“I’m 31,” Jen said.
“I’m 34.”
“Thanks for everything, Cooper. You’ve done more for my self confidence in an hour than the dozens of self-help books I’ve read put together.”
“Maybe you’ll enjoy my new book,” Cooper playfully called out to Jen as she left the store, “Chicken Soup for the Woman’s Soul Who Finally Stops Buying Her Clothes at Talbot’s!”
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The partners were whispering about the unpaid hours Adam was devoting to Tracie’s case. But Adam didn’t care. There was no way he couldn’t help Tracie. After Tony had moved out of the couple’s home, he stopped paying the mortgage, utilities, and child support. On Tracie’s paltry $25,000 a year salary, she could barely survive. Tony also pawned most of their valuables and sold much of the furniture at times when Tracie was at work or otherwise not around. Tracie was left with one twin mattress which Willem slept on, and an old TV and its stand. Tracie slept on the floor. If he’d ever had a case that actually meant anything, this was it. Tracie faced unyielding torment her punk of a husband.
Adam marveled at the façade of a marriage that fooled most, if not all, of the people at Tony’s birthday party a few months earlier. Now that Adam knew what went on behind those suburban doors, he wondered how many other couples were leading such fake public lives. To ensure that Tony’s co-workers knew who he really was, Adam told Rob about the case. Rob’s loyalties lay with Adam and Tracie. Sometimes a war must be fought on many fronts.
The struggle between Adam and Tony became personal for Adam. Tony had gone through a succession of attorneys. At every hearing, a new lawyer appeared who temporarily believed Tony’s story. Now Tony was representing himself. He was fighting to destroy Tracie for nothing more than the pleasure of being vindictive. Adam, on the other hand, was fighting for Tracie because no one else ever had. Tony’s goal was to punish Tracie for being strong enough to finally stand up to him by hiring a lawyer to end the marriage of physical and mental abuse.
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