Page 5 of Belle Amour

“That's the one.” Bastian put his feet up on her coffee table and glared at them. Kelly had been a guest at a staff Christmas party his first year at Henderson Law, and Bastian fully admitted to having too much alcohol, but it was his first Christmas without Mirabelle, and he was drowning his sorrows. He woke up to find the daughter of his boss in bed with him and had no idea if they slept together or not. She’d later come into his office, closely followed by her father, John Henderson, and – rather triumphantly – slammed a positive pregnancy test on his desk while John blustered about making an honest woman out of his daughter. When he’d gotten over his shock, he’d laughed and told them he had a vasectomy, he didn’t remember sleeping with her, and if she did screw him while he was blackout drunk, they were going to have a problem. But he would take care of the child if a DNA test proved it was his.

Kelly had gotten very quiet, and it was only when Henderson promised to make Bastian a partner that he backed down from quitting and suing Kelly out of existence.“She's young and stupid, Bast; I'll keep her away from you.”John had obviously forgotten his end of the bargain.

“If I leave and start my own practice, you'd come with me, right? Dust off your law degree and be my partner?”

“Well, duh. I chased you to Henderson, Bastian. I’ll follow you when you leave. You're stuck with me for life.” She smiled at him. “And I'll have your back no matter what.”

Chapter Four: Seeing is Believing

July

It was early on a Thursday morning, and Mirabelle was sitting at her desk, typing up some documents and reflecting on the last three months with a mixture of gratitude and frustration. Gratitude, because her divorce from Eddie was finalized three months earlier and, as Bastian predicted, the judge agreed to their terms. Eddie had to pay her just over twelve grand for the part of the money he used from their emergency savings account; the house needed to be sold, and the money split between them. He was responsible for his credit card debt, and there was no spousal maintenance payment on either side. Eddie tried to argue that he was unemployed because of Mirabelle, but the judge ruled he was unemployed due to his own actions and took issue with the fact that he remained unemployed despite still being licenced to practice law.

She wasn’t sure what story Eddie had spun to his family and friends, but feeling like she had done enough damage and knowing he was already the black sheep in his family, she just distanced herself from them, which hurt because she had been very close to them, especially his older sister, whom she adored. She found herself missing them, and while she had a couple of conversations with her former mother-in-law on the phone, they were polite and superficial, lacking the usual warmth Francesca Shea usually spoke to her with.

Adding to her sadness about losing Eddie’s family was the frustration from the fact that John had hired his daughter as the third lawyer for the firm. Kelly Henderson was a single mother to a two-year-old boy named Kade, whom she frequently used as an excuse for why she didn’t have her work completed. She had brought the child in a few times when her childcare didn’t show, and while Mirabelle knew the terrible twos were a thing, she was pretty sure Kade had never heard the word no once in his short life; he was allowed to wander freely throughout the firm and had twice escaped into the street, causing the receptionist, Barb, to chase him. The second time she brought him back, she warned Kelly that if he got out again, she wouldn’t chase him, and it would be on her for expecting people to do her mothering for her. She then walked into John’s office and threatened to quit if Kelly brought her little terror to the office again.

The meltdown that followed had been epic, but when Mirabelle, the rest of the support staff and the interns backed Barb up and threatened to walk out the next time Kade was brought to the office, John had no choice but to tell Kelly that she needed to find a daycare and offered to pay for it for her. Bastian hadn’t said very much during all this, but that didn’t surprise her. He seemed to be adopting an attitude of burying his head in the sand when it came to Kelly.

There had been several occasions since she started that caused Mirabelle to side-eye Bastian and wonder what the hell he was thinking, including offering his help and, by extension, Mirabelle’s help with her cases, leading them to cancel the cabin trip a few times and most recently, taking Kelly’s side in the lunchroom when Kelly blamed her for something she had done. Mirabelle called her out in front of everyone, causing Kelly to start yelling at her. The rest of the support staff had taken Mirabelle out for drinks that night and came up with a plan. Ithad taken three weeks to get everything in place for it, but they were ready to go on Mirabelle’s signal. Bastian had promised to make the cabin trip the upcoming weekend, and Mirabelle fully intended to go the next morning – with or without him. Hearing the door open and the sound of voices, including Bastian’s deep baritone, as people filed into the office for the start of the workday, Mirabelle quickly closed what she was working on and brought up the paperwork for the court hearing they had that afternoon.

Bastian stopped by her desk on his way in, smiling at her happily. “Hey, Bunny.” He passed over the tea he had picked up for her on his way to work that morning. “Are you ready for our cabin trip?”

“Thank you.” Mirabelle flashed him a smile. He hadn’t missed picking up her tea for her in the morning for six years, and it was still something that melted her heart and made her feel as cared for as much as it had the first time. Despite that, she couldn’t help the sarcasm that followed. “Is it actually happening this time?”

“We have court this afternoon, and then I've cleared my calendar for the next week.” He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “It’s happening.”

“Uh-huh. Forgive me if I don't believe you.” She sipped her tea and passed him some paperwork he needed to sign. She had a gut feeling that something was going to come up by the end of the day, and she would be going alone.

“I swear, no more rescheduling.” He promised, crossing his heart. “I need some time away from the city and the courtroom.”

Mirabelle fought against the urge to roll her eyes, knowing full well that if Kelly came to him, whining aboutneeding his help again, he would cancel the trip and stay. “I'm going with or without you this time,” she warned him firmly. “So, if you reschedule, you'll be working here without me for a week.”

“Threats, Mira?” Bastian raised his eyebrow and frowned. Mirabelle knew he wouldn’t survive a week without her running interference for him, and he did too, so the fact that she was going to take her vacation, whether he came or not, probably did feel like a threat.

“No, Bast, not threats, promises. My boss has approved the time off.” She smiled up at him sweetly as she reminded him that he had signed off on her vacation. “It's not my problem that the new lawyer has decided you’re the answer to all her prayers, and it’s definitely not my problem that you indulge her. I refuse to put off my much-needed vacation for her or you any longer.”

“I have no choice but to “indulge her” Mira.” Bastian sighed and ran his hand through his short brown hair; frustration etched in every line of his face and body. “Henderson keeps letting her take cases on that she's not ready for, and I don't want our reputation going to shit because Daddy wants his little girl to succeed.”

“Mmmhmm.” Mirabelle hummed. She didn’t care about Kelly or her inability to put together a case; she just knew she was tired of doing Kelly’s job for her. In her opinion, Bast was just digging himself in deeper and should have let her fail at the start. “Regardless, I'm leaving tomorrow at ten, so be ready.”

Bastian tapped the papers she had given him on her head. “I'll be ready. Come on, let's go find the princess and go over this stuff one more time before we head to the courthouse.”

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They won the case, and as Bastian and Mirabelle were leaving the courthouse to go home and finish packing for the next morning, Kelly came running up behind them. “Bast!” She squealed loudly as she reached them. “Come on, we have to go celebrate!” She shoved her way between them and gripped his arm tightly, causing Mirabelle to stumble sideways on the steps and forcing her to catch herself on the railing. She looked up to see Bastian frowning and reaching out towards her. She noticed he didn’t say anything to Kelly about shoving her, so she shook her head quickly and straightened up.

“Oh, sorry,” Kelly smirked at Mirabelle before turning her attention to Bastian again. “Puhleeaase?” She drew the word out childishly, and Mirabelle looked at her in profound disgust as she continued down the stairs, knowing exactly what was about to happen.

“One drink.” Bastian allowed, and she could hear the reluctance in his voice as they started walking after her. “Mira? Are you coming?”

“Fuck no.” Mirabelle glared at him briefly over her shoulder before heading to her car in the parking lot down the street.

“What's her problem?” she heard Kelly ask, making her clench her jaw. God, she hated her voice. It grated on her like the sound of children screaming and crying. She always had a whiny tone, and it drove her nuts. “You shouldn't let your assistant speak to you that way, you know. It sets a bad precedent.” She continued as Mirabelle glanced over her shoulder again, curious about how Bastian would respond.

“Mira can speak to me any way she wants to.” She saw Bastian frown at Kelly and could tell he regretted agreeing to a drink since Mirabelle refused. “You should learn to act like an adult and not a teenager.” He pulled his arm free of her graspwith a low grumble. “I have an hour if you want to get a drink. I have to be ready to go early tomorrow.”

Picking up her pace, Mirabelle quickly left them behind by jogging across the crosswalk as the final seconds counted down before the “Don’t Walk” signal came on, reaching her car before they even crossed the street.

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