Morning came too soon I thought as I tried to shift my weight in an effort
to get comfortable. Comfort didn't come easy these days, but I was more
uncomfortable than usual this morning. My back was sore and the muscles in
my stomach felt as though they were ready to snap. Realizing I wasn't
going to be able to fall back to sleep, I made my way to the bathroom
thinking a shower would help me feel better. After finishing up my shower
I was still in a lot of pain and wondered if I had somehow pulled a muscle
in my sleep. Of course after all that crying it was no surprise my muscles
felt a bit sore. I wrapped my wet hair in a towel and slowly got dressed.
I made my way back to the bedroom and decided to try lying down for a few
minutes to see if that would help. Jack woke up as I got back in bed and
asked if I was ok.
"My back is really sore, the baby must have kicked me in the spine or something, I'm just going to lay here for a few minutes and see if it gets better."
"Alright, I'm going to go take a shower, hopefully you'll feel better by the time I get out."
I glanced at the clock as Jack made his way to the bathroom. It was 8:00 already, Maybe I should just take the day off I thought, after all I had a pretty exhausting night last night. I called Grace at home hoping to catch her before she left for the office.
"Hi Grace, its Karen, listen would it be a problem if I took the day off?"
"No, it's not a problem. Are you sick Kare?"
"No, not so much sick but my back is really sore, I think I might have pulled something."
"Is Stan still out of town? Why don't I come over before I go to the office to make sure you're ok?"
"That's sweet honey, but Jack is here, I'm sure I'm fine. But if you have some time after work to come by there's something I'd like to talk to you about."
"Sure Karen. I'll try to close up around 4:00."
"Thanks honey, hey can I talk to Wilma for a minute?"
"Sure, here he is. I'll see you this afternoon."
"Karen?"
"Hi Will, listen, Stan is going to be contacting you today to draw up some divorce papers. I don't want you to mention anything to Grace or anyone else for that matter until I have a chance to talk to her myself."
"Karen, what are you talking about? Are you saying Stan is divorcing you?"
"Yeah, well, it was a mutual decision, but yes we're getting divorced and he said he'd call you first thing this morning to get the paperwork going.
"Karen, stay where you are, I want to come over and talk to you about this in person. There's a lot at stake here and I want to make sure you know what you're getting yourself into."
"Will, wait until you talk to Stan before you come over here, I need to know how he's planning on supporting me and the baby. Find out what kind of settlement he's looking to offer me and then come over. Ok?"
"Ok Karen, I'll see you later."
I hung up the phone and slowly got out of bed. My back was feeling a little better so I decided to dry my hair and make my way downstairs for some breakfast.
"Jack," I whispered as we ate breakfast in the dinning room, don't mention anything about the divorce, the last thing I need is the staff spreading rumors."
"Ok, Kare, but what are you going to do when Will gets here?"
"We'll talk in the library; the staff can't hear us in there unless they're listening at the door."
"Well Karen," Jack said as he pushed his breakfast plate toward the center of the table, "I need to get going. My acting class starts in an hour. Call me on the cell if you need anything."
I got up from the table to walked Jack to the door. "I'll be fine poodle," I said as Jack gave me a hug.
I watched him walk down the hallway toward the elevator and before I closed the door I noticed Will stepping out of the elevator. He and Jack talked for a minute and then Will made his way down the hall and toward the penthouse. I stepped outside the door and met him halfway and instructed him not to say anything until we were in the library.
Will slipped his arm around my back and gave me a slight squeeze as we walked back to the penthouse and into the library.
"Alright Karen, first let me tell you that you're going to be ok. I talked to Stan and as you already know he's leaving you the penthouse and he's also going to continue to employ the staff here. In addition to the staff already employed here he wants to hire a fulltime nanny to help you care for the baby. He's made a monetary settlement offer to be paid to you in one lump sum and is also prepared to provide you with a more than reasonable child support settlement to be paid on a monthly basis until the child has reached the age of 18 or has completed her educational pursuits; whichever should come last."
"Will, something's not right here. Last week that man couldn't stand to look at me and now all of a sudden he's ready to throw millions of dollars at me. What's going on here?"
"Well Karen he feels guilty. He said he knew you didn't want this baby and that the pregnancy pushed the marriage over the edge. He said if he hadn't insisted on a baby the two of you would still be happily married. He told me he loves you too much to see you so unhappy and he hates himself for causing you so much unhappiness."
"Oh that's a load of bull. Good lord what is he thinking? First of all, we were never happily married. And secondly, this baby should have brought us closer together. The truth of the matter is that I've been sober for over eight months now and neither one of us can stand each other when I'm sober. To blame the baby for this is wrong. Damn him for blaming the baby and damn him for saying he loves me."
"What a mess I've made. He thinks he can pay me off to ease his guilt, but what the hell about my guilt? Yeah that's right Will I am capable of feeling guilty." The truth is I've been an awful wife and he probably thinks I'm going to make an equally awful mother."
"Karen, try to calm down. Stan's not innocent in any of this. He said the two of you have been having problems ever since you got pregnant and he takes responsibility for that. And Karen, if he didn't think you were going to make a good mother I doubt he'd be so quick to divorce you, if he had any concerns about your parenting skills he would have mentioned it to me."
"I have to get back to the office, I'm going to call Grace and see if she can come over for the rest of the day; you shouldn't be alone."
"Will I'm fine. Grace is working; she's coming over later this afternoon."
"No, you don't look so good Karen I'd feel better if you let me call Grace."
"Whatever Will, I'm going up to my room, I need some rest. I'm sorry for being so short with you, but I need to go lay down for a little while."
"Well, let me sit with you till Grace gets here. Go on, I'll be up after I get off the phone."
"Hmm, did Jack tell you about the gay porn I let him watch on the big screen? Why are you so anxious to get up to my bedroom Wilma?"
"I just want to make sure you're ok, it's been a rough day and it's not even noon yet. Now go on, I'll be up in a minute."
"My back is really sore, the baby must have kicked me in the spine or something, I'm just going to lay here for a few minutes and see if it gets better."
"Alright, I'm going to go take a shower, hopefully you'll feel better by the time I get out."
I glanced at the clock as Jack made his way to the bathroom. It was 8:00 already, Maybe I should just take the day off I thought, after all I had a pretty exhausting night last night. I called Grace at home hoping to catch her before she left for the office.
"Hi Grace, its Karen, listen would it be a problem if I took the day off?"
"No, it's not a problem. Are you sick Kare?"
"No, not so much sick but my back is really sore, I think I might have pulled something."
"Is Stan still out of town? Why don't I come over before I go to the office to make sure you're ok?"
"That's sweet honey, but Jack is here, I'm sure I'm fine. But if you have some time after work to come by there's something I'd like to talk to you about."
"Sure Karen. I'll try to close up around 4:00."
"Thanks honey, hey can I talk to Wilma for a minute?"
"Sure, here he is. I'll see you this afternoon."
"Karen?"
"Hi Will, listen, Stan is going to be contacting you today to draw up some divorce papers. I don't want you to mention anything to Grace or anyone else for that matter until I have a chance to talk to her myself."
"Karen, what are you talking about? Are you saying Stan is divorcing you?"
"Yeah, well, it was a mutual decision, but yes we're getting divorced and he said he'd call you first thing this morning to get the paperwork going.
"Karen, stay where you are, I want to come over and talk to you about this in person. There's a lot at stake here and I want to make sure you know what you're getting yourself into."
"Will, wait until you talk to Stan before you come over here, I need to know how he's planning on supporting me and the baby. Find out what kind of settlement he's looking to offer me and then come over. Ok?"
"Ok Karen, I'll see you later."
I hung up the phone and slowly got out of bed. My back was feeling a little better so I decided to dry my hair and make my way downstairs for some breakfast.
"Jack," I whispered as we ate breakfast in the dinning room, don't mention anything about the divorce, the last thing I need is the staff spreading rumors."
"Ok, Kare, but what are you going to do when Will gets here?"
"We'll talk in the library; the staff can't hear us in there unless they're listening at the door."
"Well Karen," Jack said as he pushed his breakfast plate toward the center of the table, "I need to get going. My acting class starts in an hour. Call me on the cell if you need anything."
I got up from the table to walked Jack to the door. "I'll be fine poodle," I said as Jack gave me a hug.
I watched him walk down the hallway toward the elevator and before I closed the door I noticed Will stepping out of the elevator. He and Jack talked for a minute and then Will made his way down the hall and toward the penthouse. I stepped outside the door and met him halfway and instructed him not to say anything until we were in the library.
Will slipped his arm around my back and gave me a slight squeeze as we walked back to the penthouse and into the library.
"Alright Karen, first let me tell you that you're going to be ok. I talked to Stan and as you already know he's leaving you the penthouse and he's also going to continue to employ the staff here. In addition to the staff already employed here he wants to hire a fulltime nanny to help you care for the baby. He's made a monetary settlement offer to be paid to you in one lump sum and is also prepared to provide you with a more than reasonable child support settlement to be paid on a monthly basis until the child has reached the age of 18 or has completed her educational pursuits; whichever should come last."
"Will, something's not right here. Last week that man couldn't stand to look at me and now all of a sudden he's ready to throw millions of dollars at me. What's going on here?"
"Well Karen he feels guilty. He said he knew you didn't want this baby and that the pregnancy pushed the marriage over the edge. He said if he hadn't insisted on a baby the two of you would still be happily married. He told me he loves you too much to see you so unhappy and he hates himself for causing you so much unhappiness."
"Oh that's a load of bull. Good lord what is he thinking? First of all, we were never happily married. And secondly, this baby should have brought us closer together. The truth of the matter is that I've been sober for over eight months now and neither one of us can stand each other when I'm sober. To blame the baby for this is wrong. Damn him for blaming the baby and damn him for saying he loves me."
"What a mess I've made. He thinks he can pay me off to ease his guilt, but what the hell about my guilt? Yeah that's right Will I am capable of feeling guilty." The truth is I've been an awful wife and he probably thinks I'm going to make an equally awful mother."
"Karen, try to calm down. Stan's not innocent in any of this. He said the two of you have been having problems ever since you got pregnant and he takes responsibility for that. And Karen, if he didn't think you were going to make a good mother I doubt he'd be so quick to divorce you, if he had any concerns about your parenting skills he would have mentioned it to me."
"I have to get back to the office, I'm going to call Grace and see if she can come over for the rest of the day; you shouldn't be alone."
"Will I'm fine. Grace is working; she's coming over later this afternoon."
"No, you don't look so good Karen I'd feel better if you let me call Grace."
"Whatever Will, I'm going up to my room, I need some rest. I'm sorry for being so short with you, but I need to go lay down for a little while."
"Well, let me sit with you till Grace gets here. Go on, I'll be up after I get off the phone."
"Hmm, did Jack tell you about the gay porn I let him watch on the big screen? Why are you so anxious to get up to my bedroom Wilma?"
"I just want to make sure you're ok, it's been a rough day and it's not even noon yet. Now go on, I'll be up in a minute."
