After hearing Mac?s command to enter the Police
Commissioner's office, Scott Baldwin poked his head
through the slightly opened door. Seeing that Mac was
alone in his office Scott inquired, "Can we speak a
few minutes before heading over to Denise Latham's law
office?"
"Sure Scott." Mac stood and offered Scott a seat. "We
have 15 minutes before we have to go and meet with
Felicia and her lawyer." Mac came from behind his desk
and sat on the edge of it in front of Scott. Watching
Scott's body language as he sat in the offered chair,
Mac sensed that whatever Scott was preparing to say
would not be pleasant.
"Mac, I just want to prepare you for the meeting. You
initially hired me because Felicia's lawyer was giving
your previous lawyer the run-around when it came to
moving forward with the divorce proceedings. Denise
Latham hasn't been any more cooperative since I've
been representing you but at least I was able to force
her to meet us today. The operative word here is
force. Mac, it's obvious that Felicia is going to pull
out all of the stops in contesting this petition for
divorce. I know what you went through with Felicia's
involvement with Luke Spencer." Scott laughed silently
to himself, grimly thinking his last comment was an
understatement. Scott knew exactly what Mac was going
through. He himself had been deeply in love with a
woman who fell under Luke Spencer's inexplicable
spell. But even up to when his divorce from Laura
became final, Scott would have done everything that he
could to save his marriage; he had loved Laura that
much. Scott wanted to make sure Mac truly wanted this
divorce because he anticipated things could turn nasty
quickly, and there were two children involved.
Mac interrupted, "With all due respect Scott, I know
of your history with Luke and Laura, and I know you
were in the courtroom when Felicia testified about the
night she spent with Luke. But you don't know the half
of all of the mess I went through with Felicia. With
New York being a no-fault divorce state I don't want
to revisit those issues. But understand this, I want
this marriage in name only ended as soon as possible."
"No matter what the cost is?" Scott persisted. "Do you
really what every detail of your marriage discussed in
open court if Felicia contests the divorce?" Wanting
to see if Mac was open to an alternative, Scott made a
suggestion. "You know, if you are legally separated
for a year or more, it would be much easier to get the
divorce, with or without Felicia's consent. We will do
our best today to move forward but if Felicia decides
to contest the divorce, you might want to continue the
legal separation for another 9 months. After that, you
can be granted a divorce in as little as sixty days,
with or without Felicia's consent."
Mac took a deep breath after hearing Scott's proposal.
Being an excellent lawyer, it was Scott's job to tell
Mac all of the legal options in pursuing this divorce.
But there was absolutely no way that he intended to
stay married to Felicia for almost an additional whole
year. He believed in his heart that Dara truly loved
him and that if necessary; she would wait a year for
him to be free of Felicia. But in his mind there was
no reason that they should wait. "Scott, do whatever
you have to do. I want the divorce finalized as soon
as possible."
Sighing, and steeling himself for an acrimonious
encounter, Scott understood his client's wishes. "O.K.
Mac. Let's go do it."
Walking into the luxurious walnut-paneled offices of
Attorneys Spiegel, Latham, and Barnes, Mac hazarded a
guess as to how many embattled divorces contributed to
the success of the firm. Scott and Mac were seated
only a minute in the reception area when an assistant
escorted them to a large meeting room. Felicia and her
attorney were already seated at the large mahogany
conference table with their backs facing the office
windows. After perfunctory introductions, everyone
took their seats.
Scott began speaking, "Ms. Latham, my office has sent
you the divorce petition, all information regarding my
client's assets and financial information, requests
regarding visitation rights, and a proposed financial
settlement for your client and her daughters. I have
not received one official response from you, which is
why we are meeting today. My client wishes to finalize
the divorce with all deliberate speed and in a manner
which is fair to all parties."
"Well we have a problem Mr. Baldwin," Denise Latham
stated. "My client does not wish to terminate the
marriage and is willing to do everything possible to
accomplish this goal. Apparently Felicia has tried
several times to discuss this with her husband without
the presence of lawyers and Mr. Scorpio has been
unwilling to hear her out. My only purpose for being
here today is to facilitate in a reconciliation of Mr.
and Mrs. Scorpio's marriage."
Mac immediately interrupted Felicia's attorney by
commenting bitterly, "Well then you're wasting
everyone's time because I can tell you now what you're
asking is not going to occur." He glared at Felicia
who noticeably flinched for a second upon hearing
Mac's comment, but she remained quiet and was content
to let her lawyer do her job.
"Mac," Scott warned his client. Knowing that Scott
wanted him to be quiet, Mac leaned back in the swivel
chair in an effort to calm down, but his hands tightly
gripped the armrests. Everyone - Kevin, Taggert in a
stupid way, Dara, and Scott - warned Mac that Felicia
was not going to act reasonably about the divorce.
Looking at her sitting confidently across the
conference table from him, the realization finally
became clear to him also.
Continuing, Felicia's attorney informed them, "Our
proposal is that Mr. Scorpio immediately moves back
into the family home with his wife and children and
Mr. and Mrs. Scorpio attend marriage counseling
sessions for a period of at least 6 months. If, after
that time, both parties feel that the marriage should
not continue, a divorce can be granted within as sixty
days."
"Are you going to address anything in the divorce
petition which was served to your client?" Scott
asked.
Replying as if she were speaking to an imbecile child,
Felicia's lawyer stated, "As I said just a moment ago,
that was not our purpose for meeting with you today."
To hell with this Scott thought. He acknowledged to
Mac in a brief glance that he was in agreement;
continuing this meeting would be a waste of time.
"Let's go Mac."
Knowing that if Mac walked out of the office, there
would be no possibility of getting him to move back
into the house in the near future, Latham quickly
stated, "Even if your client insists on getting a
divorce, our proposal is the quickest way for him to
do so with the least amount of trauma. It will take at
least three months before a judge will hear this case.
And then, does he really want to discuss all aspects
of his marriage in an open courtroom? After all, your
client is a public figure. And he should consider the
effect of an open divorce hearing on the two young
girls."
Fed up with these arguments to coerce him to move back
in with Felicia again, Mac looked directly at Felicia
and countered, "If we have a divorce hearing it won't
be the first time that the problems of our marriage
will be aired in a public courtroom."
Felicia stood quickly and slammed both hands on the
table. "Mac, stop and listen to reason!" Felicia
shrieked. Pent-up rage from watching Mac resist every
proposal offered by her lawyer was beginning to show
in her demeanor. "Mac, can we talk now for a few
minutes? Looking at her lawyer and then Scott, Felicia
asked, "Please, leave us alone for a few minutes." Mac
gave Scott an affirmative nod of his head and both
lawyers left the meeting room, leaving Mac and Felicia
alone.
Motioning for Mac to sit down again, Felicia moved to
the seat next to his in hopes that their conversation
would not become confrontational. "What possible
reason do you have for not moving back into our home
with me, Maxie, and Georgie for a few months? Why
don't you want to give our marriage another chance?"
Not unsympathetic to her plight, Mac gazed directly
into Felicia's tear-filled eyes as he softly spoke.
"Felicia, you can't say that I didn't give our
marriage several chances, not just one or two. I don't
want this divorce to be about blame. I just want to
move on with my life and hopefully you can move on
with yours."
"We still aren't communicating Mac. I'm sitting here
talking about our marriage and you're talking about a
divorce." Unclenching the hand in her lap, she reached
out to touch Mac's face. "Can you honestly tell me
that you don't love me anymore?"
With closed eyes, Mac felt Felicia's palm pressed
gently against his face. As he opened his eyes he took
her hand into both of his. "Felicia, I no longer love
you. I did once, for a very long time. But it's not
there anymore."
Felicia shocked gasp told Mac that she hadn't believed
he would actually say those words. She immediately
snatched her hand from Mac's grasp. "I don't believe
you Mac. You're still angry and hurt about what
happened with Luke and you want to make me pay, you
want to hurt me. Well you have, you've hurt me deeply.
Shutting me out of your life. Flaunting your affair
with Dara. I want it to stop now Mac. I want you to
come home."
Not willing to listen to anymore of Felicia's demands,
Mac stood to leave the office. The sight of Mac
walking out on her - literally and figuratively -
infuriated Felicia. Physically blocking his access to
the door, in a taunting tone of voice Felicia said,
"You're such an advocate for honesty, why don't you be
honest with me and yourself? Why don't you admit the
real reason you want the divorce is so that you can
clear your conscious about sleeping with Dara? It's
just cheap, tawdry, commonplace sex, Mac. It's not
love or commitment or the history we've shared. Don't
throw away our marriage over this. A divorce won't
make you feel better about being with her."
"Don't go there Felicia," Mac warned. "Don't confuse
Dara and me with your relationship to Luke Spencer.
You don't know anything about us."
"I know everything about you two," boasted Felicia.
"Do you really expect me to let you end our marriage
and run to, of all people, Dara Jensen?! You're there
at her apartment every night disgracing your family
and me. And you two had the nerve to go to a
church..." Felicia abruptly stopped speaking,
recognizing that she had said too much. Realizing that
either Felicia was following him or someone on Dara's
security team was keeping Felicia informed, Mac was
furious with himself for not knowing the depths
Felicia would sink to stave off the divorce. No matter
what his suspicions were about Felicia and Luke's
affair, not once did he consider tailing her, and he
was appalled that she was collecting information about
his and Dara's movements.
Mac's face was only an inch away from Felicia's and he
gave her an intense stare. "It's over Felicia. Our
...marriage...is.... over." Mac said the words slowly
and deliberately as Felicia blinked her eyes in
disbelief. "I want to be a part of the girls' lives
and I want to be divorced as soon as possible. If you
don't offer a response to the divorce petition by the
end of today I'll instruct Scott to move forward to
arrange the earliest possible date for a divorce
hearing before a judge." Placing his hand on Felicia's
arm, Mac moved her from the door and he exited the
conference room. At he walked towards Scott, who was
standing in the reception area, Mac heard Felicia vow
softly as she walked a few steps behind him, "Oh no,
Mac, you're wrong. It's not over. Not by a long
shot."
~~~****~~~~
"Who could that be?" Dara, wearing her ever-present
Chicago Cubs baseball shirt, quickly raced across the
living room to answer the doorbell. She had been
trying to concentrate on some legal documents but her
mind kept drifting to thoughts of Mac. She noted it
had only taken a few weeks for him to become a
significant part of her life, and this revelation took
her by surprise. They had spent a wonderful weekend
together and Dara missed him desperately today. She
didn't expect to receive a telephone call from Mac
until 10 p.m., after he spent time with Maxie and
Georgie. Therefore she was startled to see Mac
standing on her doorstep at 8 p.m. He looked weary and
as if he'd been through a stressful day. Dara invited
Mac in and offered him dinner after he told her that
he hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. During
dinner Mac explained that Felicia refused to let him
see Maxie and Georgie tonight; he was only able to
speak to them on the telephone for a few minutes. Dara
massaged Mac's head, neck, and shoulders as he told
her of the caustic meeting today at Latham's law
office.
"It was awful Dara," Mac grimly sighed. "It is going
to get a lot worse before things get better. Felicia
is intent on making this divorce so unpleasant that I
will give up rather than go through it." Mac mentioned
Scott's suggestion about prolonging the separation in
an attempt to bypass some of the nastiness of a
divorce fight, but he let Dara know his feelings on
the proposal. "I don't want to be in this limbo state
for another year. Maybe when we saw each other in
Kelly's before Christmas I shouldn't have asked you
out, with the divorce not being final yet, but I
couldn't stop myself. Years ago I had let
opportunities to be with you pass when I wouldn't or
couldn't make a move. In December I was grateful for
the chance to be with you and I wasn't going to let it
pass me by again. I know that you were uncomfortable
introducing me as your boyfriend yesterday," Mac felt
Dara's fingers immediately stiffen as he spoke and he
quickly continued, " and I understand. I would want
the divorce to occur quickly even if we weren't
together. But I need to know how you feel about
everything. If I push for the divorce, the mud Felicia
will sling at me may touch you. To be candid, that is
the only reservation I have about pressing for the
divorce, and I don't want to lose you due to the
nastiness of the fight. And I know that I will lose
you if I'm not free soon." Mac sat up and turned to
gaze in Dara's somewhat sad brown eyes. He stroked her
face gently and whispered cautiously, "What do you
want me to do, love? I don't want to lose you but
also I don't want you to get hurt if you stand by me.
I don't know what to do..." It was bad enough gearing
up for this fight with Felicia, but that didn't scare
Mac. What truly terrified him was the possibility of
losing Dara if she was unfairly placed in the center
of the divorce battle.
Dara kissed Mac's hand and held it to her face.
"You're acting like I have a choice in the matter. Do
you think that I would leave you because of some lies
or accusations Felicia would throw my way? I know that
it won't be easy Mac, and as you say, there will be
some rough times ahead. But I have no choice. I love
you, with all my heart. Whatever happens, we'll get
through it together." Upon hearing Dara's declaration,
Mac embraced Dara. As he passionately kissed her, his
mind echoed its version of Dara's truthful statement.
They had no choice in the decision to be made; they
already loved each other.
