Unwritten

Chapter 3 Part 1 - Tugging Strings

It had taken about half an hour to get to Gracey's so we talked about what we had been up since we had separated. Gracey told me that her dad had put her in an all girls' grammar school, which she initially didn't thank him for. Consequently, she was occasionally getting into little scraps with a few of "the bitches" at school, as she put it. Gracey wasn't the type to play well with other girls, especially those that were mean to others. She was kind of tomboyish in that sense. Later she left for university and studied at Exeter. When her dad became unwell they moved back to her original family home and she sought some work in London rather than continuing to study for her Masters. It turned out that her father had only rented out the property whilst they lived in Brighton. Her dad died a year or so after, leaving her the house. Her mother had died at an early age when I had known her, almost around the same time as my father. We talked fondly of the times when we tried to set my mother up with her father but it failed miserably. Looking at her now, I was kinda glad we weren't related.

I told her about how I was still studying at university, after deciding rightly or wrongly to do a PhD in mathematics which actually surprised her. She still found it hard to see me as anyone other than the little boy that she played in the park with, let alone a man with nearly a PhD.

Gracey opened the door and we stepped in inside. The house was exactly as I had seen it in the book, so much so, that the memories and what was to come resurfaced.

"Atticus, what's wrong?" She asked as she saw me stop in the hallway suddenly. I wanted so badly to tell her but I knew that she would think I was crazy and that more importantly I would lose her trust. Part of me wished David was here to help; he always had the knack of concocting plans.

We migrated to the lounge and ordered pizza.

I nodded to towards the files she had left on the table, "Important case?"

"Yeah, it's a pretty important; it's my first one too. It's about a large company we are accusing of money laundering. It's up to me to present the case, so there's a lot of pressure.

"Wow I'm surprised one of the partners, isn't helping you with that; a case that important.

She nodded in agreement. "The problem is that there are so many transactions between the shell companies and the organisation that it requires a lot of time and 'legwork' to build the evidence against them, which tends to put the partners off."

There is also another reason. She paused initially, as if unsure how to tell me or how I would react. "The organisation has a number of contacts and resources in the business world. If we were to win the case, then our firm would gain notoriety and hopefully more clients. If however we lose, the organisation could use its contacts and resources to bring down our firm. Which is why, if the case fails, the firm will announce I was acting on my own accord and had taken on the case for personal motivations without their expressed permission."

"What that is a ridiculous, why are you doing this Gracey?" I said just as the door knocked.

Gracey got up from her seat, opened the door and brought the pizza over before answering me.

"Frankly Atticus, if I don't do this I'll never get noticed and promoted. There has never been a female partner in the firm ever. The glass ceiling is ridiculous there."

"Just remember, it's just a job. You can get another one; it's not the end of the word."

"Geez, you're starting to sound like a councillor for attempted suicides."

There was an awkward pause which was only filled with the sound of slow chewing.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to offend you"