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Thinking of now all made me ill.
Hannah was beautiful – I had to give her that. She had long legs, tanned skin, and long blonde hair. But I hadn’t hired her for her good looks. I’d hired her because she’d been a whiz at scheduling. Despite her dumb-blonde looks, she was one of the brighter women at Steel Visions. I respected her.
But lately, things had been getting really out of hand. Over the last few years, Hannah’s personality had changed. She’d become more forward, less timid – and she wasted no time flirting with me whenever she got the chance.
I was used to the attention of women. I knew I was a reasonably attractive man, and I’d heard Hannah joke more than once that I was “at that dangerous age.” I was forty-six, but I worked out four times a week and kept as fit as I could. And apparently, that was some kind of strange aphrodisiac on the young women of New York City.
Things hadn’t always been this way. When I was younger, I’d had to work my ass off just to get a girl’s number…and it was likely a fake one, at that. Hell, even Marlene had taken a lot of convincing just for one date. But luckily (at least, I’d thought that way at the time), by the time I asked her to be my wife, I’d amassed a sizeable fortune in consulting.
“You’re fine,” I said curtly. “Just please, don’t act up today.”
Hannah made her eyes wide and she licked her lips. “Why would I act up?”
I groaned. “You know what I mean,” I said. “Do you know that Marlene actually told my son after our last meeting that I was sleeping with you?”
Hannah’s cheeks flushed and she couldn’t hide the hint of a smile that spread across her face. “I wonder why she’d think that,” she said sweetly.
“Because you flirted with me the whole time,” I said. “Hannah, look – I can’t have you act like that in front of Marlene, and if you’re going to do it again, please just let me know ahead of time so I can make additional arrangements.”
Hannah looked sulky but she nodded. “Yes, Thomas,” she said. “I understand.”
I went to my closet and pulled my jacket free as Hannah gathered my papers and put my laptop into sleep mode.
“You want me to get you a coffee before the meeting?”
I shook my head. “No,” I said. “I’m fine.”
The truth was, I wasn’t feeling fine at all. My stomach was a tangle of nerves and I felt sick – which was always how I felt right before I had to meet with Marlene. Brett was only ten years old. How the fuck was I supposed to co-parent with a woman I couldn’t stand for at least the next eight years?
Hannah and I rushed downstairs, then into a waiting Lincoln Town Car. The day was sunny and bright and Hannah took off her cardigan, rubbing her bare shoulders and smiling at me in a manner that I knew she thought was enticing.
I ignored her.
The car seemed to take forever crawling through Manhattan traffic. I tried to keep my mind on the most important thing at hand – Brett, and how Marlene and I were going to do our best to raise him without letting our shit get in the middle.
After what seemed like an eternity, the car slowed to a stop in front of Marlene’s office building. Until the divorce, she’d been a stay at home mother…and I know she’d been angling to keep that up with alimony payments. But luckily, the judge had been on my side. While I still awarded her a hefty fee every four weeks (a fee that no doubt would have bankrolled the lifestyle of someone less greedy), Marlene had had to return to work. Now, she worked as a secretary for a fancy law firm.
I just wondered how many of the law partners she was sleeping with at once.
Hannah and I breezed inside. To my shock, Marlene was already standing in the lobby. Her flame-red hair was piled high on top of her head and her narrow face looked pinched when she saw me. She was wearing bright red lipstick.
“You’re late,” Marlene said. “I’ve been waiting here for over five minutes!”
“I’m sure that was very taxing on you,” I said dryly. “Where are we going?”
Marlene sighed heavily before turning on her heel and leading the way through a large, mostly unfurnished office. She turned a sharp left and pointed to a conference room.
“This is reserved for us,” Marlene said.
“Oh, great.” Hannah pushed past her. “Could you bring me a coffee?”
Marlene turned to me and raised her eyebrows. “Thomas, you have to be kidding me,” she said.
“Don’t worry about her,” I said. “We’re here to talk about Brett, Marlene.”
Marlene and I followed Hannah inside and I shut the door.
“Brett hasn’t been doing well at school,” I said. “He’s gotten in trouble a few times over the past week, for teasing and tormenting this little girl.” I stared right at my ex-wife. “Do you know anything about this?”
