Chapter 1

“She’s not here,” I told her when she asked.

“I figured. I heard. I just wanted to make sure. I’m glad.” I looked at her with a frown. “She never liked me, did she?”

“She didn’t like you because she saw me looking at you one too many times when you were over here with your parents for our parties.”

She looked a bit shocked, wide eyed, at least. “Oh? In any case, are you OK?”

“I will be.”

“I heard what she said about the prenup. I heard what you yelled back. I’m sorry for looking up and praying to God she’d take you up on it.”

“Why would you do that?”

“I wanted her out of my way. I’m terrible, Chas. Terrible, but ... I’d rather it was me making you miserable than her. I think if you’d give me a chance, I could do a better job.”

“Are you serious, Janet?”

“More than you can know. Every time she talked down to you, yelled at you, or called you worthless, I cringed. No one, and I mean no one, not even you, is happier than me that she’s gone. Give me half a chance and I’ll prove it. Oh, and the name thing? She gave that to you, didn’t she?” I nodded. “Pick another. Charlie, Chuck, Honey. That last one’s just for me, though. Pick something else. You are not a Chas. She tried to change you into one instead of just loving the man you are. You be what you want to be, and I’ll love who you are. I have for two years now. More probably ever since I laid eyes on you.”

“You never said...”

“Duh. Little fifteen-year-old girls are not supposed to get happy with the married man next door. I was way too young then. You were way too married then. Now that Queen Ann of the Dark is gone, and I pray she really is, sorry, I can do what I’ve always wanted.”

“What’s that?”

“This.” She leaned in and kissed me. She electrocuted me. I died and went to heaven, as they say. “Don’t ever tell me you’ll give me a hundred grand to leave you alone. I won’t. I’ll wait until you’re too old and decrepit to do it yourself and I’ll use it to wipe your bottom as I care for you in your golden years and beyond. I’ll tell you this, now: Charles Austin Taylor, I love you.”

“Charlie, Janet. Just Charlie, for now. I use’ta was one, long, long times ago.”

“You’re as bad as me at English, aren’t you? My English teacher calls me a lost cause. My math and science teachers call me a progidy. They can’t agree on anything.”

“It’s prodigy.”

“Yeah? Well, it should be progidy. It’s easier to say.”

“OK, you’re a progidy. Who am I to argue with logic like that?”

“You’ve been alone for an hour. That’s not long enough, I know, but when you’re ready, would you please let me know? I want to take you out for dinner and make my case.”

“Janet, where do you want to take me?”

“The club. It’s the only place around here I can have a glass of wine without people whining.”

“Come on. Let’s go talk to your parents.”

“What?”

“I said, ‘Let’s go talk to your parents’.”

“Oh. I thought that’s what you said. Crap. It’s a school night.”

“We won’t be late.”

At their front door, I knocked. The door opened. “What do you want, young man?”

“I found this virtuous maiden in my domain. She was pining my sorrow. I have forthwith lost the spouse of my house and said maiden advised she would prevent my self-actuated demise, should she be able to feed me. Per chance, noble sir, might your spawn provide me sustenance at yon golf establishment and prevent my opening of my arteries with sharp and or dull objects this eve?”

“JOYCE! Your daughter wants to take the crazy guy next door to the club and feed him, so he doesn’t off himself. You must’ve been right. I think she finally left him! You good with that, sweetie?”

I heard from the kitchen, “Yes, darling. Tell them not to be late.”

“Go. Don’t be late. As always, Chas, I want her back in the same condition you got her. Don’t be the boy that gets hurt testing me. Got that, punk?” He grinned.

“Absolutely, sir. Janet, your chariot or mine.”

“Yours. I’m low on gas. Oh, tomorrow is Friday. It’s gas day. I love you, Daddy!” She was giddy. She hugged her father and off we went.

The club was pretty casual during the week. We ate in the bar, actually. I had a beer and she had a white wine. We each had a sandwich and salad. She spent the entire time, between bites and sips, sharing with me what the last two years has been like for her. Seeing Ann berate me in public or the yelling when she’d have too much to drink and her filters fell down. She said it was painful. She’d sit at her window and watch. She’d cry. Her mom would console her. She told me she’d talked to her parents, to whom she was very, very close. Her father, right after her mother told him to be careful saying it, told her, if it was meant to happen, Ann would find a different path and leave that one for her. If Chas was still here then, it would be what was meant to be. She couldn’t involve herself, though. If she changed the course of history, it would correct itself, just like the markets. If she let history move itself, on its own, it was natural and would stay the course. Her father, and I’m not saying that from that statement, but because he’s a multimillionaire investment strategist, is a brilliant man. He’s always impressed me. He impressed my parents, too.

I told her up front. She was cute. She was beautiful. She was charming. She was delightful. She was probably too good to be true, and way too good for me, but she was very young, and I was very old.

“Stop it. You’re thirty-one. You’re not very old. There is 14 years between us. When I’m 80, you’ll only be 94. Shit, Charlie, I’ll still be driving. We can handle it.”

“Well, first, I need to get rid of the dead thing.”

“Dead thing? That sounds terrible. Charlie, again, are you going to be OK? I want to help. It’s going to be bad. I read. I know you’re going to go through bouts of anger, depression, questioning yourself, your self-worth, your self-esteem. I want to be there. I want to help. You deserve better. You always have.”

“Yes, I will be OK. It might be fun to have help. Intelligent, caring help. Do you feel adult-ish tonight, Janet?” She nodded. “OK. I’ll dump on you. You said you want to help. It may not be as hard on me as you think, yet, since I’m not a psychiatrist, it may be worse. You can keep track of that. That wasn’t the only time she mentioned the prenup. Our relationship has been on life support for two years. Now it’s dead. She cheated on me. She denied it, but I showed her the pictures. Yep, I had pictures. I offered her the hundred grand to leave and leave me alone. That was twice what she was legally entitled to and expecting. I would have paid twice that again to regain my happiness. If I had known Janet Pointer was pining for me next door, I would have paid her half a million a year ago just to get her out of my life and cut the pain off at the root and start over. I had no idea, Janet.”

Tears ran down her cheeks. Hearing that I would have reacted that way got to her. Emotionally. I guess at that point I knew. I’d been crushing on her for a while and wasn’t happy at home. “Look, I knew Ann was leaving. I didn’t know when until one of my friends I golf with got pictures of her at the country club thirty miles away from here. She was hanging all over a guy, a guy I knew in passing, and they left after dancing a bit. He followed them out and got pictures of them in the guy’s car, in the back seat. They didn’t show penetration or anything like that, but they don’t have to. I didn’t care anymore at that point. I just wanted her gone. Girls’ night out, my ass. And, here we are.”

I dabbed a napkin on her eyes and pulled her into my lap for a hug. The other clientele knew she was the Pointers’ child, my neighbor, and comforting a family friend shouldn’t be a big deal. “Thank you for that, Charlie. The comment. It got me, though. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” She hugged me, kissed me softly and went to the bar to square up for dinner. The kiss was seen by the same clientele. Hmmm. Ornery bastard that I was hoped word of the little neighbor girl kissing me got back to ‘Queen Ann of the Dark’. She came back, took my hand and walked me out, both of us waving to folks we knew on the way toward the door.

On the way home, she held my hand. Pulling the car into the garage felt different, yet good, and somehow, freakishly natural with her sitting next to me. Less than four hours after I pushed my spouse away from myself I felt good with someone else. Problem? I hoped not.

I knocked on the door. Joyce answered. “Yes, young man? What can I do for you?”

“This fine and virtuous maiden has provided me a meal and prevented my demise, offering her assistance to continue to keep me among the living. I would like to return her to your care, hoping she may once again assist, should I desire to find the tallest tower in all the kingdom and dive head first into the moat.”

“Get in the house, you cornball. You guys have fun, honey? Chas?”

“No, Mother. Not fun at all, but I know now that there’s more to the story. Oh, and we’re going to go with something else. He is not a Chas.”

“Charlie always did fit him better. May I?” I nodded. “Jordy will be back from the liquor store in a bit. You two talk about the situation?”

“Yes, Mother. I want to help him. He knows now how I feel and have felt for some time. He told me he would have given the Dark Queen half a mil to leave him alone last year if he’d known I was sitting over here crying because she was hurting him. He made me cry. What a sweet thing to say.”

“Watch out for that, punkin. Even nice men will make you cry now and again.” She smiled and hugged her daughter.

Jordan walked in from the garage. “Chas, the study. I’d like to chat with you.”

“Daddy, I think it’s gonna be Charlie, for now.”

“Good. Charlie always fit him better anyway.”

“It did? That’s what Mom said, too. OH! Oh, yeah, huh? That was before my time, though, wasn’t it?” Jordan nodded and kissed her forehead. “Stay in here with your mom.” I walked out and heard some commotion behind me, but I headed for his den.

I was looking at pictures of them in different locations on vacations and such. She was a very cute child and had turned into a beautiful young woman. If the ‘look at the mother and you’ll see your wife in 20 years’ thing holds, I’d be golden, too. Gorgeous and intelligent mother, about ten pounds she’d like to lose, but doesn’t need to, and a handsome father, intelligent, and working slowly on gaining a bit of weight in his advanced adult years; she was truly the product of the best. It showed. Long red hair of her mother. Tall, gorgeous, long legs, smooth skin, without blemish one. An angel. A beautiful angel. More than any man deserves, and here she was trying to help me with my screwed up life.

“Scotch. Ice? Neat? Soda?”

“Ice. Two cubes please. Thanks, Jordan.”

“Sit. She’s madly in love with you, Charlie. Seriously, madly in love. Your father told me when she was a baby to keep her away from you if I knew what was good for her. He was a great man, but his sense of humor sometimes preceded him. Or eluded him, who knows. We didn’t know then that the carrot topped toddler would actually decide on you, among all the choices she had, and thinking of it, when she decided, you weren’t a choice. You’ve been quite married. But she’s smart. Very smart. She knew it was toxic. She knew. We knew. Your parents knew. It’s a hard thing to talk about with someone, so we didn’t, but ... Hopefully things are corrected.

“Charlie, our daughter has chosen you, if you’ll have her. You need to become single, first, of course, but, and this is hard for a father to say, but, she’s old enough to run away and join the circus. We’re not going to keep her from you, nor you from her. At all. If she wants to help you through this, all close up and personal like, we’re allowing that. If it causes you an issue, we’ll help. It’s no one else’s business, actually. And now that she’s gone, not even Ann’s. You, young man, need to change the locks on your house and get the prenup to a lawyer. You going to use Wilson?”

“Jordan, she used him for something to do with her family, so...”

“Don’t. Separate work from personal and go see Broderick. Take the document and make sure she knows you offered Ann a hundred to bail. There were witnesses, so you might as well write the check and hand it to Lisa with the prenup. Charlie, Lisa Broderick is the best divorce attorney in this city. Call her first thing. Really. You want her help.” We made small talk, then went back to the kitchen.

Janet approached me, wrapped her arms around me and kissed the underside of my chin. “Is there room for me in your life right away, Charlie? I want to be there. To help you through this.”

“Yes. Yes, there is. What are the last four numbers of your Social Security number, Janet?”

“4779. Why?”

“Joyce, Jordan, that’s the new code to the house. I’ll change the locks and keys tonight. I have those E-Z change things and some keys that come with them. I’ll get you one for emergencies.”

“Thanks, Charlie, that will make us feel a bit better, I’m sure,” Joyce said.

Janet piped in, “Let me go grab some stuff for school tomorrow. Be right back.”

“Charlie, be careful with her, please.” Joyce told me then came to me, hugged me and kissed my cheek. “Be careful with our baby.” Jordan nodded and shook my hand.

Janet bounced into the room. “Should I take my car over, too?” I nodded. “OK. See you over in a bit.”

I said goodbye, then went home and went right to work on the locks. I got the keys and code to the garage entrance door done first, just in time, as I heard her use the code and come in. I handed her a key and the extra garage controller, then the two of us went out to the garage and changed all three doors with remotes to different codes. We changed and tested her controller then I tested mine. Hers worked, mine didn’t. Cool. I set mine then and we were ready to go. I got all six of the locksets redone. Three for the door knobs on one key and three for the electronic dead bolts on another. I changed the other two electronic lock boxes to 4779 and considered the day a success. I lost a wife, gained a girlfriend, and updated my security. Woohoo. Yes, sarcasm. Bazinga, to quote a famous scientist/actor.

“Where do you want me to sleep, Charlie?” I smiled at her and waved her into the master bedroom.

“Oh?”

“You said you were feeling rather adult, didn’t you?” She nodded. “Well, if you want to be part of my life and help me through my turmoil, we should be together.” I grinned at her. “Janet. I’m not talking sex. Not unless and until you want that. I can keep my lurid hands to my lurid self. I can control it a bit longer. God knows that wasn’t one of her favorite pastimes. At least not with me. Girls’ night out, my ass. Anyway...”

“Do you have an empty drawer?”

“Hang on, you’ll have six. I use that chest of drawers, and you can use this dresser. I’ll empty these out onto the guest bed. Shouldn’t hurt too much.”

“Charlie. Stop. I’ll do it. Sit on the bed. Go on. Have a seat. Watch this.” She made about twelve trips for clothes and several more with stuff from the top of the dresser and bathroom.

“I’ll buy you everything new, hon. Anything you don’t absolutely need in the morning for school, take in there.” Three more trips. I looked in the bathroom. Wow. I didn’t have much stuff. It was full and now there were just a few things ... I came back out to see her putting several of her things in the dresser and pulling her personals out for the bathroom. “Janet? Are you sure this is OK? I mean, she just spent the night in here last night.”

“Charlie, did you make love to her last night?” I shook my head. “The night before?” I shook my head again. “Should I keep going back?”

I shook my head and told her about our sex life, or lack thereof. “Six months or so. I doubt if WE were making love in the last two years.” She put her hands on her hips and smiled at me. Maybe more of a smirk. “Point taken. Sorry,” I told her. She had. She’d made her point. “OK, you’ve made your point. You’ll be all right with me in here, then.”

“I’ll be fine, big boy. Buy some boxes tomorrow while you’re out. I’ll box that stuff up and she can come get it or send someone.”

“Do you shower in the morning or at night?”

“At night, why?”

“We’re made for each other. I do in the morning. I’m going to have a drink before bed. You want one?”

“Sure. Moscato? Spumante? Prosecco? Anything similar will be fine. I’ll probably be done in the shower by the time you get back, but take your time.”

She was, towel on her hair, long mid-thigh sleeveless Hello Kitty t-shirt for a night gown. She’s a very pretty girl.

I handed her the wine. She handed me a brush. “Do you mind?”

“Not at all.” She sat between my legs as I brushed her hair, way, way over a hundred times. I’d take a break for a sip of bourbon and she’d sip her wine, then I’d start brushing again.”

“If this is too fast, or anything, Charlie ... I mean, it’s fast. Same day even, but, like you said, it was terminal. You’ve already grieved the loss of your marriage, it seems, during the loss of your marriage. You seemed to me to be ready to move on, you know, already. I want you to. I want that to happen with me. I hope it doesn’t take forever for you to realize that I am, or am not, what you may want. I know. You are it. I hope I can be that for you. I’ve seen the way you look at me. She wasn’t the only one that saw that. I’ve seen the way men, from very young to very old, look at me. The way you looked TO me, I noticed, as you were looking AT me, was different. You didn’t stare and leer at me. I felt appreciated, not like I was being devoured like a sex object. Does that make sense?”

“Absolutely, and you are ninety-nine percent correct. There was that one percent that ... Well, let’s just say your mother is right. Even the nice ones aren’t perfect. When the time comes, I will tell you the truth. Until then, I have no intention of hurting you or letting you feel like a sexual object. You aren’t one. I’m very, very close to falling completely in love with you, though, so it’s not much of a stretch.”

We finished our drinks and I took the glasses down, double checked all the doors and went back up. She was under the covers with my side opened up for me to crawl in. I did, and she asked if she could snuggle without causing a problem. I pulled her to me and held her. I kissed her forehead, looked up and thanked God for everything he’s done for me. I must have vocalized the ‘thank you’.

“You’re welcome, Charlie. Very, very welcome. G’night.” She kissed my chest and I don’t remember anything else.

I woke up looking at a wonderful smile. “A perfect night. I slept like a log.”

“Glad to hear it,” I teased her, “at least one of us did. You snored all night, tossed and turned like a fish out of water, and made me miserable. What ever will I do?” She gasped. I grabbed her. “No, doll. I’m kidding. You slept, I slept, we slept. I don’t think I’ve slept that well in ages.” She slapped my arm. “I deserved that. Seriously, no kidding, I was kidding, no, seriously. I slept well holding you. Maybe we were made for each other. I went to sleep holding you and woke up holding you. I don’t believe that has ever happened before. Not to me, anyway. I liked it.”

“Good. We need that. It’ll help.” She got out of bed and reached for my hand. “Come. Come show me how to make coffee then you can shower.” I went down with her, showed her where everything was, then she asked, “Do you want anything to eat? I normally have toast and an egg or something. Whatever you want, I can try to help with.”

“That would be really great. I should eat better, and less. I’ll shower, but whatever you do, I’ll have the same. Be right back.”

In the shower, I thought about it, and it was true. I slept well with her against me. I wasn’t kidding about that part, either. That never happened before. Contentment? Could that set in and calm people? Help them sleep? We’ll see. Clean, dry, and dressed, I went down for coffee and a bite, met by a cute redheaded elven creature. She handed me a plate, kissed me and ran upstairs. Back down in five minutes, dressed in a little pleated skirt, a cute little top, and boat shoes. She must’ve seen my smile. “You like?”

“Very much. Uniform?”

“Nope. Just a short pleated skirt I like. It’s comfortable. I have softball practice tonight. Games on Tuesday and Thursday next week. Please let me know what Lisa says. Charlie, I love you. I care. Text me if you need me. I put the number in your phone. Picture and number in contacts. Mother and Daddy are in there, too, without pictures. Prenup, Lisa, keys, boxes, what else?”

“Shopping tonight after you get home. And dinner. Don’t be a dream. Come home after school and practice. Please be real.”

She kissed me again. This time with more Janet in her kiss. “I’m real. You won’t be sorry, Mr. Taylor. You will never be sorry.”

“Wait.” I dug out a credit card for her to use for gas. “My job now. Credit card. Same zip code as yours when it asks, of course. For gas. I’ll get you your own next week.” She stuck it in her little purse, gave me another peck, and ran off. I could definitely get used to this. I found myself comparing my present to my past. I wasn’t this comfortable in the morning 5 years ago. We’d been dating and intimate for almost a year. Ann and I. I wasn’t this ... Strange to say, but ‘comfortable’ is the word that keeps coming to mind. This was like I was home with her and we belonged together. I hadn’t more than touched her hands or kissed her gently. This was uncanny. Maybe like they say, ‘pain has no memory’, but the good memories weren’t this good, either.

I called Lisa’s office and got a machine. I left my cell number and an emergency message with whoever checked the messages that I needed immediate legal assistance and left my name and Jordan as a reference. Namedropping sometimes helps. I got my paperwork together, grabbed the other key, and headed out. I was having two copies of the keys made when the phone rang. It was nine oh five.

“I’m sorry it took so long to get back to you, Mr. Taylor, but Miss Broderick would like to see you at your earliest convenience.”

“I’m having new keys for the house made. I can be there in fifteen minutes.”

“That will be more than satisfactory, sir. See you then.” I got the keys, two fancy Mustang key fobs and took off for the lawyer’s office.

Upon arrival I was asked to take a seat and she would be right with me. I looked at the keys. And the fobs. Janet had a nice Mustang her dad bought her for her sixteenth birthday. A 2008 V-6 automatic model. Pretty cool car. Looked fast but was certainly a toned-down version of the hot sports cars people talk and write about. It wasn’t no Shelby, folks! But it was a nice car and she took care of it. One set of keys was hers and one was for Joyce and Jordan to throw in the drawer. Unmarked key, but they’d know what it belonged to. My girlfriend’s parents would have the keys to my house. How strange is that?

“Mr. Taylor. Mr. Taylor? Are you OK, sir?”

“Yes, ma’am. Sorry. I’m fine.”

“Please follow me, sir. Miss Broderick will see you now.” She led me to the office, into a chair, offered me a coffee or a water, which I declined, then Lisa nodded to her and she left.

“I received a call from your wife, Mr. Taylor. I told her I couldn’t represent her. Melissa put the note from you on my desk when I was answering. Good timing, but it wouldn’t have mattered. Jordan called last night and asked if I’d help you. Truth of the matter is, I don’t care much for Ann, Charlie. I never have. She always seemed she thought she was better. Tell me what happened.”

I handed her the prenup and the printed copies of the pictures. I told her about the lack of civility, the constant arguing about money, her bringing up the prenup, and her desire to spend every penny she could. I told her about the call from the friend about the cheating and him sending me the pictures, the offer of the hundred thousand to end it all, and her leaving early yesterday afternoon. She was jotting down notes.

“Wow. OK, let’s do this. Are you sure you want the divorce? I can kind of see that you are.”

“Lisa, I tried for four years to make her happy. I couldn’t. I’ll let someone else try.”

Lisa laughed. “That’s almost funny. OK. Give me two checks. You may need to marshal all the funds, but I’ll need one for a hundred thousand, made out to Ann and one to me for three thousand. I’m pretty sure you’ll get change, unless something goes really, really wrong. I’ll have the one for Ann escrowed and mine will be paying for my dinner when I get to the steakhouse tonight. Sorry. I’ll set it up so that if she makes a fuss, she pays all of our fees when she loses. And she will. She’s not much of a role model.” I started writing.

“I’m really not supposed to say this, because it’s beyond unprofessional, but I’m glad, Charlie. I really am. You deserve better. There aren’t four people at the club that wouldn’t agree with me and I’d bet now I know why those four mightn’t. Sorry. This isn’t funny, I know. I’ll do what ever I can for you. I’m so glad Jordan called last night. I got your note before that phone call went very far, but I couldn’t have, in good conscience, represented her against you. Let me have one of your cards, and here’s one of mine, like you need it this late in the game.” I handed her the checks. She stood and came around the desk. She hugged me tightly. “I know I’ve said it before, but I’m glad you’re home. I wish it had been under better circumstances, of course, but I’m happy to know you’re safe now, and where we want you. Where you belong. Go, before I get mushy. Tell Janet I said, ‘Hi’.”

The last words were telling.

I arrived at the house, pulled into the garage, closed the garage door and with keys in hand, went and got me a beer. I looked at the keys again, with the Mustang fobs, laid them on the counter, and started crying. I couldn’t have told you why at the time. I just started crying uncontrollably. I sipped, I cried, I sipped, I cried. Then I downed it and went out back and swam for two hours without stopping. Didn’t even realize it. I heard the doorbell, so I grabbed a towel and ran inside to the front door. UPS with a package. “Thanks,” I yelled, waving at him as he pulled off. It was one o’clock in the afternoon. I had really swum from just before eleven until just after one, without stopping. The crying stopped after I started swimming, and I started thinking about Ann, Lisa, the divorce, the house, Janet. Then the doorbell rang. Thinking back on it, it made sense. I felt refreshed. Clean. I felt clean. A fresh start. Starting over. Not exactly from scratch, but metaphorically.

I got the box and took it to my office. It was just some cables and such to hook up another device to my test bed unit I was using for a project at work. I was experimenting with some signal and data channeling. I was really, really losing track of time lately, but when I heard someone behind me, I spun around in my chair, startled, to find Janet standing there.

“I’m so sorry, Charlie, I didn’t mean to scare you.” She looked frightened at what may have happened, what she did, so I stood, took her in my arms, and held her.

“No, doll. Don’t apologize. I just didn’t hear you. You scared me a bit. My fault. I’m a bit spacy today. Sorry. I’ll tell you about it at dinner after shopping. Eat out, please? I don’t want to make a mess tonight. Let’s dirty someone else’s kitchen.” I tickled her middle and she giggled.

“OK. No problem. I’ll suffer with someone else’s cooking. You finish what you’re doing. I’m fine. I need to shower and change. I came straight home after practice.” She tip toed up and kissed me, then walked out. When she said that, I remembered. My lack of attention, my delving into something and losing track of time, those were things that pissed Ann off. I need to talk to Janet tonight about them. Once again, I need to explain to her that even guys with the best of intentions can be a handful.

I typed some notes and jotted on some well placed stickies for myself for tomorrow. I thought, ‘Oh crap, tomorrow is Saturday. No, wait. That’s cool. I can take some time. With Janet.’ I met Janet in the bedroom, as she was coming out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel. I went down the hall to the guest bath with a pair of shorts and some boxers, took care of business, and went back. She was in shorts, a knit top, and some cute high heeled sandals. I threw on a polo, told her how gorgeous she was, garnering another little kiss, then off we went. On the way down the stairs my phone rang. Lisa.

“Charlie, we served Ann this afternoon. At about three, actually. At work. She is not a happy camper, but the money is listed in the filing. Twice what the prenup guarantees and she keeps her car and all, so not a lot of room to bitch, especially after the back seat of the Chrysler thing. Anyway, stay low, keep your eyes open, and thank you for asking me to help. It’s a pleasure.”

“Thank you, Lisa. I’m impressed. I thought these things took forever.”