KEPT: A Second Chance Fairy Tale (11 page)

The painful reminders of what I lost have yet to fade. It’s possible they never will.

Before I knew what the fuck I was doing, I found myself confessing my faults. I’m not a nice person. What I didn’t tell her was that by meeting her, admiring her strength and character, she made me want to change. That realization didn’t hit me until I was standing in her apartment, looking into her eyes as if searching for whatever I could find to hold onto.

She made me feel vulnerable, yet didn’t.

She made me feel found, yet I don’t mind being lost inside myself.

No, Lucy Monroe doesn’t have any idea the effects she has on me just by being who she is.

“You got a minute?” Corbin asks, peering his head inside my office door.

While clearing all thoughts of Lucy, I sit back in my chair. “I thought you were in court this morning. What’s up?”

“I’m headed there now, but wanted to check in,” he explains, then goes quiet.

“What’s going on, Corbin?”

“You talked to her.” He voices it as an observation, not a question I’m supposed to answer.

“I did. Isn’t that what you and Lillie
required
me to do?”

Corbin grins and takes the seat in front of me. “We did. Lucy told me you went to her house.”

“I know her address,” I answer with what he knows already, all the while hating the fact she confided in him about our discussion. “I didn’t need directions.”

“Yeah, okay,” he returns with a knowing look. “Although you could’ve just picked up the phone and called her.”

Ignoring his determination to get a rise out of me, I reassure him, “She wants the job. I assume, since she told you about my visit, she’s already here.”

“Yeah, she is. She’s with Lillie, who’s showing her how you take your coffee.”

“I’m wearing my favorite suit,” I note with a hint of humor as I spread my arms wide for emphasis.

“If she throws it on you, it’d be no less than you deserve.”

“I apologized already,” I remind him. “That was why I went over there.”

“You suck at apologies, Mike. I’m sure that one was no better than any other time you’ve said you were sorry and didn’t mean it.”

Briefly, I’m taken aback. I did mean what I said to Lucy last night. I’m not a nice person, but I am trying to change. Changing who you are and who you’ve been comfortable in being for so long isn’t easy. It takes the right motivation to really want to be a better person.

Maybe Lucy’s that motivation.

“She’s not afraid of me,” I carelessly admit, being half-relieved I don’t intimidate her. “She said I wasn’t a nice person, and she didn’t say it nicely.”

“No,” he denies with a huge grin. “She did
not
say that.”

“She did,” I assure, not able to hide my own smirk.

“One point for Lucy Monroe.”

“She also referred to me as Captain Hook,” I tell him before he finishes relishing on her first insult.

“Who?”

“I steal fun,” I state. “Apparently, so does this Captain Hook guy.”

“Fuck.” He smiles and shakes his head. “Two for Lucy Monroe.”

“Right. Now, what do you want?”

Thankfully letting this go, Corbin states his purpose. “Jane.”

“My lunch with her is today.”

“Lunch? I thought you were going out for dinner and drinks?”

I had planned to, but I’m choosing not to deal with her for more than an hour.

“I had Lillie call her to get it changed.”

“Lunch is probably better anyway.”

Bringing him back to the reason he’s here, I ask again, “What is it you think we need from Ms. Gilroy?”

“Her money. She doesn’t need to keep an office here. Her name is enough to gain us clients. Just get her to agree we’d all work well together, explaining the benefits of her coming on board. Where are you meetin’ her?”

“Chicago’s at noon. I’m taking Lillie with me, as well.”

“Lillie?”

“Yes, Lillie. Why not?”

Corbin rolls his eyes. “What are you doing that for? You know Lillie won’t like her.”

“So?”

“So?” he repeats. “We both know how Lil is when she finds someone…pretentious.”

I do. Lillie hates Ashlie for the very same reason.

“It’ll be fine.”

“Right,” he says, still clearly unconvinced.

When my desk phone rings, I dismiss him with a curt nod while reaching for it.

“All right. Get with me later so I know how it went with Gilroy.”

“You’ll be my first call,” I reply as I pick up the phone.

Lucy

“W
HERE’S LIL?” MICHAEL ASKS, HIS
eyes perusing the area around my desk, never focusing directly on me sitting behind it.

It’s not until his gaze finally comes to mine and I see I have his attention that I answer. “She went to pick up something from the courthouse. It was for you,” I remind him. “Remember?”

Being that today’s my first full day, I’ve been generous in giving Michael space and letting Lillie continue to handle him. How she does it, I don’t think I’ll ever know. I’m jealous of her knack to soothe the cranky beast and keep his attention long enough to get him to do what she tells him.

First thing this morning, Corbin asked me to come into his office. He had me jotting notes and helping to brainstorm ideas he had for a client who’s decided to sue his next-door neighbor. Apparently, their differences over a fallen tree branch have escalated beyond what’s reasonable, and they’re headed to court tomorrow.

Corbin found the entire case amusing, whereas I found it absurd.

“Where’s Amber?” Michael questions. This time, his eyes are in line with the empty reception desk near the front of the office.

“Lunch,” I reply. “Do you need help with something?”

“I’ll wait. Whoever gets back first, tell her to come find me,” he instructs before turning around and heading back into his office.

I think about what Lillie would do if she were here. She’d most likely grab a pen and paper, walk in his office, and demand he tell her how she could help. Then I realize I’m not her and shrink back in my seat. I’d rather be ignored than make a move to piss him off.

A few minutes later, his door opens again. Now Michael looks completely flustered.

Keeping my concentration on his calendar and noting all the bold editing marks he’s made since he left me before, I tell him, “She’s still not back.”

He doesn’t say anything, as I’m sure he’s too busy scanning the office.

“You don’t have an appointment with Mrs. Ward on Sunday morning. It’s this Friday,” I casually mention, fishing to see if this is what’s gotten him visibly stressed. “Do you want me to fix it?”

Once I finally look up, I see his hands are in his pockets. He’s wearing his glasses, staring at me with what I assume is contemplation.

“I wasn’t sure she’d gone over my calendar with you yet,” he states quietly.

My eyes move back to my computer. I shut down the program, then stand and walk in his direction. As I approach, his cranes his neck so he can keep his eyes on me.

“She did, so let me help,” I insist.

Michael stands to the side, then opens his door wider. I look around his office, remembering when I lit into him the day before.

But not without reason.

“Here.” He gestures to his laptop once he spins it around. “I hate the damn thing,” he tells me, then takes a seat behind his desk.

I move a chair closer to the desk, getting comfortable in order to fix everything he’s broken.

“I’m not sure why Lillie insists on keeping this when all I need is right here.” He points to a paper calendar sitting on his desk.

It’s on the tip of my tongue to drop an insult in regards to the program probably not loving its operator and how no one keeps a handwritten calendar, but I manage to hold it in.

“You know,” he starts, keeping his face blank. “I’ve been around you a few times now, and you always look like you have something to say.”

I hadn’t noticed what I must look like to him when he’s not judging, but I reply, “Probably because I usually
do
have something to say.”

“What could it possibly be, I wonder,” he returns in challenge.

I’m not sure it’s a good idea to take the bait, but my finger clicks the mouse as I answer, “Ask me and I’ll tell you.”

“Are you going to be difficult?” he questions, but not with the venom he had when as he stood in my apartment.

“Are you going to be rude?” I query, losing the attitude I had back at my apartment, as well.

Sitting up straighter and positioning his hands on the desk, I note a deep, jagged scar along the finger of his right hand. It’s faded, but clear to the eye since it contrasts so heavily against his bronzed skin.

“Okay, I’ll bite. What’s on your mind?” he questions.

I’d love nothing more than to flip back about what’s
really
on my mind. I’d tell him I’m unsure of myself around him, explaining that if he’d lighten up, we’d most likely work well together. I’d like an opportunity to get to know him as Lillie does.

I don’t think he’d appreciate any of that, though, so I answer, “You can ask me for help. It’s what you pay me for. I saw you come out looking for anyone but me. I just don’t know why.”

His answer is quick, repeating what he once told me. “I don’t like change. I look for Lillie or Amber first only because I’m used to them.”

“What if you don’t get used to me?”

I swallow hard after asking, fearing the answer waits for me in the never-ending unemployment line.

Clearing his throat, he sits back in his chair and moves off the subject entirely. “Thank you for helping with this.”

“Anytime.”

His head tilts when he watches me move the laptop and position it back in front of him.

“That’s it?” he asks, his eyebrows lifting in surprise.

“Yep,” I answer as I start to stand. “Do you need anything else?”

“Not right now.”

I turn to leave, but before I do, I hear him murmur, “Thank you.”

Mumbling to myself, if only to relieve internal tension, I say, “That must’ve hurt
.”

“Smartass,” he replies before I make my way out of the room.

Jesus Christ, he misses nothing.

Lucy

“T
HANKS FOR THE RIDE. I
feel bad about putting you out like this today.”

Using her hand and waving it between us, Lillie replies, “It’s no problem. I don’t think I
could
be put out today, Lucy. I’m too busy planning my first full week of retirement.”

Today is Lillie’s last day at the office. I called her thirty minutes ago after Ruby, my twelve-year-old beloved Honda, decided she was done.

“I’m sure it’s just a dead battery,” she assures as we sit at a stoplight, immersed in morning rush hour traffic.

My car not starting wasn’t the biggest heartbreak of my morning, and being that it’s only eight-thirty now, I’m sure there’s time for my day to get worse.

While I waited for Lillie to pick me up at my apartment, I checked my mailbox. I hadn’t checked it for a few days, mainly because I’d been so tired every night after coming home from work. But also because I feared what was waiting for me inside.

The letter from my mother-in-law’s attorney was upsetting, but not surprising. I hadn’t responded to the appointment with the family counselor as she had so strongly suggested, so Margret obviously decided to push.

According to the letter from her attorney, I’m supposed to appear in his office next month to sit in on a formal meeting. The memo also suggested I retain and bring my own legal counsel. After scanning the itinerary with watery eyes, I stuffed it in my purse and made every attempt not to cry, but it was useless. By the time Lillie arrived, I was wiping my tears anyway.

“I can’t believe you’re really leaving me,” I breathe out with defeat. “What are we going to do without you?”

“You’ll all be fine,” she reassures. I’m not so sure I believe that, though.

I’ve learned a lot over the last two weeks. I’ve come to understand the majority of the office filing system and the most commonly used court motions and processes, as well as how both my bosses take their coffee. More than anything, I’ve come to learn that, even to me, Lillie is irreplaceable.