Chapter 1
Freedom beckonedme as it sizzled against my freckled skin. Technically, nothing was official yet, not until I put pen to notarized paper, but just the whispered promise of being released had me giddy as all get out.
I stepped out onto the sidewalk feeling like a million bucks. The sunshine hit my bearded face and I closed my eyes, breathing in the fresh air that the downtown streets of Washington D.C. had to offer. It was a stark contrast to the stale air in my condo that reeked of pizza boxes long forgotten and laundry not yet thrown into the wash. I didn’t have the luxury of being prompt with clean clothes and healthy dinners.
That’s what happened when you were in the throes of divorce.
Sometimes it was still hard to believe that it was happening. I’d initiated the divorce and Matty had fought me every single step of the way. Today was supposed to be the final meeting to finalize the paperwork and issue us an official divorce. Barring any complications today, we’d both be free.
However, as I’d learned over the past eight years of our relationship, Matty and complications were too often synonymous.I had a good feeling this morning, though. After I was done proceeding with the signing of the divorce papers, today was also my first official meeting with the ORBIT board.
The process of gathering the best potential creature candidates for the board had been strenuous, but it’d only taken around a month to select the appropriate people. Though it was horrible circumstances, the attacks on the blood centers up and down the east coast had helped make this a priority for my superiors. As long as the creatures remained as protected as possible, I was all for a speedy construction.
Exo had been a huge help, being the first official member of ORBIT. ORBIT stood for Other Realm Beings Integrity Trust, the first part of the name being inspired by the fact that the creatures known on Earth that had revealed themselves to the world went by the collective name of Orbs, or Other Realm Beings. It was nickname that caught on, and since the creatures hadn’t outwardly protested about it, the name became part of regular vernacular.
Being a sangamar, a creature that needed to digest blood in order to live, as well as gaining eyesight when they ingested human blood, Exo had worked with the further creation of Orbit. We’d worked a little bit together since we’d been in Piper, Virginia after the horrid riots that were targeted for the blood centers up and down the east coast. If it hadn’t been for his help, ORBIT wouldn’t have moved forward.
We’d held a screening process, and had to choose between multiple candidates for every species. I was delighted by the response. It seemed like the Orbs were ready to stand up to the oppressions that they faced every day.
Luckily, Exo wasn’t the only familiar face I’d had to help ground me through the selection process. My assistant, Maxim, who’d been my assistant ever since I’d become a House delegate, had been given the choice of becoming an assistant for a regular Representative or to follow me as the newly appointed Directorof Orb Affairs. I was forever grateful to have had his support during the process.
I made the short walk to the lawyer’s office. The condo I’d been staying in for almost two years since the start of the divorce was close enough to have a nice stroll instead of catching a taxi when I was in the mood to stretch my legs. I felt blessed that I’d gotten the property so perfectly located in the best part of the hustling atmosphere of D.C. My office at the Capitol was now a former meeting room, now the headquarters of ORBIT. The fact that it was a simple bus ride from my condo made it even more appealing.
Arriving at the lawyer’s office soured my spirit a bit, but I did my best to remain positive. Matty was combative, extroverted, and angry: the exact opposite of me. Our differences had once been so appealing, but now they felt like bitter pangs I’d had to burden like long-lost battle scars.
It wasn’t until I was in the usual meeting room that I felt the tension from Matty. This was his lawyer’s office that we’d been meeting up in, per his demand, but my lawyer was already sitting at the head of the table waiting for my arrival.
“Ahh, Mr. Watson.” Gary said, greeting me by standing. He was a nice guy, but way too formal. I said my pleasantries and sat down next to him.
Matty and his shark of a lawyer were seated across us from the massive glass table. I needed to get a table like this for ORBIT, but I tried to push my work from the forefront of my mind and focus on the task at hand. The last thing I needed was to irritate Matty further by acting distracted. I wanted the least path of resistance today.
I just wanted to be done.
“Glad you could make the time.” Matty sneered, crossing his arms. So much for not pissing him off.
Matty was stupidly handsome, far out of my league, even now. His gorgeous dark skin harbored not a single flaw. Hewore his hair close to his scalp, and his brown eyes glistened from the overhead lighting. If he wasn’t my soon to be ex-husband, he’d have appeared like an angel. I sighed inwardly. The hardest part of this divorce was the fact that Matty wasn’t the villain here.
I was.
“Alright, should we proceed?” Gary said, eyeing Matty’s lawyer as he picked around the manila folder in front of him. “Barring anything that needs to be amended, we can capture the signatures and everything will be final.”
“Actually,” Matty’s lawyer cleared his throat, leaning forward on the table for support as I watched my husband’s eyes twinkle with a knowing glare. “There’s another issue we’d like to air out today.”
“For fuck’s sake.” I said, unable to hold it in and filter it. I knew that every outburst I didn’t bury within my soul would be held against me. But being so close to being a divorced man kept me from keeping my prior promise. “Matty, what are you doing?”
“I’m not the one doing anything,” He jeered back, arms still crossed as if they were the armor to keep him from fully unleashing his fury on the rest of us. Restraint looked good on him, for a change. “This, all of this, is because of you.”
How the hell was he still this raw about everything?
I stood up, gripping the glass table and fearing that it would shatter. “We have been separated for two years, why are you dragging this on?”
“Twenty-one months,” He corrected me. That was pretty common, his attitude bouncing off of me. “I still don’t understand why this is happening.”
“That’s a lie.” And it was. We’d talked about why it wasn’t working anymore between us at nauseating length. While most of it had involved Matty yelling and me succumbing to the same after being calm didn’t work, the discussions still happened. Iknew exactly what he was aiming at. I’d married the man, I knew what the real reason behind his bullshit was even if he didn’t want to recognize it.
“No, this is you trying to make me hurt as badly as I hurt you for wanting a divorce. You know that I want to be done and you can’t stand it. Just be fucking truthful for once in your life and realize that we aren’t good for each other anymore!”
I sat down again, exhausted from expending the energy. This is what I hated. I wasn’t an angry guy, I never had been. But Matty brought me to match his level, or rather, I felt no other option than to match his output, and it always made me feel like shit for going to that place.
