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The message ate me up inside. It was so stupid that I was jealous of his family members for being able to spend time with him. Forget the fact the plane ride back home was the most horrible plane ride ever, and I blamed my puffy eyes and nose on allergies when I walked in. I don’t know if anyone believed me, but no one questioned me. I’ve never once since I’ve been here suffered from allergies. But that was my cover story and that’s what I was going with.
Seeing Kristal isn’t in, I walk into my own office, going to my desk, putting down my coffee and my phone, before walking over and shrugging off my jacket. “Good morning.” Kristal dips her head into my office. “I thought for sure you would be at home working.”
“I thought about it, I’m starting trial prep today to get ready for next week. It’s easier to do it here,” I tell her, and she nods at me.
“Wish me luck.” She holds up her fingers, crossing them. “I have a hearing in an hour regarding a motion that I filed and I hope the judge grants it.”
“All the good mojo.” I smile at her as she rushes to her office.
I pick up my phone to call Stone, who answers after three rings and sounds out of breath. “Hey, gorgeous.”
“Hey, are you busy? You want to call me back?” I ask him, turning to look out the window.
“No, I’m just on the bike,” he says. “I have practice in an hour, so I have to get off anyway. How did you sleep?”
“Good,” I reply, instead of saying, “I slept horribly because you weren’t here and I kept thinking about how this whole thing is going to work because you live there and I live here.” “You?”
“Yeah, good,” he says, and I can tell from his tone that he’s disconnected a bit. Sort of like he’s unsure about everything, and he’s not the only one. “You have a busy day ahead of you?”
“I do.” I lean back in my chair. “Don’t you have a game tonight?”
“I do, and then we take off for three games, coming back next week. Have you checked your calendar?”
“I did. I don’t think I can swing it by next weekend. I’m in court all next week, after we present closing arguments, the jury will deliberate, and they could come back with a verdict at any moment. I have to be close by.” I close my eyes, knowing if the roles were reversed, I would be pissed.
“I can’t do anything in the next couple of months,” he says. “Between being on the road and the home games, everything is crunched together. There are also the playoffs we have to worry about.”
“We’ll talk about it later.” I push it aside, knowing we both have to head to work, and worrying about this now is not something we need.
“Yeah, I guess so.” His tone is as frustrated as I feel.
“Have a great day. Call me later.” I try to sound upbeat, but somehow, even I know I sound defeated.
I hang up the phone, putting it down on my desk before grabbing the coffee I brought to work. I take a long sip of the coffee, trying not to think too much about it because all I’ve been doing about it is realizing that the two of us just can’t work, and if it will work, it will be a long-distance relationship. Now that I’ve gotten to know him, been with him, woken up with him, shared time with him, I know I don’t want that.
There is no time to think about that, so I turn on my computer and prepare for trial. There are so many things to do in order to get ready for next week.It’s crunch time for me; everyone handles the way they prep things differently.
With me, I always start with reading the brief again before starting on my opening arguments, then reviewing depos, witness statements, and evidence.
I open the brief, grabbing my cup of coffee to take a sip. I’m in the middle of putting down the cup when I freeze in my tracks. I’m shocked when I see a mistake, and it’s not just a little mistake like a typo. It’s a fucking colossal mistake.
My body feels like it turns to stone, my neck gets hot as I put the cup down. “No-no-no-no-no,” I chant over and over as I pull up the case law I cited in the brief.I close my eyes for a second when I see it’s a colossal mistake.
I pick up the phone right away and call Gary, my boss and the district attorney.His secretary picks up after two rings. “Hi, Ryleigh, how are you?”
“I’m good,” I say, but really I’m the opposite of good. My stomach feels like it’s going to be sick, my heart races so hard and fast I don’t even know if I can talk without freaking out. “It’s urgent that I talk to Gary.”
“One second, he just got off the phone,” she says, putting me on hold. My leg bounces as I wait for him to pick up.
“Ryleigh,” Gary greets when he picks up the phone, “what can I do for you?”
“Gary,” I hiss, “I fucked up on the Robert Phillips case.”
“Define fucked up,” he prods, his voice tight as I proceed to tell him what I fucked up with the case.
“Did you call Brenda?” He mentions the judge’s assistant.
“No, I called you first to inform you,”I answer softly, waiting for it.
