The Law is Hard

Chapter 6

Alec's POV

"Bye, " I say faintly without answering. I hear her say bye faintly as I hang up.

I wonder what Ms. Gray wants to meet me about?

Tessa Gray is my boss who founded and owns the law firm, Gray & Carstairs Law. She is a great boss who is fair and generous when needed but also quite firm when she has to be. I try to think of her as Ms. Gray to be more formal and polite, but almost everyone calls her Tessa.

Thoughts of Tessa leave my mind as I slide back into the booth with Magnus.

"Sorry about that," I say.

"Oh, don't worry about it. I had an ex-boyfriend once who spent all day on his phone. It was rather annoying," Magnus shares.

I try not to smile too widely as my hope unfurls from where I stomped it down. I feel like hundreds of butterflies are taking off in my chest.

"That would be annoying," I agree. I'm so thankful my voice manages to stay level. "One of my co-workers was asking where I was, I lost track of time. I'm sorry for keeping you for so --"

"Alexander, please don't apologize for our time together, I really enjoyed it," Magnus interrupts, with a beautiful smile on his face.

It takes me a moment to register what he said as I'm caught up in him. And he's into guys!!! The realist part of me adds, doesn't mean he's into you though. I mean, just look at your clothing difference.

I can feel heat rising to my face as I become self-conscious of my inexpensive suit and plain shoes. Thankfully, Lydia had convinced me a few months ago to buy a few nicer blazers and ties to wear to work to look more professional. So I bought four of the same dark, navy blue dress pants and blazers as well as five white dress shirts. I also have one black tie which currently feels tight around my neck.

"I did too," I say shyly, and shaking my head slightly as if that could clear the fuzziness all these hopeful emotions are causing. I meet his delicious brown eyes. "I still am."

His eyes seem to dance with joy. He, on the other hand, is wearing a dark purple button shirt, with a deep red leather jacket over top. There are silver studs along his neckline and around his cuffs. His eyes are shaded with smoky purple colouring. My eyes are constantly drawn to his, especially the glitter that frames them. His ears sparkle with silver spikes along their ridge and his hair is spiked up with red glitter.

Then a thought comes crashing down on me, threatening to shatter my rose-coloured glasses. "Although, we didn't actually talk about any work or legal materials," I realize, embarrassed. "If you still have time, I can go over some preliminary stuff with you briefly?"

"Yes of course." Magnus adds with an air of pretend thoughtfulness, "Although I hear this legal stuff can be quite complicated. Like they can take awhile...and may need several meetings?" He grins at me, lifting his eyebrows suggestively.

Wait, is he flirting with me? I'm tempted to check over my shoulder to make sure he's talking to me.

I smile back and stutter. "Uh...yeah, yeah. They sure can. Several meetings."

I open the folder.

----

Magnus' POV

I move my dirty dishes into the sink, humming and smiling to myself. I think of my excellent day two days ago when I saw Alexander. He is too good to be true.

After we finished up the business stuff and paid for our lunch, he was such a sweetheart and walked me back to Ragnor's apartment to make sure I was safe.

We determined that the best option for Ragnor and I would be to file a restraining order against Camille in the interim while a private investigator tried to determine whether Muscles Man was sent by her or not. He is also going to try to arrange some sort of police presence for Ragnor's apartment so it is safe for us to leave.

I smile again as I scrub the pot I used to make more instant noodles. Alexander is so thoughtful.

I didn't mention to him that I don't actually live with Ragnor. My modelling career has done well enough that I was able to rent one of the bigger long-term rooms at the Belcourt Hotel in the business district. However, when I left the agency...escape may be a better term, Camille was shrieking that I could no longer stay in her hotel and that she was going to come after me. According to my publicist, there has been a tonne of paparazzi swarming the hotel to try to find me and find out what really happened. Why I'm no longer head-lining the Silent Brothers fashion show with the Night Children agency. However, my publicist and I agreed it would be best if very few people knew of my location. This is also why Ragnor and I hadn't been leaving his apartment unless it was nighttime so we'd be less easy to recognize.

I was so glad to go out with Alec today, not only to see him, but also to see the sun and get some fresh air after days of lock-up.

I really don't know what I saw in Camille. She is an exceptional actress and manipulator of people. While she definitely was helpful in times of doubt...especially that night early on in my career. I try not to think about what may have happened had Camille not come looking for me.

While beautiful, and great with timing and words I suppose, she is very selfish and cares for capitol over people. She was always rude to anyone she perceived lesser than her, which was everyone.

I look over at my Samsung to see if I have any messages from Alexander. I sigh as the social media notification just continue to pop up. I have been taking active on my Instagram and Snapchat accounts so people would know I was still alive, but just not able to answer any of their messages.

I had found an excuse to text him yesterday: waking up to say good morning. Which he had responded to quite quickly but also had said that he was at work and would text me later. I sign again, well, now is later. I nearly sigh a third time, but this time at myself for acting like a stereotypical white, American teenage girl.

As a recent American citizen and 28 year old man from Indonesia, this isn't a good look for me.

I finish up my dishes and dry my hands and look back around the entire apartment. It's small and somewhat mismatched, but also suited to Ragnor's style. There are small windows that allow you to see a bit of the cloudy blue sky beyond the obnoxious red brick building right next door. The walls are covered with paintings and photographs from every time period and style possible it seems. The remaining wall space is crowded with rickety shelves full of dusty books and random knick-knacks like clowns and Newton's crades. The floors are covered in purple, green and red rugs. I sigh, scratch my earlier statement, it's extremely mismatched. I wrinkle my nose as the smell of dust comes back to me.

I really miss my own apartment. Although, my lease is still good for another few months, I should probably just submit my notice and look for a new apartment.

Actually, I should call them and make sure they haven't thrown out all my stuff... and just say I'll look for a new apartment if they haven't torn up my lease already.

I pull out my phone to do just that when my heart soars, a text message from Alexander!

Hey Magnus.

Do you have time today to go over your case?

I probably should have called you for business stuff.

I grin as the messages pop up, they are so like him I can hear Alexander's voice as I read them. Although, I'm a bit disappointed it's about work.

As I begin typing a reply, my phone shows I'm getting a call from Alexander. I laugh and swipe to respond. Just as I'm about to respond to say hello, I hear him hang up.