“Naturally,” I replied deadpan.
“Look Greg,” Jillian said. “I’m sorry, but we figured this was the best way. It would be a quick rip of the band-aid, we know it will hurt, but it’s best for everyone.”
She paused, looking at trying to judge my mood. She might have been my wife and best friend for the last several years, but I had always been open to her. She had never seen me as a closed book.
“Jillian, it’s Gregory, not Greg.” I replied, she swallowed.
“Look, Greg… Gregory.” She said. “I know this is hurting right now, but it’s for the best. We’re all still young, you’ll find someone else.”
My eye twitched, that small bit of emotion making her pale a little more. Still not a sound from the rest of the room. Troy must have noticed because he cleared his throat.
“Look Greg… I mean Gregory. I know this is a lot to take, but I think it’s best you leave. Everyone here knows Jillian and I are supposed to be together. And I, unfortunately, think you’d be a third wheel.”
I smiled, this time half the room looked at me questionably, “On that, we agree.”
He smiled back, thinking I might be understanding. “Good, well as it’s out in the open now, Jillian and I will keep away from your place over the weekend and even next week so you can move out.”
“Move out?” I asked, cocking my head to the side.
Troy swallowed, “Well it’s Jillian’s house too…”
“I see…” I said, my eyes narrowing.
“Greg…ory,” my soon-to-be ex-wife said, struggling to make the transition to using my full name after so long. “We thought it would be easier for you to move out. The house is perfect for Troy and me to have children in and we figure it’s too large for you so we would sort something out.”
“I see…” I said repeating myself, the last syllable sound like a snake starting to hiss.
For a moment, no one said anything and the silence stretched until the DJ thought it was a good time to start the music if there wasn’t going to be a fight.
As the music started playing, no one started dancing. Everyone in the room was still watching to see what would happen.
Troy spoke loudly over the music, “I’m sorry Gregory, but that’s how it is. I know you might not think so right now, but no hard feelings.” He said thrusting out his hand.
I looked down at his hand, then back to his eyes and the look made him pull back his hand quickly. If he could have seen inside my mind, he would have seen me severing that hand with the nearest sharp implement and then shoving the severed limb up a certain orifice.
I decided that it was time to leave, so I turned and walked out. No one stopped me, the two bouncers on the door each opened aside and walked out in front of me.
As the doors closed and the noise from inside went quiet. “You okay man?” one of the guys asked. They had also witnessed what happened.
“No, not really, but that’s… I suppose anyone that just had that handed to them….” I trailed off.
“You know,” the other bouncer said. “If you wanted to go back in the give that dickwad, a couple of hits, we could wait a few minutes before pulling you off…”
For the first time all day I laughed; both bouncers grinned.
“While tempting, no, I don’t need a night in the watchhouse.” Both nodded.
“Still,” the first bouncer said. “Look, I’ve seen some shit over the years working clubs, but that is one of the coldest and underhanded ways to break up a marriage I have ever seen. For what it’s worth I’m sorry.”
I dismissed the sympathy with a wave.
“Don’t worry about it. I think I’ll just go home,” I replied.
“And change the locks, mate, don’t let the slut back into the house until you have to,” the second bouncer added.
I raised an eyebrow, smiling. We spoke for another minute and I shook their hands before heading to my car and home.
On the way home I stopped by a Bunnings warehouse, it was late, and they were still an hour from closing, but I got what I needed quickly. New locks and deadbolts, a number of moving boxes and some packing tape.
Arriving home, I went through the process of changing the locks and assembling the boxes. Within a few hours I had several boxes full of Jillian’s belongings before I started feeling the adrenaline of being so totally and utterly abandoned by my wife and supposed friends that I had to sit down. I poured myself a Kraken and coke, then fired up my laptop.
I opened up our bank and started doing the usual things that one does when being betrayed by your spouse. I blocked, then cancelled our joint credit cards. I opened a new account, then transferred half of our general savings and holiday accounts into the new account. It would all take a few days to clear, but I had a few hundred dollars in cash so I could wait.
With the sugar from the coke and the rum hitting my system, I got a second wind and opened up our legal folder. Within it was a number of legal documents including the documents for the house, two of the investment properties we had bought and the pre-nuptial agreement that we had drawn up when we got married.
Now I know what you thinking, there is an adultery clause in it. No, in that you would be mistaken. For the most part, the pre-nuptial protected the assets within my businesses. See when we started dating and got married, I had just started my accounting business. However, in starting the business, I got a couple of good mentors that gave me what was now sage advice and we set the businesses that supported my practice in my name only and both Jillian and I signed the pre-nuptial agreement that Other Accounts, my business, and all other subsidiaries were outside the scope of any separation.
Now in hindsight, I am sure that Jillian agreed so easily because she knew, someday she would likely betray me for her lover. But she had no idea how much that was going to cost her.
That night I fell into a restless sleep, but I did manage to get a few hours until I woke and decided to take myself out for breakfast.
I drove around a while, finding a great Asian fusion place that mixed traditional Asian and Aussie food into delicious breakfast creations that I enjoyed. While I ate and enjoyed an extra-strong coffee, I drafted a letter to a friend at one of the law firms that my company works with outlining what was happening and to prepare for divorce proceedings.
The call I got within half an hour was disbelief, but I outlined everything that had occurred to Mike. He told me he’d be ready to file Monday morning and refer me to someone within his firm who could help. Of course, he let me know how sorry he was.
I spent another hour at the café. I didn’t have much of an idea of what I was doing other than browsing the web on my laptop and feeling a little sorry for myself.
When I got home, Mark and Lina were parked in the driveway and got out of their car as I parked on the curb.
“Greg, we’re….” Lina started.
I held up my hand before she could go any further, she stopped.
“Gregory,” I said.
“Sorry?” Lina repeated.
“My name is Gregory. Only my friends get to call me Greg,” I said flatly.
“Listen bud,” Mark started trying to sound conciliatory. “We’re sorry for how last night went down, that is not how…”