Page 79 of Lost Room Lawyer
“Nico,” my father said as he entered the bedroom. “I have to go back to the office later, but there’s something I need to discuss with you.”
His tone sounded unusually formal, considering we had been packing up my mother’s belongings all day. Grazia also sensed the seriousness of the moment and stepped toward the door.
“I’ll check on the guys,” she said.
Leo even pushed the door almost shut behind Grazia so we could talk in private, which only irritated me further. My experience had shown that such conversations with my father never ended well. The last time we had a serious talk, he had taken away my success with my book, all to protect his own career.
“What’s this about?” I asked, gripping the pendant tightly.
The room was empty except for the dresser. Even the bed was ready for pickup in the hallway, and the wooden shutters weredrawn. Sunlight filtered through the slats, casting golden stripes on the opposite wall.
“Listen, I had a phone call with Hector yesterday.”
Just hearing his name made my knees weak and my circulation drop, forcing me to hold onto the dresser. “I’m still on sick leave this week,” I said, my voice hoarse.
“Yeah, that’s not what this is about.” Leo dismissed this fact with a wave of his hand, as if it were irrelevant. “It’s about your internship there. He said that since his firm is so small, you might be better off somewhere else. At Koller, Stadler & Partner, you’d get more exposure to different cases than with him. I have to admit, he’s right. As much as I would have loved to see him as your mentor, you could learn a lot more career-wise at a larger firm.”
Leo continued to elaborate on the benefits of switching, but I was more focused on staying on my feet. The fact that Hector suggested the change was proof enough that I was the biggest idiot on earth. I had fallen for my boss, a man who had been leading a double life for years and, even now, after his wife had caught us, was doing everything to maintain the status quo. A man who, for whatever reason, couldn’t bring himself to acknowledge his preferences and wanted to continue living a lie that could never make him happy.
But I wasn’t interested in that anymore. I was merely the affair, and as is often the case, the affair usually loses. Now I was being erased from Hector’s life—by Hector himself! As if that weren’t enough, my father was getting involved. Why was he playing messenger when he had been so eager to place me with Hector in the first place?
I didn’t want any of it anymore. None of it. I felt a wave of sickness as my father explained why I couldn’t join his firm. My breath caught, and my vision blurred as darkness began to encroach and panic set in.
“I’m not doing an internship anymore,” I blurted out.
This not only interrupted Leo’s flow of words but also managed to prevent me from being swallowed by the darkness.
“What?” Leo asked, stunned. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m a writer.” I had no idea where those words suddenly came from.
“You… Oh, not this again. Just because you wrote one book years ago doesn’t mean much now. Is it Viktoria? Did her enthusiasm for your book reignite your interest in writing? But you’re not even writing anymore.”
“Yes, I am. And I can’t stop,” I replied defiantly.
Damn it! I neverwantedto stop writing again.
It was the truth. In recent days, I had done nothing but write. Of course, I knew I had slipped into an unhealthy mode, but it felt as if not just a sluice had opened, but a whole dam had collapsed. The torrent swept me up, and it hadn’t even occurred to me to resist it.
“You studied law. Not just for fun!” Leo’s voice grew louder as he stared at me in disbelief. “Are you kidding me? You graduated summa cum laude!”
“It was fun,” I answered. “I need to go now.”
Leo blocked my way. “Oh no, kiddo. You’re not getting off that easily. What are you thinking? How are you going to finance all this? Rina’s inheritance isn’t going to provide you with long-term money.”
“You forgot that I wrote a bestseller. And I haven’t touched the prize money from the awards yet.”
“Calm down first.” Leo paused for a moment, drawing in a deep breath as he searched for the right words that would get through to me. “You’re feeling all over the place because of Rina’s death. That’s understandable. Hector bringing this up right now isn’t exactly sensitive either. But that’s life. It challenges us. That’s no reason to just throw everything away!”
Leo grabbed my upper arm, but I twisted away and pushed him off. “Let me go!” I hissed as I wedged myself between him and the dresser to leave the room. “Ciao, Grazia!” I called out, hurrying past her and two Salvation Army men in the hallway and left the apartment.
I wanted to scream, but the knot tightening around my chest made it hard to breathe. Completely disoriented, I walked home, wondering how much more I could endure.
Hector had clearly rejected me and chosen his family, and I couldn’t believe how much it hurt. After what happened last Friday, I had secretly hoped my chances weren’t entirely gone, that he might have found me another internship.
I was in a state of shock and craved peace and quiet. Fortunately, Dominic wasn’t home, so I retreated to my room and sat down in front of my laptop.
I was surprised to see that I had produced a substantial manuscript of nearly four hundred pages. I had written it spontaneously, without any plan. My previous book had been a meticulous process—plotting every detail, developing characters, and refining the plot before I even started writing.
