Talking Bird

XXXX

I sat in my office and stared at my computer screen. I had received an e-mail from Mr.Baker's wife's lawyer, and the news I got wasn't going to make Mr.Baker happy. Well if you looked at it in a different way, it could be considered both good and bad. I nervously picked up the phone and dialed Mr.Baker's cellphone number, having him pick up two rings later.

"Yo!" That wasn't Mr.Baker. I frowned.

"Hi I'm Izabelle Tremblay, Mr.Baker's lawyer. May I please speak to him?" I asked, playing with the chord from the phone.

"Yea, sure, hold on." The voice said. While I waited for the phone to be passed to Mr.Baker, I decided to put the kettle on. A few seconds later, I heard Mr.Baker ask who was phoning him as he took the phone.

"Hi?" He asked.

"Hi, Zachary, it's Izabelle. I received an e-mail from your wife's lawyer concerning your wife, I'd like for us to arrange an appointment to discuss the issue." I professionally said, pouring some boiling hot water into my mug which had cute kittens on it.

"Izabella, I was just about to enter the room for an interview. Can I call you back when it's over?" He asked.

"Oh, okay, well-"

"Look, meet me at La Casa Italia at eight o'clock and we'll discuss it, k?" He asked in a rushed tone. I immediately agreed and hung up the phone with him. It was so hard to handle Mr.Baker's case what with him being famous and all. He had interviews and photo shoots booked left and right, signings to do, and it didn't help that I had a busy schedule, too. I sighed and took a sip from the hot coffee.

After enjoying my coffee, I decided to get ready for Zach and I's meeting. It was barely seven, and knowing myself, it would take at least a half hour getting ready. I took a quick shower and put my hair up in a towel while I did my makeup. I simply just put mascara and blush, as well as lip chap.

With a towel wrapped around my petite frame, i frantically searched for an outfit to wear. La Casa Italia was a fancy Italian restaurant, which pretty much required fancy wear. I grabbed a nice knee length black dress and curled my hair up. Why did Zachary pick such a fancy place for a meeting? Getting all pretty on a Sunday night was not on my agenda. Why couldn't he just come over and talk it out instead?

By the time I got to La Casa Italia, I saw that Zachary had arrived before me. He was standing near the door waiting patiently.

"Hey." He smiled, holding his arm out. I looped my arm through his and gave him a questioning look.

"Why the fancy restaurant? Why couldn't we just talk at my house?" I asked, looking up at him. He just shook his head at me and walked to our table.

"You ask too many questions, Izabelle. We'll talk about the e-mail and then just have a good night, alright?" He smiled, taking out my chair for me. I quietly thanked him and sat down, pulling out the menu to look it over.

"I guess, but I still don't under-"

"Izabelle, just drop it, ok? Consider this supper a sort of 'thank-you' for helping me out with this divorce, okay?" He asked with serious eyes. Still, I couldn't help but remain confused at his sudden gentleman behavior. It wasn't Mr.Baker-esque. Maybe he had a fever or something.

"Alright," I said, "What are you ordering?" I asked, trying to make conversation before we got into business.

"I'm not sure, probably Chicken Marsala. You?" He asked, still looking at the menu.

"Penne pasta with eggplant and goat cheese." I told him, putting my menu down. I hadn't had Italian food in so long, and I was quite glad that Zachary had now picked an Italian restaurant, contrary to before.

"White wine or red wine?" Zachary asked as he put his own menu down, waving the waiter over.

"Red, please." I said.

Zachary ordered our meals along with the red wine and adjusted his tie, looking straight at me.

"So tell me," he said still fixing his tie. I almost had the urge to reach over and fix it for him, "What is this e-mail you've received?"

"Your wife moved out of the state, Mr.Baker. She still refuses to sign the papers." Zachary was about to cut me off but stopped when I put a hand up, "But before you freak out or anything, this might be a good thing. Remember how I said she had sixty to ninety days to sign those papers? She now has about two months left to sign them. Since she's moved, that most probably means she won't show up to court to contest, which means that the judge will most likely grant you the divorce."

It took Mr.Baker a good thirty seconds to let the information I had told him register in his mind. Once the information did register though, he didn't look too happy. But thank god the waiter came with our bottle of wine before Mr.Baker spoke, he totally needed the drink. I thanked the waiter once he poured a glass each and waited for Mr.Baker to speak.

"She moved?"

"Yes, her lawyer has informed me she's moved to Washington with her son. She doesn't plan on signing the papers, and I'm not aware yet if she knows that if she doesn't show up to contest, your divorce will be granted."

"This is good, right?"

"Well it is good if she doesn't show up to the court date by the end of her due line to sign the papers. So as of right now, we're just hoping that she doesn't show up to contest." I said. Zachary looked like he was in another world. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, and it was bothering me.

"Are you alright?" I asked. I reached my hand out and held his hand in mine, looking at him, trying to get something out of him.

"Yeah." He said, still looking dazed out. "Yea, I'm fine." He said.

The rest of the dinner went by extremely awkwardly. Mr.Baker hardly spoke, and neither did I. I couldn't understand it though, he should be happy that his wife moved out of state. In cases like these, the person refusing to sign the papers wouldn't fly out of the state to contest. I couldn't understand why he was acting so weird. It bothered me, a lot.