Love Me? Like You Do.

Chapter 41

"I hate airplanes." groaned Brielle as they boarded the flight to California. "I can't sleep, I can't hear, I can't eat, I can't go to the bathroom..."

"Why can't you go to the bathroom?" asked Jack as he guided her to her seat beside the window.

"It's scary. What if something happens and I can't reach you?" she said slumping into her seat. "Stuff seems to keep happening to us"

"You know love," said Jack taking his jacket off and sitting beside her. "I didn't mean for you to go to the bathroom alone."

Brielle blushed a deep red at his words. "What do you mean?"

"Whatever you want me to." he said with a small laugh. Brielle realized how much she missed his smile, they hadn't been very frequent the last few hours.

Brielle scrutinized his handsome face. Lines had appeared on his perfect forehead, dark circles under his eyes indicating how tired he was. He hadn't had time to shave and every time she kissed him, she felt a roughness brush against her. He looked much older than his age, as though the stress had mellowed him down.

"Jack?" she said softly after a while.

"Yes?" he said snapping out of his reverie.

"Are you scared?" she asked searching his eyes. His dark eyes clouded over as he looked away. She had hit the bullseye.

"What if my daughter hates me?" he said finally.

"She won't." said Brielle firmly. "She will love you."

"But Brielle, I have no idea how this could have happened." said Jack looking tensed. "I- we always used protection. I understand that condoms are not always 100% effective but I can't believe Claire didn't tell me when she found out."

"Maybe she was in two minds about keeping the baby." said Brielle thoughtfully. "Perhaps she didn't think you needed to know."

"Please fasten your seat belts."

Brielle settled her head down on Jack's shoulder as he closed his eyes for the take off.

***

WELCOME, Mr. S. Willis, Attorney

Mr. S. Willis was the best lawyer in the world. He could solve any case, win any court battle and talk his way through anything.

Well almost anything.

A minor incident (in Axky's words), five years ago (mainly due to Axky's doings), had destroyed Willis's career. His high profile client's wrong doings had been exposed when Axky hacked into his computer. Willis was portrayed by the media as a money hungry shrewd lawyer who, despite all his humanitarian efforts  was just a fraud.

In truth, however, Willis had been collecting incriminating evidence against his own client. He planned to hand it over to the court after resigning as a lawyer to his client. His well crafted amd painstakingly laid out plan of over two years was destroyed within a few seconds as Axky, hired by the FBI, gathered the ready information from his computer.

Axky happily escaped the limelight with his cheque, but Willis's position as a lawyer started to be questioned by the media. He even had his license taken away for a few days.

Willis successfully cleared his name in court, within a short time thereafter, given how talented a lawyer he was. His public relations, however, had been permanently damaged. His flourishing business had dwindled down to a few small cases a year.

"Found ya." Axky said as he read the sign on the door and barged in, just as Willis was about to exit. He was a stout, middle-aged man. He was completely bald but sported a thick mustache that curled at the ends.