Friday, February 12th, 1954

11:30 a.m.

"Thank you for seeing me, Fred." Carol extended her hand to her lawyer who gave a smile as they shook.

"No, thank you for coming down here on such short notice. Let's see if we can get this squared away once and for all, shall we?" Fred opened his office door and gestured for Carol to enter. She walked in, looking around the dark office, thinking that for an office on the corner it shouldn't be this dismal. Then again, a lawyer's office wasn't always a bastion of joy and cheerfulness. Outside, the natural light didn't help either as it was extremely cold, windy, and grey. She took the seat closest to Fred's desk, placing her purse on the adjacent chair.

Fred cleared his throat before saying anything else. Carol could sense that he felt, somehow, awkward in this instance, not completely sure of how to proceed. "How is everything?"

"Excellent," Carol pointedly stated, "far better than I could have imagined from a year ago."

Fred nodded, perhaps grinned a little if Carol looked hard enough. "So, I take it a final signature on these will make things even better?"

Carol scoffed, "Just give them to me." Fred turned the papers towards his client who sat looking at the documents without moving. He placed a black fountain pen on top of the papers for her to use and finish it once and for all.

She blinked a few times and leaned forward. Carol picked up the copies of the papers and took a deep breath. From the strong odor of printing chemicals, she could tell that documents were hot off the ditto machine. Seemed like everyone just finally wanted all of this to be done and over. She unscrewed the pen cap, placed it beside her right hand, and signed each location in bold, black ink where Fred composedly pointed his finger. Harge's signatures were nowhere to be found yet on the papers.

One final stroke of the pen and that was that. No longer Mrs. Harge Aird. It felt right. One more disconnect from the Airds, New Jersey, and that boring, sheltered, isolated life.

Fred politely smiled and tucked the newly signed documents into a folder that went into one of his lower desk drawers. "Now that's out of the way, drink?"

Carol quickly glanced at the clock by the mantle. "It is after eleven."

Fred rose from his chair to get the decanter of Scotch whiskey and a couple glasses to place on his desk. He quickly popped his head out the door looking for his secretary. "Katherine, could you please bring us some ice?" Then he shut the door behind him. "So what else did you want to see me about?"

Carol patiently sat back in her chair and reached for her purse. "Let's wait for that ice." Upon opening her purse, she produced a sealed letter envelope that she put down on the desk. Fred returned to his seat and sat down. The two sat in silence, waiting for Katherine to appear with a small ice bucket. Fred added two ice cubes each to the glasses and poured out two fingers of scotch. As soon as the glass was in her hands, Carol took a healthy swig followed by a tremendously deep breath.

"Okay, I'm listening." Fred leaned back in his chair, hands neatly folded across his chest, waiting for Carol to speak.

"I'm going to be perfectly honest here, Fred. You - know - about Therese. You - know - what she means to me, who she is to me." Carol took another gulp of her drink and returned the glass to the desk. She picked up the envelope from the desk and handed it to Fred.

"Inside the envelope, I've outlined what I'd like revised to my estate. The trust fund, my life insurance, all the bank accounts, stock portfolios, the house in Greenwich, the cottage on the Cape, the real estate in Maine, everything, Fred: it all goes to Therese.

"I'd also like papers drawn up regarding anything medical, permission for visits, important decisions, etc. I want it all, for each of us. I do not need awkward stares or bogus explanations during delicate moments. I'm not sure if this is beyond your legal scope, but you know what I need - what we need - so if you can't do it, perhaps you know someone sympathetic to our situation who would.

"Now, I am, somewhat, older than she, and Therese has no other family so to speak, and in the event, God forbid, something, anything, absolutely anything, ever happens to me that she is not provided and cared for... it would ultimately break my heart."

Fred leaned forward in his chair and picked up a letter opener to open the envelope. "Does she know you're here?" he asked as he made a clean slit in the paper.

"For the signatures, yes." Carol crossed her legs and pressed her back firmly against the chair. She looked down at her hands in her lap and spoke without looking up. "She's not aware of the other circumstances to name her as my beneficiary."

"Do you plan to tell her?"

"Of course. I'll tell her while we're away." Carol replied. "I would though like the emergency and medical unpleasantness resolved before we sail to Europe at the end of April. The other things can wait until we return."

"When's that?"

"Beginning of July."

Fred quickly looked over the pages in the envelope with all of Carol's requests. He squinted his eyes, scanning the pages and Carol's broad scrawl to decipher the handwriting. "And Rindy?"

Carol paused and looked around the room as she gathered her thoughts. "Rindy is provided for under her father's family trusts. Unless something drastic happens to alter that situation, I don't see the need to include the same level of details as I've outlined for Therese."

Fred simply nodded his head in agreement, and held out his hand. They shook a final time and Carol got up to leave the office.

"By the way, Carol, you're doing the right thing," he said with a wink.