by KG MacGregor
Before she could say anything at all, Celia spun and walked out.
With a frustrated groan, Theo switched off her desk lamp and buried her head in her hands. There weren’t enough hours in the day for the things she needed to do, especially not when Celia offered something so much better than work.
The living area and kitchen were dark. Following a beam of light that emanated from the master suite, she found Celia in the walk-in closet putting together an outfit for work the next day. Noiselessly, she crept up from behind and placed a series of soft kisses on the back of her neck. “I’m very”—smack—“very”—smack—“sorry I ignored you. You now have my undivided attention.”
Celia sneered at her skeptically with one eye closed. “For how long?”
“For the rest of the night.” She was disappointed to have Celia wriggle free. “Come on, I thought you’d be happy.”
“I am…except now I’m the one feeling guilty. I know what it’s like to be under the gun like you are. It’s obvious you have a ton of work to do. I didn’t mean to be pouty about it.”
That was one of the many things she loved about Celia, her instinct to empathize with the people around her. It made Theo that much more determined to spend the rest of the evening with her—and to make the most of it. But first she needed to come clean.
“Come sit with me. I need to talk to you about something…the reason I’ve got so much work piled on my desk right now.” She took Celia’s hand and led her out to the love seat. “I was going to wait until I had everything ready to file, but I decided you should know what we’re up to.”
“What is it?”
“We’re looking into reopening the case against Harwood. A general case about how they deal with rape. I’ve talked to twelve women so far. A lot of them got the same treatment as Hayley…or non-treatment, if that’s even a word. Some reported it just like she did and the police refused to investigate. Others didn’t even bother to report it because they knew Harwood wouldn’t do anything.”
Celia gaped at her. “What are you talking about? When did this happen?”
“There was a woman…I told you about her calling me. We tried to talk to her last summer but she was out of the country. She came back right before the semester started and called us. She knew Hayley.”
In painstaking detail, she laid out the details of the case they’d developed so far while Celia shook her head with disbelief.
“Harwood basically got off scot-free, Celia. They shook out some pocket change for Donald Lipscomb and didn’t do a thing about the problem. We have another chance to make them.”
“Why are you just now telling me this?” There was no mistaking the irritation in her voice.
“Because…I’m sorry. I wanted to say something sooner but these last couple of months have been so good for us. We weren’t stressed out all the time. You quit worrying about Harwood getting back at you. I just didn’t want to put you through that again.”
“Theo, you don’t just…” Celia shook her head and tried to pull away, but gave in when Theo gripped her wrist. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me this. This is not just anybody you’re talking about suing. It’s my boss. I had a right to know.”
“Of course you did…you do. And that’s why I’m telling you.”
“Telling me? Shouldn’t you be asking me?”
Theo was taken aback by the combative tone, to say nothing of Celia’s suggestion that she needed permission to do her job. “No, because I work for my clients.”
A long, awkward silence followed. Celia’s jaw jutted defiantly and she refused to make eye contact.
“Celia, where is all this hostility coming from? If you’re upset because I didn’t tell you we were looking into this, then I’m truly sorry. Honestly, I didn’t want to drag us both back into that spiral again, at least not until I knew for sure we were going to go ahead with the case. You and I didn’t need that hanging over us.”
“So why are you starting it up again?”
“Because it’s what I do. You know that. But it doesn’t have to be what we do.” She scooted closer on the love seat, practically forcing Celia to lean into her arm. “These women I’ve talked to…they’ve been treated like trash, just like Hayley. It’s time somebody stood up for them. I can’t just walk away and leave them without a voice.”
Celia didn’t reply, so there was no way to know if she was upset about the case or about Theo’s decision not to tell her.
“I need to know what you’re feeling right now. Talk to me.”
“I feel like…Hayley’s case is over. It’s in the DA’s hands now. And you’re right—it’s nice not to be stressed out all the time. Things are going my way at work, and I don’t want to risk messing it up by having you stir the pot again.”
Her reluctance was understandable, but Theo couldn’t help being disappointed by her selfish perspective. This wasn’t the same woman who’d sneaked into her office fired up to bring the whole university down for the way it had treated Hayley.
“I can try to bring this case without dragging you into it.” It would make her job extremely difficult though, since the audiotape Celia had made of her meeting with administrators was a critical piece of evidence of their pattern of behavior. And it was the only solid proof she had, since all the threats had been delivered in person or over the phone by unnamed administrators. She’d have to find another way to prove they intimidated victims and witnesses into keeping silent.
“It won’t matter whether I testify or not, Theo. Eventually they’re going to find out about us sleeping together, and they’ll think I had something to do with it. It’s not as if you like to fly under the radar.”
Stung by the snideness of her remark, Theo abruptly disentangled from her and walked out onto the terrace. The city lights had an instantaneous calming effect. She would have felt justified at snapping back but knew she’d regret it. Her secrecy, after all, had set up this argument.
“Theo, I’m sorry.” Celia approached her from behind.
“It’s okay.”
“No, it isn’t. I freaked out and took it out on you.”
“But it’s my fault you freaked out. Either you’re mad because I took the case or because I didn’t tell you about it. I’m not sure it even matters which.”
Celia stroked her arm lovingly before taking up a position beside her at the rail. “It’s a little of both, I guess. But mad’s not the right word. Surprised…confused. Maybe scared. And I was hurt that you kept it from me, so I hurt back. That was a shitty thing to do.” When Theo didn’t respond right away, she added, “Does your silence mean you agree with me?”
Theo chuckled softly. “No, I’m taking the blame for this one. Unfortunately, it doesn’t change anything. I still need to do my job and help these women. We’re going to have to work it out so it doesn’t come between us.”
“I know who you are, Theo. One of the reasons I love you is because I respect what you do.”
They leaned into a gentle kiss.
“But I don’t want to be a part of your case. I can’t handle all that pressure again. You’ll have to do it without me.”
* * *
Celia rolled onto her side and backed into Theo’s embrace. Despite the argument they’d had only minutes before coming to bed—or perhaps because of it—their lovemaking had been intense and filled with emotion. Now as her body relaxed, she craved warmth and closeness.
She clutched Theo’s hand and kissed her knuckles. “I love you.”
“I love you too. And I want this every night…you right here beside me. What would you say to moving in with me?”
Warm lips caressed her shoulder, quelling her desire to roll back over to face her. “You want us to live together?”
“No more running back and forth to your place, juggling what’s where. No more fighting traffic out to Dunwoody. It would give us more time together.”
It would, but she didn’t want to take such a major step out of convenience.
Nor did she want Theo’s invitation springing up only to smooth over hurt feelings.
“Celia, I’m not the only one who brings home work every night. You’ve been playing catch-up all semester with your classes.” Theo burrowed her hand into the warm hollow between Celia’s breasts. “Up to now we’ve been trying to manage by dividing our time. I think we ought to share it instead. That’s how we really get to know each other.”
“This isn’t because of our argument, is it? Because I said I was okay.”
“No, of course not.” She sighed and nuzzled the back of Celia’s neck. “Not directly. I felt bad when you said I hurt you. And even worse because I need to work the case anyway, when it’s obvious you’d rather I didn’t. All of it made me realize how important you are to me, how much I want you in my life. Telling you that is too easy. I want to show you. So after four months of sleepovers, I think it’s time for us to stop living like this is just a day-to-day relationship.”
Celia rippled with joy at hearing Theo shared her feelings. “You want me in your life, huh?”
“In my thoughts, in my heart.”
“And in your bed, I hope.”
“Every night.”
There was one word Theo hadn’t used, conspicuous for its absence. Forever. Celia didn’t need to hear it to know it was implied but not promised. They needed to take this step first, to mesh their lives under one roof and learn the give and take. “Yes, I’ll move in.”
Even in the dim light, Theo’s smile was bright enough to see.
“But what would I do with my place?”
“Who cares? Sell it, rent it, let it sit empty so you’ll have an imaginary safety net until you feel like you don’t need it anymore.”
It was funny she’d put it that way. Celia had taken for granted their relationship would evolve without effort, that they’d wake up someday and realize they’d been together for years.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Celia unceremoniously dumped the contents of her desk drawer into a box, the last of her office to be packed. “I can’t believe I get to go from looking out over a parking lot to looking out over the whole city.”
Theo was giving up her gigantic guest bedroom so Celia could have a home office too, complete with a sitting area that included a sofa bed in case they had overnight guests.
“I said that about my office downtown, but I barely get the chance to look out the window. I don’t think I’ve ever been this busy in my life.”
“When do you file the nurses’ case?” Celia couldn’t bring herself to ask how the sexual assault investigation was progressing. It was a subject they barely talked about.
“Hard to say. The data we really need to look at is proprietary. The best way to get access to it is to file a class action, but we can’t get certified until we have data to demonstrate the class of women makes less than the class of men. Of course, the men who make more don’t want to make less, so they aren’t exactly volunteering to help. It’s a catch-twenty-two.”
“I was wondering about that. How did you even know there was a discrepancy at Mercy? Aren’t their salaries supposed to be confidential?”
“Married couples. We’ve talked to about twenty of them so far. Gloria came up with a statistical formula that estimates what they should make if their salaries were based only on their training and experience. In all but four cases, the women make less and the men make more.” Theo taped the box closed as she talked. “Getting data from Mercy is a piece of cake compared to getting it from Harwood. Not only are the numbers proprietary, there’s an extra layer of privacy because we’re talking about students.”
They’d gone all weekend without talking about the Harwood case, and Celia wasn’t about to start now. To avoid having to respond, she scooped up the box and carried it downstairs and out to her car.
Theo was on her heels with a stack of books. “The other problem we have at Harwood is that it’s rape. These days, the Internet’s a cesspool of animals hiding in their mother’s basement and sending out threats to women who speak out about it. To protect our clients, we may have to call them Jane Roes.”
Celia suddenly had the feeling she was being baited.
“It takes a lot of courage to subject yourself to something like that. A couple of the women were gung-ho at first but then—”
“Maybe it’s not worth it, Theo.” It was all she could do to control the ire in her voice. The last thing she wanted was another fight about this case. “All I’m saying is, Harwood knows it’s under scrutiny now. You said yourself you might not win Hayley’s case, but the outrage might be enough to make them clean up their act.”
“Except it isn’t going to get cleaned up as long as the same bad actors are there. The administrators, the cops…Harwood needs a turnover.”
“And they’ll get it. We passed a unanimous resolution at the faculty senate calling for accountability.”
“What does that even mean, Celia? Can the faculty senate force the police to investigate sexual assault complaints? Are they going to allocate the budget to set up rape crisis centers and hire victims’ advocates to help get these women through the trauma?”
To her credit, Theo seemed to be doing her best to control the tone of her voice so as not to sound as if she were on the attack. Her questions, however, were borderline absurd.
“We can keep the pressure on them, Theo. Believe me, they don’t want us bringing it up over and over. They’ll fix it for no other reason than so we’ll leave them alone.”
Theo followed her back up to the office, where she commandeered the desk chair. “But that doesn’t fix anything for these women. They deserve some kind of personal justice, not only against their rapists but against the system that shut them down. Any one of them could have ended up like Hayley.”
“Come on, Theo. That’s below the belt.”
“It’s not a dig against you. But if you’re taking it personally, maybe you should ask yourself why.”
Celia could feel the pressure, whether Theo admitted to applying it or not. “Are we having another fight about this? It sure feels like it.”
“It’s not a fight. It’s just a discussion. Can’t I talk to you about my work? Or is this particular case off limits? That would be really weird, since it’s the only case I currently have that actually involves both of us.”
She was right about that, a point Celia found frustrating. Even if Theo managed to build a case without using her testimony and audiotape, there was no way she could disentangle herself, since she was the one who brought Theo to Harwood’s doorstep.
“I told you the other night, Celia. I won’t let this come between us. It’s my job to handle it, but I don’t have to talk about it if it bothers you this much.”
And now Theo was being reasonable, which was also frustrating. It made Celia feel like a brat who had to be accommodated lest she throw a tantrum.
* * *
Celia looked stunning sitting across the table in her black dress, the same one Theo had tossed on the floor of her bedroom the night they first made love. Almost too sexy for dinner with friends.
They’d been invited to celebrate the Hendershots’ fortieth anniversary at Aria, the couple’s favorite restaurant in Buckhead. The artistic presentations of each course complemented the modern ambience of the black and white decor.
The early conversation centered around the chore of packing and moving, which Celia announced she was never doing again. “I’m serious. If this doesn’t work out, I’m keeping the penthouse and kicking Theo out.”
“Atta girl!” Gloria clinked her wineglass to Celia’s in a toast. “I’ll help you find a good attorney.”
“I remember when I first asked Gloria to move in with me,” Lewis said. “She was working on her PhD, I was in law school. Who had time to run all over hell and half of Georgia just for a date? But she said no.”
“What I said was ‘Hell, no.’ On account of what happened to Margaret Bower.” Gloria nudged her husband as if to force
him to finish the story, but then forged ahead. “She was one of my sorority sisters. A brainiac. She wanted to go for her PhD in chemistry, but ended up getting married and teaching high school chemistry so she could put her husband through law school. Two kids later, he gets his JD and files for divorce.”
“So Gloria wouldn’t move in with me—and she damn sure wouldn’t marry me—not till I finished school.”
“I had to make sure you had your own money.” A prescient attitude, since Lewis had amassed a small fortune from his law practice.
Celia narrowed her eyes and nodded. “Smart. I think Theo was waiting for me to finish my textbook. She’s been watching me work on it since last summer. Those eight rounds of revisions nearly drove me nuts. Add that to my class preps and getting ready for the spring performance.”
“You can’t wait for Theo to get finished with anything,” Gloria said as she carved her lamb shank. “There’s never a day when she doesn’t have half a dozen irons in the fire. Right when she’s juggled all the balls up in the air, some boneheaded celebrity calls because her tenth husband wants her money.”
“Just like the ninth…and the eighth,” Theo added with a chuckle.
“This Harwood mess though,” Gloria went on, “it’s going to be the death of us all. We’ve never taken on a case with so many moving parts. Until the university gets proactive and shuts down its rape culture, we’ll be getting new clients every week.”
Theo tensed, bracing for a possible eruption from Celia.
Instead, she calmly asked, “Did Theo tell you about our faculty senate resolution? We voted last week to hold the administration accountable for fixing all the issues having to do with sexual assault on campus. Starting with transparency. There’s now an official faculty task force responsible for coming up with recommendations.”
Gloria rolled her eyes. “Ha! Good luck with that. We did the same thing for admissions, scholarships and housing. It took a Title IX action to finally get the women’s dorms renovated.”