Chapter 2
I poured myself a cup of coffee and leaned against the counter as I drank it. Oliver walked over to me and kissed my cheek then lips. "Have a good day at work baby." He said, grabbing his briefcase and his cup. "I love you."
"I love you too. Have a good day." I smiled and threw him his key he almost forgot on the counter. Once he was out the door, I went to pick up my ringing phone. "Hello?" I answered.
"Hi Mrs. Escarra." Joseline said from the other end. "I know today is your day off, but Mrs. Dubois says she needs to see you. It's urgent."
I sighed and set my cup on the living room table. "I'll be down as soon as possible." Hanging up, I jogged up the stairs and to the room. Being one of the very few best women lawyers can be extremely tiring.
I slipped on black high-rise pants with wide legs and a black strappy tank top that fit a bit loose on me. I paired the outfit with shiny black stilettos and curled my hair. I left my face bare before making sure I had everything and leaving the house.
Everyone nodded in my direction as a sign of respect, and some scurried off. People either knew my good and friendly side or my rude and annoyed side. Most knew the bad side, but I wouldn't be where I am now if I was polite all the time. The more they feared you the more the respected you.
Mrs. Dubois, formally known as one of the powerful women in Atlanta, sat in the lobby with Joseline comforting her. Mrs. Dubious was mostly known for her charitable donations to hospitals like the Peachford hospital. She ran multi-millionaire companies and had a daughter, Bella, along with a husband, Mr. Dubois.
They both stood as I neared, and Mrs. Dubois wiped away her tears. "Mrs. Escarra." Joseline said and I gave her a slight nod, greeting and dismissing her. Mrs. Dubois followed me into my office, and I took a seat in my chair as did she.
I handed her a box of tissue then spoke, "How can I help you Mrs. Dubois?"
She chuckled, using the tissue to get under her eyes. "Please, call me Brinda." I nodded. "I'm sure you know who I am along with my husband. I- um..." She started to stutter as tears fell down her cheeks. I sighed quietly and walked over to her, placing a hand on hers.
"Calm down, Brinda. Take a few deep breaths then talk."
She nodded and used the tissue to wipe her eyes again. "It hasn't made it to the media, thankfully, but I'm taking my husband to court. H- he..." I gave her a soft smile and she let out shaky breaths until her breathing returned normal. "He... he s*xually assaulted me as well as hitting me on multiple occasions. I need a lawyer. A woman lawyer. You've won basically all of your cases, please. These men won't fight for me as hard as you will."
She used the new tissue to wipe away the tears that had once again fell and squeezed my hand tightly. I absolutely despise cases like these. Husbands who abuse their wives and probably in front of the children. "Of course. Let's get started right away, yes?" She nodded and let out a breath of relief. "I promise you I will put Mr. Dubois behind bars for as long as possible." I squeezed her hand reassuringly.
For the next three hours we talked about her marriage, the first time he hit her and assaulted her. She showed me messages of him apologizing and saying that he'll never do it again, to forgive him. She had photos of every time he laid a finger on her and let just say, there was a lot.
I had learned not to ask why the victim stays with their partner in these particular situations. Most of the time it's because they think they love them and can't survive without them. In a situation like Brinda's, it could be because of the child that they don't leave. Pathetic excuse of a man is what I'd describe Mr. Dubois to be.
I put away the printed-out photos I had gotten from her phone and into her file. "If you don't mind me asking, why did you decide to report it now?"
Brinda took a deep breath before speaking, "I told you there was an incident he had with my daughter. Last night we were arguing pretty heatedly, and Bella had walked in on it. Zac was yelling at her to go back to her room and when she didn't... he went after her. That's when I decided that she couldn't live like this. I couldn't put her through that suffering."
It hurt my heart and soul to hear her go into a bit of detail about that incident. Mr. Dubois was surely going to get as many years as I could give him. After about another hour of discussing her case we hugged, she thanked me once more and we said our goodbyes. I knew deep down how hard it would be to get this case any serious attention but with her being a very well-known person in Atlanta it would give us a bit of a push.
I hated that she had to be known by a crowd of people in order to get a case like hers some real attention. We said our goodbyes and I gave her a hug, something I usually never do with clients. She left and I did as well a few minutes afterwards, since technically I didn't have to be in today.
I went home and studied her case, putting my phone on silent and listening to music. I seem to get more work done when I have music playing and nowhere to be, so I took the opportunity. Brinda's case was going to be unpleasant to say the least. Her husband was a narcissist and abuser who'd do anything to make sure he didn't get time in jail.
I felt like if I didn't win this case then I'd be failing not only Brinda and her daughter but every other woman who has yet to speak up about what happened to them.
Chapter 3
Over the next two days I was almost prepared to go to trial. Miranda and I had already discussed her court meeting that would happen in a few weeks. Having no other meetings gave me lots of time to work on Brinda's case. Mr. Dubois signed the divorce papers without a hitch thankfully.
I was sitting on my living room floor, my computer sitting on the marble coffee table with papers scattered all over it. I was wearing a black silk satin night dress with lace and my hair was tied into a lazy bun.
These cases were really important to me, so I spent every moment of free time I could working on them. I made sure to finish most of my paperwork for other cases so I could have quick meetings with them.
I held the cap of the pen in my mouth as I signed a paper, requesting evidence from the prosecutor. They were going to use everything little thing they could to win this, so I had to gather as much information on their marriage and then them separately.
There was music playing in my ear from the headphones, but I could still hear the slam of the front door. I jumped, almost messing up my signature. Oliver walked into the kitchen mumbling something under his breath. I frowned my eyebrows and watched as he grabbed himself a beer.
Oliver walked over to me in the living room and set his briefcase on the couch, loosening his tie with his free hand. "We're on the same level of success, right?" He questioned causing me to slightly raise my eyebrows.
"I mean I assume so. You have your company and I'm one of the very few best lawyers." I shrugged and went and went back to researching about the jury. Sadly, he was a he who went by the name of Judge Charles and who also dismissed a lot of his rape cases.
"You assume?" He took a seat beside me on the floor. I sighed and pulled my headphones out.
"What happened?" I clammed-shut my computer and turned to face him to show I was all ears.
"So, at work I was having lunch with a few work friends when everyone's phones started blowing up. That's when the topic of your status, business wise, was starting to overcome mine. And I don't know I guess I felt some type of way about."
"So, you were butt-hurt because some guys said I was better than you?"
He drank some of his beer. "When you put it like that you make it sound bad."
I scoffed. "No shit. It sounds like me being more successful than you is a problem. Would you rather them degrade me and say that I don't work hard?"
He stood up and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm not saying that, Athena. Why are you trying to turn this into an argument?"
"How am I trying to start an argument? Are you not proud of my success?" My face expression changed into a bit of a saddened one and I move onto the sofa.
"Of course, I'm proud of you! But I just don't think your success overpowers mine." He shrugged.
"Would it be such a bad thing if it did?"
He scoffed once more and rolled his eyes. "If men are looking at me as weak then yes. I'm a man and you're a-" He cut himself off.
"No please finish your sentence. I'm a what?"
He sighed deeply and went to the kitchen to put his beer away. "I was just saying that they should be talking about me more."
"You sound like a s*xist." I said and followed him to the kitchen. "Why is it so wrong for people to be hyping up my success more than yours? If it were you then I'd be proud people at my workplace thought so highly of you." I folded my arms across my chest and looked at him confused but also hurt.
He took a deep breath before saying, "I'm going to go so you can calm down." He grabbed his car keys and coat, heading for the door.
I followed him saying, "Stop walking away from me whenever you disagree with me!" I raised my voice. Just as he was about to reach for the doorknob I said, "You'd stay if you love me."
Oliver stood still for a moment before turning his head slightly to me. "I'll be back soon." And with that he shut the door behind him. He left. He f*cking left. The few tears that fell from my eyes I wiped them away and walked over to where my phone was.
"Serene." I said once she answered on the fourth ring. "Can you come over?" I guess she heard the tremble in my voice because she said she'd be here in twenty. Just like I had a spare key to her house she had on to mine. I put Brinda's case papers back into the files and went to put them up before coming back to sit on the couch.
Serene walked inside and to the living room with bags full of snacks and drinks. I gave her a sad smile and she dumped it all onto the table. "Maybe when you decide to go the gym and lose a few pounds..." His words echoed in my head when I reached for a candy bar.
"I probably shouldn't be eating sweets right now." I sniffled and moved back on the seat. "I'm gaining weight."
She furrowed her eyebrows before throwing the candy bar in my lap. "You're not gaining any weight and whoever the hell told you that is just putting you down because their insecure." I smiled at her words and went to open the candy.
Serene was a God sent gift. I was so blessed to be able to call her my best friend. We'd been inseparable since the eighth grade. Her mom and dad were a like a second set of parents for me. She always stuck by me even if we did argue and disagree sometimes, we always bounced back. She knew everything about me, meaning she knew about my one-night stand. She was a model, tall, skinny and light brown hair with green eyes.
She wore a mini black skirt, lace bra that covered a lot, and thigh high black heels with an oversized denim jacket. "He makes me want to shove a knife up his ass. Ugh!" She said after I told her what happened.
"I know I know but he's my husband and even after that argument I still love him. I can't just give up on six years of a marriage you know?"
She laughed sarcastically. "You gave up on this marriage when you had s*x on that vacation."
I sent her a glare and she put her hands up in the air defensively. "That was a drunken mistake." I said, directing my attention back to the bag of chips I had. "I haven't seen Alessandro in over six months."
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you haven't thought about him. You guys literally got the same matching tattoo on your hands, and you got him a ring, for whatever reason. After a night like you described I'm sure he still wears it. Hell, he's probably thinking about you right now."
I smiled at that thought. It would be nice to see if that night still lingered around in his mind like it did mine. If he memorized every inch of my body like I did his. That thought quickly left me when Oliver came to mind. "I'm married. That was a terrible mistake I plan on never making again."
"Your, in my eyes, in a loveless marriage. No matter how much you might say or tell yourself you love Oliver means it's actually true. Just because you guys have been together for six years. It's possible to fall out of love with someone and still care for them." The tears started falling again and she came over and pulled me into her chest. "It's okay Athena. Everything will be okay."
We changed the subject, talking about her love life instead of mine. "I told her I wasn't the relationship type! It's not my fault I eat p*ssy so skillfully and she got attached." She shrugged acting as if she did not give a single care in the world. She'd been like this ever since her parents divorced when she was twelve. She stopped believing in love and just dated for company.
"One day you're going to get attached and they will break your heart. Karma can be a real bitch."
"Yeah right." Her phone lit up with a message and she picked it up, a huge grin coming over her lips. "I've got to go. Are you alright? I can stay if you need me to."
"No, no it's fine. I'm tired anyway."
She stood up and grabbed her denim purse. "Okay that's good. I'll see you later I'm about to wreck someone's v*gina. Love you!" She yelled as she went to the door.
I laughed at her boldness. "Love you too!" I yelled back. She really is something else, I thought to myself. I cleaned the living room of our snacks, putting them all in the pantry, and went upstairs to shower. I had hoped he'd be back once I got out so when he wasn't here, I called his phone. It went straight to voicemail the first three times I called him, so I gave up and changed into one of my oversized shirts.
I grabbed my brown fur blanket and walked back downstairs to the couch. I tried to worry for his safety but as One Last Heist played on the TV all I could seem to think about was Alessandro.
I laughed as the pretty guy that was putting ink on my skin made a silly face. "You know this is my first tattoo? I don't even feel anything." I giggled.
Alessandro put an arm under his head. "Because your drunk pretty girl." He said with a handsome smile.
"I am so not drunk- wait did you call me pretty?" He nodded and I looked over to the artist. "Did you hear that? He just called me pretty." I thought I was whispering but him chuckling told me I wasn't.
The tattoo artist whose name was John I think nodded. "You are a very pretty girl."
"My very pretty girl." He said while staring heatedly at John.
A huge grin made its way on my face, and I blushed. "Stop you guys are making blush." They both laughed at my drunken state. "Well, Alessandro, you are a very handsome man."
"That made my heart flutter." After a few more minutes John and his artist, Fred, were done with our tattoos. He took my hand in his and kissed it. "Just in case we never see each other again after this night, let this be my memory to you. Even though I'll look for you until I can't anymore."
I laughed and grabbed his hand, mimicking his actions. "Just in case we never see each other again after this night, let this be my memory to you. Even though you'll look for me until you can't anymore." I smiled cheekily and he grinned.
The artists behind us started clapping. "Sounds like you guys just exchanged vows." They laughed. Alessandro and I weren't paying them any attention as we looked into each other's eyes. He knew I was married but, nonetheless, he leaned in and pressed his lips against mine.
It felt like I was having my first kiss all over again. Frozen in this moment, I kissed him back and wrapped my arms around his neck. My hands tangled in his hair and his hands gripped my ass, bringing me impossibly closer, savoring this moment.
We didn't care if there were other people around, we devoured each other. This kiss was different... unique. It sent tingles to my core and shivers through my body. The way his tongue massaged the inside of my mouth left me feeling more aroused than ever.
I moaned into his mouth, and he went to squeeze my ass harder. My panties, at this point, were soaked. I was ready to indulge in what this man would give me-- wanted to give me. I had to pull away from the kiss to catch my breath, our lips still hovering over each other's.
He traced ove
r my bottom lip with his thumb and stared down at them. "I can't wait to make this pretty voice of yours sing."
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