by Emma Vikes
Seconds later, the receptionist came back on the line to inform me that Mike Duncan wasn’t on seat at the moment.
“May I take a message?” She asked.
After thinking for a bit, I decided on leaving a message.
“Ok, just let him know that I called. It’s with regards to a case between both of our clients. Tell him I said I’d really appreciate it if he can get back to me as soon as possible.” I responded, before finally ending the call.
I leaned back in my seat while thinking on the task of how to track Mike Duncan down as soon as I could. I also had the Sanders & Co case I needed to check up on. Charlotte was definitely going to be waiting for feedback but until I could get to speak to Mike Duncan, I had no feedback for her.
I resolved in the meantime to get back to the Sanders & Co case just as my cell phone began ringing. I pulled it from my suit’s breast pocket and answered it without bothering to glance at the caller ID. I already had a good idea who it was.
“Mike Duncan, that was fast. Thank you for returning my call almost immediately.” I answered into the phone.
“Mike Duncan? What kind of business do you have with a sleazy attorney like Mike Duncan?” The voice on the other end responded.
I had been wrong in my assessment of who I thought was calling. The caller wasn’t Mike Duncan after all, but Vanessa Hodgkin; my best friend.
“Hey you. Calling me this early in the morning? Something good is definitely coming my way.” I announced, laughing.
“Whatever!” She exclaimed. “What business do you have with Mike Duncan though? I hope you aren’t trying to kiss his ass for a job at his firm?”
“What? Hell no.” I responded laughing. “I’ve got a case and he is representing the other party.”
“So, you want to talk to him because?”
“I want to discuss with him if we can find an amicable solution instead of going to court.”
“Forget it. Mike lives for moments like this. He loves the spotlight. He’s going to ensure that case gets to court.”
“Wait! You are in Chicago. How the hell do you know so much about Mike Duncan?” I asked.
“Oh, I’ve met him in court on a couple of occasions, both here in Chicago and over there in New York. I know the man like the back of my hand.”
“Well this is my first encounter with him and I hope he isn’t what you say he is. Called his office already and I was told he wasn’t on seat.”
She laughed then.
“Oh, trust me, he is there. He just refused to take your call. Not on seat my ass.”
This time it was my turn to laugh. Vanessa rarely swore or uttered profane words. Yet she had done so just now with ease. By the time I’d finally stopped laughing, I got myself to ask the question.
“So? What’s up?”
“Nothing.” She responded.
“Well, are you going to tell me why you called then?” I asked.
“What? Can’t I just call to check up on you?”
“Yea right! Are you going to tell me or do I have to start guessing?” I insisted.
“You couldn’t guess even if you tried.” She laughed.
“So, tell me silly.”
“Well, I’m...I’m...I’m getting married.” She stuttered.
There was a brief silence before I finally responded in daze.
“Oh wow. Congratulations. Dylan proposed?”
“Yes. Last night. I wanted to call you immediately after it happened, but I figured you would be sleeping. Plus, I had to summon the courage to tell you.”
I laughed then.
“Come on girl. I’m happy for you. This is good news. Why would you think you need courage to tell me something as wonderful as this?” I asked.
“Well, because I felt you were going to scold and question me seeing as this is all happening so quickly.”
She had a point. I knew the exact moment Dylan had come into the picture. It hadn’t even been up to three months; and now he was proposing.
“Are you happy?” I asked.
“I think so.”
“You think so?” I screamed causing her to laugh on the other.
“Yes, Damian. I am happy.” She responded.
“Then you get no protest from me. I am happy for you as well. Congratulations sweetie.”
We’d gone on to gist for a little bit before she ended the call. We after all needed to get back to work.
As I dropped my cell on my table and leaned back in my seat, I smiled.
‘Vanessa is getting married. Wow!’
CHAPTER 4
Vanessa
AS SOON AS I DROPPED the call, I began to worry.
‘Is it too soon? Am I making the right decision here? Would I regret this eventually? Shouldn’t I be taking things slow?
Dylan had proposed the night before. We were supposed to meet up for dinner but something urgent had come up that needs my immediate attention so I called him and cancelled our dinner plan.
One hour later, he was walking into my office with an entourage of some of my friends in the city. There was music and balloons and before I could recover from the shock, he’d pulled the ring from his pocket, gone on one knee and proposed.
There had been a little bit of hesitation on my part, but when I looked into his eyes, I found myself saying yes.
A night of passionate love making had followed but by the time he’d gone to sleep, I found myself awake and wondering whether this was the right thing to do.
I’d wanted to call Damian to tell him. In fact, I’d picked up my phone to actually dial his number before I checked the time. It had been late and I felt he was going to be asleep. That had been an excuse though because I knew Damian would have woken up to pick the call, no matter the time. I had created that excuse because I didn’t find enough courage to tell him about it yet.
I’d eventually gone to bed saying I was going to call him in the morning. As for the thoughts that plagued me on whether I was making the right choice, arguing with Damian was going to make it all clear to me on what path to follow.
But that was the thing; the argument never came. Instead of a disagreement, Damian had gone on to congratulate me, thus confusing me further. If I had argued the reason for my saying yes to Dylan’s proposal with Damian, it would have solidified my resolve that I had made the right decision. But now, not only was I more confused than I had been last night, I was also at a loss on how to proceed.
I stared absentmindedly at the folder in front of me. It was the brief of the current case I was working on, but my mind was miles away from the office at the moment.
“A penny for your thoughts?”
The question had startled me causing me to jump in my seat. Lisa was standing in front of me, with a look of worry plastered on her face. I was really out of it at the moment as I hadn’t even heard her walk in.
“Oh, my goodness. You startled me.” I said, bringing my right hand to rest on my chest.
“Well I didn’t plan to. I came in here to check on one half of the latest engaged couple in town. You didn’t acknowledge my salutation when I walked in, only for me to realise that you were deep in thought and unaware of my presence. Are you ok?”
“Yes...Yes I am.” I responded as my heart beat returned to normal.
There was a brief pause in our conversation, before Lisa continued talking.
“No, you are not. It’s written all over your face.”
She bent then and looked at the folder that lay open on my desk before looking back at me.
“Is there something wrong with the Adison case?”
“No Lisa. There’s nothing wrong.” I sighed.
“So, what’s the matter?” She queried.
I knew Lisa well enough to know that she wasn’t going to stop with the questions unless she got a response. She was one of my closest friends in Chicago and if not for Damian’s presence in my life, she could have very well been my best friend. But I wasn’t prepared to tell her the truth of wha
t was weighing me down, or was I?
I stayed silent as a flurry of thoughts flooded my mind. One in particular began to grow louder in my head than the others.
‘I could very well have the argument I seek with Lisa.’
If Damian wasn’t going to engage me in an argument to clarify my thoughts and reasoning, Lisa could step in and fill in the gap. I raised my eyes to look at her, watching her brows arch as she realised I was about to speak.
“I’m...I’m just confused, Lisa.” I sighed.
“About?” She asked as she pulled the chair in front of my table and settled into it.
I looked into her eyes for a bit before raising my left hand.
“About this.” I said, indicating the ring that was sparkling on my engagement finger.
Lisa stared at me, then at the ring, before her gaze returned to me.
“And what are you confused about?” She asked.
“I don’t know Lisa. I just don’t know how to feel about it.”
“Don’t you love Dylan?”
“That’s the thing. I don’t know if I love him.”
Lisa simply stared at me.
‘It looks like I’m still not getting this argument after all.’ I thought.
“Yes, I enjoy his company. Yes, we look good together. Yes, we have mind blowing sex. Yes, he gets me some of the finest gifts; I mean just take a look at the sparkle on this ring.” I lamented. “But do I love Dylan?”
Lisa’s brows arched again as she waited for my response.
“The truth is I don’t know.” I finished.
“I don’t know what to say girl.” Lisa responded.
“You are married. What do you think?”
“I don’t understand your question.”
“I mean what was it like for you when Terry proposed? Were you scared? Were you confused and unsure? Did you know then that you loved him?”
“Well Terry and I are a different story and you already know. I married my best friend. So, to answer your question, no I wasn’t scared. Neither was I confused and unsure. We were busy being best friends until somewhere along the line, we realised that we actually loved each other.”
I simply exhaled and continued to look at her as she marched on.
“Hmmm. Maybe I’m just over thinking it. Maybe there’s really nothing wrong and I actually do love Dylan. I think the problem is that I can’t shake the thought of whether this is all happening too quickly. Like am I making a big mistake? You and Terry are really lucky, Lisa.”
“Well speaking of best friends, what did Damian say?”
Her question startled me mostly because I wasn’t expecting it. Somehow, I’d interpreted the question to mean her asking why I hadn’t considered pursuing a romantic relationship with Damian.
‘There’d been moments in the past but...’
“Damian?”
“Er...yes? Your best friend Damian. What did he say? Or you haven’t told him?”
“Oh! I’ve told him. In fact, you walked in almost immediately after I’d finished talking to him.”
“Well? What did he say?”
“Nothing. He just congratulated me and said he was happy for me. That was all.”
“That’s all he said?”
“Well I told him I thought he was going to scold me for saying yes to Dylan simply because we’ve only been dating for three months. Instead he asked me if I was happy. When I said I was, he said congratulations again and that was it.”
“Hmmm. Well I think you need to have a talk with him. Go to his place tonight and talk it out with him. Lay everything on the table, your fears included.”
“Who? Damian? In New York?”
“No silly. I’m talking about your fiancé. Go to Dylan’s house tonight and talk. Let him know exactly how you are feeling. Who knows, that’s what you might actually need to make the right decision.”
“You might be right.” I responded.
“I know I’m right silly. I already have experience in this department. And you are by all standards and definition, a novice in this.” She joked, causing me to laugh for the first time since she entered my office.
“Fine. I’d talk to him tonight.”
“Also don’t participate in any romantic shenanigans, before the talk is affected by the mood and you get the wrong vibe. Just go to his house and simply talk to him. There should be no romance, nor rolling in the sheets, till the talk is out of the way.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I laughed.
“Good. Now that we’ve settled that, I better get back to work.” She said, standing up.
“I should do that too.” I chuckled. “Thanks for taking out time to talk to me.”
“Anytime.” She said, as she turned and headed for the door.
She paused at the door and turned back to face me.
“Come to think of it, you should also find time to tell Damian all this. He might have said congratulations because you didn’t explain the turmoil in your heart. You lied to the man after all, that you were happy.”
I looked at her as comprehension dawned on me.
“Anyways, lunch later?” She asked.
“Yes. Definitely.” I responded.
“See you at lunch.” She answered as she turned and walked out of my office.
She did have a point. I needed to have a more in-depth conversation with Damian as well.
CHAPTER 5
Damian
I WENT ABOUT MY JOB in a haze for over an hour after my call with Vanessa had ended.
I was researching on the Sanders & Co case file, while waiting for Mike Duncan to get back to me. Yet I couldn’t get rid of Vanessa’s words in my head.
“Well, I’m...I’m...I’m getting married...”
“Yes. Dylan proposed last night. I wanted to call you immediately after it happened, but I figured you would be sleeping. Plu,s I had to summon the courage to tell you...”
“Well, because I felt you were going to scold and question me seeing this all happening so quickly...”
“Yes, Damian. I am happy...”
She’d said she was happy, but I couldn’t shake this feeling that she truly wasn’t. Worse off, she sounded like she wanted me to stop her from proceeding with the marriage. I’d known Vanessa for years and never knew her to be dependent on anyone for a personal decision. Yet here I was feeling like she wanted me, wished me even to raise a protest to her acceptance of Dylan’s proposal; like she truly was depending on me to help her change her mind and say no.
While I continued with my research, my mind continued to drift back to the phone conversation. I continued to reason out every angle to the matter before stumbling on a train of thought.
‘Or could it be...’ I paused then, raised my head and stared at the partitions of my cubicle.
‘It couldn’t be.’ I tried reassuring myself without success.
The more I resisted the thought, the stronger it grew.
‘Does Vanessa have feelings for me? Is that why she is hoping I’m going to stop her from going on to marry Dylan?’
In the years that we’d been best friends, there had been occasions where we’d almost crossed the boundary of friendship into a relationship. But we’d since settled on the fact that the physical attractions that had happened in those moments were simply that; temporary physical attractions.
There’d been the time at the library when she was explaining some text to me and I’d leaned over and wedged my nose between her shoulder and neck. I had perceived her perfume as it wafted into my nostrils in the still library air. Before I could stop myself, I was already leaning over. It had been an awkward moment and she’d gone rigid instantly. However, I’d covered up pretty quickly.
“I’m tired.” I said as I shifted my nose from her neck and laid the side of my face in its place instead.
“Well do I look like your pillow?” She’d fired back causing us to laugh about it.
That had been the first time.
Another time was one of
the occasions when she’d slept over in my room. I woke up to find Venessa in my arms, her head nestled on my chest. Sometime during the night, she’d cozied up to me probably in search of warmth. I on the other hand had swapped her into my arms unconsciously. Waking up and seeing us in that position had been totally unnerving. I’d shimmied away from her and off the bed, heading straight for the bathroom to go hide my growing erection. By the time I’d calmed down and come out, she’d been awake and playing with her phone in bed.
I remember thinking whether she’d been awake and aware of the fact that we were cuddling quite intimately, but a cursory glance at her and I decided she probably had no clue. Even if she did, it was best not to talk about it.
There was also the time, just weeks before our undergrad convocation ceremony. She’d been going through a bad breakup with her childhood sweetheart. They’d initially started dating in high school, but broke up the first semester after they’d gotten into different colleges. By the time Vanessa and I became best buds, with convocation also around the corner, they were on the third and final part of their break up and make up series.
He’d confessed to her that he’d been dating his course mate all the while and couldn’t continue lying to her. She’d been devastated. I’d walked into her room to meet her in a mess. Slowly, over the period of two weeks, I nursed her back to health barely leaving her side for a second. Suddenly one morning, I’d woken up to see her staring intently at me. She’d bent then and kissed me.
We’d eventually talked about it and concluded that she was at an emotional low and also how the kiss should never have happened. We’d reset the boundaries and continued on with our friendship.
The last event however happened the day after our convocation from law school. After all the buzz and celebration, we’d slept over in her room. This was because the Airport taxi was coming to pick her up in the morning and it made logistical sense to be present, instead of having the cab take a detour to my apartment so she could say goodbye. As I walked her to the cab and held the door, she hugged me tight for a moment that spanned into minutes.
Eventually she’d let go and looked me in the eye.