by Lang, Alice
“Oh, actually I have an idea. I don’t know about this but can the fan base help? Since the book was released, there was bound to be some crazy fans that went to the house, right? To take a photo for memories or just for their collection. Can we ask for their help?”
Sarah was sure that she could hear Patrick’s teeth grinding as she spoke, but Shunsuke smiled and pulled out his laptop from the table near him. Apparently, Daisuke had a website of his own too. Shunsuke wasted no time and wrote a new topic in the discussion panel of the forum, asking for the fans’ help.
“Even better, I could multiply the crowdsourcing effect.” He then opened his Twitter and Facebook account and wrote to his own fans about helping to spread the word. With both Shunsuke’s and Daisuke’s fan base, their message would reach a hundred thousand in a day. Sometimes working on high profile cases had its perks.
“Welcome to the 21st century Patrick,” she whispered to him as she elbowed him at the same time. No way would she let that grumpy ginger take the lead of the scoreboard.
“Oh Shunsuke-kun, you didn’t tell me there were guests coming,” a raspy voice caught everyone’s attention. A soft tap of a walking stick made Shunsuke dash from his seat to the old woman who was walking towards them slowly. He helped her to an old wooden chair. Sarah could not make out her age but guessed her to be at least eighty years old. Although she suspected her identity, it wasn’t until she looked straight at Sarah that she knew who this old woman was without question. She bore the same dark brown eyes of Kanade Terres. Her luscious black hair was now streaked white from age. This woman was Kanade Terres, their grandmother.
“I didn’t want to wake Oba-chan up,” Shunsuke said, draping a thin blanket over her shoulder carefully. Suddenly Sarah understood why Shunsuke had stayed home instead of going out with his sister to meet them in the first place. He was taking care of his 94-year-old grandmother. It was a wonder to Sarah how healthy she looked even at this age. Kanade reached her shaky hand and placed it over Shunsuke’s.
“You are a good boy Shunsuke-ku.,” Even after living in the United States for a long time, Kanade still spoke with a hint of Japanese accent. It surprised Sarah a little bit that she hadn’t spoken to Shunsuke in Japanese, “You must be the people who are helping Diana. Thank you so much.”
“It’s our pleasure to help,” Patrick answered. Somehow Sarah expected him to say something like ‘It’s my job’ or something equally snarky. If only he were this nice all the time.
“Dai-kun worked so hard. He was happy when he told me that the house was going to be rebuilt, and we were going to move back.” The expression on Kanade’s face was unreadable. Sarah could only explain that expression with one word, longing.
Daisuke Terres might be a famous author who could depict a great love story in other people’s minds, but in this house, he was a father and a son. Though he was no longer alive, he was about to give his mother the house he lost because of the economic crisis. This time through the work of his children.
Watching this family together, the love and gentleness they showed to each other made Sarah’s blood simmer with rage. Golden Dome, in their selfishness, was taking something important from this family. Not just a house. They were taking away a gift from a son to his mother.
“What kind of person was Daisuke?” Sarah asked. She wanted to know more about this person who was the center of the Terres family. Kanade’s tired eyes sparkled and Sarah could see her become lost in the memories.
“Daisuke-kun was the joy of the house. Sometimes he took everything too serious and that worried me. He loved Johnny Cash and would sing for us whenever he got a guitar in his hand. He really was a good boy,” Kanade’s raspy voice plucked something in Sarah’s heart. Daisuke sounded like a kind and nice person. She wasn’t sure why someone as good and kind had to meet his demise so early, “He was a good son and even more so as a father. He was our sunshine.”
Sarah could feel her eyes grow glassy from just listening to Kanade speak about her child. Still, she swallowed down the emotions that seemed to climb up in her throat. Sarah mentally listed the third reason she could not lose this case. The house belonged to the Terres family, and she would be damned if one selfish company took advantage of a family who had already lost too much. The house was an emotional link between Daisuke and his parents. Sarah wrapped her hands around Kanade’s wrinkled one. There wasn’t much strength left in those hands, but they were the hands that raised the strong man Daisuke had become.
“I promise you, Mrs. Terres, we will win this for you and Daisuke.”
…
Patrick’s face had remained the same ever since they returned to the office to wait for any development. He seemed thoughtful and on edge, as if their time with the Terres family had brought back haunting memories. Sarah wondered if Kanade reminded him of anything or perhaps anyone from his past.
Sarah’s hand clutched her copy of Daisuke’s book. This was the first time she had gotten really emotional over her client. She felt protective of them and was growing more determined to win this case by the second.
Piles of pictures and other evidence flooded in, and they spent the rest of the week analyzing and verifying each piece of data that was sent their way. The evidence came from people all across the United States and even other countries. These were the people Daisuke had touched with the words of his books. Sarah underestimated the overwhelming power of Daisuke’s fan base. Even Patrick was surprised by the number of pictures flooding into his inbox. Selecting and trying to prove each picture’s validity would be harder than they thought.
When they weren’t looking through the documents and pictures, Sarah would read Daisuke’s book. She finally understood why he was respected as one of the best romance authors of his era. Daisuke truly believed in pure love. It was the kind of love he grew up with after all. He truly believed in the eternal love his parents shared. His parents became the example he tried to live by. The way he described Kanade and Aiden was made believable by his words. It gave hope to the readers that true, pure love exists in the world.
On the fifth day of pouring through photographs and other evidence, Patrick decided to call it a day. Sarah was relieved as they both were exhausted from the time intensive work and gladly closed up office to head home. They were taking the elevator down together, talking about the contract when Sarah broke the conversation.
“Daisuke loved his mom didn’t he?” Patrick had that same expression again, the one that he wore when he was listening to Kanade talking about Daisuke. There was something about Kanade that affected Patrick deep down. Ever since that day, he argued a bit less but at the same time was easier to be irritated by little things.
“He did write books about them after all.” Everything Daisuke wrote about his parents was so beautifully. His untimely departure must have hit the Terres family hard. They must have tried to be strong without Daisuke as the pillar of the family. Diana became the new foundation for the family, and Shunsuke the caretaker of the grandmother they loved so much.
“It isn’t fair. They are good people,” Sarah said.
“Nothing is fair in real life, Blake.” Sarah smiled as he gruffly called her by her last name.
“I know but…” Kanade’s raspy voice flowed into her head again, and she found her eyes welling with unshed tears. She couldn’t help it; this family had touched her and the emotion of the past few days surfaced like a huge tidal wave that overwhelmed her control.
She began to cry tears of remorse over Daisuke short life. It wasn’t an ugly sob or a loud one, but a silent mourning. She mourned for the boy he was and the man he had become. She mourned that the world would never read another of his stories. She mourned for the family who was being victimized by a business whose only concern was in making a profit.
As the tears slipped down her face, she felt a warm hand on her head and felt Patrick’s lips pressing into her forehead. His tenderness was such a surprise that she stopped crying, shock taking over h
er emotions. What was Patrick doing? What did he just do?
Patrick seemed as surprised as she way. He quickly dropped his hand and stepped back a couple of steps. They stared at each other with wide eyes, unable to believe what just happen in the last few seconds.
The sound of the elevator’s bell brought Sarah from her shell. She darted out of the elevator without a word and ran from the building. She ran all the way to her apartment without stopping, the adrenaline rushing in her veins. It wasn’t until she reached her room that she stopped moving. Her legs finally gave away as the rush died down.
She placed her hand on her forehead, touching the place where Patrick’s lips had been. “What just happened?” was the only thing that ran through her head all night.
CHAPTER FIVE
A week had passed since the ‘kissing’ incident. Neither Sarah nor Patrick mentioned it, never brought it up. They continued their daily arguing and bickering on the case like good office buddies though people would think that ‘partners in crimes’ was a way more suitable description.
Memorandum to set trial date remained indecisive as the two attorneys and their clients still could not reach an agreement. They had to face the reality that they were not the only one who had a case. Selecting and scheduling the jury was even worst and for the first time in his career Patrick was glad he didn’t have to handle it alone. Even with everything ready and Sarah looking as if she was itching for action they could only just wait. Patrick found himself watching her while they worked, amused at her habit of reciting her internal monologue as if practicing in front of a mirror. He would watch her hands as they flipped through papers, watch her mouth as she talked. He found himself drawn to her, a feeling that he wasn’t very comfortable with.
It’s been said that when you realize you have a connection with someone, you will have this feeling of little butterflies fluttering in your stomach. That was mostly untrue in the case of Patrick Greenburg. He had dated women in which he had felt attracted, had even cared for a few of them. But no one had every affected him like Sarah.
The realization that he and Sarah Blake could actually start something came to him at full force like the wings of a giant albatross swooping down into the ocean of abyss. He didn’t know if it was because of her way of challenging him or of accepting his challenge. Or the way she could handle his temper better than anyone he had ever met. Or the fact that she was just such a great lawyer. Patrick loved his job. He loved being a lawyer. And to see someone who was as passionate in law career as he made him feel as if something clicked together.
Sarah Blake was the first person he genuinely liked to work with. She wasn’t kidding when she said that she was one of the top students in her class. She was smart. But more than that. She understood him, and he understood her. Sometimes it was as if they read each other’s minds. She was one of the people who didn’t felt intimidated by his prowess and challenge. Instead, Sarah embraced it. She welcomed his insulting words and criticism and forged them into the strongest weapon to counter him right back. She surprised him in every way.
Patrick couldn’t deny that working with her made his normal work even more interesting. He enjoyed bickering with her. He enjoyed testing her skills and knowledge because he knew that Sarah was the only person who could exceed his expectation. For the first time, Patrick felt what it was like to not be alone. As long as he could remember, people often left him because he was the kind of person who wandered too far ahead, running too fast for people to catch up. Everyone gave up on him eventually. They could not handle his intensity or the way he handled his work. Patrick wasn’t the kind that took work lightly. He didn’t need people who would draw him back.
Even if Sarah started off drifting behind him, she eventually caught him up. She was the one of the first to be able to stand by his side and walk with him at the same speed. In this marathon, he was sure that she would either finish the race with him or would run farther ahead. And if he could, he would rather finish this line with her.
Patrick knew that he could get along with Sarah because she was a nice person. It wasn’t hard to be friends with her, even for someone like him. She was able to talk with anyone and was quick to form a friendship; she had quickly formed a friendship with Diana and Shunsuke Terres. He had heard her speaking to the Terres sibling about social things.
She even had a friendship with his brother of all people. Henry often barged into his office with an extra Starbucks in his hand for Sarah, which she always gladly accepted. In fact, he could consider that Henry was closer to Sarah than him. Sarah was kind. That wasn’t hard to spot either. The way that she mourned the late Daisuke Terres and how she was angry at the Golden Dome for taking the advantage of his untimely death. It took a great strength for someone to cry. She could truly sympathized and expressed her empathy without trying. In the other word, Sarah Blake was everything that Patrick wasn’t.
The theories of ‘opposite attract’ screamed into his brain upon the realization. ‘She completes you’ said some sub-conscious thought that embedded somewhere in his brain. He knew he shouldn’t give himself permission to open up. He knew what happened the first time he did, and he vowed himself never to fall for that ever again. Being alone wasn’t something new to him so why would he need to have someone now? Even if he knew that Sarah was a woman he could get along with in both work and personal life, he knew he could not let her be the center of his life.
‘You can’t or you won’t?’ Asked his sub-conscious brain. Patrick couldn’t even answer himself back. His fingers froze when that question played in his head. He was writing a letter to the management office of the firm. A letter that asked for Sarah to be transferred back to her original branch in Richmond. It was a selfish move and Patrick was known well in the whole building for his selfishness. They all expected this letter to be written by either him or Sarah anyway. He couldn’t see a reason for him to delay the inevitable.
Patrick knew himself well, or at least he thought that he did. He understood his strengths and even his weaknesses but what he understand most was that he was as human as everyone else. He enjoyed Sarah’s company and worked well with her. He could easily see her as someone he could settle himself with. But the question was… could she do the same? Going into a relationship wasn’t meant to be one-sided. Would someone like Sarah want to start a relationship with a jerk like himself? Their starting point was already a wobbly one. Even if they finally managed to work together, were able to perform in a perfect synchronization that spiked from total chaos of regular arguments and office spats… could that really be enough for them to start a relationship?
Patrick had been alone for most of his life, which never bothered him. Now it wasn’t enough. It felt good to have someone who thought as he did; who you felt alignment with, as one with. He realized that part of it could be because Sarah had studied about him so attentively when she was a member of his ‘fan club’. Part of it simply because she was Sarah Blake, one of the biggest rising stars in the industry.
Patrick knew he was about to let go of the brightest gem in his life because he was afraid of taking an unknown path. He wasn’t brave enough to hold on, and he knew it. Give him a hard case that seemed impossible, and he could fight it head on. Give him an emotional and personal problem involving his heart and Patrick would shut down and wave a white flag. He had been unsure of himself since the time his parents’ divorce. He knew that the only way he could solve this problem was to throw it away. So he decided to throw Sarah away too.
As he was half-way through the letter, he decided to take a break because his brain couldn’t think of the right words. He couldn’t think of why she should be sent back. She was hands down the perfect person for the job.
Some coffee could help him think; he hoped and walked out to find himself a cup. The loud overacting voice of his brother exploded into his ears the moment he stepped out of the office. Henry had become a regular visitor since Sarah moved in. Sarah also visited Henry on occasion. Th
ey seemed to have joined the cult of “sharing everything embarrassing concerning the grumpy Patrick” which brought them even closer.
“He used to believe me when I told him that there’s an alligator in the sewer.” Sarah was giggling with Henry until she noticed that Patrick was right behind him. Her mouth closed, and she pulled in her lips in a thin attempt to hide her smile. Her eyes opened wide as she attempted to warn Henry to be quiet. But Henry laughed on, unaware of the specter of his brother looming behind him.
Patrick gave a warning cough and Henry spun around, he eyes as wide as saucers. He glanced back at Sarah. “I said it too loud didn’t I?”
With a sigh of resignation, he turned back to Patrick and said, “Hello, brother dear. I was having a good chat with your partner about you and your childhood antics.”
“Yes, I can see and hear that. I would appreciate if you stop before I make sure your partner knows you’re slacking off.” Henry was still smiling, which kind of annoyed him. His brother was always smiling. Sometimes he just didn’t understand his younger sibling at all. He was always cheerful for some reason.
“C’mon. Jane’s case wasn’t that hard. She’s already prepared everything that I need. Hell, she prepared an actual script for me.”
“Because you’re an idiot.” Patrick knew his brother’s style of settling things off court. He didn’t like it but it was how his brother worked. Jane probably knew about this, too. Sarah looked uneasy between the two and silently slid off as the two brothers began a staring match with each other. One with a smiling eye that resembled the fox and another with the intense eye of the tiger.
“Well, I need to go back. Nice talking to you, Henry. I owe you another coffee treat.” With that Sarah disappeared into the blue, leaving the two brothers alone. Patrick could see how his brother looked at Sarah. Patrick didn’t need to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out that Henry liked Sarah very much.
