Guilty

Ch-17

Then I set to call Chelsea Grant, my client.
She picked up on the third ring and I set the call on loudspeaker while proofreading some documents.
“Hello?”, came a soft voice over the line.
“Hello. Chelsea, this is Sultana Shanaz. You spoke to my assistant last week about the divorce and custody case you wanted me take.”
“Yes, of course. I wanted to get this over with at the earliest possible time. One of my friends recommended you. She said you were the best if I wanted to keep my kids with me.”
“That’s very kind of you to say, Chelsea but as a person with a conscience, I need to ask you this only once. Are you sure about the whole thing? The custody battle is going to be hard on the entire family. I can’t promise you the win even though the odds are in my favor.”, I asked in all seriousness.
“I understand. I have thought this through and want to proceed.”
“Have you talked to your kids? They might need to make a decision in court.”
“I want to protect the kids as much as possible. They shouldn’t have to go through this. Graham and I tried to fix the relationship but it didn’t work. Graham is not a good dad. He is hardly ever home to take care of the kids. He is a stranger to them. The kids would suffer if he had custody.”, she implored me.
“I get it, Chelsea. I will ask my assistant to call you and schedule a meeting with you. You will have my priority.”
“Thank you.”, she replied relieved.
“And I know it’s not my place to say but divorce is a trying ordeal. You should talk to someone. You have to be mentally prepared to see this through. You should go together and visit a therapist with the kids. They will need you now more than ever.”, I said even though it was not my responsibility. I felt like I needed to get her through this. I felt very strongly about this.
I hung up she promised me to go and see the therapist. Nate was watching me curiously when I finally lifted my eyes to meet his gaze. His mouth was tilted slightly, just slightly upward.
“Are you always this way with clients?”
“Mostly yes. I want my clients to come back to me in the future and also recommend me to others.”, I said dryly.
“Bullshit! You wanted to help that woman. You can lie about it but we both know that you cared.”
“Maybe Nate. But I care only as long as she is my client.”, I replied unwilling to back down.
“So you act badly only with me?”, he asked fascinated.
“Yes, I agree you bring out the worst in me.”, I agreed acknowledging the fact that I had put him down many times. I had hurt him, been cruel to him but there was no repentance to be found.
We were both lost in our work and Suzi came in with lunch later. We thanked her and she gave me a meaningful look while pointing a finger towards Nate who was scanning through one of the Indian Vogue magazines on my desk.
Maybe he liked celebrity gossip? Who knew?
After lunch, we stretched my arms and said, “It’s time.” as if we were going to war. I suppose we were going to a battlefield in many ways.
We rode down both of us nervous and jittery. Adrenaline was coursing through my veins. When we reached the underground garage, Nate moved ahead of me to get to his car.
I stopped him short.
“We are not going in your car.”
“Fine then. Where’s yours?”, he asked nonplussed searching the garage for my Mercedes.
“We are not going in it either. When we are about to go to war, we need ammunition. Watch closely, Greyson.”
I said and pressed the button as a sleek blue automated car stopped in front of us. Nate’s eyes grew rounded like saucers.
“Is that what I think it is?”
“It’s a Lamborghini Gallardo, yes.”, I said proudly. It was one of my most precious possessions. Technically it belonged to Vince but I had been paying him every month to buy it from him. I figured I could use it to rescue his godson.
He got in still quite not over the fact that he was riding in this car. I took a deep breath and started the engine. The car accelerated to 60 as smooth as butter. I almost whimpered in pleasure. God! This car was powerful.
“Now we’re ready.”, I whispered easing into the traffic.