Page 38 of A Chance Love

It didn’t make sense that he would come here for something so small. April hated feeling like there was something he wasn’t telling her. The account was the least of her worries. So she didn’t care about taking the few minutes to solve the problem.

She took the files from him, starting to shuffle through familiar notes. “That’s what you came here for? Files?”

He nodded, but April knew better. She found the piece of evidence they were looking for, a dated email with a link to a website and screenshots of the website stealing Jolly Good’s work. It took her months to track it all down, because the opposing side tried to cover their tracks. It didn’t take her longer than two minutes to find everything Maxwell needed.

“Thank you,” he said, taking back his things.

“That’s not all you came here for. That could’ve been a phone call.”

He smirked. “You wouldn’t answer my calls. This is the length I had to go to get our clients what they needed.” His arms folded out, trying to prove his point. “If you want to call me a great lawyer, I’ll accept.”

April rolled her eyes. “What else did you need?”

It was hard for her not to be rude. Everything this man did to her, forcing her to miss her daughter’s life, her own life. It was hard not to tell him to get back in his car and drive away. But April wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. Something in her felt like she had to be nice.

Maxwell sat on the step just outside the house and patted the space next to him. April had half a thought to continue standing over him, feeling the power of not listening to him surge through her. But instead, she sat at his side, just as he asked.

“The reason I’m here is because I think you’re ruthless, just like me.”

April almost burst into laughter. Ruthless wasn’t the word she would use to describe herself. In fact, she’d gone along with what most people had to say for so long, she needed this big, impulsive trip just to feel like her life was her own again. “Is that so?”

His knee was up beside him, separating them, and he slid it down to get closer to her and say, “Absolutely!”

It was the sincerity in his voice that made April pay attention. He continued as she noticed his body was closer to hers than it ever had been before. If he wanted to reach out and touch her, he could have. And April wasn’t so sure she liked that.

This was their first real conversation that wasn’t behind a desk or across a table. Did he always sit this close to people? Maybe he was just one of those men who thought that proximity meant power or community. April wasn’t sure she liked any of the options.

Maxwell was always just her boss, the guy who made her stay late and got credit for all her hard work. If he hadn’t shown up at the house, she would have been fine with never speaking to him again. It looked like he didn’t feel the same way. April waited for him to speak, to tell her the true reason he was here.

“You and I are similar in a lot of ways. We don’t stop until the job is done.” He said it like it was a good thing and not the reason her life had gone in the complete wrong direction from her desires. “The corporate world needs people like us. We’re superheroes coming in to save the day. If we weren’t there, the businesses would be falling left and right.”

He talked in metaphors, like he did at the office. April wished he was more straight to the point. His pauses between getting out the words made her skin crawl.

Maxwell chuckled, but April kept her face straight. “And that has to do with what you really came here for?” He looked annoyed at her interrupting his great speech. She just prayed that arrogance would get him in trouble one day soon.

His words were no more powerful than her own. They were on a level playing field now, which meant he wasn’t more important just because he acted like he was.

“I was getting to that.” He put a hand through his hair. “I was thinking about you, and how great you are at your job. And we need you to stay with the firm. This corporate world needs you. Think of how many businesses will fail if you’re not there.”

“I think you have plenty of good lawyers who can help them. And if you don’t, then you should be finding new lawyers.” She smirked, knowing this little game wasn’t going to work on her. There was no way she was going back to that job. It took everything from her. She was done doing things just because other people wanted her to.

Maxwell turned closer to April, which she didn’t think was possible. “I don’t need new lawyers. I want you. You have something special. I can’t quite put a finger on it.” His voice was quiet, yet strong. It used to scare April into doing what he wanted.

April wanted to shout out that it was because she was the only one who wouldn’t tell him no. She did all the real work around the office. It only made sense that he would want her to come back so he didn’t have to do it himself or find someone who could do it as fast and as well as she could. “I can’t come back.”

Maxwell’s hand inched towards April’s on the step. “Please.” His voice was quieter, nearly silent. “We need you back. And it’s not just for work. It’s for me. I need you back at the office.”

Suddenly, April was very aware of how close his face was to hers. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his eyes close as he whispered into her ear. “I can’t stand not seeing you every day.”

She stood faster than she ever had before. This wasn’t anything like she expected and she couldn’t hold it in any longer. Kindness wasn’t the answer any more; she had to be blatantly honest. “Max, I am not interested in you like that. We were coworkers, that’s all. Partner and lawyer. Boss and employee.”

Much to her discomfort, he stood to meet her. “You can’t pretend like we haven’t had something this whole time. From the moment you walked through my doors I knew there was chemistry there.” April noticed how his hands stayed near his chest as he puffed it out. “We’ve had something special. Don’t deny that now just because of the physical distance between us.”

April couldn’t help but chuckle. She felt horrible for letting it out, but it was her reaction to the entire situation. “I think there’s been a miscommunication here. I’m not interested in a relationship with you.”

“But our physical connection. That at least has to be explored, right?”

She knew that someone out there would probably like his deflated muscles, thinning bright hair, and dark eyes. But it wasn’t her. She found nothing about him attractive, most of all his personality; it made her want to throw up just thinking about getting physical with her ex-boss. “No, thank you. I’m flattered by all this, really. But in no way do I want to be with you. I’m telling you no.”

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