Simple Kind of Man

I stepped off of the tiniest plane I'd ever had the misfortune of flying in onto the tarmac in Victoria, Texas. It was so hot the air was visible; rippling just over the blacktop, turning the road into water with its waves. With a heavy sigh and sweaty palms, I raised the handles on the twin suitcases that housed my life and trudged toward the man leaning against the shiny black SUV. He waved and walked toward me.

"Emily, it's so good to see you. Thank you for coming," he said warmly, taking the suitcases from my hand and wrapping me in a friendly embrace.

"It's good to see you, too, Charlie," I said, taking him in. His smile was genuine, but there was a tension around his usually sparkling brown eyes that was telling. "How are you doing?"

He sighed, placing a hand on the small of my back and ushering me toward the car. I was grateful; the heat was overwhelming and I felt as though I were sucking in dry flame with every inhale.

"It's been hard, Em, I can't say it hasn't," he said, once we were in the car and thankfully, bathing in the deliciously cool air conditioning. "I never meant for any of this to happen, and I feel horribly guilty... but at the time... I'm so happy."

His tone was conflicted, but his genuine happiness shone through and, I can't deny, rubbed me the wrong way. I sighed. "We'll have to go through all of this officially, and obviously, when it comes to the proceedings I am completely in your corner... but Charlie, how could you? I just don't understand. How could you do this to Judith? You two have been together forever."

He shot me a pained look; obviously he'd not anticipated my censure. He was one of my
oldest friends, and while I was closer to him than to his wife, Judith, I'd practically grown up with the both of them in my hometown of Forks. They'd always been the constant of our group; even as children they'd been joined at the hip and when they'd officially gotten together as teenagers and later married after college, it had just seemed like a natural progression. I couldn't imagine either of them finding anything more right.

So when I'd gotten a call from Charlie a few weeks ago telling me he and Judith were over and asking if I'd represent him in the divorce, I was shocked. When I'd asked why and he'd quietly admitted that he'd met someone else and cheated, I was fucking floored.

"Look, Emily, I'm not proud of what happened. I don't make any excuses for my actions. But, Judith and I haven't been happy for a long time. The spark was gone - hell, maybe it was never even there to begin with, I don't know..." he trailed off, rubbing one hand on the back of his neck to relieve the tension.

"But, Charlie... regardless, you just can't go around breaking promises... cheating for fuck's
sake, just because you're unhappy. You could have easily have made the move to separate from Judith before hooking up with someone else. You made a promise to Judith when you married her; you should have respected that enough to wait." I knew my tone was unnecessarily harsh, but I couldn't stop it.

He pulled up to the curb in front of what I assumed was my hotel and turned toward me in his seat, regarding me sadly. "I know, Emily - in my mind, I know you're right. But my heart... when you fall in love, your heart just can't wait, Emily."

I wanted to snort at that schmaltzy excuse, but luckily I found the strength to rein in the bitch. Right and wrong were black and white to me and there wasn't – there shouldn't be - any gray area. Feelings could be subdued, put on hold until arrangements could be made. There was no excuse. I mean, that all-consuming, "I must touch you now or die" kind of lust was just romance novel nonsense. Who really feels so strongly that they forget right and wrong? No one. The fact was, Charlie knew it was wrong and did it anyway. Because he wanted to. He made a choice. These things didn't just happen – people allowed them to happen. They made them happen.

And ok, I might have been projecting my own biases just a little bit - but that didn't mean I wasn't right.

I said goodbye to Charlie in the lobby of my hotel, making arrangements to meet with him in the morning to go over the details of the split and what he hoped to gain in the divorce before we headed over to the opposing counsel's office in the afternoon for a meeting with Judith and her lawyer, a Aiden Daniels, Esq.

What the fuck kind of name was Aiden Daniels? Obviously this was a Boy Named Sue situation and his parents were ok with their kid getting beat to shit every day on the playground.

An older lady showed me to my room, babbling on about the hotel's history and whatever the fuck. I tuned her out, offering polite smiles and "uh huh"s whenever necessary. The hotel was what most people would probably refer to as quaint, but I privately regarded as Bum Fuck Egypt's answer to Motel Six.

Why the hell Charlie and Judith had decided to move to Smalltown, USA shortly after their marriage, I'll never know. Sure, Charlie had gotten his degree in agriculture and the land around here was supposed to be rich or something, but who the hell wanted to be a farmer in this day and age?

I'm pretty sure my exact response had been a sneered, "Dude, seriously?" when they'd informed us of their decision to move to Blessing, Texas nearly ten years before. I couldn't fathom why anyone would want to move to Texas in the first place, let alone Blessing; the town name conjuring images of women in Little House on the Prairie getups hosting ice cream socials after church. But even then, I knew they would be happy wherever they went, as long as they were together.

Obviously, my assumption then had been wrong.

I flopped back on the hotel bed. I needed to deal with my own issues before I saw Charlie tomorrow. I needed to put whatever personal feelings I had about his actions aside so that I could represent him to the best of my ability and not let my own thoughts color the way I handled the case. Just because James cheated on me did not give me the right to judge Charlie for cheating on his wife.

Okay, if I was being honest... I was pretty sure it did give me the right to judge, but maybe not to vocalize said judgment.

James.

James and I had been together since my first year of law school at University of Washington. We met at a party one night and that had been that. He always said he took one look at me and had to have me. He was intense and driven, and our grades and successes had always been a bit of a competition between us. It urged me to be better in everything I did. He was possessive and passionate, and though at times it could be a little grating and oppressive, deep down I was always thankful for it. It showed me how much he loved me, how consumed he was with me. How else could I possibly be assured of his affections?
After graduation, we'd both been offered positions at the Smithson firm. It seemed like a dream come true... until I was promoted to junior partner before him. Then everything seemed to slide downhill. His usual sarcastic wit turned caustic and biting; his intensity waned, replaced with an almost deliberate indifference.

And then, I found out about Victoria.

Apparently, in his angst, James had found solace in one of the firm's paralegals. Victoria, I'd
be the first to admit, was fucking gorgeous; she was seriously stacked and had legs for days and some fucking sexy wild red hair.

I could absolutely, on an objective level, see why and how he would turn to her.

But inside, I was wrecked. I was angry and hurt and felt so fucking worthless and used.
He assured me it was a one time thing, that he'd just been so lost and lonely with my working so much and had given in to her seduction attempt. He told me it would never happen again, that he loved me, wanted me.

And I believed him. Or... I wanted it to be true so badly that I convinced myself into believing him. And when he proposed, I'd accepted, thinking that I would be able to forget, that I'd already forgiven. But, Charlie's call had dredged up all the old feelings, and I could feel myself projecting the hurt I still felt but could not articulate to James onto Charlie.
It wasn't right and I resolved to let go. I'd accepted James' promise that he would work his whole life to make it up to me, that he would love me forever. And in turn, I'd promised him to forgive and forget and move on, to make a life with him. In agreeing to take on Charlie's case, I'd also entered into a promise with him.

I would not break my promises.

I met with Charlie at the apartment he was renting the next morning. We sat at his wobbly kitchen table drinking coffee as he explained to me in minute detail the collapse of his marriage. How routine and habit had replaced comfort, how they scarcely spoke, and how their physical relationship had dwindled to nothing since the birth of their youngest. The need for her had been diluted with distraction and indifference.

He met Emily and everything had just clicked into place for him. He said he'd never felt there had been a piece missing inside of him before, but the minute he'd latched eyes with hers, heard her voice, saw her laugh, it was like a the missing puzzle piece had filled an unknown void. He'd felt complete when before he hadn't even known he was less than whole. Though she'd been resistant due to the fact that he was married, eventually their love consumed them and they both gave in.

I tried not to scoff while the grown man in front of me spouted off flowery bullshit. I mean,
seriously. Missing puzzle pieces, really? What a load of crap. He saw someone, wanted to fuck her, did, and the contrast between the routine of being with Judith and fucking someone new was appealing. The end. This whole soul mate BS was just ridiculous. He needed to own up to his shit and deal with it.

But of course, I couldn't say that. Neither could I condone, so I merely hid behind the mask of professionalism, asking him to clarify timelines and give me details on his discussions with Judith. I needed to know every detail in order to understand how bad this was going to be for him.

Apparently, it was going to be pretty fucking bad. Judith had, in Charlie's words, "not taken it well."

"No fucking shit," escaped my mouth before I could stop it. He cringed. "I'm sorry, Charlie. Please, go on."

He told me of Judith's anger and bitterness. Her intention to file for sole custody of the children is what had driven him to seek representation, when before he'd been willing to give her whatever she wanted in the divorce, knowing she deserved whatever he could give her from the marriage. But he wouldn't and couldn't give up his children, no matter how he had wronged their mother.

It was why he'd contacted me instead of someone local.

"I need the best, someone I know I can rely on," he told me urgently. "I know I can trust you do fix this for me, Emily. I know you'll be as invested in the outcome as I am, that it's not just a routine job for a paycheck for you."

But no pressure or anything...

And he was right; it did mean more to me. As much as I was judging the shit out of Charlie for being a piece of shit husband, I knew he was a great father. I knew he was unfailingly responsible, I knew he was loving and fun and engaged - everything a father should be. And though he'd not treated Judith well, he'd didn't deserve to be deprived of his children. And they didn't deserve to be deprived of their father. I hoped we would be able to make Judith see through her anger and hurt to this truth, and that the proceedings would be able to go smoothly without the bitter custody battle that would surely come if she persisted.

"I'll do whatever it takes, Charlie," I said sincerely, squeezing his hand. "I promise."

He let out a long breath, giving my hand a reciprocal squeeze. "Thank you, Emily. I know you will."

Soon after, we headed into town to meet with Judith and her lawyer. I straightened my clothing as we emerged from the car, making sure the black pencil skirt was as wrinkle free as possible and my white button down was tucked in properly. I had on a pair of what I liked to think of as my power shoes; they were tall and black and shiny and wearing them helped to play down the fact that I was only 5'2 and play up the fact that I was the bitch in charge of the show and wouldn't be taking no for answer.

Or so I liked to tell myself.

I mentally steeled myself to face Judith as we walked up to the building. I wasn't quite sure what her reaction to me would be, but I had to assume that because I'd agreed to represent Charlie, it wasn't going to be very friendly. I had to prepare myself for that eventuality, and ready the quietly accepting professional mask.

What I hadn't prepared myself for was the size of Aiden Daniels's office. It was... tiny. It looked like an old house renovated into an office building; there was a small entryway that led to what appeared to be a sitting room. Just beyond that, there was a room with a desk and two chairs, one of which held the seething form of Judith Bane. She glared at me, hatred and bitterness marring her once beautiful face. I flinched and quickly looked away, meeting the eyes of... Holy Hot Man, Attorney at Please Fuck Me Now.

I'd never had such a visceral reaction to someone's appearance before. He was just... unf. Slightly shaggy, dirty blonde hair framing a tanned face. A pair of deep, dark blue eyes and full lips that were just begging me to bite them. They were turned up in a slight smirk, whether in reaction to my blatant perusal or not, I didn't know, but it was a nice indication that

I should probably roll my tongue back into my mouth and put my game face on.

I wrinkled my nose in seeming distaste and asked in the coolest voice possible, "Are you Aiden Daniels?"