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He owns an aviation consulting firm and makes a lot of money. He has no close family and has never been married. He does have five women of varying ages that take care of him; however, he refuses to commit to any of them. I do hope those women have another form of income, because they will be losing him as a source soon.

Unfortunately for them, he strangled his employee over money she stole from him, and then let himself get filmed bragging about it. So stupid when you think about it because he had so many alternatives to murder. Like, maybe a conversation with her? Or reporting her to the authorities? But after having dealt with him, I know rational thoughts are probably too much of a sophisticated task for him.

As I am walking out of the courtroom, Richard appears beside me. He reminds me of an annoying fly that buzzes in your ear, the one you can never act in time to swat it. Those flies love to stay all up in your house and food, as if they pay your bills.

I ignore him as I walk towards the elevator, even taking out my phone to check the emails I got during trial. I mentally make a to-do list of preparations for this case tomorrow. I speed up my walking, so Richard is now falling behind me like an annoying child looking for attention.

“Joyce. I was wondering if you—”

“No.”

I glance at him from the corner of my eye and see he appears to be shocked. I shake my head and think, there goes that ridiculous ego. Why did God give him those smoking hot good looks but the shittiest personality?

“You didn’t even let me—”

“I don’t care.”

I should be more stressed about this case, but I didn’t even want to take it in the first place. My boss consistently assigns me cases with the worst type of people. He knows I’m good at my job, in fact, this may be the first case in a long time that I lose. Not that it’s my fault my client let himself get caught on film.

Damn. There goes my streak. What makes it even worse is that I will be losing to this idiot. How embarrassing.

“Joyce, I know you are still hurt, but let me—”

I abruptly stop walking, and Richard bumps into me. I turn around then lean into him until we are almost nose to nose. His eyes widen, and he takes a step back, looking at me as though I’ve lost my mind. Little does he know, I’m pretty sure I lost it a long time ago. Usually, I just ignore him, but I’ve had enough of him trailing me and trying to act like we have anything more to talk about.

Hurt?

Is this man insane? I don’t even think about him anymore. But with him bothering me like this, I start thinking back to that time. Not to the break-up, but the case I was prosecuting when it all went to shit. I lost more than just that case, and I was depressed and needed support; instead of comfort, I found him in bed with another woman. I left both him and the State Attorney’s office after that. I couldn’t even work for a while afterwards because I could barely get out of bed.

When I finally needed money again, I tried to get a new job, but a lot of lawyers wouldn’t hire me at their firm. Which sucked because I wouldn’t go back to being a prosecutor. I ended up settling for working for my current boss—Craig Warner. I am grateful to have an income, but the longer I work for him, the more I have murderous daydreams. I can see why no one else wants to work for him. I was just a sucker in need of a job and fell right into his lap.

Not literally, of course.

I tilt my head, smiling widely at him. “Richard, Richard, Richard. Why do I always have to repeat myself to you? Hm?”

“I just wanted a chance to—”

It’s like it goes through one ear and out the other. “You should really refrain from bothering me. Consider this a complimentary warning while I’m still being nice. If you try talking to me again and it’s not about work, my patience will run out. Understand?”

“Well, I really think—”

Still smiling, I take another threatening step towards him. “Do you understand?”

He hesitates, then finally answers, “Yes.” It’s good that he hesitated. I’m not a violent person by any means, but I do know how to fight because of the environment I grew up in. He knows I can throw a mean right hook. He was on the other end of it when I caught him cheating with my former best friend. There’s a special place in Hell for them both.

I nod, then turn to press the button to the elevator. It opens five seconds later. I stroll inside, turn around and click the first floor.

I wave at him as the elevator door closes and say, “Perfect. See you tomorrow.”

When the door finally shuts, I let out a deep breath and lean against the elevator wall. Today has just been one annoyance after another. Between my hair not cooperating with me this morning, dealing with my annoying client, and the surprise witness that blew up my case—my day couldn’t get any worse.

Twenty seconds later, I walk out the elevator. When I step outside, I head directly to my car, Caroline. No specific reason for the name, I just thought it was pretty. I’ve had her for over ten years. It will be one of my hardest goodbyes when I have to buy a new vehicle.

When I reach my car, I notice a scratch on the driver’s side door. I lean down to take a closer look and see a dent too. I stare at the mark for five seconds. Then ten. A minute goes by before I finally look up to the sky and let out an ear-piercing scream.

When I’m done, I shake my head, open my door, and throw my purse in the passenger seat. I drop myself in the driver’s seat and start the car. Still trying to calm myself down, I pull out of the parking lot.

It's just a car.