Convenience

Part 6

Five years had passed with neither formally applying for a divorce.

But now David wanted that divorce.

He had recently celebrated another birthday. He had turned thirty-one. Turning thirty-one rather than thirty had reminded him that if he wanted to have children he needed to have a real wife, not one on paper only.

David had a wedding photograph in his office, mainly because it was the last photograph he had of his grandfather. The photograph showed four people: standing beside David and Beatrice were the two men who were instrumental in bringing David and Beatrice together.

On his thirty-first birthday David had studied Beatrice in the photograph. He had for some ridiculous reason contemplated whether he should propose that they make this marriage of convenience one of reality. Surely she'd want children too. She'd be what, twenty-six now? Her biological clock would be ticking. She might be open to the idea of a real marriage. But no sooner had he had that thought then he'd reconsidered.

David wanted the mother of his children to be a woman he loved, respected and found attractive. David did not simply want a woman of convenience with child bearing potential. He wanted a woman who would take his hand, at times of crisis, and through that simple gesture show him love, compassion and understanding. He wanted a woman with a passionate nature. A woman of substance.

Looking at the photograph on his desk, he doubted his paper wife could manage that. She'd probably shriek nervously at the very thought of sexual intercourse. No chance of tender or passionate intimacy. She would probably close her eyes! He would have to restrain his actions. Sex would scare her.

He wanted a partner in every sense of the word. Someone with a real backbone. She was a mouse. Beatrice Cardoso was not up to the mark.

Having reached that conclusion he knew that meant that his paper wife needed, a paper based but ultimately real, divorce. Time to get on with his life: Find a woman to love, to cherish, to build a life with, to have children, a family, a home. He knew what he wanted. He wanted a woman who was his equal, or at least one who was able to hold her own, without being aggressive or demeaning.

David was fairly certain that the girl in the wedding photograph would find it difficult to stand up to him, keep up with him, love him. The girl who stared back at him from his wedding photograph looked anxious. Timid. Petrified. She hadn't complained. About anything. Surely, a woman would be upset about her husband who pays no attention to her. She was married to a decent man, considered handsome, and from good stock! But clearly she doesn't care, doesn't have a backbone. He can't respect a woman that like.

The Cardoso business had flourished. The funds he'd needed as a timely investment, funds provided by her grandfather, could now easily be repaid with significant interest. That appeased his conscience. He was now in a position to pay her back, should she demand it. Even if she didn't demand it, he was going to offer it. At the same time as ask for a divorce.

That's what he wanted to talk to her about. Buying his way out this sham of a marriage.

Doing so as quickly and quietly as possible. He could afford to pay her well. Make it worth her while to leave quietly. The financial settlement he planned to offer her was large but it would not leave even the trace of a dent in his personal expenditure.