13. Maya
Summer was flying by. They were over halfway through their associateship, and their final day was just three weeks away. The thrill of discovery and the high of breaking the case had faded, which meant less gallivanting around the Atlanta area and more time at their desks being students of the law. That’s not to say it was boring, though. It was anything but.
Maya had taken a shine to the litigation side of the Johnson case, being on the front lines and sparring with the opposing counsel, a local lawyer named Jonas Hill who happened to be even more of a scumbag than his client. Reed was more than happy to stay out of the line of fire and work on Johnson’s patent application which, to be honest, had to be him because while she had picked up some plumbing knowledge, he had a natural aptitude for it which was imperative for navigating the process. Professionally speaking, they were pretty much the perfect team. The Dream Team as Mr. King liked to say.
“I grabbed a Diet Coke and some trail mix for you.”
She looked away from her computer screen to find him walking back into their office and toward her desk to drop off an afternoon pick-me-up.
Socially speaking, things weren’t so bad either. They’d developed their own little routine. She’d make coffee for them in the mornings since his first few attempts at using the fancy espresso machine in the breakroom had resulted in stained shirts, first degree burns, and an out of order sign that earned him a demerit from Miss Patti. She didn’t understand how he could navigate the intricacies of plumbing, but not a simple machine, to which he’d mumble something about how simple things should be simple. In return, he had started delivering snacks in the afternoon.
She happily accepted the offering and spun around in her chair while he settled in and opened the bottle of iced tea he’d grabbed for himself.
“So what’s new on your side of the office?” she asked.
He took a minute to gather his thoughts, leaning back in his chair and taking a swig of tea, then his face lit up. “Did you know that plumbing comes from the word plumbum?”
She narrowed her eyes at him, calling his bluff. “That’s not a word.”
“Yeah, it is. I can’t believe you don’t know this.”
“You’re messing with me.”
He feigned offense with a hand to his chest. “I would never do that.”
He would, and did often, but luckily she kind of liked it. “Plumbum? Plum bum,” she said deliberately. “Bum? Plumbing? This is a butt joke, come on.”
His chest heaved with laughter. “Wow, you really went there, Hendricks?”
“You made me go there!”
“I definitely did not.” He sighed and wiped his eyes. “I seriously can’t believe you don’t know this.”
She held up a warning finger. “Watch it.”
“No, it’s just that you know everything.”
She wished. It was flattering, but entirely untrue.
“It’s Latin,” he explained. “It means lead.”
She stared at him, unsure of what to believe. He looked serious, and it sounded vaguely like E pluribus unum which was the only Latin she could think of on the spot, but, as she had learned, teasing her was one of his favorite pastimes. It killed her not to know something, though, so she spun around to her computer and typed plumbum in the browser, bracing herself for the possibility of coming up with a barrage of bum shots and having to explain that to whomever was monitoring her internet usage at work.
What she saw, however, were rather unsexy images of dull silver matter. Lead. “Hmm, I suppose you’re right.” She spun back around in her chair and shrugged. “I mean, I took French in high school, so…”
“Then what’s lead in French?” he shot right back, not allowing her one moment of peace.
“I don’t know!”
“But you’re supposed to know everything, Hendricks!”
“Don’t patronize me.”
“I’m not. You’re just so smart, I’m honestly surprised when I find something you don’t know.”
He had dropped all pretense, all teasing. He was being completely genuine as she knew him to be, and it made her cheeks warm to learn that he not only recognized her intelligence but seemed to appreciate it.
“Please.” This summer had humbled her in so many ways. “There’s a lot I don’t know.”
He tossed up his hands, as if to agree to disagree. “So what’s new on your side of the office?”
“I just sent files to Hill for the third time. He keeps claiming he hasn’t received them yet. Also, Al sent me a list of cases to read up on, so I’m going to look them up and download them.”
“Can you send them to me, too, so I can read up tonight?”
She nodded in response, each movement of her head slowing until it had come to a stop along with their conversation. She was doing that thing again where she began to imagine Reed at home, this time reviewing files in bed, propped against a pillow and his headboard, bare chested with the blanket at his waist, doing that little thing where he chewed at his bottom lip while he read, making a little huh noise every time he found something of interest.
She couldn’t remember when she started doing this, but she already had a collection of pleasant images in her mind that were inspired by their small talk. Doing laundry (shirtless in jeans), going for a run (shirtless in gym shorts), mowing the lawn (shirtless and sweaty in gym shorts after a morning run). There was definitely a theme and it made her feel a little creepy honestly. If she knew that some guy in her office was thinking of her in the same way, she’d want to lay him out with a swift punch to the face…unless it was the man sitting across from her. Either way, it was enough to jar her out of the reverie she had no business having.
“Yeah, sure.”
“Thanks,” he said. “So are you gonna be working late tonight then?”
“No, I’ll probably head home around five and finish up whatever I don’t get to after the gym and dinner. You?”
He grinned sheepishly and shook his head. “The Braves game starts in,” he glanced down at his watch, “about twenty minutes, and I was thinking it’d be nice to get to a game since it’s one of the last home games before we’re done for the summer. I mean, it’s just right down the street.”
They could literally see the stadium from their office window. It was a fifteen-minute walk at most, so it only made sense to take advantage of their proximity to catch an afternoon game. “You’re obsessed, but I won’t tell if that’s what you’re getting at,” she promised.
He shook his head again. “What I’m getting at is that we should go.”
Well.That caught her off guard. She assumed he had already planned on meeting up with Dev. She looked back at her desk. She had a ton to do, but she really wanted to say yes. If anything, she’d get to see Reed at a ball game instead of dreaming up another image of him.
“So you mean, like, work off site, right?” she asked.
He smiled back. “Sure, if that makes you feel better.”
“Yeah, I’m in then.”