Page 107 of Who's Your Daddy
I frown at him. I suppose it’s true in some sense. In our line of work, we see people at their absolute worst. In most other types of law, in a courtroom with an attorney, people are on their best behavior. But when it comes to divorce? The worst parts of them shine. Especially in custody battles like Brian takes on. Every misstep they’ve taken, every mistake, every poor choice, ends up on the pages of the filings. I don’t envy the invasion of privacy they’re put throughwhen I sift through years of personal messages and ask questions that in any other situation would be none of my business, so I tend to brush off flippant comments they make about their exes and what they’d do to them if they could get away with it. But I can’t do my job without information.Honest information.
“The guy lied about going to college.Why?”
A harsh chuckle slips past his lips. “Charlie does play fast and loose with the truth. “
I give him a deadpan look. “Charlie is a compulsive liar.”
“But he’s so nice about it. It’s hard to hate him,” he says. “The guy just smiles and shrugs and says, ‘well, that’s not exactly the truth.’” Brian’s impression is terrifyingly good.
“You may like him, but I don’t,” I mutter.
The guy is a piece of work. And his custody issues are of his own making. He and his wife convinced a doctor to diagnose him with schizophrenia so the state would pay for childcare for their youngest son. It worked out well, but only until the wife filed for divorce and used Charlie’smental instabilityas grounds for seeking full custody.
“I made it clear that he can call back when he’s ready to give me some honest answers to the hundred and eighty discovery questions we need to turn over to opposing counsel by next week.”
“I should probably ask for an extension.” He leans forward and wiggles his mouse, waking his computer.
“I was thinking a substitution of attorney.”
Smirking, he shakes his head. “I’d say Cal’s drama was rubbing off on you but you two have always been neck and neck when it comes to the battle for the title of most dramatic.”
I stick my tongue out at him.
“Lola.” The two syllables, sung so sweetly, that used to grate on my last nerve, now have the tension easing from my shoulders. “I have a surprise.”
“Oh, fuck me.” Brian slaps a hand to his face.
I peer over my shoulder, and my heart lurches. I whip around and take a step back. “Holy shit Cal is that a tiger?”
The feline looks nothing like a tiger, really. It’s fluffy and dark gray, and its almost white mane makes it look like a lion. But the bright yellow eyes scream tiger.
“What is that?” Brian pushes to his feet, sending his chair rolling back.
“It’s Fuzzy Wuzzy.” He runs a hand down the beast’s back. “Our new Maine coon.”
“It-it’s huge,” I stutter. Lump in my throat, I can’t look away from the cat’s piercing yellow eyes. They hover near Cal’s waist even though all four of its enormous paws are planted firmly on the ugly gold carpet.
The feline tips its head, focusing those yellow eyes on my boss, its tongue flicking out, whiskers twitching.
“Is it safe?” Voice cracking, Brian takes another step back.
“He’s amazing. And I talked the guy down to five grand. That’s a steal for one of these gentle giants of the cat world,” Cal gushes. “Don’t you love him, Lola?”
I open my mouth but words don’t come out.
“You always wanted a cat.”
“Kitten,” I correct numbly. Dammit. My budget might have room for replacement plants and cheap fish, but there’s no way I can afford to replace this thing.
Brian makes a strangled sound. “Damn it, you did not spend five k on that awful beast.”
Cal covers the massive creature’s ears, thankfully not letting go of its—his—leash. “Shh. You’ll hurt his feelings. You know as well as I do that you can’t put a price on happiness.”
Brian rubs his eyes roughly with the heels of his hands, looking disheveled when he pulls them away. “Happiness?”
I rub at my sternum. “I’m not sure this feeling in my chest is one of happiness.”
Cal breaks into one of his devastating smiles. “Shhh, Lola, you’ll ruin it.” He releases the cat’s ears and tugs on the leash. “Come on Fuzzy Wuzzy, I’ll show you your new place.”
