by Linda Verji
“I did, I did. I said she was a good investment,” Lawrence insisted, his heavy jowls shaking with his excitement. “Because of her, we finally hooked Yuri Yoneshige.”
When Spencer had come back to the office, Yuri’s presence in the building was already the hot topic, so this wasn’t news to him. Lawrence’s sudden adoration for Kelly wasn’t surprising either. The way to Lawrence’s heart was always to make him more money, and Kelly had just done that. Spencer wouldn’t have been surprised to hear that the two were planning to golf together over the weekend.
“I can’t wait to rub this in Earnest Gambler’s face.” Lawrence rubbed his hands in gleeful anticipation. “Pivot & Scott have been trying to get Yuri since forever. I hear they spent over twenty thousand dollars schmoozing the top guys at Rainsoft just so they could convince him to retain them. All we had to do was hire Kelly. Ho ho.”
“Congratulations,” Spencer said, an amused smile playing on his lips.
Frankly, Spencer was happier for Kelly than he was for Lawrence. Though Kelly had proven herself to be a hard worker, there had been a few whispers here and there about how she’d been hired because of her past with him and Angelina. Bringing in a whale like Yuri Yoneshige would help legitimize her hiring and silence the whispers.
Lawrence took a few more minutes to wax on about how Kelly was the greatest thing since electricity before finally leaving Spencer to his work. As usual, Spencer was among the last people to leave the office later that evening. Just before he left, he noticed that the lights were on in the junior staff’s office. It was lucky that he snuck a glance into the room first instead of announcing his presence. Who knew how Kelly would’ve reacted to the news that it was just the two of them in the office. She was so busy studying something on her computer that she didn’t even notice him.
He could’ve left then, but it was going on ten. There was no way he was leaving her all alone here. He quietly wandered back to his office and busied himself with some paperwork while he waited for her to finish whatever she was doing. About an hour and a half later, he finally heard the sounds of her leaving; a door closing then heels tapping as she headed out. Spencer grabbed his satchel, switched off his lights and rushed after her.
She was waiting for the elevator to stop at their floor. When he came up beside her, she turned her head, a ready smile on her lips. When she saw that it was him, the smile sunk like an anchor in deep water. With a sniff, she turned back to face the elevator doors.
“Working late?” he asked.
“Obviously,” she snapped back.
“What were you working on?”
“A case,” she retorted, her voice tight with anger.
Spencer frowned. What was the anger about? In the last few weeks their relationship had settled into a kind of cease-fire. Though Kelly wasn’t friendly with him as she was with their other colleagues, the bite in her tone had eased perceptibly. Why was it back? He racked his brain, trying to figure out what he could’ve done to piss her off this time but couldn’t find anything.
The elevator came to a stop, the doors opened, and they both walked in. When Kelly pressed the ground-floor button, Spencer pressed it again to make sure the elevator wouldn’t stop at the ground-floor.
Pressing the underground parking-lot’s button, he said, “I’ll drive you home.”
With more force than necessary, Kelly stabbed the ground-floor button again. “No, thanks.”
“I’m not offering because I’m itching to get you in my car.” Spencer disengaged the button again. “I’m offering because it’s close to midnight. What kind of man would I be if I didn’t even take my subordinate home when it’s my work that kept her in the office so late?”
“You’d be the kind of man who minds his own business,” Kelly snapped before reaching for the button again.
This time Spencer caught her wrist. “Don’t be so stubborn.”
“Hey.” She jerked her arm, trying to dislodge his grip. “Let go.”
He held on tighter. “I’m not letting you go home alone.”
“Let go,” Kelly insisted, but unfortunately for her the elevator slid the ground-floor right then. She glared at him with so much annoyance in her eyes, he was surprised he didn’t burst into flames. “Now look what you did.”
“It’s just a ride, Kelly.” He finally let go of her wrist. “I won’t eat you.”
But Kelly wasn’t one to give in easily. When they got to the underground parking-lot, she refused to get off the elevator. To counter her, he stayed in the elevator too, pressing the open-doors button to keep the elevator from moving. With a glower, Kelly finally got off. But she wasn’t done with the shenanigans. When he followed her out of the elevator, she suddenly darted back in. Fortunately, he caught her before the elevator could close.
“This is unlawful imprisonment,” she complained even as she allowed him to march her to his car. “I’m going to sue you.”
“You can certainly try.” He opened the door for her.
After shooting him an eye-roll that left him with no doubts about her opinion of his actions, she got into the car. The mood in the car was thick with tension, and the uncomfortable silence that settled between them didn’t help things either.
Trying to ease the tension, Spencer said, “I heard you brought a new client to the firm.”
There must’ve been some pretty interesting buildings on Kelly’s side of the road because she didn’t even bother to look away from her window when she grunted, “Mm.”
“Congratulations.” Spencer ventured on, “Lawrence was very happy and you might even get a bonus out of this.”
“Oh.”
Because he was a sucker for punishment, he tried again, “Is it true that Yuri knows you because of your father?”
“Mm.”
Spencer smiled. “I guess it pays to be Jesse Garner’s daughter.”
Kelly turned to face him so fast he was surprised she didn’t break her neck or at the very least get whiplash. She bit out, “What did you just say?”
“I said…” he started then saw the look in her eyes and realized that he’d just put his foot in his mouth. It took him a little longer to figure how he’d put his foot in his mouth.
What the hell had possessed him to mention her father? Though Kelly had never explicitly expressed it, any man with an ounce of common sense would already know that Jesse Garner was a no-go topic between them. And now that he thought about it, he realized that Jesse might also be the reason she’d been angrier at him today. Yuri’s presence at Chambers & Quinn must’ve brought up memories of her father and thus resurrected memories of the part Spencer had played in her father’s death.
He was an idiot. He shouldn’t have brought up Jesse’s name.
Wincing, Spencer said, “I’m sorry.”
But the damage was done. For the rest of the drive, Kelly completely ignored him. If the car was cold before, it was now icy and freezing. Thankfully, the drive to her place was short.
“We’re here,” he said.
Without a word, Kelly unbuckled her seatbelt, but just as she was about to exit the car, a commotion on the street made her still. Two brawny men were arguing loudly just a few feet from Lani’s entrance. In fact, they looked like they were about to come to blows. Kelly didn’t say anything, but Spencer saw her body tensed and the immediate nervousness that flitted over her expression.
“I’ll walk you to your door,” Spencer offered immediately, knowing that if he’d asked she would’ve said no even if she was so obviously scared.
Though Kelly didn’t respond verbally, her body language said she wanted him to walk her to the door. They both exited the car and started towards the café’s entrance. At first Kelly kept her distance from him as if to let the world know that they were not together. But when the two men started shoving each other, she steadily sidled closer to him until their arms were practically brushing. Spencer hid a smile. It was good to know that despite hating him, she still trusted him to p
rotect her.
Fortunately, the two arguing men didn’t even notice their presence. Spencer and Kelly skirted past them without any issues, but just to be careful, Spencer walked her around the café to the back where the stairs leading up to her apartment were.
“This is far enough,” Kelly said when they got to the bottom of the stairs. “I’m not planning to invite you up for coffee.”
“I didn’t ask you to.” He gave her a level look. “Goodnight.”
He turned and started to walk away, but stopped moving when Kelly called out. “Spencer…”
“Yeah?” He turned to look at her.
She was standing on the top step looking down at him. She hesitated for a moment before saying, “Thank you.”
Spencer couldn’t help the smile that immediately lifted his lips. “You’re welcome.”
That smile remained on his lips even as he drove home. Thank you. They were just two words but they gave him unbelievable pleasure. All the other times she’d said thank you, it was accompanied by a rancorous tone and a ‘but…’. This thank you had none of that. Progress, right?
CHAPTER 6
“We brought you the conditioner,” Kelly announced when she and Sin went to visit A.J. on Saturday.
Seeing as it was the prison’s official visiting day, the hall was abuzz with the cheerful sounds of chattering, laughing and eating. The circular tables spread around the large room were filled with happy people (some of them children). In fact, if it wasn’t for the beige khaki uniforms that marked some of the people there as inmates, one would’ve mistaken this for a normal gathering.
A.J. snorted. “You probably got the fake kind again.”
“Hey, that happened one time, and it wasn’t our fault.” Sin jumped in. “You’re the one who skipped handwriting class.”
“My handwriting was perfect,” A.J. retorted. “You’re the one who was sleeping during reading comprehension.”
“You little-”
“Okay, children,” Kelly cut in with a laugh. “Time to stop pulling each other’s hair.”
Sin and A.J. traded glares but the amusement glittering in their eyes left no doubt that they were just playing around. The two ladies were as different as night and day. Sin was outgoing, stylish and prone to using her looks and sly tongue to get whatever she wanted. A.J. tended to disappear behind Sin’s shadow, but, as Kelly had discovered, that was deliberate. A.J. liked being in the shadows where no one knew of her razor-sharp intellect or of her body that was as lithe and flexible as a gymnast’s. No wonder she’d been so good at being an art-thief.
However, despite their differences in personality the two got along just fine. They had given Kelly the emotional support she needed to survive in prison.
The topic of the conversation soon meandered into other things including how A.J. was handling her remaining time in the system. As expected, she was doing just fine and had even made a friend in her new cellmate. Eventually the conversation circled back to Kelly.
“So how’s working with Spencer?” A.J. asked. “I hope you haven’t killed him.”
“Not yet.” Kelly made a face. “But I’m not ruling it out.”
Though she didn’t like the fact that Spencer had used her father as a joking point in their conversation the previous day, she was well aware that she’d overreacted. The fact that he hadn’t called her on her overreaction then apologized and even walked her to her door, had left her feeling just a tad bit guilty. Not that she’d ever confess that to him.
“What?” Eyeing A.J., Sin pitched in cheekily, “Are you worried about your boyfriend?”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” A.J. countered calmly before turning to Kelly. “You know, I think it’s a good thing that you two are working together.”
“How could that possibly be a good thing?” Kelly asked. “And we’re not working together. We just work for the same firm.”
Ignoring the correction, A.J. said, “It’s a good thing because you two can finally duke it out instead of fuming in your respective corners.”
“You make it sound like we’re in some kind of war.” Kelly wrinkled her nose.
“And Spencer has no reason to fume,” Sin added. “He’s the jerk here.”
A.J. shrugged. “Maybe.”
“Maybe?” Sin glared at A.J. like she’d just insulted Beyoncé. “Whose side are you on anyway?”
“I’m not on anyone’s side,” A.J. said calmly, unaffected by Sin’s burst of temper.
“You’re supposed to be on Kelly’s side.” Sin kissed her teeth. “You know what? Forget about that conditioner. You don’t deserve it. The moment we get out of here I’m taking it back.”
“Take it back then,” A.J. dared her. “It’s not like my hair’s going to fall off if I use regular soap.”
“We’re not taking it back,” Kelly said in an effort to cool the tension in the table. On the inside, however, she was firmly in Sin’s corner.
Although most times, she appreciated A.J.’s no holds barred honesty, this wasn’t one of those times. When Kelly had told her friends her story, both A.J. and Sin had agreed with her that Spencer was a dick who deserved to be hung, drawn and quartered. However, after Spencer had worked to get Kelly out of prison, A.J. had unapologetically switched sides. Another lawyer would’ve tried to bury their mistake, A.J. had calmly offered, but Spencer had done all he could to rectify his. He deserved a break.
Kelly liked A.J., and maybe she had a point. However, the lady was bonkers if she thought that Kelly was just going to let Spencer go scot-free. A.J. often claimed that she was just being objective which was okay, but one could afford to be objective when they were not in the victim’s shoes. If she’d suffered at Spencer’s hands and lost her only remaining family because of his incompetence, Kelly doubted she’d be so cool-headed.
Still, it wasn’t worth the argument. A.J. had her opinions, and Kelly had learnt to live with them. She didn’t want her friends angry with each other just because of differing worldviews. She changed the topic to something safer; Sin’s newest job. In addition to her ‘job’ as the face of Lani’s, she was now providing fake girlfriend services.
“Do you need a pretty girlfriend to take to your ex’s wedding? Need a beautiful woman to show off at your graduation reunion? Trying to show up your bros? Hire Tamsin Jacobs today,” Sin pitched enthusiastically. Preening to show her pretty features, she added, “She’ll leave everyone burning with jealousy.”
Both Kelly and A.J. burst into laughter, but it was A.J. who voiced what they were both thinking. “Isn’t that basically providing escort services?”
“Escorts provide sex on the side, I won’t.” Sin paused for a moment. “At least I don’t think I will.”
“You don’t think you will?” Kelly stared at her friend in wide-eyed shock then shook her head. “I can’t with you.”
If it was someone else, Kelly would’ve said something, but this was Sin. The woman had unconventional opinions about sex and relationships. Though she was only twenty-seven, she’d already been married three times, with the youngest of her ex-husbands being thirty-five years older than her. Her body, she often said, wasn’t soap. It wasn’t going to disappear just because she rented it out once in a while to lonely men. What could one say to that?
The three ladies were debating the pros and cons of being a girlfriend-for-hire when Kelly’s phone rang, interrupting their conversation. A quick glance at the screen revealed that it was Marie. Why was Marie calling her on a weekend?
Frowning, Kelly swiped her finger over the screen then pressed the phone to her ear. “Hello.”
“Kelly, hi,” Marie’s cheerful voice filtered through. “I hope I’m not interrupting your weekend.”
Of course, she was but Kelly said, “No, you’re not. What’s up?”
“Lawrence wants to see you in his office.”
Kelly blinked. “Sorry?”
“Lawrence wants to see you in his office,” Marie repeated.
“
But it’s Saturday.”
“He knows it’s Saturday.” Marie asked, “How fast can you get there?”
How fast can you get there? What about asking her if she could get there? Weekdays were brutal at Chambers & Quinn. Since she’d started working there, she’d never left the office before seven p.m. and not for lack of trying. Something urgent always came up to keep her in the office on weekdays, which was why she was extremely possessive of her weekends. But this was Lawrence, managing partner. She couldn’t say ‘it’s a weekend’.
Kelly sighed. “About twenty minutes.”
“Make it fifteen,” Marie ordered then hung up before Kelly could argue.
Despite her friend’s pleas to stay a little longer, Kelly left for the office. Eighteen minutes later, she got off the elevator at Chambers & Quinn.
“You’re late,” Rita, the fifth-floor receptionist, informed her coolly.
“Sorry,” Kelly puffed out breathlessly even as she noted how formally Rita was dressed. Despite it being a Saturday, the middle-aged woman was wearing a sharp grey suit that left Kelly feeling woefully underdressed. Panic ballooned inside Kelly. Would Lawrence find her disrespectful for wearing jeans and a t-shirt to see him? Maybe she should’ve changed into something more tailored before coming to the office.
“Lawrence is in his office waiting for you,” Rita cut into her panicked thoughts. “Go right in.”
Kelly took a second to catch her breath before heading to Lawrence’s office. She let out a sigh of relief when she noted that Lawrence was dressed more casually than Rita; light-blue polo-shirt, khaki slacks and golf shoes. He looked like he was just about to head out for a round of golf.
At her entrance, he looked up from the paperwork he was reading and smiled. “Kelly, come in. Come in.”
She edged deeper into the room to stop by the coffee table. “You wanted to see me?’
“Yes.” He gestured towards the leather couch flanking his own armchair. “Have a seat.”
“Thank you.” Kelly settled gingerly in the proffered seat.