End Flashback

I had the chance to talk to Tina Kennard that same day.
Alone.
She told me that Carmen felt extremely guilty, after that little, sweet talk with Shane.
She thought that maybe she shouldn’t have let Tina see that letter.
I didn’t reply.
Tina stared at me and smiled.
“You know what I told her then, Alice?”, she asked me.
I slightly shook my head, even if I already knew the answer.
Tina’s smile had widened.
“I told her: dear girl, by the time this is all over, you’ll think of today as one of your lighter moments”.
I just nodded my head, knowing perfectly all the strategies that lie beneath our job.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, what do you call ten lawyers at the bottom of the ocean?
An excellent start.
You know, I used to resent jokes like that.
Now I see them as simple truths.
Oh, excuse me, my phone is ringing.
…Hello?
Hey honey… I can’t talk right now. I am with some guests.
What? Yeah, me too.
Love you, miss you, want you… Bye!
Sorry, it was Dane.
You know, I recently married.
Which is the last thing I ever thought I’d do after what happened to the Morales-McCutcheons.
I know I am a better lawyer, when it comes to divorce.
I’ll never make another mistake like I made with Shane.

Flashback – Shane

“Let’s just concentrate on the job at hand”, Alice is telling me.
“She wants the house. You want the house”.
I light the third cigarette of the last thirty minutes.
“Yeah, but I am the one who’s living in a hotel room!”, I exclaim.
Alice ducks her head and smiles.
“Not for long”.
She gets up and grabs a pile of documents from the archive.
“She claims she found the house…”, she mutters, flipping through the pages.
I don’t reply.
“She did find it, right?”, she says, glancing at me over her shoulder.
I shrug.
“Yeah, but that’s not the point. She says she made it what it is. She didn’t”.
I shake my head.
“She didn’t”.
Alice turns around and stares at me silently.
“You know Al, I am not keeping score but, if I were, it’d be about 70% to 30% in my favor…”.
I raise my eyebrows.
“…I mean, of the really… good stuff”.
She doesn’t reply, waiting for me to elaborate.
“Those wonderful Staffordshire dogs… In fact, I mean, most of the Staffordshires, I found”.
I get up, pacing the room nervously.
“And…uh… that Art-Deco rug and, uh…”.
I snap my fingers.
“And that stove in the kitchen? She wouldn’t have bought it if I hadn’t pushed her!”.
I shake my head frantically.
“Shoes. That’s what she’s good at buying. Shoes and records. I gotta have shelves in the closet or she’d have them all over the place!”.
Alice sighs, putting an enormous book on her desk.
“Here we go. You’re gonna love this. Civil Code, Title 7623/B, Section C”.
She smirks at me behind her specs.
“I used this once for a freebie divorce I did for my cousin Paulie. Total loser”.
She turns around the book and puts it under my nose.
“Read”.
I narrow my eyes, clearing my throat.
“For the purposes of subsections one and two of paragraphs…”.
Alice’s finger taps on the next side.
“Here, skip down to ‘Parties who have pursued separate lives…’”.
“Okay… ‘Parties who have pursued separate lives sharing neither bed nor board shall be deemed to have lived apart even though they reside under the same roof…’”.
I look up at Alice, expectantly.
“Even though they reside under the same roof?”.
Alice grins.
“Yeah. The law was put on the books for poor people… Folks who couldn’t afford separate residences. But we can use it”.
I smile.
“So I can move back in”.
“If your divorce is settled in court, it shows you’re committed to the property. Plus, you can see she doesn’t sell the assets”.
“I can work on her…”, I mumble pensively, scratching my chin, “…Get her to fold on the house”.
Alice shakes her head.
“No. No, Shane, you don’t even deal with her. You avoid her”.
She sits back behind her desk, crossing her legs on it.
“Women can be a lot meaner than we think, you know that…”, she considers.
“Never underestimate her as an adversary”, she adds, “Don’t talk to her”.
I shake my head.
“No, no, no, I won’t. Don’t worry about me”.
We remain silent for a long time.
Christ.
I can’t believe this is really happening.
Sighing, I get up.
“Alice…”.
I grab her hand on the desk.
“Thank you”.
“All right”, she nods, “All right, go on. Go home”.

End Flashback