Those Who Suffer
Chapter One
Original Fiction
Characters: Zane Stone Levin; Remington River Stehle (both my oc's)
Warnings: divorce, cancer, angst-y
Word Count: 1043
Zane walked towards the brick building, his eyes focused on the ground under his feet. The attorney had called him early that morning to meet about filing the divorce papers. As he fixed his tie just a moment before he left the house, he found himself trembling in the hands. He knew he wasn't ready but it had to be done. For both of their sakes.
Zane was too focused on the pebbles and cracks in the light pavement, lost in thoughts of his soon to be ex-husband, he almost didn't notice the person sitting outside the door of the building.
"It's locked." The voice was small but firm enough to notice.
"Excuse me?" Zane looked up slightly, stopping in his tracks.
"I said 'it's locked'. The door." The person looked up from their book, legs stretched forward blocking the door frame.
"Oh. Right." Zane nodded and looked back down at the ground.
They tilted their head for a second before returning to their book. "Why are you here?" They spoke without looking up again.
"I don't see how that's your business."
The person stifled a smile and looked up at Zane again. "Making friendly conversation. They won't be in the office for another hour and a half."
Zane looked up at them, waiting for them to tell him they were joking. They didn't. Zane sighed and began to sit down about three feet away from the person. "I'm here to file divorce papers."
"Really? Well now I'm even more interested," the person set their book in their lap and focused on Zane for more information.
"What's your name?"
"Remington River Stehle. Call me Remi." They held they hand out slightly.
"Remi. I'm Zane." Zane took their hand and shook it slightly before pulling his hand away.
"Pleasure to meet you, Zane."
"No, it's not."
Remi stifled a smile again, only slightly letting it show. "So tell me more about this divorce."
Zane sighed to himself and shrugged his shoulders, looking up at Remi. "Like what?"
Remi shifted their legs slightly to sit up off the wall. "How long have you two been together?"
Zane stayed silent for a while, trying to decide if he really wanted to talk to a stranger about the whole situation in his life. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair before whispering to himself. "I can't believe i'm doing this." He looked up at Remi slightly. "We've been together 7 years and married for 5."
"That's a long time."
"You're telling me," Zane shook his head and scoffed, looking down at his hands.
"I've only been married for 2."
"How long were you together before?"
"6 months."
"You got married after 6 months?" Zane looked up at Remi who was now mocking his earlier actions by looking down.
"She had cancer and we wanted to have it done before anything could happen."
"You married someone with cancer after 6 months?"
Remi looked up at Zane with a dry half-chuckle. "Yup. Pretty smart, huh?"
"If you want to call it that." Zane shook his head a bit, turning the dark silver wedding band on his finger.
"Hey, you're here too." Remi crossed their arms at their chest and looked at him. Their phone began to ring but as checked it, they put the phone in their pocket and sighed slightly.
"Was that her?" Zane watched them put their phone away and looked back up to their face.
"Yeah." Remi replied quietly, folding their arms back over their chest and looking down.
"Why did you ignore it?"
"I don't see how that's your business." Remi repeated Zane's earlier words but with less apathy.
"Hey, you're the one who wanted to talk." Zane tried to lighten the mood with a small smile. "You don't have to answer."
Remi looked up slightly and sighed. "Because she doesn't want me to be here."
Zane cocked his head in curiosity.
Remi looked back down at the ground and fidgeted with their pocket. "She isn't the one who wants the divorce."
Zane's eyes widened a little and he ran his fingers through his hair. "Oh, wow."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Remi's eyes snapped up to him.
"Nothing, I just didn't realize it was you who wanted it."
"Well you don't know me, do you?" Remi's voice quivered just barely but it was enough.
Zane cleared his throat and shut his mouth, looking down at the ground quickly. He quietly mumbled an apology and thought it best to not say anything more.
Remi rolled their eyes slightly and continued fidgeting with their book for a moment. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap."
"No, I shouldn't have said that the way I did. There's a lot of reasons to want a divorce, I shouldn't have assumed you were the bad guy." Zane looked up at them slightly and they locked eyes for a moment.
"Thank you." Remi nodded in forgiveness and didn't speak again for a while.
The duo sat in silence for about 20 minutes before Remi's phone began to ring again.
"Jesus, just stop calling." They whispered and slid the phone on the ground away from them.
"Why not just turn off the ringer?" Zane offered quietly.
"I can't." Remi muttered, knowing he would ask why. As Zane went to open his mouth, they answered. "I'm the main contact in case..."
"In case something happens." Zane finished when they trailed off. He thought about that for a moment and what they must be going through. Though he would never admit that he cared about those things, he always had when it came to stories like theirs. "They'll be here in 30 minutes."
Remi looked up a bit before realizing who Zane was talking about. "Oh, right. Uh... Thanks."
Zane nodded and the phone began to ring once more. Remi just closed their eyes and leaned their head against the brick doorway.
"Do you want me to see if it's her?" Zane offered quietly.
"I know it is."
Zane leaned over and picked up the phone, looking at the screen. "It's not."
Their eyes opened and they sat up a bit, reaching slightly as Zane handed them the phone.
"Who's Holly?"
"Her mother..." Remi swallowed slightly before answering the phone. "Holly?"
