Page 49 of Already At Risk
THEO: Tell Chloe it’s been her turn in Words With Friends for like three days.
Will do, Theo. Love you, too.
Anxiety attacked my nervous system as soon as I stepped into the Gardner Law Firm office for my deposition on Monday morning.
Sure, I’d adequately prepared for it. Cameron and I had talked a lot about what to expect, and I’d gone through this before. But right after the divorce, I’d felt so much more confident that the judge would favor me. I’d done everything for Chloe, and Korey had done nothing. I was divorcing him on the grounds of adultery. It all seemed so clear-cut.
And now he was moving further away and trying to make it seem like I didn’t have the time or the ability to take care of thedaughter that he’d spent years ignoring. He wanted to take Chloewithhim.
I was so mad.
And so scared.
It didn’t help that I couldn’t stop replaying the scene from the other night in my head. It flashed through my mind on repeat, specifically Cameron’s tight expression when he said that he couldn’trecommendanyone. The way his eyes had scraped over me, as though he wanted to take a little bit of me with him when he left, like he knew it might be the only part of me he could have, and he didn’t like it.
It was the first time I’d seen any emotion on his face that hadn’t been laced with understanding and patience. He’d expressed none of that when he’d walked away. It was like a dark cloud had moved over his face, his pupils dilating, his jaw tensing. And it made my whole chestache.
I badly wanted to run after him, but not to ask what was going on. I knew, on the inside, what was going on. What I didn’t know was what Noah had said to him, what they’d been talking about in the back hallway. Did that have something to do with his stormy expression?
Cameron met me by the front of the office today, which wasn’t unusual. He extended his hand to shake, like any lawyer might when meeting with a client, and I took it, trying desperately to ignore the spark of heat that traveled up my arm. But it was hard, considering I knew Cameron felt it, too. He dropped my hand like it had burned him, said a tight, “Good morning,” and then immediately turned, leading me in a different direction than normal.
We ended up in a conference room. Windows lined the outer wall, overlooking Boston’s financial district. The opposite wall was also made of glass, a viewing portal to the hallway that ran the length of Gardner Law’s office.
“Have a seat, Natalie,” Cameron said, his voice calm, maybea bit subdued. He pointed to the chair that sat across from the video recorder set up on the conference table.
Trying not to feel spooked by that, I sat, smoothing the pencil skirt I wore and folding myself onto the chair. Then I fiddled with my blouse a little, arranging it so the little strings that hung from the collar were straight. It was a sunny yellow color, with little perforated flowers in the fabric that likely weren’t visible at first glance. But I thought maybe if I made myself look like a wholesome kindergarten teacher, that might help my chances here.
I glanced up to find Cameron watching me, a glazed look in his eyes, like he was somewhere far away from here in his mind. When he realized I’d stopped moving, looking at him expectantly, he shook himself out of it and cleared his throat.
“You look great, Dr. London. And you’re going todogreat today.”
I frowned at the distant note in his voice.
“Natalie,” I reminded him.
A noticeable tick appeared along his sharp jawline.
“Is everything okay?” I asked, knowing full well that everything was not, in fact, okay.
Cameron didn’t answer for a long beat. I thought he wasn’t going to answer at all, until he said, “Everything is fine. Depositions can be stressful, but you’ll do wonderfully.”
Cameron wasn’t stressed about the deposition. I hadn’t seen Cameron stressed about his job once in the time that we worked together on this case. He was always remarkably confident, in a way I didn’t completely comprehend. He wasstillremarkably confident, unfazed about our meeting today. But hewasfazed about something. Something else. Something to do with me.
“I saw you talking to Noah the other night,” I tried again. “Did he say something to you?”
A vague question that I knew Cameron would understand. I’d seen my brother’s reaction when Chloe had brought up Annabeth. I was positive he had, too.
It took Cameron a second to respond, and when he did, his voice was tight.
“It’s very important to Noah that nothing jeopardizes your case, Natalie,” he said. “And I feel the same way.”
“What would jeopardize the case?” I ventured, wondering if maybe we should just discuss this tension between us openly.
Cameron scrubbed a hand down his face, not responding, so I decided to be even more candid. Because like he’d said before, wasn’t it best to just get things out there? Be transparent? Wouldn’t that be the best for our working relationship?
“Cameron…” I started, tentative, and he dropped his hand. “Do we need to talk about what Juniper asked you at the bar?”
“No, Natalie.” He shook his head and pinned me with a steady look. “We don’t.”
