Page 12 of Home With You

"You really see the world that way?"

"I see what I know. And what I know is that people are lying, cheating, selfish bastards."

"I respect your opinion but I choose not to believe that. Isn't that why we're lawyers? To help the wrongly accused?"

She lets out a laugh. "I'd forgotten how naive people your age can be. I, personally, was never like that, but I knew people like you. Eyes closed to reality. Wanting to live in a fantasy world where only good exists." She crumples up her napkin and puts it over her plate. She only took three bites of her sandwich. The rest remains on her plate, along with the chips she never touched.

She gets her phone out and texts someone. "So, regarding the Samson case."

She continues to talk while texting as I struggle to take notes while eating my sandwich.

At 12:30 we leave and walk back to the office.

"I really hate that," she says when we're almost at our building.

"Hate what?"

"That." She points across the street. "When they dig out of the trash. It's so disgusting."

I look where she's pointing and see someone pulling something out of the trash can. It's hard to see across the street with the cars going by but it looks like a woman. It's only the second homeless woman I've seen, the first one being the old lady that came in the coffee shop last night. This woman appears to be much younger. She has a navy blue backpack and I watch as she stuffs whatever she pulled from the garbage into her bag.

"Hurry up," Lisa says, holding the door of our building open.

"Sorry," I say, hurrying inside.

"Go ahead without me," she says when we're in the lobby. "I have to call the agency and get a new nanny. I'll see you at our meeting at two."

I continue to the elevators, relieved to get away from her. I have a stomachache and heartburn and it's not from my sandwich. It's from being around Lisa. She's the most negative person I've ever met. And the most angry. The only time I saw her smile was when she made fun of me for being naive.

I don't think I'm naive. I know the world is full of bad people but that doesn't mean everyone's that way. Like Zoe from last night. The way she welcomed me the moment I walked in the door? I could've been a horrible person. A criminal. And yet she greeted me with a smile and welcomed me like we were old friends. And she was nice to the homeless lady, even gave her a hug. She's the complete opposite of Lisa and proof that good people exist.

After work, I race out of the office, wanting to get home and get a workout in. There's a gym in the basement of my building that's not bad for an apartment gym. Exercise is how I relieve stress, and right now, I'm feeling a lot of stress. There's a client meeting tomorrow morning at eight and the boss wants us at the office by seven to prepare for it. I have to read through all the client files tonight, but I don't want to do it here. I'm going to go to that coffee shop again. Maybe I'll see that girl.

After the gym I shower and eat a quick dinner. At seven I head to the coffee shop. On my way there, I stop suddenly when I see someone coming toward me. It looks like that girl. The one I saw last night. She's a block away so I can't say for sure but I think it's her. She has her hair up today but has on the same long sweater she wore last night.

Slowing my pace, I get my phone out and pretend to look at it while I wait for her to reach me. I'm not sure what I'm going to do when she does. I don't want her to think I'm stalking her.

When she's a few feet away, I put my phone in my pocket and look up at her. It's definitely the same girl. With the same dark eyes. Same full lips. Same beautiful face.

"Hey." I smile at her.

"Hey," she says back, not really looking at me. She continues past me.

I turn around and catch up to her. "Sorry to bother you but didn't I see you in the coffee shop last night?"

She stops, her eyes moving over me like she's trying to assess if I'm a threat. Shit. I didn't mean to scare her.

"What do you want?" she asks, folding her arms over her chest.

"Nothing. I just remembered you from last night and wanted to say hi."

She gives me a strange look. "Um, okay. Hi back." She continues down the street.

I walk beside her but a few feet away because she still seems wary of me. "I just moved here and I'm trying to learn more about the city. Are you from Denver?"

"No," she says, still walking.

"Where are you from?"

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