What A Secret Looks Like | ✓

14: grayson

I hadn't heard from her in a week. No calls or texts. Absolutely nothing.

I haven't called since Tuesday, and it almost seems like as quickly as she came into my life, she'll be leaving. You can't force someone to be with you if they don't want to be so I got the hint to leave her alone.

I'm taking it just great.

It usually goes from fine to great after my second glass of hard liquor.

It's at least the sixth time Peyton has called me since Tessa disappeared at one a.m. last night. No one had heard from her since she ran from the club.

I'd decided to work from home today just incase she came back, but I'm afraid of what I'm going to find out when she does. What could have happened last night that would cause her to react that way?

The front door was unlocked for her before I went to bed so I'm not exactly surprised that she managed to get in and grab her stuff, but it still hurt that she didn't say anything.

Considering I've been awake since Peyton called at three, I'd gotten a lot of work done. It's sometimes better to immerse yourself into other things instead of focusing on what's currently happening. I just don't understand.

Everything was fine before she left. I guess as normal as it could be because a relationship isn't exactly normal if you have to keep it from the people you care about.

It's hard not to jump every time the phone rings because I think that maybe, just maybe this time it will be her. And then it's not.

Dad called once, Jared called twice, and I'm assuming both of them wanted something relating to the wedding. Peyton called again, and the only ones I'm answering are Marcie's because she only ever calls when I'm working from home if it's relating to a case.

The one that has my half-guided focus today is the one I was talking to Tessa about at dinner weeks ago: the girl that was claiming sexual harassment against her boss. But so far, all I'm finding is evidence that correspond with his version of them having a consensual relationship. It's not my job to decide if she's telling the truth. It's my job to make sure the jury believes the truth I'm selling to them, but it's hard in cases like this. And being distracted with Tessa disappearing is making it harder for me to do my job.

"Are you from around here?" The man sitting next to me asks, and I contemplate how I want to answer.

Drunk me decides to go with technicalities. "Do you mean am I currently a resident of the lovely state of New York?"

"I guess that works too. I just figured that since you're here by yourself that it meant you were here on business. What do you do?"

I stare at the almost empty glass on the counter, "I'm a senior partner at King, Cooper, Brown law firm, you?"

The man's jaw drops, "There's no way you're a senior partner; you're what? Twenty-nine at the oldest?"

"Almost twenty-nine. Are you a lawyer too?"

He smiles politely at the bartender, "Can we have two more beers here on my tab?" He asks and she nods. "I work for Xander, Oliver, Parker in Boston. I'm a junior partner, but shit that's nothing compared to making senior at twenty-eight years old."

The cold beer brought to us is a milder difference from the glass of scotch I was drinking before the conversation. "Don't sell yourself short, junior is a big deal, especially there." I'd heard of his firm only because they're ranked a few spots underneath King, Cooper, Brown on the list for top law firms in the country, even if it's based in Boston.