Nora knew she shouldn’t be surprised. The world didn’t understand anything about their community, their culture. S?ren was one scandal away from excommunication. That he played only with consenting adult partners wouldn’t even factor into the equation. That Lance had zero desire to hurt any woman on earth didn’t factor into the equation, either. “Do you ever get to see her?”
Lance nodded. “We get to talk on the phone once a week. Twice a year I get to see her. Amber lets me see her for a couple hours on Maya’s birthday and on Christmas Eve. I don’t get to take her anywhere. Amber hovers the entire time watching us. I brought her some cookies my mom had made the last time I saw her at Christmas. They had nuts in them so she refused to eat them. I didn’t know she hated nuts. What kind of father doesn’t know his daughter hates nuts in her cookies?”
Lance finished his coffee and sat the cup down far more gently than Nora had.
“I was thinking about this while I was in the kitchen with the judge’s wife. Your first client today was a family court judge. I lost custody of my daughter in family court because of kinky porn. And there’s a judge who sees a Dominatrix once a week. Funny, right?”
“Hilarious,” she said entirely without mirth.
“I can’t be mad.” Lance sat back in his chair. “It’s my own fault. I thought I was an honorable man. I’m the kind of man who believes that a woman should feel safer if there’s a man in the room, not scared that he might try something with her. The only fistfights I’ve ever gotten into have been because some asshole tried something with a woman at a bar and someone needed to stand up for her. I think men exist on this earth to protect women and children. That’s what we’re here for. We make money to protect women and children from the elements by putting a roof over their heads and food on the table. We’re supposed to be physically strong so we can stand up for a woman or a child who’s in danger. We walk women to their cars at night and don’t turn our backs until we see the cars start. That’s what men should be. And we should never ever lay a hand on a woman or a child for any reason other than protection or affection. That was always my code, and I fucked it up.”
“How?” Nora could barely speak over the knot in her throat. “By watching some kinky porn instead of having an affair?”
“By letting my daughter down. I should have put her needs over my own.”
“No. That’s not how it works. Your sexuality is none of your kid’s business. It’s not your parents’ business. It’s not the court’s business. And when your wife cuts you off for no reason, it stopped being her business. I would have killed to have had a father like you, someone who would protect me and defend me and respect me and my mom. You’re kinky. So what? You can still be an amazing dad. Saying you can’t be a good father because of your sexuality is like saying gay men or lesbians can’t be good parents. That’s absurd.”
“Absurd or not, that’s how the courts ruled. And until I can afford a killer attorney, that’s how it will be. Unless you have a better idea?”
Nora couldn’t answer. The only ideas she had involved beating the shit out of Lance’s ex-wife and the attorney who dragged Lance’s private fantasies into the courtroom.
“It’s not right,” Nora said. “It’s not fair.”
“It is what it is.” Lance raised his hands. “I haven’t given up. I’m just regrouping before the next fight.”
They finished their coffee and returned to her car.
“So who’s up next?” Lance asked.
“He’s the CFO of some big computer company. Pineapple, Crabapple, something fruity. I can’t remember the name.”
“He’s kinky?”
“No, he’s not actually. Not really. He’s a chronic pain sufferer.”
“And he sees a Dominatrix? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Submitting to pain causes the body to release endorphins and other natural pain-fighting hormones. I see several guys who medicinal floggings.”
Lance waited outside the door as Nora gave the billionaire businessman the holistic flogging of his dreams. She poured her anger and frustration at the injustice of Lance’s situation out onto her client. She left the client a thousand dollars poorer but that did nothing to help Nora’s mood.