“It seems you have saved your seat, Ms. Cunning, by a matter of technicality.” The corner of his lips twitched. It was fast, but I saw it, and though it was wrong that I took a little pleasure in it, I was happy that I made him smile instead of being happy that I saved myself.
He turned to face the rest of the class. “Let this be a lesson to the rest of you. You are in the running to become lawyers. If someone tells you no, then you find a loophole and jump right through it. Even the smallest technicality can change the outcome of a case. Though, I do hope you don’t Google your arguments ten seconds before you are called upon.”
How did he know?
“You meant to refer to the Zukerman Case 1957. The Internet isn't always a reliable source,” he added.
Shit.
He didn’t bother going into any further details before moving on to the Zukerman Case that he was initially referring to. I hadn’t known, but he had been Zukerman’s lawyer. The man was charged with arson and robbery, but Levi had been able to totally shred each one of the prosecution’s witnesses, and had gotten a police officer kicked off the stand for perjury.
It was… awe-inspiring.
As he played us the video, he highlighted everything that the prosecution had done wrong, and I found myself baffled by him. The man on the screen, and the man I had been in bed with, were two different people. He was monster in the court room, not caring in the slightest about how the witnesses felt, as he hammered every part of their credibility to the point where one woman looked as though she was about to suffer a mental breakdown. The man who had kissed down my spine and made me breakfast in bed was nowhere to be seen at all. It seemed that there were two of faces to Levi Black, and I, despite it all, wanted to know them both.
All too soon, class was over, and as people left, I found myself unable to move. There was so much that I wanted to say to him.
I stood up, taking a deep breath and hoping to stir up the courage to speak to him, when all of sudden, he walked right past me as if I wasn’t there.
“Levi—”
“It’s Professor Black, and class is over. If you wish to speak to me any time after class you’ll have to call the office and make an appointment. Good day, Ms. Cunning,” he replied, already out the door.
“Asshole,” I murmured under my breath.
But what did I expect? Were we just supposed to laugh it off and pretend like nothing had happened and that everything was okay?
Grabbing my stuff, I headed out as well, and before I could stop myself, I was already searching though the crowded hallway for him.
“Who are looking for?”
Jumping, I turned to find my little sister staring intently at me.
Selene and I, in my opinion, looked nothing alike. Yes, we both had dark skin, brown eyes, and hair that went past our shoulders, but our facial features bore no likeness or similarities. Plus, she was in this phase where all she would wear was black makeup and dark clothing.
“No one,” I said, looking at her. “I thought you were going to call me when your flight came in?” I added in an effort to change the subject.
“Jeez, hello to you too! It’s not as if you haven’t seen me in months or anything,” she pouted.
She was a baby, and even at sixteen, she would stay that way. Not that I wanted her to grow up or anything.
“Selene, we talked almost every day—”
“Except for last week. So, who is he?”
“What? No one. There’s no one,” I repeated, searching for my keys as we walked outside.
It was only September, but there was still a chill in the air. At this time of year, back home in Maryland, most people were still wearing shorts. I tried not to think about my life back there too much, because the truth of the matter was that I missed it, badly. It was my home, more so than Boston had ever been.
“If you’re going to be a lawyer, you need to learn how to lie much better than that, and to hide the evidence.” She grinned and pulled out a pair of boxers from her purse.
“Selene!” I hissed, trying to shove them back in there. “What in the hell is the matter with you? When did you go to the house?”
“Since someone didn’t answer her phone, I had to take a taxi to the house and then another one here,” she said, rolling her eyes at me.
We headed to my old, beat up Honda, and she stood on the passenger side, patiently waiting for me to unlock the doors.
“I was in class.”
“I figured, but I was wondering why there were so many boxes left. The proof was on the bathroom floor. So, are you going to tell me who he is? Does he go here? Is he hot? If he used our shower, he’d better be hot.”
“Selene, don’t worry about it, it was nothing, and it’s over.”
“So, does that mean I can keep this?” she asked, dangling Levi’s watch from her index finger.
“No,” I said, as I snatched it back from her.
“How will you get it back to him?”
“I’ll mail it.”
“You know his address!”
“Selene, I swear if you don't stop, I’ll make you walk home,” I told her.
“Ooh, I’m so scared!”
Little sisters, no matter what anyone tells you, they are a pain in the ass.
“Whatever, I’m happy for you,” she muttered, leaning back into her seat and staring out the window. “I hate this place, and I know you hate it too. But you’re forcing yourself to be here, so if something good comes out of it, at least it wouldn’t have been a complete waste.”
“Selene, you didn’t have to come back here. You could have stayed with Grams and finished high school—”
“We’re a team, remember?” She smiled, but her smile didn’t reach her eyes. “Where you go, I go. Sorry it took me so long to come, but I was waiting for—”
She was waiting for our mother to die.
“It’s fine,” I told her. “She was bedridden for most of it, and I didn’t want you to have to see her like that anyways.”
That was a lie. The truth of the matter was that I did want her here, but it wasn’t only for our mother’s sake, but for her own… so she could finally let go of everything and move on. So she could have some closure. But no matter how many times I told her that the cancer had spread, or that mother’s condition was worsening, she didn't seem to care.
“Yeah, well, I’m still sorry.”
“Every time I start to think you’re a pain in the ass, you always act so sweet, even if you do look like Marilyn Manson.”
“Shut up!” she squealed, and punched me playfully.
We both laughed. It was our thing.
LEVI
“Can you repeat that again?” Tristan asked over the phone, as I headed into my office.
“You know the woman I picked up from the bar? Turns out she’s a law student… one of my law students.”
I fell back into my chair.
Why God, why?
“Are you laughing, you prick?” I snapped.
“Come on man, give me a break!” he chuckled, “The great, straight laced, Levi Black has finally slipped up, and has ventured over to the dark side. And you’ve always been so careful. How did that not come up once during the whole week you were together? Didn’t you guys talk at all?”