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Money Bags Asshole:Hey, stranger.
It’s simple and to the point.
I place my plate on the couch knowing my mother would fuss at me if she were here.
Me:Hey there. Was just thinking of you.
Was that too much? Did I come off too strong? A return text interrupts my thoughts before I can overthink.
Money Bags Asshole:Really? Same here. I don’t have long to chat, but I have a Lynol Inc issue to resolve and will be in New York tomorrow. Would you like to get dinner?
New York? Xan? My entire body breaks out in an instant need for the man. I don’t have to think of a response.
Me:That can be arranged.
I send it and realize he won’t hear the humor in my text and as if this is my first crush ever, I begin to overthink it again.
Money Bags Asshole:Look at you and your sweet words. Okay, I’ll text you tomorrow. Have a good night.
The conversation is over but a part of me is excited yet it’s warring with my apprehensive side. Is this yet another night we’ll share where I won’t want to walk away from what we could be? If my now-self told my twenty-year-old self I’d pine over Xander Lynol, I would have backhanded him, but here we are. And I don’t regret it.
* * *
“Clark?”Jasper sneaks in past Liza, who is very protective of my time. It’s been nice to see him again, and we’ve even had dinner a couple of times. I’d been afraid he’d expect the arrangement from law school, but our friendship is strictly just that, friendship. “You have a second?” he asks.
I have had three overseas meetings pop up on me throughout the day, and all I want to do is finish my work and spend the evening with Xan. But telling Jasper no is like telling Rex no. And I would never do that.
“Yeah, come in. What’s up?”
Jasper is fun and always has a joke on the tip of his tongue but his grimace takes over his face. It’s actually worse when he steps closer, and I wonder when he last slept. “Jas, you okay?”
He drops a file on my desk and answers with an impersonal nod as permission to open it. I see the mistake right away, and my heart falls, hoping it’s not true.
“Yeah, you see the problem. And before you ask, it’s my mistake.”
Not only could it get him fired, but it’s possible he may get disbarred, along with costing our firm millions of dollars.
“It’s just not a mistake, but it’s a colossal fuck-up of a mistake, you know.”
This I know, and I’m unsure how to respond. “Anyway, I’m sure I’ll be the talk of the entire firm, and I wanted you to know, from me that yes, I fucked up and I’ll accept my consequences.”
“It could have happened to anyone, Jas.” And it’s true.
“Yeah, but it happened to me. I don’t want to lose you as my friend. But I’m sure you’ll hear a lot of rumors, this way you know the truth.”
“You’re my friend, and that won’t change,” I assure him.
“Can you keep this between us for now?” he asks.
“No one will find out anything from me, I promise.”
He gives me a jut of his head as he leaves. My heart breaks for my friend, but I know Jasper enough, if he could make it through foster care, he’ll make it through this, too, and somehow, I believe his story is just beginning.
* * *
I’mdeep in one of three dissolutions I’m assigned to this month alone. Not to mention paperwork from last month I’ve not closed out due to last-minute equity that wasn’t allotted on the final contracts. My caseload has almost doubled, and this location doesn’t assign two people to each case, as in Minneapolis. My income may have doubled, but the cost of living is so much higher. Still, I don’t regret my decision to move to the city I’ve loved since the first time I visited when I was only six.
The one perk of this new position is I have my own paralegal, and she’s spot on. She knows what I need before I have the chance to ask. She’s very protective of my time, and for that, I appreciate it. When she knocks on the door two hours into my workday, I’m happy with my progress and hope she’s brought me a mid-morning coffee. I look up and it’s not Liza but the man I’ve hated most of my life, until recently.
