What's a Girl to Do? (Season 3)

Chapter Nine: In and Out of Line

As I arrived at the firm a week later, I was already dragging my feet at the notion that Nicholas and I had already began our work again on the Farris case. The notion of being in the same room with him, after what he'd said about me to Josh at Charlotte's funeral had pushed me. I was, however, thankful that the breaking point hadn't been reached, and all I wanted to do was air on the side of professionalism. Needless to say, Josh and I had hit a stumbling block, and his texts to me, constantly apologizing for his behavior, weren't helping matters.

I slipped into my office quickly, wanting to at least attempt to focus on my preliminary notes, in preparation for my meeting with Nicholas later that day. Focusing wasn't happening, due to my monologue of inner torment, and all I could think about was Nicholas, just on the other side of my wall, and what had driven him to those comments. The fact that they were, word for word, what I'd said to Josh on the day that Josh asked me to be his girlfriend, unsettled me, and I wondered then if Nicholas had followed me, or if it was just a coincidence. Even still, I did begin to wonder if they'd hurt him at the time he'd heard them, but I hastily pushed the thought from my mind—they couldn't have hurt them, because, clearly, I was nothing to him.

Just an hour before Nicholas and I were due to meet, I saw on my office phone that Rachel was calling me. I felt my teeth gritting automatically, wondering if I'd even asked her to hold all my calls, which is what I usually did whenever I was working on something pressing. Nevertheless, I reached out and picked up the phone, not wanting to see rude to her, because she hadn't ever done anything...not really.

"Rachel?" I said, keeping my tone neutral.

"Sorry to bother you, Murphy," she said carefully. "But there's someone here to see you, and he's got flowers—red roses, your favorite."

"Is it my brother?" I asked, wondering if Lip had lost his senses again.

"No, he's not a member of your family," Rachel replied.

That narrows it down, I thought to myself. "All right, Rachel. Who is it?"

"Your boyfriend," Rachel replied. "He says he's your boyfriend, Josh."

I sighed. "All right, he can come back," I said, although it was truly against my better judgement as I go to my feet, hanging up the phone as I smoothed my suit. I made my way over to the door, opening it just as Josh rounded the corner. "Come on in," I said, allowing him inside.

"Wow, your office is amazing," he said, looking around.

"You had flowers delivered here," I said quietly.

"Yes—the key word being 'delivered'," Josh said as I shut the door. "I've never actually seen the place," he went on, nervously holding the flowers, in yet another crystal-cut vase. "I got these for you," he said awkwardly.

I sighed, crossing towards him. "Thanks," I replied, my tone clipped, taking them and placing them upon a shelf. "How can I help you today, Josh? Need legal advice?"

Josh sighed. "No," he replied, "nothing like that. I just came here to apologize, face to face. I seem to recall my texts not working."

I crossed my arms. "Well, that's because they're just words on a screen," I replied. "The problem with modern technology is the notion that one could apply any tone to the words they're reading, and their meanings could be taken in so many different ways. Sure, you say you're sorry, but I don't know if you mean it sincerely or sarcastically."

Josh nodded, fully absorbing my words. "I can understand that," he said quietly. "I'm sorry, Murphy, for the way I acted at the funeral. It was a huge overreaction, and it'll never happen again. I promise."