Good for Now (Book One of The Now Series) (15 page)

Chapter 38

Julie

It’s the second day of work and I already feel like I’ve worked here for years.

“Good morning,” Heather says, just as I open the door, then answering the phone. She hands me what looks like messages.

Walking back to my office, I notice Anna Thomas called. I wonder what she wants, hopefully she doesn’t want to change her mind. I’ll call her first.

Sitting at my desk, I look around and see how four years of college, three years of law school and countless years of community service and internships have paid off.

I dial Anna’s number, a man answers, “Oh, hi, is Anna available?”

‘Who the fuck are you?”

My heart drops, thinking who the hell are you.

“I’m Julie.”

“I don’t know a Julie, so you must be lying. I know all of Anna’s friends.”

“Well, we are old friends,” I say, hoping this will suffice.

“Well, she is NOT here, cause she is gone.”

“Where?” I ask.

“In hell,” he says. He then hangs up.

I think the worst case scenario, that he has killed her. I frantically look at my desk for the file. It’s still there, my hands shaking as I open it, thinking there must be a name of a contact person at the police department.

I look at the police report to see it was written by a Bo Brady. I see his contact number on the information sheet. I call, hoping he answers, but I’m greeted by his voicemail. He has a deep, sexy voice. “Officer Brady, please call me it’s urgent.” I say, leaving my work number.

I can’t just sit here waiting for him to call back, so I call Heather hoping she can help with my next step, feeling incredibly sick with worry, “Can you please come to the back, it’s an emergency,” I say.

“I’ll be right there.”

I go to my office door to see Heather walking towards me.

“Is everything alright?” she asks, I move to the side so she can walk in. I follow behind her, then sit down.

“I hope so, but I don’t know, this may sound crazy, who do I call when I can’t get in touch in the arresting officer of a case?” I say, feeling out of breath, like I just sprinted. “Because I just got off the phone with a man who I think harmed a woman I encouraged to drop charges against him. I’m feeling awful, and if anything where to happen to Anna I would feel responsible.”

“Julie, don’t stay that. Shit like this happens all the time.”

“See I tried calling the arresting officer but the call when to voicemail. I just don’t feel right. I need the police to check on her.”

“Well, Robert use to call an officer by the name of Bella. Can I see the file? I bet he wrote her phone number somewhere,” Heather says.

I pass her the file.

Heather looks at the contact sheet, using her finger to scan through the handwriting. “It’s here, he wrote Bells next to the number, see here on the side. I better get back. Let me know if you need anything else.”

“Thanks for your help.”

“I’m sure she is fine.”

“I hope so.”

Heather leaves, and I can’t call Officer Bella fast enough. Closing my office door I call her, she answers on the first ring, telling her about my concerns. Assuring me that someone will swing by Anna’s house.

I tell her how appreciative I am, then she asked about Robert and all I could say was that I did not know how he was doing, but I could tell she was let down. Maybe she liked him. I made a note to ask Heather more about this Robert character.

Next case is a stalking one, another domestic case, involving a woman being harassed by an ex-boyfriend.

An hour later, Bella calls.

“Hi, Julie, your hunch were right. The ex had strangled her to the point where she passed out.”

“No,” I let out, my heart drops, my hands start to shake, and I feel lightheaded. Fearing to ask what I wanted to know. “Is she…” I want to say dead, but the word wouldn’t come out.

“She’s still alive, thanks to you, but it is like she is standing between life and death, if that makes sense. Anna is in ICU; hanging on to dear life at St. Francis Hospital.”

“I just don’t get how a person could do something so awful. It goes to show you can never really know someone,” I say.

“Yup, and unfortunately you will come across more of those living in Anna’s type of world.”

“It makes me sick thinking what she went through.”

“You did a good thing, going after your feeling; you gave her a chance to live again.”

“Well, I hope this will be the outcome.”

I still didn’t hear back from Officer Brady, however, I did call St. Francis Hospital at lunch time and Anna’s condition had improved. Feeling relieved that she is alive.

The rest of the day was spent negotiating cases, with Anna always in the back of my mind pulling for her full recovery. I was not so ready to settle a domestic violence case anymore.

Heather walks in the office, “How is the girl you were worried about?”

I take a deep breath, “She is alive.”

“See, it worked out.”

“Yes, it did,” I say.

“Do you need anything? Copies, coffee, files, paper?” Heather asks.

“I do have a question.”

“Shoot away,” Heather says, making herself comfortable on the seat right across from my desk.

“Well, tell me about Robert Burns?”

“OK.”

“I can handle the real story why he left.”

Heather’s face smiled, fanning her neck which I took to mean he was either a heartbreaker or someone fabulous.

“He was definitely a ladies man, he could sweet talk any women into believing him. Some women were harder, but he would work them real good and they would lighten up to him, and in the process liked him. Let’s just say he had skills other than being a good lawyer. He gave them the attention they wanted.”

“That was the feeling I got from talking to Officer Bella from the police department. He seemed to be the real ladies man. I can only imagine the things we don’t know.”

“At first he even fooled me, I thought he was innocent, but after I started piecing his lies I saw through his game and that’s when I would let little things slip. The management here started to feel the pressure of his mistakes or cockiness,” Heather says.

“Which was?”

“He used his charm to get what he wanted plus a little action under the sheets, if you know what I mean.”

Heather was getting all worked up, breathing deeply as she spoke.

“That seems to be the theme here.”

“Well, Robert took it too far with the sex. He would charm clients to where they there was a relationship with him. But when a case ended, he’d stop calling which ever lady it was at the time, and the dumped girl would stop calling. However, at the end, he was on a losing streak. Last month he was asked to leave, because one of the ladies was ready to press charges for fraud. He did the smart thing and left, so now he works for himself. He opened up a practice in the shady part of town near his element. I’m sure if he screws around with any bitches, sorry for the language, they will give him shit, or their men will.”

“Wow, what a story, never a dull moment around here, that’s for sure.”

“I’m sure in the files you have, he is representing a few of the defendants you are going after. I mean he is a good lawyer, he just needs to stop mixing sex with his clients,” Heather says.

“He sound like he better be careful.”

“Yes, us women can be real dangerous if we are pushed to it. Right?”

I smile, seeing a side of Heather that I like.

“Everyone learns eventually, hopefully it is before we can still do something about it.”

Chapter 39

Julie

Officer Brady leaves me a voicemail saying Anna is in and out of consciousness, still in the hospital, and that her ex-boyfriend Thomas was arrested for attempted murder.

It leaves me feeling sick about the world and how people can truly be cruel and selfish.

I just have to learn not to take what awful things others have done personally. I will now just work harder for the victims.

Still I leave the office depressed, I hate this feeling, but I can’t help to think that men in general are assholes. Kevin proved once again that he is, thinking I was about to let him back in my life after the bull he pulled, and god knows what he did with Ms. Kemp. I’m sure they had sex and not just one time. I feel the anger in me build as I walk in the apartment building.

There is a package at my door, I shake my head. It has to be the vibrator, the company was right when it wrote privacy would be protected to the upmost. The brown box was bare, with just my address.

I think of what Violet said about it not disappointing. Still I don’t feel like opening it up. I put the box in the back of my closet. Not wanting to see it or be reminded of it. I’m far from wanting sex.

I have never been so tired, feeling lost in my body. The lack of energy makes it difficult to move, like something is pulling me in to a comatose state. Maybe a nap will do the trick and get me out of this funk. I look around the apartment seeing there is still much to do, so a nap is a big no.

Lynn left a voicemail about the home inspection. There was nothing wrong with the house and that the closing has been set for the end of the month. I take a deep breath and head to the kitchen, time to get rid of pots and pans that I never used, along with mismatched glasses and plates. It's time to star fresh in my new place.

I decide it’s time to clean the junk drawer first. It’s where I put odd things, not having a place in the apartment, thinking I might have use for them one day. It has become so full that when I open it, I have to shove things from one side to the other to find what I’m looking for. This should be interesting, maybe I will find something useful, if not everything is getting thrown away.

So far, I have collected twenty four pencils, and eighteen dollars and fifty-three cents. That’s coffee money for a few days. Then there’s business cards, old appointment cards from doctor's appointments, and the occasional hair appointment, and receipts. Many are grocery receipts, wondering what the point of saving them was.

So far there isn't anything of real value other than the lose change, and pencils which I have put away in my bag. The pencils will come handy at work. After throwing out the receipts and cards, I find chargers in the back of the drawer; probably from old cell phones or worst yet, maybe a CD adapted. Still I wonder if I should keep them just encase I may need them. I put them aside on the kitchen countertop, to think it over.

The drawer starting to dwindle down to where I can see the bottom, now the little nicknacks are easier to see, for some reason there are loose gold keys, I wonder if any of them are extras for the apartment so I put them aside.

There is one with red nail polish on the handle. I feel my chest tighten, thinking it could have been the key to one of Kevin's interns. I grab a ziplock bag from the pantry and put the keys away. I see there is another key with pink nail polish. I sense now that my hunch is probably right.

For some reason there is glitter lining the edges of the drawer, maybe it is another clue for something. I also find rubber bands, thick ones, that are hard to stretch and break. I can't recall every putting one in the junk drawer. I am realizing that Kevin used this drawer too. I look back in the plastic bag, looking closely at the business cards. I notice a few are Kevin's. I flip them over and all of them have phone numbers on the back. I take them out of the bag and place them in the zip lock with the keys. Never know how they may be handy one day.

In the back of the drawer is a tube of lipstick. I take the cover off, to discover it is a deep shade of red. One I know I have never owned and would wear. I can't believe how I had clues of infidelity around the whole time. I realize how this realization mirrors my life with Kevin. The truth was basically starring me in the face but I was not seeing it.

The last few items are gum wrappers, dried out pens. I had a hard time throwing out pens. Paper clips seemed to line the drawer as well, again I can't remember the last time I used one, so I gathered them, but instead of throwing them out. I placed them in the plastic bag holding the pencils. I knew I would have use for them at work.

I reached in the back of the drawer to find a pink woven bracelet with green beads. I made it with my mother the summer before I started middle school. It is broken so I place it in my pocket.

The drawer is empty now. The contents now have a place and purpose unlike before. The pencils will be used now and for the keys, who knows what doors they open. I'll keep them for safe keeping.

I will spend the next few hours, organizing what I will take with me to my new home. I see the apartment returning to how it was when Kevin and I moved in as a couple.

The picture frames were now down, as well as the paintings, and the little trinkets we would get from weekend getaways in the beginning of our relationship were now packed.

However, I smile holding a picture frame with a photo of me taken the summer before third grade. I was eight. It’s a picture my mom took while at my favorite park. She was forever asking me to look at her as she took pictures. In the picture I’m in midair, with my legs in a split position, which mom was able to capture perfectly. I forgot how flexible I once was.

A tear rolls down my cheek, seeing the girl I was, so untouched by life. Only dreaming about doing cartwheels, round offs, watching afternoon TV shows after being outside all day, drawing chalk masterpieces on the driveway, baking cakes, and lying next to my mom when it was time to go to bed. How I wish I could go back to those days, when life was perfect.

Staring at the picture I remember how she never just took one photo, she was the opposite clicking away on her camera, over and over again to get the perfect picture. Years later she told me that her reason was that it was better to have too many pictures than just one, also loving to see the simple changes in each photo.

Funny, how her ways really did rub off on me, because I’m always clicking away on my iPhone. I guess I am more like her when I think of her. I take a few breaths, wishing things turned out differently, and she had her happy ending, even if it wasn’t with dad.

I place the picture frame in my purse, wanting it to be the first thing I place in my new home. I promise I will get to know mom even more and maybe make her happy ending possible. I would love if I could do that.

I even put a few items in the donation box, because I wasn't planning on showcasing them in my new home, like the shot glass from Key West; it reminded me of when he got too drunk to even walk home. It happened the last night we were there. It's a wonder I didn't throw it out earlier, it sort of got placed behind a picture frame that was no longer covering it up.

I look at the love seat. The one Kevin would spend weekends lounging on, while watching football. When he left, I did my best altering its appearance, with a green throw blanket and new pillows.

But I wasn’t willing to remove his scent; as I spent countless nights falling asleep in his favorite spot. Just to be able to get a whiff of his aftershave. After a while the scent disappeared, and with it I became stronger, somehow realizing it was a blessing that he didn't call. Still a painful realization nonetheless.

But now that he has I have this ugly, unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach, one that I hate. I pray that time will remove it as it did in the past.

Now that the junk drawer is empty, I am hoping my heart follows.