Chapter 3
The meeting progressed smoothly, and the Harrises were happy with the will I had drawn up. They still had to look it over with their kids and would come back to have it notarized, but I didn’t have any issues other than Greg being there, acting like a babysitter.
After we wrapped up, I showed my clients out and turned to face him. “Hi, Greg. What can I help you with today?” Even though we both had the same equity in the firm, seniority still mattered, so I would play nice.
We didn’t get along too well because he never liked that I made senior partner at such a young age. In fact, he voted against me when I was up for the promotion, and I didn’t like him because he was arrogant.
He gave me a complete once-over before showing a disparaging smile. “Interesting style choice today, Blake. Not sure I’ve seen you with your hair down before.”
Nope. I liked to be in control, and that included taming my mane. I wasn’t sure what he wanted me to say, so I nodded. I didn’t want to prolong this conversation.
“Anyway, that all went better than expected, but I’m glad I sat in to see for myself. It’s important to monitor the younger partners. You understand, right?”
That was a lie. He was trying to assert dominance, but I stood there, unfazed, to see if he’d continue.
“But that’s not the only reason I’m here. I needed to talk to you about the upcoming office celebration.”
“Oh? What about it?”
“Well, we would like all of the senior partners to attend, and you’re the newest and youngest, so I wanted to make sure you put it on your calendar.” He pointed to my phone, but it would have been easier for him to email Ty since he was in charge of my schedule.
“Okay. I can do that. When is it?”
“Well, not so fast. I also need you to know what’s expected of you. People your age tend to imbibe a little too much at these things. But as partners, we have a level of professionalism to maintain, so please keep that in mind. We want to show the junior attorneys we have team spirit, but we’re not sloppy.” The way his eyes roamed my body, I wondered if that was a dig at me today.
Not that I could help it. I had to admit I felt reasonably good considering my circumstances.
“Right. Is that all?” I took his brief pause to cut him off to hopefully end this dreadful conversation. Did he honestly think I was that immature, or was he being a prick?
“Youre welcome to bring a plus-one, but RSVP and inform Sheila so she can have an accurate head count. That will be all for now.” With that, he walked out, probably to make someone else’s day worse.
I stayed in the conference room until the lobby was Greg-free, and then headed to Ty’s desk. I needed to fill him in on my schedule updates and unwind a minute. I’d been on the go all morning, and now I could finally let myself process everything that had happened.
On my way to Ty, I stopped by the breakroom to grab coffee and a bagel. After everything that happened this morning, I hadn’t had a minute to enjoy breakfast, and my stomach was protesting.
As I approached his desk, I noticed he nervously ran a hand through his hair, making his curls stand up slightly higher. I wondered what was going on, and if it was work-related. My heart rate picked up, and I wasn’t sure how much more I could take.
“Hey, buddy,” I said nonchalantly, but he was so jittery he almost fell out of his chair. “What’s up with you?”
“Blake! Why are you walking over here like a ninja? Usually, I can hear you coming a mile away.”
I tried not to take offense to that, especially since he seemed distraught.
“I’m sorry. My mistake for assuming saying hi was a good indicator I was here. Is everything okay?”
His eyes darted every which way except at my face. “Well…”
“Don’t start this again, Ty. I have had a rough morning. Let’s rip this Band-Aid off and get on with it.” I took a sip of my coffee and tried not to cringe at the bitterness of it.
It definitely couldn’t compare to the Viennese coffee that I ended up wearing.
“Your mom called and wants to do lunch this week. She put me on the spot, so…”
This time, I couldn’t hide my disgust. Moms were supposed to be those who loved you unconditionally and picked you up when you were down, but that was not Constance Flynn. In fact, she was more likely to be the one who knocked me down and then poked me with a stick to make sure I stayed there. Okay, that was a little dramatic, but it wasn’t entirely untrue.
Even though I exuded confidence now, it would only take minutes with my mom before she pointed out my flaws and shined a light on all my insecurities.
“No effing way am?—”
He put his finger over my lips, stopping me from losing my shit at work. “Calm down. I said you were busy this week, but maybe next week.” He acted like that was better, but I wasnt impressed unless he could keep putting her off indefinitely.
“Well, lunch with Mommy Dearest is something to look forward to. It’s right up there with the mandatory celebration Greg informed me I had to attend.”
“I’ll figure something out with your mom, but I’m not sure I can help you get out of the party. Do you think it’s going to be that bad?”
I was sure he would rather talk about that than my mom, so I let the subject change happen. “I don’t know. It seems weird to say it’s something for us, but then don’t give us the choice if we want to go or not.”
“I’ll be there, and you could always ask Steph. I’m sure she would love to be your arm candy.” He winked, but he had no idea the emotions that sentence evoked.
Ty was my best friend and had been since we bonded about being the only queer kids out in our middle school. He usually read me like a book, so the fact that he didn’t realize my reservations about Steph made me wonder if I should bring it up or not.
“What’s that look?” He circled a finger around in front of my face, and I shrugged.
Even though he and I were close, I sometimes struggled with sharing the internal dialogue that ran through my head. On the surface, I was aloof and didn’t let many things shake me. But when I dug deep into my thoughts, I was broken when it came to love.
“Don’t play, coy. I saw what I saw. Is there something going on with you and Steph? Spill the tea, Queen B.” He chuckled, knowing I hated that nickname.
I mean, I didn’t mind it when I thought it was for Queen Blake, but one time he got drunk and told me he called me that for Queen Bitch, and it never set well with me after that. Not that I couldn’t be a hardass at times, but I wouldn’t allow him to call me out on it. Besides, if anyone was bitchy, it was him.
“I’m not playing anything. And what did I tell you about calling me that?” I gave him a severe eyebrow, and he had the decency to look apologetic.
“Old habits. Sorry. So, are you having doubts about Steph?” He wasn’t letting this drop, and maybe I didn’t want him to.
Maybe I should talk to him and see if I was overreacting, but not here where the walls had ears.
“Come to my office?” It wasn’t really a question. There was no doubt he would follow me if he would be getting some dirt.
As soon as we got inside and he shut the door, his face lit up.
“It’s so good we needed a private conference?” His eyebrows danced, and I sighed as I sat at my desk.
“I don’t know if it’s good, but I could use your advice, I guess?”
“Well, that’s obvious. You would be lost if I wasn’t here to guide you. But I’m going to need more to go on. What gives?”
I sighed. “I’m not sure. I don’t think I’m a relationship person.” I figured that was the best way to describe it.
“I get that,” he said calmly. I wasn’t keen on him agreeing so quickly, but I would let him continue. “Does she know that? I mean, you’re living together. When did you start having concerns?”
I wished these feelings were a recent development, but they weren’t. I never considered myself a one-woman person. It wasn’t that I wanted to play the field or anything; I never understood what love was because of how I grew up.
My parents were in a marriage based on status that was plagued with infidelity. Not to mention all of their disparaging remarks toward each other as well as toward me. Being an only child who felt like I had to earn their love but was never quite good enough to obtain it didn’t start me off on the right path for forging healthy connections. The two of them gave me a skewed perspective regarding dating or love, and I never entirely understood the appeal of relationships.
“I know we live together, and she’s my first serious partner, so maybe I’m just getting cold feet because of it, but there is a nagging voice in the back of my head that is telling me something isn’t right.” It was weird saying this out loud because it made it more real, but it was also freeing.
“Blake, you have to talk to her?” His voice was stern, but he was right.
“Or you could. Maybe find out if she wants out, too.”
He rubbed soothing circles on my back, and I flinched a little. I wasn’t used to him being affectionate. “Not no, but hell no.” The sentimental moment ended before it began. “Why did you ask her to move in if you had these doubts?”
That was a good question, but I didn’t technically ask her anything. It happened by default. Her lease ran out on her apartment a little while back, and since she had nowhere to go, she moved in. She didn’t make me unhappy, but sometimes I wondered if we wanted two different things.
She seemed content with getting by in life. She was younger than me and didn’t have a steady job. It wasnt a big deal because I had ample money for both of us, but at times it seemed I was more of a sugar momma than a partner.
I have no idea what Im even saying. I’m sure it’s nothing. I’m sorry I brought it up.”
“Hey. I’m not judging you. I know when you get something in your head, you sometimes overreact. I’m here to be your voice of reason.” He cocked a crooked smile, and I had to laugh. Ty was anything but reasonable.
“Excuse me. You are a fine one to be talking about overreacting. How many times have you broken up with someone because you didn’t like the way his eyebrows looked?” I gave him a questioning gaze.
“First off, that only happened once, and it wasn’t how his eyebrows looked. It was the fact that he only had one. And besides, I’m starting to get serious with someone who has the perfect face and body, and he makes me…” He shivered like he was getting full-body tingles, and I tried to push that thought from my head.
“Oh, really? I’ve heard this before. I’ll give it two weeks.” I wasn’t trying to jinx him, but he was finicky, especially with men.
“You’re wrong. David is the one. He ticks all my boxes and then some.”
“I’m going to stop you right there. I’m happy for you if he’s different. And when I meet him, I’ll be able to tell for myself.” It wasn’t me being skeptical, but sometimes new love made it hard to see clearly, and I wanted to protect Ty.
He was more than my best friend. He was my family. We had been friends since we were 13, and he was the only person who understood how volatile my parents were.
“I’d trust you to pick a man as much as I’d trust a blindfolded pilot to land a plane.”
“You hush. I’m not picking him. I’m vetting him. I have to ensure he’s good enough for my baby brother from another mother.” I patted his cheeks, and he growled.
I was only a couple of months older than him, but I was wiser for the most part.
“Unlike you, I don’t need anyone’s input. I can figure things out on my own.” He snorted, and I hated that he was right; I did want his advice.
“For the record, I don’t need you, either,” I lied, and he saw right through it.
“Okay. But I’m going to tell you what to do anyway. You need to take Steph to lunch and talk to her. Not solely regarding the upcoming party but also concerning the future. You can’t let things eat at you, or the relationship will implode whether you want it to or not.”
As much as I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of being right, he was. “We’ll see. What’s my schedule like the rest of the day?”
He scrolled through his phone and filled me in on my meetings, most of which could be phone calls or emails. “Basically, you have nothing keeping you in the office right now. So, don’t use your workaholic nature as an excuse, and go talk to your girlfriend.”
“I’m pretty sure you’re not the boss of me. But can you see if I can get a reservation at Perch? Outdoor seating is fine. I’ll give her a call and make sure she can make it.”
“You got it. But if she can’t be there, that means I get to go.” He rubbed his stomach because fine dining was his love language.
“You could always go for me.” I winked before he headed toward his desk.
His laughter echoed as he walked away. But I worried that this day might get worse before it got better.