Everything Started Here With You

Why Can't It Be Over?

"Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change."

-- Confucius

"He's dead?"

"Mhm."

"Good. Serves the bastard right. I knew something was wrong with him."

"Kera..."

"Fine. It saddens me to know your little boyfriend died. Are you coming back to Queens?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Just because. I won't be flying back to New York anyway. I have more important things to do overseas."

"You aren't going to mess with Asher's family, are you? You know he's crazy when it comes to his family."

"Yeah. Everyone knows. I'll call when I've left."

"Whatever."

My heart raced as I looked through the cases I had coming up. Murders. Suicides. Divorces. Burglaries. Too many to catch up on. Jacobi was going to be so pissed with me. I had taken on more than I could handle. My clients were coming to me back to back. I'd already had five clients and I haven't been working for more than three hours.

"Hello, this is Attorney Davis, how may I help you?"

"Hi, my name is Jordan Baschet. I heard you were a good enough lawyer."

"...Where'd you hear that from?" I asked. "Recommendation?"

"Maybe. Is this the right Attorney Davis?"

"Mhm."

"Great, great. I have a little favor to ask. If you're not swamped, I want to know if you have time to see me if we could set up an appointment."

"I can take a raincheck and call you back. Do you want to make one today or..."

Jordan cleared his throat. "Uhh...Tomorrow? It's not too important. I could tell you over the phone, but I don't know who's listening."

"Why don't you come in right now? I can spare a couple of minutes."

"That would be amazing."

"I'll see you soon."

 "See you in a bit."

I hung up and leaned back in my chair. Jordan Baschet. Who are you and why does your name sound so familiar?

💉💧💦

I never thought I'd be thinking everything that's happened to people was ever my fault. I assumed that life played out how it should be. Is that the same thing as believing in everything happening for a reason? I wouldn't know. I don't think like that. It's hard to realize the truth in things that you had nothing to do with directly. It's what made me realize that of course everything that's been happening for the past couple of weeks have somehow been my fault.

"So...how was it?"

"How was what?"

"The case? How'd it go?"

"...Fine."

"Fine? What's that supposed to mean?"

"...We won. Our client was disappointed you didn't show."

"I should be more disappointed and angry."

"You're angry? Ah, that's so unlike you, Mrs. Williams."

"When your father-in-law suddenly calls for you...it's best you answer. Especially when he's been to jail for a bunch of things I'd never do. But it's whatever. It's over now and we already won, so..."

"Hey, at least we got her away from her husband. We presented your evidence and won. You should be proud of us."

"I am proud. Just wanted to be there."

"I can say we wanted you to be there too. Imagine the look on his face when we told the judge she had evidence of how he treated her."

"I think I know how he looked."

I guess that's that. I have more cases to work on and I'm sure I don't have to go back to California. If so, then Hayden was going alone.

"Hey, what are you and the girls doing for lunch?" I asked.

"I don't know. Probably going across town." Stacey shrugged. "Jacobi did give us an hour for lunch today. I suggest you go out with your friends. They've been calling the office all morning."

"Ahaha. Sorry."

"I'm not complaining, just letting you know."

"Fine. I expect us all to go out tomorrow."

Stacey laughed and left my office. There was two hours left before we headed to lunch. I'm probably just going to go back to the house. I wanted to see the girls, but they were a little too rowdy sometimes. I needed peace and quiet before the kids got back from their camps or whatever.

Just as I was about to leave my office for a quick coffee break, my phone rang. I was going to leave it, but I saw the name that flashed across the screen. Why was he calling me? We agreed not to speak to each other unless we were forced to. Was this an exception?

"What?" I barked. "I thought we agreed we didn't know each other."

"We did, but that doesn't matter right now." Hayden sighed. "I got a call from Asher. He said Lexi and Luca have to go to court Wednesday."

"Okay...Why is that my problem?"

"It's not your problem. It's just that she might lose her kids. Do you know how bad that is for us? Lexi needs motivation to keep fighting for her life."

"You think she might kill herself if she loses her kids?"

"No. That's not at all what I'm saying," Hayden exclaimed. "You know how we were after the drive and we found out Jackson had it? He plans on snitching to the government."

"No, he doesn't! I got off the phone with him this morning. He said he was going overseas. Why would he risk being caught himself?"

"...You're not understanding me, Sha'Kera."

"Right. Of course. Why don't you come see me for lunch and we'll talk about it, hm?"

"Sure. Whatever."

Oh. What's with him today? Hayden hung up without another word. That's not nice.

No more than twenty minutes later I found myself sitting in front of Jordan Baschet. I tried to figure out how and where I'd heard his name. I'd never seen his face before, but it seemed like I'd know him for years. Was he one of Hayden's many friends? Hmm...Derek's?

"Hey, sorry I'm a little late," he apologized. "Forgot I had a quick appointment with a friend."

"It's fine. I'm on my lunch break in a couple of minutes anyway. Why don't you tell me what's up?"

Jordan pulled out a folder from his briefcase and handed it to me. I wasn't going to look at it. I was running out of time before lunch.

"Tax fraud. And it's...a friend."

Ooh, I like me some tax fraud. This should be fun.

"What'd you do?" I asked.

"What did I do?" Jordan laughed. "I didn't do anything. The truth never hurt nobody."

"And what was said truth?

"And why do you need to know?

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Just a week until I graduate. I can't wait. Like I may have mentioned before, the ceremony is going to be live and I'm hoping I don't trip or get caught doing anything crazy. Anyway, love you all and hope you're all safe and healthy.

⚜Author-nim⚜