Serafina

  She pushed the thought of the stranger in her bed from her mind as she made her way up the stairs to the law firm, but it was proving more difficult than she expected.
 Each step she took, she had a memory of his hot mouth on hers.
 How can someone I just met have such a profound affect on me? She wondered, shaking her damp waves, throwing open the door and strolling inside.
 Conrad jumped up when he saw her, his eyes lighting up as if he had been waiting for her return.
 He’s bad for business sitting at reception, Sera thought sullenly. She was resentful that she had been dragged back into the office, but she was even more annoyed that she had forsaken her work for a quickie.
 Well, that was hardly a quickie, she thought, swallowing a satisfied smile.
 She also knew she would do it again in a heartbeat.
 While she had pretended that she wasn’t pleased that Cassiel had stayed at her apartment, Sera found herself excited at the prospect of returning home to him.
 Don’t get any weird ideas, she chided herself. You meant what you said; you’re not getting into anything serious.
 “Oh, hey! I didn’t think you were coming back today!” Conrad cried, following her back toward Harry’s office. “That’s okay! There’s lots of left overs.”
 She eyed him like he was a bee circling her pop can.
 “Left overs?” she echoed. “What are you talking about?”
 His beam widened, and he nodded as if he had discovered plutonium.
 “Pizza, remember? I offered you some and you said that you were leaving for the day, but I got extra just in case anyway because, hey, pizza is even good the next day, right?”
 God, stop rambling, she thought but instead of responding, she ignored him and entered her boss’ office uninvited.
 Harry was on the phone and he tried to shoo her away, but Sera only leaned across the door frame, folding her arms impatiently as she listened.
 “Oh, yes sir. That sounds like you have a very good case. When can we arrange for a meeting? I should come to you.”
 Harry scowled at her but she only smirked, staring at him intensely to add to his discomfort. She knew he didn’t perform well with an audience.
 She watched as his bushy eyebrows raised in surprise.
 “I – well, she can certainly join me,” he stuttered. “But she is not licensed – “
 Is he talking about me? Sera wondered, her curiosity piquing as she observed. She was the only “she” in the office, after all.
 “No, I understand…well, maybe – no, no of course. We will meet you tomorrow morning. Just send me your location, Mr. Parker.”
 Harry scribbled something down on a scrap piece of paper from the pile on his desk and Sera stepped forward to retrieve it before it got lost in the garbage pile which was the lawyer’s desk.
 “Until then, Mr. Parker. I’m sorry we couldn’t come today but if that changes…” he trailed off and looked at Sera hopefully, but she shook her head vehemently. She had done enough running around in the rain for one day.
 Mr. Parker and his trumped-up law suit could wait until the next day.
 Harry replaced the phone on its cradle and glowered at her.
 “What the hell have you been doing all day?” he snapped. “I must have texted you twenty times.”
 “You texted me five times,” she corrected. “And how many times have I told you not to bother me when I’m working? I don’t inspire a lot of confidence with clients when my cell is going off every two minutes. They think I’m too busy to pay attention to their needs.”
 Harry snorted derisively.
 “Are you going to tell me that you were working all day? Your GPS says you were at your apartment.”
 Sera gaped at him, her eyes narrowing.
 “You tracked my phone?” she snarled. “Are you a pervert or something?”
 Harry’s face turned bright red.
 “I pay for your cell,” he reminded her. “And when you didn’t answer, I wanted to know where my hard-earned money had gone.”
 “If you ever track my phone again, I’ll cut your balls off. With a stick.” Sera said flatly, and meant it.
 Harry realized he may have gone too far.
 “I was worried about you,” he backpedaled. “You weren’t responding!”
 Sera scoffed and whirled away.
 I have to quit this job, she thought angrily, storming toward her meager office. This is ridiculous.
 He had ruined her good mood within thirty seconds.
 But Sera knew she was not going to quit. Nothing short of sexual harassment was going to keep her from working for long enough to save the money she needed to move out of this city. Even though she accused him of being a pig, Harry had never crossed the line, no matter how many times she half-hoped he would, giving her an excuse to unleash on him like she had always wanted.
 Of course he hasn’t crossed a line – he’s a lawyer and he knows exactly how to toe the line without being slapped with a law suit of his own.
 Not for the first time, she weighed her options and succumbed to the dismal outcome.
 Maybe I need to go back to school. But that costs money and God knows Harry Winston isn’t going to fork up any more from his stingy sausage fingers.
 She wished she had it in her to delve into the industry.
 Too bad Harry wasn’t right about me. If I was the whore he claimed I was, I would be a lot richer and happier for it, she thought mirthlessly.
 “Sera, wait!” Harry called, rushing after her. “Are you denying that you went to your apartment?”
 “That’s not the point, jackass, and you know it!” she spat, willing herself not to smack his porcine face. “You have no right to check up on me, especially when I landed you two clients today.”
 Harry’s face lit up like a California wildfire.
 “Of course you did!” he squealed magnanimously. “You are my star closer!”
 “Shut up and leave me alone, Harry,” she said with a sigh, plopping into her stationary arm chair. “I’ll email you the contact information.”
 She saw him visibly swallow out of the corner of her eye and she relished the slight feeling of power she felt in that moment, no matter how fleeting.
 “We have an appointment with a potential client tomorrow,” he informed her, and she shook her head. “Yes, you’re coming along,” he insisted.
 Since she had overheard the conversation, she knew it was coming and the refusal rolled off her tongue as if it had already been rehearsed.
 “You don’t need me,” she retorted. “You’re the brains of the operation, remember?”
 “He asked for you specifically.”
   Sera blinked and gazed up at her boss. That was really weird.
 “I don’t care,” she said, after a pause. “Whoever referred me can vouch for my stellar work ethic.”
 “The client wasn’t referred.”
 The words made no sense to Sera and she tried to reconcile why she would be requested by someone who didn’t know her.
   “What do you mean he asked for me? Who is it?”
 “Mr. Parker? He says he met you on the 23 a couple weeks ago.”
 She continued to stare at him blankly.
 “He’s claiming that I, Serafina Kennedy, had a conversation with him on a Detroit bus and you didn’t see anything suspicious about that?” she demanded. Everyone who knew her would know that she did not have conversations with strangers on the city bus. Ever. “Are you sure you’re even licensed to practice law in Michigan?” That comment may have been pushing her luck just a tad, she thought after it was too late to take it back. But, come on. Really?
 She made a mental note to research the answer to that question as she rolled her eyes at her boss. The more time she spent around the slimy attorney, the more she wondered how he had not been locked up years ago.
 I’ll bet a thousand bucks that he isn’t even a lawyer.
 She wondered who she was kidding; she didn’t even know what a grand looked like.
 Harry maintained his smile, but Sera could see she had struck a nerve with him. Harry did not like being reminded that he was a mediocre attorney at best.
 “I don’t give a rat’s ass where you met him. He’s from out of town and he got into an accident as a passenger in a taxi. His injuries are worthwhile.”
 Sera grimaced.
 “Well I’m not going. And you need to meet with the dog bite victim and the slip and fall from the hospital. I have no idea how you’re going to handle everything, but you need to count me out. I don’t even have any law experience, remember?”
 Harry managed to look thrilled and worried simultaneously.
 “Why don’t you and Conrad meet with Mr. Parker tomorrow morning, and I will deal with our other new clients.”
 “No,” Sera insisted. “I’ve done my job.”
 “I’ll meet with the client, Mr. Winston!” Conrad chirped from the doorway.
 “This is a private conversation!” Sera growled at him, rising from her desk. “This office is the least professional place I have ever seen. No wonder clients are scarce.”
 She turned to leave the men alone in her office, sick of the back and forth.
 Cassiel is waiting at my place. I’ll go home, have another romp in the hay with him and then send him on his way. That will make me feel better.
 To her surprise, Harry reached out and grabbed her arm.
 “The clients are scarce because you aren’t doing your job,” he hissed, and Sera looked at his hand secured around her bicep.
 “Let go of me,” she hissed, and he did. “You forget I am the only reason this place runs at all. When was the last time you or boy wonder brought in any new clients?”
 Harry’s mouth became a fine line and he shook his head.
 “And I hope you realize that is your job. If Conrad and I were out scouting for clients, you would be out on your ass, living on the poverty line like you were when I hired you.”
 Their eyes clashed, and Sera swallowed her fury toward the slimy man.
 They’re all the same, she thought, slipping past him and heading back out of the humble office space. Condescending, demanding and unable to do anything without a woman.
 “You better be back here in the morning, Sera. You and Conrad have an appointment downtown at 10 am.”
 She didn’t bother to answer.
 Of course, she would be back in the morning. What other choice did she have?
 For the second time, Sera left the building, heading toward the bus stop as her mind began to change course.
 At least the rain is letting up, she thought, the dampness still in her bones.   But, she reminded herself , she had a very sexy houseguest.
 The silver lining, she thought wryly as she boarded the bus, shaking off the few drops in her hair.
 I wonder if he has any money, Sera laughed. Maybe he’s my knight in shining armor, ready to sweep me off to my castle in…wherever the hell he’s from.
 She smiled like it was a joke but deep inside, Sera wondered if that ever happened.
 Do mysterious strangers ever just waltz into your miserable life and sweep you off your feet and take you away from all of it?
 Sera knew she wouldn’t have it, even if Cassiel was the Prince of Luxembourg.
 Imagine sitting around all day on royal velvet eating bonbons and watching soap operas. I would kill myself.
 And she meant it.
 Despite what her step-father had thought about her, or the woman her mother had been, Sera had always believed in hard work, and in her youth, she had been an excellent student, devouring books and studying hard. Even after her father had died of leukemia, Sera channeled all her grief into schoolwork and tried to make the best out of a terrible loss.
 But Serafina had been forced to run away from home at fifteen to escape her mother’s abusive husband. With no money and no shelter, going to get her law degree as she had planned was impossible. Instead, she had been forced to take the first job she could find (thanks Harry), while she tried to save enough money to get to Florida. That was where she was meant to live, she was sure. The fantasy kept her going day after day.              
 And even if she was on her deathbed, she vowed, she would never return to her step-father’s house again.               
 Some days, she missed her mother so terribly, tears would soak her cheeks. But only when she was completely alone, and no one could see her cry.
 After all, Serafina Kennedy did not cry.
 I had good motivation to achieve everything I did though, Sera thought bitterly, calling her stop on the bus. The will to live was a great motivator.
 As Sera dismounted the bus, she shook her head and laughed slightly.
 There are no such things as Prince Charmings. They’re all the evil step-mother in the end, just wanting to stuff you full of a poisoned apple so they can fuck you when they want.
 After all, that was what her stepfather had done to her mother. A rich, dashing man who offered her mom the world before knocking it all away with a closed fist.
   I don’t need a prince, she told herself firmly, heading toward her unkempt apartment building. I don’t need anyone, least of all a man fucking up my life.
 But she couldn’t deny that she was looking forward to round four with Cassiel.
 I don’t need him, she justified, increasing her pace. But damn I want him.
 And for a while, Sera’s foul mood was all but forgotten.