While He was Awake

Our First Official Interaction

For the past one month, I had been assisting John with different cases. I was the best associate in town, I never had and never would lose a case. How could I? I knew the prosecutor/defense’s argument even before they made it besides the Homo Sapien’s laws were pretty simple. They had a fixed and unchanging idea of right and wrong. Over the course of one month I had made some friends at the office, even Susan after a week of side eyes and scorns had finally come to know from John that it was I who asked for her to be retained and since then had seen me as her ‘truest friend’.

And of course, I was John’s absolute favorite associate ever.
Though I was having fun, I missed Michael. It was strange, a thousand years apart and I never knew I missed him, but I meet him once, and one month apart seems like a thousand years.  I hadn’t met him in over a month. But it was not just me, no one from the industry had seen Michael in the past month. Having worked on several cases, I had made quite a few friends, acquaintances and enemies in the music business. Client’s never forget the lawyer that helped them get a good deal and neither do they forget the lawyer who robbed them of one.

I was wondering when I would get to meet Michael again when John barged into my office

“Carmen, your favorite client called. He’s coming out with a new album and needs us”

“Michael called?”

“yes, we’re meeting him tonight at 10, have a look at the deal and see if we can do better”

“Absolutely!”

I looked at the deals over and over again though I knew from a cursory reading itself that it was crap. Michael should get a way better deal than this one. The clock ticked slower with every passing hour. I was getting so restless, that I planned to get into my time machine and rush six hours ahead. But as the HSM sensei would say, time was not something to be played with. You couldn’t keep travelling back and forth, short periods of time for mere convenience.

Ugh…I swear the clock was purposefully teasing me now!

The clock struck 9:30. It was finally time to go! YIPEEEEEE!!!!!!

We drove to Michael’s. I thought we would be going to Hayvenhurst, but John said that Michael was at his condo, I didn’t know Michael had a condo in Ney York, but anyways so, we drove there. After about twenty minutes, we reached the place. John handed over the keys to the valet and we walked towards Michael’s house. He rang the bell. I was expecting the housekeeper to open the door but boy was I in for a surprise! Michael, fresh out of the shower, wet dripping afro, towel around the waist Michael opened the door.

“Hey John” he greeted in his signature soft voice and then looked over to me
“Carmen!” he said in surprise

Wow, I couldn’t believe he remembered me after all these days. I smiled. He blushed and held the towel with which he was drying his hair over his chest

“Hi, please come on in, make yourselves comfortable, I’ll be out in a minute” he said walking quickly into the nearest bedroom.

We let ourselves in. John seemed to be familiar with the place and so he walked over to the wine cabinet and pulled out a bottle

“Would you like a drink?” he asked

“No, I’m working and by the way, so are you John” I told him seriously

“it’s okay. Michael’s more of a friend than a client. He doesn’t mind. He’ll never join in but he doesn’t mind me drinking. You sure you don’t want a drink”

“I’m sure” I replied. I looked around, the place was tastefully done, not to overcrowded with furniture and art pieces. There was space for the eyes to breathe. The center of the room was the seating area where two leather sofas and one single recliner chair was placed around the glass seating table. At the end of the room was a joint kitchen and bar, all done in wooden panels.