Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Mara
“I know your workloads are heavy, but I can’t get the board to even consider lifting the hiring freeze,” my boss Gayle says. “We’re going to have to stay selective about which cases we can move forward with.”
I exchange a quick look with Jayden, the attorney I work alongside every day in the Cuyahoga County state’s attorney’s office. The two of us handle nearly all of the criminal cases in the lowly traffic division, but we’re both too stubborn to do what our boss is suggesting.
The cases that take the most time and resources for us—things like driving under the influence and hit-and-run—are also the hardest to get convictions for. With our department down several attorneys and staffers, we could lighten our workloads by not charging as many of those cases.
But fuck that. I didn’t take this job so I could bust the balls of people who were driving ten over the speed limit. I’m here to get drunk drivers off the streets.
“Mara, can you stay?” Gayle asks me when the meeting ends.
I sit up straighter, running a hand down my light-blue button-down shirt. It hasn’t even been a year since I made the switch from working at a soul-sucking corporate law firm to this job, and even though I know I’m doing good work here, it’s still nerve-racking to be singled out by my boss.
“How’s it going?” Gayle asks me once we’re alone.
I smile. “Good. Jayden and I make a great team. Missy is amazing, too.”
The assistant Jayden and I share, Missy, has worked in this office for twenty-seven years, and she’s the glue that holds us together. She knows all the things Jayden and I are still learning.
“I noticed you and Jayden are putting in a lot of hours.”
She sounds less than thrilled about it, which is...unexpected. Our workload is intense, and the only way we can keep up is by staying late most nights and coming in on Saturday mornings.
“We have a good system.” I deflect her question because I’m not apologizing for the extra hours.
Her dark eyes soften. “It takes time to dispo cases as quickly as people who have been here for a long time. You and Jayden are both young attorneys, and I don’t want you burning yourselves out. I wish I could shift more resources your way?—”
“We’re good,” I assure her, lowering my brows. “I guess I should only speak for myself, so ... I’m good.”
She nods, smiling softly. “I’m going to talk to Jayden, too.
I want to tell you face to face that I’ll be culling your filings for now.
It’s something I’m going to start doing for every division, not just yours.
I don’t want people in my office consistently working sixty-plus hours a week.
It’s one thing if there’s a big trial, but you and Jayden have been doing it for months. ”
My stomach turns as I think about our office declining to charge on slam-dunk DUI cases. I start to protest, then clamp my mouth shut.
“Go ahead,” Gayle says, looking amused. “I don’t expect you to agree with me all the time.”
“Can we decline more light traffic cases? I don’t want to decline felonies to make room for misdemeanors.”
“Of course. My only mandate is that you lighten the load so you can manage it in fifty hours a week or less. I want the two of you to decide what to drop, and you know I’ll stand behind your decisions.”
I breathe a little easier. “Okay.”
“You’ll also be working some domestics with Bruce.”
My brows fly up in surprise. “Me?”
“You’re ready. And Bruce is a great teacher.”
Domestic violence cases can get messy. It’s a department I hoped to work in one day, but it seems too soon. Domestics are a lot different from traffic. But with the hiring freeze the office has been under for more than two years now, flexibility is now a job requirement.
“I’ll do my best,” I promise.
“Of course you will. And you can always speak your mind to me, Mara. I know you’re used to keeping your head down and getting along, but I want your opinions. Even if I can’t unfuck this place most of the time, I still want to hear about the issues, okay?”
I nod, holding in a laugh. Gayle doesn’t even know. I keep my head down and get along here because I want—need, actually—to keep my job. But in my personal life, I’m slightly...feistier.
“Fuck that guy, and fuck his long dong silver, too,” I say. “I’d bet my savings account it’s more like average dong silver.”
That evening, I’m at trivia with my friends Suki, Lainey, Dex and Harry.
Our team, the Smartinis, is slaying the Men Behaving Badly category.
In law school, one of my professors did an entire unit on Clarence Thomas’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
That’s how his comments about his dick were unfortunately seared into my brain.
“You’re willing to wager forty-one dollars on his peen?” Dex cracks.
I laugh. “And thirty-seven cents, baby. Fight me.”
Suki orders us a round of waters as the trivia host starts reading the next question.
“This ironically named New York congressman got busted for lying about a photo of his?—”
“Weiner,” Dex whispers, cupping his hands around his mouth. “Anthony Weiner.”
“Damn,” I say. “You beat me to it.”
“Was it on the tip of your tongue?” Lainey quips.
Suki grins. “The jokes are just falling out of the air on this one.”
When the trivia round is complete and the host is doing rounds to check answers, we order some food. I get potato skins because there are literally no bad combinations of potatoes, cheese and bacon.
“How’s the Bash-elor party going?” Harry asks Lainey. “Has anyone been arrested yet?”
“Oh, it’s at the other end of the spectrum. They found a dog and her litter of puppies under a tree in the woods and they’re taking care of them.”
“No shit?” Dex asks.
“Apparently Carter’s bringing one home,” Suki says.
“A puppy?” I do a little clap of excitement. “Puppy bellies are one of my favorite things in the world. They’re so warm and soft.”
“Just like the head of a penis,” Dex says, a dreamy note in his voice.
We all turn his way. My brows are lowered in question, and I’m sure everyone else’s are, too.
“How did you...?” Suki struggles to even form a question. “You know what? Let’s just move on.”
“No one leave him alone with the puppy,” Harry says.
“You guys are dicks.” Dex rolls his eyes. “You know I’m right.”
It’s been months since I touched a penis. Wait...I do the math. It’s actually coming up on a year. I’ve swiped right on two guys since starting my new job, but they were both just meh first dates and nothing more. With the hours I’ve been working, I don’t have the time or energy for even a hookup.
A man approaches our table and taps Lainey on the shoulder.
“Excuse me, I don’t mean to be forward, but you’re so beautiful.”
“Thanks.” She smiles and shows him her left hand. “My fiancé thinks so, too.”
His face falls with disappointment. “Lucky guy.”
He turns to me, craning his neck to check my left hand. I scoff and say, “Absolutely not. Have a nice night.”
He leaves, and I admire Lainey’s look for a moment.
She really is beautiful, and being with Bash has brought a glow and confidence that makes her even prettier.
Her hair is naturally a stunning bright-red shade, and it’s up in a cute messy bun tonight.
Her dark-green, off-the-shoulder sweater is a perfect color on her, and her light-brown booties add a little sass to her fitted, well-worn jeans.
I’m still wearing my button-down work shirt and black pants with black ballet flats. I do a ridiculous amount of walking at the courthouse, filing paperwork and going to hearings in courtrooms on different floors. It’s rare for me to wear heels these days.
I’m not even thirty, and it’s been forever since I felt remotely sexy.
I like my job a lot, but it’s heavy at times.
I file and prosecute criminal cases that can affect people’s lives long term.
Most of my energy goes to work. On my only day off, Sunday, I do laundry, buy groceries and spend time with my friends.
Not that I don’t get in other times with my friends, too. I always leave work by six twenty on Tuesdays, so I make it to trivia night. My friends are the only people I’m truly myself around.
Our server sets down a plate with Dex’s grilled chicken sandwich, no bun. The side salad he ordered is just iceberg lettuce, no dressing.
“Looks amazing,” Suki says drily.
He sighs softly. “I have to lose the ten pounds I’ve gained.”
I nod as the server slides my plate of potato skins in front of me. “Same. That’s why I ordered vegetables.”
Dex just shakes his head. He’s fussy about his waistline. I don’t have a diet plan, but I usually only eat dinner, which keeps my clothes fitting the same.
Harry got a massive cheeseburger, which is his favorite food. Suki got cheese fries and Lainey got plain fries. We eat in silence for a couple minutes.
“How’s Aden?” I ask Harry.
He brightens at the mention of his boyfriend. “Great. He’s still in Chicago for work during the week, but I’m meeting him there this weekend.”
“That’ll be fun. So you’re going to Chicago and Suki’s going to Fiji.”
“That’s right,” Lainey says. “What about your new puppy, though? Do you need us to watch it?”
“Leo’s doing it,” Suki says. “He was already coming to stay with Darling, and I think he’s bringing one of the dogs home, too.”
Harry groans. “Darling and two puppies? At the same time?”
“I don’t know, I guess we’ll see if he brings one. Carter told me Leo’s forcing the guys to take at least one apiece, so none of them have to go to animal control.”
I scowl. “Leo’s the one who belongs at animal control.”
“I don’t get why you hate him so much,” Lainey says.
“Wait until he walks in on you showering and makes a shitty comment about your snatch and then get back to me,” I say.
Dex pulls his brows down in a skeptical look. “I think the comment was made after you laid into him and called him a desperate pervert.”
“Which he is. That’s like describing him as a man. It’s factual.”
“Okay.” Dex sets down his fork and straightens his back. “But what if it’s also factual that your bush needed some tending?”
My lips part. “How dare you take his side? I’ll do whatever I want with my bush.”
“I’m just saying. I don’t get within five feet of bush, so I’m no expert, but I’m not sucking an unmaintained dick.”
I exchange a quick look with Suki. She silently warns me not to lose my temper, but the train has already left the station.
“I was taking a shower, Dex. It doesn’t matter if my pubes were a foot long—he shouldn’t have walked in on me. And then!” I point at him. “Then. He stood there and looked . I had to scream at him to get out.”
Dex shrugs. “Maybe he was shocked.”
“Oh, bullshit. You’re being a perv apologist.”
“Do we need some more drinks?” Suki asks. “Why don’t I get us a round of Cosmopolitans?”
“Nothing but water passes these lips until I lose ten pounds,” Dex says.
“Lies.” I glare at him. “You’re a cum-guzzling whore and we all know it.”
A hearty laugh bubbles out of him. “You’re goddamn right I am. But cum doesn’t have calories.”
“It has carbs, though,” Lainey says.
Dex’s head whips toward her. “What?”
She bursts out laughing. “I’m fucking with you.”
The rest of us start laughing, too, and Dex winks at me. I blow him a kiss because I know I was being bitchy. But nothing sets me off like Leo Abbott. He’s an arrogant, glib, overgrown frat boy.
If he ever gets a speeding ticket in Cuyahoga County, I’ll pursue the death penalty.
Okay, not really. But at some point, I’ll find a way to get even with him for walking in on me that day.