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This oughta be fun.
I swipe to answer, rolling my legs out of bed as my feet land on the floor.
“Gray, I’m glad I caught you. It’s Jim.”
“Hey, how are you?” He’s a great guy. Easy to get along with, but a hard motherfucker if you cross him. That’s why I hired him. Keira and her Nashville-based lawyer can suck it for all I care. Jim handles it all now, so I don’t have to deal with her crazy texts or any other shit.
I blocked her the second she started texting and emailing me her demands with how we should split things.
“Not going too well, Gray,” he says, and I’m immediately on alert.
Oh, fuck. What did Keira do now? “Shit, what does she want now?” I sigh, feeling an immediate headache coming on.
I don’t know how much I can take with this back-and-forth shit. I want to sign and move on.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Gray. Forgive me. I didn’t mean about your ex-wife. I had a health scare a couple of days ago. My doctor is insisting I take a step back earlier than planned.” I always knew he was semi-retiring in the near future, and there were rumors his daughter was going to follow in his footsteps at his practice if she moved over here.
“Shit, Jim. That’s not good.”
“It was just angina,” he assures me, even though that doesn’t sound good, either. “My daughter will be there on Friday with Regina, she will get her up to speed, just in case I need to go on more permanent leave. I thought you should know.”
“No problem,” I say. “You do what you need to.”
Should he even be in the office after having angina? I don’t know much about these things.
“I’ll keep you posted,” he says, “if anything else happens between now and Friday.”
“Alright. Well, I trust you. I’m sure your daughter will look after me where everything is concerned. Just take care of yourself.”
“She’s the best,” he says, proudly. “And I will, thank you, Grayson.”
“Thanks for the call. I’ll talk to you soon.”
Clicking off, I head to the kitchen for a much-needed coffee to begin my day.
16
Hartley
I’m as settled as a person can be after only a few days of moving cities. Setting up a new apartment, and diving into work head first. I don’t mind the last part, given the circumstances. I was born for a challenge.
Dad, of course, is playing everything down like it was nothing. And it’s typical of him.
I can sense Linda is becoming exasperated, like talking to a brick wall when it comes to even mentioning slowing down. It has to happen. I’m not even sure what it would take for him to slow down at this point; an actual heart attack?
However, he admitted he’d follow doctor’s orders and take a couple of weeks’ rest, only assisting via phone if he was needed. I’ll ensure he won’t be, but he doesn’t need to know that.
My induction is rushed, but it’s to be expected. I barely have time to sit down and only get a brief run down over this precious Mr. Bassett my father loves so much. His divorce has been at the top of several lists, but luckily, we’re pretty much at the signing stage. His appointment is today, so I’m going to get up to date with the details and let dad know what happens later. I take a deep breath, steeling my back as I take in the enormity of the last few days. Just as I’m doing that, I’m surprised when I see my dad walk into the office dressed in a suit and tie.
I’ve just made a coffee for me and Regina. She’s a no-nonsense African-American woman who has been dealing in family law for the past twenty years. She’s a straight shooter, but has also been kind to me, and filled me in on her life story. I can tell we’re going to get along. I think people tend to forget lawyers are people too, and I get we are different when we’re inside the courtroom.
“Dad, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” I say, when he waltzes in with his briefcase and stands in the doorway to my new office, acting like he wasn’t just holed up in hospital after having a heart scare merely four days ago.
“Overseeing,” he says, quite simply.
I fold my arms across my chest.
“Plus, I wanted to see Grayson. I told you he’s a big client, and has become a good friend.”
