Tina laughed. “You caught me at a good time,” she said. “Phoenix told me I might get a call from you. Tell me what’s going on.”
I quickly explained my situation to her.
“I see. May I ask who your current lawyer is?”
“Ernie McGee.”
“And how did you come to be his client?”
“I picked him because he had the cheapest rates,” I admitted. “The divorce was supposed to be simple, and I didn’t want to spend a lot of money if I didn’t have to. Plus, he cheated, and I was pissed about having to pay for the divorce in the first place.”
“I can completely understand that,” she said. “Regarding your case, you can absolutely move forward with divorce proceedings even though your spouse has been reported missing. We can file a motion with the court requesting service by publication. That means we’ll publish the notice in the newspaper for four consecutive weeks. If he doesn’t respond to the notice during the allotted timeframe, we can move forward and request a court date.”
“What about proving I tried to find him? Will I still need to hire a PI?” I asked.
“No. You are not required to hire a private investigator to prove you tried to locate him. We can use phone records and certified letters. In your case, we can also use the missing person report.”
“Really?” I asked hopefully. “It’s that simple?”
“It is,” she confirmed.
“I’m almost afraid to ask, but how much do you charge for something like this?”
“If you decide to hire me, I’ll be compensated for my services by a third party,” she said.
“I bet that third party has a penis,” I muttered.
Tina laughed. “Yes, they do.”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“I frequently work with bikers. Trust me, I’ve heard much worse.”
“Well, I definitely want to hire you. Do I need to do anything to discontinue service with the other lawyer?”
“I can send a letter on your behalf,” she said.
“Perfect. Let’s do that.”
“Great. Let me just make sure I have your contact information, and I think we’re all set.”
“Thank you so much,” I said after providing the information she needed.
“You’re quite welcome. I’ll be in touch.”
Leaning back in my chair, I exhaled in relief. She made it sound so easy. Which made me wonder, why did my other lawyer make it seem so difficult?
My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. “You have a visitor out front,” Jan said.
I got up and followed her back to the reception area, wondering who it could be.
Irene was standing there with a large cardboard box in her hands and a smile on her face. “I brought lunch for you and your coworkers,” she said.
“Oh, Irene, you didn’t have to do that. But thank you,” I said and moved to take the box from her.
“No, ma’am,” she said and stepped back. “You’re still healing.”
“I’ll take it,” Jan said as Andi stepped out of her office.