“You know what my problem is?! YOU…YOU ARE MY PROBLEM!”

“How many times do I have to tell you that I’m not cheating on you, huh? I’M NOT SLEEPING WITH ANYONE FROM THE OFFICE!” he begged her to listen.

“I don’t believe you,” Eve began to cry and pulled from Julian as he tried to put his arms around her.

There was silence for a moment before Eve said the next words…which shocked Julian.

“I want a divorce.” She whispered.

“You what?” a tear trailed down his face.

“You heard me.” She said without emotion.

“This is what you want?”

She simply nodded.

“Fine,” he spat, “FINE!” he left her alone in the library and out the front door.

Eve shook as she felt the rumble from the slamming door.

That did not go as she planned. She had not expected Julian to just agree. What she had expected was for him to beg her to come to her senses, and to beg her to forget that she had even mentioned the word “divorce”. Julian must’ve not wanted to “fix” their “broken” marriage, she thought.

On the outside, Julian leaned against the front of the door. He waited ten minutes for Eve to come out and run after him, but she never did. He expected her to chase him down and ask him to forgive her for even suggesting that they’d get a divorce, but she hadn’t. Eve must’ve really wanted a divorce. She must’ve not been happy in their marriage; Julian thought and then left when she never came. Had it been Eve who was seeing someone else outside of their marriage? Was that why she wanted a divorce?!
---

Eve went to bed that night. She was sitting up in bed reading a book. Julian hadn’t came back home after their little tiff that afternoon. The door knob turned and Eve looked to the door excitedly. She was ready to tell Julian that she was a fool and that she was sorry and didn’t mean anything that she had said, but her shoulders shrunk in disappointment…it was little Evangeline.

“Mommy?” she said as she stood in the doorway, her hand resting on the knob.

“Yes, baby?”

“How come daddy hasn’t come home yet? He didn’t go out of town, did he?”

“Uh,” Eve paused as she came up with a lie, “No, honey, he’s just working late at the office,” she pulled back the covers and walked over to her daughter, “Come on, let’s get you back in bed…” she led her daughter down the hallway, “Is Evelyn asleep already?”

“Yes.”

Eve and Evangeline found their way to the bedroom, and she tucked her daughter in and then walked out. As she shut the door, Eve, like her youngest daughter, wondered where Julian was…
---

Julian had drunk himself to sleep in his office at Crane Industries. It was a total shock to him, hearing Eve declare that she wanted a divorce. Julian couldn’t face Eve, so he decided to just sleep over at the office. He didn’t want a divorce…he didn’t want a divorce! Julian cried himself to sleep.
---

Eve woke up the next morning to an empty bed. Julian’s side had never been slept in. She had to be at the hospital in two hours, so she decided to visit him during her lunch hour. Eve took her morning shower, got dressed, and went downstairs to see her children off to school.

“Mom!” J.J. screamed, “Good morning!” he smiled.

“Morning, precious,” she kissed him on his head, and then kissed the rest of her children.

“You just missed dad,” Evelyn said as she read the back of the cereal carton.

Eve looked up from the paper.

“I-uh, did he say anything?” she asked.

Eve didn’t want Julian mentioning anything about the “divorce” when things weren’t settled. She knew he wouldn’t have, but…she wondered why he left so early. And, did he sleep in another room or not at the mansion at all?
---

Eve could not concentrate on anything at the hospital. Her mind was on Julian. She was at her desk, her elbows were on top of the desktop. Her hands were clasped together as her chin rested on them. Eve’s hands then dropped to the edge of the desk as she pushed away from it, got up, and walked to the door. She took off her coat, hung it on the coat tree, and left the hospital.

In her car, all Eve could think about was Julian. She was on her way to CI to talk to him. What she wanted was to take him into her arms and feel his lips pressed against hers. In her mind, she could not stop imagining them making love in his office once she got there. It had only been a day and a half, and oh, how she missed him dearly!

But, when she got there and was about to enter his office, Ann informed Eve that Mr. Crane hadn’t been in the whole day.

“He’s not here?” Eve asked.

“No, ma’am,” Ann shook her head, “I haven’t seen or heard from Mr. Crane today.”

Eve stared off into space.

“Where could he be?” she said aloud, more to herself than to anyone else.

“I don’t know, Mrs. Crane…”

“Huh? What? Oh…” Eve snapped back to reality, “Oh, well,” she laughed a bit, “He must be at a meeting.”

“No, I don’t remember him mentioning a meeting…”

“Well, I’ll see you later, Ann…” Eve said and got on the elevator.

WHERE THE HELL IS JULIAN?!

Eve was due back at work and was unlocking her door to her office when a messenger stopped by.

“Mrs. Crane?” he slanted his head as he said her name.

“Yes, that’s me,” she said wearily.

“Here you go,” he handed her a yellow envelope, and then left.

Eve wrinkled her brows. What was in that envelope?

She shut her door and then walked over to her desk and set her purse down. Eve was just about to open the flap when her phone rang.

“Hello? Uh, yes,” she nodded, “I’ll be home early today, Pilar. Yes, okay…bye,” she hung up the phone and picked up the envelope again.

She then pulled out a document. Eve swallowed. It was divorce papers. It was divorce papers with Julian’s signature on it! All it needed was her “John Hancock” and Eve and Julian wouldn’t be husband and wife anymore.

Eve began sobbing. How did things get this out of hand?! She threw the papers to the floor and then swept everything off her desk! She could not believe this was happening. No, no, it was not happening! She would just go home, talk to Julian and ask what the meaning of this was!
---*~*8