Jules drew in a deep breath and opened her mouth to speak. Before any sound out, he called out, “Well hello little Mouse! What brings you to my side of the maze?” His smile was dazzling and very disarming. It was even a little irritating how good his mood was.
“I think I need your help,” Jules answered, her voice uncertain, and he did not miss that little fact.
“Sure,” he said in a reassuring tone this time. His eyes softened and he smiled gently. “How can I be of service?” He held his hand out toward a cushy brown chair on the side of his desk, opposite himself.
Jules sat and ran through the case she had, pointing out the most important details. He never took his eyes off her while she talked, and it made Jules slightly uncomfortable. To her, it felt like she was being scrutinized. Even though Jules knew it was only her imagination, it still bothered her because there was definitely something strange about him. She tried to keep her mind on the task at hand, but it was difficult, what with the way he was watching her. Did he treat everyone this way? In reality, he was probably just a good listener; but her mind played with other possibilities, none of them commonplace for the office. She wondered to herself as she spoke with him if he was really as good as everyone said. Jules doubted he had much free time, given all the work to be done. His eyes were tired looking; those shaded half circles concerning her.
Nicolas assured her that if there was evidence to find against the husband, he could find it. He said he would have all she needed within a week, which was perfect. Jules was concerned though. The dark circles under his eyes seemed to bore at her conscience until finally, she asked.
“Are you planning to do this alone? I mean, do you have connections or something?”
“You are not the first to ask that, and I will tell you what I tell everyone else. I never reveal my sources.” His mouth curled up at the corners.
“Oh, I was just curious,” Jules felt a little embarrassed she had even asked, but she couldn’t shake the feeling he was hiding something. Well of course he was! He had just said he wasn’t going to tell her. She really needed to get a grip.
“Did you drive yourself here today?” He asked her, snapping her back to the situation at hand. Jules wondered why it mattered to him anyway. Nosy little booger.
“No, I took a cab. Why?” Her lips curled down into a frown and her tone was almost condescending.
“Just because it is getting late and this isn’t the nicest neighborhood at night.” He seemed genuinely concerned and Jules felt bad for thinking of him as nosy. It was nearly seven o’clock. Where did the time go? Jules figured she should be getting home.
She left the case file with Nick and headed for home, not wanting to press her luck. Kelly was coming to visit in a few days and there was still a lot Jules had to do to get ready for her. Her room was almost finished. Jules had spent a couple of days shopping for just the right décor, but the linens were still unwashed and the paint was still in the can. If Jules hurried, hopefully she would get it done in time.
CHAPTER NINE
Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of humor. Nick used to hate the rain. He had been sitting at his desk that bleak morning, watching the rain streak down the glass of the only window in his office. There was a slight buzz about the office. A new attorney was joining the firm today. Nick didn’t much care, all he knew was it was a woman from somewhere in Nevada. He had plenty of work to do, without all the excitement of the welcome wagon.
He heard when she entered through the glass doors in the front of the office. He heard Anita greet her. Nick enjoyed his keen sense of hearing; it came in handy on more than one occasion. He silently wondered to himself how he would ever get anything accomplished without his abilities. He could hear a great deal, his ears more attune to sounds no one else would ever catch.
He caught her scent when she walked down the hall with Harry. It was floral, like jasmine and honey. Harry was introducing her to everyone. Nick knew it wouldn’t be long before he had to put on a happy face and pretend that he loved his job. Really, he just did it to pass the time. He had a photographic memory, and he knew just about everything there was to know about law.
Nick drew his lips into a fake smile when they were outside his door. A light knock, and they entered. Fate intervened on that dreary, cold day. Nick’s breath caught in his throat for a moment. There, in front of the door was the most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes on! He sucked in a breath through his teeth as he studied the woman in the doorway of his small office. Her brown hair was wet, no doubt from the irritating rain outside, and it hung gently down her back. Her blue pantsuit accented her perfect figure in all the right places, slightly damp as well. These things did not keep his eyes’ attention. It was her eyes. They were hazel, a kind of yellow/brown, with little green flecks around the edges. Even though she was smiling, her eyes reflected a tremendous amount of hidden grief. As if she lost everything she’d ever cared about.
The most primal part of Nick woke up right then and screamed in his head. Mine. His mouth went dry and his zipper suddenly became way too tight. His teeth ached with the incredible need to mark her. This woman was his. Nick shoved the beast down and worked on not scaring her out of her wits.
Nick introduced himself to her and spoke politely, the entire time keeping his eyes glued to hers. He smiled on the inside when she tripped over her own words and blushed a deep crimson. Nick was used to it; most people had trouble talking to him. It was his nature. When she was safely out of his office, he let himself resume the glum mood that had previously been in place. He rarely cared about how he affected people, but he still didn’t want to seem like a putz right from the start. Especially to her. Anita knew he could be difficult, as did all the others that worked here. He never really cared for personal talk at the office, and most everyone here left him alone when they didn’t need his help. It was the way Nick preferred it. He found himself thinking about the girl, though. How she caught his attention right away. No one had ever done that. No one had ever affected him right from the start. He wondered what could have happened to make her eyes so sad, what could make her move from Nevada to Boston. He was quite sure it was whatever her eyes were hiding. He could feel the grief rolling off her in waves and it was killing him already.
That was one of his vampire gifts. Some could read minds, some could plant suggestions, his was the ability to feel and even sometimes manipulate the emotions of others around him. He could make them feel anything he wanted. Compelling, as his aunt called it. Nick tried not to use it if it wasn’t necessary; he tried to be a stand up kind of guy.
He had intended to leave and go home for lunch, but in the hall he ran into Jules again. She was lost, looking for the lounge, and of course, in the wrong direction. He secretly enjoyed the way her eyes swept over him, like she was appreciating his tall form. She said she felt like a mouse in a maze. Nick laughed to himself when she said it, and it seemed fitting. Her features were so petite and delicate, almost mouse-like. Right then he decided tacos were good enough for now, and offered to show her the way, making small talk on the walk.
Nick was not really hungry, but he couldn’t resist staying. He wanted to know more about this new, fascinating creature. Every move she made was graceful and timid at the same time. He got the impression that she was uncomfortable in her own skin. Nick could understand being ill at ease in a new job. She seemed to be getting along fairly well, though. It was when Anita asked about the ring on Jules’s finger that he finally understood. Her husband died. Over the summer. Of course, that explained her grief.
The look that crossed Jules’s face answered his questions without a word. She was getting away from her pain. No, she was trying to escape it. And Anita opened her big mouth and Nick could tell Jules was struggling to keep the pain inside.
He felt the urge to reach out to her. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and comfort her. He wanted to take all of her pain away and make her happy. He wanted her to know that no matter w
hat, she was safe with him. He knew that would be a bad idea. Why not scare the hell out of her on the first day? He decided with a shrug of his shoulders that he should just get back to his office where he belonged before he did something stupid. Like kiss her senseless.
Nick listened in on the conversations taking place in the lounge from the safety of his office. Anita was mortified that she upset Jules so badly. He could hear Harry telling her to just give Jules a few moments alone. Apparently, Jules had told no one why she wanted to move to Boston.
He smiled a little smug smile when he heard Anita ask about the necklace Jules wore sometime later that afternoon, and got the same basic reaction. He gathered that Anita was embarrassed by her own seeming lack of respect. Nick thought her ability to put her foot in her mouth so easily was very amusing.
He was organizing a case file that he had been working on for Harry when he heard footsteps approaching his door. He knew it was Jules immediately by the lovely jasmine/honey scent that preceded her. He shoved Harry’s file aside and watched the door open. They discussed mundane things about work, and her divorce case that she needed help on. Nick figured he would take it home and have a look at it. Everything else could wait. He would do what his mate needed him to do, even if she was nowhere near ready to know it. After a while, he reminded Jules of the time, and saw her to a cab.
She said she drove a yellow Lumina before she moved here, not a car Nick would have picked out. Her sister was going to drive it to Boston over Christmas break, when Jules’s daughter would visit. He ascertained that she left her family behind with her grief. Nick could appreciate how hard it must have been to leave everything she knew behind and start over.
Nick had no intention of following her home, and yet, he did it anyway. He could have used his car, a black 1967 Shelby GT. 500, but instead, he chose to follow her on foot. He could be more incognito that way. Besides, she was new to the area, and Nick was just making sure she got home safely, or that’s what he told himself. He was absolutely not stalking her.
She got out at an apartment building on the east side. These apartments were nice, kind of pricey, but affordable on a lawyer’s salary. It looked secure enough, but Nick scaled the fire escape to the window to her apartment anyway. He watched as she tossed her briefcase aside and fixed herself dinner.
She sat down in front of her TV and watched cartoons while she ate. This intrigued Nick. Most adults didn’t watch cartoons; not that he couldn’t appreciate the old ones. He had been known to watch old Scooby-Doo episodes from time to time. She was watching Tom and Jerry. Nick smiled to himself as he watched with her, although she had no idea he was there.
As Jules watched TV and Nick watched her, he gave himself a mental shake. Yep, definitely stalking her. He tore himself away from her window and made himself leave. He left her building and retreated back to the office for his car. He had to get home where a certain witch was making life difficult for everyone. Jules had enough to worry about without him adding a stalker to her plate. He vowed then to leave her alone until she was ready to move on. He didn’t care how long it took. He had nothing but time.
CHAPTER TEN
MARCH
Jules turned the pages of the case file, not knowing exactly what she was looking for. A clue of some sort, some kind of loop hole, anything. She had gotten used to finding a way to win cases for her clients. Perhaps this one was going to be more difficult. Sometimes, there just wasn’t a clear victory, only damage control. This was probably one of those times.
Her head hurt. She had a headache most days, but tonight, it was unbearable. She closed the manila folder Nicholas had so tediously prepared and dropped it on the couch beside her. She would just have to look over it again later. Her mind drifted back to Nicholas. How was he able to put in so many hours? She wondered if he had a life outside of work. The hours he kept at the office would certainly explain the dark rings he always seemed to carry under his eyes. He never talked about anything outside of work, not about himself, anyway. Over the past three months, she and Nick had become working friends. Jules found that she spent a great deal of time with him at the office. Everyone did. It seemed they were all jockeying for a position to get him to look at their cases. No matter how busy he was, though, he always had time for her. As far as she knew, he didn’t have a family, or even go out with friends. She supposed his work was his life. It made her a little sad for him.
Jules immediately felt a pang of guilt for even thinking of him. It was like she was cheating on Joe. She wasn’t thinking romantic thoughts, but the concern for him made her feel unfaithful, just the same. It was silly to feel that way; she knew it, but couldn’t stop herself. Perhaps it was because he was insanely gorgeous, and Jules wasn’t the only one who thought so. She discovered that even the men in the office were intimidated by his good looks and charm. But as far as Jules was concerned, he didn’t hold a candle to her Joe. She missed him dearly every single day, and spent most nights crying herself to sleep.
Jules gave up on the case file. She tossed it on the end table beside her second hand couch and sat there a moment. Obviously, she wasn’t going to get any work done tonight. She decided a movie might help her relax. As she rummaged through the stack of DVDs she brought from Nevada, she came across a set of home movies. Without thinking, she popped one in the DVD player. It was Kelly’s fifth birthday. Jules watched intently while she played with her friends, opened presents, chased balloons, and blew out the candles on her pink cake. Then she heard it. Joe’s voice. He was behind the camera. Of course he was; Joe always did all the recording. She rewound the movie to hear it again. “Happy birthday, sweetheart,” his smooth voice rang in her ears like the most beautiful symphony.
Suddenly, she had to see him. She was overwhelmed with the need to look at his face. Jules frantically searched the home movies until she found what she was looking for. She replaced the DVD and sat down to watch. She saw his beautiful face, tan, but not dark, smiling under an arch of white roses and ribbons. The look in his eyes was that of pure joy, he was grinning from ear to ear. His blue eyes glistened in the light, and Jules’s heart sang. He really was beautiful. Then the frame moved around to find Jules. She was coming down the aisle in an antique white gown, the same smile on her face. Jules laughed to herself as she realized, she nearly ran down the aisle to meet him. She watched their wedding video with a fierce nostalgia. When they danced their first dance together, he held her close to him. Jules could hear the guests whispering in the background of the home movie, remarking how beautiful they were that night, how happy they were. She smiled as she watched their family and friends speak into the camera, wishing all the best things in life. Jules wondered if any of them ever dreamed things would end up like this.
Her heart stopped for one beat when Joe’s face appeared on the screen. She had known this part was coming, but she wasn’t prepared for the rush of emotion that swelled inside her when he spoke. “Hey Jules,” he was smiling, and his voice was even and cool. “I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for marrying me. Thank you for giving me a daughter. For being everything I could ever want, and everything I didn’t know I wanted until I met you. You have made me the happiest man alive, and I want you to know that I will spend every day of my life hoping I can make you as happy as you have made me. I can’t wait to grow old with you. I love you.” Jules hit the pause button. The happiest man alive, grow old with you...the words stung. The emptiness in her chest that she had fought so hard to suppress ripped wide open, leaving a gaping hole in her soul. Tears streamed down her face in uncontrolled waves of agony.
It wasn’t fair! They were supposed to grow old together! This wasn’t how it was supposed to be! What she wouldn’t give to touch his face just once more, to feel his arms around her, hear his laughter... it was more than she could bear. Jules curled up in a fetal position on the couch, burying her head in her knees, and let the pain come. And it did. With the force of a hurricane, ripping through her heart like a wild cougar
tearing at its prey, so hard she thought maybe it would stop beating altogether. That would be ok, she thought, to not live with the pain anymore. She yearned for his arms to comfort her, a kiss on the cheek to let her know everything would be all right. But no relief came. Jules sobbed uncontrollably for hours.
When the sun came up, she remained in the same position on the couch. She didn’t have the will or the strength to get up. She did not want to get up. Although the tears had finally dried out, the pain was still very present. Jules couldn’t face the office today. She had been up all night crying, and the trivial problems of others just weren’t high on her priority list. When her phone rang, it went unanswered. She lay there, unwilling to move for fear the hole in her chest would open again, letting loose the flood of pain and sobs she barely had under control. She laid on the sofa, ignoring every phone call, every knock at her door, for the entire day. She guessed someone tried to check on her, but she had no desire to talk to anyone.
When the light from the window began to fade, Jules realized it must be getting close to dusk. And then, it occurred to her. Why should she have to live this way? She had no one to look after anymore. Kelly was nearly grown and lived with her aunt now. She was far more mature than the other kids her age. In fact, she was going to Europe this summer. Her grades had cinched her a spot in the high school’s student exchange program. The realization of her decision came slowly to the forefront of her consciousness. She could end all this pain now. She could be with her precious love. All this torture was unnecessary! She slowly, deliberately, sat up.
Spider Web Page 8
