That Blue Gibson: Another Round

twenty-five

Out on the balcony, his fears were only slightly abated.

"We re-wrote up the documents, David. She wanted a bifurcation to the date you moved out of the martial home so she could..."

Dave hung his head as his lawyer trailed off. Jordyn had wanted a quick, painless divorce. She wanted to be free and clear of the mess Dave had made of her life so she could start over with Jonathon. Just another person in her life that would end up letting her down.

We can haggle over the bullshit later, he remembered her snapping at him in a sweltering parking garage outside their lawyer's office. It was her response to his final attempt at him begging for her to let him come home, the final nail in the coffin.

"Yeah...," he replied softly, trying to shake the memory. "Yeah, okay. I just needed to double check. And... and everything with Elizabeth is legit, right?"

A confused pause drifted through the phone and then, "What exactly are you asking me, David?"

He sighed heavily and dropped into one of the chairs, spreading his hand across his forehead as he relayed just enough information necessary to his buttoned-up, by-the-book lawyer.

After an agonizingly long pause, the squeak of an office chair told him the line was still connected before his lawyer spoke again, "... I'm going to recommend you call the authorities, but knowing full well you won't do that, my next piece of advice would be restraining and no-contact orders for yourself, your family, Ms. Blum, and any close business associates."

"How long will that take?"

"I can have them in front of a judge in about an hour. Unless you're in immediate danger, in which case I'm going to again recommend..."

His instructions faded out as the sinking feeling pulled Dave back into his chair. He felt like he was drifting slowly to the bottom of a pool, the sounds around him murky and uneven. Somehow, he couldn't place just exactly when, he had lost his way. Maybe this was his mid-life crisis showing up right on cue at 50, but somewhere along the line, he had lost himself.

So, he tried recalling the past 24 hours to see if the answer was hidden within.

*

The close quarters on the plane back from Portland had inspired a long overdue conversation between himself and Taylor and although at the time he wanted to be anywhere other than in that first class seat, it was cathartic. Everything was out now, there was no need for any more side-eyes or scathing comments said under one's breath, everything had been laid bare.

There was a lingering hug in the first class lounge when they deplaned, a few short and sentimental sentences that affirmed their friendship and they were off into the LA sunshine.

Taylor had dozed off in the cab, leaving Dave to deal with the starstruck driver alone and by the time he dragged himself and his suitcase up the steps to the bedroom, he was spent. With his clothes carelessly discarded on the floor beside the bed, he dove into the pillows and almost immediately fell asleep.

"Is that where we're going?" she yelled across the water to him, wobbling a little on her paddleboard as she pointed excitedly at the grouping of waterfalls at the edge of the Hawaiian island.

"Way to ruin the surprise, Elizabeth!" he teased back at her and earned a sarcastic middle finger in response.

He chuckled and dipped his paddle in the water to move closer to her, but the left side of his board lifted gently, upsetting his balance enough that he dropped to his knees to lower his center of gravity.