Insufferable Proximity 2

by Stefani, Z.

  “Yes. I would rather spend the extra time with you,” she admitted, and Julian grinned.

  “That’s part of the reason that I didn’t fight for it as well. I’d rather focus on you,” he also admitted.

  “What’s the other reason?”

  “I thought you wanted it, and I wanted to give it to you.”

  “You would really give me a case?”

  “I’d give you anything you wanted,” he spoke from his heart.

  “I don’t ever want to think of you as my opponent again. I’d quit before I let that happen.”

  He couldn’t believe his ears. “Really? You would quit your job?”

  “Yes; I obviously have little to no self-control when it comes to competition. So, before I let that job come between us, I would find another one.”

  “But you love your job; you love the firm.”

  She held him tightly. “I love you so much more.”

  ***

  Heaven fought like a dog to make it to work on time, even though Julian was damn near irresistible. She fought his advances and even skipped going to get coffee. She had a mysterious appointment. A mystery woman had called to make it, but refused to give her full name or explain what it was about.

  Once they were on the floor, Julian kissed Heaven before heading to his office. She made a beeline to the cafeteria to grab a big cup of coffee. A few of the secretaries were huddled at the corner table, speed talking; they had ten minutes until they needed to be at their desks and were too engrossed in their conversation to notice Heaven.

  “Let’s just say that Clive is not as bright as we thought,” Reese said.

  “I heard he has no idea what he’s doing on this case. Gloria wouldn’t confirm it, but she didn’t deny it either.”

  “I overheard Lila say the same thing,” Reese nodded in agreement.

  “Oh well, he’s sexy—he doesn’t have to be smart,” Adele giggled.

  Heaven frowned as she left the room. She hoped that was just gossip and there was no truth to what they said. Heaven would feel responsible if Clive lost the case, especially since there were two other attorneys who never lost that were vying for it. Julian would have easily won if not for her; she felt as if she’d let down Julian, and the firm.

  “I should have taken that case,” she whispered to herself as she headed towards Julian’s office.

  Julian looked up to see Heaven walk in. His eyes were glued to her hips as they swayed with her steps.

  “I got you coffee.” She handed him the cup as she leaned back against his desk with a pout.

  “What’s wrong?” he dropped his pen and took her hand.

  “Nothing.”

  He raised his brow. “Regretting that you didn’t take the case?”

  “How did you know?”

  “I know that look.”

  “I wanted that case, but there were just too many layers to peel. I’m waiting for a small one, something I don’t have to spend 24/7 focusing on.”

  “It will come. You’ll fight to get it, and you’ll eventually win it,” he said, and nodded in confidence.

  “I want you to promise me something. If you like a case, I want you to go full-force like you always do. I want you to fight for that case, but I don’t want you to fight me. I’m not going to fight you; I’ll never do that again. However, I will fight fairly for the case. If you win it from me, it means that you’re more qualified. I don’t want you to give it to me if I haven’t earned it,” she said earnestly.

  He smiled broadly as he kissed the top of her hand. “I respect that.”

  “I’ve also been looking into the support group for the abduction survivors. I want to do something.”

  “What?”

  “Whatever I can—offer legal services, advice, etc.” she shrugged, “I don’t really know. I’m not even sure where to start.”

  “I think that’s a good idea, and I’ll help in any way that I can. How about we start with a donation?”

  She nodded eagerly. “That sounds like a great start.”

  “Good.” Julian opened his top desk drawer and grabbed his checkbook.

  “That’s all right; I can pay it.”

  “I know you can.” He dated the check and signed his name on the bottom.”

  She raised her brows. “Blank?”

  “Give as much as you like—whatever they need. Let me know if you need another check.”

  “You don’t have to do this.”

  “I know.”

  Heaven put down her coffee and jumped on Julian’s lap. She grabbed his face and planted a big kiss on his lips.

  “Thank you, this means a lot to me. We’ve been through this—I just want to help them.” She hugged him and laid her head on his shoulder, “Will you go to their next meeting with me?”

  “Of course,” he replied.

  “I’d better go; my appointment will be here any minute,” she said, kissing him quickly before she turned to leave.

  “Good luck,” he said before she left his office.

  ***

  Heaven walked to her office to see that her appointment waited for her. When the woman turned to smile, Heaven almost lost her composure before she snapped her poker face back in place. The woman was obviously a victim of plastic surgery gone wrong. Her face looked unnaturally shiny and painfully taut. Her eyes were too small to be natural, and winged up too high on the sides to look realistic. Her cheekbones were very round and looked like halved apples propped below the skin. Her right cheek looked a little pointy in the middle, and sat too high under her minuscule eyes to appear natural.

  However, it was her lips that appeared to be the main problem. It looked as if her plastic surgeon had attached two, flesh-covered helium balloons around her mouth. As if the size weren’t issue enough, the left sides of her lips were significantly thinner than the right side.

  “Ms. Deville,” she said, smiling as she grabbed the baby seat. Heaven looked down to see a tiny bundle snuggled in the comfy seat.

  “You have some information on the Tucker case?” Heaven asked as she led the woman into her office.

  “Yes.” The woman sat the baby seat down before sitting in the chair.

  “It would be best if you spoke to the attorney working that case,” Heaven suggested as she sat down at her desk.

  “I don’t know him, and what I have to say is too personal to reveal to a stranger.”

  “But you don’t know me.”

  “You really don’t remember me? College…I’m Susan Likke; well, it’s Lawrence now.” She flashed the huge diamond on her finger and accented it with a dazzling smile.

  “Susan?” Heaven was shocked, as the girl before her looked nothing like her friend from school. The Susan she’d known was a true beauty. She’d had long, silky, blonde hair, bright-blue eyes and a figure straight from the runway. What the hell had she done to herself?

  “I know I look different. I’ve had a few procedures done. I married a plastic surgeon, so I get a hefty discount.” Susan smiled like a pageant contestant who had just answered incorrectly.

  Heaven was still in shock. “I see.”

  “I got my first wrinkle when I turned twenty-seven. I had my husband fix it the very next day. He’s been fixing ever since.” She smiled with pride, obviously unaware of her predicament.

  “I see.” Heaven was having trouble keeping her poker face intact. The shock literally crippled her control.

  “I’m getting my nose redone next week, I think it’s beginning to sag.” Susan nodded her head awkwardly as if there were a big metal pole stuck in the back of her neck.

  “I think your nose looks perfect,” Heaven blurted. In fact, her nose was the one thing on her face that didn’t look unusual or out of proportion.

  “I absolutely love you, thank you so much. I hate the way my nose looks. When I raise my head and tilt it to the left, you can see that my nose is concaved.”

  Heaven could tell that she was trying to be sincere, but her face seeme
d awkwardly stiff. It was not accurately projecting what she felt.

  “It’s been a long time,” Heaven quickly changed the subject, “I haven’t seen you since school. How have you been?”

  “I’ve been good.”

  “Where are you practicing?”

  “I’m not practicing anymore.”

  “You’re kidding me?” Heaven was once again floored. Susan was one of the best in her class and guaranteed for success.

  “No, I took a break after I met my husband. I planned to go back, but then came Molly.” She smiled lovingly.

  “Molly?”

  “My baby girl.”

  “Oh.” Heaven nodded. She wasn’t really the baby type. Not that she disliked children, she just never wanted any. She was too career-oriented and self-motivated to be a mother.

  “She’s seven months old. You wouldn’t believe the procedures I’ve had done to get my figure back. I swear my husband should be paying me for this; I’m a walking billboard for his work.”

  “I see,” was all that Heaven could say in response. If that were the case, then her husband needed to find a new profession.

  “Do you have children?”

  “No,” Heaven spat out as she shook her head.

  “I always took you as the mothering type.”

  “You’re kidding me?” Heaven raised her brow in disbelief and befuddlement.

  “No, as smart and ambitious as you are, you’re also very generous.”

  “How do you figure?” Heaven asked in dismay, wondering what in the world she’d done that could have made Susan think that.

  “You cared when you found out I wasn’t going to graduate.”

  “That was different. You’d spent that last year mourning your father instead of studying. You wanted to get back on track, and I knew I could help.”

  “No one else even cared. The dean told me that lots of students lost parents and were able to pull through. You were the only one. You took time out of your busy schedule to get me back on track. You never once complained. I need that same compassion now. I’ve made a terrible mistake. I know that confessing to my mistake could help your client, but it will destroy my marriage.”

  “What happened?”

  “I…I…” she blew her nose in her handkerchief.

  “Take your time, we have all day,” Heaven tried to calm Susan’s frazzled nerves.

  “I can’t even tell you,” she reached into her purse and pulled out a stack of papers, “here, just read this.”

  Heaven read the neatly written confession. She guarded her expression, careful not to let Susan see any reaction. When she was done, she looked up at Susan, her eyes emotionless behind her black-framed glasses.

  “If you want to help the defendant, at some point you will have to tell your story.”

  “I know, and I will be ready when it’s time, but I’m not ready yet. I haven’t even told my husband—I’m only coming to you because I know you. I also know how reassuring your poker face can be in an embarrassing situation. I will be honest with you—I have never been so humiliated by my actions. I can’t even say the words aloud,” Susan explained. Heaven’s lack of reaction and facial expressions made it easier to confess.

  “What are you going to do when it comes time to get on the stand?”

  “Who knows, maybe you will have enough evidence that you won’t need to use my confession. Maybe it will be considered inadmissible in court, and no one will ever find out. I don’t know, but I’m hoping for a miracle. However, I will do what I have to do when that time comes, but for now, I will only talk to you. I want to help…I really do, but you have no idea how easy it would be for me not to help. I would love to go home and forget about this, but my conscience won’t let me. I’m trying to ease my way into this, with as little emotional damage as possible.”

  “You did the right thing, and I will accommodate you to the best of my ability,” Heaven vowed.

  “Thank you for your discretion, Sevigne. Let me give you my card; we really should get together for lunch soon. We should catch up. Besides, talking to you may help put me at ease when the time comes. If you don’t mind, I’ll just borrow some of your strength that day.” She was trying to balance the baby while digging through her purse. “Here, hold her for a minute, will you?” she said, and passed the baby to Heaven.

  “No, I…" she began to object, but Susan put the baby in her arms. Heaven was thinking of a good excuse as to why she should give the baby back, when the baby suddenly smiled at her.

  Heaven’s heart skipped a beat. She had never been big on children, but Molly’s gorgeous smile had instantly melted the iron coating on Heaven’s heart.

  “She smiled at you, that means that she likes you. Molly doesn’t smile at just anyone.”

  Heaven held Molly close as she looked down at her smiling face.

  “You’re a doll baby,” Heaven cooed over her. Heaven felt something overwhelming and inspiring. She felt inner peace as she held the baby. For the first time in her life, she wondered what it would be like to be a mother. She wondered if she would even make a good mother.

  Susan smiled. “I told you that you’d make a great mother.”

  Heaven’s poker face slipped back in place for a moment.

  “How would you feel about a meeting with Mr. Baker and I?” Heaven immediately changed the subject.

  “No, just you. Please,” Susan insisted.

  “All right.”

  “So, I’ll call you next week so we can do lunch,” Susan said.

  “That sounds good,” Heaven said as she handed the baby to her mother.

  Susan winked. “I hope you don’t mind if I bring Molly, she never leaves my side.”

  For some reason, the thought was oddly appealing to Heaven.

  “That’s perfectly fine. See you soon.” Heaven smiled and waved at the baby. When Molly smiled back, Heaven felt her heart skip a beat again.

  ***

  Heaven walked into Ayden’s office after his secretary announced her.

  “Sevigne, my dear, how are you? How was your mysterious appointment?” Ayden smiled in a fatherly fashion.

  She walked over and laid Susan’s confession on his desk before she spoke, “I’m not sure how to handle this.”

  “What is it?”

  “A witness who will not speak to anyone but me. She refuses to speak to Mr. Baker; she said that she would rather recant. Even though we have a written confession, it’s signed anonymously.”

  Ayden continued to read through the letter before setting it down on his desk.

  “Oh boy, this is tough.”

  “I know.”

  “Would you be willing to work with Mr. Baker on this?”

  “I told her that I would help her; however, I prefer not to work directly with Mr. Baker.”

  Ayden nodded in agreement, “I understand, let me see what I can do.”

  “Thank you so much.”

  ***

  That evening, Heaven prepared a large meal at home. They sat at their dining room table conversing, but Heaven couldn’t get her mind off her friend from college.

  “What’s wrong?” Julian asked as he grabbed her chair and slid it a little closer to him.

  “The mysterious appointment was actually an old friend from college.” She grabbed her plate of food and moved it closer.

  “To visit?”

  “No, she has some evidence for the Tucker case.”

  “Why did she give it to you?”

  “Because she knows me. It’s sensitive material. I gave it to your father, and he’s going to give it to Mr. Baker.”

  “Good.”

  “I didn’t even recognize her, she’s changed so much. She’s married now and has a beautiful baby girl. She’s married to a plastic surgeon; he’s done a lot of work for her.”

  “How does it look?”

  “It was a little overwhelming.” She pushed the food around on her plate before she continued, “She’s not practicing law anymo
re.”

  “Why?”

  Heaven looked distraught for a moment, “She quit.”

  “You’re kidding me? Why the hell would she do that?”

  “She said that she’d rather spend time with her family. I was horrified at first; I thought she was crazy. When I thought about it, it made sense—I understood. I would never quit my career, but I understand the need to balance it with life. She thought that I’d be married by now.”