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“Your sister told me you were coming. She didn’t share any details because I wanted to hear it straight from my potential client. Tell me how I can help?” she said and smiled genuinely.
“I need some advice on filing for a divorce,” I answered.
“I am sorry to hear that.” She picked up a pair of thick-framed black glasses and an ink pen. “How long have you been married?”
“Fifteen years,” I quickly responded.
“Any businesses or marital property?” Drucilla asked.
“Yes, we own two child care centers. Well, I own them, but he is my silent partner. We also own four residential rental properties in the city.”
She nodded as she scribbled onto her long legal pad.
“Okay, what would be the grounds for the divorce? What happened?”
“I found out that he cheated on me.”
“Is this something he’s done before?” She looked up from her legal pad waiting for my answer.
“No, not that I am aware of.”
She nodded and scribbled something on her pad.
“Was it a long term relationship with the other…woman, I presume?”
“Yes, it’s a woman, and according to him, it was not a relationship just a sexual encounter.”
“Is he planning on continuing the relationship with the woman?”
“No, not that I am aware.”
“Were there problems in the relationship before you found out about the sexual encounter?”
“No, we were fine. I mean things felt a little off, but I figure that’s because he’d slept with her and was trying to keep it from me.”
She put down her pen and removed her glasses. She got up from the chair behind her desk and sat in the chair next to me.
“Mrs. Abernathy, I love going against cheating men and taking them for everything they have. I chew them up and spit out their bone shards like sunflower seed shells. I thrive on it. I’m the best at it, but divorce is not something that should be entered into lightly. It takes some thought and preparation for the divorce road that will be littered with broken hearts, shattered dreams, false allegations, and devastated feelings. I am all for women finding their voices and getting away from men that mistreat, use and abuse them, but in your case, from what you’ve told me, that’s not the case.”
“But he cheated on me,” I said trying to hold in the tears that were burning the backs of my eyes.
“Oh, I heard you loud and clear. I also heard you say that he’d never done anything like this before and he’s not trying to leave you for her. Is that correct?”
I nodded. I didn’t want to speak because I felt like I was losing the fight against my tears.
“I am an attorney, and I make my money off people dissolving their marriages, but I am also a woman who has been married to the same man for almost twenty years. I believe in marriage, and I believe that there are some marriages worth fixing. I don’t know you, but I feel led to tell you to take some time and think about this before you take this step. Allow some time to pass for your feelings to start to heal. If at that point you still feel like you want out, then come back and see me. Better yet, here is my personal cell, call me and say it’s on. I will go into attack mode and squeeze every penny he forgot he had out of him for you, okay?”
“Okay,” I responded while I tried to catch the tears that had finally escaped.
“It’s okay to cry, and it’s okay to be upset, but permanent decisions are best made once your feelings have settled, okay?”
“Okay.”
* * *
“Earth to Key,” Cam, my hair stylist, spoke to me through the mirror.
“Huh?” I said, looking into the mirror and her reflection.
