>
VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 11:57:45 06/21/02 Fri
Author: Repost Fairy
Author Host/IP: 64.193.19.25
Subject: Chapter 69
In reply to: Repost Fairy 's message, "Burden of Proof - 68 and up" on 11:17:24 06/21/02 Fri

“No, not that.” Carla leaned over and poked Nikita in the arm. “What are you going to do about the devastatingly handsome opposition?”

Nikita felt heat rise in her face as the answer came unbidden into her head. I know what I’d like to do with him. She looked at Carla with faint embarrassment. She’d told her friend some of what had taken place between Michael Samuelle and her, but not everything. She hadn’t been quite ready to bare her entire soul, not just yet.

“I have no idea…but I think the term ‘conflict of interest’ has just taken on a whole new meaning.”

Carla laughed. “There’s the funny girl I know and love. See? Confession is always good for the soul.” She sprang off the couch and gestured toward the kitchen. “And now that you’ve told all, do you think we could eat? I’m starving.”


~*~*~*~*~


Nikita stared at her water glass. She felt much better after confiding in Carla about Gray, but that hadn’t been the only thing troubling her. The possibility that someone may have tried to break into her apartment last night or, even worse, that someone had actually been in her apartment last night, made her feel sick to her stomach.

She had locked those French doors before she went to bed. She was sure of it. And when she’d put the new deadbolts on, she found two faint, almost invisible, scratches on the paintwork next to the old lock. Great. As if I don’t have enough on my mind, she thought irritably. Gray, Joe, and an opposing counsel who can make me feel like a puddle of mush just by standing too close to me.

“I’ve been thinking.”

Startled out of her thoughts by Carla’s decisive statement, Nikita blinked at her. “This should be interesting.”

Carla ignored her sarcastic reply, and gave her a smile. “I think you should still go to that ball.”

Nikita pushed her empty plate to one side and looked at Carla with amusement. “I feel like I’m being advised by a very confused fairy godmother. I wish you’d make up your mind. First you congratulate me for breaking up with Gray, then you want me to take him to the ball?”

“Not necessarily, although you could always test his ‘just friends’ resolve by asking him.” Carla got up from the table and practically skipped through the kitchen to grab the invitation from the bench top. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m very glad you broke off with him, but…” She turned around and waved the piece of paper at Nikita with a flourish. “It’s white tie! At the Ritz!!”

“So you keep saying,” Nikita said dryly.

Carla looked slightly sheepish. “So sue me…I’m a sucker for a posh party.” She came back to sit at the table beside Nikita. “Look, when’s the last time you went out somewhere that had a dress code higher than ‘smart casual’, let alone to something like this?”

Assailed by a sudden sense of emptiness, Nikita looked away. Carla was getting a little too close to home. “I couldn’t tell you.” She shrugged, feeling defensive and hating it. “You know how busy I’ve been. All I’ve done for the last eighteen months is work and try to build up the firm’s client base and…”

“Exactly!” Carla interrupted triumphantly. “How many legal big-wigs are going to be at this ball?”

Nikita opened her mouth to fob Carl off with a vague answer, but no words were willing to come out. I do believe that is the sound of a trap springing shut, she thought with mild irritation. She sighed and held out her hand for the invitation. “Quite a few.”

Carla still smiled smugly. “And wouldn’t this be a great opportunity to spread the good word about Wirth & Wirth?”

“First Walter, now you. Have you two been conspiring behind my back to get me out of the house?” Nikita quickly scanned the gold embossed page and sighed. She couldn’t deny that Carla (and Walter) had a point. “Of course it would be a good opportunity.”

“You’ve been working too hard for months.” Carla gave her a pointed look. “You need to go and have a ripper of a night out.”

“And who do you suggest I take?” Nikita queried sarcastically.

Her friend read through the invitation once more. “This is two weeks from tonight.” She looked up at Nikita. “When is Gray leaving?”

Nikita felt a twinge of dread. “I have no idea. We didn’t actually get around to discussing the finer points of his job offer.” She looked at the invitation in Carla’s hand. “But even if he’s still here, I don’t think taking Gray would be a good idea.” For more than one reason, she thought sourly. Carla was right about one thing. The Chambers Ball would be packed to the rafters with the upper echelon of the London legal fraternity. And that included barristers.

Which was exactly the reason why that damned invitation had been buried under her gas and telephone bills and a funky fridge magnet. The last thing she needed was another chance encounter with Vachek’s barrister. Especially not in white tie. She thought of Birkoff’s society page photographs with the pictures of Michael Samuelle in a tuxedo. Her stomach flip-flopped. She couldn’t do it.

“So take Birky. Or Walter.”

Nikita snorted. “Please. Those two would run a mile before they would let me dress them up in a tux.”

Carla struck an elegant pose. “Well, I’ve been told I look spectacular in evening wear.” She winked playfully. “You can always say that you’ve decided to expand your horizons?”

Nikita chuckled. “Thanks for the offer, but I don’t think so.”

“Would it be such an ordeal to have one last night out on the town with Gray?”

Nikita squirmed guiltily at Carla’s choice of words. “That’s a terrible way to put it. One last hurrah, just so I can do some networking?” Nikita shook her head. “I can’t do that to him.”

“You could always look at it as a chance to create one last, happy memory. Just as friends, of course.”

There was an eagerness in Carla’s face that had Nikita narrowing her eyes. “Why are you so keen for me to go to this thing?”

Her friend flashed her an innocent smile. “No reason. I just think you really need to trip the light fantastic for a change.”

Nikita sighed. It had been a mistake to share her tale of woe and intrigue so soon after Carla found the invitation. Carla was no fool.

She pursed her lips at the other woman. “Uh-huh. So you’re only concerned about my mental health and well being, rather than trying to implement some hare-brained scheme that involves Mr. Samuelle?”

A sudden hint of colour stained Carla’s high cheekbones before she burst out laughing, throwing her hands up in surrender. “You can’t blame a girl for trying.”

Nikita shook her head wearily. “I think all those late nights have addled your brain. You want me to take Gray to the Chambers Ball, on the off chance that I’ll run into another man?” The prospect of encountering Michael Samuelle while she had Gray in tow was unappealing, to say the least. But given Carla’s opinion of Gray, Nikita thought dryly, her friend probably thought the idea had great potential.

Carla shrugged happily. “Okay, so there are a few flaws in my master plan. Hey, I never said I was the brains in this relationship.” She reached over and picked up Nikita’s empty plate, stacking it on top of hers. “You’re probably right. The place will no doubt be filled with stuffy old judges who’d have nothing better to do than be dazzled by the knockout partner from Wirth & Wirth. How dull would that be?”

“Carla…”

“All right, all right.” As she walked to the kitchen, she gave Nikita a hopeful look over her shoulder. “Can we still go shopping for a killer dress?”

“And why do I need to buy a killer dress?” Amused by her friend’s single-mindedness, Nikita couldn’t help laughing. “I’m not going, remember?”

“I know. But it never hurts to be prepared, don’t you think?” Carla gave her a knowing smile. “Just in case.”

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

  • Chapter 70 -- Repost Fairy, 13:57:54 06/21/02 Fri
    Post a message:
    This forum requires an account to post.
    [ Create Account ]
    [ Login ]
    [ Contact Forum Admin ]

    Forum timezone: GMT-5
    VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
    Before posting please read our privacy policy.
    VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
    Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.