Fixing Him, Fixing Her: A Short Romance Read online

  “I’m really confused right now,” Minnie confessed.

  “Well, you’re welcome.” Becca walked away.

  None the wiser, Minnie stood where she was, holding her keys, feeling her face contort in confusion. She was unsure if that woman had been a total bitch or a real sweetie. Maybe emotional awareness was a big issue for all lawyers.

  “And that dress, it’s really cute on you,” Becca called as she disappeared into the college building.

  Minnie shook her head and smiled, still unsure of what just happened. She got into her car and began the drive back to her home.

  Despite the awkwardness in the office, she definitely felt there was something worth exploring with Graham. He said to aim for the stars, but she needed more than that. She needed to get off her ass, and start traveling.

  I ain’t waiting for nobody.

  A few hours later, Sophia Bennett read the court papers and couldn’t resist a smile, although there was no warmth from within. It was a muted reaction, one she didn’t want to share with anyone. Fate was a twisted thing and she had it on her side this time.

  “Oh, Graham,” she whispered to the paper. “You’re what’s been missing. You’re going to help me make partner.”

  She didn’t love Graham anymore, not one bit. She didn’t even miss his above-average sex. She just wanted what she now believed he could give her. And that other little matter during their divorce—a matter he believed buried—would come in very handy indeed.

  One way or another.

  10

  Minnie waltzed into the restaurant, her blood red dress clinging tightly to her frame and the sounds of her black stilettos piercing the quiet room. She would not have thought twice about the outfit back in the city, but here she felt kind of like a stripper on her way to work.

  As ever, though, she cared nothing for others’ thoughts. All except one person.

  Graham rose from his seat as he watched her walk in, his mouth slightly open.

  “Like what you see?” she asked, smiling.

  He dragged a chair out for her to sit down. “Well, you cleaned up nice earlier,” he said with a naughty smile, “but … umm … wow.”

  “Doofus.” She slapped his arm lightly.

  Settled into her seat, Minnie scanned the restaurant, the place sparsely occupied and the blue table covers waving in the light breeze that blew through the room.

  “So, how was the rest of your day?” she asked, cradling her head in her two palms, elbows on the table.

  “Fine,” he said dismissively. “Hope you’re okay with the rest of the documents.”

  Minnie was taken aback by his answer but quickly gathered herself before he noticed.

  “Oh sh— I mean, damn. I forgot them,” she said feigning upset as she remembered the manila envelope she purposely left on the kitchen counter.

  “That’s okay, I brought mine, we’ll share.” He slipped his hand under the table to bring out his briefcase.

  Minnie’s eyes rolled as he busied himself with the clasps.

  This guy just doesn’t give up.

  Minnie looked around the restaurant searching for a waiter. One appeared from a door on the other side and she motioned for him to come. He delivered two menus but Graham waved his away, busying himself with some papers.

  Minnie sighed and took a look at her menu. She smiled to herself as an idea formed. She immediately signaled for the waiter and quietly placed her order, a devilish smile creeping over her lips.

  Graham raised his eyes from the papers. “Okay, tell me more about the guy who you bought this property from, tell me everything you know.”

  “Hmm, well, his name is Aaron Fletcher. He said he was in debt so he needed to get the property of his hands.”

  Minnie noticed the pale green curtains open around the large windows, and smiled as the pianist in began to play a familiar tune.

  She explained the process of meeting Aaron through a friend of Nathan’s, and how he’d seemed nice, if a little distant, but there were lawyers involved in the paperwork. Unofficially, though. Aaron’s friend. And it was such a bargain to purchase, Minnie hadn’t questioned it. She trusted Nathan’s judgement, and that was good enough. Graham suggested she get in touch to try and contact the guy who handled the paperwork; they might need to subpoena him.

  The waiter came with the first course, the gleam of silverware shinning from his hands. Graham watched, confused, as the young chap placed the soup dish before him.

  “I didn’t order anything,” he said a bit irritated. “I was happy with my coffee.”

  “Your girlfriend placed the order for you sir,” the waiter informed him.

  “She’s not my girlfriend.” Graham gave an embarrassed chuckle.

  But the waiter had already started retreating to the kitchen, smiling at what he clearly perceived as a misunderstanding.

  “You shouldn’t have ordered anything,” Graham said.

  “Well, I did so eat up.” Minnie took a spoon of the minestrone. “Mmm. So good.” Minnie noticed Graham looking at his plate of soup, the fresh Parmesan cheese melting from the heat. “Eat up.”

  Graham took a spoon and swallowed slowly. Immediately, he reached for another.

  Minnie laughed. “Told you it was good.”

  “Just this meal and we continue with the case.”

  “Sure,” Minnie replied, the wicked smile returning.

  They had two more courses, Graham helping Minnie finish her Sirloin steak while Minnie tried to convince him that she could make a better crème brûlée than the one they were served.

  Both of them walked out of the restaurant, unconsciously holding on to each other, arms intertwined.

  “You totally played me,” Graham said.

  “You enjoyed it though.”

  Graham chuckled a little and nodded in agreement. They walked down the sidewalk, moonlight illuminating their way.

  It wasn’t like the city here. Although not entirely devoid of street lighting, the town spaced the lamps further apart to save money, which meant light pollution was less of an issue. At one of the darker spots, Minnie looked up to the skies and pointed at a star constellation, one with three in a row and others branching off.

  “Orion, right?” she asked Graham.

  Graham looked at her, looking surprised and impressed. “Somebody’s studying the stars with me.”

  “Well, I try.”

  Graham smiled a little, his fingers intertwined with Minnie’s. “Okay, I’ll point at a star and if you tell me its name, I owe you whatever you want.”

  “Deal.”

  He raised his right hand to the sky and indicated a white spot in the ink-blue night. “Which is that?”

  Minnie twisted her eyebrows and closed her eyes tightly, thinking and trying to remember the article she read before dinner. She raised her hand and traced imaginary patterns in the sky.

  “It’s the North Star,” she said confidently.

  “I’ll be damned. You’re correct.” Graham narrowed his eyes in surprise. “So, I owe you something.”

  “Mmm hmm.”

  They walked in silence for a while, a cool breeze constantly blowing and the streetlights glowing over the empty streets.

  “I think I know what I want,” Minnie said.

  “What?”

  The words barely left his mouth when Minnie leaned in to lock her lips with his, her arms around his neck. His eyes widened in shock but then he grew comfortable almost immediately and began to respond to the movement of her lips. Her tongue traced patterns in his mouth, rolling and drawing while his hands ran down her neck, to her backside. Graham released himself as he leaned in further to kiss her neck, when a voice interrupted them.

  “Graham?” someone called from across the street.

  They immediately stopped as Graham turned to see who it was, the barely visible figure made across the street. Coming into the light, a man wearing a black jacket reached them.

  “It’s been forever!”
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  Graham looked at the man, confusion written all over his face. Minnie’s face burned angrily at the interruption, but she held her tongue.

  “I see you’re doing really well without Sophia,” the man said smiling and winking not so subtly at Minnie.

  Minnie bowed her head, unable to meet the man’s eye, but she managed to watch Graham struggle for words. She squinted as she tried to process the female name the strange man had just mentioned.

  “Oh, ehh … Jim. Wow. It’s been so long. Jim. How’s … how’s everything?” Graham stuttered.

  “I’ve been swell, the firm is going very well but really I wanna know about you? You know, the whole divorce mess.” Jim took no notice off Graham signaling him to stop talking.

  “I’m good,” Graham said in resignation, plainly conscious of the damage that had been done.

  “Word on the street is you guys are gonna meet in court soon. You’re my hero man, you moved on so damn well.” Jim patted Graham on his shoulders.

  Minnie’s knees weakened as the floor began to spin, her head heavy and still trying to process what she had just heard. Dots connected like the pattern she had drawn earlier to discover the North Star: Graham’s rush to represent her, his total commitment to the case, keeping her at arm’s length.

  He didn’t want to help her; he wanted his own revenge.

  She watched as Jim talked some more to Graham, him reluctant to engage in the conversation and giving Jim one word answers. They ended the discussion with a quick man-hug and Jim bounced away, looking back occasionally to give Graham a wave.

  An awkward silence fell over Minnie and Graham, tension thick enough for a knife to get stuck in.

  When Minnie’s voice emerged, it was quiet, anger brewing in its depths. “When were you going to tell me?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I just goddamn kissed you.” Her voice rose slightly.

  “That was real,” he replied, his head down like a toddler rebuked.

  “You used me.” The anger now bubbled to the surface, her eyes glossy from the tears that she willed not to fall. “Hell, you’re still using me!”

  Graham didn’t say anything, his hands buried in his pocket and his head still bowed.

  “You just want to get back at your ex-wife. I’m just a pawn in this game. It’s all about your revenge.”

  “No.” Graham held one hand up. “Not revenge. Just … I don’t know what it is.”

  “Well I see why she left you, you God forsaken piece of shit!” She was screaming now, the tears held in check.

  Do not cry in front of this asshole.

  She looked at him, her lips quivering with sadness.

  “I think … I really like you,” he said quietly. “It’s the sort of thing that can … I hope … turn to something more. A lot more.”

  “What?!” she yelled. “After one day? Don’t be absurd! You just know how to make it about yourself, Graham. Goodbye and don’t you dare come after me or call me about anything that isn’t about the case.”

  “Wait.” Graham frowned. “You still want me as your lawyer.”

  “Believe me, if I wasn’t desperate, I’d chuck you in the garbage where you belong. But I got too much to lose to let something like this screw my business over. An asshole lawyer is better than no lawyer. Especially since he’s free.”

  She walked away down the street alone, her sniffles filling the night’s silence, furious she had no choice but to see him again.

  11

  Sophia got out of her sports car as she removed her sunglasses.

  The bright sunlight shone on her red car and the skies were clear, the court building stood out from the others on the road, its giant pillars rising high.

  “What a good day to win a case,” she said to herself.

  She tucked her hair behind her ears and headed to the court building. She watched people go in and out, most with briefcases and large files.

  She walked in and her eyes met Lindsey whom she had ordered to be there early.

  “Good morning ma’am,” Lindsey said, standing from the chair outside one of the courtrooms and presenting a takeout coffee cup.

  “Yes, Lindsey, you’re here. Hope you have everything?” she asked, accepting the cup.

  “Yes, got it all but there’s something that just came up.”

  “And what is that?”

  “The paralegals and assistants in this town, we have a kind-of unofficial network. It’s fluid. We meet for coffee sometimes, cocktails occasionally, usually eight or nine of us, different faces ’cause, hey, we’re all busy, right? Anyway—”

  “Linds?”

  “Yep?”

  “You’re babbling. I thought you’d stopped that. Get to the point.”

  “A friend of mine, she says the defendant’s lawyer is a bit more confident than he should be. If the defendant has original copies of ownership and real proof of payment, she could walk away free and even issue a countersuit.”

  “Well, I know the defendant’s lawyer. Intimately. He’s not smart enough to hide something like that from discovery. Not legally anyway. Nothing is gonna go wrong here.” Sophia turned to scan the hallway. “Speaking of that, where is he?”

  There you are.

  Graham’s brown hair, run through with more grey than when she last saw him, appeared well styled and his skin boasted a particular glow to it. He wandered down to where they were standing, his briefcase swinging to his confident steps.

  “Hello, Sophia.”

  “Graham, I see teaching is serving you well.”

  “Oh yes, decided to spread my wings. Practice a bit. Can’t hurt to have some up-to-date experience.” Graham plastered a fake smile on his face.

  “Well, dreamers who are satisfied with the moon don’t tend to fare so well with those of us who live in the stars,” Sophia said coldly.

  Graham smiled at the thinly veiled threat. She’d always hated his stargazing hobby, and called him “small” for lacking any real ambition in the world. A shame the partners looked down on her for divorcing him.

  “We shall see,” he said. “Let me go wait for my client.”

  Graham headed for a vending machine to order what Sophia predicted would be an average, rather disappointing cup of tea.

  12

  Minnie stumbled into the court building, straightening her plaid skirt on her way. She then reached for her hair and tried to make it as neat as possible.

  Graham approached her quickly, worry written all over his face.

  “Why are you so late?” he asked.

  “Don’t even bother. I am here for you to defend me as my lawyer and nothing more. Don’t ask me stupid questions.”

  “Okay.” He raised his hands in surrender. “Let’s go into the courtroom”

  He showed her the way in, through security, and then another ID check from the bailiff on the door.

  Inside, the state seal behind the raised desk at the front of the room loomed large and proud, an intimidating presence even without a judge sat before it. Minnie followed Graham to the defending table where he unloaded his briefcase. She looked to her right and her eyes met three women hovering together and talking in low tunes. One of them was Sophia Bennett but she did not recognize the others. She guessed one was the plaintiff.

  “I don’t want to do it!” one woman on the other side hissed quietly.

  Minnie folded her eyebrows, wondering what the problem was.

  “All rise,” came the court officer’s order.

  Everyone stood as the judge breezed in from her back room, decked out in black and carrying herself in a neat compact frame. In her fifties, greying, and serious as granite, the woman certainly held an air of authority over the gathering.

  “Court is now in session,” came the official announcement. “Judge Madeleine Prouse presiding. Please be seated.”

  Sophia was the opener with her statement of intent, delivered from behind the desk, not like on TV where the lawyers stride around like peaco
cks, flailing their arms and intoning like it was a Shakespeare play. It was very dry stuff, actually, a lot of bamboozling twisting of facts, of emphasizing how much her client was put out by the whole affair, and citing case after case of precedents.

  Minnie zoned out, watching the time go buy, drifting in and out of reality, thinking of the bombshells she received in the build-up—the fact Graham was once married to their opponent, that he kept it from her, and more; that Sophia rarely lost, that she bent the rules constantly to facilitate a win no matter the circumstances … without ever actually breaking the law, of course.

  At least, not so anyone could prove it.

  Sophia concluded with the central point: “My client has lost the opportunity to sell this property at a record price and also lost three months of rent. Miss McArthur must drop her claim to ownership, pay the back rent, and also damages amounting to one million dollars to compensate for the fraud she has perpetrated.”

  Minnie said, “Fraud…” but held herself in check. Graham warned her Sophia would do this.

  Graham’s ex flashed him a devilish smile as she sat. Then it was his turn.

  “Your honor, my client purchased this property legally. She had no knowledge of the ownership of Miss Fletcher. This case is not one we should waste time on because my client is well within the law.”

  He went on to outline how Aaron Fletcher is unreachable, but there was plenty of evidence to show the sale was legal due to the original ownership being so murky, and ended his statement explaining that even if his client could not be the owner, the fraud is Aaron Fletcher’s, so damages must be demanded from him.

  He sat, and must have noticed Minnie’s glazed expression.

  “What’s wrong? Your head isn’t here,” he said quietly, as Sophia prepared herself.

  “You’re what’s wrong,” Minnie said. “You played me. What if I lose this case? I go bankrupt and your little game explodes in your face.”

  “Well, it won’t. Trust me.”

  “You can see where trusting you got me.”

  Graham sighed and leaned back into his seat, listening to Sophia speak some more on her client’s claims—points of contract law, of property rights. She then called Minnie for cross-examination.

  “Can the defendant please enter the witness box,” the judge said as she put on her round framed glasses.