Marriage Material. Ally Blake

grey sky could not dampen his mood. She was such a spitfire, yet so certain. If he had any chance of finding his footing again it would be at her side.

      He couldn’t believe that only the day before, after years of knowing he wanted a family of his own more than anything, his experience with Janet had made him think he had hit a point when it really might not happen for him. He saw the future on the horizon, shimmering like a mirage, but he knew it was real and just waiting for the right moment to slip into focus.

      He took off up the street, whistling and smiling at strangers. One of those strangers turned out to be a familiar dark-haired pixie.

      ‘Gloria! Good morning!’

      She glared at him, her big eyes narrowing to slits as her perceptive gaze slid past him to her building beyond. ‘Mr Fox. What brings you to this part of town?’

      No point in pretending. She would know soon enough. ‘I had a proposition to put forward that could not be refused.’

      ‘And what was that?’

      ‘Your boss is going to make a husband out of me.’

      Gloria’s eyebrows raised a good inch. ‘Meaning?’

      ‘Meaning, since she turns out to be not just a divorce perpetrator but also a marriage aficionado, I have signed on for her to teach me what being a good husband means, so that I will be ready when I meet the woman of my dreams.’

      ‘Well, well, well. That I didn’t see coming.’

      ‘Unique, don’t you agree?’

      Gloria’s mouth twitched. ‘So unique that if I have a bad day at work today I’ll know who to blame.’

      Sebastian burst out laughing. ‘Yet still I am not deterred. I made a good decision this morning, a decision to change my life, and I am sticking by it.’

      ‘Then good for you.’ Was that a smile that finally tickled at the corner of her mouth?

      ‘If it turns out that my decision has…consequences, I’ll make it up to you. What do you want? A case of wine? Wrestling tickets? My head on a stick? What would it take to have you on my side?’

      The smile was finally in place. No teeth but definite lifts to the corners of her mouth. ‘You want me on your side?’

      Sebastian nodded. He had the distinct feeling Gloria could make it difficult for him otherwise.

      ‘Then be on Romy’s side,’ Gloria said, melting enough to give him a chummy pat on the arm before she headed to work. And Sebastian watched her go with the feeling she may have been on to something even more inspired than he.

      By the time Gloria arrived for work Romy had showered and changed into a much more appropriate little black dress with killer stiletto mules and had worked herself up into a right temper. She paced back and forth as Gloria took pages of notes about the meetings they would hold that day.

      ‘When’s my first appointment?’ Romy asked.

      ‘She’s here. Mrs Libby Gold. She’s fresh meat so be gentle. She looks nervous as an ant at an anteater convention.’ Gloria drew a broad concluding line under her notes. ‘You had Pilates this morning, did you not?’

      ‘I did.’

      ‘Aren’t you taking the classes for stress release?’

      ‘I am.’

      ‘And do you think you are getting your money’s worth?’

      Romy stopped pacing and turned to her assistant, who was staring cross-eyed at portions of her short, spiky fringe which she was systematically pinching between her fingertips.

      Romy sat deliberately on the corner of her desk and clasped her taut hands together in her lap. ‘I had a visitor after class who undid all the instructor’s fine work.’

      ‘That doesn’t seem fair. Maybe you should get Mr Fox to reimburse you.’

      Romy could do nothing but stare. ‘Well, maybe I should. What he suggested was just plain ridiculous.’

      ‘I thought the makeover idea was whacko at first but it has kind of grown on me.’

      Romy blinked. ‘Nothing gets by you does it, Gloria?’

      ‘Not a thing. And for that you should be thankful. But you will do it anyway, won’t you?’ Gloria asked.

      ‘Of course I darned well will. He practically dared me and you know I can’t refuse a challenge.’

      And the guy was a clean slate. Malleable. If she could find Sebastian Fox, of all men, a woman with whom he would really settle down then it would prove that marriage could still work today. What a coup that would be.

      And what an affirmation.

      ‘Though how you noticed his challenge when that fine butt of his was walking by I have no idea.’

      This coming from the woman who the previous week had told all and sundry that all men were chief purveyors of low self-esteem in women. ‘I can’t believe you noticed his butt when that fine ego of his was walking by.’

      Gloria shrugged. ‘Maybe there’s more to him than the dossier suggested.’

      ‘You do realise you are talking about a man, do you not?’

      ‘And what a man—’

      Romy pointed to her office door. ‘Out.’

      Gloria peeled her diminutive frame from the large chair. ‘Yes, ma’am.’

      Romy shot one more look at her clock. ‘Send in Libby Gold and then as soon as she’s gone patch me through to Alan Campbell.’

      Gloria turned at the door and shot Romy a cheeky grin. ‘Mr Fox’s lawyer?’

      ‘He just so happens to be.’

      Gloria winked. ‘Shall do, boss.’

      Romy spent the next fifty minutes with Libby Gold, who for fifteen years had been the wife of a man who had made a fortune in toothpaste. She was sweet, she was matronly and she had no idea how she had found herself in a lawyer’s office talking divorce.

      Privately Romy was glad Libby had come to her as she knew she would take extra-special care of her. Taking her through the process slowly and surely. And taking her philandering husband to the cleaners.

      ‘But what does that make the last fifteen years of my life?’ Libby asked. ‘A waste? I cannot handle the thought.’

      ‘You can handle it, Libby, because it has not been a waste. It has been a grand lesson. For you both. He will pay for his mistake and you will come out of it with knowledge and experience and a tidy fortune to tide you over.’

      ‘What good is money if I don’t have Jeffrey? I can’t bake a favourite meal for money. I can’t rest my head on money’s shoulder while watching a movie. People are what counts. People are what makes your life a life. Money has no memory.’

      What could Romy say to that? The poor woman’s mind was settled, for today anyway. Romy would win her around to the knowledge that the future was out there for the taking. That the man for her was still out there. And Romy had not lost a client back to their spouse once. Not ever. And she was not willing to start now.

      Romy stood and patted her client on the shoulder. ‘See Gloria on your way out and she’ll tee you up for our next session.’

      Once Libby was gone, Romy buzzed Gloria’s intercom. ‘Can you get Alan for me, Gloria?’

      ‘I don’t think now’s the right time,’ her voice mumbled through the black box on Romy’s desk. ‘We’ve had quite a spate of correspondence since you’ve been busy.’

      She nibbled at a little fingernail. ‘Well, are you going to tell me what the correspondence says?’

      ‘Oh.