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Fury worked all over his face as he twisted his mouth and thought through everything I said. He knows I’m right. He won’t risk ruining his career. Jessica caught my eye and flashed a quick, triumphant smirk.
“All right, I’ll drop the charges and the lawsuit, but you better hold up your end.” His mouth twisted with hatred, he spat on the ground.
My eyes narrowed. “You’ll contact his lawyer tonight. If I don’t hear about this from Will, the deal’s off.”
I stared into his blue orbs until I knew he understood and turned away from the man who wrecked Will’s life. It was hard—really hard—not to run back up the stairs and knee him in the balls a second time, but I wanted this to work. A tiny pathetic part of me hoped that Will would call me when he heard the news.
We closed the doors to my car and sat there in silence for a few moments. I heard Jessica’s head turn against the headrest.
“That was awesome. I’m really proud of you.”
“Thanks.” My facial muscles somehow lifted into a smile. It was almost like I forgot how to do it.
“Now what?” she prompted me.
The car roared to life as I turned the ignition. The possibilities seemed endless—I had outsmarted the criminal defense lawyer who I used to look up to with a mixture of devotion and awe. He was the man who my parents loved, who had somehow gained their approval.
What did they know? He was just an idiot.
“Let’s get a drink.”
“Yeah, sounds good!”
11
The next morning, I woke up with a pounding headache and no memory of how I got into bed. Moaning, I sat up and blinked at the sunlight pouring through the blinds. My mouth wasdry as sandpaper and my eyeballs felt as though they weredipped in acid.
Ugh. Hangover.
I peeked Jessica’s bedroom, but she was not there. I wandered from room to room, searching for her, but she had taken her things and left the apartmentto stay at Luke’s house for the weekend.
I sat in a rickety chair at my kitchen table, listening to the ticking clock hanging on the wall, and drank a tall glass of water as I watched my phone. ThenI dragged my laptop to the kitchen and scrolled through the comments section of an article at CNN about the DUI fiasco:
Rehab for a DUI? What an insult to the victims’ families.
Rich kid heads to rehab, three people head to graveyards.
Not sure why people are blaming him when the article states he was a passenger in the car…
Then I opened a gossip website: Lawyer drops all charges against William Pardini. The comments section comprised of people wondering how much Will paid Ben to drop the charges. Disgusted, I closed the window and opened Photoshop. My first day of work was coming up soon, so there was still nothing to do. The blank, empty canvas stared at me and I glanced at my sketchpad, remembering what I was working on the night I got back from Europe.
I got the idea to make a mock-up of a nonprofit organization against drunk driving. I never designed a whole website, let alone a non-profit, and I wanted to do something for Will to thank him for everything he had done for me. Between Ben’s antics with the photos and Will’s arrest, I didn’t have the time to focus on it.
The pain in my head receded from a dull throb to a slight twinge in my head. I chose a neutral color scheme: soft blues, beige, and white. At the top of the website I made a banner: The William Pardini Foundation. Underneath the banner, I wrote a brief mission statement and cropped a photo of him to place over the text. I was so engrossed in the project I didn’t even notice my phone buzzing until it fell with a loud thump to the floor.
“Shit.”
I dove and answered it.
“Hello, this is Natalie.”
“Good morning, Ms. Porter.”
A ripened, male voice spoke through the cell phone. I knew that I recognized his voice, but I wasn’t sure who he was. Was he perhaps an old client?
“Um—good morning.” I still don't knowwho this is.
“I wanted to thank you for what you did with Mr. Osland. William and I are very grateful.”
