Page 1 of Laws of Love
1
Aiva sat at her desk, reviewing the proposed visitation that the opposing council had just sent over. It was a good arrangement. They would each rotate weeks and holidays with the children. If one parent’s week was during two back-to-back holidays, he proposed that parent concede the upcoming holiday to the next parent.
She knew her client wouldn’t see a problem with this, knowing that the two had only gotten lawyers involved to have the terms of their separation, alimony, and custody agreement on paper without taking it to court. As easy as the two of them were to deal with and as cordial as they were, they could have simply gone to a mediator. However, Aiva would never turn down money in her pocket.
Picking up the phone, Aiva called her client and left a message once she got her voicemail. In it she informed her she would email over the proposed agreement and to let Aiva know if it was acceptable to her once she read it.
Placing her phone back into the cradle, Aiva brought up her email and attached the information. She also made out a rough schedule of who would have the children and when, if the agreement took effect at the beginning of the following month.
Once she finished with the schedule and sent the email, Aiva brought up her calendar. She had an appointment in twenty minutes and decided to review the notes that Finx, their office assistant, had taken.
Aiva shared an office building with her sister. While they both were family practice lawyers, Aiva focused more on cases with children and custody, while her older sister, Meila, focused on divorces with no children and annulments. Her sister couldn’t deal with someone using their child as a bargaining chip. Aiva didn’t have a problem calling someone on their shit when they did and dropping them as a client.
They had an intake questionnaire for Finx to fill out regarding any new potential clients if they were not in the office or unavailable to speak to them when they called or came in.
Looking over the information, she found that the couple had been married for almost eleven years, and they had a son. Knowing the timeframe in which someone had been married was important to Aiva. It helped her choose the approach to take.
The questionnaire was intentionally vague so that clients didn’t think they were being probed from the start, it always gave Aiva enough to get an idea of the type of person her potential client was. This one, she assumed, had tired of trying to make something work on her own.
“Aiva, Mrs. Monroe is here to see you.”
“Thank you, Finx. You can bring her in.”
While Aiva found herself at the office every other Saturday, she rarely saw any clients. She normally used that time to catch up on any emails she missed if she’d been in court the Friday before. However, she made an exception for this appointment because Finx had stated that he felt as if Mrs. Monroe was far past ready to be out of her marriage.
The door opened, and Aiva stood, smiling at the other woman who entered. Finx closed the door behind him, and Aiva held her hand out.
“Mrs. Monroe, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Aiva Neel.”
“Please, Kyan is fine,” she responded, taking Aiva’s hand. “Thank you for seeing me today.”
“It’s no problem.” Aiva replied, gesturing for Kyan to sit. “So, tell me a little about your marriage.”
Aiva wasn’t sure if Kyan realized the time that passed. Still, for the next forty-five minutes she told Aiva of how her marriage started, how the honeymoon was soon over, and her husband was no longer attentive to her. How he preferred to be out of the house doing anything but being a husband. Kyan told Aiva that she felt rundown and emotionally exhausted from trying to connect with him.
“I don’t love him anymore,” Kyan said after a pause in what she’d been saying. “I’ve tried over the last several years to make excuses as to why I’m less disappointed when he forgets my birthday, an anniversary, a date night. But it all just boils down to the fact that I’m no longer in love with him, and I don’t even know when that stopped being the case.” Kyan sighed. “And I guess I would feel guilty if it wasn’t for the fact that I don’t think he’s in love with me, either. I don’t know that he ever was.”
Aiva let everything Kyan said sink in. She wasn’t the first client Aiva had that had fallen out of love with their spouse, who was tired of trying to put on a brave face or keep it going and work it out because that was what society expected. However, Kyan was the first that Aiva could tell felt lighter from speaking the words. Not guilty and burdened like most of her others were.
“What are you hoping to get out of your divorce?” Aiva questioned.
Kyan shook her head. “Nothing. I want nothing from him. The only thing we have together is our home, and if he’ll buy me out of it, he can have it.”
“What about your child? How are you hoping visitation goes?”
“Child?” Kyan questioned, with a confused look, that made Aiva glance at the information she still had up.
“A son, from what I’m seeing.”
“Oh, Callum. No, there’s no custody issue. Callum’s twenty-eight. He’s my stepson,” Kyan informed her.
Aiva didn’t normally handle divorces that didn’t involve children, or some sort of alimony to establish. This would be new for her, but it shouldn’t be too hard. She didn’t want to pass it off to her sister, so she kept it instead. If she needed Meila to consult, then she’d just give her part of her fee.
For the next hour, they went over what Kyan could expect and how the process would go. If he signed the papers and didn’t want to take it to court to get alimony from her then it would be easy sailing. However, there was always that chance that it was not.
Aiva told Kyan how long it would take to file the paperwork with the court and that when she had it, she would send someone to serve her husband, Andrew.
“Can I serve him myself?”
