Adam
Monday
My eyes fluttered open Monday morning with my face pressed up against the fabric of my couch. Ugh, what am I doing out here? I wondered. And why am I naked?
Then suddenly the memories of what happened came back to me.
Vanessa.
Yes, Vanessa, with her sparkling brown eyes and plump lips that seemed to be permanently stained a soft, kissable pink. My hands instinctively flew to my lips, and I could taste her on them. Her cherry lip gloss was addictive; I couldn’t get enough of it when I was kissing her. Even thinking about it gave me a semi this early in the morning.
I have to see her again.
She was nowhere to be seen, though. She must have left in the middle of the night. Crap, maybe Vanessa didn’t feel the same way about our nightly escapade as I did. I shook my head as I was gathering my clothes and made my way over to the shower. How was that even possible? Surely, she had felt the same connection I did. I have the claw marks on my back to prove it.
I grinned, admiring the red scratches in the bathroom mirror. While I was in the shower, and the heat of the water beat down on me, I had to grip myself around the shaft and bring out the rest of last night’s memory.
I pictured Vanessa laying under me, her blonde hair splayed out across the cushion. Her lips and body were so inviting, it brought a rush of blood into my aching groin.
“Ugh, Vanessa,” I panted while running my hand up and down the length of it. For a while, I pretended it was her until I finally released my orgasm across the shower tile.
It wasn’t entirely satisfying – nothing would ever be quite as good as the real thing.
It was getting late, though, and I needed to go into the office, so I quickly showered and put on a clean pair of clothes. There wasn’t any time to shave before I headed out the door.
My breath was visible in the cold as I locked the door behind myself and pulled the scarf around my neck. “Brrr!”
I walked over to the silver Escalade, and the engine turned over nicely after I put the key in the ignition. I shivered quietly, waiting for the heater to come on. The windows had to defrost before it would be safe to drive.
Traffic was light on the way to work since most people were off for the holiday—just not us. I pulled into the parking lot outside and grabbed my briefcase in the back seat. Thanks to Max dragging me around all weekend, I hadn’t got as much of the paperwork done that I would have liked to. I wasn’t behind on anything but just didn’t have that extra edge that I looked forward to.
I sighed, walking up the steps. Once inside, I closed the door behind me. Leslie was sitting at her desk with a festive firework display pinned to the message board behind her. She heard me come inside and glanced up from setting out the new calendars for the year. “Good morning, Les,” I greeted her with a smile.
“Good morning, Mr. Hillis! I trust you had an enjoyable New Year weekend.”
I smiled. “More than you know,” I told her. “Let me know when Jon gets here; he said he has a case for me.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Is there any coffee in the break room?”
Leslie nodded, “Yep, I just put a pot on to brew five minutes ago.”
“Excellent, thank you!”
With a nod, I stepped into my office and removed my coat and hat to hang on the standing rack in the corner. I exhaled heavily, still thinking about my incredible night with Vanessa, and headed over to pour myself a mug. I knew she was at her parents’, but it would have been bad taste to call. I was always told the rule was to wait three days. Besides, she had my number; if Vanessa wanted to contact me, she knew how.
But please, let her call, I thought.
I ruffled the back of my head in frustration and refused to let myself think about it. Instead, I poured the dark, aromatic drink into my cup and added milk and sugar to my liking. It smelled of hazelnut and toffee as I blew along the rim until it was cool enough to drink.
“Mmm…yeah! That hits the spot.”
I brought it with me back to my desk as I set up my laptop and removed some papers from my briefcase. The whir of the computer starting up hummed pleasantly as I sipped on the delicious drink.
I had thirteen emails waiting for me when I logged on. A few of them were from my clients; others were spam. Although, one was from my father, inviting me to dinner with him and Sarah and asking if I’d spoken with Vanessa about moving in.
Dear Adam,
I had fun at the Butlers’ Christmas party with you the other day; thank for bringing me. Max and Vanessa have both grown up so much the past few years, I barely recognized them. I hope you gave some thought to what I said about you and Vanessa moving in together. I think it would be good for you to have some company. All I ask is that you consider it – the two of you seemed to have some chemistry.
Anyways, Sarah still really wants to meet you. Maybe you could clear some time in your busy schedule to have dinner with us this weekend?
We’ll talk soon, bud.
Love,
Dad
I sighed in exasperation while reading it. The way he casually threw in meeting my potential step-mother was downright comical.
After responding to a few of the more pressing cases that needed my attention, Leslie came to knock on the office door. “Excuse me, Mr. Hillis. You wanted to know when Mr. Hansen arrived. He just stepped into the office.”
I nodded, minimizing the screen and looking up at her. “Thank you, Les. Anything else?”
She shook her head, and I dismissed her with a nod as Jon Hansen stepped inside. “Adam! You’re here bright and early, just as I expected. I’m impressed by your initiative! What time did you arrive?” he asked me curiously.
I chuckled. “About seven thirty. I’m afraid I didn’t get much done over the weekend.”
Mr. Hansen raised an eyebrow knowingly. “Son, that’s why they call it a weekend. I’m glad you’re enjoying the work, but make sure you take some time for yourself as well, okay?”
“Yes, sir. I believe you mentioned another case?”
“Oh, yes! It’s one of mine that I think you’d be interested in. I’ll need a co-attorney to help me on it, and you seemed just like the man for the job. I want you to be my right-hand man, understand?”
“Absolutely.”
I was flattered that even as a junior attorney, on only my second week at the firm, Hansen felt like he could rely on me. Career-wise, I was desperate to get noticed and make a good impression with the partners. This was a very good sign.
“Glad to hear it! I’ll have Cheri email you the details, and we can talk about it later once you’ve had the chance to look it over. You’re still fairly new here, and it’s a good case for you to get your feet wet.”
I smiled widely and stood up to shake his hand. “Thank you, sir. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Jon nodded and started heading for the door. “I’ll make sure you have the full write up this afternoon.”
I nodded happily as he gave a gentle wave and disappeared down the hall. As he was leaving, I gave myself a mental high five for nailing it. After he left, I went back to looking through my briefings and scheduled some appointments with Leslie. Just when it felt like I was getting into a groove, there was a notification on my desktop that I received an email.
Curious, I went to open it and found the promised write-up from Mr. Hansen’s secretary.
Alright, what’s so interesting about this case? I wondered, downloading the document onto my hard drive. It took a while to format, and I made use of that time by enjoying the rest of my coffee. When I finally opened the file, my interest was piqued immediately. Initially, I thought it was a regular corruption case, but the more I read, the more interesting it became. It was going to be a difficult case on either side, and I was excited about the challenge.
My schooling went into effect, and I started researching all the avenues in which we could represent our client. A client who at this point still remained anonymous. Jon had neglected to include the client’s personal information, which I found distressing, to say the least. I figured since he was the lead attorney on the case, most of my work would be behind the scenes doing legwork anyway, so it didn’t really matter.
I sent a quick email back to him, letting him know that I’d received the files. An hour later, I was still looking through the briefing. I’d been in the office for hours but had barely felt the time pass.
It was after five o’clock when I heard my cell phone ring from the pocket of my jacket. Pushing out from beneath my desk, I went to answer it and pulled out the device.
“This is Adam,” I addressed the caller absentmindedly.
“Hey!” Max’s voice greeted me on the other line. “I had a great time the other night; where did you run off to?”
I grinned, balancing the phone on my shoulder and said, “Hey, Max! Sorry about that, I just wasn’t feeling darts at the time. I hope you understand.”
“Totally,” he agreed. “Still, you could have joined us for a game of pool. What happened? Did you meet someone?”
My smile faded at the dangerous direction that our conversations was taking. I couldn’t exactly confess to bringing Vanessa home with me and having mind-blowing sex until I passed out on the sofa. He had already made his opinion on me getting together with his sister clear.
Crap! I cursed to myself quietly. How am I going to get out of this?
“Nah, man. I just left after the ball drop so I could get some shut-eye. It had been a long day and all.”
"Come on, not anyone? You could have picked up any lady in the joint, and she would have been lucky to have you."
"You know how I hate it when you talk like that."
"All I'm saying is you need a palate cleanser. Pretty soon, you're going to have forgotten how to talk to women."
"I was talking to Vanessa yesterday!"
"Yeah, we're going to brush right over that and get serious for a minute. First of all, my sister is a not a 'palate cleanser.' Secondly, how long has it been since Linda?"
"Ten months," I responded automatically.
"Exactly, you need to put yourself out there. I just wish you could have hung out with us some more. I lost Vanessa, too. Oh well, she probably got bored and went home. That girl seriously needs to learn how to unwind.”
“Yeah, probably.”