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“Are you fucking kidding me, Eric?”
“Excuse me?”
“I can’t believe you actually bought that bullshit,” I bark, infuriated by his thirst for gossip.
Stunned, he lets out a laugh. “What, you’re defending him now?”
“It was a piece of poorly written trash with a pathetic attempt at Photoshop. Do you think that a man who flew back to Manhattan and almost blew a multi-million-dollar business deal would do that if he didn’t love her? Do you honestly think that a man who makes billions of dollars a year would be stupid enough to fuck another business associate when he’s trying to win back the only girl who holds his heart? It’s people like you who keep these fucking tabloids running. Honestly, Eric, I expected more from you.”
“Nikki, I’m sorry, but—”
“No buts, Eric. Stay out of this. Do not poison her mind, you understand? That girl is hurting right now even though she won’t admit it. All your he’s-a-jerk-and-you’ve-got-Julian talk isn’t what she needs right now.”
I storm out of his office, furious at his narrow-minded attitude. Taking in a deep breath, I head toward her office. I don’t knock. There’s no point, so I barge in unannounced.
Charlie is silently typing on her computer. What concerns me is how normal she looks. Her hair is pinned up in a perfect bun, her clothes are neatly pressed, she’s flawlessly made up, and if you didn’t know Charlie like I know her, you would think nothing is wrong at all.
She looks up for a brief moment, stunned to see me but is quick to bow her head and continue typing. The moment she looks into my eyes, it’s there staring me in my face, the sparkle in her eyes has vanished without a trace.
“So what, you’re not even going to talk to me now?”
“What would you like me to say, Nicole?”
Wow, she must be angry to be calling me Nicole.
“Well, for starters, Charlotte, a smart woman like yourself can’t possibly believe the trash printed in that tabloid.”
“Drop it. It’s over.”
“Over? It just fucking began, Charlie!”
She stops typing and adjusts her glasses. The silence is irritating me as I stand there tapping my foot waiting for her response. She lifts her head to meet my gaze as if on autopilot, unable to show any emotion.
“Why do you even care, Nikki? If you take his side, then you might as well go fuck him and to hell with you both. That’s probably what you really want. I saw the way you were looking at him, asking him a thousand questions. He’s yours for the taking.”
The words hurt, there’s no doubting that. At this moment, my rage takes over. I have to leave before I say something I’ll regret. I turn to face her one more time before heading out the door, gritting my teeth as I’m barely able to hold myself together. I’m a lawyer and a damn good one. I fight for a living. I argue with judges until I’m blue in the face, but this is nothing compared to that.
This is my best friend, the one person who I never fight with.
“That man loves you. He’ll do anything for you. Stop being a selfish little bitch and grow up.”
Those are my final words before I storm out of the office.
***
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get her words out of my head. We have never really fought before, and the act itself was enough to bring me down.
Rocky’s hand presses on my shoulders as he gently massages me. “Babe, it’ll work out for them. They both need to get some perspective, and Charlie won’t be thinking clearly right now. Just give her space.”
“Do you think I’m wrong for understanding his side? Does that make me a bad friend?”
“You know as well as I do how that stuff is rubbish. Yeah, I read it for laughs, but I didn’t actually take it seriously. They will work it out, babe. Please stop stressing. I don’t like seeing you like this.”
Charlie avoids me the next few days at work. According to Becky, our intern, she’s busy seeing clients and attending courtroom hearings. The tension in the office is palpable. Eric also avoids me after our blow-out, running scared every time I enter the building, which I’m thankful for because I still want to slap his face with a double-ended dildo and tell him to harden the fuck up.
By Friday afternoon, I can’t wait for the week to officially be over. Emma is inside my office as I pass on notes for an upcoming brief when a commotion stops us. Shrugging her shoulders, Emma informs me she’ll check to see what’s going on. Moments later, she returns, pleading for me to step outside my office before disappearing again.
“Oh, for God’s sake, Emma, I’m not interested in office gossip,” I lecture, head down as I continue reading.
