Page 16 of Memphis

The road stretched out before me, a narrow ribbon of asphalt winding its way through the countryside. My headlight illuminated a glimpse of the road ahead, but beyond that, there was nothing but shadows and silence.

I was becoming lost in the quiet when suddenly, I saw it—the beady eyes of a possum crossing the road. I tried to slow down and ease around him, but it was too little too late. The tires lost traction on a patch of loose gravel, and before I knew it, I was skidding out of control.

Time seemed to slow as my bike went down, ripping me from my seat and onto the asphalt. I hit the ground with an excruciating thud, and the impact knocked the breath from my lungs. I slid for God knows how long, only stopping when I slid into the bridge railing. I lay there, stunned and disoriented, and it was all I could do to keep myself from blacking out.

It was bad.

I was out in the middle of nowhere with no one around.

I didn’t know how bad it was until I tried to get up.

I eased off my helmet, and as soon as I tried to move, I realized that I couldn't feel my legs. I thought it was just my mind playing tricks on me, so I tried once again to move. That’s when I realized something was wrong—very, very wrong. Panicked, I tried to reach for my phone, but it was nowhere tobe found. I started calling out into the darkness out for help. I called and called, but it was pointless. There was no one around for miles.

Out of pure frustration, I laid my head back and closed my eyes, trying my best not to think the worst. But deep down, I knew the truth.

I was fucked.

Antonia

"Hey, Mark!" I peered over the large stack of files on my desk. “You got a sec?”

“Sure thing.” Mark was one of the associates I shared an office with at my firm, and he had quickly become one of my favorite people. He was smart, handsome, and always eager to give a helping hand. “What's up?"

"I really need your help with the Smithson case.”

“Sure. What do you need?”

"Could you help me go over that contract? We need to see if there are any loopholes that might give us an edge.”

“Absolutely.” Mark replied with his fingers already flying across his keyboard. “I’ll get started on it right now.”

“Awesome. You’re the best!”

"Of course.”

"Oh, and when we get done, I thought we could try out that new BBQ place down the street.”

"Yeah, that sounds great."

“Perfect.”

I looked back down at my files and let out an overwhelmed sigh. I was beginning to worry that I’d bitten off more than I could chew. I’d been hired to handle a breach of contract,and there was more to it than I’d expected. The construction company was family-owned and run, and over the years, they’d made a real name for themselves. They were sought after by many around the area, so they stayed quite busy.

Last summer, they entered into a contract with a local developer who wanted them to build a commercial complex with five retail stores and a bar. The project was expected to take four months to complete, but the developer wasn’t happy with some of the finishing designs he’d chosen and wanted them changed.

Those changes took both time and money, and ultimately, they caused a lengthy delay in completion. The developer tried to blame the construction company, but they had been careful and followed the terms of the contract. They refused to take the financial hit and reached out to me for help.

It was the smart thing to do. It doesn’t take much for a business’ reputation to be put on the line. I was there to make sure that didn’t happen, but there is a lot that goes into cases like these. One mistake can cost a company millions of dollars, so I had to be on top of my game.

I’d been looking over the contract for over an hour when I found what we needed. “Hey, Mark!”

“Yeah?”

“Look on page eight. Appendix C.” I gave him a second, then added, “It’s the clause Smithson was telling me about.”

“I found it.” Mark quickly read it, then continued, “It states here that any changes to the original design had to be approved and documented by the contractor and that the developer is solely responsible for any additional costs or delays caused by the changes.”

“Yep! That’s it.”

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