CHAPTER 5

Over the course of the next few days, more articles came out, saying that a number of S&G's clients were leaving the company. It seems their clients felt they couldn't trust a company that ruined their employees'marriages. Naturally, this had an impact on the company's bottom line. Good, I thought.

I went back to work the following Monday. It was difficult, but I managed to get some work done. I never heard from anyone for about three weeks. Then I got a call from Jenny.

"Good morning, Carl," she said. "How are you holding up?"

"About as well as can be expected," I said. "Any word from Simone?"

"Yes," Jenny said. "She's gotten an attorney and they've petitioned the court for marriage counseling. The judge agreed and has ordered six sessions beginning this week."

"They can do that?" I asked.

"Yes," she said. "And it would be to your benefit to show up. If you don't, the judge can hold you in contempt of court and even put you in jail."

"There's no way I'm reconciling with that bitch," I told her.

"I understand," Jenny said. "But you need to show up anyway. If the counselor sees there's no hope for reconciliation, she'll let the judge know."

"Okay," I said. "Was there anything else?"

"Yes," Jenny said. "Her attorney tells me that Simone is pregnant. If that's the case, the court won't do anything more until paternity has been established."

"So I have to wait another eight or nine months?" I asked.

"As of right now, yes," Jenny said. Crap. "If it's your child, you'll be ordered to pay child support. On a positive note, however, the judge has agreed to a legal separation, at least until she gives birth."

"Wonderful," I said. Jenny gave me the address for the counselor and wished me luck. I wrote down the information and put it on my calendar. I decided that I would make it clear in no uncertain terms there was no way I would ever reconcile with the cheating slut.

When I got to the counselor's office, I was ushered right in. A somewhat older woman looked at me over her glasses. Simone sat across from her in a love seat looking somewhat forlorn. I had a very bad feeling about this.

The counselor introduced herself as Dr. Abigail Farnsworth and indicated I should sit next to the slut on the love seat. I chose instead to sit in a smaller, wooden chair placed at a 45 degree angle to the love seat.

"Good to see you could make it, Mr. Jacobs," she said.

"I understand I have no choice," I said, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

"True," she said. "Still, I'm glad to see you here." She turned to Simone. "Tell me, Mrs. Jacobs, what do you hope to get from these sessions?"

"I want to get back together with my husband," she said. "We're going to have a baby and I want to be a family again." I snorted in derision as she said that. Abigail looked at me.

"And what do you hope to get out of these sessions, Mr. Jacobs?" she asked.

"What I want is for you to realize there's no way I'm reconciling with... that," I said, nodding my head in Simone's direction. I saw her recoil when I did that. Abigail nodded her head.

"Not even for the sake of the child?" she asked me.

"I honestly don't think it's my child," I said. "If by some miracle it is, I'll pay child support and I'll do everything I can to be a father to it. But there's no way I'm reconciling with her. Period, end of sentence."

"Not even for the sake of the child?" she asked. I pulled out my phone and brought up the videos that were sent to me. I showed them to Abigail. She was clearly disgusted with what she saw. When they finished, I put my phone back in my pocket.

"I see you're married, Doctor," I said. "Tell me, if that was your husband in those videos instead of her, would you want to reconcile? And what if you learned he had been doing that to you for more than a year, and actually did it in front of you? Would you reconcile then?"

"This isn't about me," she said. "This is about the two of you. And now you have a little one to think about."

"Wrong, Doctor," I said. "She has a little one to think about. I don't believe her child is mine. In fact, I'd be willing to bet on it. I would like a few answers from her, though." Abigail thought for a moment, then nodded her head and looked at Simone.

"I think he's entitled to some answers, don't you?" she asked Simone. She looked down, sheepish, her face burning with embarrassment. She finally looked up at me before answering.

"I... I guess so," she said. Abigail looked at me before speaking.

"The floor is yours," she told me. I nodded my head in thanks nd turned back to Simone.

"The night of the party, you knew what was going to happen, didn't you?" I asked. She nodded her head.

"Yes," she said.

"And that's the real reason you didn't want me to go with you, isn't it?" I asked.

"Yes, it is," she said. "I tried to warn you that you wouldn't have any fun."

"And you were right," I said. "It was the absolute worse night of my life.