“Why did you become a lawyer?”
I tried in vain to pick up my rice with my chopsticks as I a
waited his answer. After about three tries, I gave up, and took the spoon out of the bag on his coffee table.
He grinned at me, using his with ease to pick up a dumpling.
“No one likes a show off,” I told him with a grin.
“I’ll teach you.” He reached for my spoon, but I backed away.
“You’re avoiding the question, Mr. Black.”
“I hate that question because I never have an answer for it. I don’t know why I became a lawyer. My father was one, and I was good at it, so I just stuck with it.” He shrugged.
“That’s weird, I was expecting something a little more… inspiring,” I said, once again not using a filter.
“It’s fine.”
“Surely you wouldn’t have stuck with it for so long if you didn’t like it?”
“Oh no, I love it now. But back then, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I kind of just followed the path that had been laid out for me. Luckily, it all worked out and I found my calling.
“Court is like a giant chess game to me. Skill and strategy, confined by a set of laws. It’s one of the reasons why I could never be a district attorney, they’re shackled to the law. On the outside, there are loopholes and tricks. The harder the case, the better the game.”
He grew more and more animated the longer he talked about it. His entire face lit up, and he seemed… really happy.
“And helping people is nice too,” he added quickly, and I laughed.
“No judgment.”
“No judgment,” he whispered again. His eyes went to my lips for a split second before he looked away. “Next question, Ms. Cunning.”
“What are your parents like?”
He already knew all about mine… if you could call those people parents. I hated one, and I hadn’t seen the other in years.
“Thea?”
“Sorry, I was just thinking. What did you say?”
“I didn’t say anything, you just looked like you were getting carried away by whatever thoughts were in your head.”
How did he know me so well?
“Your parents?” I asked him again.
“My mother was a ballerina, until she got hurt during her last run of Swan Lake. She now has her own studio, and teaches girls from six and up. And like I said, my father was a lawyer until he retired. They’re both Boston socialites now, and they’re still madly in love too. On New Year’s day, my dad always moves all the furniture around the house and allows my mom to basically put on her own show for him,” he said with a laugh, shaking his head at the thought of them.
“They sound great.”
“They are. My mom’s a little pushy, but now that my sister’s had her baby, she’s distracted with being a grandmother.”
“Your sister, Bethan?” I asked, hoping that I had gotten her name right. “Tristan’s wife?”
“Yeah, she had a little girl last month.”
“You all are like the All American family. It’s cute,” I said, with a dreamy smile.