Page 54 of Summer at Croftwood Cinema
‘Oh, come on. Haven’t you been to quiz night at the Three Nuns?’ He finished making a coffee for each of them. ‘Right, shall we take this down to the office?’
They went back into the hallway and down a staircase into the basement. Surprisingly, it was bright and modern, furnished with a huge desk, bookshelves on every wall which were groaning with legal books and other titles which Patsy couldn’t believe anyone actually read. There were two comfortable swivel chairs either side of the desk but the best thing was that it opened out onto the garden. The doors were open and a warm breeze was drifting through.
‘I’m not surprised you come to the coffee house to work, this is more distraction than workplace,’ she said.
‘It’s so quiet though,’ Toby said. ‘If I’m doing webchats with clients, it ends up feeling a bit isolating being down here all day by myself. Take a seat,’ he said, gesturing to one of the chairs and then sitting down behind the desk.
She was a client. She’d almost forgotten that.
‘I just need to take a few details. Can we start with your husband’s name and address.’
‘I’m not sure where he’s living. I suppose it could be his parent’s.’ She gave Toby the details he needed but had no idea what Dan had done since he left prison.
‘Once I’ve prepared the papers, we’ll try serving him at that address. If that’s not correct, we’ll have to make reasonable efforts to find out where he is before we can apply to the court to dispense with service but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Leave it with me for now and I’ll let you know when we’re going to serve.’
‘You mean when you’re going to post the papers? How will we know if he’s got them?’
‘I think in this instance we’ll employ a process server who will physically go to the address with the intention of handing them to him. That way we know if he has them or not and can get evidence of him receiving them in case he’s not forthcoming with acknowledging receipt in the proper way.’
It all seemed overwhelming suddenly and much to her mortification, Patsy began to cry.
‘Hey, hey,’ Toby leapt up from his chair and rushed round to her, twirling her chair until she was facing him. He knelt in front of her and took her hand.
‘Sorry,’ she mumbled.
‘It’s okay. I understand how difficult this is.’
She began fishing in her bag for a tissue but Toby beat her to it, offering her his handkerchief which was unused and neatly folded.
‘Thanks. Aren’t you a bit young to be using proper hankies?’
‘Call it a hangover from my days in chambers,’ he said with a smile, leaning back onto his heels.
‘I don’t know why I’m crying. This is what I’ve wanted for years. I think there’s more to it than I realised. I mean, I’d never thought about the fact that I don’t know where he lives or what he’s doing. When did he get out of prison even?’
‘I can help you find out some of that if you want. And as for the divorce process, once we get it going, there’s not much more to it than we’ve covered today, I can take care of it for you and only involve you if necessary, if that helps?’
‘I can’t ask you to do that. You’re already doing so much more than giving me advice. I’m happy to pay you,’ she added, knowing that there was no way she could afford this kind of legal help. If Toby wasn’t helping her she’d have been googling how to do the whole thing herself and would have no idea what any of it meant.
‘No,’ he said softly. ‘I’m happy to help. It’s hardly more than a paperwork exercise.’
‘Thank you. And don’t worry about finding out about Dan. I don’t need to know.’
‘Okay. Can I get you another drink? Maybe a brandy would be more appropriate now.’
‘I’d better not. I’ve already given myself a throbbing headache from crying. I should go. I can’t tell you how grateful I am, Toby. I wouldn’t know where to start with this, which is maybe why I haven’t done anything about it before. Coffee’s on me next time you’re in.’
They headed back upstairs.
‘I guess working online means you don’t have to deal with crying women normally,’ Patsy said, stuffing the hanky into her pocket after Toby gestured that she should keep it when she offered it back.
’There is that,’ he smiled. ‘But you’ve reminded me how disconnected I’ve become. It’s easy to forget that there are real people on the other end of the internet connection sometimes.’
‘That’s the best thing about my job. The people.’
‘Even when Rosemary’s waiting on the doorstep insisting to be let in half an hour before you open?’
Patsy laughed. ‘You must have been early once to even know that happens.’
