Page 7 of The Reality of Us
The corners of Camille’s mouth tipped down. “Keep it anyway. We should get a drink some time, too. I’m going to hang around while Mum recovers.” Lulu had mentioned that Sofia Arturo had suffered a stroke recently. Sofia and Camille’s fractured relationship had obviously been healed.
“I’d rather not, thanks all the same.” Owen’s tone was clipped.
He strode towards the plate glass door at the front of the office. He pulled it open, breathing in deeply. The fresh air carried a hint of the jasmine that grew along the fence, and his thumping heart slowed. Camille winked at Frankie and strutted over, chest thrust forward.
“Always so proper.” Camille rolled her eyes as she pulled a packet of smokes out of her bag, the gold of her lighter glittering. “It’s good to see you. I’ve thought about you a lot over the years.”
Bullshit. When she’d been forced to choose between him and the opportunity to get even further away from her family, she hadn’t hesitated. And Owen had been so busy with work and trying to build a stable future for them both that he hadn’t realised what was going on. Pretending she still cared now was laughable.
Owen exaggerated checking his watch. Shoot. He was going to be late for footy training. “No, thanks. Have a pleasant evening.”
Owen wanted to be clear from the beginning that James and Associates wasn’t a law firm for everyone. It was for good, honest people who really needed help. If he helped enough of them, he’d be able to atone for all his mistakes. He might even finally get some proper sleep.
But if he was ever going to succeed, he’d better get his ass to the oval and remind everyone he was back for good.
3
Owen looked up when there was a soft knock on the door. Eloise, the social worker at Kathleen’s Place, pushed back from her desk and smiled warmly as Jessica stepped into the room. Eloise often let Owen use her office when he conducted private meetings here. He stood, wincing when his knee spasmed. A ten-kilometre run the morning after footy training hadn’t been his best idea.
“Hey, Jessica.” Eloise ushered the younger woman into the office. Eloise’s long dark hair was pulled into a ponytail and her T-shirt dress was covered in different coloured spots.
Jessica rubbed her toddler, Sam’s, back as she rocked from one side to the other and the boy grabbed a fistful of her plain grey shirt. Her short brown hair stuck out in all directions, a sure sign she’d gotten little sleep. The poor woman had been through so much. She’d ended up homeless and living out of her car with Sam when her ex, Rob, had run off. With no income and several loans she hadn’t known about, she’d struggled to get back on her feet.
“Two more teeth are coming through, but we’re here now and I want to get this over with,” she said.
“Why don’t you guys come down to art class once you’re done? I’ve got a play area set up if this little munchkin isn’t feeling creative. He can even nap in there,” Eloise said.
Jessica rubbed her face with her free hand. “Maybe.”
“No pressure,” Eloise said, squeezing Jessica’s shoulder. “Let’s make some time to catch up in the next few days, too.” With a nod of farewell to Owen, Eloise left the room, pulling the door closed behind her.
“This won’t take long.” Owen gestured towards the chair covered in patchwork fabric in front of the desk. “Do you want to sit? Have a quick read of the changes. Once it’s signed, I’ll submit it and we can get started figuring out this mess.”
“I better stand. I really hope Rob doesn’t fight this.”
It’d be much easier if her ex didn’t.
Jessica sniffled loudly and blinked a few times. “You must think I’m an idiot,” she said.
“I can assure you I don’t.” And he really didn’t. Owen had lost count of how many people he’d met over the years who found themselves trapped in situations that had spiralled out of their control. Some were easy fixes, some more complex. But they were all important.
Jessica shifted Sam to her other hip, ignoring his squawk of displeasure, and tried to turn the top sheet of paper over. The little boy jerked against her, his small body flailing backwards. Owen reached forward and turned it over for her. He’d offer to hold Sam, but he didn’t know the first thing about kids. He could handle a sleeping baby—maybe—but Sam was looking more alert, his big brown eyes scanning the room suspiciously. Owen stretched out his bad leg, some of the tightness around his knee easing.
“All I pay is the court costs? And they’ll do a payment plan?”
Owen nodded, reaching for the schedule of fees he’d printed out for her.
“And you won’t charge me? Like for real?”
Malus, Mendax and Associates had allowed employees to complete a certain amount of pro bono work each quarter as long as their billable hours didn’t decrease. It wasn’t widely encouraged, but they certainly didn’t hesitate to rebadge it as a community engagement plan when they got bad press. Now he was paying his own wages, it didn’t mean he planned to stop. “I’m donating my time.”
“Why?”
He smiled at Sam when a chubby hand swung out, reaching for his dark green tie. “I like to help where I can.”
Sam lurched forward, and Owen caught the little boy before he fell out of Jessica’s arms.
“Buddy, come on,” she groaned.
