Lean on Me

Part One - Chapter Nineteen: The End of a Marriage

Fernando sighed sitting in the living room, he had already placed all of his things into his car and now he was waiting for Olalla to return home from shopping so that he could finally end his marriage.

Fernando smiled to himself thinking about Cassidy, he was making the right choice in choosing her and he hoped that she wouldn’t get into any trouble for their relationship; he had already done some checking to ensure that there was a way to protect her from the backlash of this.

Fernando knew that he had to think about Nora and Leo, Olalla wasn’t going to allow him to walk away with their children; she had a lot to answer for and he wanted answers.

“Amor I am home,” Olalla called happily entering the house, she had no idea that her husband was waiting for her in the living room and that he had a set of divorce papers with him.

Fernando had spoken to his lawyer who had redone the divorce papers so that Fernando was more protected from his wife.

“Nando, there you are… is everything okay?” Olalla asked finding her husband, she looked at him confused about the fact that he didn’t look happy to see her; she shifted nervously knowing that this had something to do with his distance from her recently.

Fernando looked at Olalla, this wasn’t going to be easy but it had to be done; Israel was right about him not being able to live like this anymore.

“Who is he?” Fernando asked watching his wife as she moved to sit down, he could see that she wasn’t happy about this and that she was going to try to deny what he knew and he wasn’t going to let this go until he had what he wanted.

“I know that baby isn’t mine Olalla,” Fernando said deadly calm staring his wife, she stared at him shocked before looking down at her hands; she swallowed she couldn’t lie to him about this, she was surprised that it had taken him so long to figure this out.

“His name is George,” Olalla said softly refusing to meet Fernando’s gaze, she didn’t need to look at him to know that her words of admission were crushing him; she swallowed knowing that this was going to end her marriage to Fernando when she needed him most.

“How long?” Fernando breathed realising that she was going to be honest with him, he swallowed as he ignored the pain in his chest at the fact that his high school sweetheart had tried to trick him into nearly raising another man’s baby.

“A year and a half,” Olalla admitted peeking at Fernando, she choked back a cry as she saw the look of devastation on his face; she had never meant to hurt him and she wished that there was some way that she didn’t have to do this.

Fernando ran his fingers through his brown hair as he watched her, he couldn’t believe that she had been having an affair for most of their marriage; they had been married for just over two years and together for about ten.

“Nando por favor… say something,” Olalla pleaded resting a hand on her stomach, she hoped that Fernando wasn’t going to leave her; she was used to a set way of life and she needed him if she was going to raise the baby.

“I want a divorce,” Fernando said pushing the papers towards Olalla, who balked as she realised that she truly had made a mess of this; she blinked back tears looking at him hoping that she could convince him otherwise.

“I know I made a mistake… I should have never forced you to move to London so that I could be closer to George,” Olalla said trying to talk him out of what he had planned; Fernando stared at her as her words sunk in, she had nearly destroyed his career so she could be closer to her lover, he felt sick at the realisation.

If it hadn’t been for Cassidy and their relationship, he would have never come out of his goal draught; she had helped him with so much and he couldn’t believe how selfish Olalla had been.

***

Cassidy looked at Fernando entering the apartment, the brunette’s eyes widened as she spotted his defeated form; for a moment she feared that he hadn’t left his wife before he collapsed onto his knees and sobbed.

“Nando,” Cassidy whispered pushing herself off the couch and moved to check on him, she had never seen him like this and she didn’t know how to make this right; she wrapped her arms around Fernando as she tried to comfort him.

“What happened?” Cassidy asked running her fingers through his brown hair that was slowly getting longer, she sighed as he wrapped his arms around her and sniffled while trying to calm himself.

Fernando took a couple of deep breathes holding Cassidy close, she was all he had now and he hoped that it would all be okay; they were going to have to be careful until he was divorced from Olalla and he hoped that his now estranged wife wouldn’t cause them trouble.

“She’s being cheating on me for about a year and half, the baby is his,” Fernando said looking at Cassidy, he slowly let her go as he got to his feet; he couldn’t believe that his marriage was coming to an end while Cassidy looked shocked at his words.

Fernando sighed sitting down on the couch, he knew that none of this was easy but he suddenly felt relieved that he had Cassidy; if he didn’t then he’d probably gone and done something stupid by now.

“I gave her the divorce papers… she begged me to work on our marriage but I won’t, it can be saved,” Fernando said shaking his head, he didn’t want to save his marriage; it was dead and he needed to think of his future.

“I’m sorry,” Cassidy said watching him, she had suspected that Olalla had been cheating on Fernando when they had first met but she had never had thought the other woman was capable of this.

“It’s not your fault,” Fernando said offering Cassidy a weak smile, he moved to rest a hand on her stomach; she was eleven weeks pregnant and he couldn’t wait to spend his future with her and their baby, he kissed her softly knowing that this was what mattered to him, his children.

“What will happen now?” Cassidy asked softly resting her head against his, there would be a lot that Fernando needed to do and she was all too aware that they were going to need to be careful; they couldn’t have their relationship coming out yet.

“I’ll have to look for a house soon, this apartment isn’t big enough for a family… then I’ll have to see how things go with Olalla and our divorce,” Fernando said looking at Cassidy with a small smile, he knew that it was a little early to be thinking of this but he wanted them to have a proper home to raise their child in.

Cassidy blinked a little taken back that he was thinking about this, she watched as he chuckled and moved to kiss her softly; she had never considered that he would think about this so soon into their relationship even if they were expecting.

“I want us to be a family Cass, no matter what happens next,” Fernando said with a small smile, he kissed her softly as he thought about their future he could only hope that Olalla didn’t cause them any trouble.

Cassidy was his future and Fernando couldn’t wait to close the chapter on his past with Olalla, so that he could move forward to a fresh one with Cassidy and his children.