Picture Perfect [boyxboy]

So...you all want to see (or read even :P) the hearing - well here we go! :D It's not like a huge trial thing, unfortunately I only know the small, easy divorce procedure. Not the huuuge problematic ones.

~Immy^^

<3

Chapter Six

Simon eyed me calmly. “Are you nervous?”

“Mm,” I said, trying not to speak unless I threw up. “Have you got our negotiations?”

“Of course, Tyler,” he said, his hand on my shoulder. “You’ve got to stop worrying, I’ve been doing this for a long time. You’re in safe hands.”

I trusted Simon because my sister had worked with him on a lot of cases; and only three times had his many divorce cases gone to trial. I really hoped it wouldn’t go to trial; I just wanted to get Saskie and get the hell out of this marriage.

My stomach tightened as I heard the doorbell ring, and Simon sighed. “Tyler, answer the door.”

I walked slowly out of the room and down the corridor, reluctantly opening the door. “Hello,” I said curtly.

Colin nodded at me. “Hello, Tyler,” he said, and there wasn’t an ounce of regret or unhappiness in his voice. On the contrary, he sounded quite alert. “This is Tina.”

I looked at his attorney and attempted a smile. “Hello.”

She smiled back warmly at me. “Hello, Tyler, it’s lovely to meet you at last.”

I coughed slightly, trying to distract the attention from greetings and to the reason we were all here. “Shall we?”

“Of course,” Colin said politely, following me into the dining room. “Where are you moving to?”

“We haven’t found a place yet,” I lied. “Though we have viewed several, nothing’s really calling out to me.”

“Whereabouts?” Colin asked, and I knew he was trying to find out why I’d taken Saskie to England the other week.

“Not unreasonable distances,” I told him firmly, and we all sat down together.

“I’m Simon,” Simon said, shaking hands with Tina.

“Tina,” she replied, and opened a file. “Shall we get straight to it? Property first?”

“Selling,” Colin and I said together.

“Colin is willing to negotiate what percentage of the price you both get,” Tina said, reviewing the sheets before her. “He’s willing to split it so you get sixty-five percent and he gets thirty-five percent.”

Simon looked at me, and I nodded, as this was much better than I was prepared to put forward. “My client thinks that sounded reasonable.”

I was glad we had a third-party present; I don’t think I could have managed it if it was just Colin and I together. I sighed, but listened attentively as we discussed money before moving onto possessions.

“Colin took all of the things he wanted,” I said quietly.

Colin nodded. “Everything I left here I didn’t want,” he said, and I winced at my own interpretation of the meaning behind that phrase. He didn’t want me, so he left me.

“And Tyler,” Tina asked, directly addressing Simon. “What would he like from the house?”

“My client wishes to take some furniture to wherever he ends up moving to,” Simon said. “But he is willing to negotiate which items go to Colin.”

“I don’t need anything,” Colin said hastily. “Tyler, take it all. I don’t need it.”

I paused. “I don’t want it all.” Our double bed, for a start, would have to be demolished. I would not have that go to either of us; it’d die with our marriage. For now, I was sleeping in the living room on the sofa, getting up early so Saskie didn’t realise.

“Then take whatever you want,” Colin said. “Leave the rest in the house for whoever moves in.”

I paused. “That’s acceptable.”

“Good, that’s possessions finished,” Tina said, checking it off a list. “Oh, wait – the car.”

“My client wishes to sell the car,” Simon said.

Tina frowned. “My client wishes to keep the car.”

Oh dear; our first dilemma and it wasn’t about Saskie, it was about the car.

“You were driving a car the other day,” I pointed out.

“That was Mark’s,” Colin said, and then flinched slightly as he realised he’d mentioned his new boyfriend’s name.

I nodded, swallowing. “I see.”

Colin sighed, and I saw guilt on his face. “Sell the car, I don’t need it.”