Cherish Me (Rough Edges 3)

Chapter 20

Hazel

Of course, my alarmgoes off way to early, reminding me that today is the day I return to work. I wish I could stay in bed with Aiden all day, but duty calls. There's no telling what I've missed while being gone, and the amount of things I have to catch up on. I'm already stressing over whether or not I will be able to go to Jake's game on Wednesday. All I can do is work extra hard to catch up to earn the time to be off a little early.

My feet hit the arctic, hard wood floors causing me to tense up, forgetting to keep my socks on last night. I like to sleep cold, but it sucks when you are trying to gain motivation to crawl out of bed. I leave Aiden sleeping, and tip-toe to my bedroom to start the shower. It's only like six in the morning, and he's probably exhausted. The road trip did sound fun in theory, but yesterday we spent like twelve hours in a car with minimal stops only to retrieve gas to make sure I made it back in time for a good night's sleep before work. Aiden did that for me.

I strip down, my clothes hitting the tiled floor, and step into the shower letting the hot water cascade down my body. Nothing like a morning shower to wake me up, and prepare me ready for the day ahead. Hell, I already have the start of a migraine and haven't even left the house yet, but I know how hectic things are at the firm, and being gone for two weeks only makes my return worse. Lydia did win my case while being in Grapevine, but a new case will start today.

The two-in-one shampoo and conditioner comes out of my hand as I massage it into my hair, and then wash it out quickly. I'll need at least thirty-minutes to prepare for the date. I wrap one towel around my body, securing it around my breasts, and then the other around my hair, and tucking the excess into the side by my ear. Hopefully, it won't still be soaking wet once I’m dressed and put my makeup on. The light in the closet is on, and I go to the left side which is where I keep all my work appropriate clothing and accessories and start browsing through. My eyes land on an emerald-green mid-length dress, and pair it up with some classic three-inch black pumps. The outfit sits on my bed until I'm ready to put it on. Is it weird that I feel like I'm playing a role? You know, the good little office woman, and even though there's nothing in the dress code about women having to wear dresses, skirts and heels, it's almost implied. There are about fifteen other women that work for the firm, and I've never seen them in a pair of slacks before. Most are always dressed to their nines, decked out in expensive jewelry, and holding their head up high.

Without taking my hair down, I apply some black eyeliner on both my upper and bottom lids, and then some subtle gold eyeshadow, then finish it off with a touch of a light red lipstick. It's important to look our best, and when I was hired, there was actually a conversation about how what we wear is how we are perceived, and the firm didn't want anyone to come to work in less than Business Professional attire. Of course, I wouldn't do that anyway, and it is weird they had to specify that to any adult, but I'm sure there is always that one person who pushes the boundaries to see what amount of work is required to keep their job.

My feet drag against the tile, until they hit the carpet, and I stand in front of the end of the bed, and put the dress on first, and then the black pumps. I don't even feel like the same person anymore. Something about these outfits gives me confidence. I grab the small gold hoop earrings and put them in, before massaging some mousse into my hair, giving it some extra hold for the natural curls to come through. It's drying pretty quick, so hopefully, by the time I make it into the office, it will be dry enough where it won't be noticeable.

I peek in on Aiden who is still passed out, wrapped up in the sheets, and face down. He is tired, so I don't want to wake him, so instead, I leave a note on the nightstand. The stairs creak a little as I walk down, and then put two scoops of coffee into the maker and press start. There is no way I’m getting through this day without some caffeine. I grab a banana to scarf down for some breakfast, until the coffee is ready and fill my to-go mug and head out the door, setting the alarm behind me.

The traffic is insane, everyone trying to speed their kids to school on time, and on top of that the eight o'clock workers trying to make it work without being late, too. Sometimes, I go in early to beat all this, but not today. If this new case comes in today, I'm going to need about five more cups of coffee. I pull into the parking lot, step out, and head toward the front door, and then straight to the elevator. When it dings on the fourth floor, people start to welcome me back with smiles, and I try to seem polite, but don't want to stop and talk to anyone yet.

After making it to my office, I set down my briefcase, and fire up my computer to catch up on emails and chug my coffee. Hopefully, no one will bother me for the first hour, so I can rummage through and see what I have missed in the last two weeks. The firm can obviously run without me, but I like to keep up with my cases and being in Grapevine, I tried to keep myself from checking in at work, and use the time to take a break from it all. I'm a workaholic, but as a new lawyer I have to be, if I ever want to make partner, they have to see I'm willing to do the hard work and give up having a social life. And for the most part I have, but now being able to have a relationship with my son, I have to tread lightly because the one thing I'm not willing to do is sacrifice growing our relationship.

It's easy to accumulate emails, and I can spend half my day trying to answer them. Surprisingly, no one comes in until around one in the afternoon, and it's Jayden to give me insight on my new case. He has been keeping up with it while I've been gone without even being asked.

"So, we are going to write a formal appeal. I've been digging, and I think you will be surprised on what I've found. I took the liberty of putting all in his file for you to look over," he says, slamming the file on my desk.

"You know, you really didn't have to do all that. But thank you. I'm almost done catching up on emails and then I'll look it over."

He leaves my office, and the intrigue sets in to where I can't focus on emails anymore. What did he find? I press control, alt, delete and then lock my computer. Our firm has represented him on multiple appeals and so far, each trial has been a mistake and only furthered his guilty charge. It's not only me handling this case, but about twenty others. We are all looking into old case files of the prosecutor, and their careers to see if there is anything that stands out as far as when selecting jurors or any allegations brought up against him. My official role on this case is project manager, and I'm supposed to go through any material the others find and determine if it can be helpful in getting the charges dropped.

I open the folder, and for the next two hours, cipher through all the notes Jayden has taken, as I comb through them. So many things stand out, and even though we have to do more research to be able to use them in another appeal, these might be what we need to finally overturn his conviction. Being a lawyer isn't all about the money for me, it's about helping people who can't help themselves, and legally speaking this man needs people who believe he is innocent and will work their asses off to prove it. That's me.

The thing is, none of this is confidential, trial records are public knowledge, but there is so much paperwork to sift through, it takes forever to find anything worth a damn. I have been focusing on this case since I started with the firm, and the partners are dedicated to getting this man out of prison. A couple times, I've wondered if it's personal, and one of them knows him or his family.

My phone vibrates against the wood desk, and I look over to see it's Aiden. Surely, he's not waking up. It's like three in the afternoon.

"Good afternoon, sleepyhead."

"Hey there, gorgeous. You going to be working late tonight?" he asks.

"It's looking that way. Groceries will be delivered to the house shortly. Put the order in when we were still in Grapevine."

"Okay, great. I'll make some lunch. Hope your first day back isn't too deplorable. See you later," he says, before hanging up.

The more I get done today and tomorrow, the better my chances at leaving early enough to go to Jake's game. So, it's crunch time. I continue to shuffle through the folder, and make two piles. One requires more documentation and research before we can use it in court, and the other is not enough by itself to present. I didn't want Jayden to feel like he didn't do a great job finding all of this, but being a lawyer is hard, and unfortunately most times you have to do some digging before you find gold.

Jayden comes into my office, and asks what he can help with, and I hand him the research stack of papers. "Look into these. If we can gain more supporting evidence, we could use it in court."

He nods, and leaves my office.

"Hello, miss. I've got a delivery for you," a young man says.

"Oh, thank you."

He sits a vase of flowers, chocolates, and a notecard down on my desk and has me sign a paper to confirm I received the delivery. I smell the flowers, open the chocolates, pop one in my mouth, and then open the card.

Hazel,

I'd like to request a quick recess from work around dinner time. You have to at least eat dinner, right? I'll make a reservation so we can get in and out in an hour.