Conflict of Interest

5. Scandal

Regina cracked open her eyes to an ornate marble ceiling and beating sunlight that was streaming in brightly from the full-wall window on her right. Upon a closer inspection, she discovered that she was in a king-sized bed in a tangle of satin sheets. Her eyes flew open as she sat up and noticed the framed photograph of Damon Steinberg on the wall opposite the bed.

“Shit.” Regina cursed under her breath as she scanned the room for any sign of how she could have ended up here. Upon getting up from the bed, she was greeted with a pounding headache that caused her searing pain with every step she took. With slight surprise, she noticed a glass of water and an Advil on the nightstand, showing that she hasn’t woken up when he came into the room, unless, of course, she didn’t remember certain parts of the night…Regina winced at the possible thoughts her drunken, deranged mind may have put to action last night.

Looking down at herself after swallowing the Advil, she realized that her clothes were still intact, if that could be used as an appropriate term for her almost shredded blouse. She seemed to remember very little past arriving at Damon Steinberg’s apartment and downing her first glass of brandy. Now, in retrospect, she couldn’t help but berate herself for how foolish she was: agreeing to come to Damon’s apartment and drinking when she should have been home nursing the damage from the car crash. She looked around the room, attempting to locate her phone to call a cab, but stopped after five minutes of fruitless searching.

Walking out of the room to find either her bag or the owner, Regina took quiet steps before ending up in a spacious kitchen, attracted to the smell of freshly cooked bacon. Her mouth watered automatically at the smell, making her realize how hungry she was despite her headache,

“Good morning.” Damon greeted her with a small smirk. “And how do the four glasses of brandy feel on the morning after?”

Regina screamed at herself further as she realized that the drinking stupor she had been in was not even shared by her client – Damon looked bright, was already dressed in a loosened white button down and fitted slacks. She found her eyes straying to the fine trail of dark hair that was visible in the unbuttoned space on his chest, and chastised herself for the action. She wondered whether he had drank past the brandy that he had consumed with her; his appearance did not give away the slightest sign of a hangover.

“Fine, thank you.” Regina responded crisply. She took the plate of sizzling bacon and buttered toast that he pushed toward her and smiled slightly in gratitude. “I would like to apologize for my lack of professionalism yesterday, Da…Mr. Steinberg. Thank you for taking care of me and for tolerating my unacceptable behaviour. I assure you that this will not occur again.”

“Relax,” he chuckled, “And call me Damon. I don’t care what you do with me on your free time as long as you’re as good of a lawyer as your boss said you are.”

Regina blushed even further, both from the compliment and from his apparent nonchalance. “I would prefer to keep our relationship strictly professional, Damon. There is a lot staked on this case for both of us.”

His eyes darkened. “More than you think. Worse yet, it seems that now everyone else knows just how much importance this case holds. Read this.”

Regina pulled the fresh copy of the New York Times that Damon gestured to closer to her, and gasped softly at the title on the front page: “Murder scandal with New York’s Richest Man.” She scanned the article briefly, twirling her hair around her finger as she found all the details of the recent crime, her own name is the defence attorney and details of yesterday’s car crash. The newspaper seemed to be painting Steinberg as a cold, ruthless criminal that earned his money through dirty deeds, and challenged her to prove otherwise.