If Frank was ever angry at Kat, it was now. "What did I do to her? I don't understand." Frank moaned to Dave. He just could not comprehend why she was attacking him this way. He was beside himself with worry about not seeing Frances and Eric, locked out of his house, no money, and now, no lawyer. Dave tried to sound positive, "Frank, I've got a buddy. He hasn't done a divorce, but I already talked to him and he said he would take your case. He's going to give you a break on his fee too; a hundred an hour. You won't do any better. He's a good guy; you'll like him. His name is Nicholas Zinc. We just started sharing an office."
Frank and Dave had gone to court to fight the disqualification of Dave being Frank's attorney. They argued that while Dave knew Kat, they never discussed anything specific about divorcing Frank, ever. They knew this was just a game of one-upsmanship. Kat could get rid of Dave, who might know too much about her and her personal life and could possibly exploit that knowledge in court somehow. It was also a power trip to be able to force Frank to start over again at the beginning. Kat was the one who held all the assets, the kids, the larger house, her bank account, so it was in her best interest to slow things down so they take as long as possible. Eventually Frank would run out of money or energy and she would still be holding the house, the kids and her money. Kat insisted that Frank hand over his paycheck to her each payday. She paid the bills with Frank's money and deposited her money into a Smith-Barney account, and there was no way she was giving any of it to Frank. As usually happens in court, the judge sided with Kat and Mulva and Dave was disqualified.
About a week later Frank met Dave and Nicholas at the Goalpost Sports Bar. A whole year had gone by from when Frank first filed for divorce and he was no closer to concluding this now than he was then. Frank walked in and saw Dave with a guy that must be Nicholas at a table in the middle of the room. The place was really loud as most everyone was there to watch the Redskins play Tampa in the Wildcard playoffs. The game had only just started and the Redskins were already ahead by two touchdowns. Dave was talking, but Nicholas' eyes were scanning the room, looking around at the other tables. He was a slight man, a little younger than Frank, with full, wavy dark hair and a moustache. Frank approached them and Nicholas stood up to shake Frank's hand. Dave said, "Hi Frank, how ya doin'? Let me introduce Nicholas." "Hey Nick, good to meet you." replied Frank. "It's Nicholas" Nicholas replied in a curt but polite tone, which Frank did not even notice. What he did notice is that Nicholas had the softest hands he'd ever felt in his life. "He must not change his own oil" Frank thought to himself. Just then the waitress came over, "Okay, what'll you guys have to drink?" Frank and Dave ordered Budweiser draught and Nicholas ordered a manhattan. "Alright Frank, let's discuss what's been done on the case and what you would like to happen." Nick, I just want to see my kids, that's all I want right now." Frank explained. "I understand Frank, we'll do our best. I also noticed that your child support is a little on the top side for your salary level. That's the first thing we'll address, then we'll move on to visitation or even partial custody, property settlement, and then spousal support, I understand that your wife's salary is considerably more than your current income." Frank thought this Nick sounded pretty decent; things were looking up again.
Nicholas got right on to the case. The first thing he did was arrange the property settlement. This would give Frank a little money so he could avoid falling behind in his child support. It was decided that Kat would become sole owner of the family home and Frank would become sole owner of his old house. Kat would have to refinance and pay Frank half of the equity that they had in the house. The judge ordered, upon Mulva Fargo's suggestion, that Frank's money be put in an escrow account to be used for any judgements or child support payments.
The day of the final property settlement, they all met at a local title office to sign the papers. When Frank arrived Nicholas had all the paperwork in various piles meticulously laid out on a large round table. He wanted to make this go as smoothly as possible; everything was ready to sign and go. The sooner he got this case over with the sooner he could get paid and take care of Nicholas, and he had his eye on that brand new escrow account Frank was getting. Mulva and Kat arrived shortly. Mulva, stone faced and brisk entered the tiny room first, Kat followed in behind her, looking even larger than usual with a bulky white ruffle collared blouse beneath the black suit she always wore. She too was expressionless, but her eyes held an evil gleam that gave away her intentions like a bad poker player. Mulva was quick to say "Okay, let's get down to business here." They all sat and Mulva began examining the papers. Looking back it was clear there was a plan in place, and it was beautifully executed. Mulva picks up the papers pertaining to Kat's house and hands them to Frank to sign. Frank picks up the pen and places his large letter 'F', which stands for his signature these days, signing the house on Monroe Avenue over to Kat. Mulva and Kat stand up and Mulva says, "Our business is concluded here." Kat quickly exits first and Mulva backs her up. Before Frank realizes what just happened Nicholas is chasing them down the hallway. "Wait, you can't do that!"
Mulva picks up the ball, punts it to Kat, she takes it in for the score. Touchdown!
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