Page 42 of Completely Captivated
She arrived at The Sweet Spot earlier than usual the next morning.Since Allie had managed the business alone unexpectedly for an entire week, Christa vowed to make it up to her by taking over as much of the workload as possible.Determined to put all her focus and energy into her business rather than her failed marriage, she worked nonstop during the dark morning hours.Breads, pastries, sandwiches, coffee—everything was ready and waiting by the time Allie arrived.
“Wow.Did you stay here all night working or what?”
“Might as well have.I came in extra early and was on a mission.”
“Mission accomplished.”Allie tilted her head to the side, examining Christa with her keen insight.“You’d feel better if you snuck into his apartment and replaced his shampoo with Nair hair-remover lotion.Put Icy Hot in the crotch of all his underwear.Squirt toothpaste in the holes of his electrical outlets.Or, we could print flyers and put them up all over the city.”
“Flyers?”
“Yes, a flyer.We’ll start a contest for the best Chewbacca roar with a grand prize of $1,000.We’ll list his home phone number and instructions to leave a voice mail and contact information.It’ll be great.”
“You truly scare me sometimes.”
Allie shrugged.“It’s who I am.”
“As much as I’d love to pull all those pranks on him and his brother Lance, I don’t have time to focus on them anymore.I’ve wallowed in my self-pity for the last week, and I’m nowhere near getting over it, but I didn’t come this far to roll over and die.I have a business to run and expand.Before I met Aaron, I had goals I wanted to attain.Goals centered around me—no one else.That’s what I have to focus on now.”
“There’s my spunky little munchkin.I knew she’d reappear before too long.”
“You called Jen and told on me.You were worried.”Christa cut her eyes at Allie and arched one eyebrow, daring her to try to lie her way out of it.
“That’s right, I did.And I’d do it again, so don’t test me,” Allie winked.“The truth is, Ihavebeen worried about you.All of this hit you harder than anything I’ve ever seen.You wouldn’t talk about it.I was desperate.”
Christa nodded slowly, her gaze fixed on the floor.“I haven’t been able to talk about all of it with anyone.Somehow, I managed to repeat what happened in Lance’s office to Jared.He said he’ll help me file for an annulment instead of a divorce, though he tried to talk me out of it since Aaron and I didn’t have a prenuptial agreement.
“The truth is, if I can’t have Aaron, I don’t want anything from him.I have this stupid fantasy where the annulment erases my memory so I won’t have to think about it ever again.As much as I know that’ll never happen, I know I’d never move on if I accepted any kind of settlement from him.It would almost be like I was still connected to him, and I can’t have that.”
“I can sort of understand that.But I’d still rather have an ass-ton of money while I sulk on a yacht, floating in the Caribbean, as sexy, oiled and naked cabana boys serve me frozen drinks with little umbrellas.”
“We all have life ambitions, don’t we?”
At the endof the day, Christa was exhausted and headed straight to her tub to soak until the water turned cold.She pulled her hair up into a messy bun on top of her head, leaned back, and let the hot water drown her worries.She tried to, anyway.Random memories and feelings kept popping back into her mind uninvited, until she wanted to literally drown them—by finding the bottom of a bottle of rum.
By the time she wrapped her thick robe around her and tied a towel around her hair, she’d forgotten Jared had said he’d stop by.Until the knock on her door and a quick glance at the clock reminded her.
“Hey,” she said sheepishly.“I didn’t have time to put on something other than my robe.Today was so crazy busy, I actually forgot about the papers for a while.Come on in, but don’t look at me.”
Jared chuckled and shook his head then softly kissed her cheek.“You’re beautiful, as always.I’m sorry I’m here so late.As the low man on the totem pole, I don’t really get a say in what time I leave the office.It depends on what case we’re working and what information we need.”
“You know you’re welcome here at any time.Plus, you’re doing me a humongous favor, and I appreciate it more than you know.”
“Helping you is my pleasure.No need to thank me.”He motioned to her small kitchen table.“Let’s have a seat and go over the documents before you sign.I need to make sure you understand everything in them, and what you’re giving up, before I file these.”
“I know what I’m giving up, Jared.You don’t have to reiterate that point.I don’t want anything of his.I don’t want a divorce.I don’t want alimony that’ll tie me to him for the rest of my life.This just has to be over and wiped away so I can start fresh.”By the time she finished her speech, her voice had increased two octaves.She’d grown weary of explaining herself and what she wanted, or didn’t want, regardless of how helpful her friends tried to be.
“Fair enough.I won’t bring it up again.Let’s go over the legal terms so you understand what they mean, because there will be questions once it hits the media.He’s very well known in certain circles—and becoming even more so with this new deal.The paparazzi will want answers.”
“Shit.Tell me all about it, then.”
They sat, and he spread the papers across the table.“There areveryfew instances where an annulment will be granted.One of those is unsound mind.You said he claims he doesn’t remember anything about the ceremony, the weekend in Vegas, or when you moved in to his condo.We can argue he has a preexisting medical condition that impairs his cognitive abilities, one he didn’t alert you of, and convince the judge to grant the annulment.
“When the media learns of the reason for the annulment, his business ventures will be called into question.He’s half owner of a very lucrative talent agency.He manages billion-dollar contracts.There’s no way to go through with this plan without some damage to his reputation.”
“This is the only way to get an annulment?”
“It’s the only condition you could possibly meet.The judge can still rule against it.The upside of an annulment is we don’t have to wait the six-month period a divorce requires.He’ll have thirty days to answer the summons.You’ll have to testify before the judge and explain why you should be awarded an annulment instead of a divorce.If there’s an opening, we can get on the judge’s calendar on day thirty-one.”
“I understand.”Her confirmation wasn’t a commitment.
