Chapter 4

The turnaround for me came when I was handed a multi-million dollar class action suit against Abbott Chemical. The basis of the case is that Abbott Chemical had been dumping toxic chemicals near a low income residential neighborhood and over the years several people in the community had become very ill with cancers and liver problems. The case looked like it would be a slam dunk for us and would put several million dollars into the firms account and about $200,000 in mine. The problem was that when I looked at the scientific evidence it was obvious that Abbott had followed Environmental Protection Agency guidelines in the storage of these toxins and in addition to that there was no evidence of ground water contamination nor any air pollution that would have cause the types of cancers or liver diseases that were being reported.

Upon further examination I found that a lot of the scientific testimony was from specialists brought in and paid by the law firm. I didn't have proof that any of the specialists had lied but it sure looked that way to me.

On top of all that, if we won the case it would put Abbott out of business and most of the families that lived in that neighborhood depended on Abbott Chemical for their livelihoods.

Any settlement agreed to would end up giving the individual plaintiffs in the suit about $2500 each but would leave them without a job and without medical insurance but the law firm would collect millions.

I found that my ethics would not allow me to be a party to the suit so I went to the head of the firm thinking that if I showed him the scientific evidence he would have our firm withdraw the suit but instead he basically told me to shut up and row.

I asked him if he could have someone else assigned to the case and he told me that because of my track record on similar cases the senior partners had chosen me for that case and I was to see it through.

I went back to my office and looked at the case materials again and in the end decided that I just could not in good conscience be a party to that law suit. I knew that to walk away from the case was going to cost me my job and a lot of money but in the end I had to live with myself. I submitted my resignation that afternoon and was out on the street a week later.

I thought of trying to hook up with another law firm but I knew that if they caught wind that I had walked on a case that big they would never hire me. The only other choice was to open my own office. The interesting thing was that even thought I had given up the job I had worked so hard to get and was out of work, my depression wasn't as bad as it had been before. I felt that I had taken a positive step toward feeling better. Now all I had to do was put Abby completely out of my life.

If I was going to open my own law office I was going to have to find office space and a new apartment. It took me three weeks but I found an office in Oak Park and was able to get an apartment near by.

The day I opened the office I was a little scared that I might never get a client but luck was shinning on me that day and within two hours of opening the office a couple came in and said that they were refinancing their house and needed a lawyer to represent them at the mortgage closing. The low mortgage rates had created a boom market for real estate closings and the big law firms couldn't be bothered with these small billing opportunities, which worked out great for me. I took out an add in the real estate section of the paper billing myself as a real estate lawyer and within a month I had enough business that I had to hire two secretaries.

I thought when I started my own practice that I would miss working for a big law firm but I found that I was actually happier working for myself. Three months after leaving the firm I was still working hard but for fewer hours, I was making less money but was sufficient for my needs and I never had to feel guilty about how I earned it. My practice was growing and the future looked bright.

I was still seeing Sarah but not as frequently. We enjoyed each others company and the sex we had together but we both knew we were not in love. My depression wasn't nearly as bad as it had been and I had finally been able to shut Abby out of my life. Whenever I thought of her I only remembered the scene of her rocking back and forth with Ben's cock inside her, no more happy memories. It was kind of like negative reinforcement. My only thoughts of Abby were painful so I just stopped thinking of her.

The week before Christmas Sarah called me and asked me to take her to a party at Judy Simmons' house that Saturday night. Judy was another of the other paralegals at the firm and was a good friend of Sarah's. I wasn't to crazy about the idea of spending time with the lawyers I had worked with but Sarah said that none of the lawyers from the firm had been invited to the party so I agreed to go with her. I figured Sarah just wanted a ride to the party and someone to have sex with after, which was fine with me.

I knew most of the guests, paralegals and secretaries, and other lower level employees of the firm and they all seemed genuinely happy to see me. Some even told me that they were proud of me for walking away from the firm the way I did. One of the firms secretaries told me that I had been right about the Abbott case. She said that Abbott had to file for bankruptcy and shut down it's plant. They didn't have enough money to pay the full settlement so the plaintiffs got less than $1000 each but the firm still made more than a million dollars.

Sarah and I were in the kitchen getting a drink when another couple arrived. I didn't recognize the guy and I asked Sarah if he worked at the firm.

Sarah said, "No. I've never seen him before."

I didn't bother to ask her if she knew the woman. I just assumed she did. After all she had seen her picture in my apartment enough times.

I was surprised at how uncomfortable I felt being in the same room with Abby after all this time. I didn't know if I should go over and speak to her or not. She hadn't seen me yet and I wondered if I should just leave before she did. I knew that sooner or later she was going to see me and I certainly could not pretend I didn't notice her. It would be like trying not to notice an elephant in the room. She was there and I was going to have to deal with it.

I tried to watch her discretely so that she would not know I was watching. The guy with her wasn't Ben which was a little bit of a surprise. I wondered what happened to that relationship. One thing I thought I saw was a sadness in Abby's face. She would smile when someone spoke to her but the smile would immediately disappeared.

Sarah noticed me watching Abby and said, "Why don't you just go over and say hello?"

I said, "I can't. At least not yet. I really don't know what to say to her."

"Something will come to you."

I watched as the Judy approached Abby and her date. Judy kissed Abby on the cheek and gave her a big hug and then it appeared that Abby introduced her date and Judy shook hands with him.

I didn't know that Abby knew Judy. That answered some questions for me. It must have been Judy who had given Abby information about me. That revelation was interesting but I didn't grasp the significance of it.

Judy and Abby talked for a minute and then Judy nodded her head in my direction and I turned my back as soon as I saw Abby starting to turn her head to look. Well, now we both knew the other was at the party. I wished that Judy had told Sarah that Abby was coming. If I had known Abby was going to be there I would have stayed home. I had managed to push Abby out of my thoughts but with her in the same room with me it was impossible not to think about her.

As my mind spun around trying to decide what to do Sarah reached over and pinched my arm and said, "If you don't go talk to her I will personally drag you over there. The how embarrassed would you be?"

I said, "Why do you care if I talk to her?"

"You can't pretend she is not here. Just deal with it and go say hello. If my ex had shown up I would say hello to him. Of course right after saying hello I would kick him in the balls."

I said, "Remind me to never become an ex of yours."

I gave in to the inevitable but I made Sarah go with me. As we crossed the room Abby saw us coming and I could see her tense up. I thought to myself, 'Good, she is going to be just as uncomfortable as me.'

I said, "Hello Abby, how are you?"

"I am fine Mike, it's good to see you."

I didn't believe that for a minute.

"Abby, I'd like you to meet my date, Sarah O'Leary."

Sarah and Abby shook hands and exchanged pleasantries and then Abby said, "I'd like you to meet my date. This is Karl Henning, Karl, this Mike and I think he is still my husband as I haven't seen any papers that say otherwise. "

We hadn't been together for more than two minutes and she had to cut me. I shook hands with Carl and before I could say another word Sarah said, "I have to talk to Judy, I'll be back in a few minutes."

I could have kick her for deserting me that way. I watched Sarah walk away and when I turned back to face Abby I noticed Karl giving me a look as if he was trying to decided if he could kick my ass. I myself doubted it but it made me wonder what kind of things Abby had told him about me.

I was trying to think of a way to gracefully extract myself from the uncomfortable situation of trying to have a conversation with my wife and her boyfriend. Before I could think of anything Karl found a way to extract himself. He said, "I'm going to the bar to get a drink."

He didn't even offer to get Abby a drink which struck me as being a bit strange. I wondered if he and Abby were having problems. I hoped that they were.

When he was gone the only thing I could think to say was, "I never thanked you for the nice desk set you sent me."

"It's always nice to get a thank you even if it's seven months late."

This was going well. I was just trying to make conversation and she decided I need a lesson in etiquette. I decided to be the gentleman and let that go.

Abby said, "I heard you left the firm and opened your own practice."

"Did Judy tell you that?"

"Yes."

I said, "How do you know Judy?"

"She's my cousin."

We stood looking at each other for a minute and then I said, "You look very nice tonight."

"Thank you."

Suddenly I felt the old feelings stirring so I said, "Well, I think I better go find Sarah."

I thought for a moment that Abby looked disappointed but she didn't say anything.

I went looking for Sarah to tell her I was leaving. I just could not bare to be there with Abby and Karl in the same room.

When I found Sarah I told her I wanted to leave and why and she said, "Karl is not here, he left."

I said, "They left? How could they have left that quickly, I was just with Abby." I don't know why but I actually felt a little disappointed.

Sarah said, "No. Only Karl left. Abby is still here."

"He walked out on her?"

Sarah raised her shoulders and said, "Well, I guess he did."

I scanned the room and didn't see Abby and said, "Well, maybe they didn't leave together but they're both gone."

Sarah look around the room but made no comment.

I said, "I guess if they are gone, there's no reason I have to leave. Let's get a drink."

I led Sarah to the kitchen where Judy had the bar set up. Fifteen minutes later Judy came over to me and said, You need to go talk to Abby."

"Abby left twenty minutes ago."

"No she didn't. She's out on the sun porch standing in the cold by herself. You need to talk to her and get her to come back into the house. It is very cold out there."

I said, "She's probably upset because her boyfriend left her here. How is that my problem?"

It's your problem because she's your wife."

"In name only."

Judy punched me in the arm and said, "Stop being such a hard ass and go talk to her."

I looked at Sarah and she pointed toward the sun porch and said, "Go."

Abby was standing with her back to the door when I stepped out onto the porch. She had her arms fold across her chest and it was obvious that she was cold.

I said, "Abby, why don't you come in the house."

"Did Judy sent you after me?"

"I guess she thought I was the man for the job. I tried to tell them that sending me was a bad idea."

"Well you can go back in and tell them you failed."

"Abby, it's freezing out here."

"I just don't want to be around people right now."

Looking at her standing there like that began to thaw the ice around my heart. I took my jacket off and put it around her shoulders."

Abby said, "Thanks."

I said, "It's always nice to get a thank you even if it's seven seconds late."

Abby turned quickly and I thought she was going to be angry, but she smiled instead.

Her smile warmed me a little.

I said, "I am sorry about what happened tonight. I hope you can patch things up with Karl."

"What? Oh never mind."

I said, "Something is bothering you, can you tell me what it is?"

Abby said, "It would take all night."

"I've got time so start talking."

"Mike, we really need to talk."

I said, "Okay let's go inside where is warmer and we can talk."

"Not here. I don't want to do this in front of all these people."

"Where then?"

"I don't care. There has to be somewhere where we can talk privately."

I said, "Do you want to go somewhere now and some other time."

"I want to do this now. That's why I came to this party."

"That's why you came to the party? I don't understand."

"I'll explain it later."

I said, "If you want to go talk let's go."

Abby followed me into the house and we got our coats. I told Sarah what was going and she said that she would get a ride home. While I was explaining things to Sarah, Abby was doing the same with Judy.

As we walked to my car Abby asked, "Where can we go to talk?"

I said, "I know just the place."

As soon as she asked an idea came to me. Judy's house was just a short distance from the Northwestern campus so I headed in that direction. It just struck me that it would be kind of ironic if I took her to the place we first met and were we went the first time we had to talk about the possible end our relationship. I was glad to see that the irony was wasted on Abby.

When I pulled up in front of Georgio's Abby said, "Ah... Georgio's. I get it."

We went inside and sat in a corner booth in the bar. We ordered drinks and when the waiter left I said, "This little meeting was your idea so why don't you tell me whatever it is you have to say."

Abby shifted herself around in her seat then said, "This isn't going to be easy for either of us. I don't think we need to discuss the reasons I left you in the first place but I need some answers and understanding of what has gone on since then."

"Okay, You have questions, ask them."

"All right. Why did you really move out of the house?"

"I told you why I moved."

"But it wasn't the truth."

"It was at least partly true. I moved out to get away from you. I couldn't handle seeing your boyfriend come and go from your house. It was to painful."

Abby said, "But why was the move so sudden? You were there Friday morning when I left for work and when I got home that night there was a For Rent sign in the window."

"So I didn't want a big seen. I just wanted to get out. Why does this bother you so much."

"It's the timing that bothers me. The Sunday before you left I found something in my bathroom that disturbed me a great deal."

I could feel my face starting to flush.

I said, "What did you find in your bathroom that disturbed you?"

"There was a used condom stuck to the inside of my waste basket."

"And?"

"I think you put it there."

I thought, 'Oh shit, here it comes.'

I said, "Why would you think that. Maybe your boyfriend was just careless when he tossed his used condom in the basket. It certainly wasn't my used condom."

Abby's eyes narrowed and I could see the anger in her face.

She said, "I know you did it because I was the one who put that condom in the waste basket in the first place. I carefully wrapped it in a tissue and set it in the bottom of the basket. So I figured you came snooping around my house when I was out and found the condom and threw it against the side of the basket just to be a prick."

She knew. I was at a loss as to how handle the situation. There was no lie I could use to save myself so I decide to tell as much of the truth as I dared just to be done with it.

I said, "You're right, I was in your house that day and I found the condom. I was trying to find out if you had been having sex with your boyfriend Ben."

"How did you do it? How were you able to get into my house? Did you have a key?"

I said, "No, I didn't have a key and then I told about the access panel in her hall closet and how I used it to get into her house.

"I was so angry when I found out you had been in my house. There were several times I wanted to come to your house and have it out with you but frankly I was a little scared of you. I thought you were stalking me. If you were willing to sneak into my house what else might you do? In the end I decided to confront you when I got home from work that Friday night but you had already moved out.