Page 5 of King of Justice

She sighed, picking up her cup and taking a step toward me. Her big brown eyes challenged mine. “Everything you need is on the counter. Will you excuse me?”

I was blocking the door, so I stepped aside, grinding my teeth as I watched her calmly walk out. “I’d like that guy Marcus’ number, please.”

“Sure,” she replied without looking back.

I saw her bend over at her desk, grabbing a notepad, and jotting something down. My phone started to ring; it was a friend from the club who was invited to my Christmas party. Shaking my head, I answered. “Taya, hey.”

“Nate, what’s this I’m hearing about you being stuck out of town?” she coyly asked. “Does this mean no Christmas party?”

“Oh, the party’s happening… just means that I can’t be in it,” I mocked.

“But it’s yours!”

“What can I tell you?” I slowly walked back into the kitchenette, eyeing the store-brand ingredients laid on in front of me. “Believe me, I’m more upset about it than you are.”

“I was looking forward to getting into that Jacuzzi with you,” she whispered.

“Don’t torture me, alright? We’ll make it up on New Year’s.”

“I’ll be in Zurich for New Year’s.”

“Seriously?”

Her giggle jingled in my ear. “Yes. My mom wants me to help with her party.”

“I guess I’ll see you after that, then.”

“Exactly how does a man like you get snowed in? Isn’t there some kind of service you can call?”

“Not in this town, apparently. Look, I’m working on it, but it’s not looking good.”

“I’m disappointed,” she used a childish voice.

“So am I; believe me.”

My phone faintly chimed, and I looked at the screen to realize that the battery was at five percent. “Listen, I gotta go. If I manage to come back tonight you’ll be the first to know, okay?”

“Okay.” She sighed. “Ciao!”

“Ciao, bella!”

I hung up and added some cream to my coffee, hoping that it would change the miserable taste it doubtlessly had. I couldn’t find any calorie-free sweetener, so I resorted to sugar, mentally negotiating with myself that I would spend some extra time on the treadmill when I got home.

Picking up the mug, I walked out and slowly sauntered over to Sophie’s desk. She looked up at me, and with two fingers, pushed a little note in my direction. “Marcus Hill.”

“Thank you.” I snatched it, feeling slightly juvenile as I did. Slowly drawing in a breath, I let it out at the same pace. “Look, I’m sorry. It’s just that this… kind of ruined a lot of plans for me tonight.”

She didn’t take her eyes off her screen. “Believe me, nobody else understands more.”

I nodded before taking a sip. Surprisingly, the coffee didn’t taste too bad—just weak. “So, where were you supposed to be?”

She pressed her lips together before smacking them. “Not here.” Pausing, she glanced at the phone in my hand. “I recommend charging that.”

I smirked. “You heard it all the way from there?”

From under her eyebrows, her eyes shot me a sarcastic glare. “We might have to deal with a blackout?”

“Oh, shit—Uh, sorry.” I quickly turned around, rushing to my laptop case back in the meeting room. I placed down my coffee and dipped both hands in, pulling out the charger. After plugging in the device and making sure it was charging, I put it on power-saving mode to speed up the process.

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