Anything Under The Sun

FLorida Lawyer

Early Monday morning while I was sitting with my friend, he got a call from a Florida lawyer. Whenever anyone hears 'Florida Lawyer', one gets a feeling not everything's right. And a serious of thoughts rushed through my mind. Why would a lawyer call my friend? And that too a lawyer from Florida? A brief 8 minute conversation later (considering lawyers and their ability to speak loonng, this was really brief), my friend slowly hung up the phone.

 

A mixed bag of emotions ran across his face. He was a bit anxious, a bit worried, a bit angry, and a bit hurt. The moment he glanced at me, I blurted out "Kya hua? Tere chehre ka rang kyon utar gaya?" He started to say something, but stopped instantly. I didn't wish to pursue further; and left it at that. I know if he wants to talk about this conversation with the 'florida lawyer', he will in due course of time.

 

A few days passed on and I'd completely forgotten about the whole lawyer thing. With such hectic schedules who wouldn't? Frankly I'm more worried about my deadlines and work responsibilities than think of some florida lawyer. In what way was I concerned? Yes, my friend was involved in something, that concerns me, but what can I do about it until my friend wishes to involve me in it?

 

One fine morning, the doorbell rang. When I answered the door, it was my friend. Mostly with moist eyes, like he was in tears. He stood there, at my doorway, staring, a blank stare actually. I took him inside and made him a hot cup of filtered coffee (a South Indian favorite). And I asked him what the matter was.

 

He began his story, explaining what had been going on in his life for the last 5 months. It was his wife, who'd wished to divorce him. She'd sent him notices through her florida lawyer and each time that particular florida lawyer called, he would go into a shell; feeling miserable. (That explains my friend's behaviour some time ago when he had a phone call). Citing each and every example of what caused this wonderful couple to end up in a soup. I don't think it would be wise to share what he said to me because I promised not to tell anyone. However, I will surely keep these instances in mind when I write a book on husband-wife relationships.

 

Coming back to my friend, I consoled him saying that if his wife wasn't happy with him, maybe it was time to move on. (It seemed like the best advice I could give him at such an advanced stage of his court proceedings). But he wasn't ready to give in. He wanted me to speak to his wife and convince her to stay with him. He had come to see me for this. Anything for a friend, I thought.

 

So I called his wife and setup a meeting with her that afternoon, over lunch at The Ritz. We reached bang on time (Something unlikely for my friend). She arrived a few minutes late; with her florida lawyers. We were surprised to see the lawyer, for this meant she wasn't keen on any informal arrangement. We requested her florida lawyer to stay out of this, only managing to gain time for 10 minutes alone. So this was it, without the lawyer, I had 10 minutes to convince her to stay with him.

 

A deep breath, a short prayer, and a lot of anticipation, I took out my photo album which had photos of the 3 of us ever since we knew each other. Luckily, I'd thought of carrying these photos. One by one, I showed her the photos and reminded her of the happy instances of our lives. With each photo, she seemed to mellow down bit by bit. In my mind, I wanted to hurry through, as I had a short time, but where emotions are concerned, nobody can rush through, can they?

 

We had barely finished half of them, when the florida lawyer guy turned with a frown. When he saw her face, he was apprehensive. Maybe he thought she'd change her mind. And this lawyer might lose his court fees. (These florida lawyer guys probably charge an arm and a leg). It seemed like all my efforts would go in vain, when thankfully, she stopped him and asked him to leave us alone for a while longer. That was a small 'win' for us. We went through all the photos and discussed the fun times we had. Slowly my friend and his wife began losing their tough stances and began talking, getting back the glimpses of the old times when they were at the peak of their relationships.

 

10 more minutes later, they were in each other's arms. Yes!!! That was such a happy sight. And you should have been there to see the face of the florida lawyer. Haha. He was shocked. But what could that lawyer guy do anyway. He accepted what he saw and left in a huff.

 

A short prayer to God and a heavy sigh of relief later, I wished my friend and his wife good luck and left the restaurant. A few steps after leaving the restaurant, the florida lawyer was in a state of non-acceptance. He probably hadn't seen such a thing in his life. When I crossed him, the florida lawyer called out to me. I stopped, and he came over. After a momentary silence, he said he was going through a bad phase with his wife and reluctantly asked me if I could do something to help him.Wow, now suddenly I'm a psycho-analyst; psychiatrist; marriage counsellor. And a perceived expert too. Hehe. With a sly grin, I said I'll try my best to help him though I'm not supposed to be an expert in this matter. That brought him cheer and we were off to see his wife. Perhaps that was the beginning of a brand new career, a psychologist, maybe.

 

The florida lawyer will vouch for me, I'm sure.

Kowshik