Chapter Eight

The buzzing of the courtroom halted as the judge's gavel smacked onto the table. Normally, family-law cases such as these were more imitate because they were lacking a jury, but the wife's extended family had wanted to come to show their support. And they were loud. Loud to the point that Noah had to chug down two Advil tablets during a break to calm his throbbing head.

Noah straightened his tie, awaiting the decision of the court.

"Do you think he'll be in favor of me?" the wife breathed into Noah's ear, causing him to squirm. The proximity and anxiety was killing him. 

He hated cases like these. Hell, he hated most of his cases. It was the usual child custody dilemma. The husband, Arthur, had called it quits after sixteen years of marriage and cited "irreconcilable differences." Marlene, his wife, had kicked him out of the house and demanded full custody of their children.

That Arthur guy is such a saint, Noah quipped to himself, catching a glance at the quivering blonde with coke-bottle glasses in the tattered suit.

Marlene, whose father's inheritance had made her extremely wealthy, was not asked for a single penny by Arthur. All he wanted was joint custody over their three children, John, who was fourteen, Leslie, who was eleven, and Jacey, who was three months. Two of the children resembled their father, but Jacey, the youngest, appeared to be the "out-ball-out" in terms of looks. 

"I thank you all for coming today to appear in court. Both of the closing remarks were very compelling. However, while I feel for Mr. Arthur Tyson, I am a bit worried about him raising his children in such an unstable environment."

Arthur stopped quivering and just peered up at the judge with cloudy eyes. Noah had to turn away.

"You lack a permanent residence and a sufficient job to provide for three growing children. At this point, I must give full custody to Ms. Marlene Tyson, and will allow weekly visitations on Saturdays. This case will be reviewed again in the following year."

Marlene squealed next to Noah, placing her hands onto his forearm. 

"You're absolutely brilliant! Thank you for helping me keep my babies!"

Noah held back his desire to roll his eyes. He nodded politely before turning away. He cursed his luck that his large firm would require him to represent Marlene rather than Arthur. Marlene was selfish, self-absorbed and completely could care less about the upbringing of her children. 

She had used this custody-battle and ultimately her children as a way to spite Arthur.

How low can you get?

Arthur, meanwhile, was still leaning over his table, looking as if the wind had been knocked out of him. His lawyer, one of Noah's old colleagues at his past law firm, rubbed his back, whispering comforting advice in his ear.

On the other side of the courtroom, Marlene was chatting it up with her family, hugging anyone that would come her way. Noah squinted, wondering who that strange man standing next to her was. Noah had said hello to all her family members prior to the beginning of the case, and this man had never shown up once. With a few more seconds of observation, Noah realized that this guy's hand was on her lower back and that his eyes seemed somewhat familiar.

Oh shit.

Noah clutched his chest.

Jacey's eyes. 

Arthur could've robbed that woman of everything, citing the divorce as her fault. However, he probably didn't want his kids to remember the divorce as their mother's fault because she wanted to shag another guy. Nah, this Arthur was a true class act. He let her go on with her life, only wanting equal parental rights over his children.

And he couldn't even get that.

Noah's Adams apple vibrated as his eyes skimmed over from Marlene to Noah. He had aided in this disaster. As a lawyer, wasn't he supposed to bring justice to the world? Noah's stomach tumbled, and he nearly collapsed as he stood up from his seat.

I have to do something.

With that, Noah grabbed his suitcase and stormed out of the courtroom, dismissing any gratitude emitting from his client.

"You...you quit your job?"

Shannon felt as if she was going to pass out. Checking her pulse, she noted that it was at her perfect rate of sixty-four beats per minute. She was fine; she was just being melodramatic again. 

Her love picked up a magazine from the table and flipped through the pages. Groaning, he placed his feet on the table.

"Can you please answer me?" Shannon implored, twisting the ring on her right hand.

She ran a hand through her hair. This was her only day off, and they were supposed to go to a romantic dinner at her favorite restaurant before visiting her parents for desert. She had picked this day months ago and had circled it on the calendar in her office. She made her assistant spend hours at Saks shopping for the dress that screamed, "I'm sexy but conservative." She had left work early to get her hair curled at the salon on Madison Ave. Everything was perfectly planned. 

Tonight would be perfect.

It was perfect until she had come to Noah's apartment to collect him for dinner and found Noah sprawled out on the couch, half-drunk and unemployed.

"What else do you want me to tell you?" Noah snapped, taking another chug from his beer. "I quit my job. I'm done with being a lawyer...for now anyways."

Shannon's nose flared at the sight of the beer bottle. She ached to grab it and smack him over the head with it. "I just don't understand! This morning, you looked fine walking out the door. This afternoon, you're intoxicated and giving me attitude. What happened at court today?"

The man in the stained tank gagged, remembering the after-taste of letting that bitch win full custody over her three children. "Nothing, okay? I just realized that I'm not cut out for this lawyer crap."

Shannon rolled her eyes, checking her watch.

Great. We're late for our reservation.

"So, what are you supposed to do in the meantime? Get drunk every night? How could you make such an impulsive decision!" she huffed.

Noah jumped up from the couch, pulling on his hair with both hands. "You're driving me insane! Take some risks in your life, will ya! I have a plethora of doors open for me. Maybe I'll go back to school; I minored in medicine before deciding on law school. Maybe I'll take a break for a few months. We're not exactly struggling here, Shannon." He pointed to her Rolex and Gucci pumps while he was pulling off his Valentino tie.

Shannon bit her lip, trying to force the tears back in. Why was he being so difficult lately? It was like a new Noah had appeared before her eyes. Shannon didn't like it one bit. How was she supposed to tell her parents about this? 

Oh, hey, Mom and Dad, I'm marrying an unemployed and insensitive jerk! Forget about that dreamy lawyer and sweetheart I had introduced you ages ago. 

What about her friends! She smacked a hand to her face. She would be laughed at. Her friends' partners were stable and highly successful. Noah was as well...well until now.

But, she loved him. She loved his smile, which she rarely saw nowadays, that could melt her at any moment. She loved his passion, his intelligence, and his witty remarks. She loved how polite he was, or had been. She mentally noted that he made sure to allot a huge chunk of his salary to donate to charity and spend the majority of his free weekends at the local soup kitchen.

She loved him so much that she could deal with his crap.

Right?

"I'm sorry," she murmured, taking his hand. "I just," she breathed, exasperated, "what am I going to tell everyone? We're getting married soon, and I don't want people to worry about you."

Noah pushed her hand off of him and grabbed his jacket. "Just tell them that perfect Shannon Weaver is marrying a joke,and they can mind their own business!"

With that, he sprinted out of his apartment, leaving his love with her mouth gaping.

"Hi, Mom," Shannon slowly enunciated in the phone, praying her voice wouldn't falter, "it's just going to be me tonight. Noah has a huge case he's working on."

Noah slammed the door of his Volvo. Banging his head against the steering wheel, he tried figuring out what he should do next. This was the worst fight he had ever had with Shannon. They rarely fought, and now, it seemed like they had to pick at each other over the tiniest things.

Skimming the contacts of his phone, he realized that most of the people in his contact list would either judge his decision, could care less and only wanted to party, or had more important struggles that they were dealing with.

When he reached the last contact, at the end of the alphabet, he internally cursed himself before typing in a text.

Oh, what the hell, he thought.

Noah speedily typed, "Can I come over? I need to talk, and I know this is weird, but I just really need someone."

Within seconds, he received a reply.

"Uhmm...sure," the text wrote, "I'm staying at an acquaintance's. It's a block away from my apartment....I'm sure he won't mind company while he's away at work."

Noah threw his phone to the back seat and started his engine.

He couldn't believe his life.

**

Hope you guys like this chapter! Three questions:

1. What do you think of Noah's decision to quit his job?

2. Trouble in paradise: Do you think Shannon over-reacted? 

3. Where is Noah going?

Please try to share this story with fellow wattpadders!