Pro Bono Romance

by Shirley Holder Platt

  “But.” He ran a hand through his hair again and blew a raspberry into the air.

  “No but. Go for a walk. You’re way too stressed. I’ll get this filed, and then you can work on one project at a time. Sound like a plan?” She had her arms crossed and a steely look in her eyes.

  “I’m getting the message.”

  “Good. Now get out of here. Give me an hour at least.” She’d already started sorting pages into stacks. He’d been dismissed.

  “Right. See you after lunch,” he said. She made a harrumph noise as he grabbed his jacket and slipped into it. He’d talk to HR about giving her a raise. She was worth every penny they paid her, however much that was. He hoped it was a generous amount. She had pictures of her three adorable kids on her desk. Another note to self, he thought, ask her about her children. He hadn’t seen them in over a year, and kids grow up so fast, he might not recognize them if she brought them into the office.

  He gave himself a mental slap on the forehead for being so self-absorbed lately. As he stepped out of the air-conditioned building, he wondered why he’d grabbed his coat. He shrugged out of it and slid into the driver’s seat. Lunch would be good, but it was a bit early. He headed over to Nat’s doggie training facility. Maybe he could talk his little brother into buying pizza. No reason to go to the café, he thought, since Rainy was off today.

  “Dude, I’m busy,” Nat said when Gabe showed up unannounced. A chihuahua was barking constantly.

  “This one needs work,” Gabe said.

  “Do I tell you how to do your lawyer stuff?” Nat was harried and grumpy. Gabe wished he’d just gone home for a while, except the place was a mess. Plus, Rainy had been in his bed. He’d wanted to sniff the sheets after she’d gone to meet Sophie for breakfast this morning. How pathetic was that? He needed to get a grip.

  “I can take a hint,” he said. “I’ll see you Thursday night?” They had a standing game night during baseball season.

  “Yep.”

  “Bring food this time,” he said.

  Nat simply pointed to the door.

  “I’m going. No need to be rude.” He pushed through the glass doors and stepped back into the heat. Squinting his eyes, he wished he had a baseball cap on his head. He got into the car and cranked the air conditioning on full blast.

  “This is ridiculous,” he said to himself as he pulled out of the parking lot and into the traffic. He drove straight to the library. He’d always loved libraries and book stores. He liked the way people were quiet, verging on reverent. He liked the smell of books. And he liked to learn. A building full of knowledge appealed, and he’d hidden out more than once at this particular library.

  “Morning,” he said to Mrs. Temple. She was an institution in Hartford. If she decided to retire, it would be a loss for the whole town.

  “You’re looking out of sorts, Gabriel,” she said with a shake of her head that made the chain hooked to her glasses shake along with the movement. “Need something in particular today?”

  “I’ll just head over to the magazines.” His jaws hurt from gritting his teeth. Maybe he’d find an article about yoga. He snorted at the thought. He was sure to find the latest Sports Illustrated on the racks. As he searched, it seemed all he found were cooking magazines. Stuff Rainy would like. Why couldn’t he get her out of his head? Damn, the woman was everywhere. He reached for the latest Motor Trend and settled into one of the comfortable chairs by a window. There should be nothing in this magazine to remind him of a certain café owner.

  “Right,” he said out loud.

  A disheveled man who was probably there only to get out of the heat raised his head and looked at Gabe.

  “Great, now I’m talking to myself,” Gabe said.

  “It’s all right, buddy. I do it all the time,” the man said and went back to napping.

  When he started snoring, Gabe slipped a twenty-dollar bill in the guy’s front pocket.

  After an hour of trying to read about muscle cars, and failing miserably, Gabe checked his phone for the time and decided it was late enough for lunch. He waved a goodbye to Mrs. Temple and drove to the Pizza Palace. A teenager manned the counter and took his order.

  “I got it,” she said. “No mushrooms. It’s written down, see?” She shoved the ticket toward him with no attempt at hiding her annoyance that he’d specified his order three times.

  “Where’s Mabel?” he asked.

  “She’s sick. Got the flu. Whole family’s down with it.” The teen scratched her arm where she’d apparently gotten a new tattoo. Gabe tried not to stare at the black heart, but it was difficult. She had a ring tattoo that reminded him of the henna art he’d seen when he travelled to India one summer. He paid and took a seat. He was drumming his fingers impatiently when the new waitress brought his pizza and left without asking if everything was OK. The thing was covered with mushrooms. He groaned in disgust, then found it impossible to catch her attention. Feeling ready to hit something, he stomped out of the restaurant. This would never happen if Mabel was in. Why couldn’t things go his way? He hadn’t been this wound up in ages, and it had nothing to do with Rainy. He refused to admit that she’d gotten to him.

  “Yeah, tell yourself that enough times, maybe you’ll start believing it,” he said out loud as he started his engine and headed back to the office. The sight of all those mushrooms had taken his appetite away, plus, his stomach had already been churning. Why had he thought bringing that woman into his home would be a good idea? He punched the steering wheel and hurt his hand. Nothing was going right today. Not. One. Thing.

  Chapter Nine – Rainy

  The instructor showed them the basic stance for balance and power, then started explaining how to make a proper fist, like she was going to feed a carrot to a horse.

  “Like I’ve ever fed a carrot to a horse,” Rainy said under her breath, but she tried to follow the instructions. Thumb over pointer and middle finger. Bring your hands up. Guard at all times.

  Rainy liked this. She was already feeling more powerful. The lesson was too short; she didn’t get to hit the bag at all. That was disappointing. She had more than one man’s face in mind that she planned to imagine on that bag.

  “Coming back?” the instructor asked as Rainy and Sophie wiped their sweaty brows with hand towels.

  “Absolutely,” Rainy said.

  “Not sure,” Sophie answered simultaneously. Rainy whipped her head around to see if her friend was kidding or not.

  “What?” Sophie asked. “I’m a lover, not a fighter. I just wanted to get you started.”

  “Dang, girl. That’s cold.”

  “Not really,” Sophie said. “You need to learn how to protect yourself. And you need a place to put all that nervous energy you have. You know, the stuff that you deny is sexual tension?” Sophie had to skip away to avoid the punch Rainy aimed at her.

  “We have classes every day,” the instructor said as the women picked up their bags and headed for the exit.

  “I’ll be back,” Rainy said over her shoulder. “Leaving this punk in my wake.”

  Sophie laughed. It was impossible to get her riled up. In the car, Sophie turned to Rainy with a serious look on her face.

  “What?”

  “I’ve been wondering ever since we found all that mess at your house. Why would Martin throw flour around? That’s just so weird.”

  “I think I know, but I hate to tell you,” Rainy said. Her heart pounded as she relived the last fight she’d had with Martin.

  “Come on. What are friends for?” Sophie asked.

  “It’s a long story.”

  “Got all day. Want to get lunch? You can tell me about it as we eat.”

  “Yeah. How about that new tea house on Fulton?” Rainy suggested.

  Sophie nodded her head as they pulled into traffic.

  “Now, start telling me this long story,” she said.

  Rainy slammed her head backwards into the head rest.

  “It’s so crazy. I don�
��t know where to start.”

  “The beginning is always a good place. How did you end up hooking up with the creep in the first place? I could’ve told you he was trouble, if you’d asked. I didn’t even know you’d been dating him. I thought we were friends.” Sophie stuck her bottom lip out in her characteristic pout, and Rainy felt a twinge of guilt for keeping her friend in the dark. She decided it was time to open up. Sophie had proven herself more than once.

  “It’s hard for me to share my private life,” Rainy started.

  “Ya think?” Sophie didn’t try to hide her sarcasm.

  “Lighten up on me.” Rainy was getting aggravated.

  “Sorry. Go ahead.” Sophie made a rolling motion with her hand.

  Rainy took a deep breath to give herself time to gather her thoughts.

  “The first time we met was when he came into the café. He’d ridden over on his Harley. Had on a white tee shirt, black leather jacket that was well worn, and jeans low on his hips. The man looked like hot sin. And he zoned in on me immediately. I hadn’t had a man pay attention to me in too many months, so I liked it. He ordered and ate, flirting with me every time I made a pass by his booth. Then, he left me a big tip.”

  “How big?” Sophie honked at a car that was heading into her lane, and the car swerved away from them. Rainy reached for the dashboard, but kept telling her story.

  “A fifty-dollar bill. Pretty as you please, tucked up under the salt shaker with a note.”

  “I can see how that would get your attention,” Sophie said. She pulled into the parking lot of the tea house, and they walked in silence. Rainy waited until they were seated and had given their drink order before starting her story again.

  “Yeah, he got my attention all right.”

  “What did the note say?”

  “Roses are red.”

  “That’s all?”

  “Yep. He came in the next day. I remember it being pretty early, because he ordered pancakes with extra slices of bacon. He put so much syrup on those pancakes, it ran over and messed the table up. So sticky.”

  “Yuck. And you liked that?” Sophie asked as the waitress sat two glasses of iced tea on the table. The tea had mint leaves floating on top. Rainy used her fork to spear hers and remove them with her nose turned up.

  “Choking hazard,” she said.

  “Don’t change the subject. I’m still waiting to hear about the flour.”

  “I’m getting to that.” Rainy emptied her glass quickly. The kickboxing lesson left her thirsty and hungry. The waitress took their order, and only after she was out of ear shot did Rainy talk again. Sophie waited as patiently as an impatient woman can.

  “He left another note that said, ‘violets are blue.’ He kept coming back. The next note said, ‘I want to get to know you.’ So corny.” Rainy let out a little laugh, but there was no joy in it. She continued her story. “He kept flirting until I agreed to go out with him. He was really nice. Took me to the fair. Won a big stuffed bear for me at the shooting gallery. He was showing off, but it was cute. We went back to my place. He’d been holding my hand, rubbing his thumb along my pulse point, saying all the right things. He had me so hot and bothered, I almost tore his clothes off as soon as we got inside. We made it upstairs, barely. He had on these boxer shorts.”

  “Wait. Boxers?” Sophie couldn’t hold back her laughter.

  “Yeah, well, I wasn’t thinking straight, OK? I hadn’t been with a man in longer than I care to admit. Stop laughing or I’m not telling you the rest.” Rainy moved back in her chair to give the waitress room to place their salads on the table, then she dug in with gusto.

  “Sorry. Sorry.” Sophie held up her open hand in apology. “It’s just. Boxers? Really? Did they have Valentine hearts?”

  “No. Stop.”

  “All right. I’ll be nice.”

  “Well, when he took them off, there wasn’t a lot under there. I mean, what was there was happy. Don’t get me wrong. It just wasn’t…”

  “Big?”

  “Impressive. OK?”

  “This is better than I hoped,” Sophie said.

  “I’m glad I could entertain you with my sorry love life,” Rainy said as she poked at her salad angrily.

  Sophie sat up straight and schooled her face into a poker face.

  “Go on. I’ll shut up.”

  “Well, we did it. OK? Or maybe I should say, he did it. It was pretty fast. And then he fell asleep. I got up and went to the kitchen to make a sandwich.”

  “No cigarettes?”

  Rainy snarled.

  “Sorry.” Sophie drank tea to cover her smirk.

  “He woke up, and when I finished eating, he was sitting on the couch in those ridiculous boxer shorts and nothing else. Channel surfing like he owned the place.”

  “And you went out with him again?”

  Rainy ducked her head.

  “I’m an idiot.”

  Sophie felt awful immediately. She shot her hand out and caught Rainy’s.

  “No, you’re not. He was nice, you said. Right?”

  “Yeah. But then he kept hanging around. I would tell him to go home, but he said he liked it at my place. Liked my couch. Liked my big screen television. Liked my cooking. I was a sucker for that last one. Anyone who loves my cooking can’t be all that bad. Or that’s what I thought. Anyway, this went on for a while. He didn’t take me out. We just hung out together when I was off work. Then, I came home late the other night. He had company. Two guys that looked like Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang members. He had this scale sitting on my coffee table, and little plastic zip lock bags. They were putting some white powder from a big bag into the little bags and weighing them.”

  Sophie had stopped laughing at this point and sat forward on the edge of her seat. She’d stopped eating, too.

  “What did you do?” she asked.

  “I had a fit. Threw the two guys out. That made Martin angry. He told me I was being a shrew. I told him that he was in my house, and I didn’t do drugs; didn’t allow drugs in my house.” Her eyes had gone shiny, and it was obvious to Sophie that the tears would fall if only Rainy would let them.

  “It was awful. I started shouting at him and told him he had to leave.”

  “Good.”

  “Yeah, except he didn’t. He screamed and acted like a four-year-old. At one point, he went upstairs. While he was there, I flushed the powder down the commode. Probably shouldn’t have put that into the water stream, but I did it before I thought it through. That really made him mad. He thought I hid it somewhere. Couldn’t believe anyone would waste good drugs. He stormed out after pushing me around enough to leave bruises. I sat on the couch and cried for a good thirty minutes.”

  “Do you think it was cocaine?”

  “Well, he was always singing that Eric Clapton song about coke, so yeah, I think so. I got angrier after he left. I took that scale and threw it in the garbage. He’d left it but took the white powder that was in the little baggies with him. I hadn’t gotten to it yet. I took the garbage bag with the scale in it to the dumpster behind the Circle K gas station and threw it in. I went through the house and found pills and pot hidden in the pantry. Guess what I did with them?”

  “Should I stop drinking the water from the faucet? Sophie asked with a giggle.

  “You laugh, but it was a lot of drugs.” Rainy couldn’t make herself smile or kid about any of it, even if Sophie found the situation entertaining.

  “You should’ve turned him in right then and there.”

  “I know that now,” Rainy said. “Anyway, while we were fighting, I told him to take his white powder and get out. I think that’s why when he came back and didn’t find his stash in the pantry, he threw flour all over the kitchen. You know, to make a point and get back at me. He was looking for that scale and all the drugs he left behind. When he didn’t find them, he threw a tantrum like the immature person he is.” She paused to move her salad around on her plate and take a sip of tea.

&nb
sp; “I’m pretty sure he took Delilah thinking he’d use her as a hostage. You know, exchange her for his cache. Zeke and Gabe ruined that for him, so he’ll be looking for other ways to get back at me. I need to let him know the drugs are gone.” She sat back in her chair. She was exhausted from telling the story. How had she let her life get so complicated?

  “You have to tell Gabe the whole story.” Sophie reached across the table and squeezed Rainy’s hand gently.

  “No, I don’t.” Rainy pulled her hand away and picked up her fork. Her appetite was gone, but she was determined to finish the salad. She hated wasting good food.

  “OK. You don’t, but I think you should.”

  “I don’t want him to know. He’ll judge me, and I kind of like the guy.”

  “I knew it!” Sophie’s exclamation had several heads turning toward their table.

  “Sush,” Rainy said like a school marm, but she couldn’t hide a smile.

  “This is so exciting. We could be sisters-in-law!” Sophie was practically jumping up and down in her seat.

  “You’re getting ahead of yourself. I mean, he’s hot, all right? But he’s also a major slob. I can’t stand a messy house. He’s super smart and educated. I got my BA in Liberal Studies. He’s Mr. Corporate. I’m a working-class woman.”

  Sophie got serious. “First of all, don’t put yourself down. You’re smarter than most people I know. Just because you don’t have a jurisprudence degree doesn’t mean you’re dumb. And you’re not simply a working-class woman.” Sophie used her fingers to make quotes around the words. “You are a business owner, and a very successful one at that.” Rainy tried to interrupt, but Sophie barged ahead. “And, maids are affordable these days. Just plan to have someone come in and clean up after the guy. He’s worth it if he’s anything like his brother.”

  “All well and good for you to say, but I still think you’re getting ahead of yourself.”

  “I like to plan ahead.” Sophie said with a grin.

  “Well, plan your own life. Mine’s complicated enough. Can we go now? I can’t finish this.” Rainy pushed the plate away.