Insufferable Proximity (2 page)

“Let go!” Heaven yelled at the old man before finishing with a trick that her self-defense teacher had taught her. She thrust her knee up between his rickety legs, forcing the man to release her as he doubled over in pain. The girl tried to make a run for it, but the man grabbed her new tutu and held her back.

“Come here little girl!” he hissed. She was ready to do every defense move that she had been taught, when she heard Maude’s familiar voice.

“What is going on?” everyone in the room turned to see Maude standing in the doorway. She was dressed in a skimpy whites dress with silver accents and a pure white wig.

“Just visiting the little girl.” the man said his rickety old body taking a step back as Maude stood before Heaven to shield her from him.

“If you ever come near this child again I will permanently bar you from the brothel,” under normal circumstances, Maude was one of the friendliest women in the brothel but when provoked she was lethal. “And I will sick the Deville sisters on you.”

“No, please, I’m sorry, she just wondered in-”

“I don’t care if she breaks down the door and smacks you, don’t you so much as look at her!” her words were elegantly fierce and forced the man down to his knees.

“I am so sorry.” he cried.

“Come on.” Maude said, shielding Heaven from the man as she took her out of the room. “You know you’re not supposed to be up here, silly girl.” Maude smiled sincerely then immediately took Heaven to her mother, opting not to involve Coco. Coco’s focus would be on disciplining Heaven and she would not see the traumatic look in the little girl’s eyes. Although Maude knew that Sybille, who was much more compassionate, would know that something was wrong.

After that unfortunate birthday incident, Heaven vowed not to be a part of that lifestyle. The old man’s bony fingers digging into her skin had triggered hatred so pure, she made a solemn oath to avoid involvement with men at all costs. Her family had trained her to avoid them and she would have no problem keeping up with that rule in the years to come.

***

Over the years, Heaven had found men to be utterly unappealing, impatient, sex-obsessed freaks. She had seen more than her fair share of men growing up, she saw all different kinds, the rich men, poor men, angry men and the happy men. Unfortunately they all had one common denominator- sex. Men were obsessed with sex and women were enslaved to their emotions. Heaven had decided at a very young age that she would never fall victim to such a selfish emotion like love. She refused to be anyone’s play toy, she would make her own money and would never rely on using sex to obtain financial support.

To guarantee her success and independence, she would spend the next years of her life dedication herself to her education. She knew that an extensive education was the key to her success and financial stability. She had skipped the entire high school social scene, opting to take advantage of the free education the school offered instead. She decided that friends were a liability she could not afford and chose to surround herself with people who could only expand her knowledge.

She had also managed to avoid the entire dating scene, knowing a relationship would be the distraction that destroyed her dreams. She avoided boys as if they were plagued with STD’s so potent that even standing to close to them could infect her. She was not naïve, she knew she was at that delicate age when some teenage girls became fixated on the opposite sex and romanticized the idea of being a subservient member of a couple. She would take no chances with her future and found that costuming herself in unappealing clothing kept the boys at bay.

In the end, all of her hard work had paid off, she had managed to skip kindergarten, the fifth and seventh grade, and graduated three years ahead of her scheduled date. At that point, she enrolled into a prestigious college of her choice and even graduated early with honors. Her last year of college she interned for the king law firm, one of the most successful and influential firms on the east coast.

***

Heaven Deville never once doubted which law firm she wanted to be a part of. The King Law firm was one of the most lucrative as well as influential law firms on the east coast. The firm was composed of a small team of highly intelligent attorneys that knew their game well and never lost. Everyone in Heaven’s graduating class had fought hard for the internship position at the firm, but Heaven blew her competition away with her remarkable intelligence and her powerful drive to succeed.

When she first started her internship position, she had worked under Gavin Grant who was the lowest on the totem pole at the time. While she was sitting in on a meeting with the firm’s attorneys, who were discussing a rather difficult case, Heaven noticed a seemingly insignificant clue in the evidence that would solidify Ayden King’s theory.

Ayden King, the head boss at the firm, was beyond impressed with Heaven’s keen eye for details and asked her to assist him with the case. Ayden was a hard nose attorney, he came from a long line of driven men, striving to be the best at their fields. He could smell a true-blooded lawyer from miles away, and Ms. Heaven Deville was the real deal. He knew talent when he saw it and he knew they would see many great things from her. She was young, ambitious and so damn hungry to succeed, it was refreshing to him.

Unbeknownst to Heaven, Ayden had met her mother many years before when she first came to New York. When Heaven showed interest in working at his firm, her mother, Sybille had immediately called him and suggested he accept her for the internship.

Of course, she had forbid him from telling Heaven about her interference and Ayden agreed. He also let her know that he would only pick her for the internship if she were good, at which point Sybille did her trademark chuckle. At the time, he assumed it was just a mother bragging about her child, but after meeting the unbelievably intelligent girl, he was beyond impressed and picked her on the spot.

Heaven stayed on after her internship to help Ayden finish the case. After the conclusions she had come up with regarding his client’s innocence and the impressive closing argument she presented to Ayden, he offered her a temporary position at the firm after she passed the Barr exam.

He knew he was taking a chance on a woman so young as well as new to the field, but he always trusted his gut instincts and he knew he would not be wrong with this decision. He knew Heaven would become a formidable opponent in the courtroom and he needed someone with her skill at his firm.

***

Julian King was down in New Orleans defending hotshot real estate tycoon Mr. Oliver Lexington. Mr. Lexington was a born and bred New Yorker who had fallen in love with a southern belle and after a whirlwind romance that ended with a quick marriage, they moved back to her hometown. Little did Oliver know that the love of his life was also in love with his best friend, who happened to be his business partner as well as the best man at his wedding. Then to make matters worse, Oliver had discovered that his business partner had been embezzling millions of dollars from his company and he was in serious debt. Needless to say, the evidence had been stacked against him and at quick glanced it looked like an open and shut case, that Mr. Lexington would be rotting in prison for the rest of his life.

Julian was no fool, he knew what he was up against, he knew it would be hard to convince a jury that such a controlled, intelligent man had not been rational when he murdered his business partner. He would have to convince a group of twelve men and women that his client had become so engulfed in his fear that he had literally snapped, then in a temporary state of insanity, he had murdered him with the first available weapon, a pen.

The trial lasted for almost a year but in the end, Julian had worked his magic and his client was found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity. The presiding judge over the case had been good friends with Julian’s father Ayden, for years and had thrown Julian a congratulatory party after his win. Even the judge had doubted that Mr. Lexington would be released from prison, but Julian had used his magic tricks once again and dazzled the jury, as only he knew how.

***

Heaven had passed the bar exam and had come to work at the firm only a few days before Julian was due to return. Ayden had decided to throw them a combined party, honoring Julian’s success and Heaven’s new position. 

Heaven had been at the party for almost an hour and was more than ready to leave. She did not drink, she had already eaten and she did not feel like celebrating, she just wanted to get home then prepare for work. However, her boss had asked her to wait for his son Julian to come, since he was anxious to introduce them. She agreed, considering it was the least she could do for her boss, but she was getting a little irritated by how late his son was. Being late to one’s own celebration was a sign of incompetence to Heaven and a selfish disregard for those who cared enough to celebrate his accomplishments. She was ready to sneak out through the back door when Ayden finally came over to her. In a way, she was a little excited to meet her boss’s legendary son, she had heard so many stories of his success in the courtroom, and she could not help but be impressed. He was the master when it came to jury selection and she had hoped she would be able to learn a great deal from him.

“Julian just got here.” Ayden smiled from ear to ear like a proud father. “I’d like to finally introduce you to my son.”

“Of course.” she nodded with a soft smile.

Julian walked into the party and frowned seeing the motley group of festive co-workers. This was the last place he wanted to be tonight, he had just gotten back in the state less than three days ago and was not in the mood to celebrate with his co-workers. However, his father was adamant about this party and would not take no for an answer, he was excited to introduce Julian to the new attorney he had hired.

Julian could care less about the new attorney, all he wanted to do was go back home and sleep. He had spent the last three days with large bottles of cognac, a buffet table and Candy, a woman he occasionally had sex with. He had dragged himself out of bed to come here tonight but he was hung over, exhausted and drained of all bodily fluids. He had no more then taken a step inside when he saw the group of tipsy secretaries headed towards him. He groaned in disappointment, he had been gone for so long, he had almost forgotten about the bothersome gang of women. For years, they had stalked him, like starved vultures circling their prey and he knew by the look in their eyes that a year’s absence had not made a difference. He made a move in the opposite direction, ready to leave when he heard his father’s voice. He cursed under his breath before turning around and walking over to where his father stood.

“Julian King this is Sevigne Deville.” Ayden’s face lit up with delight as he introduced his pride and joy to his protégée.

Julian looked over to see the woman his father had been praising since her internship. He was surprised she was so young, his father had mentioned that she had graduated very early, but he had no idea. The way his father spoke of her, Julian had assumed she had been in the business for a long time.

However, it was not just her youth that had shocked him, it was her attire, she was wearing horrible black framed glasses and a large ill-fitting suit. It did not match the larger than life persona that his father had described or the beautiful face that she sported. He wondered how this young, inexperienced woman in the oversized suit could possibly go against some of the hard-hitting attorneys the firm was known to battle.

“Excuse me for a moment.” Ayden said, seeing the frown on his eldest son, Ian’s face as he held up a large manila envelope. Ayden had a feeling he already knew what was in the envelope and walked over to him.

“Hello Ms. Deville.” Julian grinned as he extended his hand, noticing her hesitation before extending her own hand.

“It’s good to finally meet you, your father speaks very highly of you.”

“He speaks highly of you, as well.” he said as he brought her arm up to kiss the top of her hand. He held back a moan as the silky skin touched his lips and he pressed down firmly, wanting to kiss more. He held her hand a second longer to inhale the fresh scent of her skin before finally letting go.

Heaven was not sure what she was feeling after such an inappropriate kiss to the hand. She looked at him strangely for a moment, not understanding his motives for such a provocative kiss, nor the sudden rush of anxieties that the act had brought upon her. She also wondered if she was being a little too sensitive, maybe that was just his thing, maybe he kissed every woman’s hand like that. She would not make a mountain out of a molehill, it was probably nothing.

Although during her internship, she had heard some very nasty stories about his sexual escapades and something about a mysterious sex tape. However, she had chosen to ignore them since they had sounded more like the ravings of a scorned woman and decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. He was Ayden King’s son after all and Ayden was a fine upstanding man, a father like figure to his employees.

“I’m glad to hear that.” she smiled a little.

“To be honest, I’m a little surprised that he was so impressed with someone so young.” he watched as her smile faltered and her eyes shot a quick shard of invisible ice at him. Then he watched in total fascination as she regained her composure as if she had never been upset. He was impressed with the way she had perfected the poker face, bringing it to a completely new level of disguise. “You did just pass the bar exam right, you’re fresh out of college?”