Only You Can Be my Wife: Let me go Mr. Clayton

A woman sat in silent, heavy cloud of sadness enveloping her. Her appearance, once vibrant and full of life, now mirrored the anguish in her heart. Her long chestnut hair, once meticulously styled, now hung dishevelled around her shoulders, a reflection of her disarrayed emotions. She stared blankly at the lawyer in front of her.

Her once bright, hazel eyes were now dull and tired, with a hint of redness from the countless tears that had fallen in the past few days.

“What did you mean?” Alice Steve looked at Maria helplessly, the last thing on her mind was what she had just heard from the lawyer, she stared at the lawyer for a couple of minutes, her heads spinning, her heart beating fast and hard each passing second, she glanced at her wedding ring, a symbol of love and commitment, still clung to her finger, though it was now tarnished by the reality of her crumbling marriage she still wore it.

"You mean he said he wouldn't agree to it" she said as she finally opened her mouth to speak.

"Your husband was adamant in signing the papers, I have spoken with him countless times, sent a lot of mails, I personally send the papers to his office at Spain but he flatly refused to collect it, he insists on a meeting with you first”

Maria didn't want to meet up with Felix Clayton all she had hoped for was to get the divorce over and done with, she had hoped to cut contact with him all she wanted now was to move on after being separated from him for a long time, she had thought leaving the lawyer to meet up with him and handle her divorce will make it quick and easy for her to get out of the marriage, she also had a life to live she need to move on.

"I will advise you as your lawyer to meet up with Mr Felix” Alice Steve advised.

"In my opinion, I think Mr. Felix wanted you two to end things on a personal note and from my observation he didn't want to do these through the legal system he may be rich but he cannot prevent the divorce from happening, but he would drag this for a long time and I hope you know it would incur more legal fees for you, the more he drags it on the more you pay, think about it I'm sure you don't want it to continue like this”

The thought of having to pay more legal fee if the man continue to drag the divorce proceedings Maria felt her soul left her body, her current finances was crawling and a long time drawn out legal process will sure kill her finances. She couldn't help but wondered why on earth the man would want to see her their relationship has never been a good one to begin with they almost never even had a descent conversation over a cup of coffee or even had a chat like couples do.

Maria took a deep breath, her eyes welling up with tears. "Alice, it's been a nightmare. Felix and I have been separated for a long time now. We both need to move on with our lives, and its clear there's no saving our marriage. He knows it, I know it, but he just won't sign those papers, until I see him face to face.

Alice nodded sympathetically. "I'm sorry Maria I understand; it's not uncommon for one party to use the divorce as leverage. But, legally speaking, we do have other options if after meeting up with him he still refuses to sign, I can send Felix a letter to remind him of his legal obligations and the consequences of refusing to cooperate. If that doesn't work, we might have to go to court and request a judge to grant the divorce without his consent. It's called a contested divorce, but we all know Felix no judge will do that in this country. That’s the reason why I’m advising you as your lawyer to see him, just once.”

“I understand” Maria said as she allowed her tears flowed

“Just see him for once, it’s all over the internet that he will be coming to America the day after tomorrow for business” Alice said

Maria wiped away her tear and nodded; Alice reached across the desk and placed a reassuring hand on Maria.

"Well, meeting him face to face won't kill me, I guess I will meet him if that will solve this" she said as she stood up in her feet and picked up her handbag.

“Maria, you need to get your life up and running just take a look at yourself this is no longer you, think of it as a departure meeting" Alice said as she also stood up to see her to the door since the session has ended.

Departure meeting!

Maria snickered as she made her way out of the law firm. In no distance time she made her way to her apartment, her phone light up immediately she opened her door but she ignored it as she went directly into the kitchen to whip herself something to eat. She had just sat down at the table when her cell phone rang she picked it up and seeing the caller’s name her heart skipped a beat she wipe her hand with a napkin and with a shaky hand she took a deep breath and answered her voice trembling.

“Hi”

“Maria” a familiar voice responded on the other end of the line. It was Felix, her soon to be ex-husband.

Ground swell of emotions assailed her as soon as she heard the voice of the man she gripped the phone tightly as her legs wobble, even the voice of the man makes her body becomes weak as a jelly just by listening to him call her name so how in earth was she going to cope by just seeing him.