Breakout

Chapter 1

Fatima had her coffee from her favourite café, her laptop, phone and notepad ready for her meeting with her client.

She looked around the conference room making sure everything was in its place and double checking that she had everything she needed. This client was make or break for her career, making partner was riding on this case and she was prepared.

She pulled her MacBook open and opened her email, smiling when she saw an email from her client. The smile was short lived when she saw the email header.

Notification of Suspension of Legal Services

Fatima blinked and refocused her attention on her laptop screen but the words didn't change. She tried swallowing the lump in her throat, but her mouth was too dry.

She thought about the months of hard work she'd poured into this project, the late nights and most importantly how much this would derail her plans of becoming a partner.

How six simple words could affect her so much? Fatima hated that tears pricked the corner of her eyes.

There had been setbacks over the years, hell some of the setbacks in the past were objectively worse than her project being delayed another few months. She'd been removed from a much larger project before this one and that hadn't stung as much as much as the words emblazoned on her screen.

She knew why they hurt so much. They gutted her because this was her baby, she'd lobbied for this project and she'd seen this as a chance to prove that she was ready to be a partner. Fatima pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to ward off the panic that suffocated her.

Sighing she picked up her phone and called the one person who always knew how to make things better no matter how catastrophic they seemed. The same person who without fail or much effort on his part could bring a smile to her face and she breathed a sigh of relief when he picked up after only two rings.

It was just after two in the afternoon, and he was definitely at work.

"What it do baby," Zac answered, his voice causing her to shift and press her legs together.

Down girl

"Zac," she whispered, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples, "Do you have a minute?"

"You know I always have time for you. What's wrong?"

"What makes you think there's something wrong?"

"T, I know you better than I know the back of my hand, tell me,"

"I never got that saying you know, cause how well do you really know the back of your hand if you think about it,"

"Stop deflecting and tell me what's wrong T, I want to know why my best friend sounds like she's about to cry. Make sure to tell me their names so I know who to fuck up,"

Despite what she was feeling, Fatima smiled. Zac was never one to get off track for long.

"My project got pushed back by a few months still to be determined,"

He was silent for a moment, and she could only imagine what was going through his mind.

"Remember when you decided you were going to become a lawyer," he finally said, a smile deep in his tone. "All because— "

"You got in trouble for our impromptu trip to Disney," She finished, laughing at the memory of him being lectured about being responsible and being the only one punished until she jumped in and said it was unfair for him to be the only one punished when it had been her idea to go in the first place.

"Self snitched your way into being grounded,"

"Hey, I thought I was helping,"

He chuckled, and she smiled.