Page 60 of Not the Plan

“Just fine, Mart, but get to the point, I know you’re gonna bill me for every second,” Karim said with a smile.

Martin laughed.

“All right, all right. I’ll get to it. Things just got tricky.”

“Why’s that?” Karim asked.

“Laila’s fired her attorney again.”

Karim slumped back against the wall, rolling his eyes, then let them shut.

“Again, Mart? Again? This is the second time.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Martin said.

“Why would she even— Never mind. I don’t care. What the hell does it matter?”

“It just means we have to start all over. Wait for the new guy to get up to speed. Once we find out who the new guy is.”

“They haven’t even approached you yet?”

“Nope. I have no idea who it is. Although, it would appear that things did not end well with previous counsel because he may or may not have informed me of her latest um…tactic.”

Karim raised an eyebrow.

“And what is that?” he asked.

“You’re not going to like it.”

“Mart. Give it to me straight.”

“Apparently, her assertion is that she did not abandon the marital home, thus we cannot argue a no-fault divorce.”

Karim didn’t understand. She just disappeared. How was that not abandoning the marital home?

“Go on, Mart.”

“I suspect that she is seeking counsel to argue that shefledthe marital home, for her safety.”

Karim’s head got woozy. The only good thing about the time he’d spent confused, hurt, and grieving as he’d waited around for Laila to come back was that one year just happened to be the necessary separation time to qualify for a no-fault divorce inPennsylvania. But if Laila was saying she had no choice but to leave…

“So, wait, Mart. Wait. You’re telling me that I don’t have grounds for a no-fault divorce based on a year’s worth of abandonment because she’s getting a new attorney to argue thatIwas a danger toher?”

“Uh, yep, you got it.”

Karim ground his teeth so hard his molars locked together. The room he was in was dark, but he squeezed his eyes shut tight enough that flashes of rage danced behind his eyelids. What was the point of this game? He wrenched his jaw apart.

“What the fuck, Mart?”

“Well…” He sighed. “Based on what you’ve told me, and past experience, it looks like a double stalling tactic. New attorney that has to get up to speed, plus an allegation that knocks the legs out of no-fault. Looks to me like she doesn’t want to get divorced, man.”

Karim slumped back against the wall. Of course Martin was right. If she’d been willing to let him go, she’d have just agreed to it after having left him. But no, this was par for the course. This was Laila being Laila.

“What’s the plan?” he asked Martin.

“I’m working on it. Just make sure to let me know if she contacts you at all. Her or any of her family members. Do not communicate with them at all. No emails, no phone calls, no text messages, nothing. Let me handle it.”

“No problem with that,” Karim said. He figured that if he spoke to her now, he’d start shouting.

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