Page 1 of Executive Benefits

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NICK

“Nick, things are going to get hard for you.” My lawyer wiped his forehead with his pocket square. Kendra tended to have that effect on people. “Do you know what you’re going to have to go through if you keep the restaurant? Do you know how much she drove everything into the ground?”

I grunted and rolled my eyes, not interested in what my lawyer had to say about my business ventures. “I don’t pay you to advise me on my investments. I pay you to defend what’s mine and what I deserve.”

Ted looked at me, hard. Before I decided to end my marriage, Ted and I hadn’t spent any time together. He was a good divorce lawyer despite the fact that Kendra had a shark of one also.

I always knew she was a manipulative shrew, but once I found out she was cheating, it was easy for me to end things. Not that she didn’t try and talk me out of it, but her charm had stopped working on me a long time ago and the only reason I stayed married was because marriage meant something to me.

I huffed thinking about how stupid I was about that. I rolled my eyes and didn’t say anything else to Ted. He thankfully knew to keep his mouth shut. This entire process had taken far too long, and the only reason it had was because I'd trusted the woman in business and in bed.

It wasn’t a mistake I was planning to make again.

The good news is that the divorce and the process had made me see who my real friends were. Kendra had manipulated the situation for herself, and most of those people chose to believe her. Or they were too damn afraid of her to not take her side.

Either they were cowards or backstabbers, and I was better off without any of them.

“All I want is my restaurant,” I growled at Ted as the courtroom door swung open and Kendra fluttered out of it in a red suit and hat because she didn’t have enough attention going on around her.

She took her sunglasses away from her face and perked her manicured brow at me. “Seems like someone’s letting their emotions get the better of them,” she said, her red lips curving up at the edges.

“I don’t have to be part of whatever game you’re playing, Kendra.” I stepped up to her and looked her square in the eye. “You’re going to get what’s coming to you, in spades, but I don’t need to let you affect me anymore.”

The sinister spark in her eye dulled for a few seconds when the slow realization that she had no power over me sank into her brain. I patted her on the shoulder and walked away. Ted hurried behind me.

“Fine. I’m your lawyer. You’re going to get advice.” I kept walking and tried to blow him off. He stepped in front of me, and I stopped, impressed with his tenacity. “Starting fresh might be the best thing for you. Building something of your own without the threat of…” He looked around me and held up his hand, waving it in Kendra’s direction. “Whatever that is.”

I huffed and didn’t bother to look over my shoulder. But I liked Ted’s humor.

“I hired a public and marketing agent. She’s going to help me rebrand.”

“Don’t you think you should know what, if any, business you’re getting?”

“Aren’t you supposed to have more confidence than that?”

“I’m a realist. I see things go in all sorts of ways, all the time.”

“Wonderful, a pragmatic realist. You’re probably the first lawyer I met like that.”

He smiled. “You haven’t known that many divorce lawyers, then.”

“True. I have only had one divorce.” I looked over my shoulder. “What do you think the verdict will be?” I looked back at Ted. “You know the judge. How does she usually side?”

“I think we made effective arguments about Kendra’s personality and her choices in business. I definitely showed her ill intent for running said businesses into the ground. But this judge doesn’t usually take personality into account. Just actions.” Ted shrugged. “All Kendra’s actions have been directed toward destroying you. You might walk away with something.”

“Grayson and Grayson?” the bailiff called down the hall.

I looked at Ted, who gave me a firm-lipped nod and walked into the courtroom with his last statement hanging over my head.

The courtroom had a stale air to it, but also a somber presence. Since our divorce wasn’t a public event, the room seemed hollow with only the five of us in it. When we stood at our tables, we waited for the judge to enter, then we sat after the judge sat first.

“In the case of Grayson versus Grayson, the court rules in favor of Nicholas Grayson whose request to keep the restaurant The Bridge has been accepted.”

Kendra scoffed and a loud, “What!” echoed across the room.

I looked at her, trying to understand if what I just heard was correct. I turned to Ted, whose firm-lined smile was now broken into a wide smile that showed too much of his teeth. But it was contagious.

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