“Oh…”

I took her hand and walked her through the lobby and onto the elevator that led to the roof.

Opening the doors, I noticed everything was set up exactly as I asked: A lone white clothed table sat in front of a dancing fire, soft lights hung in waves across the trellis, and through the falling snow, the words “I’m sorry” twinkled against the building directly across from us.

“This is so beautiful, Andrew…” she said, looking around. “When did you change your mind about dinner?”

“I didn’t.” I pulled out her chair and uncovered the platter of chocolate and vanilla covered strawberries. “It’s dessert.”

“Did you think of all this yourself?”

“I did.” I sat next to her and put my arms around her shoulders.

“You know,” she said, “typically on a date the two people sit across from each other.”

“Did you miss the memo about me making sure that I wouldn’t treat you like any other date?”

“Not at all.” Her mouth was on mine within seconds and my hands found their way into her hair.

Pulling her forward, I bit her lips and looked into her eyes.

She was silently telling me to take things further, rubbing her hand against my cock.

“Stop touching me, Aubrey,” I whispered, warning her. “I’m not going to be able to be a gentleman anymore if you don’t stop…” I stood up and walked to the door, giving myself some space. “I’m trying to prove to you that I can get through a date without f**king you…”

She followed me, smiling. “I’m pretty sure you already failed at that…” She threaded her fingers through my hair and hastily unbuttoned my shirt.

I wedged my knee between her legs and slid a hand across her thighs, sighing as I felt how wet she was.

“Aubrey…” I groaned as she reached into my pocket and pulled out a condom. “I can wait…”

“I can’t.” She freed my c**k from my pants and rolled the condom onto me without letting my lips go.

I secured my arms around her waist and lifting her up, carrying her over to the rooftop’s railing. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed your pu**y.” I kissed her lips. “And your mouth.”

“Is that all you miss?” Her hands went around my neck.

“If it was, then we wouldn’t be here right now.” I slowly slid inside of her, filling her inch by inch, staring into her eyes as I remembered just how good she f**king felt.

Without saying another word, I slid my hands down to her sides and moved her up and down—groaning as her pu**y gripped me tighter and tighter with every stroke.

Her lips found their way to mine, and neither of us let go—grinding into each other as a second light snow fell over us.

Her nails dug into my back as she came close to coming, her teeth trapped my bottom lip to prevent herself from screaming out.

“Don’t let go yet, Aubrey…” My c**k was throbbing inside of her. “Wait…”

She shook her head, fighting it, but she held on for a few more seconds—looking into my eyes.

“I missed you so much,” I whispered. “So f**king much…”

Falling forward into my chest, she came with me—biting my skin as her legs went limp around my waist.

Both of us were breathing heavily, staring at each other as we once did months ago, and we remained entwined.

I kissed her lips, repeating how much I missed her, and she smiled—softly telling me to pull out of her.

“Would you like to stay the night?” I asked, picking up my jacket and holding it out for her. “You can tell me more about that case you’re so intrigued with lately.”

“The Henderson & Hart one?” she asked. “You really haven’t heard anything about it?”

“No, but if you spend the night we can google it together.”

“I don’t think so.” Her voice was suddenly flat. “I need to go.” She adjusted her dress and walked over to the table, picking up her purse. ‘

“Is something wrong?”

She didn’t answer. She pulled out her phone to check the time and sighed.

“Aubrey, what are you doing?”

“Forcing myself to see that you’re still the same and you’ll never change.” She looked hurt. “Your idea of the truth is, and will always be, duplicitous. That’s all.”

“Excuse me?”

“Thank you for a wonderful night…I’ll always remember this and cherish it, just so you know.”

“I’m really starting to wonder if you are, indeed, bipolar…”

“Why didn’t you tell me that your name was Liam Henderson tonight?” She shook her head, and I inhaled a sharp breath.

“I gave you every opportunity to,” she said, looking hurt. “I practically begged you to tell me, but you opened up about everything except for that.”

I hesitated. “I was going to tell you everything later tonight, in bed.”

“Sure you were.” She scoffed. “Is there any reason why you didn’t even tell me this when I said you were once my favorite lawyer in my interview?”

“Once?”

She nodded. “Yes. Once. The essays I used to read by Liam all stressed complete and utter honesty. I guess that all changed once he became Andrew.”

“Aubrey, don’t…” I stepped forward and she took a step back. “I was honestly going to ask you to come to the final hearing.”

“Can I use your town car to get home or do I need to call a cab?”

“Stop this. Now.”

“Cab it is.” She shrugged. “I wish you the best of luck with your testimony. And I hope you treat the next girl you find nicely from the beginning so she won’t have to love and leave you alone in the end.”

“Give me a chance to talk, Aubrey…”

“We have nothing more to discuss.” She opened the door. “Please do not follow me, Andrew. You can’t trust me and I can’t trust you, so I don’t want anything to do with this anymore and I need you to finally respect that.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but she spoke first.

“Goodbye Andrew, Liam,” she said, “whatever the hell your name is.”

“Aubrey…”

The door slammed shut and I knew it was pointless to go after her in that moment.

She was gone.

Swear (v.):

To declare under oath that one will tell the truth.

Andrew

“Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God?” The judge said to me a few mornings later.

I said nothing, the sudden departure of Aubrey still fresh on my mind.

“Mr. Hamilton, I asked you a question.” The judge chided.

“I apologize,” I said. “I do swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help me God.”

“We may proceed.”

The defense lawyer stood up and cleared his throat. “Mr. Hamilton, your legal name was formerly Liam Henderson, correct?”

“Correct.”

“Could you please tell the court how you know my client, Kevin Hart?”

“We were once partners at Henderson & Hart.”

“Partners and best friends, correct?”

I looked over at an expressionless Kevin. He was dressed in a grey suit, still incapable of wearing a matching tie.

“Yes,” I said to the lawyer. “Once upon a time.”

“Is it true that you got into an altercation with him at a bar six and a half years ago?”

“Define altercation.”

He picked up a sheet of paper. “Did you walk into a bar and punch him? Leaving him with a broken jaw and a fractured ribcage?”

“He was f**king my wife.”

The jurors gasped and the judge banged his gavel.

“Mr. Hamilton…” The judge spoke sternly. “That type of language is not allowed in my courtroom. Please answer the question.”

“Yes,” I said. “Yes, I did injure Mr. Hart…Severely.”

“Similarly to how you injured your own wife?”

“Objection!” The prosecutor stood up. “Relevance, Your Honor?”

“Sustained.”

“Fine.” The defense lawyer held up his hands in surrender. “Is it true that you blame Mr. Hart for the downfall of your former firm?”

“Clearly the Department of Justice does since he’s the one on trial today.”

“Mr. Hamilton…”

“Yes.” I clenched my jaw. “Yes, I blame him for the demise of our former firm.”

“Is it true that you also blame him for the unfortunate death of your daughter?”

“Your Honor!” The prosecutor shot me a look of sympathy. “Relevance?”

“Overruled…Answer the question, Mr. Hamilton.”

I looked away from Kevin and balled my fists. “Yes.”

“Your daughter died amidst the weeks leading up to the complete collapse of your firm, and within those weeks you managed to severely beat your partner, batter your wife—”

“I didn’t batter my f**king wife. She made that shit up. Have you done any f**king research?”

The judge banged his gavel, but I continued talking.

“I’m not sure what low level community college was dumb enough to issue you a law degree, but the case between me and my wife was thrown out years ago because she lied about numerous things to a grand jury. And seeing as though she was sent to prison and I was cleared of all charges, you can accept that as a f**king fact. So, before you ask me another bullshit question and try to damage my character, remember that your client’s livelihood is at stake during this trial. Not mine.”

The judge let out a deep sigh, but he didn’t say anything further. He just motioned for the defense to continue.

“During your partnership, is it true that your wife was in charge of all the firm’s monetary dealings?”

“Ex-wife. And yes.”

“And you never thought to double check where she was allocating most of the funds?”

“I had a degree in law, not accounting.”

“So, you never thought it was slightly suspicious that your new firm was bringing in seven figures monthly?”

“No.” I sighed, thinking back to those days, those clients. Everyone we dealt with had far more than I would earn in my lifetime and I thought nothing about the monthly profits Ava reported; I trusted her.

“Is it fair to say that the demise of your firm could be due to your wife’s handling of funding?”

I gritted my teeth. “Yes.”

“Interesting.” He picked up a sheet of paper and asked the judge if he could approach me. “Could you read this to the court please?”

“I’d rather not,” I said.

“You’d rather not?” He laughed. “Mr. Hamilton, as a lawyer yourself, surely you know that you will be held in contempt for refusing to read requested evidence.”

“Read it, Mr. Hamilton.” The judge demanded.

“You’re a f**king liar, Ava.” I read my old words. “You’ve f**ked so many people behind my back that I’ve lost count. As far as I’m concerned, you deserve to rot behind bars. Maybe then your overworked pu**y will get a much needed break.”

A juror covered her mouth in shock, but I continued reading.

“Thank you for telling me that my c**k was never up to par, that after all those years of marriage you were never satisfied…Since you and Kevin have not only managed to take away my firm, but have also ruined the one thing that made my life worth living, accept this letter as a goodbye.” I looked up at the defense.