CHAPTER 12
TREY
The first time Trey met Senator Elias Grant, Paula was not in the room.
That was deliberate.
Trey had a civil-rights coalition meeting at a hotel where Grant happened to be speaking later that afternoon. He saw the senator in a corridor surrounded by staff.
Grant recognized him.
“Professor Gray.”
“Trey is fine.”
They argued without raising their voices, which somehow made every sentence clearer.
Trey had learned that Paula did not need volume to be furious; she became precise.
Her words lost decoration. Her chin lifted.
She gave him facts the way she would give a hostile room facts—cleanly enough that there was nowhere to hide.
He forced himself not to solve the discomfort by touching her, joking, or offering an immediate fix.
Sometimes respect looked like staying in the chair long enough to hear the whole indictment.
They shook hands.
Grant’s expression shifted slightly.
“I believe you know Ms. Kelly.”
Trey’s professional instincts came online immediately.
“I do.”
“She’s formidable.”
“Yes.”
Grant smiled. “That sounded proud.”
Trey did not answer.
He also did not discuss Paula’s work.
“Good luck today, Senator.”
Grant nodded and moved on.
Trey texted Paula only after leaving.
TREY: Ran into Grant.
Her reply took six minutes.
PAULA: And?
TREY: He said you’re formidable.
PAULA: He’s correct.
Trey laughed.
TREY: Obviously.
That night she came over carrying Chinese food.
“You didn’t ask him anything?”
“No.”
“Not even whether he likes me?”
“Paula.”
“I’m joking.”
“You’re not entirely joking.”
She smiled.
Trey took the bag.
“I would never use my relationship with you to access your client.”
“I know.”
“I would never use my relationship with your client to access you.”
Her expression softened.
“I know.”
Professional boundaries were another kind of intimacy.
They ate on the sofa.
Halfway through a movie Paula put her feet in his lap.
Trey massaged them without comment.
She sighed.
“This.”
“What?”
“This is why I keep coming back.”
“My exceptional personality?”
“Foot rubs.”
“Humbling.”
She laughed.
Then her eyes closed.
Trey continued.
Real life again.
A senator in the afternoon.
Bare feet at night.
The public and private versions of them learning how not to contaminate each other.