Page 53 of Forged in Peril

BRISTOL

“Hey, Melanie, I didn’t know you’d be in today,” Bristol said as she entered the legal department, balancing a cup of tea along with an armful of files.

“I wasn’t supposed to be, but Jaclyn asked that I put in a few hours,” she replied, smiling over at Bristol, her tight brown curls bouncing as she plucked away at her keyboard. “You know how she is. As soon as she assures us things are going to ease up after the latest big-deal case, she finds another one to panic over.”

Bristol suppressed a grin, giving the clerk a final wave as she strode toward her own office and shut the door behind her.

She liked Melanie, but after the night and morning she’d just had, she could use some time alone–even if she had to spend it buried in paperwork.

It had felt so good to be close to Cameron the night before, but now, in the light of day, there was an undercurrent of worry that she couldn’t seem to shake.

The meeting with the rest of the team had only made her more confused.

She was glad that her secret was out in the open, despite the shame that clung to her, but now, the stalker situation was out of her hands.

Cameron had taken control, just as he always had.

In some ways, it was a trait that she appreciated. She couldn’t deny that he made her feel safe whenever he was around.

In other ways, though, his assertiveness bothered her.

Was this what it would be like if she entered into a relationship with him again?

Him taking the lead, and her trailing behind him, like she was nothing more than a shadow?

Before she could ponder the matter further, however, she heard a knock.

She tried her best not to sigh out loud.

“Come in.”

Jaclyn entered the room, dropping three massive file folders onto Bristol’s already-overflowing desk.

“Sorry,” the blonde lawyer said, making a face as she fiddled with a book that she had nearly knocked onto the floor. “Those are heavy, and I wasn’t sure I’d make it any longer without dropping them.”

“It’s fine,” Bristol said, glad that she’d put her green tea safely out of reach on top of one of her filing cabinets.

“I was hoping to give you a light day after that meeting,” Jaclyn said, lowering her voice to a whisper for the final words, as though Melanie might somehow hear them from her desk. “But I have a last-minute client meeting near Silver Grove, and I really need these to be dealt with before I get back, which will probably be after lunch. I had Melanie come in to help out, so maybe give her the Woodhouse revision so that you can focus on these. Again, my apologies.”

“It’s totally fine,” she said again, giving Jaclyn a pinched smile.

The work didn’t bother her. She expected that.

If anything, it was the fact that Jaclyn was being so pleasant–relatable, even–about it that set her teeth on edge.

She’d told everyone what had been done to her, and now they wouldn’t ever look at her quite the same way again.

For the next two hours, Bristol focused on the task at hand, trying as hard as she could to banish her anxieties from her mind.

Every time that her fears bubbled to the surface, she pushed them down again, reminding herself that the best thing she could do right now was to show everyone–including Cameron–that she was a competent professional.

She couldn’t let them see just how much her own shame threatened to throw her off balance. She refused to give anyone a reason to think that she was weak.

Besides, though tedious, her work on the Woodhouse case was important. It could be the deciding factor in whether or not justice was served in a complex fraud case, and she owed it to the client to take the endless stacks of paper seriously.

She glanced down at her watch for the fifth time in the last ten minutes.

Cameron wouldn’t be back from Dorling & Porter for a while, which was a good thing, because she had no idea what she was going to say to him.

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