Даниэла Стил - All That Glitters

“I’m going to confirm the relinquishment of parental rights, and make it official. You’ll have to transfer the deed of the property to your ex-husband’s name. And I am restoring your maiden name, as you requested. As for the rest of this…” she said, picking up the file with a frown and glancing at both attorneys. Nigel had opted not to come to court, and let his attorney represent him. He looked like what Coco’s father would have called a shyster lawyer, in a shiny too-blue suit. “Gentlemen,” she said to the attorneys, “are we talking about pounds or dollars here, or yen, or some currency I don’t know of? The couple in question were married for eleven months. Mr. Halsey-Smythe was employed until eight months ago, and he’s an able-bodied man of thirty-four with a university degree. I’m sure he’ll be employed again shortly. I see that we’re referring to both dollars and pounds here. And that there is a premarital contract in force that Mr. Halsey-Smythe signed and is contesting now,” she said with a frown and a sour look.

“Miss Martin’s inheritance is invested in the United States, Your Honor. From her deceased parents,” her attorney stressed, hoping to arouse the judge’s sympathy.

“She should leave it there. Three million dollars a year in spousal support for a healthy man in his thirties for ten years, after an eleven-month marriage, is beyond excessive. And I see no reason to award him a million dollars in damages for losing a job that was paying him sixty thousand a year. As for the five million he wants for pain and suffering, since Miss Martin is being left pregnant and abandoned, whatever her resources, I think the five million for pain and suffering should go to her.” Nigel’s lawyer in the shiny suit looked instantly panicked, stood up without permission to do so, and addressed the judge.

“Mr. Halsey-Smythe doesn’t have the funds to pay her damages, Your Honor.”

“Thank you for the information. Please sit down. I am therefore throwing out Mr. Halsey-Smythe’s petition for a million dollars in damages and five million for his pain and suffering. And I would like to know what one does on a million-dollar vacation? That would be fascinating. I believe he can manage without that too. In the separate agreement he is being given a very fine, newly remodeled country estate, with extensive grounds and four usable houses on it, according to the documents submitted to the court. That is more than adequate compensation. And I am reducing his request for ten years of spousal support at three million dollars a year, to eleven months, the length of the marriage, at five thousand dollars a month, which is the salary he was making, which comes to fifty-five thousand dollars. I think he should be very pleased with his new house. I will confirm these orders, sign them, and return them to both parties. If there are further matters to be resolved, you may address them to me for a future hearing. I see that Mr. Halsey-Smythe is not contesting the grounds of adultery, so I am granting both parties a decree nisi today, because the court sees no reason why you can’t divorce. Six weeks and one day from today, which will be May first, you may apply for a decree absolute. When both parties receive the decree absolute, probably in July, you are divorced, no longer married, and are free to marry again if you wish.” She rapped her gavel then, and Coco and her attorney left the courtroom smiling broadly, after thanking the judge. Nigel’s attorney scurried out of the courtroom, presumably to call him. It had been a major victory for her. She had lost a house, but she had traded it willingly for freedom for her child, to be rid of a father like Nigel, who probably would have ultimately attempted to bilk money from his child. And the judge was right. He should have been very grateful for the Sussex house, which he didn’t deserve. He was walking away with a prize, and Coco with a baby. She felt more and more protective toward it every day.

And at the next doctor’s visit, after the court hearing, they told her it was a girl. She was going to name her Bethanie, after her mother. The baby had some reality to her, now that Coco knew her sex. She was genuinely excited about it. She was four months pregnant, and it was beginning to show, though only slightly.

She had called Sam to tell him about the results in court, and he was extremely pleased for her. Justice had been served, although it still irked him that Nigel was getting a beautiful country property Coco had paid for, and he didn’t deserve. But she had bought her baby’s freedom from a bad man. She was better off without a father, as the judge apparently concurred.

Leslie and Coco had been told that Ian Kingston had moved into his new London home in mid-March. They heard no complaints and no compliments, and assumed that meant he was satisfied. So they were surprised to hear from him in the first week of April. He called and asked if he could drop by and Leslie agreed. She forgot to tell Coco, and two days later he showed up. He was tall, slim, had hair as dark as Coco’s, dark smoldering eyes, was wearing jeans, a white T-shirt, a black leather jacket, and motorcycle boots. He had just bought a vintage Ducati motorcycle in Italy and had ridden it back to London. He looked like the perfect bad boy, with a warm, slightly crooked smile and perfect teeth. Coco didn’t know who he was when he walked in, but Leslie recognized him immediately and got up to greet him. He thanked her for the perfect home, and said he wanted a ten-year extension. She laughed and introduced him to Coco, who had been trying not to stare at him. He was fatally handsome. Leslie credited Coco with finding the place for him.

“I’ve been sending photographs of the kitchen to my architect in New York,” he said to her. “I want him to duplicate it exactly. I looked up the chef who lives there when I was in Rome last week. He’s a terrific guy. I had dinner at his family restaurant, and warned him that he may end up homeless if I refuse to move.” Leslie and Coco were both pleased to know he was so happy. He said they were starting to film the movie of his book in a few days, and it was chaos on the set. But once things settled down, he could go back to writing the new book he had already started.

He didn’t stay long, but his visit made a powerful impression on both women. He was one of the top two or three writers in the States. His huge success had given him movie star status, and his looks didn’t hurt. He was sexy more than handsome, and there was an aloofness to him which made him seem just out of reach. He looked like a storm cloud, and then he smiled and the ice around him melted.

“Wow, he’s a looker, isn’t he?” Leslie said after he left and Coco agreed. Women couldn’t help but be affected by him. He was a powerful presence.

“Did you see the way he looked at you?” Leslie asked Coco. “He couldn’t take his eyes off you.” She would have been jealous of Coco if she didn’t like her so much. She worked so hard that one forgot how beautiful she was, or became inured to it, since she was oblivious to it herself and never played on her looks.

“He looked at you exactly the same way,” Coco insisted.

“No, he didn’t.” Leslie smiled. “Guys like him always go after younger women. I’m nearly his age.” She was pretty, but nothing like Coco, who was stunningly lovely and unconsciously sexy. It didn’t bother Leslie. She was finally recovering from her own divorce and dating a new man, who was crazy about her, and she liked him a lot. She had an easy, uncomplicated nature, and was not given to jealousy. They were work partners and friends and not in competition with each other.

Coco was surprised when Ian Kingston called her later that afternoon.

“I wanted to thank you again for finding me the perfect home,” he said in a deep voice that added to his mystique. “Can I buy you a drink sometime?”