My Soul - Mi Alma (Ongoing)

32 Sunday Bloody Sunday

«So this is our big day,» Mick grimaced and took another sip of his coffee.

"How do we tell them?" My head was blank. I knew Mama would support us, and she said she would get dad along on her side; Alice and Sam Goldberg was an entirely different story.

The Goldbergs are incredibly conventional and snobbish. There is a reason why Mick always wanted to come with us, mainly Mama and me, on summer holidays. I was terrified, just thinking of their reactions to what Mick and I would share with them in a few hours.

Rosa was already making the salmon paté, and Carlos had started cooking down the red wine for the sauce.

"Let's take the dogs for a jog in the park, Mick, I need to clear my head" I looked at my soon to be ex-husband. He nodded, and we went outside.

"I'm unsure how we stage this with our parents tonight," Mick started. "I have to give notice that I'm leaving the company. I am so unsure how much I will say about my research into old clients, yet I feel I have to tell the truth. I have to tell them that I can not go on working somewhere that I feel does business against everything I believe in. Besides, I start in the DA office in less than two months. Our dads did give me the possibility to work with big clients internationally. I have had chances most lawyers my age could only dream about" Mick looked sad and worried. "You know,  Alma, taking over the company was what both of us were brought up to do. When you chose art history over law, your dad was disappointed. I remember him saying many years ago, when I was only an intern at the office that I would be the one in charge in a few years. Now, they have no heirs to their legacy. I think that will be tough on them."

"Mick, is this a legacy we want? I know that I would not want it. The company hasn't done anything illegal, but they work on the edge all the time, using and abusing all the loopholes in the law. No, they were not mentioned in the Panama papers. But with the current focus on shell companies and whitewashing of money, they are in a vulnerable situation. You have asked to take on other kinds of cases, and they refused to do so – listen, Mick, I fully support your decision to become a prosecutor. I think you will enjoy that a lot more than clients playing around the law like it is game of Monopoly, trying to find their way around paying taxes, or even worse - moving fortunes to tax paradises, regardless of who wants to move money, and what their motives are" I looked him deep into the eyes.

"I don't doubt my decision Alma; I feel a little sad. I know the company is everything to our dads, and I fear their reactions. We both grew up with dads being more or less non present; it was always work, clients, new cases. I don't like what they do, and I don't want that kind of life. When Stuart and I marry, we want to adopt kids, and I want to be there for our kids."

We walked in silence back to the house.

Back in the kitchen, Rosa, Carlos, and Stuart were preparing dinner. It smelled divine.

"Should we eat in the dining room or the roof garden? It's going to be a hot day," I asked."Knowing my mam who wants everything prime and proper, I would go for the dining room," Mick responded.

We set a beautiful table in the dining room and went up to the roof garden for a drink.

"Mi Alma, don't be worried. This was bound to happen sooner or later" Carlos pulled me into his arms. I feel so secure in those arms. This is the man I love, and I want to spend the rest of my life with him. Six years of absence just made me realize how strong our love is.

"Carlos and Stuart, what are you guys doing tonight?" I asked

"We're defying gravity," Stuart laughed.