“How does that help us?” Nicole was even more confused.
Before Monty could answer, her phone rang. She excused herself to take the call and moved into her bedroom.
“Hello,” she answered the phone looking at the display.
“Well played, Nicole,” Jin said in answer.
“What do you want, Jin?” she said with a sigh in her voice.
“Very well played. Don’t think you have the upper hand. The paperwork I sent you may not be valid, but it still shows that I initiated this process. Don’t think you will take my son away from me so quickly.”
Nicole sat on the bed and stared at the phone. She hated having to go through these conversations over the phone.
Now she was starting to get mad. “Doesn’t feel so good now that the shoe is on the other foot, does it? Now you know how I feel. Only I didn’t have any warning, did I? I came home one day to find out you’d taken my world away from me. Everything I ever loved was gone. How does it feel, Jin?”
There was silence on the other end of the phone. Nicole waited a minute to see if he would say anything.
“Jin… I don’t want to do this. I want to work something out. I don’t want it this way. Work with me. Let’s sit down together. I’ll pay for an arbitrator, someone who can help us negotiate. I want to work something out.”
Jin cut in. “You’ll pay for someone who will give you what you want.”
Nicole sighed again. “Jin, you can pick the person. It doesn’t have to be this way. I want to be able to see my son. I want you to be able to spend time with him and see him grow. Can’t we work something out.”
She heard Jin say something to someone in the room, then he came back to her. “Nicole… I’m sorry it has to be this way. There is no way you’re getting the boy back. He’s in the best place for him.” Then, he hung up the phone.
Nicole looked at her phone. Her first instinct was to throw it across the room. That wouldn’t help anything, though. She sat down on the bed and started crying.
She was so tired. She drew her legs up and curled up on the bed. Maybe if she just slept for a few. She’d been lying down for a few minutes when she heard a soft knock on the door. Maybe if she ignored it, they would go away.
A few seconds later, another knock, this time louder. Nicole grabbed the pillow and pulled it over her head. “Go away,” she said softly, more to herself than whoever was at the door. She didn’t want to deal with anyone right now.
“Nicole,” she heard Paul say as the door opened.
“Go away,” she said again, a little louder this time.
“Nicole, Monty’s waiting to finish the briefing,” Paul said, sitting on the side of the bed and turning her towards him.
“I don’t care. Just leave me alone,” Nicole said, crying.
Paul lifted her into his arms, holding her while she cried.
“Shh, shush,” he murmured as she sobbed.
“We’ll be out in a few,” he said to someone over her as he continued to rock her. He didn’t say anything, just continued holding her and rubbing her back, letting her cry it out.
They sat quietly while she cried, and he rocked her. Nicole wasn’t sure how long it had been when she finally stopped and pushed to a sitting position.
“Hi,” Paul said quietly, and smiled the most beautiful smile at her.
“Hi,” she said back. “Thank you. You didn’t have to…”
“Don’t worry about it. This has been building up for a while. You want to talk about what topped you off, or is it too soon?” Paul helped her sit fully on his lap. He kept one arm around her as he reached with the other one to grab a box of tissues from the bedside table.
“Thanks,” she said, taking the box from him and trying to undo some of the damage to her face.
He took a tissue and held it to her nose, “blow.”
“I can…” Nicole started.