Page 58 of Apparently, I’m A B!tch

“Oh, my two favorite girls.” Maggie flew into the kitchen with an energy that should’ve been illegal given that it wasn’t even eight o’clock yet. She flicked a perfectly manicured finger in my direction. “We need to talk about your case.”

“What about it?”

“It’s about your request for forensics to comb through the audio file and release the security footage for our viewing.” She slapped the tabletop. “It’s being done.”

“That’s great.” Kelly bounced on her heels. “Finally, some movement with this damn case.”

Maggie nodded as I asked, “So when do I get to see them?”

“You’ll get the tapes today. They’re being sent over by courier. As for the audio file, that’ll be next week. But Nikki.” Maggie leaned on the small table between us and the exit. “I don’t want you to get your hopes up. These sexual offense cases are notoriously difficult. The victim often never manages to prove their attacker did it, and this woman somehow pulled off some compelling evidence. This was to be an open and shut case, with your client taking the hit.”

“I understand. I wasn’t surprised when Harvey handed this case to me. It was supposed to be an obvious loss.”

“It may still be.”

“Oh hey, wait a second,” Kelly said, taking a step toward Maggie. “I don’t think it will be. Nikki’s been working hard on this evidence review, and I think she’s onto something. I think Harvey might’ve been wrong about this one.”

Maggie’s brows raised and mine followed suit. I could tell Maggie was holding back her laughter as she said, “Well, if you say so Kelly. I’ve no reason to doubt your expertise, after all.”

As Maggie turned and left, Jake made his way inside and scoffed, clearly having heard Kelly. “Nik’s just too stubborn to take the loss, Kel.” He pushed by me, making his way to the coffee pot. He must’ve been boycotting Extra Shot too. “You should know by now that Harvey’s going to win this bet. You’ll be back to working for him in no time.”

I frowned up at Jake, narrowing my glance. The bags under his eyes were deeper, his skin paler and drier than ever. “If Harvey takes Kelly back, then you’ll be working with me again. Is that what you want?”

He scoffed and covered his lips with his mug. “You think I would ever want to work for you again? No way. I’m working my ass off for Harvey right now so he can assign me under one of the other associates instead of you. I want him to beat you and knock you on your ass, then I’ll never have to deal with you again.”

He took a drink of his coffee, smiling smugly down at it as he said, “And that speech you’re going to give better be a good one. I can’t wait to hear it.”

Kelly clucked her tongue as I let out a laugh. After last night, this back and forth with Jake was almost fun.

“Jake, that isn’t fair. You were just saying on Friday that working for Harvey was way tougher than working for Nikki. You want to leave her high and dry like that? After she spent months taking it easy on you?”

He scoffed and spun, taking Kelly in as if seeing her for the first time. “Where did that come from? Do you like The Cutter now or something?”

Behind Jake, I flashed Kelly a cheesy smile and it made her laugh.

Jake looked from her to me and back to Kelly. “Kel, no. She’s been trying to get me fired for months, and she got me kicked out of Extra Shot, and–”

“Nuh-uh, you got yourself kicked out of Extra Shot after talking all that crap about the girl in front of her man. And you’re still here, aren’t you? So what are you actually complaining about? Suck it up and move on.” She turned and muttered under her breath, “Spending all your time complaining about how hard it is working for Harvey, as if I didn’t already know that.”

Jake jerked back; his eyes wide as he looked down at us. He left the kitchen without another word, shaking his head.

I laughed and picked my mug up from its perch on the counter. “Well, my shitty day just turned around. Thanks, Kel.”

She rolled her eyes, making me like her that much more. “Don’t thank me yet. We still have a case to win.”

I beamed at her as we left the kitchen together. We had a busy day ahead of us, with case files to review before I met my parents for lunch.