Page 29 of A Trial of the Heart
“Wait, wait.” She coughed, attempting to gather herself. “As in that man that turned you every way but loose every waking hour on the cruise?”
Involuntarily, I bit my bottom lip at the thought of how Rashad had handled me. He was always so gentle but rough at the same time. He was a dangerous man in the bedroom.
“LeeAnn, really?”
She laughed. “Just saying… You’d leave with ya hair straight, come back, and that shit looking like you’d been fighting an army of bears.”
“Shut up.”
LeeAnn laughed a little longer before it slowly stopped. “What’s his charges?”
I sighed, stepping from my heels. “Hell, what isn’t he charged with?”
“That bad?”
“He’s got a shit ton of charges on him—embezzlement, money laundering, tax evasion, bank and credit card fraud. That’s just to name a few.
“Shit… He seemed like such a good, hardworking dude.”
“Yeah, he played it so well,” I said with sadness.
“Guess it’s a good thing you decided not to continue things beyond the ship.” LeeAnn snickered.
I scoffed. “Yeah, I guess.”
I was disappointed, even though he and I weren’t continuing. A con artist had again bamboozled me. It seemed that was what I attracted.
“How is it going to work, though? Isn’t it like a rule against that? Like conflict or something?”
LeeAnn was a doctor in her second year of residency to become an OBGYN, so she knew very little about my line of work.
“A major rule.” I dropped back on my bed, staring up at the ceiling fan as it spun slowly. “I tried to back away from the case when I realized who it was, but you know Mr. Racist and Mr. Even More Racist weren’t having that. You know any time the office goes after someone of color or it’s not a high-profile case, they send the crap my way.”
“Ugh. I truly cannot wait for you to be like screw those assholes and get your own firm. You deserve so much more than they’re offering you.”
“You and me both.” I had a goal in mind that by the end of the year, I’d be out because things were no longer working out. Well, they never really did. I just tolerated it.
“So, how will you handle it?”
I sighed heavily. “I’m going to do what I do best. Put my best foot forward and win the damn case.”
“That’s my girl.”
LeeAnn and I hyped each other up no matter what. Our friendship was a sisterhood. We cried together, laughed, argued, but never left each other’s side. She was truly my soulmate in friend form.
My phone beeped, indicating someone was calling, and when I looked, I noticed it was my mother. I wasn’t even sure why I checked, because like clockwork, she called at the same time every day.
“Girl, let me call you back. Meme calling.”
“A’ight, girl. Tell her I said hey. Love ya.”
“Love ya more,” I responded before switching over to my mother.
While we chatted, I prepared a bubble bath and soaked in the tub. I was able to finally wrap the conversation with my mom up so I could relax. I sat in that tub for a while before deciding to get out.
Wrapping my silk robe around my body after I’d applied my oils, I tightened the belt before heading into my kitchen. It was time for a glass of wine. After I spoke to my mother earlier, I ended up dozing off right where I was without undressing. I guess the first day back to work had exhausted me more than I knew. Out of habit, I walked on my tiptoes to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of white wine and a flute.
“I’m coming. I’m coming,” I said out loud, hearing my phone ringing. It was after 11:00 p.m., so I knew the only person who would call was LeeAnn. She was normally the first person I talked to in the morning and the last before I went to sleep.The ringing stopped just when I entered the room, but it started again seconds later.
