Bertrice Small - Private Pleasures

"You've got a closet full of nice things, Nora. Open it, and look," he told her.

She got up, and walking across the bedroom floor to the mirrored walls, behind which was a closet, she pushed open one of the doors. Inside was an entire wardrobe of clothing. It was all beautiful. All expensive. And all in the colors she loved. She turned. "Mine?" she asked Kyle.

"All yours," he said. "Like?"

She pulled out a silk wool suit in palest heather mauve. "Oh, yes, I like very much." She put the suit back.

"The Channel offers you everything you want, Nora," he told her.

"That suit sure didn't come from Talbots, like most of my stuff," she noted.

"Your wardrobe here is a bit more elegant, more upmarket," he said.

Nora bent and, picking up her shorty robe, slipped it on. "I do have to go," she said to him.

"When will you be back?" he asked her.

Nora shook her head. "I don't know. With J. J. in the house, I have to be careful."

"I'll be waiting," he promised her.

"Really?"

He nodded.

"How do I get back before closing time?" she wondered aloud. She hadn't even considered that when she made her plans to come tonight.

"Just touch the screen of the plasma telly in the living room. When you turn it on you'll see your den. Good night, Nora, my love."

She blew him a kiss, and hurried back into the living room to turn on the television. When the screen lit she could see her den, in the dimness. Reluctantly she reached out and put her hand flat against the screen. She didn't want to go back, but she had to if she was going to beat Jeff. And no matter how the cards were stacked against her, Nora had already decided her husband wasn't going to get his way this time.

Nora heard nothing from her husband after he had asked her for a divorce. His attorney, Raoul Kramer, had called Rick and said they would all get together after J. J.'s graduation. "No need spoiling the kid's big day," he said.

"It's already spoiled, but maybe a few days will give Jeff a little more perspective," Rick replied. "He can't just dump the woman he's been married to for over twenty-five years without something."

"Sure he can," Kramer laughed. "I'll call you in two weeks, Johnson." And he hung up.

"You looked pissed," his partner, Joe Pietro d'Angelo, said, coming into Rick's office. "Let me guess. The Buckley divorce."

"Joe, we gotta do something. Jeff and his lawyer won't budge. What the hell is going to happen to Nora, and her kids?"

"What did Kramer want?"

"They don't want to discuss anything until after J. J.'s graduation," Rick said.

"Okay, no problem," Joe told him. "They're hoping by putting it off you'll ease up on some of your demands. This is a game, Rick. They won't back down. We won't back down. Jeff Buckley has more to lose than Nora does."

"How do you see that?" Rick asked.

Joe chuckled. "Look, he's divorcing the long-suffering wife for the younger trophy wife. They want to make a nice nest. He's obviously found something, and that's why he wants to sell the house. The kids' college money isn't enough. He wants to be debt free. No mortgage. He paid off the Ansley Court house a couple of years ago. If he sells it, it's all profit except for the agent's commission. And I'll bet he tries to sell it without an agent. No judge is going to let him disenfranchise Nora and her kids. We take it to a judge, and the judge is going to rule Nora stays in the house until they reach a fair settlement. We can hold them off that way, and Raoul Kramer knows it. They want a fast settlement, and we're not going to give it to them unless Jeff gets reasonable."

"Nora wants the house," Rick said.

"I don't think we can get it for her," Joe told his partner. "The best we're going to do is half the value of the house because her father put down half the down payment. And that's the absolute best. Kramer is going to claim she never paid a penny of the mortgage. We're going to have to counterclaim that while she never put money into the house, she did put sweat equity based on her track record as a wife. Nora has always been frugal with Jeff's money. Tiff says she's been wearing the same stuff from Talbots for years. She never buys anything for herself. In other words, her good habits have helped Jeff build the wealth he now wants to squander on a younger new wife."

"God, you're good!" Rick grinned.

Joe grinned back. "I learned a lot at that big practice I worked for in town when I was a callow youth. People with money get real possessive in a situation like this. What do you think Nora will do when this is all over?"

"She's planning to go to the community college to learn computer skills and take a course on how to get a job," Rick said.

"Won't be easy at her age, and with no previous experience," Joe noted, "but if Nora's careful, she'll manage. Has she got an aptitude for anything in particular?"

"You got me," Rick said. "I wonder if Jeff will show up at the graduation. Maureen is friends with J. J.'s girlfriend, Lily Graham. She told Carla that J. J. doesn't want his dad there. That he's really mad at him, especially since he won't pay J. J.'s board at State."

"Yeah," Joe said, "that's something we've got to do for Nora. Tiff was talking to me about it. The kid's got a soccer scholarship for tuition. Why don't the rest of us kick in for his dorm and meal plan? It's only about fifteen hundred apiece. The kid's got a summer job, and he's already lined up an on-campus job. That'll take care of everything else. I'd feel lousy if he lost that scholarship because his father is a horny prick."

"It'll have to come through the girls. I'll talk to Carl Ulrich, and you speak to Sam Seligmann," Rick suggested. "God, I hope Jeff doesn't show up at graduation."

"He's got to be asked, or Kramer will say we're turning the kid against his dad. Judges don't like parents who play divide and conquer," Joe noted.

"I'll check with Carla, but knowing Nora, she'll ask him, because she's just that decent, even if it's wasted on Jeff," Rick answered.

And of course Nora did make certain that her husband was asked to their son's graduation. She had stood over J. J. as he addressed the invitation to his graduation to his father's office, since they had no idea where he was living. After receiving no response, Nora called her husband's office two days before the graduation, but Jeff, according to Carol, his longtime assistant, was unavailable to speak with her.

"I just wanted to know if he's coming to J. J.'s graduation, Carol," Nora said. "We sent his invitation to the office. Maybe it didn't arrive? But graduation is in two days. This weekend."

"Oh, he got the invitation, Mrs. Buckley," Carol said. "I opened it, and gave it to him myself. I can't imagine J. J. graduating already. I came to work for Mr. Buckley the summer just before J. J. started kindergarten. It doesn't seem possible that much time has passed. I'm sure he'll be there in spite of everything."

Nora laughed. "I don't want to put you on the spot, Carol, but satisfy my curiosity. Just a yes or no will do. Does she work in the office?"

There was a long pause, and then Carol said, "Yes." She lowered her voice. "I'm so sorry, Mrs. Buckley!"

"Thank you," Nora responded. "Tell Jeff I called, and I'd like to know one way or the other if he is or isn't coming."

"Of course, Mrs. Buckley. Good-bye."

"Good-bye, Carol," Nora said.

"I hope he doesn't come," Jill Buckley said. She had just arrived home that afternoon. "J. J. doesn't want him there, and for once I agree with my brother."

"He's your father," Nora said quietly.

"He's a creep," Jill replied. "Dumping you for another woman is bad enough, Ma, but trying to make you a homeless bag woman stinks."

"It's a negotiating tactic, Jill. Nothing more. You'll learn that in law school. Do you have your summer course set up?"

"Yeah. If my college didn't require those damned gym courses, I could have been through now," Jill grumbled irritably. "At least it doesn't screw up my waitress job."

"If you had taken those gym courses in your first two years instead of waiting until the last minute, you wouldn't have had to take them this year, and miss the other course you needed and will now have to take this summer," Nora reminded her daughter.

"I hate that phys-ed stuff. I'm not an athlete like J. J.," Jill replied.

"Honey, don't you miss not having a graduation?" Nora asked.

"Nah. Lot of bother, Ma. I just want to go to law school, and get on with my life," Jill responded. "And I've got to start thinking of an internship for next summer."

Nora shook her head. "You're your father's daughter," she said.

"Don't say that!" Jill cried. "I'm nothing like him! I don't want to be like him!"

"Honey, I only meant you were organized, and ambitious," Nora soothed. She hated seeing her children so angry with their father. This problem wasn't really theirs. It was hers and Jeff's. Jill had always adored her father. "You have to be nice to your dad, Jill, when he comes. I don't want him taking away your law school tuition this year. There is no way you could go to Duke without him this year, and he seems to be in an odd mood. Remember that."

"Probably his teenybopper girlfriend has him on drugs. Drugs give you mood swings," Jill said nastily.

"Jill! I have no idea how old or how young this woman is. Don't say things like that," Nora scolded.

"Ma, you know she's got to be younger. When a man has enough money, and is happy in his job, the only thing he wants is red-hot sex. I learned that in psych. I don't think you and Dad were having red-hot sex, if you were having sex at all."

"Enough!" Nora said sharply. "Your father wants a divorce. I'm happy to give him one. Our only disagreement is money. Let it go, Jill. I don't want to hear any more about this. Dad and I will both be happier apart."

And it couldn't all come soon enough, Nora thought to herself. She hadn't seen her husband in several weeks, and to her surprise she wasn't unhappy. In fact she was downright happy, and she was looking forward to starting her own life anew. Rick assured her that they would get a decent settlement out of Jeff eventually. He explained why Jeff couldn't sell the house from under her, but he didn't have the heart to tell her that in the end the house would be sold. That news would come later when there was no other choice. For now it was a huge burden off of her shoulders, as was the financial problem of J. J.'s college tuition.

Carla had come to her with a check for six thousand dollars, and when Nora had demurred, Carla had quietly explained that it wasn't right for J. J. to lose his sports scholarship, and that it was a graduation gift to him from his neighbors on Ansley Court, who had watched him grow up with their kids. It would pay for his dorm room and his meal plan. Nora cried. There was no way she could deny her son this chance. And he was going to write thank-you notes to them all, or she'd kill him!

On graduation morning J. J. donned his kelly green gown and cap. The school's colors were kelly green and white. Maureen Johnson was wearing a white cap and gown, like all the other girls graduating that day. The two families met on the lawns outside. Pictures were taken. Margo Edwards had come up from South Carolina in her gentleman friend Taylor's private plane. They had flown in early this morning, and would be leaving almost immediately after graduation.

"We have a dance tonight at the club, darling," Margo told her daughter. "You know, Nora, you are looking better now than you have in years. You've lost weight, and you have a positive glow about you. If this is what getting rid of Jeff has done for you, you should have done it sooner," she laughed.