We were on a call about the upcoming board meeting. She mentioned the ninety-day timeline. Said the contract conclusion was approaching and she’d need to prepare the dissolution paperwork.
I went quiet.
Three seconds. Five. Ten.
“Oh my God,” Trisha said.
“Don’t.”
“You have feelings.”
“Trisha.”
“You have actual, real, human feelings for your contract wife.”
“That’s absurd.”
“You paused for ten seconds when I mentioned the divorce papers. You, Christopher Vale, who doesn’t pause for anything.” She was grinning. I could hear it through the phone.
“Draft the divorce agreement,” I said.
She went dead silent. “You want to WHAT?”
I winced, setting the phone a distance from my ears, “Draft the divorce agreement. For the contract marriage.”
“Why would you divorce the woman you just admitted you love?”
“Because I’m going to marry her for real.”
The sound Trisha made was somewhere between a shriek and a laugh. I held the phone away from my ear.
“Yes! YES! Oh my God, finally! Christopher Vale has a heart! It’s beating and everything!” She took a breath. “For the record, I like Miley. A lot. She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to you and that includes your Oscar nomination. If you screw this up,I will personally make your life miserable and I’m not speaking contractually, I’m speaking spiritually.”
“Noted.”
“I mean it. That woman makes you breakfast every morning and leaves sticky notes on your door and defended you to Esmeralda in an elevator. She is a treasure. Treat her like one.”
“Are you done?”
“No. But I’ll pause for business.” Her voice shifted to professional. “The family law firm you asked me to contact about Vicky’s case, they’ve reviewed the files. They have a strategy. The main issue is documented income and stability, which is exactly what Greg’s lawyers are targeting. If Vicky had a steady, verifiable position at a reputable company, the custody argument falls apart.”
I thought about it for a second and it clicked in my head.I should've thought about it before.
“Arrange a position for her. Something within a Vale Industries subsidiary. Marketing, operations, whatever matches her background. A real job, not charity. Something that uses her skills.”
“Consider it done.”
I thought about Miley’s face when she found out. The relief. The tears she’d try to hide. The way she’d say she couldn’t accept it and then accept it because Eloise mattered more than anything.
“And Trisha? Don’t tell Miley yet. I want to do it myself.”
“You’re going to propose and tell her you saved her sister’s custody case in the same conversation?”
“Is that a problem?”
“No, that’s called a power move and I respect it deeply.”
I spent the afternoon looking at rings.
