Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Camille
Staring at Freddy’s message, Camille didn’t know what to say. She honestly hadn’t expected him to reach out after this afternoon and didn’t know how to answer. There were too many variables up in the air. She didn’t know what she wanted from him or what she was even allowed to want from him.
Everything felt like a complete mess and comfort food could only help so much.
Thankfully, before she could get too much into her head, Julie called her.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Camille. So, what’s going on?”
Trust Julie to get straight to the point.
For all that she seemed to be enjoying her secret admirer, she wasn’t one to play games normally.
Camille sighed, then spilled her guts. She might have hesitated a bit more before Freddy texted her, but now the pressure to have someone to talk to about all of this had built up to a breaking point, and she couldn’t hold it in any longer.
When she finally reached the end of her word vomit, with Freddy’s text, she felt a little lighter. A little empty, too, but at least didn’t feel like she was going to explode anymore. Right now, she would take what she could get.
“Wow. Okay. Well, that’s unexpected,” Julie said after a moment.
“You’re telling me. How is my luck this bad?
” Camille leaned back against her sofa, letting her head fall back and putting her hand over her eyes to block out some of the light.
She didn’t have a headache yet, but she was pretty sure if she didn’t find a way to relax, she would get one soon.
Tension headaches were pretty common for her during the past few years.
“It could be good luck. You and Freddy hooked up before knowing you had rival clients, so he knows there’s another side to you. Pretty sure if we’d introduced you after today, both of you would have balked.”
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s good luck, considering that I am extremely attracted to the attorney I’m working against.”
“Lucky for your love life if you two can get past this. Which, in my opinion, you should try. It’s not like the Alexanders are going to be your clients forever. That’s the best part about your job. Once you’re done with them, you’re done.”
“As opposed to your job, where they keep coming back for more,” Camille teased. Julie was a kink-friendly couples’ therapist. She was pretty much a vault about her clients, but Camille knew she had some long-running ones. It was the nature of the job.
“Sure, but if they’re assholes, I can choose not to see them again. The beauty of owning my own practice.”
The truth of that statement sent jealousy shooting through Camille. She would have loved to have her own practice, but she’d never felt secure enough to make the jump. She couldn’t, not while her mom’s care relied on her.
“You do have a point,” Camille mused. With the awfulness of the present, she hadn’t thought ahead to the future.
Nicholas Alexander III wouldn’t always be her client.
She was stuck with him for now, but once the divorce proceedings were over—and with the file Freddy had presented them today, that would likely be sooner rather than later, despite what Mr. Alexander thought—she and Freddy wouldn’t be on opposite sides of the table anymore.
Of course, there was no guarantee it wouldn’t happen again in the future. She’d been working for Donaldson for five years now. Freddy was clearly an experienced lawyer, and the other night was the first time they’d met. Their firms both serviced large areas with a lot of people.
Theoretically, it could be another five years before they saw each other across a mediation table again. The idea of still being at Donaldson in five years made her want to shrivel up, but it was still a good point.
“How much do you want to sacrifice yourself to your job? I’m not saying you two should hook up again now that you’re at cross courses, but there’s nothing to say you can’t get to know each other a little better until you’re done with these clients.
You can still be friendly. Plenty of lawyers do it.
” She snorted. “Heck, I happen to know a top defense attorney who Tops a state prosecutor. If they can make it work without it being a conflict of interest, why not you?”
Why not me?
A little rush of hope went through Camille. Julie tended to be… well, not a Debbie Downer exactly, but she was ruthlessly practical. If she didn’t see this as an insurmountable problem, why should Camille?
I used to be a positive person.
It felt like a distant memory. On the other hand, she was reclaiming other sides of herself. Why not reclaim that part, too? She and Freddy could probably work something out. Maybe even scene together if they agreed to keep that part of their lives completely separate from their work.
If he was on board, that was. That, right there, was the root of her fear. Rejection. Her assumption that he would reject her was so strong, she wasn’t even giving him the chance to, despite that he’d texted her first.
“You’re right. You’re right.”
“Of course, I’m right. Now, get off the phone with me and get on the phone with him.”
Camille laughed as Julie hung up on her. She was right, though.
Shaking her head, she pulled up Freddy’s text message. She was already feeling better about… well, everything. Even if Freddy didn’t want to see her again, she could handle that. She’d go to the club and meet someone else. Today was not the end of the world.
Camille: I’ve had better days. I’m really sorry about my client. Are you available for a call?
Normally, she hated talking on the phone but some of what she wanted to say, the explanations she wanted to give, were way too much to type out. Anxiety rippled through her, but to her relief, it only took a few moments for her phone to buzz with a response.
Freddy: Sure, can I call you in five minutes?
Camille: Yes, I’m totally free this evening.
That was an understatement. She mindlessly scrolled through the streaming options without finding anything she wanted to watch, which was what usually happened.
How could there be so many options yet none of them feel right?
Half the time she ended up watching a bunch of trailers and adding them to her watch list but not actually watching anything.
It was a relief when her phone rang, not just because she was feeling anxious about talking to him and wanted to get it over with but because she needed something to tear herself away from the television, she wasn’t even watching.
“Hello?”
“Hello… uh, I’m not sure what to call you.” The little stumble made him laugh and Camille smiled.
“Camille is fine outside the club and work.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He cleared his throat. “I’m at Marquis tonight. I just took a break from the front desk, so my wires are feeling a bit crossed.”
She could understand that. It was probably the same way they’d both felt earlier today when their professional and personal worlds had collided for the first time.
“My wires have felt crossed all day.” She sighed.
“I just wanted to apologize, personally, for my client’s behavior.
I wish I could say I’ll be able to better control him in the future, but I can’t give you that guarantee.
As much as I wish today had been the end of things, I seriously doubt he’s going to give in that easily. ”
“He’s an ass.”
“Off the record? He’s the worst. Not even the partners want anything to do with him, other than when they’re playing golf.
That’s how I got saddled with him in the first place.
I don’t really want to talk about work, though, other than as it relates to us…
if today didn’t totally turn you off.” Might as well put it all out there on the table.
The two glasses of wine she’d had while she was eating helped with the blunt honesty.
“It was a shock, but I’ll get over it.”
She winced. Apparently, she wasn’t the only one going for blunt honesty.
“Trust me, I’d much rather be working somewhere like Addison, O’Shane, and Smith, but they weren’t hiring when I was looking. Donaldson was, and they offered the right amount of money.” Her voice lowered. “My mom is in a memory care unit, and it’s expensive.”
There was a short pause.
“I’m sorry to hear that. I’m glad you got her into a care unit. That can make a huge difference. I know it did for my grandmother.” The sympathy in his voice was like a balm to her frayed nerves.
He’d judged her for where she worked. She didn’t blame him because she judged herself, but she did have her reasons. As much as she didn’t want to care what he thought, his opinion already had weight with her.
Talking about falling in deep, fast.
Part of her didn’t know why she was already telling him all of this. Was she really this desperate for human connection? Or was it specific to him?
“Thank you. It’s been… rough. While I might not always love what I have to do, it pays the bills.”
“I can understand that.”
Freddy
Talking to Camille was making him feel better about today.
Morgan had been right. He’d been judging her too harshly, and part of that was because of how protective he felt about Brittany.
Since Camille was representing Brittany’s husband, who was a colossal douche, it could have been easy to paint her as someone who didn’t care about how her job affected people, but it was clear she did.
The fixer in him wanted to run straight to the partners of his firm to see if they had any openings for her or knew of any other firms that might have an opening, but he doubted she would appreciate the efforts.
More likely, she’d take it as an insult.
Not only that, but he didn’t think the partners would be very impressed either, considering he knew very little about her.
The urge to help was still there.
“So… does that mean you’d be willing to scene with me again?”
“Yes.” This time he didn’t need to hesitate or stop to think. There was a connection between them. She felt it, too. They’d fit together on New Year’s Eve, and before this afternoon, she’d been haunting his thoughts.
Well, even after this afternoon. She’d just been haunting them in a different way, but it hadn’t stopped him from wanting to see her. He just hadn’t felt very good about that desire until after talking to Morgan.
“Oh. Good.” She made a relieved noise. “I want to see you, too, but I would understand if you didn’t want to after today or if it was too much of a conflict of interest…”
“We should probably keep things friendly until the Alexanders are no longer our clients, and we’re not working against each other, but yes, I would like to see you more in the future.”
She chuckled.
“Well, that’s one way to motivate a quick divorce.”
Freddy had to laugh. She wasn’t wrong. He wanted to get it over with quickly for Brittany’s sake, but having a personal stake in when it ended definitely added another sense of urgency.
“It should be quick, anyway,” he pointed out. “Mr. Alexander is the one dragging his heels.” He managed to keep his voice neutral, though he was sure that didn’t entirely hide his feelings on the matter.
“Yes, well.” Camille paused. “Between you and me, I think he knows he’s not going to get what he wants.
He just wants to see Mrs. Alexander and make her as miserable as possible throughout the process.
He can’t stand the fact that she’s leaving him.
Not because he loves her or cares about her, but because he sees it as a personal insult that she wouldn’t want to be with him. ” She snorted.
“I’m sure we can figure something out,” Freddy said, his mind turning over.
The fact that she was cooperative instead of hostile would help.
“Maybe I can get Brittany to insist that all communications be handled through me, no more mediation. She’s feeling guilty about leaving him, which is why she agreed to meet today in the first place, but I’m working on that. ”
“Good, because she shouldn’t feel guilty at all. I don’t know how she stayed with him for as long as she did. I can barely manage to spend a few hours with him. More than that and I’d probably need a lawyer myself.”
Laughing, Freddy’s mood lifted even further.
“I have to get back upstairs, but I’m glad we got a chance to talk tonight.”
“Me too. Thank you for calling.”
“Of course. Have a good night, Mistress Camille.” Even though he didn’t need to say it, he enjoyed doing so and enjoyed hearing her quick intake of breath even more.
“Good night, Freddy.”