“Hello?” he said when he answered, barely audible above a rush of voices and activity in the phone on the other end.

“Hi, it’s Jenn. Sorry if you’re busy. I just wanted to talk.”

“Jenn! No, uh, I’m not busy.” In his crowded office, surrounded by the senior partners at the firm, Andrew hushed them with a quick gesture and banished them to take a private phone call. When the last person closed the door on the way out, he slumped down in his chair, put his head in his hands and breathed into the phone, “What’s going on?”

Jenn launched into it. Her conversations with Kenzie about whether to take the settlement, the triggers from dreams she’d had while under Dr. Blake’s care, the doubts she was having about Steve. Andrew listened with patience and compassion while Jenn spoke, not knowing what to say. She told him of her fight with Steve that afternoon, how he’d given her the necklace seemingly as a bribe to get her to take the settlement, how she didn’t appreciate him pressuring him, how she was worried he was only acting as his father’s pawn. “It’s just... I don’t know what to do. Kenzie thinks I’m being silly for considering the settlement, and Steve thinks I’m being stupid for not considering it. I ... I didn’t know who else to go to. I’m sorry.” She got quiet suddenly. Andrew didn’t speak either.

“Can you come to my office? We can talk more here, or, better yet, come to the café next to my office. I’ll buy you lunch. We can talk about everything.”

When Jenn arrived, Andrew was waiting for her in a secluded booth in the corner of the room. The café was largely empty, but Jenn appreciated the privacy of a corner table anyway. She felt her eyes dried of all their tears and her heart was too heavy to comprehend anything anymore. Throughout the lunch, Andrew only listened to her, barely saying a sentence or two the entire two hours they spent together. Jenn lost control of herself and spilled everything she was feeling.

By the end of it, when Jenn was out of words to say and out of tears to cry, she stared at the table. Andrew reached across the table slowly and grabbed her hand timidly. “Jenn. I appreciate you telling me this, and I want you to know I’m here for you. I’m here for you as an attorney and a confident, and I hope you can trust me as a friend, too.”

Jenn sniffed. “Thank you and I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to dump all this on you. It just happened so fast and I...” she trailed off, shaking her head overwhelmed by it all.

Andrew stood up, holding out his arms.

Jenn was surprised, but stood up to meet him.

He approached her awkwardly, but put his arms around her and patted her quickly on the back in a loose hug.

She was cold, and she appreciated the warmth his body provided against hers. She could feel the tears starting to fall again but clenched her eyes shut even tighter, trying to ignore them, trying to pretend she had nothing to cry about. “Thank you,” she whispered. They separated and Andrew gave her another smile before they both left the café.

When Jenn returned to her car, she pulled out her phone: four missed calls from Steve, and one voicemail. As soon as she saw the icons on her screen, her anger returned, and she threw her phone down on the passenger seat and held her head with her hands. I can’t deal with this right now. I just can’t. She breathed deeply a few times and managed to maintain her composure. She didn’t even feel nervous when she dialed his number to call him back; she felt empty and disappointed.

He answered impatiently. “Where have you been? Why didn’t you answer my calls?” The tone of his voice was sharp and hateful, and she immediately felt annoyed with him all over again.

“I was out to lunch.”

“With whom?”

None of your business, Jenn thought, and for a split second, she debated saying it aloud, too. “I met with Andrew.”

“Your attorney, Andrew what’s-his-name? Jenn, what is there to discuss? You saw the settlement — remember, my father increased it, too.”

“I don’t know, Steve....

Steve could feel his blood pressure rising, but he knew he had to hold his tongue. “Jenn, this is your decision. You shouldn’t have other people making it for you. If you want to understand more of what it is, I can have Bill explain it all to you.”

“No, I’m fine with Andrew.”

“You sure are.” Steve clenched his eyes shut; his reaction had been a gut one and he knew immediately he shouldn’t have said it, but it was too late now.

“Excuse me?”

“You’re just spending so much time with him, that’s all.”

There was a pause. “What are you saying, Steve? You don’t want me to consult with my attorney?”

Steve sighed, exasperated. “That’s fine. I just think he’s... inadequate for this situation. You should really talk to Bill—“

“Steve, no. I’m happy with Andrew. Please don’t bring it up. I don’t want to talk about it.” Jenn hung up the phone. Her drive home was long and uncomfortable, solitary as it was. She wanted nothing more than to lie down in her soft, warm bed and close her eyes, forgetting about everything that had happened recently. Everything good in her life had gone sour so quickly. She wanted it to be over but she didn’t know how to make that happen.

That night she dreamed of a childhood birthday party, where she was surrounded by friends and family. Her parents decided to give her a new golden retriever puppy, which she was delighted about and started to reach for it to pet its long, soft fur. As she reached out with her small, chubby arms, the puppy looked straight into her eyes with bright green eyes, stuck out its forked red tongue and began to transform. Jenn watched with growing confusion and fright, as the puppy lost its fur and grew scales and morphed into a snake right in front of her eyes. When she looked around, suddenly she was completely alone and the snake was closing in around her, wrapping her tighter and tighter until she couldn’t breathe anymore and the world went black.

Jenn woke up in a pool of her own sweat. She hadn’t had a dream like that since she had visited Dr. Blake; she just managed to push those images out of her head after a week, but today’s stressful events pulled them right back in again. She was in no mood to speak to anyone — except for one person. Feeling slightly guilty, as soon as the clock struck 9 a.m., she dialed Andrew’s number again. When he answered, she immediately regretted wasting his time.

“It’s Jenn. Sorry. I just— Steve and I had a fight again last night. He thinks I’m spending too much time with you and I should switch attorneys. It’s ridiculous.” Jenn talked for several minutes straight. “I’m sorry. I’m ranting again. I’ll let you go.”

“Wait, Jenn—” Andrew butted in. “Don’t worry about it. I can’t give you relationship advice, I’m sorry, but here’s what I will say. I think he’s leading you astray because, well, he’s the next in line for the hospital’s throne. I’m sorry. I know that’s not what you want to hear. I think it’s accurate. He’s pressuring you.” He paused and waited for Jenn to respond, but she said nothing, so he took a deep breath and went on. “Jenn, $500,000 is still a drop in the bucket compared to what we can get you.”

“I don’t care about the money,” Jenn burst out. “I mean, I do. I’ve reached the point where I just want people to know about it. I don’t want to be quiet about it.”

“I know. That’s what I’m here for. We’re going to go after them. The other partners here think I’m crazy for wanting you to do it, too, but I think you can get a ton of exposure and get exactly what you want.”

“Really?” Jenn perked up. Andrew’s excitement was the best thing she’d heard all day, and she couldn’t wait to visit with him and hear his ideas again.

“Yeah. I’m going to be out of town this weekend. I have a potential witness to interview — another victim of Blake’s — but I’ll be back on Monday. I hope to get a lot done and a lot more support in the next few days, but come by at the end of the day on Monday and we’ll talk.”

“Okay, that sounds... great.” Jenn suddenly felt very light, like her emotional burdens had lifted just by hearing Andrew’s soft, reassuring voice. When they hung up their phones, she felt a strange nervousness in her stomach; it was a pull, an ache that she hadn’t experienced in a long time. As the hours and days passed since she last talked to Andrew, she realized Andrew caused those feelings: the butterflies in her stomach, the giddy excitement of having strong feelings for someone. Monday couldn’t come quickly enough.