His Hidden Agenda

Looking to Alex, I’m pleading for him to make sense of this for me. I don’t feel any clearer on what’s going on than when I first walked through the door.

Alex squeezes my hand again and looks at the lawyer. “She’ll take the offer from Mr. Gruner. I don’t want her anywhere near the house if he’s so unstable. Call in a moving company and have them pack up everything, everything from the curtains to knick knacks. Have them moved to this storage facility, I’ll have a locker ready for when they come to deliver. When she’s ready, she can go through the items at her own pace.”

Seeing my willingness to let Alex take control, the lawyer nods and is obviously relieved. “Just sign here and this accepts the bid from Mr. Gruner. Here are the death certificates for Ms. Leroy, the insurance company will need one. They are waiting for your call and they’ll send the check to your home. I haven’t had contact with the other insurance she had through her employer but she said they have your information. They’ll also need a death certificate and I’m sure it will be easy enough. If you have any other questions or need anything else please call me. I’m here to help make this process smoother for you.”

Nodding, I’m leaning against Alex as he guides me out of the office. My mind is still buzzing, Anita had Larry arrested, Larry stole from her and tried to sell her home while she was living in it? It’s still hard to take in, yes Larry had sometimes been mean, and even a little vicious. There had been the last time when he had tried t

o force himself on me, but to so completely become someone else?

Then I remember the drinking and gambling that had kept Larry out late. It had gone from a few nights to every night. I had accepted it because it was something that kept him busy. I shared only the smallest of my worries with Anita because I hadn’t wanted to sound whiny. Anita waved off my concerns with the pat answers of men would be men and women were there to keep them in line.

When I had told Larry I wanted a divorce, there was a part of me hoping he would shrug it off and not care. Yet, I had known deep down he wouldn’t like it, not because he cared about me, but because he didn’t like people to think of him as a failure. Especially, his mother, he needed her approval. It was the one thing that made him happy. His mother treated him like a king. I often think her liking of me was what led him to ask me to marry him.

After the divorce, we had met a few times, she had thought there was a chance Larry and I would get back together. Without letting her know he’d thrown me to the ground after a few well-placed slaps, and tried to rape me for telling him I wanted a divorce. I only said Larry had made it impossible. I only managed to get away while he’d gotten stuck trying to undo his pants and then fallen out of them. While he was on the floor I ran for the door.

I had already rented an apartment and moved some clothes and important personal things over. Larry and I hadn’t shared a room in a year so he didn’t notice anything missing. When I ran that day I never looked back.

I don’t want to look back at all now. My marriage had been a mistake, but it taught me important lessons. Maybe in the end Anita learned some too. Maybe that’s why she had left everything to me, because the lessons had been so painful she felt I was owed something for them. I don’t know why, I’m just going to be thankful.

Alex stops short and I bump into him. It’s only then I hear the yelling. I look up and Larry is in front of us screaming at me, and calling me a thieving bitch. Only, it’s not the Larry I remember. He’s put on over a hundred pounds, his clothes don’t fit, and he looks like he hasn’t washed in weeks. I can smell him from twenty feet away, a few of his teeth look black. Without thinking, I cling to Alex. Pulling me close, he steps toward the curb and holds up a hand for a taxi, one stops almost immediately. Opening the door, I’m pushed in. I hear him tell Larry to stay away from me. Larry stops yelling and just stares at him, seconds later Alex is in the taxi giving the address for work.

“What about your car?”

“Don’t worry about my car, I’ll get it later. It seemed more important to get you away from him as soon as possible. Are you okay? You’re trembling, it’s okay, he’s not getting anywhere near you.” Pulling me close, I inhale the scent of Alex. All my fears disappear. I don’t doubt his words, Larry isn’t going to get near me and the look of surprise and fear on Larry’s face when he saw Alex made it clear he wouldn’t try. Larry is a bully only if he thought he could win, and he’d seen clearly there was no way he’d go up against Alex and win. So he isn’t even going to try.

“It was just shock at seeing him again. Kind of a lot to take in after the whole lawyer thing. You knew he’d be here today.”

Squeezing me tight, he nods. “The way you described him, and his mother giving you everything, I knew he’d show up.”

“Thank you for being here.”

“You aren’t mad I didn’t warn you?”

“No, I’m just glad you were here. Not just because of him but your advice. It’s smart, too, selling the house immediately, maybe he would have tried something there, but not now. I can’t believe a million five is under market price for the house. It was nice and big but still, it seems over-priced to me.”

“It’s not the house he’s paying for, it’s the lot. The lot is large, he’ll likely tear it down and build something larger on the lot.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because it’s what I would do with it. That’s why he doesn’t care about the updates the house needs. For the lot and the cost to rebuild the price is fair. I wouldn’t have let you sign if I didn’t think it was.”

“I wasn’t worried about that. I know you wouldn’t encourage me to do anything that isn’t in my best interest.”

“Grace, I love when you sound so confident.” His whisper in my ear makes me shiver.

“It’s easy when it’s about you.” I whisper back.

Laughing, he pulls me out of the taxi. It isn’t until the elevator inches up to our floor that I begin to get a little nervous. Would Tim and Edward really be happy for me and Alex? Tightening his arm around me, he whispers. “Confidence, sweetheart, it’s going to be fine.”

At the front desk, the secretary’s eyes go wide when she sees us. When we get to Mabel’s desk, she smiles telling us both Tim and Edward are in Edward’s office.

Edward and Tim see us and smile, and the next few minutes go better and only slightly less embarrassing than I thought it would be. There is no surprise for either of them, only happiness and a very smug expression from Edward. Tim is relieved and happy to move the day of his retirement forward, while Edward isn’t as happy. He understood Alex’s desire to move the purchase up but is relieved to wait until after Alex and I are married and the company felt settled with the changes.

I couldn’t hold back the blush that came with Alex answering the wedding would be very soon and it would be followed by a long honeymoon.

My cheeks are still red as I make my way back to my office with Alex on my heels. Gasps follow us, I’m pretty sure I hear someone mention my ring. The door closes behind me and Alex laughs.

His cell phone rings and he sighs, “Marley, I’m kind of in the middle of something important here. I’ll tell you soon, yes it’s important enough I’m not about to go off running to pat Dad’s hand to make him feel better about not being able to actually ask his children to come visit him.”