Waves

Part 18

One of the things Joe had always admired about Eve was her ability to put her head down and push through an issue. When they were first dating, he found himself constantly in awe of how she managed to work two jobs and take double the amount of classes as he did; always excelling at everything. Her ability to compartmentalize was unrivaled, and at times Joe thought she was an even harder worker than he was.

It came as no surprise then that in the midst of Joe dropping a nuke into her lap, Eve had managed to assemble a war room in her apartment, calling various former peers of hers and setting up a bulletin board to organize the various list of items that needed to be addressed.

"Here, sign into your iCloud and print every text message or email you have between you and Lana. Call log too. Did you get ahold of John?" Eve shoved her laptop into Joe's hands as she prepared a French press. John Byrd was Joe's attorney and agent; an important partner in how they dealt with Lana.

"Yeah. He's going to be here in 20 minutes. He's bringing Emily as well," Joe responded hoarsely. He cracked his neck and shifted positions on the couch; his body felt like he'd been at war, and in some ways, he had been. Almost as if she could read his mind, Eve handed him two Advil and a cup of coffee. "You're gonna need both of these," she glared.

A short time later, people began arriving. Eve had called her old boss David Anderson, a prominent family court judge whom she figured could provide some insight into what Joe's options moving forward would be. She also invited her friend Tony Allen who worked in the DA's office and had been the person she'd reached out to when she received the photos.

Eve laid out what few snacks she has in her kitchen before she nodded to Joe to start talking. She would help him navigate this but she refused to be the one to have to share this horrendous news-he'd made this bed for himself; he could do the explaining.

Joe began telling the whole story from the beginning, pausing a few times as he started crying again. Eve couldn't help but feel her body temperature rise hearing it all over again; the ineptitude of his decision making repulsive to her.

Once he was done, the room was quiet, everyone processing the avalanche of bullshit Joe had just arranged for himself. "Well. When Eve said we had an emergency, I was naive in hoping it been a DUI or a sex tape. You've really outdone yourself Joe," John chirped as Emily fumed next to him.

As the Bengal's Communication Director, Emily Rodgers was the person responsible for managing the tone and image of the team; she had worked wonders to undo the decades of "Bungles" narrative that had permeated the organization and this news was a direct threat to that work.

"David, what should next steps be? He's obviously gotta get the paternity test done first," Eve asked. "The paternity test needs to happen within the next 24 hours. Presuming it confirms what is alleged," David peered over his glasses at Joe, "then he needs to negotiate with this woman regarding monthly support, healthcare, so on and so forth."

"Wait, what do you mean? I don't want this child. Isn't there some kind of paper I can sign to...I don't know, relinquish my rights to the baby?" Joe stuttered. The four attorneys in the room all exchanged knowing glances before Tony cleared his throat to speak.

"No, not in Ohio nor Arizona. Unfortunately, there's no way for you to terminate parental rights. The only way you'd be able to make that happen would be through a court order once the baby is born. That would only be granted due to financial hardship. You're not going to qualify," Tony said quietly.

Joe's shoulders shook as he processed that information, the true severity of the situation hitting him all at once. "Lana told him she has an attorney and that they have a lab she provided a sample to. John, can you coordinate a time for Joe to go in tomorrow and get this done?" Eve ignored Joe's soft sobs as she reviewed the list on the bulletin board. She couldn't comfort him when they had a limited window to keep a lid on this boiling pot.