Chapter 8
"So wait she's their stepmother?! And she bailed them out of detention!" Donnie started his rant as we waited in traffic he was pissed at the twins for getting off easy thanks to their stepmother. I laughed at his rambling as we continued waiting out the slow drag of cars just trying to get home or to work our stomachs were ready to pig out on the Chinese food waiting for us at Ms. Lings. My mind wandered off to Shouta and the mystery man Nora was hugging. They looked like brothers but each grew up under different circumstances or different environments it made me wonder more about Shouta and his family I only know a little bit about him but that's only due to asking our coworkers about him. "Come on out with it Ru. What's on your mind or who is on your mind? That guy you were talking to looks cute for you." I scoffed at the suggestion but I knew what he was expecting me to say and I almost did but I let it go. "It's nothing just tired I guess or hungry I had a light lunch today and a lot of grading and passwords to create my teaching profiles in the system." I sighed, letting my curiosities diminish as traffic started to move faster, making Donnie sarcastically cheer, causing me to laugh. The rest of the drive home went by smoother than it did this morning but we enjoyed listening to the radio as we talked about what we ordered from Ms. Ling, Donnie being the stickler he is always sticking to ordering orange chicken with sesame oil on the side and white rice while I usually eat the General Tso's chicken with white rice since the sauce seasons the rice for me so I'll shake the container to mix everything and eat it like that just the thought of it is making my stomach growl in excitement at the taste of the food. "Neru do you think I should quit the firm I'm at?" I was shocked he'd even ask such a thing Donnie loved the firm he just hated the bigots that messed with him or vandalized his desk. "Donnie?! Are you seriously thinking about quitting?! All because of some homophobic assholes that are scared of how much better you are at practicing law than they are?! Your winning case streak is far better than theirs and your clients love you. Donnie, you practice law by the book and make sure your clients' rights aren't messed with in any way possible. If you left where would they go if they need a lawyer?" I couldn't believe he was going to let those jackasses win?! Maybe I should let his boss know what is going on in his firm while she's away after all she hand-picked Donnie fresh out of law school to represent her firm for the LGBTQ+ community. I met her a handful of times and we did get along great. Still, I don't think Human Resources is reporting to her all the harassment Donnie is experiencing but that would make sense seeing as they only have one person in HR and I'm pretty sure she's sleeping with one of Donnie's abusers. He let out a defeated sigh parking the car in front of the restaurant before turning to me with a sad smile. "I'm not ready to live alone yet Neru..we've been best friends since we were kids and I honestly look forward to coming home to you no matter how shitty my day has been. So maybe I can quit this law firm and join a new one that supports LGBTQ+ staff, I'm kinda sick of the HR department having talks equality meetings but it does nothing if they don't at least hand out punishments." I was touched that he was more than willing to give up his job at the firm but was more worried about them leaving a bad review if he decided to hand in his resignation..serves those bigots right though and they wonder why no employee stays longer than 6 months. "How about we pick up our food and while we eat we apply at every pro-LGBTQ+ lawyer firm within we'll say 35 miles from the new apartment. Does that sound like a deal you 0can stomach?" I laughed at Donnie's face full of surprise as he pulled me into a hug and I hugged back knowing that I had made the right choice to drag him along on another adventure. "Have you heard from Asshole yet? Or are we planning a road trip back to Pennsylvania?" The idea sunk my mood a little bit going back to that town that knew about the affair and did nothing to condone him and hid it away from me...his wife...well now ex-wife. "If I don't receive the papers from his lawyer by next Friday then we'll make the weekend trip to Erie." I sighed not wanting to see his face ever again but I would have no choice if he doesn't send the papers for me to sign then I'll have to do it in person. Donnie smiled reassuringly as we got out of the car knowing that I didn't want to go back to that town full of backstabbers and liars. I smiled as we entered the small restaurant with nothing but smiles on our faces and our stomachs growling at the sweet smell of food. We smiled and chatted with Ms. Ling while her ex-husband prepared our dinner. Even Ms. Ling's advice was similar to Kai's when we waited for Donnie to pick me up but of course, she also knew about my soon-to-be ex-husband's affair and how traumatic it was for me to find out my hometown was trying their best to keep it a secret from me. "So has the divorce gone through yet? Are you legally separated from the liar?" I always enjoyed her enthusiasm regarding my divorce from that cheating piece of shit and his barely legal mistress. I shook my head as I finished my water aggravated by how long this divorce was taking. "He hasn't sent her the papers yet and we might have to go back to that fucking cesspool of a town in order to finally get her out of this horrible situation." I smiled at the support of my friends especially with so much going on between work and now having to go back and see all the people who betrayed my trust my own family included. Of course I'll never tell Donnie that little bit of information...at least not until I get those goddamn papers and get Evan out of my life once and for all.