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PICK UP FROM FIRST HALF OF CHAPTER 23(THE AFTERMATH)


After sitting in the darkness for two hours, I finally got up the courage to open the other large envelope that sat on the coffee table. I knew what it was, but only after I had opened the letter from her attorney.

It had only been 2 days ago that I had been planning to go to LA to find Sara, but that all changed that morning after I checked the mail before going to the hospital to see Mikey and Alicia, who was in labour. I knew I was going to have a hell of a time seeing their child, and getting served with divorce papers only made it worse.

I threw the now empty envelope on the ground and studied the papers. Each page had her signature on the bottom, and a small sticky note was beside each place that I was to sign. I looked over to the table, where a pen lay, but my hand didn't budge. I couldn't sign my life away, it was impossible. The only way to try and get it all back was to fight for it, which is what I intended to do, so I picked up my phone and called my lawyer.
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My heart thumped as the elevator climbed floors, to meet my lawyer and Gerard. I hadn't seen him in three months. I didn't know what to expect.

"I'm so scared," I said to Ronnie.

"Don't be."

I reached the door where I was supposed to be, and I took a deep breath.

"I should go now."

"Okay, call me when it's over."

I hung up the phone, straightened myself up one last time, and opened the door. I guess I was expecting something to happen, because when there was no one standing there, waiting to greet me, I was surprised. I looked around, there was an empty reception desk and waiting room.

I rang the little bell on the desk, and waited. Not too long after that, my lawyer, David Lui, came in striding confidently into the room.

"Sara, right on time. Follow me."

After following him to his office, he briefed me on how the meeting would go and what to say when I was asked questions. I nodded, but I wasn't listening. Instead, I wondered how I looked. I had spent a long time that morning trying to figure out what to wear to the meeting, and it ended up being nothing special.

"So they should be here in a few minutes," he said, when he finished. "There's some coffee in the staff room if you want."

"Thank you." I got up and left the room, and wandered down the hall to find the staff room. With every passing minute, my heart seemed to be beating faster. I was terrified of what would happen, and more importantly, how I would feel when Gerard finally arrived.

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"Is it possible that I can have some water?" I asked Saras lawyer. He nodded and said, staff room, just down the hall on the left. I thanked him and ventured out into the hallway. I walked into three different rooms before I found it, but I stood frozen in the door when I did find it; Sara stood in the room, her back turned towards me, a cup of coffee in her hand. She turned around, and then she stood frozen too, staring at me.

Even though so much needed to be said, neither one of us said a word. Instead, I turned and left. I didn't want to be with her alone, not then anyway. I had already made a plan with my lawyer, and I had a speech prepared. But when the moment came, I could feel it all slipping away.

"Mr. Lui," said John Gomez, my lawyer. "I realize he needs to sign the papers. He has agreed to do so, but only if Ms. Klassen agrees to speak with him, alone, first."

"That is not part of-" he started back, but Sara interjected, "No, it's okay. We need to get it over with anyway."

So the two lawyers left, and Sara and I sat across from each other. She shifted and finally, for the first time during that meeting, turned her eyes to look at me. I couldn't get over how different she was, and she knew me well enough to know that I was thinking about that.

"I needed a change, a fresh start. I thought starting with a change of image would be a good place to start."

"You thought looking like a slut was a good idea?" As soon as I said it, I knew it was a huge mistake. Her cheeks flushed red, her eyes narrowed.

"Excuse me?"

"I saw the video, and the pictures."

She laughed viciously and said "That's my job Gerard. I'm good at it."

I leaned forward and said through gritted teeth, "I didn't come here to argue with you. I came here to see if there was any chance of finding out what went wrong between us."

Her face dropped, and she sat back in her chair, her hands resting on her stomach. I noticed that there was no ring on her engagement finger, and I decided to pursue that subject instead.

"So it's not true then?"

"What?"

"You being engaged."

She looked surprised and she did that thing when she's nervous where she sucks in her cheeks a bit.

"Gerard, what more do you want from me? We tried to make it work, but it didn't."

"You didn't give us a fair chance! You didn't fight hard enough for us!" I yelled, standing up. "I can’t bring myself to sign those papers unless I know we're completely over. You can’t just give up on us like that. Not everything in life is easy." I crossed the table and knelt down beside her chair, taking her hands mine and kissing them. "We're made for each other. You can't just let that slip away. We're soul mates. Please just give me a chance to prove we can work."

She sighed, and I could see her fighting back tears. "I've moved on with my life. You need to do the same. This will be for the best."

I stood up and turned away from her, looking out the window at the city of New York. I looked down at the small specks that were people, all of them oblivious as to anything but their lives. It was no secret that people were selfish, but at that moment, Sara could have been the spoke person for man kind, at least that's what I thought.

"So," I breathed, turning back to her. "Is this how it ends?"

"It has to be, for many reasons," she whispered.

I couldn't stand being in the same room as her, and not touching her. I missed her soft, warm lips, I needed to feel them. Even if it was just one last time, I needed what haunted my dreams. I grabbed her and kissed her. She didn't resist, infact she kissed me back, but I could feel her tears on my cheek.

"Why?" I asked, pulling away, but resting our foreheads together.

"Because Ronnie and I are getting married."