Looking around the park I was sitting in, I thought that the day could not be any better. I sat on a bench watching people interact around me, thinking about how my life changed this morning. My husband came home from his overnight shift at work and said, "I want a divorce. I found someone who is younger and much more adventurous."
He packed a bag and said, "I did you a favor and left you a thousand in the checking account and paid the bills through next month. I guess you will have to get a better job."
Looking at him, I said, "My job is just fine. Especially if I am not subsidizing your lifestyle."
He left. I looked at the apartment and sighed. After opening my banking app for our shared account, I transferred the funds to my private checking account. I put an out-of-office note in my email and took my bag, heading to a friend's bakery to see if the apartment above it is available.
When I walked into the bakery, Milly, my friend who owns the bakery, called out, "Maggie, what are you doing here?"
"I need to talk to you when you have a moment," I said.
She added a teabag and hot water to a mug, saying, "Go get a booth in the back, and I will be there in about fifteen minutes."
I added some sugar to my tea and sat down. After ten minutes, she joined me and said, "Spill it, Maggie."
"Oh my best friend, Jack wants a divorce. He paid rent through next month and moved out. I was wondering if the apartment above the bakery is still free?"
She took out a key ring and handed me a set of keys. "You have it through next month for free, and then it's $600 a month. You are in luck; I finished cleaning, repairing, and getting it ready for rent last week."
"You have to let me pay a deposit."
Milly laughed and said, "Sweetie, I am so happy you and Jack are done. Consider this a gift."
Taking her hand, I said, "Thank you. I am going to look around the apartment, and then I have to start to move."
Going upstairs, I opened the door and walked into the apartment. The apartment had two bedrooms, a single bath, a small office, a kitchen and dining room combo, a living room, storage room and a laundry room. Smiling I was happy to make this place my own. I took my phone out and made a list of everything I would need to do, then I made a list of the old house that needed to be cleaned out.
I headed to my house and sat in my office looking at the jobs I need to finish before I take a few days off. I placed a note in my email stating that, due to a family emergency, I would be finishing work and taking some time off. Seeing that I had fifteen jobs left and a month and a half to get moved out of the house and be in the new apartment by October 1st. Moving my laptop and portable file folder to the dining room table, I went to the garage, grabbed some boxes and laundry baskets to pack the house.
Looking at the time, I decided to pack for the rest of the day. I sent Jack a message and asked, "Do you want anything you left here? I am moving and will not be keeping anything I do not want."
A few minutes later, I received a text that asked, "You're not keeping the house?"
I replied, "No, I am starting over and moving to a place I would be happy to live in. I am packing the garage, and I will leave your boxes in the garage."
"What if I want more from the house?"
"No," I said. "You left. You can have the leftovers."
Going to the garage, I pulled the hatch of my truck. I set a timer for three hours and started to pack the garage. When the timer went off three hours later, there was a pile of items for Jack along the wall next to the side door, and I had almost finished the garage. I looked at the bed of my truck and saw I had plenty of room left to move things back to my apartment. I sent Jack a message, "If you come in the side door of the garage, there are boxes of your things packed with your name on it. Please pick them up and bring more boxes if you want your stuff packed nicely."
I went into the house, made myself a snack, and sat in the office to work on my current freelance job. As I worked on the Audio and video overlays, I snacked. After my timer went off in 2 hours I was about thirty percent done with the job.
Shutting my laptop lid down, I went back to the garage to finish packing it. I had just finished packing the garage when Jack came in the side door and said, "I didn't realize you would be up."
Chuckling, I said, "I finished working and decided to pack. I have a lot of jobs to finish, but I want to be moved to my new place. I will not throw things out unless it real garage. However, I will leave the non-garbage for you if I am not keeping it."
"How long?"
"Before Spetember 31st. I want to be in my place by Oct 1st."
"What is it with you and the fall?"
"Jack, that is why it is a good thing we are divorcing," I said. "I have explained to you so many times it's a time of rebirth."
He pointed to a pile of boxes next to the inside house door, "I brought extra boxes."
'Thank you," I said. "Please remember to lock the door behind you."
I stopped and asked, "Did you ever bring her here, and if so, which bed?"
He smirked and said, "Our bed."
Walking inside, I went to the third bedroom and set up the packing piles like I had in the garage. I started packing and had all the dressers cleaned out by the time I started to feel tired. When I finally got too tired, I had filled my truck and decided to bring them to the apartment in the morning. Checking the door, I made sure it was locked and went to take a hot shower before going to bed.
**************************************************************************
When I woke up the following morning, I felt a lot better, and as I made myself a cup of tea, I called my lawyer to start the divorce paperwork. After being on the phone with her for an hour, I threw on some workout clothes and went to drop the items in the truck off to the new apartment. I went into the bakery to get a hand cart, and Milly asked, "Do you have a load to go to your apartment?"
"Sure do!"
"Hold on," she said. "Max and Chris, can you help Maggie unload her truck?"
Max put his hand out, taking my keys, and a taller guy in a gray hoodie followed him to the truck. I gave Milly a look, and Maggie said, "Chris is the new guy. He works here part time. Kinda of shy, he is renting the single room and bath in the rear."
I nodded and said, "Sometimes quiet is a good thing. Let me join them."
Walking outside, I grabbed a box from the truck and headed upstairs. Max and Chris had set up my bed frame for me. Max went down and Chris handed me a piece of paper and said, "I know moving sucks i am home most days so if you need muscle I would be glad to help."
"Thank you, Chris," I said. "I appreciate that."
He went down and helped Max bring up a dresser. I thanked them when they brought the last of the items in and locked the door behind them. I went room to room and unpacked what had been packed and took the boxes back to my truck. I went into the bakery and purchased some baked goods to bring home for lunch and headed home.
When I got home, I added Chris's number to my phone and then added a timer and worked on the job for the marketing firm. As I worked, I had a message from Jack pop up that said, "My Lawyer has the divorce papers for you. Can you sign them so this will be over and done with."
I replied, "You can send them over to my lawyer. She will look them over and see how fair they are. My Lawyer is Marisa Thomas at Thomas and Marshall."
I saw his bubble start and stop a dozen times before he replied, "You are not going to get anything."
"You are divorcing me and locked me out of all the joint accounts. I cannot wait to see what the forensic accountant finds. I am working, Jack. I will let you know when I have more in the garage. Oh, and I will be sending you the bed you fucked her in. But that will be when I have time to pack it."
"You have till September 31st. Remember that."
"I plan to be out of here well before then. Too many broken dreams to stay positive."
There was no reply, and by the time my timer went off, I was ready to do final edits for the marketing firm. After I put my food away, I went into Jack's closet and took what I wanted from his clothes. Then I packed everything else that I did not want. I ended up adding more to my closet than I thought I would. Vacuuming his closet, I shut the doors when I was finished and went to my closet. Taking out a few outfits I would need I went to the living room I hung them on a portable clothing rack and placed a laundry basket on the bottom. By the time my alarm went off, I had finished my closet and the master bathroom. I drove over to the apartment and dropped off the clothes and items I had from my room. After I finished getting everything in and put away, I walked over to the pizza place and ordered food for dinner.
Arriving back home I got a text from Jack saying, "Anything packed?"
"I was working on it; there is a small pile in the garage."
"You could hurry up a bit, you know."
"As you stole all our marital assets, Jack, I cannot. Now please let me be."
Sitting on the couch, I started to eat my food. I decided that since it was the weekend, I would spend most of it packing up the house. After I ate, I went to shower and lay down in bed. Listening to a video on my laptop, I fell into a sound sleep.
*****************************************************************
When I woke up the next morning, I put on an athletic outfit. After getting ready, I went to Milly's Bakery for breakfast. When I arrived, Milly took my order and joined me with her own food. She gave a warm smile as she said, "At least I will see my best friend more. What are your plans for today?"
"I am going to spend the weekend packing. I need some breakfast first."
Milly sighed as she said, "I would help you, but it's the weekend, and we are gonna be busy soon."
"You're fine, Milly. You know I am ADHD, and I may give up after a while and get back to work. I have 15 open work orders, so I am working on things between packing. I am slowly breaking down the house and packing everything."
The bell to the bakery chimed, and Jack walked in with a young woman. Then I realized that the young woman was his secretary. Milly squeezed my hand and said, "Cliche much."
Chuckling, I said, "To each their own."
Chris came out and handed me a to-go cup of coffee and asked, "Maggie, do you need any muscle right now? I am about to go on a break."
Looking at him, I said, "Not at the moment. I dropped a large amount of things off last night. But I will be back later today when I fill the truck again."
Chris asked, "How are you getting everything in your truck?"
"Luck," I replied.
Milly groaned and said, "Please be careful, oh spicy one. You get yourself hurt and who am I going to go rock climbing with?"
Jack came over and said, "Maggie does not rock climb."
Milly took her phone out and said, "Look, Chris, this is Maggie and I three weeks ago at Bridge Ridge for a girls' day of climbing, then dinner. Her ex-husband likes to say she is boring, but that girl is a firecracker attached to a continuous stream of energy."
Chris looked at me and said, "That is good to know."
Standing up, I said, "I am heading out. I will be back later today with more things."
Chris said, "Well, text me and I will help. After this, I am going to go home and relax today."
"Thank you Chris."
As I walked out Jack said to Milly, "Who is that guy talking to her?"
Chris replied, "I am just a friend. I have morals, man, and she is legally married to you right now."
Jack's secretary Mary huffed and said, "Let's leave, Jack. I am not going to be insulted."
Climbing into the truck, I drove home and went up to the master bedroom to finish packing. When I finished cleaning out the master bedroom, I went back to the pantry to sort and clean it out. I sorted about a quarter of the pantry and added the boxes to my truck. I went to the front storage and coat closet and made quick work of it, as it seemed Jack took many of his things from it before dropping the divorce bombshell. Jack's pile started to grow a lot, and I texted him with a picture of his pile.
He replied, "I will be there for it when I can."
"I will continue to add to it, so be prepared to borrow someone's truck. Not mine, but someone else's."
Going into the dining room, I grabbed a box and packed up Jack's mom's fine china. Thank god I do not have to look at those pieces anymore. Since the formal dining room table was not to my taste, I dragged the table and chairs to the garage. I, however, kept the china cabinet as it was my grandma's. After I emptied it, I moved the pieces carefully to my truck. Slightly before dinner, I had filled my truck and headed to the new apartment.
Pulling up Chris was coming out of the bakery and said, "Well, you lucked out. Max is coming over to game. We can help you first."
Max came out and said, "Damn Maggie I have been to your house and I have no clue how you ar going to fit everything in here."
"Oh, I won't be. The ugly stuff in the house is going to Jack. I was thankful when I packed Jack's mom's china."
The guys carried everything upstairs. They saw the crates of pickled things I had, and I gave them a few jars as a thank you. Max said, "Maggie, thank you. We will place the mason jars in a bag when we are done eating these. They will be a great snack while we game."
"Enjoy, guys," I said as I went to unpack the boxes. When I finished, I went back to the house and put some chicken tenders in the oven. While they cooked, I finished packing up the dining room. Heading to the library, I sat in front of the first bookcase and started separating our life in the library. When my timer went off for my food, I took a break and plated my food. Taking it back to the library, I continued packing and loading the shelving units into the truck. When I filled the truck again, I headed to the apartment.
I had unloaded my first shelving unit when I heard, "Maggie, put the shelf down."
Max and Chris came out and unloaded the truck for me. When they had brought everything upstairs, I unpacked and headed back home. When I arrived, Jack was loading things into his car. He looked at me as I backed up and parked in the garage.
He looked at the truck and said, "You could loan me the truck."
"Sorry, I can't. I have more to load for my new apartment right now. I am packing all weekend so I can work a few hours a day for the rest of the week."
"Would you be willing to work out a settlement for the divorce?"
"I am waiting to see the forensic accountants' discovery."
"You will not win this, Maggie."
"You sure about that? You realize that I can go after you and that pretty little secretary of yours. You might want to rethink that attitude, Jack."
He filled his car and left. I pushed everything against the wall and locked up the garage. Going back to the library, I finished packing. I was still wide awake, so I went into the second bedroom and started to pack the closet. I finally started feeling tired around midnight. By then I finished packing the closet and was about a quarter of the way through packing. I decided in the morning I would pack up the attic. I lay on the couch and fell into a deep sleep while the TV played in the background.
*************************************************************************
Waking up the next morning, I unlocked the door to the garage and found that Jack had come for the rest of his belongings in the garage. I made a cup of tea and checked how much room I had in the truck and headed to the attic.
I started to go through everything in the attic and laughed when I discovered most of the items were Jack's. I dragged all his boxes to the basement and sent him a picture of all of his items that were down there. When I finished filling my truck, I was more than halfway done. I went to the bakery and saw t was only nine in the morning. I would have messaged Chris, but it was his day off, and I was not doing that to him when the bakery was closed as well.
I carried up the first stack of boxes and put them in the storage area and when I came back down Chris was leaning against my truck. I smiled, and he said, "Maggie, you should have called."
"It's your day off, Chris. I was trying to let you sleep in. I am doing a big push today and then it's back to work tomorrow."
"Text me then," He said. "Unless war breaks out, I will be home all day."
"Thank you."
"Now I will follow you up with a stack, and while you unpack, I will bring more up."
"Sounds like a plan."
I grabbed some more items and Chris unloaded the truck bed. I was able to get everything I had to me. We spoke while I unpacked and he walked me to my truck when he said, "If you want, I can come back with you and load your truck."
"You sure? I do not want to bother you on your day off."
He smiled and said, "You said you wanted a big push."
"Sure if you want to join me that would be great."
He said,"Let me grab my jacket."
We drove back to my house and Jack was in the driveway. Chri asked, "He is going to make a big deal out of me being here, isn't he?"
"Probably."
He chuckled and said, "Well I will behave."
"Thank you," I said. "I do not want to have to deal with him."
I backed into the garage, and Jack came up to me saying, "Oh so instead of packing your out with your boy toy."
"Not that I have to explain myself to you," I said. "Chris is a friend and he is helping me do a push so I can get out of here faster."
Jack looked down his nose and said, "I should come in and take what I want."
"Sure thing," I said. "Bring a police officer and have him come here to make sure you are taking exactly what is yours."
He looked at me and said, "Then I would have to stay in the house with you. No thank you."
I watched him leave, and Chris came up behind me and said, "He is such a fool. You are better off."
"I agree," I said. "So let's go to the basement. I will be able to sort it fast as I organized it the past spring."
Chris said, "Lead the way."
After an hour, Chris and I were on the way to the apartment. I sent Jack a text saying, "By dinner you can come and pick up more items."
He responded with, "Bring them to me."
I sent a laughing emoji and followed it up with, "It's your stuff; it can sit there. My stuff is taken to my apartment every day."
Chris and I worked through the day. By the time I offered to take CHris for Tacos we finished the basement, attic, game room, linen closet, stairs and hallways. When we pulled out of the house I saw Jack pull in and Chris asked, "So arn't you afraid he will go inside and take what he should not."
Smiling I said, "Not at all. I changed the inner door lock and front door locks. He cannot get into the house. When I am moved out he can do what he wants with the house. I have to agree with it if he sells because my name is on the deed."
He nodded and said, "You are something, Maggie."
"I will take that as a compliment."
He chuckled softly and said, "You should."
While we ate, we talked about what our futures would be. I got to know Chris well and gained a new friend that day. When we got back to my new apartment Chris helped me bring the items I had in my truck up. When he was getting ready to leave he gave me a hug and said, "This was fun, thank you."
"Thank you for all of your help Chris. I am sure I will see you later this week."
I went back to my house and found Jack sitting on the steps. He looked at me and asked, "So who is that guy?"
"Chris is a friend and neighbor. He offered to help me get things packed and moved today since we were both off today."
"You both seem very chummy."
"He is a friend Jack. Just because you cheated does not mean I would. Now I am heading to bed. Tomorrow I am going to get the realator so we can sell the house. Please behave when they contact you to sign papers so they can show the house."
"I want to keep the house," He said.
"Then you will be paying me for it, along with half the marital assets. You know I could sue Mary, Jack. Alienation of Affection."
"You wouldn't!"
"Could she afford it? Would she have a job after if I was to sue her?"
"What do you want?"
"I will let you know."
"That is blackmail."
"No, it's state law. I found receipts, and you spent a lot of marital money on Mary."
?I never thought you could be this devious, Maggie."
"It's not being devious, Jack. It is getting back what you stole."
15 jobs Aug 12-sept 31
95% Video with audio overlay for marketing firm
(25) Bedroom 2 closet- (25)bedroom 3 closet, kitchen, laundry room, bathroom 2, (25)pantry, TV room, office
Maggie- main Chris- second main
Milly- Friend
Jack- ex-husband Mary-mistress
Max- millys workers
Two bedrooms, a single bath, a small office, a kitchen and dining room combo, pantry and a living room and laundry room. storage room
Comments
Post a Comment