Page 23 of Knocked Up by Mr. Grump Lawyer

She didn’t have to answer. When I entered the large room, I saw him drinking coffee with his back toward us. He was facing the glass wall overlooking a scenic view of the city and some mountains.

“Uh, Atty. Jefferson,” Raven called. “Your partner is here.”

Robert turned toward us. There was no smile on his face, and I couldn’t read the expression in his intense gray eyes. He’d returned to his cool, serious self — the Robert I knew when we’d first met.

“Atty. Brown,” was how he greeted me with a nod of his head. He looked so fresh like he’d just gotten out of the shower. But his hair wasn’t damp. It looked soft and shiny, and every strand had been brushed carefully to be in the perfect place.

His wonderful physique was obvious in the plain white collared shirt he wore with slim-fit jeans. I couldn’t help admiring his looks.

I also dressed casually for this interview to avoid appearing too intimidating to the people we would talk to. I was wearing a light blue button-down blouse with jeans.

“Good morning, Atty. Jefferson,” I said, nodding back. I didn’t bother to smile, either.

I helped myself to the coffee maker at the corner of the room while Raven greeted some newcomers.

I sipped my coffee silently and smiled at the people who trickled in and were introduced to me individually. Raven seemed to know them all personally. She’d always been Miss Congeniality, even when we were in school together.

The room began to feel more alive as it filled up with guests. Many of them knew each other, so there was a lot of chatter and laughter at the beginning.

“I’m going over to the garden set later to fix the lighting,” I overheard someone say.

“Which garden set?” his friend asked.

“The one in Warehouse Five, you know, the one with the diner set,” the other one answered.

I almost choked on my coffee as I immediately realized which warehouse they were talking about. Images of Robert and myself making out and sharing an intimate, passionate moment returned to me in a flash.

I couldn’t help throwing him a glance again. To my shock, he was staring at me. His face had another unreadable expression, but I think he’d also overheard those two talking about the garden and diner sets. He might also be harking back to our passionate kisses and unforgettable sex.

I tore my eyes away from him and sat down. He took a seat beside me, our elbows slightly touching. I felt a surge of electricity shoot up my arm, jolting me awake.

“Perhaps we should start,” he said.

I nodded. “Sure.”

He cleared his throat while Raven asked everyone to settle down. Then Robert introduced himself and me, talked a little bit about the case, and described the purpose of this small gathering.

I saw their faces turn serious. They listened intently and nodded their agreement when I said that we would be recording the session.

There were about nine people in the room — four make-up artists like Raven, two stuntmen, and two production crew members. Some of them didn’t work here at Fantasy Flicks. They’d just been duped by Don Belmont into thinking they would be trained here.

Robert spoke like a classic lawyer, but I noticed he appeared friendlier than usual. He seemed relaxed and informal as he conversed with them, and he was very good at encouraging them to speak out and feel comfortable sharing more details. I simply followed his lead and took a lot of notes.

“That asshole should go to jail,” one of the stuntmen snarled. “I trusted him and gave up all my savings and even had to borrow money from my cousin. And now I’m struggling to make ends meet. I’m scrambling to pay off the debt and still be able to survive day by day.”

“Yeah, he needs to pay,” another participant agreed.

Suddenly, the woman beside me burst into tears. I was taken aback. My instinct was to comfort her and assure her that we’ll do our best to ensure that Don pays for this and that we’ll try to get their money back.

“He doesn’t have a soul!” she cried out. “My baby’s in the hospital right now, and I still d-don’t have a job…” She was sobbing harder now, even as some others began to console her too. “…I sacrificed so much to come here because I’d enrolled in Don’s program… and now… and n-now I’ve lost all my money a-and…”

We let her cry for a while. The others finished their stories. The air was heavy with burdensome emotions.

My heart went out to all of them, especially to the woman beside me. Raven came over to console her, too, when everyone was done.

To my surprise, Robert stood up and handed her his handkerchief. She whispered thank you and used the cloth to wipe her tears.

“What happened to your baby?” Robert asked. His voice was steady and emotionless.

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