I left her in charge after a year, in order to take Maggie on our belated Honeymoon. Kat had kept everything running smooth as silk over that two weeks, and after the first year, we were well on our way to paying off the bank loan, and I could even afford to give everyone a nice raise.
At the end of the third year, my shop had a miniature factory attached to it, with a sizable kitchen and everything. I secured some cocoa bean contracts, and managed to bring in some nice exotic blends.
During our fifth year, we were sending special orders of candy all throughout California, but I steadfastly refused to go franchise or anything like that. We became damn near Special Order Only, though. I was offered millions for my company, but I and my employees refused to sell. They decided that they didn’t want to work for anyone but me. If I had sold the shop, all my people would have quit.
That decided it for me. I was going to keep it a small business with my twenty employees, and we were going to just have fun and make money while doing it.
That, as it turned out, was the final nail in my coffin as far as my in-laws went. Maggie’s father wanted to “buy in” to my business and expand it. I politely but firmly shut him down, saying that I wanted to keep the business small with a family feel to it. He lit me up good, telling me that expansion was the only way to make serious money. I firmly, and less politely pointed out that I was making some serious cash already, but that I didn’t want to get greedy like him.
I idly wondered what they would think of Maggie cheating on me with, then Divorcing me in favor of Reginald Penis-tiny, and realized that I didn’t care, but that they probably approved. Old Money attracts Old Money, and the Sullivans, while not as affluent as the Penningtons, were still Old Money. Fuck it.
Kat and I left out that morning after breakfast. She went to work while I went to see Tim at his office. When I got there, Maggie hadn’t shown up yet, so we shot the shit until she arrived.
When she walked in, Tim visibly tensed. I could tell by his body language that Maggie and her lawyer weren’t the only ones present. I stood and turned, and sure enough, there was Little Dicky Pennington himself. At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to wipe the self-satisfied smirk off his face.
Instead, I ignored his offered handshake in favor of looking at Maggie. “Well, let’s get it over with.” I shrugged.
Tim went over the proposed split and everything. Since my business wasn’t funded by her money or her family’s money, and since the house was a gift from her folks since her grandparents died, those were NOT community property, and were ours. My Mustang was mine, of course. I had been restoring it since High School.
Tim surprised me. “So, you’re divorcing my client in order to marry Reginald Pennington IV. Is that correct, Mrs. MacDougall?”
The question took her aback. “Well…” She hedged.
“A simple yes or no will suffice please.” Tim wasn’t letting up on her. Her lawyer, a Gloria Allred wannabe, leaned over and whispered something in Maggie’s ear.