Jeremy looked down at his pressed suit that fit him snuggly. He was a man that liked to show off all that he had. He spent more time at the gym than I did sleeping, and it showed. He preened like a fucking peacock, and I knew it drove Lena nuts. She had very little patience for egotistical assholes. And my partner was the epitome of both.
“Sweetheart, the offer is always open to help me get dressed if you don’t like what I wear.” Jeremy grinned, and I clenched my hand into a fist, ready to deck him if need be.
The two stared each other down for a few seconds, and I started to wonder if there was something else going on between the two than one-sided hostility. But that was ridiculous.
Lena turned away from Jeremy, not bothering to respond to his jibe. She acted as though the other man weren’t even in the room. I noticed with satisfaction how her dismissal took the wind out of his sails. She said to me, “Don’t forget we have dinner at Mom and Dad’s this weekend. You can’t raincheck on them again, or Mom will have a fit.”
“I know, I know. Mom has called me twice since Monday to remind me.” I hadn’t been able to get over to my parents’ for dinner in over a month. My workload was crazy, and I had been working late nights for weeks. But that didn’t matter to my mom. I loved her, but she was the one who had taught Lena everything she knew about being pushy. And having both of them team up against me was akin to going into battle.
“Good.” She flicked her hair over her shoulder and shot Jeremy one last look of revulsion before breezing out of my office.
My partner moved aside as she walked by, but I noticed how his eyes followed her. I frowned, not liking what I was seeing. I had made it clear from the moment Lena started working at the firm that my sister was hands-off. It had never been an issue.
“How’s Greta?” I asked Jeremy, pulling his attention away from the now empty doorway.
Jeremy’s face slid into a lecherous grin. “Flexible, my friend. Very, very flexible.”
I laughed. “Are you going to let this one stick around?”
Jeremy shrugged. “Life’s too short to get hung up on one woman. I thought you would have figured that out by now.”
I didn’t bother to say anything. I knew he was referring to Chelsea, but that wasn’t the woman I thought of just then. Chelsea hadn’t broken my heart. Not by a long shot. I was far from hung up on her.
Jeremy dropped a file on my desk. “Anyway, this case seems straightforward. DUI with one prior. Mommy and Daddy only want the best, so they have no issue paying our very high retainer.”
“Ah, the best kind of client,” I deadpanned, opening the file and skimming the arrest record.
Jeremy, our other partner Robert Jenkins, and I had worked our asses off to make our law firm one of the best in the state. Our win record was unparalleled, and because of that, we could charge astronomical fees. It didn’t happen without a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, though. I had sacrificed a lot to rise to the top.
Maybe that’s why I hadn’t noticed how bad my marriage was before it exploded spectacularly in my face. I had spent so many years focusing on my career that it was easier to overlook Chelsea’s more noxious qualities. The status quo had been too appealing.
Jeremy, Robert, and I had gone to law school together. We hadn’t been friends exactly. I had been engaged to Chelsea and spent most of my time with her when I wasn’t studying. Jeremy was a certifiable man-whore and an arrogant, rude son-of-a-bitch to boot. And Robert had his face permanently stuck in law books, barely coming up for air. We had nothing in common. Except we were the three best law students in our year.
After graduation, I was taken on as a junior associate at one of the top law firms in Philadelphia. Robert had gone on to the public defender’s office, and Jeremy had gone to work at his uncle’s law office.
By chance, we ran into each other two years later at a law school reunion and had started talking about starting our own firm. Jeremy made the case that it would be better to work for ourselves than lining someone else’s pocket. When my grandfather passed away a year later and left me his office building in downtown Southport, it seemed the stars had aligned for us. Whether it was dumb luck or the result of the staunch determination, we hit pay dirt, tapping into a goldmine of high profile criminal cases that elevated us into the stratosphere.
Now here we were almost seven years later, Jeremy in his Gucci shoes, and me in my million-dollar house in the most exclusive area of Southport. At least my success helped to soothe the burn of my collapsed marriage somewhat.
Jeremy tapped my desk with his foot. “Also, that historical group has been calling again about having the wall outside painted for the town’s bicentennial. I give no shits about any of that crap, but I guess it’s good to be part of the community and all. I know you’re on the committee or whatever, so it’s all on you. I just don’t want painters traipsing crap through the place.”
I sighed in annoyance. The headache that had been duly pounding away at my skull since Chelsea’s unexpected visit had morphed into a marching band inside my head. I had enough on my plate without worrying about community shit. But Jeremy was right, it was important we do our part. It was good for business. I hadn’t expected the Bicentennial Committee to take up so much of my time when I joined and was eventually elected president. I thought it could be a feather in my cap, showing my town pride.
Little did I know that Marla Delacroix, the 70-year-old dictator of Southport events, expected nothing less than my kidney. And maybe my first-born child.
“Sure, I’ll call Marla,” I said, grimacing, already dreading the conversation with Southport’s version of the Iron Lady.
“See ya later. Let me know how you get on with Taylor.” Jeremy grabbed a handful of Reese’s Pieces that I kept on my desk, popping one into his mouth. “I have court this afternoon, but we can talk after that.”
“Sure,” I agreed, pulling the candy dish out of his reach. No one touched my Reese’s Pieces.
After Jeremy left, I started working on the deposition I had been putting off for the last few days. I quickly got bogged down, barely realizing an hour had passed when Lena appeared with a cup of coffee in her hand.
“Here.” She handed me the mug, which I took it gratefully, drinking half of it in one go, not caring that it scalded my tongue.
“You looked as if you needed the caffeine,” she observed, sipping her own.
“You’re the best,” I told her with a smile, drinking the rest.
“And don’t you forget it.” She picked up the Taylor file and looked through it. “So, I was talking to Mom last night...”
“Thanks for the update, Lena.” I had already turned my attention back to the deposition. “Not to be rude, but I have to finish this up before heading to the precinct—”
“She told me June came over on Monday for lunch, and they went out to pick up some furniture.”
I stilled slightly as I always did at the mention of June Galloway, Mom’s best friend. I had always loved June like a second mother, but things had changed since my senior year in high school.
Since June’s daughter, my former best friend decided she hated me.
And even though June never treated me any differently, I always felt awkward around her. Guilty even. Though I suspected Meg, like me, didn’t tell her mother what had really happened between us.