmmm...things are going reasonably smoothly," Daniel thought to himself. And, there was a surprise. Based on the image that the other lawyers in town had of Teri Jackson, he would have thought that she would like to read "heavy" stuff. Who would have picked her as a reader of those letter-titled books by Grafton. Reading a woman author's books with a female heroine, sure that made sense, but light mysteries? Gee, maybe Teri had a much lighter side than he had ever imagined. She sure didn't show it at all in public.

Daniel decided to not try to explain how one of his favorite books didn't “humanize” Nazis. He decided that that was too heavy a discussion at this point, but he also didn’t want to leave her with the impression that they had no reading interests in common. “I admit that I have never read a Sue Grafton mystery. By the time I’d discovered her she was already up to “M”; I was afraid I’d have to start with “A” and work my way through. However, I do read mysteries some. I got caught up in Dan Brown’s books that were so popular and I had earlier developed a liking for “thriller” novels, but I got turned off to that genre because they have become so graphically violent. I don’t like that.”

Teri had hit on one of his weaknesses, though; he was less interested in music than most people of their age. “As for music, well, to be honest, I listen to it mostly as background when I’m doing something else. I’m not very musical, I’m afraid. I listen to Beyonce, of course, I mean, who doesn’t? And sometimes Meghan Trainor or Justin Timberlake, but I mostly like quieter music. I’ve recently gotten into an acapella group called “Pentatonix”; they’re all over You Tube.” Daniel paused, debating strongly about some more self-disclosure. With considerable reservation, he chose openness. “My ex-wife, Jill, was a devotee of classical music. When we were both in the UPENN law school and, later, when we were both working in big firms in downtown Philly, we had a mini-subscription to the Philadelphia Orchestra. I learned to enjoy classical music, and I listen to in quite frequently on NPR, but I’m not a very sophisticated listener, and certainly not a devotee. “

Daniel was anxious to keep the conversation going. It seemed pretty pleasant. He had deliberately dropped the bomb about his previous marriage. If the fact that he was married before precluded any type of dating relationship, might as well get that out right now.

“So, that’s my somewhat jumbled musical tastes, how about yours?”

Teri bit her lower lip, a nervous habit she was trying to break but hadn't quite yet. Did she admit that she didn't listen to Beyonce or just skip over it. What was the best way to approach this and was it a minefield or was she overthinking things? She took a drink from her glass of water figuring it would buy her some time and hide her nervousness.

“Um.. my music tastes are eclectic. I think like most kids, I grew up listening to my mother's taste in music so I tend to like seventies and eighties stuff. I like some of most genres. I struggle to find anything I like that has come out in the past decade or two. I listen to music mostly at home when I am cooking, or if a have to drive somewhere long distance. I don't know names of many artists or what they sing since radio station personalities don't really tell you very often who is singing or even the name of the song like they did when I was a kid. But I can't sing at all. Well,” she blushed, “I sing when I am alone, but I mean that I can't carry a tune.”

She took another sip of water. This dating stuff was hard. She wasn't sure how much longer she could keep up the small talk, yet, she liked learning more about Walker. She just wasn't as comfortable when it came to her turn to share. She really led a pretty bland life. She worked, hung out with Beth and occasionally Patty. She took long walks in the woods and a couple of times a month she helped in the local women's shelter. She read, she listened to music, she cooked, but that was really about it. She was just a boring lawyer that liked living in a small town. How could she make that seem interesting to someone like Walker who had obviously had more life experience that she did?

“I am sorry that your marriage didn't work out, that must have hurt.” she said, wondering if that was why he drank so much. “Marriage seems to be hard to deal with for most people.” She didn't want to pry, but she didn't want him to think she didn't hear what he had to say, she just wasn't sure what the right response should be. Somehow, saying something about the obviousness of a marriage failing seemed to be inappropriate to say even if the sentiment was true.

They had talked about hobbies, music and books. As far as Teri was concerned that only left movies and politics and she had no interest in getting into either of those topics. She seldom watched movies and hadn't seen a new movie in a long time. So she couldn't really discuss anything current. Politics everyone knew was a no-no, besides she paid as little attention to it as possible, focusing on candidate platforms rather than antics. So what did she do now?

She glanced at her watch and realized they had been sitting and talking for almost two hours. “Um.. we probably should get going. I am sure the waitress would like to turn over the table. I had a nice lunch. Thank you.”

Daniel listened as Teri described her musical interests. Given that he, himself, was not all that into music, he strove to pay attention; her musical interests were not that important to him. He remembered her earlier comment about liking to walk; he hoped that that might provide a connection between them.

Teri's sympathetic comment about the breakup of his marriage touched Daniel. Granted, her comment was sort of standard social politeness, but he took it as being genuine, and it demonstrated that Teri was not, certainly, some cold, competitive woman.

Um.. we probably should get going. I am sure the waitress would like to turn over the table. I had a nice lunch. Thank you.

Shit! Teri's comment took Daniel off guard. He panicked. He looked quickly at his watch. Damn, it had been almost two hours. She wasn't exactly running off, but Daniel had no plan for this. Should he just let her leave without anything other than a "Thanks, I had a nice time, too." Then what, like a teenager, he'd call her and ask her for a second date? Hell, he didn't even have her cell phone number; he'd have to call her at her office. Or, should he do the sort of first-date thing and ask her right there if she wanted to have another? Their lunch wasn't even a typical "date".

Daniel's panic caused his inhibitions to crash. "Well, Teri," Daniel began, trying hard to hide his nervousness, "thanks, I enjoyed our lunch also. I have a proposal. Today's Friday. Sunday is supposed to be a beautiful day. We both mentioned that we like to walk. How about we plan to take a couple hour hike Sunday afternoon. We can drive to the edge of town where the trail starts into the national forest. Who knows, if our walk works up a big appetite, maybe you could dazzle me with your great cooking."

Daniel was working full-speed to make this sound light, friendly, and completely non-threatening. He estimated that his heart rate was up to about 150. He had just grossly upped the ante. He might very well drive Teri off with his impulsive proposal. Or, maybe he and Teri Jackson would have a real date before the weekend was up.