2

Elsie finished reviewing the final document and then nodded, “it matches the prenup terms in the event of adultery. He isn’t screwing you over, at least not in here. Motherfucker,” she whispered the last word under her breath as she pushed the papers across the kitchen table towards Liesl. “I’m so sorry, love.”

Liesl held Janka’s hand under the table and sniffed, “I never saw it coming. He fucked her at her wedding reception.”

“Did he say it was the first time?” Janka asked as Elsie pointed out all the places Liesl needed to sign.

“I didn’t ask. While I waited for you to get here, I sat here thinking of every interaction and I’m confident it’s been going on for at least a year. They both disappeared at my cousin’s wedding. Remember he was late coming to Mom’s birthday dinner, and she had disappeared for twenty minutes but then someone said they’d seen his car in the yard? He was probably there screwing her somewhere in Mom’s house.”

“Jesus Christ,” Janka whispered. “I thought you two had the perfect marriage. He couldn’t keep his hands off you.”

“Sandy and Roddy were on and off again so many times. Each time they broke up, she was out sleeping around.” She stared at the ceiling, aware the tears were still streaming down her face, “thank heavens he always used a condom with me, or I’d probably have caught one of her diseases.”

“You should get tested anyway,” Elsie grunted. “Who does this to her own sister?”

“Sandy does,” Liesl grimaced. “She’s been after my things since the day she was born, and Mom always made me share.” She exhaled, “though it takes two to tango and he is as culpable as she is.”

“True.” Elsie squeezed her hand. “Do you think he’s still waiting in the car for the papers?”

“Yes.” She nodded and started to get up, “I’ll bring them to him.”

“No,” Elsie stood, “as your legal representative, it is my pleasure to take them to him. This copy is yours. This copy is his. I’ll bring him his copy. I will personally file these with the court in the morning. The sooner the better. We’ll get this over with.”

“This really hurts,” she whimpered as Elsie kissed her forehead before walking out of the kitchen towards the hall. “It sucks.”

“It really does,” Janka agreed. “You don’t have to come into work tomorrow if you don’t want to.”

“Actually,” she blinked back the tears, “I need to do something more than sit around this oversized house. Can I get a couple extra shifts?”

“Definitely.” She hugged her tightly and pressed Liesl’s head to her shoulder. “I feel so pathetic. I couldn’t keep my dog on a leash, and he strayed with my sister.”

“Your dog needs to be put down,” Janka muttered as they sat quietly.

“Your husband is an asshole,” Elsie walked back in. “He was annoyed I brought the papers out and not you. He said you’re going to be an aunt, so you need to get over it and be able to be civil.”

“Screw him,” Janka hissed. “We really do need to put the dog down. I can call one of my cousins in Germany,” she half-joked.

Liesl made a face which made both of her girlfriends raise eyebrows. “Is it wrong it’s been two hours since this all started and all I want to do is plot revenge?”

Janka pulled her head backwards and stared at her incredulously, “you? Revenge? Girl, you are the queen of spouting forgiveness. Are you really going to plot revenge?”

“While he was upstairs packing his shit and I was waiting for you, I noticed my laptop was still open from where I was watching movies. He said twice he needed to pack his office and I got thinking.”

“And?”

“He has used my laptop more than once to conduct business. He would bring mine along as a backup in case his battery died on flights and stuff. I never look at any of it but it’s not password encrypted or anything.”

“So?” Elsie was all ears.

“I know there are a couple of major business deals he’s been working with his father on. If he lands these two accounts, he’ll be up for promotion. The Board of Directors has been wanting him to prove himself, but he’s just turned thirty and they think he’s too young.”

Janka leaned forward with her hands clenched tight.

Liesl continued, “I don’t know but maybe there is a way in some of the information he has on my personal laptop to sabotage his career. He’s not going to get fired because nepotism is real in the McGrath family. They’re powerful millionaires and all but the last two contracts he vied for were blocked by another company. Merl hates this guy. What if I could find a way to get the information to this Mr. Machado guy?”

“Machado?” Janka made wide eyes. “Not Isaias Machado? Billionaire?”

“Maybe?” she shrugged, “I’m not sure. I only know about six months ago there was a huge contract for a development and this Machado swooped in at the last second and, according to Merl, stole his contract. He did it again about two weeks before we went to Turks. He was pissed off. He said everything he was doing now was to get back at this guy. He and his father were going ensuring the two deals they were working on were kept top secret so none of the information could filter to Machado.”

Elsie swallowed, “okay, um, I know we’re just talking out of our asses here because you’re hurting and so by default, we are hurting, but if you could find a way to do it which wouldn’t get you into legal trouble, I might know a way to get you near Machado to give him information.”

Liesl wiped the corners of her gritty, reddened swollen eyes, “how?”

“My sister Mara’s restaurant is one of his favorite places to dine. She specializes in Mediterranean cuisine and he’s Portuguese. He goes there a lot. At least once a week.”

She swallowed the lump in her throat, “shit, really?”

“Yeah,” Elsie grinned wickedly, “Mara might have disappointed my parents by dropping out of law school to become a chef, but she’s created a hell of a following with the rich and elite.”

She nodded and then sighed, “I might not even have anything to give him.”

Janka ran into the other room and then came back carrying her laptop, “just in case he changes passwords or tries to adjust things,” she pulled a thumb drive from her purse, “put everything and anything you can find on this. We can sort through it later but at least you’ll have whatever he was working on.”

“I’m bad at this stuff. My laptop is for watching movies and it’s probably why he used my computer. He knew I wouldn’t go snooping around. It would take me hours,” her voice trailed off as Elsie turned the computer towards her and started hammering away at the keys. “What are you doing? If this illegal or could get you in trouble, you could get disbarred.”

“If there is anyone in my life worthy of getting disbarred for it’s you. Besides, his comment about you being an aunt really pissed me off. Does he expect you, him, and your sister to be some kind of happy family. Fuck him. Fuck her.” Elsie muttered through gritted teeth as she shoved the thumb drive into the device, “also, fuck your mom for not calling you back when you needed her. I get your sister is pregnant but she’s having her brother-in-law’s baby. Shame on her. Shame on all of them. Let’s burn the world.”

“He said he had to marry her because his grandfather’s will stipulates any child born out of wedlock can’t have the money left in trust for them.” She whispered, “I don’t want to ruin a child’s life.”

“You’re not.” Elsie was on a roll now as she clicked and dragged hundreds of files Liesl had no idea were even on her computer to the drive. “There are plenty of parents in the world who work at McDonald’s flipping burgers. The kid will get his trust fund eventually, but we don’t have to make it easy for his parents.”

“This is crazy.”

“Yes, it is.” Elsie looked to her with a devious gleam in her eye as she held up the thumb drive, “hide this somewhere he will never find it when he comes back Saturday with his moving truck. We can sort out the rest later. Are you in?”

As she looked at the stack of papers he’d presented to her with no warning, she gave a single nod. She wasn’t going down without a fight.