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subject's spouse."
    "And?" I prompted, desperation seeping into my voice. I was convinced that there had to be more to this phone call. She couldn't just call up and drone on about all this legal mumbo jumbo and not have a "but" coming. Now would be the ideal time for her to say something like "But despite all of that, the judge still feels that . . ."
    But she didn't say that. In fact, she didn't say much of anything. All she did was echo my question right back at me. "And what?"
    I felt my heart sink. I had already mentally prepared myself for this outcome. I had played it over and over in my head the entire flight back to L.A. just so I wouldn't be caught off guard. But here I was, stunned nonetheless. And feeling completely desolate.
    I could hear Jamie rummaging through the pantry now, shaking a series of almost-empty cereal boxes to determine if the remaining contents would successfully fill a bowl.
    "So that's it?" I asked, my voice rising higher than I would have liked. I quickly composed myself again. "The judge couldn't do anything? She couldn't make an exception?"
    "Afraid not. Her hands were pretty tied. New York is a fault state, but the language is just too rigid."
    "But that's such bullshit!" I shouted, and then recoiled, immediately regretting the outburst because Jamie's head poked around the cabinet door and he eyed me with apprehension. I turned my back to him and clasped my hand tighter around the phone. I wasn't sure what to say after that. So I just seethed quietly.
    "Look," she said, finally interrupting the heavy silence. "We all know that he cheated, regardless of the way it was defined in the state's legal code. And Mrs. Langley is still eternally grateful for the priceless information that your agency was able to provide about her marriage. Otherwise she would probably still be married to him."
    "Right," I replied diplomatically. I knew I had to get this woman off the phone and go on with my day as quickly as possible. Distraction was the only option for me at this point. And there would be lots of it once I arrived at the office. "Well, thank you for calling, Ms. Porter."
    "Who was that?" Jamie called from the kitchen as soon as I hung up.
    "Oh, no one." I waved my hand in the air and slipped my iPhone back into my briefcase. "Just Mrs. Langley's lawyer."
    "Ah," he responded, as if everything he'd overheard in the last three minutes suddenly made perfect sense to him. He closed the door to the pantry and turned to face me. "Not good news, huh?"
    I shrugged casually. "You know, a lot of technical lawyer stuff. It's all really over my head, actually."
    Jamie shot me a skeptical look. "Well, what did she say about the divorce proceedings? Did the judge make a decision about the division of assets?"
    I shrugged again as I snapped my bag closed. "I guess he's getting off on a technicality."
    Jamie's face fell, and he came over to me and wrapped his arms around my waist. "I'm sorry, baby. That is upsetting."
    I scrunched my nose in confusion, as if I couldn't imagine why he would ever think that this of all things would be capable of upsetting me. "I'm not upset. It's not my problem." I forced out a faint chuckle.
    "Yeah, but I know you were counting on this one. After the last five—"
    "I wasn't counting on it," I insisted, trying to douse each word with credibility as it left my mouth. "Sure, it would have been nice for Mrs. Langley not to have to share everything she's made with her cheating ex-husband, but it doesn't really matter."
    Jamie studied my face. It was obvious he didn't believe me. I felt uncomfortable under his scrutiny. "Look, I'm really, really late. We can talk more about this tonight, okay?" I grabbed the briefcase and my steel mug of tea and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.
    But Jamie wrapped his arms around my waist and held me close to him, our faces only inches apart. "Remember, you didn't go into this business to protect clients' assets or punch holes in prenuptial agreements;