Chapter 6: A Correct Observation

Charlotte poured herself a cup of red wine once she had showered and got settled down for the evening. Too many things had happened in the span of a day, and it was overwhelming her. 

She tried to keep her thoughts from drifting towards Edward, but it was hard. If she could tell him about this, he'd surely be able to give her advice. The thing was, he was the problem now, and she couldn't think of anyone else she could confide in. 

It sometimes bothered her that she didn't have many friends; she'd lost touch with the girls she went to high school with while she was in law school, and they all formed new cliques and groups by the time she had returned. Most of them were married, had one or two children, and seemed to purposely avoid her whenever they ran into each other in the country club or the grocery store. It had never been easy for her to make friends with girls. Once, when she'd told her mother about it, all she said was, "Beautiful women don't have friends. They have admirers and people who envy them." 

She didn't believe that was true, and she was pretty sure she was the problem. She had spent so many years working frantically to get her degree and pay the ever-increasing debts she had inherited that she never took the time to actually know anyone. And now, when she thought life would finally slow down a little, it had spiraled into something that she hadn't planned for. 

Was she really going to go to the Art Museum gala with Floyd? It'd be a scandal. Her mother would be the first to hear about it and the questioning that would ensue would be worse than a criminal interrogation. 

As if on cue, the phone rang. Charlotte picked up; it was her mother. 

"Charlotte, honey, how are you?"

"Hi, mom. I'm fine. How are you?"

"Mary's here! But you know already, don't you? She told me she got to see you today at Edward's office!"

It annoyed her that her mother called the firm 'Edward's Office,' considering she had been working there for longer, but she didn't say anything. 

"Yes, I saw her today." 

"I'm so happy for them! And you got to hear the news before I did! We're holding a formal engagement party tomorrow tonight. Around seven."

"I have plans," Charlotte said immediately, thinking of what she could come up with to avoid going. 

"Well, cancel them. You can't miss it. You and I are the closest things to family dear Mary has, so you have to be here."

"Then maybe you could have asked me beforehand if I was available tomorrow," Charlotte said. 

"Don't you take that tone with me, young lady. I will see you tomorrow. Hopefully with a better attitude," her mom said. 

In the background, she could hear Mary talking.

"Auntie, don't scold her. She's probably tired from work. Edward told me she's one of the most important lawyers in the firm," Mary said.

Charlotte wanted to cry. The worst part of Edward getting married was whom he was marrying. Mary was perhaps the only genuinely kind person Charlotte had ever met, and it was impossible to hate her. It was painful to be flattered by the person who stole the love of her life from her. 

"I have to go," Charlotte said and hung up. 

---

 The next day, Charlotte arrived at the parking lot at 7:55 sharp. Logan was already waiting for her, smoking a cigarette next to his car. 

"Right on time, Miss Astor," he said, flicking the stub into some nearby bushes. "Get in."

Charlotte got into the car and was awed by how comfortable it was. From the outside, it seemed like a hostile machine. Inside, the seat was reclined so far back and so low from the ground that it felt like she was in one of those soft leather couches. 

"Where are we going?" Charlotte asked. Logan pulled out of the parking lot as if he was on a racing track. When they were on the main road, Charlotte realized this was his normal way of driving. "If we make it there. At this rate, we're going straight to the coroner." She held on to the sides of the car as if her life depended on it.

Logan glanced at her with a smile on his face. 

"You'll get used to it, Miss Astor. I'm going to show you what my ex-wife doesn't consider to be cheating. I want to know your opinion about it," he said. 

None of them spoke until they arrived at a street lined up with stores. 

"This is the barbershop her lover set up with my money," he said, pointing at a barbershop called The Man Cave. A flashing red and blue sign on the door said it was still closed. "She says it was just an investment in someone that shows promise, but her investment happened to also be having sex with her." 

"Can you prove that she's been having relations with the man?" Charlotte said. It felt strange to be discussing intimate things with a man she had just met, but she had to remind herself that this was a professional meeting. He didn't seem to mince words either, which made her more relaxed. "Georgia law stipulates that the alimony can be reduced if you can prove she's been committing adultery. Technically, adultery is illegal in Georgia, although no one will prosecute it. But we can reduce the alimony if you can prove it."

"That's the problem. Short of hiring a private investigator to follow her around and hope she messes up and meets him again, I can't prove it," he said, speeding away from the barbershop. 

"How did you find out she was cheating?" Charlotte asked. 

"I followed the money, Miss Astor. I hired an assistant to manage her spending because it was getting a little out of hand. She spent five hundred thousand dollars per month, and while I could afford it, my assistant alerted me that some of that money had been used for trips and hotel rooms. She claims she went to use the spas, but there's a crew of masseuses, cosmetologists, and chiropractors on call for the spas at our former house if she wanted any of those services."

She had to stop herself from dropping her jaw when he mentioned how much money the woman spent each month. And there were a lot of questions about their relationship that she felt she needed to ask. But that would come later. 

"So technically, you suspect that she's cheating," Charlotte said. 

"If you see the forest is wet but haven't seen the rain, I think it's pretty safe to assume the cause," Logan said. 

"It could be someone with a hose," Charlotte said. 

"Fair point. Although the most likely scenario is that there won't be someone with a hose in the middle of the forest."

"The law doesn't work that way. You have to discard any chance that there wasn't someone there with a hose before assuring that was why it was wet. Where are we going now?" Charlotte asked. 

They swerved into the highway, heading in the direction opposite the office. The cars that drove by were a blur of movement because of how fast they were going.

"There's one last stop in our tour," Logan said. "I want to show you the place she wants to keep."

"There really is no need," Charlotte said. "I just need a list of the assets that need to be divided. Bank accounts, property titles." 

"But I want your opinion. See, my rational side just wants to give her whatever she wants so we can get this over with. But the petty side of me doesn't want to let her get away with it."

"You don't seem particularly heartbroken about it," Charlotte said.  

"That's a correct observation," Logan said, and then he put some music on. With that, Charlotte assumed he didn't want to keep talking about it, so she kept quiet and looked straight ahead, trying not to get dizzy with how fast they were going.