“Uh-huh, sure. Are you ready for lunch? I'm getting hungry.”
Stephanie became visibly bashful and started to meaninglessly shuffle papers around her desk. She answered Karen by saying, “I can't today. I have a meeting at the courthouse at 12:30.”
“A meeting?” Karen asked suspiciously. “I don't remember seeing anything on the schedule board.”
“It just came up at the last minute,” Stephanie said without looking at Karen.
Karen closed the office door as she began ordering, “No! No! No!” She continued, “Tell me you are not going to go see that Darryl guy.”
Stephanie said, “His name's Derrick, and no, I'm not going to see him.”
“Darryl, Derrick, whatever his name is, you're not going to see him. Steph, you promised me you weren't going to do this.”
Stephanie tried to reassure Karen by saying, “It's only lunch. It's very innocent, I promise.”
“Very innocent? This is the first time I've seen you wear makeup in over a month,” Karen replied.
Stephanie pleaded with Karen, “Please, Karen, I need this, and I'm asking you to be my friend. I promise you, I'm in control, and I won't let it go too far.” She paused for a moment before continuing, “But I need this right now. And more than anything else, I need you to be my friend.”
Karen remained silent for a moment, and she replied, “Alright, but I'm warning you, this isn't going to end well. I'll be here for you, but I'm not getting in the middle of anything. Deal?”
Stephanie's face burst into a smile as she shouted, “Deal!”
At 12:15, Stephanie left her desk and started the walk to Tony's Pizzeria. As she walked, she realized that she wasn't even sure if that's where Derrick would be meeting her. Until that point, she just assumed that Derrick meant Tony's when he texted “You know where,” but now she wasn't sure. Butterflies swirled through her stomach, and second thoughts through her head. However, with so much on Stephanie's mind, the walk went by much faster than usual, and before she knew it, she was standing at the entrance to Tony's. Stephanie knew it was now or never, and she grasped the cool aluminum handle in her soft hand, and she opened the door. She entered the restaurant to find Derrick waiting for her, and there was food for two already on the table.
The restaurant was an older building, and it was more designed for takeout orders than dining in. The restaurant had just six small booths, and Derrick was sitting in the booth furthest back from the door. He looked up to see Stephanie standing before him, and he said, “I hope you don't mind that I already ordered for us.”
Stephanie asked, “How.. How did you know what I'd want?”
Derrick explained, “The day that I met you here, you ordered two number seven's. Being the genius that I obviously am, I assumed that you'd go for the number seven today also.”
Stephanie, nodding her head in approval, said, “I'm very impressed. This is actually exactly what I would have ordered,” as she sat down.
Derrick smiled and said, “I would have told you that my magic eight-ball told me, but with you being a slick lawyer, you'd probably call bullshit.”
Stephanie’s mood instantly changed. Her smile straightened, and she said, “I never told you I was a lawyer. How did you know that?”
Derrick chuckled and said, “Relax! I work for a private security firm, and we do various types of security and protection for CEOs and other wealthy people. A big part of what we do is background checks, and I did one on you.”
“But, you don't know anything about me. You only knew my first name.”
“I also have your cell phone number, Miss Attorney,” Derrick said with a teasing tone. “I ran your number, and it traced back to your name. I didn't mean anything negative by it; I just need to be careful. I can't take a chance that someone would try to get close to me in order to get close to one of my clients. I take my work very seriously.”
Stephanie smiled and said, “Try to get close to you? As I seem to recall, you hit on me, Mr. Romeo.”
“I hit on you, or you hit on me. What difference does it make?” Derrick said. “We're here now, and that's all that matters.”
“So, what's the name of this big, fancy security firm?”
“Work? We're seriously going to talk about work?” Derrick said as he shifted the conversation away from his job.
Stephanie found the circumstances surrounding Derrick to be very suspect, but it only added to the intrigue in which he seemed to be drenched. Despite sounding every internal alarm in Stephanie's head, more and more, Derrick was becoming her ultimate fantasy.
Stephanie leaned forward, and she rested her hand on top of Derrick's. She asked, “What would you like to talk about then?” as she gently brushed the tips of her fingers across his forearm.
Derrick responded by inviting Stephanie to discuss it further over drinks after work. Stephanie remembered that Jacob would not be coming home, and she had no reason to rush home that night. Without a moment's hesitation, she said, “I know the perfect place.”
Chapter Two:
Jumping Off
Stephanie looked at her watch and suddenly realized how much time she had spent at lunch with Derrick. “Oh shit,” she said. “I have a meeting in fifteen minutes back at the office. I have to go, but I can't wait for drinks.”
As they both stood, Derrick leaned towards Stephanie, placing his hand on her hip and gently pulled her towards him. Derrick said, “I have a secret to tell you,” as he shot a mischievous smile.
“Oh, do you now?” Stephanie asked. “Then, please, do tell.”
Derrick moved towards Stephanie's ear, and as his lips reached whispering range, instead of a secret, he gently kissed the portion where her earlobe met her ear. Derrick then softly whispered, “I forgot what it was I was going to say,” as he pulled away.
The simple kiss on her earlobe made Stephanie's heart flutter and begin to race. She smiled at Derrick and said, “I'll call you when I'm leaving work.”
“And I'll be waiting for your call,” Derrick replied as he walked towards the door.
Stephanie walked calmly from the pizzeria until she was certain she was out of Derrick's view. As she rounded the corner, she started running in place and giggling like a twelve-year-old. Stephanie's excitement was short-lived, however, when she realized she needed to hurry.
Stephanie rushed into the large conference room just as the meeting was starting, and Webber sarcastically announced, “It looks like we can start, now that Bradford has decided to join us. Thank you for gracing us with your presence.”
“I'm sorry Mr. Webber. I was preparing over lunch, and I lost track of time.”
Being the kindhearted man he was, Webber said, “Well we can't have you planning your first case on an empty stomach. So where are we, Bradford?”
“We're ready to go to trial, sir, and I'm very confident the Public Defender's Office will want to reach a plea agreement. We've already sent them the full case files and reports during discovery, but I also found a lot of case law during my follow-up research. I think they'll be crazy to challenge this, and this should be an easy one.”
“Fantastic,” replied Webber. “Have everything on my desk by three, so I can look it over before I leave tonight.”
“I'm having everything copied now, sir,” Stephanie said as she held up her phone to indicate to Webber she was in the process of typing an email.
Stephanie was creating the email to her assistant as the phone alerted with a soft vibration in her hands. She opened the text, and just as she had hoped, the sender was Derrick.
“I love what you're wearing today, but I have something hotter in mind,” the text read.
Stephanie responded, “I want to hear all about it after my meeting. Text you soon.”
The meeting continued on with each attorney providing status updates to Webber, and Stephanie sat quietly, pretending to be paying attention. Stephanie normally paid very close attention in the update meetings to learn as much as possible from
the other attorneys, but today was different. Rather than contemplating case law and trial strategies, Stephanie's mind could not shift away from thinking of Derrick. Stephanie replied to Derrick's message,
“What exactly did you have in mind?”
“I was thinking black, lace-top thigh highs, a black garter belt, and barely nothing else,” read Derrick's answer.
Stephanie blushed as she held her phone under the table to keep others from seeing she was texting, “I don't think that would be appropriate attire for a bar. Do you?”
“Maybe drinks shouldn't be at the bar then? Maybe my place is a more suitable environment,” suggested Derrick.
“I think the bar is a much more appropriate environment,” said Stephanie.
Derrick asked, “Why? Don't trust me?”
“I trust you just fine. It's me I don't trust ;)” said Stephanie.
“What exactly don't you trust about yourself?” asked Derrick.
“The fact that being around you makes me want to do the kind of things I haven’t done in a very long time.”
“Like what?”
“Honestly?” asked Stephanie.
“Yes, honestly.”
Stephanie hesitantly replied, “Almost anything you wanted.”
“Almost?”
“Yes, almost,” Stephanie replied as the meeting came to an end.
Stephanie walked through the maze of hallways until she reached her assistant's desk where she confirmed the files Webber requested were being prepared.
“Barbara, please make sure the updated files for my case are on Webber's desk by three o'clock. He said he needs to look over them today,” said Stephanie.
“I already took care of everything during your meeting, Stephanie,” Barbara assured her. “It's already done.”
“You are amazing, Barb!”
Stephanie was walking toward her office when she heard, “Hey, hoochie mama,” coming from Karen's office.
Stephanie poked her head in through the door, “Who you calling a hooch, ho?”
Karen chuckled and asked, “Speaking of hoochies and hoes, how was your lunch with lover boy?”
Stephanie rushed into Karen's office and embarrassingly uttered, “Shut up! I don't want anyone else to know about that!”
“Oh, like anyone cares. Everyone here is fucking someone, so they don't care about who you're fucking,” Karen said.
“But I do care,” said Stephanie. “And I'm not fucking anyone.”
“Not yet, anyway,” Karen said with a smirk.
“So if everyone here is fucking someone, who are you fucking?” Stephanie asked while overly stressing the word everyone.
“My husband,” Karen said, “and that's all you need to know.”
“Whatever, ho. I have work to do,” Stephanie claimed as she went to her own office.
Once behind her desk, in the privacy of her own office, Stephanie returned to the text message conversation with Derrick.
Derrick had since messaged, “You have me curious, now. Partially about what you would do, but even more about what you wouldn't do.”
“The only two things I can think of, besides the obvious weird stuff, would be anal or finishing inside of me. I just can't do that.”
“Finishing inside you?” Derrick asked.
“Yes, I wouldn’t let someone cum inside me.”
“Oh, that’s different,” said Derrick. “Why not? Women usually love that.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I do love it and this is going to sound so weird, but that’s just something I could only do with my husband.”
“Makes sense,” Derrick said before asking, “Have you ever done anything anal and didn't like it? Or are you just afraid to try?”
“No, I've never even tried,” Stephanie sheepishly admitted. She continued, “I’ve had guys in the past try to get me to do it, but none of them pushed the right buttons, I guess.”
Derrick pointed out, “You say no one has ever pushed the right buttons - does that mean you want them pushed?”
“Possibly, depending on the situation. I think I’d be very turned on by a man who forced me to push my boundaries.”
“How far would you want them pushed?” Derrick texted.
“To be honest, I'm not sure. I think I would just have to be in the situation and in the moment to decide. But if it was done right, I think I would want my limits pushed to the very edge. The only two boundaries I would not want to test are the two I said before.”
Derrick replied, “Very intriguing, but I do have a little bit of work I need to get done if I want to get out of here on time. Text me when you're leaving, and I'll see you tonight.”
“See you tonight,” Stephanie responded.
Stephanie looked at the clock on her wall and realized it was only five minutes until four. Stephanie normally left work at five, but she was hoping to leave early today, so she could prepare for her evening. Stephanie picked up the phone, and was bringing the receiver to her ear, when Webber entered her office.
“I was just about to call you,” said Stephanie.
“Well, better than that, I'm here.” Webber said. “I have to say, Bradford, you did a kickass job on this case.”
“Thanks, sir.” Stephanie continued, “I know it's not the case of the century, and I probably put a lot more work into it than necessary, but I just want to show you that I know what I'm doing, and I'm ready for the next step.
As Stephanie made that statement, it came across as believable; however, nothing could have been further from the truth. She truly believed she had no idea what she was doing, and she was grasping at straws with every turn. She always loved challenges, though, ever since she was a little girl. Stephanie always set the bar very high for herself, and she always pushed hard to achieve every goal she set. In this instance, she was starting to believe she was in over her head, but she was never going to admit that.
To the contrary of Stephanie's thoughts, Webber was extremely impressed with Stephanie's performance and attitude. He saw Stephanie as a future asset to his team, and he knew she had an extremely bright future.
“Listen, Bradford, if the Public Defender accepts a deal on this, and you guys plea, that makes this one a win for you. I think all the ducks are in a row on your case, so I want you to throw out an offer. If your guy pleads guilty, I think you're ready for a felony.”
Stephanie was stunned. She said, “Really? But I don't have enough cases to start prosecuting felonies.”
Webber reminded her, “Last time I checked, I'm the Lead Attorney, and I decide when everyone has had enough experience to start working felonies. You're there, kid.”
Stephanie then listened as Webber provided her with the details of a recent arrest of a drunk driver who had been in an accident in which the other driver was severely injured. Webber told her, “It's his third DUI, and we're looking at going after prison time on this one. I think you're ready for it. Do you?”
“I'm so ready, sir. I absolutely promise, you won't be disappointed.”
“I know I won't be, but get your guilty plea first!” Webber continued, “You were about to call me when I walked in. What did you need?”
“Oh my God, I almost forgot about that,” Stephanie giggled. “Do you mind if I sneak out early? I have a few errands I need to get done.”
“After such a good job today, get the hell out of here. See you in the morning.”
Stephanie gathered her things, and shouted “G’night, Karen,” as she ran past her door.
Karen yelled, “Hey, where are you going?” but Stephanie didn't respond and just hurried to the elevators.
Stephanie walked to a lingerie boutique just two blocks from her office. She browsed through the small shop, looking for something special to wear for her date. Stephanie always loved red lingerie, but she recalled Derrick's request for black, and she decided to find something he would like. Stephanie knew she would not allow Derrick to fully enjoy the lingerie, but she wanted to wait for an opportunity t
o slyly let him peak at what was under her skirt. She wanted to tease Derrick, and she also knew it would make her feel sexy -- it was a feeling she had not had for a long time.
As Stephanie was searching for just the right thing, a sales associate asked, “Is there anything I can help you with?”
Stephanie said, “Not right now; I'm just looking.”
“Any special occasion?” the associate asked.
“No, just looking for something to make me feel sexy tonight.”
The woman glanced at Stephanie's left hand and replied, “Looks like your husband is in for a very wonderful evening. Let me know if you need anything.”
“Yes, my husband,” Stephanie said. “I'll let you know.”
Stephanie thought about the woman's assumption, and she immediately realized what she was doing. Stephanie left the boutique and walked to the parking garage adjacent to her office. She sat in her car, cupping her face in her hands, and she said out loud, “What the hell am I doing?”
Stephanie sat for a moment, thinking of how to break her date with Derrick, when a text came in from Jacob.
“I'm at the airport, and we're just waiting for the plane to come in to swap out the flight crew. I'll probably be taking off in about two hours.”
Stephanie replied, “Two hours? That gives us a little time then...”
“Time for what?” asked Jacob.
“Time to....you know. I was at the store looking at lingerie a little bit ago,” Stephanie teased.
Jacob replied with a simple, “That's good.”
That's Good? Really? That's Good? Stephanie thought.
Jacob followed up with, “Me and some of the guys are going to grab a bite. Text you when we land. Love you.”
Stephanie stared at her phone for a moment, completely humiliated by the lack of interest from her husband. Stephanie replied,
“Love you, too. Be safe.”
Stephanie's feeling of humiliation grew until a moment later she blurted out, Fuck this, I'm going, followed by a text to Derrick which read,
“Corrigan's Pub on the corner of Newbury Street and Dartmouth at 6:30.”
The Suicide Princess Page 3