We are both divorce and family law attorneys and met because we were on the opposite sides of a case.  This happened over ten years ago.  We were both involved in relationships.  I was just about to get married and Rick was coming out of a divorce.  The timing was less than optimal.  Over the next ten years we would see each other in the halls of "it's not really justice" or if we had cases against each other.  However, we were each other's trusted confidant when it came to legal matters or when we needed the other's advice whether it was business or personal.

It always seemed that I was texting Rick to cover cases for me for one reason or the other.  He generally obliged and I did the same for him or better yet referred cases his way that he was better suited for such as representing women for those women that came to my office for consultations not realizing that my firm's focus was protecting men and their rights during a divorce or family law issue.  This worked out for many years for us.

Having cases against each other was interesting because he was the consumate professional i.e. he looked and acted like a lawyer you would see on television while here I was the rule breaker because I believed in pink power.  Pink Power has nothing to do with the Woman's Movement, breast cancer or the private part of a woman's body.  You just have to know me to understand it.

The last time Rick and I had a trial against each other saddened me.  It was during this trial in 2021 that he told the Court he was going to Jamaica to get engaged and that he was also going there to get married so certain dates were not available in his calendar.  

Rick and I didn't have any new cases together after that and when we did talk over the phone I never bothered to ask him how the engagement went or the wedding.  In August of 2022 I ended up getting a divorce and like many other people before me posted the divorce on FaceBook thinking that it was the fastest way to let everyone know that I was divorced.  I was wrong.  Rick is not on social media feasting on the daily snacks people post so never knew that I was divorced.

I do not recall why I called him in the beginning of 2023 but I definitely remember asking him about married life and being suprised to find out he never went through with it.  I think his exact words were I got rid of the crazy see you next tuesday and was dating someone from Buffalo.  I was like wow.  It was then I realized that he did not know that I was divorced and since he was back on the market too I jokingly asked him if I could get put on the list.  

I forgot all about it until late July or early August of 2023 when I saw him at Court and again jokingly asked him If I made it on the list yet.  I saw him another time when I was leaving Court and we crossed paths with each other outside of the courthouse where this time I yelled "Did I make the LIST !!!!".  He just kept walking and smiled.  I thought to myself he must think I am such a weirdo.

A couple of weeks past and he and I were chatting on the phone again about something when the topic of his new truck came up.  He was asking questions about what it's like to own a diesel truck or some conversation along those lines.  Rick was excited about getting his new truck.  While we were talking he almost forgot that he needed to go pick it up from the dealer.  He told me that we would talk later after he picked it up.   I also learned that he was dating someone new and she was in NYC with her daughters.  I joked with him telling him he was a serial dater. 

I did receive a phone call from him about an hour later but it wasn't a phone call from someone that was happy.  Rick was angry and upset that he had a big scratch on the tailgate of his vehicle after he took his truck for a car wash.