Burn for Me

by Lea Coll

  “Hey! Are you okay?” Emma stood up, hugging me.

  “Yeah, it was a rough day,” I said.

  “Logan said you were called out of their big client negotiation by the judge wondering where you were?”

  “Yeah, not my best moment.” I could still feel the panic that filled my body when I heard the judge was on the phone. “The case turned out fine. They came to an agreement that will benefit all of the parties and I was able to calm my client down.”

  “So it worked out,” Emma said.

  “It did. But the partners were not happy. They pulled me into a meeting as soon as I got back. Kelli said Sadie dictated the motion and gave it to Kelli to have Logan sign and walk over to the judge since she had to leave for a doctor’s appointment. I still don’t know who scheduled the meeting and why they didn’t put it on my calendar.”

  “Why didn’t she call you and ask you what to do?” Emma asked.

  “I was in the middle of depositions and usually they ask whichever attorney is available.”

  “At least it turned out okay for your clients, but you need to find out what happened,” Emma said. “Logan mentioned it to me. I didn’t get the impression he knew any details,” Emma said.

  “I’m not sure what happened. I don’t think it’s in Logan’s nature to do something underhanded, but how well do I know him?” I asked.

  “You do know him,” Samantha said gently. “Do you believe Logan deliberately sabotaged you so you would miss a hearing in the middle of an important negotiation?”

  He’d never given me any indication that he was a liar or a cheat. He was charming and persuasive and he wanted the job, but I didn’t think he’d do something shady to get it. I thought back to our night fishing on the dock. He’d been so sincere—so earnest. He made me feel special, sexy, and the center of his world. Could he do something like this?

  “None of us know him like you do,” Emma said.

  “That’s true and I don’t want to believe he’s capable of something like this, but then why was his signature on the motion?”

  “You need to talk to him,” Emma said.

  “I want all of the answers before I talk to him. Right now, I’m so confused and angry, and I don’t want to overreact.” Not like how I did this morning.

  “Better do it soon,” Samantha said.

  I nodded. I intended to figure out what happened tomorrow.

  That settled, the girls talked about Stella’s house and how cute it was. I couldn’t even process my surroundings with thoughts of Logan and what happened circling my brain. I just couldn’t believe the man who’d held my face in his hands and told me he saw me and that what he saw was amazing would deliberately screw me over. But I’d been wrong before.

  THE NEXT MORNING I DIDN’T make it to the office until after court. When I went to the break room to get coffee, I overheard the secretaries saying Richard was calling people into the conference room to determine what happened with my case. Apparently, he’d already interviewed Kelli, Stephanie, and now Sadie was in his office. I retreated to my office to stay out of it.

  Logan was still in court and my fingers hovered over his unanswered text last night. Should I text him now? No, he wouldn’t get it anyway since he was in court. After a good night’s sleep, I had woken with clarity that he wasn’t responsible. I was itching to talk to him—to let him know I trusted him. He could never do something like this. I missed him. I felt awful for bursting into his office yesterday.

  When Richard said my name, I jumped. “Ashley, I need to speak to you in the conference room.”

  “Okay,” I agreed, but he was already gone. Did this mean he’d figured out what happened? I hoped it was resolved.

  I put my phone down without answering the text. I could talk to him in person after my meeting with Richard and apologize for even thinking he could do something like this to me.

  I was nervous, walking into the conference room. Sadie’s eyes stayed on the table as I sat. Richard closed the door and it was just the three of us.

  “I’ve talked to everyone but Logan regarding this missed hearing. I don’t need to remind you how embarrassing it is for us, the firm, our client, to be late for court or to miss a hearing entirely. It’s unacceptable. I never want a judge calling the office asking where my attorneys are.”

  Sadie didn’t speak, so I answered, “Of course not.”

  “What I discovered so far is Sadie took the call from Ms. McClellan, dictated the emergency motion, handed it to Kelli to type with instructions to give the motion to Logan to sign and walk over to the judge. Sadie called the court to advise the law clerk a motion was on its way. No one remembers taking a call from court to schedule the hearing,” Richard explained.

  “That doesn’t make any sense,” I said. Was Sadie lying, was one of the secretaries?

  “I’m the one who messed with your work,” Sadie said quietly.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I took your files on Kelli’s desk, placed the work order inside, and filed them in the cabinet.” She still wouldn’t look at me.

  “Why would you do that?”

  “I need this job. I’m younger and less experienced than you,” Sadie said. “Jillian told me I had the most to prove. I thought if the partners saw you screw up, you’d be out of the running.”

  “You messed with Logan’s files too,” I said.

  “Right. It was stupid. After the conference meeting, I stopped. I didn’t do anything else, I swear. I did take the call from Ms. McClellan and dictated the motion to Kelli. I did not schedule a hearing, though. The clerk said she’d call to schedule once she got the motion, but I never got a call. I assumed you or Kelli had and it was out of my hands.”

  I didn’t know whether to believe her. She’d admitted she wanted the job so desperately she’d messed with my files. “That still doesn’t explain who scheduled the hearing during the meeting with James King.”

  “Sadie, we need to have a discussion with Linda present about tampering with other attorneys’ files, but now’s the time to tell me everything,” Richard said.

  “I didn’t schedule that hearing,” Sadie insisted, twisting her hands in her lap. “I know you won’t believe me.”

  She was right. It was hard to believe anything she had to say after that. In court, once someone was convicted of fraud or a fraudulent crime, their veracity was always questioned. And it was hard to put that out of my mind.

  Richard stood. “I’d hoped to get to the bottom of this today, but I have another meeting in an hour. Sadie, I’ll meet you in Linda’s office in ten minutes.” He left us alone in the conference room.

  We sat in uncomfortable silence for a minute or two. Why wouldn’t she look at me? Why wasn’t she explaining what happened? “I don’t understand why you would do something like this? I tried to be friends with you. We went dress shopping together.” We weren’t close, but I couldn’t understand. When she didn’t respond, I continued, “I thought you were in talks with Taylor, Boone & Geist’s firm?”

  “They decided they didn’t need any more attorneys right now. It was a dead end.”

  “Still, there are other jobs out there.” Even as I said that I knew there weren’t. Job choices were slim on the Eastern Shore. Now Sadie was visibly upset, her face red and her eyes filled with tears.

  “I need this job more than you guys. I wasn’t born into a middle or upper-class family like you.” She finally looked up at me and it was despair I saw in her eyes. “I needed this job. I needed the money.”

  It was then I remembered she applied to teach dance at my sister’s studio. Why was she so desperate for money? “I have student loans too—”

  “I need to meet with Richard and Linda,” Sadie said, getting up to leave.

  I jumped up from my chair and stood between her and the door. “I don’t get it. Why would you sabotage my career and yours? You could lose your license over something like this.”

  Sadie shook her head, tears
glistening in her eyes.

  “Why do you need money so badly? You owe me this much. Tell me what was so important you screwed me over for it?”

  She took a deep breath. “You wouldn’t understand.”

  “Sadie—” I reached out to touch her arm, but she wrenched it away from me, and said, “Don’t tell anyone about me needing money. Please.” Tears started to run down her cheeks and all I could do was nod as she brushed past me and out of the room.

  I felt like shit. She was the one in the wrong, but her face was blanketed in despair, shame, and guilt. I wanted to know why. Why she felt she needed to do it all on her own and keep her struggles a secret. Why she’d never felt like she could come to us and talk about it. I felt bad for not making more of an effort with her.

  I walked back to my office in a daze. “Hey!” Logan called to me from his office. “What happened? Can we talk?”

  “Yes,” I said, licking my dry lips. “Out of the office? Can we get coffee?” I was desperate to leave the office. I was still trying to process everything Sadie said.

  “Are you okay?” Logan asked as we walked out of the office.

  The breeze and the warmth of the sun on my face were in direct contrast with the knots in my stomach. I was mad at Sadie, but at the same time, I felt horrible for her.

  We walked in front of the historic courthouse, past the middle of town to the little row of storefronts. Most of the buildings were attached, but there was an alleyway between The Pub and the Lime Café, where tables were set up. Pots of flowers and greenery were placed along the brick wall of The Pub and lights were strung between the buildings. Cute and quaint, it was the perfect spot. No one was even here yet, as it was too early for lunch.

  Logan said, “Grab a table outside while I get the coffees. It’s so nice out.”

  I pulled the heavy iron chair out from under the small round table and sat down, admiring the vase of flowers in the center. I needed to explain to Logan why I had suspected it was him, why I’d ignored his messages.

  “Are you going to tell me what happened?” Logan asked, setting the coffee cup in front of me.

  I sighed, opening the lid of my coffee cup for it to cool. “I’m a little shocked over the whole thing and I’m not sure how much I can tell you.” Sadie swore me to secrecy and I didn’t want to violate her trust. It was probably stupid, but her pain was so raw I couldn’t deny her. “It was Sadie,” I said quietly. “I think they’re going to fire her. She was supposed to meet with Linda and Richard after our meeting.”

  “Sadie messed with our files. She moved them to the filing cabinet before Kelli could work on them. She said she needed the job desperately. But she won’t admit to scheduling the hearing during James King’s meeting.”

  Logan considered me for a minute. “Do you believe her?”

  “I believe she was desperate for this job, but I don’t know.” I looked at him, pleading with him not to ask any more questions.

  “Who else would have scheduled that hearing? You know she’s the most likely person.”

  “It could have been a secretary, but yeah, it’s probably her.” I was a criminal defense attorney for three years. Odds were she did it but didn’t want to admit to it.

  Logan picked up his coffee cup. “Want to toast to eliminating our competition? One down, one to go.” Then he winked.

  Tapping his cup with mine, I said, “Are you sure you want to celebrate so soon? You don’t stand a chance against me.”

  He raised his brow. “We’ll see about that. Hey, you want something to eat? I’m going to order a bagel.”

  “No thanks.” He went inside to order, but I wasn’t hungry. My stomach was still in knots over Sadie. If she felt she had to go this far, then her situation must be bad. I felt awful for not reaching out to her more. Maybe if she had a friend, she wouldn’t have done this.

  Thinking back to family dinner, I realized I had a great family, an amazing sister who I now counted among my friends, a great group of friends, and Logan. When he returned with his bagel, I said, “Listen, I need to tell you how sorry I am for not responding to your message last night.”

  “You thought I did it because I signed the motion. I get it and so you know, I had a stack of files for Sadie to sign that day. I assumed things were in order or she would have waited to review them before sending them out.”

  “You didn’t read the motion?”

  “Nope.”

  “I don’t think I ever believed you would do such a thing. The things you’ve done for me, the things you’ve said to me—I couldn’t believe it. Are we okay?”

  He covered my hand with his. “She set me up. I see why you thought I was responsible. I’m not going to lie though; it still hurt you’d think that.”

  Did she though? She hadn’t admitted to that, but then, why admit to messing with our files? “I didn’t. Not really.” I shifted in my seat. If we were going to do this, I needed to be up front with him. I needed to tell him about Cal Gray’s job offer.

  “Logan! What are you doing here in the middle of the day?” Cal asked.

  Oh shit. What was Logan’s dad doing here? I should have talked to Logan sooner. Now it was too late.

  Logan was smirking like he was taunting his dad. “We’re celebrating eliminating our competition and being one step closer to the partner position.”

  I closed my eyes at the confusion I saw on Cal’s face. “Ashley, did you get my email?”

  Logan looked from his dad to me. “Have you met?”

  “Yes, we met a few weeks ago,” Cal said, and I wanted to sink in my chair and disappear. “I offered her a position at my firm. If she wants it.” He smiled, completely unaware of the tension at the table.

  “Is he right, Ashley? Did my father offer you a job?” His voice raised; he practically spit out the word “job.”

  “Yes, but—”

  Logan got up so fast his chair almost fell backward from the force. “Good seeing you as always, Dad.”

  “Logan!” I cried as he walked away. I wanted to follow up, but Cal was still here.

  “What did I say?” Cal asked.

  I sighed. “We’re dating and I haven’t told him yet about the job offer.”

  He considered me then. “Oh, I’m sorry. I would never have mentioned it had I known.”

  “It’s okay. How could you have known? I never told you.”

  He looked undecided whether he should go after Logan or not. “You didn’t tell him about my heart condition?”

  “No, I would never do that. That’s between you and him.” That and the affair.

  “I don’t know why he’s so angry with me.” He paused for a minute. “The offer is still open. There’s a spot for both of you if he stops being stubborn.”

  I nodded, wanting the conversation to be over, so I could chase after Logan and make this right.

  “If you can get my son to talk to me, I’d be grateful.”

  “I’m not sure anyone can do that.”

  “I take it you know what has him so angry?”

  “Yeah, but it’s not my place to say.” There’s no way I’d betray Logan’s trust, not when he was already mad.

  He nodded. “Let me know about the offer. I don’t want to come between you guys, but I’d like to get someone trained soon.”

  I’d never opened his email to review the offer. “I need to talk to Logan first.” If he was reacting like this, there was no way he’d be okay with it. But if he ended things with us, then I’d need to make a decision.

  When Cal walked away, I pulled out my phone. No messages. I quickly typed: it’s not what you think. Please call me so we can talk. I hadn’t responded to his text when I was mad and now I was on the receiving end of his silence. My world was crashing down because I wasn’t honest with Logan. All I could do was trust he’d listen to my side of the story.

  I hurried back to the office, hoping I’d catch up with him there. When I looked into his office, it was empty.

  “He took
off the rest of the day,” Kelli said not looking up from her computer.

  “Did he come in?”

  “No, he called in sick. Why?” she asked, finally looking at me.

  “No reason.” I didn’t want the rest of the office knowing we were dating. Especially since I wasn’t sure we were anything now. I tried to tell him before the meeting with James King, but that’s when everything with Sadie exploded and I hadn’t had a chance to think about it since.

  Ashley: Kelli said you went home sick. R u ok?

  After I texted him, I tried to work, while compulsively checking my phone to see if he’d responded. Then I poured over Cal’s job offer. It was good. It was a small firm with room for upward movement. I was guaranteed a managing partner position even if Logan or his brother came back to work there. Gunner had four partners now, so even if I became a partner I’d be splitting the business. Cal’s offer was the best by far. I could use it to leverage my position here, but I didn’t want to stay. I was under no illusion that working conditions here would get better.

  This is what I’d avoided my whole life: having to choose between a guy and my career. What would I do if Logan wasn’t in the picture? It wasn’t even a question—take Cal’s offer before he changed his mind. I’d always promised myself I wouldn’t sacrifice my dreams for someone else. Hadn’t I seen what it had done to my mother? She was unhappy and unfulfilled for years. So what was holding me back?

  THAT NIGHT, BAILEY GREETED ME at the door, tail wagging and tongue licking my hand. I knelt beside him and gave him a big hug, not worried about the yellow dog hair that would cling to my black suit. I squeezed him tighter, so grateful I wasn’t coming home to an empty apartment.

  “Come on, buddy. Let me change and then we can take that walk.”

  I quickly changed into leggings, a T-shirt, and sneakers. I grabbed Bailey’s leash by the door while he ran in circles around my legs, trying to get me to hurry up. “Calm down, buddy. We’ll get there.”

  I sighed, clipping his leash onto his collar, opened the door and jogged down the stairs to the patch of grass next to the sidewalk. Living downtown was convenient. I could walk to work, the courthouse, The Pub, Annie’s Wine Bar, and the waterfront. But Bailey deserved more than a patch of grass next to a sidewalk.