Gemma arrived at the law office in Stockton. She looked at the tall building and took a scrap of paper out of her purse to make sure she had arrived at the right office. Gemma got out of the car with her sunglasses on and headed into the building. She took the elevator up to the third floor. When the doors slid open Gemma took in a deep breath and walked out of the elevator. She looked at the wall across from the elevator and she saw the names McCoy and Frost in large gold lettering. "Swanky…" muttered Gemma under her breath.
Gemma walked over to the receptionist's desk and said "Good Afternoon. I am Gemma Morrow. I am here to see Mr. McCoy."
The red-haired elderly woman smiled at Gemma. "Good Afternoon Mrs. Morrow. Mr. McCoy is ready for you." She stood up and walked her down a short corridor and pointed her to an open office door.
Inside the office was 46 year old James McCoy. He stood up and walked around his desk. "Mrs. Morrow it is nice to meet you." "Please come in." He closed his office door.
Gemma and her lawyer met for nearly an hour before she left the office. She was exhausted from all of the talking but they had managed to come up with a plan for how to locate and divide the assets and the ball was rolling for a legal separation. Gemma left the office feeling tired but more assured in her future. She walked to a coffee shop across the street from the lawyer's office. She headed inside and ordered a coffee and then had a seat. A few minutes later she heard a familiar voice behind her.
"Gemma…is that you?" asked Elliot Oswald. His car was parked right next to Gemma's car. Elliot Oswald had known Gemma since they were kids in school together. They had been friends for some time but their lives had gone in very different directions. Elliot went on to take over his family's businesses and make them even more successful and Gemma had left town at 16 and returned with an outlaw biker gang and a family.
Gemma turned around and offered a smile. "Hi Elliot. How are you?" "Would you like to sit down?"
Elliot sat down across from Gemma holding his own cup of coffee. "Thank you for offering. I am doing good finally. My numbers are finally up in the Mayor's poll. I think I just might beat Jacob Hale for the position. The campaigning has been tough…having two native sons of Charming running against one another. A lot of good people are going to have to choose sides." said Elliot. "How are you doing? I stopped by the garage a few days ago to have my car serviced and you weren't there. Jax told me that you were on vacation."
"I am glad to hear that you are doing so well in the polls. You know that I will be voting for you. I never could stand Jacob Hale Senior or Junior. There is nothing worse than crooks that pretend that they are law abiding. For as much as Jacob Hale hates SAMCRO he causes more damage to the town than the club ever could. He'd fleece the entire town and turn it over to developers if he could." said Gemma. "Oh, I was out of town for awhile. I went to Las Vegas for a vacation. It was a lot of fun."
"You gamble?" asked Elliot a little shocked. "I always thought you were more of a person to be interested in the sure thing. But then again you always did like danger."
She laughed at that and said "Well, I have been known to gamble a little. But mostly I enjoyed the other things that Las Vegas has to offer. So how is Tristen doing?"
"She has been better…Karen leaving was hard on her. She's still got me…but a girl her age needs her mother and she makes me painfully aware of that every day as if I can force Karen to come back home." said Elliot. "I was actually here to see my lawyer…Patrick Frost…Karen wants more money from me if I am going to keep full custody of Tristen…my ex-wife is extorting me because the pre-nup left her cabinets pretty bare. But Tristen is the one that wants to live with me. She isn't interested in living with Karen and her new boy toy." "So…you were here seeing James McCoy?" "I saw you getting onto the elevator to come down as I was leaving Patrick's office."
"I am sorry to hear about that. It seems like older spouses and extramarital affairs are going around these days. You know if Tristen ever needs anything...just send her my way. I don't know how good of an influence I will be on her but I know a thing or two about being a teenage girl." Gemma paused when he asked her about the lawyer. She finally said "Yes, but…I'd like you to keep that particular fact to yourself Elliot…I know Clay is doing you a favor by giving you the Sons support…but…" said Gemma being cut off by Elliot.
"Your secret is safe with me Gemma. I knew something was up when I went to the office and you weren't there. I've never known you to take a vacation without Clay…" said Elliot. "And he may be supporting me in this election…but I've known you longer." said Elliot reaching over and patting her hand. "For what it is worth…I am sorry."
"Thank you Elliot. I appreciate it." "Well, I don't know how sorry I am…all of this has given me the chance to reevaluate my life. Those ten days away gave me…clarity." "Some things are going to have to change…even if Clay and I don't get divorced…"
"Well, there isn't anything wrong with clarity. I needed that when Karen first left. I had to figure out if our marriage was worth saving…I decided that it wasn't. I wasn't going to pursue someone that betrayed me. Sometimes sorry just isn't enough." said Elliot looking had his hand where his wedding band used to sit. "So it isn't for certain yet? The divorce that is." asked Elliot.
Gemma listened to the words fall out of Elliot's mouth and knew that she was in a similar situation. She didn't know if she felt like fighting. "How do you trust after being betrayed?" asked Gemma looking at him. "For now…nothing is certain…I am certain that I need some time apart…I asked Clay to move out for the time being." Gemma looked at her own had that was bare as well. She had taken her rings off in Las Vegas and hadn't bothered to put them back on.
He chuckled ruefully. "If I knew how to do that…I might still be married to Karen instead of fighting with her about custody of Tristen. Forgiveness comes at some point I guess. But for right now every time I see her I feel like my heart is being ripped out. But you know the saying…whatever doesn't work in your life change it. I guess if I was honest with myself…there had been signs of problems for awhile but I ignored them." "Wow…asking him to move out is a big step."
"Well, at least that is something that Clay and I won't have to fight over…no children." said Gemma with a strange look in her eyes.
"Are you okay? Okay…that was a stupid question…" said Elliot shaking his head at the fact he had asked if she was okay. Of course she wasn't okay.
"Just thinking about the things that I sacrificed and gave up…and this is where I am. I don't know who I am angrier with…Clay for lying to me or for me believing his lies. I have always prided myself on seeing passed the bullshit." said Gemma.
"Listen, I don't want to pry but…you look like you want to talk…I will listen." said Elliot.
Gemma looked at him. She didn't want to talk to anyone associated in the club about it and he wasn't in the club. Gemma said "Clay blames me for not having…a child with him. But he never said that he wanted children…I wanted more children. I just couldn't think about giving my genes to another child. I couldn't imagine having another child suffer the way my Thomas did. But I wanted to adopt…but by the time Clay and I got married…he had been arrested so many times…we weren't eligible for adoption." "And now someone has given him the very thing that I didn't…" "And can't…anymore if I wanted to…mother nature took that option away from me." "I don't know how to go on from here…I don't know that I will ever be able to look at him the same."
"Gemma…I am so sorry." said Elliot not sure what else to say. He struggled to think of something encouraging and uplifting but he didn't have anything. He finally said "You know…at least you are the young and beautiful one in the relationship." He smiled at her.
Gemma burst into laughter and shook her head. "Young? Well, compared to Clay you are damn right about that. I suppose there is an upside to being attracted to older men. Maybe I can become a cougar."
"What the hell is a cougar?" asked Elliot confused.
"An older woman that goes after a much younger man." said Gemma laughing. "I am…well you don't need to know how old I am."
"Oooh..a Mrs. Robinson? Well, they are plenty of young men in town." said Elliot laughing. "Uh, Gemma…I know how old you are. I might have to do the math but I can figure it out." "Let's you are three years younger than me because you were three years behind me in school." "So that would make you….Ow!" said Elliot looking under the table at his foot.
Gemma laughed and said "Stop right there…next time I will use the heel of this stiletto to silence you. I am at an age where I have stopped aging. I stopped like 5 years ago for good reason."
"There is nothing wrong with growing older…trust me I am supporting a bald spot and my bones creak sometimes for no reason at all. Getting older is the fun part of life you start doing things that you were too afraid or too busy to do when you were younger. I am running for public office." said Elliot.
Gemma laughed and said "I was wild when I was young. This is the settled part of my life…if you can call me settled. But there are some things that I would like to do and I think that I am going to do them."
"Well, is there anything you have ever wanted to do…and just never did for whatever reason?" asked Elliot.
Gemma thought about it for a minute. "Well, I always wanted to own a bar. Before John died…he and talked about opening a little place of our own…but it never happened…it was a pipe dream. I think it was one of the few thoughts that made him happy after Thomas died…"
"You still miss John a lot don't you?" asked Elliot.
"Sure…you never stop missing your first love and there are reminders of him everywhere. His mug shot picture hanging at the club. His bike is on display at the club. Hell Jax is the spitting image of him…" "Sounds like him sometimes too." "I had a lot of dreams that never came true…" "But I thought they would with Clay…at some point." "But maybe it is time to start making things happen for myself." said Gemma with a laugh.
Elliot said "Well, there is nothing wrong with that. Life is what you make it Gemma. You've always been smart…and conniving…I can't believe there is something that you want that you can't make happen." He looked at his watch. "I am sorry but I have a meeting here in 20 minutes. I need to get across town to get to it." "I enjoyed talking to you though." "You know if you need anything…give me a call."
Gemma smiled and said "I just might do that. It is nice to have a friendly ear outside of the club." "Goodbye Elliot."
Elliot got up and left the coffee shop.
Gemma left not long after Elliot and drove back to Charming. She called Jax on her way back to town so that he could meet her at the house with the new keys. Gemma pulled up to see Jax sitting on his bike waiting for her. Gemma got out of the car and walked over to him. "Did it take the locksmith long?"
Jax shook his head and said "No, not long at all. I've been back to the club…everyone is wondering what is going on…Clay was pissed when he went back to the club. He is on a war path. If he comes over here…call me and I will take care of it. So how did things go with your lawyer? Did you hire him?"
Gemma sighed hearing about Clay. "Maybe he will settle down. I can take care of myself Jax. The meeting went good. I hired him and we talked about all of the assets and how they would be divided under community property so I will be okay." Gemma walked up to the door and used the new keys to unlock the door and headed inside.
"Well, that is good at least. Do you want me to hang around?" asked Jax.
"No, go and do whatever you need to do. I am going to get some rest. I am tired from the traveling and everything." said Gemma. She hugged Jax for longer than she normally did.
Jax gave her a concerned glance. "I love you ma." Jax walked out of the house and took off.
Gemma locked the door behind him and looked around at her large empty house. "Now what?" asked Gemma.