Page 64 of Lost Room Lawyer
“Hey!” Juri extended his hand to me. “We’ve met before… or something like that.”
It was only then that it clicked—I remembered my first day working for Hector. He had been scheduled for lunch with someone. Juri had shown up at the office and unexpectedly appeared in my office. He was…
Holy …
He’s the client … The callboy …
What’s he doing here?
“Hello,” I said quietly. “Nice to meet you.”
“Hec.” Juri rolled his eyes. “Didn’t you tell him what to expect?”
“Don’t call me Hec,” Hector replied calmly. “There wasn’t time.”
With the rattling coffee machine in the background, it was a bit much for me to take in, so I just sat in the vacant chair and drank my water. When Hector sat next to me and took a bite of the jam sandwich on his plate, it gave me a sense of security and normalcy.
“I’m the tenant,” Luca finally said, setting a cup of coffee in front of me. “He’s my boyfriend, and the lawyer here is my landlord.” He turned the brown bag of rolls toward me. “Here! Help yourself!” He beamed at me with his gray-blue eyes as if I were a gift. I opened my mouth to say something, but Luca was quicker. In no time, he set a plate in front of me with a knife. When he also added butter, honey, and two kinds of jam, I raised my eyebrows.
“This looks like a Sunday brunch.”
“Well, in a way, it is,” Luca admitted. “Since we both work on weekends, Friday morning has become our Sunday.”
“And … um …” I turned to Hector. “Don’t you have to work?”
Somehow, everything here felt upside down.
“I was working until ten minutes ago. In my office in the back. This is just a break.”
I remembered that during my early days at the firm, he had often worked off-site. Linda had called it his other office, but since our trip to St. Moritz, he hadn’t ventured out again. Was it because of me?
“I’m sorry about your mother,” Juri suddenly said.
An icy chill ran through my veins, making my legs feel like lead. I was stunned, and Luca, who had just shut the fridge, stared wide-eyed at Juri. Juri closed the window behind him and returned to his seat.
“What?” he asked, shrugging. “It’s only polite to offer my condolences.”
Luca sat back down beside Juri and stirred a spoon in his coffee. “My condolences,” he said with a serious tone
“Thank you,” I mumbled. “I don’t know what to say in response.”
“Nothing,” Hector answered. “No one expects anything from you.” At that moment, his phone, which had been lying next to his plate, vibrated. Canonica’s name appeared on the screen. “Oh, I need to take this. Be nice to him,” he instructed Luca and Juri before disappearing through the kitchen and into the hallway.
Not knowing what to say, I reached for the sugar and milk.
“My bro’s mother passed away six months ago,” Juri said. “It was rough.”
“How did he handle it?” I asked.
“Oh … well … Sorry. Not a good example—he had a severe relapse, but he managed to recover.”
“Did he have a close relationship with her?”
When Juri didn’t respond, I turned to him as he thoughtfully stared at the croissant on his plate, while Luca regarded him with concern.
“Not really,” Juri finally answered. “She made his life hell, but somehow, in the end, it didn’t matter. She was still his mother.”
I gazed at the coffee cradled in my hands and sniffled. Quickly, I wiped away a stray tear from my cheek and fought to keep my emotions in check.
