Page 13 of The Lawyer
The card eventually slips through the only door on this floor, and I sigh, hand running through my hair. It’s been a long day and an even longer few months since I’ve been back. At least now I’ll have some time for me—some space to think, or not think, if I choose that option.
Unfortunately, what I find behind the door is not fucking expected in the least.
Staring around, I look at all the boxes cluttering up the hallway and dirty handprints on the wall. “Jesus Christ.” She had one job to do over the weekend, and this is her accomplishment? Unpacked belongings and what appears to be filthy fucking delivery men?
My hand slides into my pocket, fingers grabbing at my phone. I don’t care that she’s probably home by now. She told me this morning, quite distinctly in that imperious tone of hers, that my apartment was ready and that everything was in place. It isn’t.
I should blame Nina for this. She is, after all, the one who suggested this woman to cover her maternity, but I don’t. I’ll blame the one person whose responsibility this has been, regardless of her detailed analysis of my mood today.
“Hello?” she says, after the fifth ring. “Landon?” The line crackles, cuts in and out a few times as I walk to the fridge. It doesn’t stop me hearing a fair number of fucks and shits before she finally manages acceptable language again. “Hello? Sorry. Are you there?”
I grab a bottle of white wine out of the fridge, checking the label. It’s decent enough that I grab a glass and start pouring. “You said this penthouse was ready for me. It isn’t.”
“What? But everything’s there, and all the paperwork is in place. I made sure several times. Willington’s delivered all your things yesterday morning. I went there myself and made sure. There’s food in the—”
“What they didn’t do was unpack any of it.”
“Unpack it?”
“I can’t live in boxes, Miss Etherington. This is far from the ‘ready for me’ you told me it was.” Another crackle to the line. “Deal with it by tomorrow.”
And then it cuts out completely.
I can’t even be bothered to call her back, and instead, I switch the phone off and head out onto my balcony to drink. Having proved her worth today, and surprising me with her abilities, she’s just let herself down again. Annoying. But what would I expect other than that? No one ever lives up to my image of perfection. There’s only one, and she’s too much of a whore to ever spend a life with or consider suitable. Still, at least I’ll get the chance to watch her in the privacy of my own home after my conversations with Jackson.
It’s that, or she gets sacked.
Chapter Six
WILLOW
Ican't believe it's only Wednesday morning. This week has seemed to go on and on. But that might be because I've spent all weekend working. Landon, in his righteous boss mode, insisted I empty his boxes of junk. Who does that? And by junk, I mean nice, limited belongings that deserve a penthouse like his.
If I’m not careful, I’ll be late for work. So I give up on my hair and just pull it into the usual tight bun and add half a dozen extra pins.
Before I’ve even made it to the Tube, my phone is chirping repeatedly, and I’m caught between either slowing down to answer it or dealing with it when I arrive at work.
“Arrr, alright!” I fish in my bag and grab the phone that’s been vibrating its little heart out.
“Nina, I know, I know … I’m late-”
“I’m … at the … hospital. Not … coming … in.”
“What!” I stop in the flow of traffic and some guy not paying attention slams into me.
“Watch it, woman!”
“You’re having your baby?” She isn’t due for at least another six weeks.
But the line’s dead.
“Nina, hello?” This can’t be happening. “Nina?”
I start walking again, now frantic to get into work. If Nina isn’t there, I’ll have to deal with everything on my own. Which, just last week, I was relishing, but all of a sudden, that task is a lot bigger and I’m more than a little nervous. Over the weekend she knew exactly who to call, which organisations to commission and who to work with to arrange Landon’s move. In fact, she's been like a veritable hive of knowledge to pick from. There's no way I'd ever have been able to get the job completed if it weren’t for her. And now it's just me?
Shit.
~
