Page 152 of Faking the Pass
Rosie looked at her toes, her shoulders rising and falling with a large inhale and exhale.
“What’s this agreement Rosie? When did this happen?”
“This morning,” she said in a quiet voice.
Finally lifting her eyes to meet mine, she said, “I can’t talk about it. I signed a new NDA. I can’t afford to wind up back in here.”
“How could you do that?” I demanded. “How could you trust him again—after all he’s done to you?”
She just gave a little shrug, tears welling in her eyes.
“Fuck the NDA—talk to me. You can tell me. I’m your husband.”
Very slowly, Rosie’s head swung side to side. “Not really.”
She held out a large brown envelope in my direction.
“I want you to know I appreciate everything you did for me… more than I can possibly say.”
Her voice sounded choked, on the verge of sobbing.
“I’m not sure I can ever repay you for all of it, but Icangive you your life back.”
I took the envelope with numb hands and watched as she removed her wedding rings.
She held them out to me as well.
“Rosie… I don’t understand,” I said.
But it was pretty damn clear she was ending our marriage. And I was pretty damn sure of what I’d find inside the legal envelope she’d given me.
I was literally scared to open it and look.
“What are you doing, Starfish?” I said gently, ignoring the rings and holding out a hand to her.
“Come on. Let’s go home. We’ll talk there.”
Rosie shook her head, visibly struggling now against looming tears.
“I can’t,” she gasped, blinking rapidly. “I can’t go with you. I’ve got to get to the airport. I’m going home today—to California.”
For a long moment, I just stood there, stunned, as my brain tried to process her words.
“WithRandy?” I finally asked. “Are you flying back with Randy?”
“He has a plane, and I don’t exactly have the funds for a last-minute ticket.”
I threw up my hands, one of them containing the large envelope. The fear had been usurped by anger, giving me strength to open it.
It was just as I’d suspected, but my mind was blown anyway. This was all so surreal.
“Divorce papers,” I said in a flat tone, flipping through the stack.
Several pages featured helpful colored sticky notes to indicate where I should sign and legally dissolve everything we’d built together.
My eyes came back up to Rosie’s. “You had divorce papers just ready and waiting. When did you have these drawn up?”
I couldn’t imagine when she’d even met with a divorce attorney. She’d been with me almost constantly, and when we’d met with our lawyers for this civil case, I’d been sitting right beside her.
