Acts of Desperation(55)
“Ok, so now we wait,” Jax said.
“How do you think it went?” Sarah asked.
“It went well,” he said. “There were times when I thought the judge was bored with me but then other times she seemed interested. Unfortunately, I’ve been in this situation plenty of times and you just can’t predict how they’ll rule. I’ve been surprised on both ends of the spectrum. We might hear something by the end of the week. Try not to worry though, you did well.”
Sarah exhaled and smiled. “Thanks.”
“I’ll give you a call when the ruling comes in, and we can go over it in my office.” Sarah agreed then Jax looked at both of us, and a slightly awkward moment of silence passed. “Well, I’m going to head back to the office,” he said, reaching out to shake her hand. “Sember, you staying behind or do you want to walk back together?”
“I’m going to hang out here a sec then I need to head upstairs for a conference,” I said.
“Sure.” He half smiled. “I’ll be in touch,” he said, nodding his head to Sarah and left.
When he was safely out of hearing range Sarah asked, “Geez, I think I could have cut the tension between you two with a knife. Do you actually have a conference upstairs?”
“No, but he doesn’t need to know that,” I said, shrugging my shoulders.
“Playing it kind of dirty sister,” she said.
“Well, until he figures out his issues, there’s nothing else I can say or do. He’s being stupid.”
“Men do that. And they think we’re the crazy ones.” She laughed and rubbed my arm. “I’m sure he’ll come around.”
“I guess we’ll see.” I shrugged my shoulders.
“So how do you think it went in there?”
“I think Jax did a good job,” I said, nodding my head. “But the judge seemed to like Anders too. His arguments were convincing, but hopefully she takes the time to review the actual facts. We just have to wait and see now.”
“All this waiting sucks, I want an answer now.” She sighed. “But, I know you have to get back so we should probably get going. I’m heading over to mom and dad’s to have some coffee and decompress until the kids are out of school.”
We walked together down the hallway to the stairs and said our good-byes outside the revolving doors of the building.
****
The rest of my week ticked by, and I kept busy working on my cases. I’d been having my daily daydream staring out the window when Sarah called.
“Hey, Jax just called and said he pulled some strings. He found out a ruling is expected in by the end of the day,” she said.
“Wow! That was quick.”
“Is that good or bad?” she asked.
“Neither, if you’re looking for a hint about how she’s going to rule, but good in the sense that you don’t have to wait long, it’s only been a few days. When are you coming by?” I asked, opening up my calendar.
“After school today. Around four,” she said.
“Shoot. I have a meeting at three thirty, but I’ll try to have it wrapped up by the time you finish. Come by my office before you leave,” I said.
****
I sat with my clients anxiously staring at the clock knowing Sarah was a couple of doors down hearing her ruling. I got a final set of signatures and was seeing my clients out when Sarah walked out of Jax’s office. I didn’t like the look on her face.
“Go on in and have a seat, I’ll be in a second,” I said as Sarah approached, but she only silently nodded her head. I walked my clients to the elevator and hustled back to my office.
“I take it things didn’t go well?” I asked, shutting the door behind me.
“She cut my support in half,” she said on the brink of tears.
My stomach dropped. “What? No.” I couldn’t believe that Anders managed to convince the judge. “What did Jax say?” I asked.
“He was disappointed and suggested I sit down and meet with Anders independently to try to make a deal. He said Anders probably only wants it to look like he won to those on the outside. Jax thinks this all boils down to custody. He said I should offer him shared custody knowing that he won’t be able to follow through with what we agree on anyway then I can negotiate a better financial arrangement. It’s pretty much my only option now. I’ll have to get a second job to even support the kids with what I got.”
My heart was in my throat, but hearing what Jax advised made me angry beyond measure. I decided to keep it to myself though; Sarah had enough things to worry about. “I’m really sorry Sarah.”
“Me too.” She took a deep breath, suppressing tears. “But, I’m not going to get upset about it. I’ll just make that phone call and see if he’ll meet with me. Jax said that even though he won this one, he doesn’t think Anders wants to go to trial and have a judge take a nice hard look at his business records. Despite what happened in court already, there are some questionable things lurking in there that could have serious consequences. Knowing that, I’m hoping Anders will want to talk this out.”
“I’m sure he will,” I said, shaking my head.
After Sarah left, I made the decision to go talk to Jax. I went down to his office and walked in. “I need to talk to you,” I said then noticed he was on the phone.