by Emma Vikes
‘Maybe Horacio could help.’ I thought briefly.
I could call the private investigator and ask that in addition to digging out anything noteworthy on the lawyer’s client, he should also help me track down Mike himself.
‘If Mohammed won’t go to the mountain, the mountain would come to Mohammed.’ I thought, remembering a phrase I’d picked up from one of my professors back in undergrad.
I picked up my phone and called Horacio.
He answered on the second ring before I proceeded to tell him what other service I needed him to render.
“Mike Duncan, right? That’s M I K E D U N C A N, right?” He’d asked for clarification.
“Correct. I need you to track him down and let me know where he would be at certain times; like where he goes for lunch and the likes. I want to force a meeting with him.” I’d responded.
By the time the call had ended, I’d begun wondering again on how else to proceed. My hands went through my hair once more in frustration.
With nothing coming to mind, I decided to get up and go speak with Charlotte. Talking things over with my boss had helped to shed some light on cases as well as open my eyes up to new angles and perspectives in the past. Something similar could happen again.
I stood up and headed for her office.
Just as I was halfway to her office, my phone began vibrating in my pocket. It definitely wasn’t Horacio as he couldn’t have been calling back so soon with information on what I’d asked him about.
I stopped in my tracks and pulled the phone out from my pocket to see it was Vanessa calling.
“Hey you.” I said as soon as I answered the call.
“Erm... Hi...” She responded.
I heard the hesitation in her voice and immediately began wondering.
“Are you ok?” I asked out of concern.
“Erm... Yeah. Yes, I’m ok.” She said and fell silent.
“So, what’s up?”
“Well... erm... Nothing. How are you?” She asked.
It was obvious she had something to say but was finding it difficult to get on with it. My mind immediately went to the proposal matter. Maybe she had finally made a decision and was finding it difficult to pass that message across.
“Well, I’m fine. I’m off to my boss’ office with regards to this Mike Duncan case.” I said, in other to keep the conversation going and put her at ease.
Whatever she was going to say was only going to be said when she was relaxed. Getting to distract her for a bit and keep her talking might just do the trick.
“Oh ok. Find anything yet?”
“Not at all. I’m still looking. And if I’m to admit, the fact I haven’t found anything yet is quite frustrating.” I responded.
“What happened to the always cool and easy-going Damian Marshall?” She laughed.
I chuckled as well, knowing exactly what she was referring to. I’d always managed to take things a tad bit less serious than she had over the years hence the tag.
“Well if I’m to be honest with you, I’ve got a lot riding on this case.” I responded.
“A lot like what?”
“Well for starters, my promotion to Senior Partner could very well be affected by this.”
“Oh wow. You are getting promoted? Congratulations. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It hasn’t happened yet. I’m being considered for Senior Partner but I have to ensure that I don’t lose any sensitive case between now and then.” I corrected.
“And you won’t. We are getting this promotion and nothing is going to change that.” She insisted, causing me to chuckle from amusement.
“Thanks, dear. Very soon I’d be a Senior Partner like the rest of you.” I said referring to the fact that Vanessa and a few of our other friends had already made Senior Partner at their firms.
Vanessa had been the first to accomplish the feat from our class. She’d gone from associate to Junior Partner to Senior Partner all in a space of four years. It was almost unheard of and was definitely a first in the history of her firm. Everyone had expected me to follow suit and be the next to attain the Senior Partner level but it hadn’t happened.
Two years after making Junior Partner, I still hadn’t made the jump. Two others from our class had gone on to be Senior Partners as well and the pressure had begun to pile. Now that I was on the verge, I needed everything to go without failure or hitches.
“And if you ask me, it’s been long in the making. Why your firm hadn’t done the necessary till now is beyond me.” I heard Vanessa respond.
I chuckled again.
“That reminds me, I need to check out a lead I told you about on Saturday. Let me get to it and get back to you ASAP.”
“Wait! Not before you tell me what this call was originally about.” I blurted out.
“What do you mean?” She snickered.
“I heard the hesitation in your voice silly. Any other person might have missed it, but not me. So, are you going to tell me or do you want me to come down to Chicago and drag it out of you?”
Her laughter came through the speaker, causing me to smile.
“Smarty pants. Don’t worry I’d tell you about it later. For now, however, I need to get to that lead. That’s definitely more important than what I wanted to say.” She insisted.
The finality in her voice told me she’d made up her mind on talking to me about whatever it was on a later date. There wasn’t any need to continue pushing. I also had somewhere to be at this instant in time.
“Alright then, if you insist.” I conceded.
“Talk later, Senior Partner.”
With that, she ended the call leaving a smile on my lips.
I pocketed my phone and resumed my journey towards Charlotte’s office.
CHAPTER 12
Vanessa
I ENDED THE CALL AND dropped the phone on my desk, fully aware of Lisa shaking her head in front of me.
It was a Monday morning and we were back from our mini vacation, sitting in my office.
I kept my head down and tried to regulate the pace of my racing heart by breathing in and out slowly.
My head remained down for what seemed like an eternity before Lisa finally broke the silence and spoke up.
“The sooner you tell him the better, baby girl.” She said comfortingly.
I nodded in agreement, knowing that she was absolutely right. My head stayed down nonetheless as my heart beat slowed. I exhaled finally when I’d succeeded in getting back some control.
“Whew!” I whistled loudly.
“You ok?” She asked.
“Sure I am.” I responded nervously. “Why wouldn’t I be?” I asked, trying to appear fine.
In reality, I wasn’t. Since Saturday, my world had been rocked upside down. If I thought I had a problem before Saturday, I now had a catastrophe on my hands.
One thing was certain. Lisa was right. I had to tell Damian as soon as possible.
‘I have to tell you that I love you Damian.’
I still was trying to get used to the idea and was still shocked by it every time it crossed my mind; which was every moment since Saturday.
It had started with Lisa arriving at my house to meet me unprepared for our trip. After a little back and forth, we’d gone up to my bedroom in order to get me ready. I’d told her then that I’d talked with Damian, going further to reveal the details of our conversation.
Her disappointment had been so glaring, but when I’d asked, she’d told me it was nothing. Eventually, after much pressing on my part, she’d hit me with the statement that she thought I would have realised from my conversation with Damian that I was in love with him.
“What!” I’d exclaimed in shock and disbelief, completely unsure of what Lisa was referring to.
But then as she continued talking, realisation had begun to dawn on me.
Granted, in the years since we’d been best friends, there’d been occasions where we’d almost crossed the boundary of friendship into a
relationship. I could remember all the instances, but Damian and me had talked about them and settled on the fact that what we’d felt were just temporary physical attractions.
I’d remembered the first instance in the library. Before then, I’d begun to realise that I’d developed feelings for Damian already. Then that faithful day, my breath had remained stuck in my chest as the events unfolded. I’d been explaining something to him and he’d leaned over and wedged his nose between my shoulder and neck. My whole world had gone still as I struggled to retain composure. It had been an awkward moment that had made my body go stiff instantly. By the time I’d finally found my voice, he’d spoken first.
“I’m tired.” He’d said.
“Well do I look like your pillow?” I’d responded causing us to laugh nervously.
Long after we’d left the library, I’d lingered on in bed, wondering on the possibility of getting involved with Damian.
Then I’d gone to sleep over in his room. While he slept, I’d stayed awake staring at him. As my confidence grew during the night, I began to draw closer and closer to him. Eventually I’d turned and backed him, placing my body so close to him that it was impossible for him to remain in the same sleeping position. I’d waited nervously for what he was going to do next. If he’d woken up in alarm, I’d simply have pretended to be sleeping. But if he reached out to caress me, Lord knew I was going to sleep with him then and there.
Eventually, he’d responded by cuddling me. My heart had skipped initially thinking he was making a move, until I realised that he had cuddled me unconsciously in his sleep. Then I’d begun to feel his erection and my heart had begun racing again as I waited for his next move. It never came. Instead, he got off the bed and headed straight to the bathroom.
By the time he came out, I was on my phone pretending to be oblivious to what had just happened.
Time passed and then weeks to our undergrad convocation, Damian and me had another episode which would eventually become the closest we’d ever ventured towards a relationship. I was going through a bad breakup when he’d walked into my room and met me in a mess.
He didn’t leave my side for two weeks where he’d gone on to take care of me. At the end of two weeks, I’d been sitting up in bed staring at him and wondering yet again, whether I shouldn’t just be dating my best friend. All my feelings were concurring, but still I remained hesitant. He’d woken up suddenly, startling me. Before I could think, I’d bent over and kissed him. Whether for fear of rejecting me or for the fact that he felt the same way, he’d kissed me back; and just when it seemed like the kiss was about to go beyond control, he’d stopped then and held me at arms-length.
Eventually, he’d tried to convince me that I was emotionally vulnerable and how the kiss shouldn’t have happened. In shame, I’d simply nodded along to his assertions and vowed internally never to make such a move with him again.
And the day after our convocation from law school, he’d walked me to the cab and held the door. For a brief moment I’d considered reneging on my vow as I hugged him tightly.
Eventually I’d let go and looked into his eyes. I’d very much wanted to tell him how I felt about him; that being his best friend was great, but I wanted to be so much more. However, it was too late.
“Call me every day.” I’d said eventually as tears had begun to pool in my eyes.
I’d turned and entered the cab as he shut the door. As the cab drove off, the tears began to flow freely.
‘Get a hold of yourself, Vanessa. Damian would be nothing more than your best friend. Don’t ruin a friendship all because you can’t get your emotions in check.’ I scolded myself as I wiped my eyes.
The cab driver had mistaken my tears as those of joy at graduating and I’d played along by accepting his congratulations and unsolicited advice for the next phase of my life.
Deep down, I was fighting and winning the war against my feelings for Damian. By the time I’d landed back home, it had settled within me. Damian and I were going to remain as best friends; nothing more, nothing less.
So strong was my resolve that I hadn’t considered an emotional relationship with him in five years; up until Lisa made the statement that shattered my walls and brought me right back to the beginning.
And in the space of five years, I’d suddenly realised that somewhere along the line, I’d fallen in love with Damian Marshall. Telling Lisa our story from the beginning had only helped to buttress her point.
Eventually, my resistance faded as I stared the truth she had in the face.
“So, what do I do now?” I’d asked Lisa then sometime during our getaway.
“There’s only one thing left to do, if you ask me honey. You should tell Damian how you fell about him.”
Her statement had resulted in another round of protests and arguments before I finally conceded and asked the question that scared me the most.
“And if he doesn’t feel the same way about me?” I asked like a nervous teenager.
“Then he doesn’t feel the same way about you. Simple! It won’t make you any less of the person that you are at the moment.”
I’d stayed silent while she continued talking.
“You’ve got to tell him Vanessa. You are torturing yourself with the idea that he would say no. What if he says yes? Either ways, you can’t even go on with the plans for the wedding to Dylan. You and Dylan are done as far as I’m concerned.” She asserted.
The getaway had turned into an encouragement session for me to admit to Damian that I love him; one that had continued all the way till this morning.
“Have you made the call?” She’d asked as soon as I walked into the office.
“Not yet. I will.” I’d responded as I walked briskly away from her in a bid to go hide in my office.
She’d followed me, pushing me into the office and shutting the door behind me.
“I know you Vanessa. You wouldn’t make that call unless I force you to. Sit down and make the call now.” She’d insisted.
I’d pulled the phone and dialled Damian’s number then.
After the call had ended, I still had managed to evade telling him.
“When did you know that you were in love with Terry and you wanted more than being his best friend?” I asked eventually.
“Right around the period I started understanding what love truly meant.” She responded simply. “In that moment, I realised that Terry possessed every attribute of love I could come up with. It was straight forward for me from then on.”
“So how do I do this?” I exhaled.
“By simply telling him. Don’t think too much about it. Just open your mouth and say it.” She responded.
CHAPTER 13
Damian
FRIDAY CAME AND MET me at my desk, preparing to institute a counter suit against Mike’s client.
Horacio had come through for me during the week. He’d tracked down Mike Duncan. Worse still, he’d narrowed Mike’s movements to some particular spots. By Thursday, I knew when Mike got to the office, when he stepped out for lunch, when he stepped back into the office, and where he went after he left the office at the close of business.
Yesterday I’d walked into the restaurant where Mike was having lunch and proceeded to stand at his table.
“Good Afternoon. My name is Damian Marshall.” I’d said nicely even though everything within me wanted to reach out and slam his head on the table.
The smug and condescending look that had appeared on his face had incensed me more than I’d have liked.
“Are you following me around now?” He’d responded to my salutation.
“Well seeing that you have been ignoring my calls and messages, I felt it best to find you and have a meeting.” I said as I pulled a chair and sat down, without his invitation.
“I didn’t ask you to sit down.” He fired.
“And I don’t need your permission.” I fired back almost instantly.
He’d begun chuckling smugly as he pulled up his napkin an
d wiped at his lips.
“Damian Marshall. You think you are a big shot, right? Of all people, Riley Stanton sends a Junior Partner to sit at the table with me.” He chuckled again.
“Is that a threat?” I replied simply, struggling to retain the self-control that I’d been so determined to maintain.
“A threat? Do you know how long I had to work in legal circles before I was handed a case file as big as the one you are currently on? Or do you know how many hours I put in, before I had the opportunity to face off with a legend in the industry?”
“And I assume from your example, that you are inferring that you are a legend, right? And yet I hadn’t heard of you till I got this case file.”
The look on his face told me my words had hit its mark. I’d succeeded in wiping the smug look on his face.
“You really think you are all that Damian. I was planning on going easy with Richer Corp, probably settling for a couple of millions out of court. But now, I’m going to make sure that I wipe the floor with you and your client. I’m going to make sure that by the time I’m done with Richer Corp, they would have no other option than to file for bankruptcy. And even then, I’d keep coming for them.”
I laughed then and wiped my eyes.
“You talk a big game for someone who has no case. Your case won’t even make it to trial as it stands. If you are trying to send a shiver down my spine, at least do so without making an empty threat. A legend should know better after all.” I said, drenching the last part of my speech in sarcasm.
“Now listen to me you little piss of shit...”
“No, you listen to me.” I barked, cutting him off mid-sentence. “I’ve been trying to get through to you so we could reason a way out of this mess; that is come to an amicable solution. But at every turn, you have shunned me and ignored my advances. So, I’m done being civil. You threatened my client, I’m threatening yours right back. You suing us for breach of contract, I’m counter suing you for illegal business dealings and defamation; and best believe, that I have the facts to prove it. By the time I’m done with you and them, they would be the ones with no other option but to file for bankruptcy.” I threatened.
