by Bailey West
I fought against men like him all the time and won. Samuel Valentine can go to hell.
Samuel
Raymond and I arrived at Ms. Patterson’s office at two fifteen. I didn’t want to be late for my appointment, and her office was within walking distance of my building.
“Liddy, Ms. Patterson’s secretary, will come for you.”
The young receptionist said after directing us to a waiting area.
“Thank you,” I said as I sat down in one of the comfortable chairs facing a window.
I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket.
Heard you were meeting with Ms. Patterson. Don’t blow it. – X. Belle
I’m handling it.
I would need to check in with him when I get a chance.
A tall, fair-skinned woman with long black hair walked into the area where we were seated.
“Mr. Valentine?”
She looked between Raymond and me. Ray nodded at me.
“Oh, hello. I am Liddy, Ms. Patterson’s Executive Secretary. I heard the meeting didn’t go so well this morning. I need to make sure you are not here to upset her, but you are here to make things right. Gretchen assured me you were coming to make things right.”
It was cute how she was trying to protect her employer.
“I’m not here to cause any problems. I need to clear the air.”
“Great. Then I will let her know you are here. Please follow me.”
We stood and followed her down a short hall until we arrived at Ms. Patterson’s office.
“Please give me a minute,” Liddy smiled then disappeared behind the door with Ms. Patterson’s nameplate on it.
Averie
I was finishing up my grilled chicken Caesar salad when Liddy walked into my office.
“Averie?”
“Liddy?” I matched her tone.
“Your two-thirty appointment is here.”
“Okay?” I shrugged. “What’s with the big announcement? It’s a potential client correct?”
“Well, sort of…it’s Samuel Valentine.”
“Lid, what the hell? Why would you make an appointment for him? That meeting with him was horrible.”
“Shh…” she gestured with her hands for me to lower my voice. “He’s right outside with another man. His secretary called me and told me he wanted to come and apologize in person. I knew if I told you he was coming, you would say no. I think you should hear him out.”
“Apologize?”
I doubt it. Men like him didn’t apologize.
“That’s what his secretary said. Vee, I’m sure he was terrible. Which is a damn shame because he is fine as hell.”
“You ain’t lyin’.”
He was very easy on the eyes even if he was a complete jerk.
“But you have been looking forward to this meeting for weeks. I don’t want you to throw it all away over a bad first impression. Just hear what he has to say and if it’s bullshit, then he’s banned from this office forever.”
“Okay, fine. Send him in.”
Samuel
After several minutes, Liddy emerged from behind the office door.
“Ms. Patterson will see you now,” she smiled politely.
She held the door open for me as I entered the office.
Ms. Patterson was standing in the middle of the all-white room with pops of red, yellow and green, with a look of displeasure on her beautiful face. Her high cheekbones and brown eyes set to the backdrop of creamy mocha skin made me pause for just a second before extending my hand.
She looked at my hand then up to me. She turned around and sat in her chair behind her glass desk.
“Why are you here, Mr. Valentine, and how did you manage to get an appointment with me?”
“May I have a seat?”
“Depends on how you answer the questions I just asked,” she pursed her lips, tilted her head and folded her arms on her chest.
I was digging her short haircut. I was used to women having weave down their backs, but she chose a short fade with a side part. She had the face to pull it off.
“I am here to ask you to reconsider working with my firm. My secretary made the appointment for me.”
“You can have a seat.”
I sat down in one of the chairs facing her desk. I noticed the print of Ernie Banks’ Soft Power painting on the wall. I knew it was a print because I owned the original.
“I misspoke earlier. I regret my choice of words. This case does need a female attorney on it.”
I handed her the folder containing all the information I had on the case and the charges against my clients.
She took the folder from me without snatching it, so I figured we were heading in the right direction. She looked like the type of woman that snatched things when she was angry.
“In addition to the case information, I have included the hourly billables. Your billables are five hundred per hour. I am willing to increase them by fifty percent to make this worth your while.”
She didn’t flinch at the mention of money. It didn’t seem to be her motivation, so that’s a plus.
“I will look over the file and let you know my decision, Mr. Valentine.”
She walked around her desk and sauntered to the office door. I watched her sexy and confident stride and had to remind myself this was business, not pleasure. She opened the door, and I took that as my cue to leave.
“Ms. Patterson,” I tipped my head as I exited the office.
“Mr. Valentine,” she tipped hers back.
I arrived back at my building and walked past Xavier’s office on the way to mine. I decided to stop in to discuss the way he blew up at me earlier.
I knocked on the door frame before entering his office and closing the door behind me.
When Xavier graduated from college, we (at the Flowers Law firm at the time) recruited him heavily. He graduated at the top of his class and had all the major law firms lined up to take him. Louis and I sat down with him over dinner and gave him our best spiel. I knew I wanted to work with him as soon as JD told me he was attending law school. In typical JD fashion, he stayed out of the negotiations and let Xavier and I handle our own business. I later learned when Xavier asked JD if he should take our offer, JD responded with, “do what you feel is best.”
Xavier accepted our offer, and he became my junior associate then moved up to associate and followed me to the top when I took over the firm. He was now one of my senior associates and the next in line for partnership.
He looked up from his computer and sat back in his chair.
“I spoke with Ms. Patterson. She said she would get back to me,” I said as I sat down on the couch.
“Great.”
“Are we going to talk about how you behaved earlier or pretend it didn’t happen?”
“I apologize for speaking to you the way I did. It was unprofessional.”
“I don’t care about the way you spoke to me. I’m more concerned with the reason behind it. I know I have a way of getting under your skin, but you usually have more patience with me.”
He sat back in his chair and ran his hand down his face.
“Yes, I usually have a lot more patience.”
He sat quietly for a minute then stood from his desk to look out the window. I waited for him to speak. I knew he would when he was ready.
“You know I just came back from Houston attending my family’s baby dedication.”
“Nette with a baby still blows my mind,” I smiled.
“I know. She is a great mom, though. My nephew looks a lot like his dad, but he also looks like my dad. I wish he could have been here to see Nette all grown up. Anyway,
Daisy was there, she was cordial this time; unlike the last few times, we’ve seen each other. I apologized for messing up and told her I wanted to try again. She listened, we danced at the reception, I walked her out to her car after the reception was over and kissed her on the cheek. I’ve tried to contact her since I’ve returned home, but she won’
t answer my calls or text messages.”
“Do you feel like you can give her what she wants now?”
“My attention and a family? I can. I will give her whatever she wants as long as she comes back home.”
“Like your uncle always says, consistency is key when trying to win a woman’s heart. It’s not so much what you say, but it’s what you do.”
“True. I was consistent when we were together but consistent at building my career. Looking back, I know I messed up. I just want a chance to get it right.”
“I am no expert on relationships, you know that, but I will say that talk is cheap. Actions pay the bills. You have to show her that you’ve changed and are ready to give her what she wants, not just say it. You are asking her to move back and uproot herself but what are you willing to give up in return?”
He sat back down in his chair and thought about my question.
Averie
I knew he wasn’t going to apologize. Men like him thought they ruled everything around them and never felt the need to apologize, even when they were blatantly wrong. I was so looking forward to partnering with his firm on this case, but I was a BAWSE with or without his firm as a partner. I should have listened to Caroline when she told me to be careful. The Patterson Law Firm was a small fish in a pond full of sharks. What people don’t know about little fish was that they too have teeth and could cause damage as well.
I looked at the folder he left on my desk.
“Psh…”
I pushed it away.
Then he had the nerve to offer me more money like I am some homeless person on the corner begging. Like money moved me! I have my own money, sir! I didn’t need you throwing dollar bills at my face like I was on the pole. I mean no offense to dancers…girl power. Power to the Sistahs. However, you couldn’t throw money at me and think it’s going to change something.
I didn’t care how interesting this case was, I wasn’t going into a situation to be subservient to anyone. To hell with Samuel Valentine, his offer and fuck this case! I pulled a file from the pile on my desk. I needed something else to focus on.
Samuel
“That didn’t go well,” Morris said as he, Xavier and I filed out of the courtroom.
“No, it didn’t go well at all,” Xavier amended.
We’d just left Court and to put it nicely, the judge handed us our asses. Every motion we brought before the court was summarily denied except for our clients remaining out on bond. The prosecutor argued that with their wealth, they both were flight risks. I explained their connections to the community and assured the judge they would not leave. The judge agreed but ordered them to surrender their passports.
“What I didn’t see coming was them painting Coco as a larger threat than Roc,” Morris said as we loaded into the car headed back to the office.
“I didn’t see that coming either,” Xavier said.
We rode the rest of the short drive in silence. For the first time in a long time, I was concerned about the outcome of a trial.
We made it back to VLG and went into our respective offices.
“El! What the hell happened in there today?” Roc, my brother, and my client asked.
“It was a bad day,” was the best I could give him.
“Bad day? Come on man! They got Coco looking like the Queen of the South in there. Should I just take the plea? They told me if I take the plea Coco could go free.”
I rounded my desk to get face to face with him.
“It was a bad day like I said. There may be more but what we are not going to do is fold. You will not take a plea because there is no way they would let her go free. They would lock both of you up and make your plea look like you flipped on Coco. So, no. I will figure this out.”
“Man, I don’t understand this crap! It’s one thing to bring us up on charges, but today they really tried to lock both of us up!”
“They came in with their A-game, today. We have a few days. I will come up with something between now and then.”
Although, I had no idea what that something was.
“A’ight, bro. I trust you man,” he said while leaning in to hug.
“I need you to stay low, Roc. You and Coco don’t need to be around anyone right now except family. Cool?”
“We’ve been staying low.”
“A’ight. Love you, man.”
“Love you, Bro.”
He left my office, and Xavier came in.
“What did he say?”
“He’s worried,” I confided.
“He should be. Today was bad. Have you heard from Ms. Patterson? It’s been two weeks.”
“No.”
“What did you say when you went to see her? I thought you handled it.”
“I thought I did too. I even offered her more money. I thought that would seal the deal.”
“You know you can’t just throw money at people that have money, right?”
“Money answereth all things,” I deadpanned.
“Don’t misconstrue the scriptures and figure out a way to get her. If not, we are going to be sending our folks to prison.”
I stood in my office after I finished speaking with Xavier trying to figure out what to do.
“Uh-oh,” Gretchen said when she entered my office.
“What?” I shrugged. I put the hourglass I was holding back on its shelf and turned to her.
“What’s bothering you?”
“How do you know something is bothering me? I haven’t said anything.”
“I just know. Spill it. How can I help?”
“Have you heard from Ms. Patterson?”
“I actually just spoke with Liddy, her secretary.”
“And?”
“And she doesn’t like you,” Gretchen shrugged.
“Liddy or Ms. Patterson?”
“Both, but more so the latter than the former. You know you have a way of finding a person’s trigger and really working it with all you have. I think it’s your superpower.”
“Gretchen, are you going to help me or not?”
“Well, I did get Ms. Patterson’s schedule for the evening. She goes to work out at a gym around the corner from her building. She should be back home around eight. I would suggest you go and talk to her. Maybe apologize?”
“I told her I regret some of my word choices!”
“Ah-pa-low-gize! It’s not hard really. You just say, ‘I’m so…’”
“I know how to apologize, Gretchen.”
“Obviously you don’t. If you want to win this case, you are going to need her help. So, put some Vaseline on those soup coolers and work ‘em out with a real apology. I sent her home address to the driver.”
She turned before I could roll my eyes or protest and walked out my office.
Per Liddy’s instructions, I waited outside of Ms. Patterson’s building at the south entrance. Liddy said she walked to her exercise class down the street from her building and used the South entrance to gain re-entry to her building. Hopefully, she didn’t choose today to revise her routine. I didn’t pursue Ms. Patterson aside from our meeting at her office because I felt like VLG could handle the case on our own. After the day we had in court today I realized Xavier was right, I did need her on this case. I needed her to focus on Coco, and I could concentrate on Roc. I knew Coco required another woman at the table with her not only for optics but because the DA was coming after her hard. I wished there was another female attorney that was employed by me that could help, but as always, Xavier had chosen the best.
I saw her walking down the sidewalk before she noticed me. She was dressed in a turquoise and yellow sports bra with matching leggings. She was carrying a water bottle and had earbuds in her ears. Her body was nice. Not etched but toned. I could tell she went to the gym often. I was able to watch for a few minutes before she noticed me.
Her eyes narrowed when recognition struck. She slowed her stroll as she approached me leaning on the side of her building.
“Ms. Patt
erson,” I tipped my head.
She pulled her earbuds from her ears.
“Mr. Valentine. Are you lost?”
“No, I’m exactly where I am supposed to be.”
“By my building?” She arched one perfectly groomed eyebrow.
“Yes. You haven’t given me an answer about working with me on the case.”
“Mr. Valentine, you made it perfectly clear you didn’t want to work with me.”
“I came to your office and apologized for my choice of words.”
“Apo…okay. Sure, you did.”
“You said you would let me know. Are you not a woman of your word?”
She put her hand on her ample hip and cocked her head to the side. I’ve lived with two women most of my life. I knew the universal code for a black girl about to give you a piece of her mind. I braced myself.
“I didn’t get back to you because I didn’t want to appear unprofessional.”
“Unprofessional?”
I knew I was playing into her hand, but I was curious about what she was going to say next.
“Yes, because the response I would have sent was: eat shit and choke on the corn hulls.”
I expected to be offended, but before I could contain it, a laugh burst through my lips. That was the funniest insult I’d heard in years. I threw my head back and howled at the added part about the corn. Such vulgar words from such a beautiful woman but it was hilarious.
My laughter upset her more because she tried to walk around me to get into her building.
“Okay…okay,” I grabbed her arm while still chuckling.
She snatched her arm from my grip.
“I’m sorry,” I said finally sobering from my laughing fit. “I’m sorry for offending you at our initial meeting, and I’m also sorry for offending you by wasting your time and not apologizing when I came to your office. I am not one to ever bring in lawyers to work with me on anything. I pride myself on hiring the best of the best in every aspect of law, but in this case, it is necessary I break tradition. I thought this case was something I could handle on my own and I can’t, and that’s not something I easily admit.”