It was after eight when I finally got home from the office. Dan’s words still played through my head. We had to get our shit together. Olivia and I had to find a way to work together, not against each other, or we’d be handing Jason Drew this trial. I thought things had been going relatively well until today. No, I was mistaken, things were not going well.

I changed clothes and poured myself a glass of whiskey before I sat down on the couch and called Reggie.

“Hey man, what’s up?” he answered after three rings.

“Just getting home,” I said.

“You should really work less, Beck. I’m on my way home too, but it’s three hours earlier here.”

“One minute you’re giving me shit about not making partner yet, and the next you’re telling me I should work less.” I shook my head. “I can’t win with you.”

“You know I just like busting your balls. What’s the status of the partnership anyway?”

“Nothing yet. They won’t make a decision until this trial is over, and after today, I’m sure they are considering other options.”

“What happened?” Reggie asked. I launched into the story of our courtroom debacle today, Reggie doing nothing to hide his laughter and snorting.

“Jesus Christ, Beck. I thought you were going to put that woman in her place, not let her drag you down with her?” he said when I finished.

“She’s too good,” I sighed.

“That’s bullshit, Jameson, I’ve seen you in court, remember? As much as it pains me to admit it, you’re the best there is. I’ve seen you make lawyers with double your experience look like stumbling fools, and you're telling me a blonde bombshell with less experience than you has you stumped?”

“You haven’t met her, Reggie, so you don’t know what I’m up against over here! You haven’t seen her work. She is ruthless, like a lioness on the hunt in there.”

“I’ve said it before, and I”ll say it again … I think you’re being a pussy.”

“I think you’re an asshole.”

“Well, yeah, but we’re not talking about me here. Do you like her?” he asked, his voice getting all high-pitched like a teenage girl gossiping about her latest crush.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I snapped back. “This isn’t high school.”

“Sounds to me like you’ve got a crush on her,” Reggie said, barely containing his laughter.

“Shut up, I don’t have a crush on her.” He laughed. Reggie was joking, but I considered his question seriously. Was that what the problem was here? Were my feelings for Olivia getting in the way? Did I have feelings for Olivia?

“It’s good to know the great Jameson Beck is human with feelings like the rest of us. I was beginning to wonder if you were some sort of superhuman freak.” I didn’t say anything, and it was silent long enough that I thought maybe he had hung-up.

“You really fucked yourself this time, Beck.”

“Tell me oh-mighty-wise one, what would you do?” I asked sarcastically. Reggie had a worse track record with women than I did.

“Well, first of all, I would’ve stopped fucking her when I found out who she was...” he said, like the answer was that simple. I snorted.

“That’s what you think. A woman like Olivia would have you so tightly by the balls you’d be picking up her laundry and making dinner like a good little housewife.”

“False. But that’s not the point,” Reggie said.

“And what is the point?”

“Jesus, she really has messed with your head. The point is you can’t have both. You think she’s still going to want to get naked with you when you take the job she’s wanted for years? In case you’ve gone completely stupid, the answer is no. Or worse, what are you going to do if she gets the partnership. Are you going to play the good little housewife?”

“I’m hanging up now.”

“That’s fine, go call your girlfriend and cry to her,” Reggie said. “Maybe she’ll be sympathetic when she’s your new boss in a few weeks.”

He disconnected the call before I had a chance to respond.

“Fucker,” I mumbled as I put the phone on the coffee table. I thought about Olivia as I sipped my drink.

It seemed like more and more, my thoughts turned to her. At work, at home, it didn’t matter where I was, she seemed to find her way into my thoughts. Even though I would never admit it to Reggie, I would be a liar if I tried to deny I had feelings for her. We worked twelve hours a day together, and I still wanted to spend more time with her. It had been years since I’d felt this way about a woman. And, of course, it had to be the one woman who could ruin everything.

I stared out the window at the lights of New York City. I’d come here for a reason and that reason wasn’t a woman. I’d decided a long time ago I didn’t need a woman in my life, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to start needing one now.

The partnership was at stake, and nothing else mattered. Not my feelings, not Olivia’s feelings, not anything. I was taking our twisted and fucked up relationship back to the basics: sex and work. But even that had an expiration date. One of us being named partner was going to change everything, and I wasn’t sure I was ready for that.

* * *

The meeting with the senior Mr. Delaney was uneventful. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I got Olivia’s email, but after the incident in court, I thought for sure it couldn’t be good.

He really just wanted to talk to us both in person, make sure neither of us were leaving the case or being reassigned after the incident, and get our feelings on how the trial was going so far.

“It’s been good so far,” Olivia said. She hadn’t said more than two words to me since we rode the elevator up to Mr. Delaney’s office. “The prosecution has some key witnesses coming up though. Cecilia’s parents, another friend who says she saw Josh and Cecilia fighting the day she died. In a case like this one, where there are no eyewitnesses, no useable DNA evidence, and no solid alibi, the jury’s decision will be based on circumstantial evidence, and any testimony that paints Josh in a bad light could ultimately impact their decision.”

“We get to question all the witnesses as well, so we can hopefully redirect some of that negativity,” I jumped in.

“Good, let’s try and keep things a little more professional from now on, shall we?” Delaney asked.

“Of course.” Olivia smiled. “That won’t happen again, you have our word.” I nodded in affirmation, and we both stood to leave.

“Can we call a truce?” I asked, once in the cab on the way to the courthouse.

“Can you call a truce?” Olivia hissed. “I was playing nice. You were the one who jumped in and made us both look like idiots.”

“Your line of questioning was completely ridiculous.”

“So the answer is no?” Olivia crossed her arms over her chest and turned away.

“Maybe if you weren’t so secretive about your work, I would know what questions you were going to ask, and we could strategize together,” I said, my voice rising. “Instead I have to guess what you are doing at every stage, and then undermine you when I think you’re making a mistake.”

“You are so full of yourself,” she said without looking at me.

“And you’re not? Jesus, Olivia, I’ve never met someone as arrogant as you. Yes, you’re a good attorney, maybe even great, but you’ve got to let some of the ego go. You’re not God’s gift to the courtroom.” When she didn’t respond, I continued, “We are going to lose this case if we don’t start acting at least a little bit like a team. Is that what you want?”

The cab was silent for a few long moments, and I caught the driver watching us intently in the rear-view mirror. He looked away quickly when I met his eye.

“All right,” she finally sighed. “We are two adults who negotiate and make deals for a living, so I think we can figure this out. And no, I don’t want to lose this case. I can send you my notes for the rest of the witnesses, and we can go over them the day before if you’d like.”

“I can do the same for the witness I’ve been assigned,” I said.

“Do you want to meet before court to discuss that day's witnesses?

“Either that or the night before … it shouldn’t take long.” Finally, we were making some progress on negotiating. Knowing what she was going to ask the prosecution's witnesses beforehand would make everything go a lot smoother. We sat in silence the rest of the way to the courthouse, neither of us willing to admit fault or apologize for yesterday or risk arguing and undoing the little progress we had just made.

Drew was getting out of another cab when we pulled up outside the courthouse. He nodded hello to both of us.

“I wasn’t sure I was going to see either of you here today,” he said. I resisted the urge to say something, but I didn’t know him well enough to put him in his place.

“You thought you were going to get off that easy?” Olivia asked. “Unfortunately for you, we are here to stay.”

“Are we going to see another Stella outburst today?” Drew nodded to Olivia. I saw a flash of anger cross her face before she forced a laugh.

“No, I don’t think so,” was all she said as she jogged up the stairs ahead of us.

“See you inside,” I said to Drew and took the stairs two at a time to catch up to her.

“What was that about?”

“Drew being an ass,” she said, her tone of voice letting me know the subject was closed for discussion. I opened my mouth to argue but decided to let it go. I couldn’t sabotage our progress by pushing her any further.

We both went straight to the holding cell where they kept Josh before the trial and during recesses.

“Good morning, Mr. Delaney,” I said as we entered the room. Olivia said hello and began taking a few things out of her briefcase.

“You look like you’re in a better mood today, Ms. Roberts,” Josh said. “You two fuck your problems away last night?”

Olivia and I looked at each other before we both turned and looked at Josh. He was grinning from ear to ear.

“That is none of your business,” Olivia snapped.

“I see I hit a sore spot,” he laughed. “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.”

“All right, we’ve got a few heavy witnesses on the docket this morning.” I cleared my throat, bringing the conversation back to a more appropriate topic. Josh laughed again before he turned his attention to me and the list of witnesses that should be called today.

It was by far our best day in court together. Instead of sitting in silence during the prosecution’s questioning, Olivia and I both took notes, passing them across the table, occasionally leaning over to whisper an idea or added question to the other.

By the time court recessed for the day, I was feeling more confident than ever with our chances of winning this case. If Olivia and I continued to work together, we could be almost unstoppable.