Page 49 of For the Love of the Lawyer

I hope we'll see each other soon, because I can still feel ya inside me, but it’ll fade pretty quick. It's a great reminder of how fantastic the weekend was and how much I wanna do it again real soon.

Have a great week,

Mick

Jon took a deep breath as he reread the note, grateful to have it. He went back to his bedroom to sort through his dirties where he found a pair of cotton boxers with chili peppers on them that definitely weren't his. He held them up to his nose to smell the scent of his lover. It was faint, which led him to believe Mickey hadn't worn them for very long, but they smelled like him. Jon put them aside, deciding not to wash them for the time being.

He glanced at the answering machine to see there were no messages on his landline, so he took a sip of wine while he decided if he was hungry. As he was sorting through the mail from Friday and Saturday, his phone chimed on the charger, so he picked it up, smiling to see it was a text message from Mickey.

Hi Mr. Jon. Mick let me use his phone. Thanks for takin me to meet the barber today. Pop and Dad love my hair. Your friend, Rocky

Jon grinned at the message, feeling a tingle in his heart. The family he was slowly cultivating in Holloway was becoming very important to him. He needed to speak with Audrey regarding the status of the guardianship and potential adoption of Rocky, but he had to tread lightly.

He couldn't storm in and take over because Audrey was stubborn, just like him, so he had to play it cool. He wanted nothing to cause any problems with Matt and Tim's custody of the boy. They all loved each other. Preserving the Moran-Collins' family was the most important thing.

Jon walked into his office on Tuesday morning after meeting with a family court judge to accept appointment as guardian ad litem for a four-year old girl who'd been dropped off over the weekend at a local firehouse/EMS station with a note that her name was Megan and she had Down's Syndrome. She refused to tell anyone who left her or her last name or anything about her family because she'd been told she'd be put in jail, and God help the child, she believed it.

"She didn't deserve to be abandoned, Jon. I have a younger brother with Down's, and if my parents had dropped him off at a firehouse, I'd hope like hell someone would be outraged. The police are looking for next of kin or who dropped the girl off in the first place, but I'd like you to help the social worker get her into a better-than-decent foster situation, please," the Judge had asked him. The Honorable Bruno Mattucik was a nice man, and he was definitely fair, so Jon agreed to take the case on a pro bono basis and give it his full attention.

He'd gone to the hospital to meet the little girl who was in for observation and assessment, and she was truly adorable with her brown curly hair and her big brown eyes. She smiled at him and wanted to share her crayons and coloring book with him, which made his heart swell. If only he and Mickey were more settled… No, he couldn't let that get into his head, though he was shocked the thought had made an appearance in the first place. There were a lot of things that needed to happen with the cowboy first.

"Hi, Karen. Anything to worry about?" Jon stopped at Karen Stubbs' desk, handing her the paperwork from the courthouse.

She leafed through it and smiled at him, gently shaking her head. "Always a soft touch, Jon. Nothing going on as far as I know, but Audrey did ask to see you when you got in. She's upset, so I suspect trouble in paradise." Karen cocked her eyebrow.

"Thanks, Karen. If Michael Warren calls, could you find me?" Jon asked the question as nonchalantly as possible, not wanting to tip her off the man meant everything to him.

Karen smirked. "Sure, Jon. Ham’s in court this morning, but he mentioned wanting to have lunch with you today. You free?"

He nodded. Jon had a lot of things to discuss with his father, and lunch was as good a time as any. The last lunch they'd had together was hiscoming outlunch. He hoped this lunchwouldn't be so damn dramatic as that one had been, though it had ended with his parents hugging him and reminding him he was loved.

Jon went to his office, hanging up his suitcoat and dropping off his briefcase before going to check on Audrey. On the way to the kitchen to get coffee, he checked his phone to see a text from Mickey.

Hell, I miss ya already. Ryan lost another tooth! Actually, he lost it on Rocky's thick skull, but I'll explain it tonight when I call ya. I wish you were still in my bed, counselor, ‘cause I could use a distraction. I'm taking a practice test for my GED this afternoon with Miss Ruthie from the library. I hope I do well because I don't want to get disillusioned. (How's that for a ten-dollar word?) Mick

Jon smiled and put his phone into his pocket as he walked to Audrey's office, knocking on the door before he barged in. He saw his best friend looking like hell, and he was instantly worried.

"Oh, sweetheart, what's the matter?” He closed the door behind him, placing his coffee on the desk as he went behind it and pulled her up, into his arms so he could hug her. She appeared to need it, badly.

Audrey began to sob, so he led her to the office couch and held her close, allowing her to wet his shirt until she was able to get it out. Finally, she took the handkerchief he offered, blowing her nose before tossing it onto the floor. He was glad she hadn't offered it back.

Audrey’s eyes met his, and Jon could see the weight of the world on her shoulders. "Tell me what's wrong.”

"Lyla left me. She claims our engagement is a sham. She moved out and is staying at a hotel for now. She gave me back the ring, and she told me she's moving to California. She was offered a spot with a ballet company in San Francisco as an assistant choreographer. She…shedidn'taskmetoGOWITHHER!" Audrey wailed.

Jon held onto her, not really seeing a downside to the bitch leaving. The evil elf was out of their lives, and he could move Audrey onto better pastures. There had to be women who were charming and would love his best friend for the woman she was, not because they could lord over her as Lyla had done since she and Audrey had met.

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry. Aud, this offer couldn't have come out of the blue. What's been going on with you two lately?" He really didn’t want to delve into their relationship, but he knew Audrey needed to talk it out.

His BFF sniffled, so he offered her his shirt sleeve. She'd already destroyed his linen handkerchief.

"Gross, Jonny. Tissues in my second drawer.” He stood and approached the desk, opening it slowly in the event there was anything inside he didn't want to see—tampons, pads, or dildos. None of it would have been welcomed.

For an hour and thirty minutes, Jon listened to her outlining the very evil he believed Lyla had inside her since the first day she pranced into a Christmas party at his parents' house with Audrey. The devil's spawn had played on every insecurity Audrey ever held, and she'd completely ruined his best friend's confidence for the immediate future.

"I'm not trying to gloat, Audie, I swear. I honestly had no idea the imp could be so evil. Why don't you go get a full-day spa, my treat? I'll make sure your docket's squared away, okay? After I finish work today, I'll come by with Thai food and wine. We'll search the house for anything she left behind and burn it in abarrel in the backyard. If we can't find anything, I'll make an effigy of her, and we can burn that just as well. A few Popsicle sticks and a piece of toilet paper should suffice.”

When Audrey started laughing, Jon knew he had a chance of bringing her back from purgatory. She believed she loved Lyla, but he was certain there was someone better for her out there somewhere. It would be interesting to see which of them was right.

---