Okay, so I really hate this fucking lawyer Éclair set me up with. She’s rude, and she is so damn snarky. I guess it’s my bad for acting flirty, but what does the woman expect when she looks like that? Her brown hair flows back in loose curls, and her perfectly manicured nails tap the office desk, making a slight clicking noise with each motion. She is wearing an auburn colored suit jacket that is tight fitting for her petite little body, and it matches the short, tight suit skirt she is wearing that is now hidden behind the desk. Under the suit jacket is a white, lacey blouse that shows off her enormous breasts –breasts you would not normally see on such a tiny woman. Her lips are painted bright red, and her thick eyeliner makes her bright green eyes pop.

Éclair knows better than to put me alone in a room with someone like this –especially someone who is clearly not interested. I always take that shit as a challenge. I have to make myself think of Sylvia to keep from dropping my A-game and really pissing this woman off. Her name is Lillian Lioness; yes, that’s her real name, and I know because I had questioned its existence for ten minutes after she introduced herself, and it really pissed her off. I had only meant to lighten the mood, but she took it all wrong.

Right now she is twirling her pen around and piercing her lips together as she sizes me up. I sit in the guest chair in front of her desk somewhat nervous at the eerie silence that is present between us. I find myself breaking eye contact to just relieve some of the tension that is present. I look around at the bookshelf full of law books behind her as well as the various framed degrees and other awards and recognitions she has received. There are a few framed newspaper articles from big time cases she has worked in the past as well.

I look back at her and, for some moronic reason, attempt to put on the charm again despite the epic fail from just a few minutes ago that resulted in this awkward silence, “Listen, sweetheart,” I say with a smile, and she interrupts me –not with words, but with an embarrassing gesture.

She turns a picture frame around for me to see that has been sitting on her desk this entire time, and she slams it slightly. Awe fuck. I look at a picture of two women in white wedding dresses –one of them is her. I swear my face feels like it’s on fire as all the blood rushes to my head from the embarrassment I am feeling. My left-hand reaches up and loosens my tie, “Um…” I say, “Your wife is lovely.”

“Yup.” She says and leans back in her chair, “So, let’s skip pass all of your playboy bullshit, shall we? No calling me sweetheart, baby, doll, or any of your stupid ass pet names –got it?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I say.

“Trust me. You don’t want to piss her off.” She says and takes the picture frame and turns it back around. “She’s a marine, and I’m pretty sure she could kick your ass, pretty boy.”

I laugh, “That tiny little woman in that picture is a marine?”

She rolls her eyes, “Yes, she is.” She crosses her arms, “You do want my help, don’t you? I don’t just take in random clients, Mr. Mont. You only have a meeting with me today because of Éclair. She’s an old friend.”

“Excuse me?” I question, and she just laughs –leaving me wondering what the hell she meant by that emphasis.

“You need to relax.” She says, “Look, the lawsuit being brought up against you is not going to hold much water once this information about the rat poison goes public. It’s obvious that it is some sort of sabotage. Now, here is the problem, though.” She sifts through some paperwork, getting right now to business, “Your new supplement line does break some minor laws regarding labelling, so the lawyer representing these clowns could actually build a case around that and argue that the mislabeling of your product was dangerous to begin with and that the rat poison only added to the dangers at hand. He’s going to try to label you as corrupt and negligent from the get go.”

“Whoa, hold the phone,” I say, “There is nothing wrong with my labels on the new products.”

“Sorry, sweetheart, but there are.” She says, “Your creators changed a few things with the recipe right before the product was finalized, and you failed to alter the nutrition guideline.”

“What?” I am pissed off. Whose job is that? I’m not sure, but someone is getting fired.

“Yup. Now, it’s not a big deal. You probably would not have even had to issue a recall because the change was so subtle, but you would have had to send out replacement labels if this issue was ever discovered. However, you didn’t. Someone could have posted an allergy to one of the new ingredients… not that basic vitamin allergies are a common allergy, but case in point –you screwed up long before the rat poison made it into your supplements. What this lawyer is going to try to do is use that as evidence of business malpractice. He’s going to suggest that this whole rat poison thing could have been prevented if you had taken the necessary precautions. He might even be able to bring this to court.” Lillian leans back in her chair, “But lucky for you, you are hiring me. My hope is that I can swipe this shit under the rug during mediation and have the judge throw the lawsuit out altogether, but I can’t promise that.”

I’m practically shaking. “So what about the guy who did this? I mean, who could have possibly poisoned my supplements?”

“That’s another thing,” she says, “That’s going to be a criminal case –something different entirely from the malpractice lawsuit. I don’t think the investigators are going to try to pin it on you, but it might be wise if we can try to have something ready if they do. Personally, I would like to look into your brother Eddie.”

“Excuse me?” I sit upright, “What do you mean?”

“I spoke to Éclair, and she briefly mentioned that you two had had an argument not too long before all of this went down.” Lillian props her elbows up on the desk, “So I went ahead and did a little digging. Sounds like Eddie is probably our guy.” I could punch her. I really could punch her.

“You’re out of your mind.” I say with as much anger in my voice that I can manage, “Yeah, we had an argument and got into not too long ago, but he would never-”

She cuts me off, “Come on, James. I know all about you and Eddie. I read up on my client's personal lives. Certain things always seem more obvious to people looking in from the outside, you know? And believe me, this seems pretty obvious. Eddie got screwed out of your father’s will –that shit made headlines. He’s been branded as a bastard and the result of infidelity amongst LA’s socialites. He’s in debt because of it too. He clearly detests you from what I have read in the tabloids; you two have gotten into physical altercations before that have led to arrests, but neither of you ever press charges against one another. And, he has full access to that factory as the head supervisor. He is there all the time alone without anyone else present. And according to Éclair, you slept with the man’s girlfriend not too long ago, and that could very well have been the straw that broke the camels back.”

I am at a loss for words. She really does make it all make sense, but I can’t bring myself to believe it. I grumble, “Eddie wouldn’t.” I say it, but a part of it really does make sense. Plus, Eddie had been really awkward lately. He hadn’t wanted to tell the police about us finding rat poison and let them find it on their own, and he had wanted to pin all of this on Éclair pretty quick.

“Well, lucky for you, picking a suspect is not in my job description –not yet, anyways.” She stacks up all over her paperwork and puts it into a file. “So forget what I said about your brother. Right now, let’s focus on this lawsuit.”

I nod in agreement, but I am hardly able to focus. Does she really think Eddie could have done this? I don’t think Eddie hates me so much that he would try to bring my company down, but for some reason, I cannot get the thought out of my head.