Melody’s POV

“Please rise,” the judge ordered.

I quickly wiped my sweaty palms on my skirt and I stood up to my full height, my eyes focusing on the head jury member. This was it, the moment of truth to see whether my months of hard work had paid off. I could feel my heart beating wildly in my chest, the anticipation of the verdict nearly killing me.

For the past six months I had spent days and nights slaving away to create the perfect defense for my client, Randy Montegue. He was being charged with embezzlement, fraud, and tax evasion for his housing empire. One conviction on any of the charges being presented would completely shut down the city, leaving millions homeless and without work.

Okay, so maybe Montegue was a housing enterprise mogul with billions to spare, but at least he was using his money and power for good—at least most the time. He was single handedly creating housing units for the homeless and supplying them with jobs, which is why I took on his case. But little did I know that this would become one of the biggest cases in the history of the California housing business. If I wanted any shot of making partner in the future, I had to win this case and my boss; Michael Douglas made that pretty clear.

“Does the jury have a verdict for the case in Randal Montegue verses the state of California?” the judged asked. It seemed like everything was moving in slow motion and I could barely contain my anxiety.

This case had to go in my favor; the future of my career depended on it. But really when you looked at the evidence of both the defense and the prosecution, there was no other way it could go! Not to mention that I expertly established reasonable doubt in my client’s fraud and embezzlement charges and totally derailed the prosecution at every turn. Anyone with eyes could see that my client, Randy Montegue was innocent. Well, at least in the eyes of court.

“Breath… you’ve got this, Mel,” my paralegal and best friend, Hollie Lawson whispered beside me. Her hand gently took mine, giving it a light squeeze. She knew me all too well.

“Yes your honor,” the lead juror announced as I glanced sideways at my client. To my surprise he had a thoughtful expression on his face and I wondered if he realized how much was really at stake here.

If we lost, not only would he lose his empire, but I would also lose the opportunity to make partner at Douglas and Co. Offices of Law.

I held my breath as the juror started to read the verdict, my heart racing manically in my chest. “We the jury find Mr. Randal Montegue not guilty on all charges,” she read before the courtroom exploded with sound.

“You did it! You did it! Congratulations!” Hollie gushed, pulling me into a hug and swaying us back and forth. “I knew you could do it!”

“No, we did it Hols,” I corrected, smiling down at her. In my black heels I was a few inches taller than my brunette friend. “I could have never done this without your expertise! You’re the best friend and paralegal a girl could ask for!” I gushed, hugging her again before turning to my client.

“Congratulations, Mr. Montegue, it looks like you’re a free man and construction can continue tomorrow as planned,” I beamed, reaching out to shake his hand. To my surprise the big brute of a man pulled me into a rib-crushing hug, almost knocking the wind out of me.

“Thank you, Melody,” he replied sincerely. “You have no idea how much this means to me.” Randy took both of my hands into his looking down at me with an appreciative expression.

“It was my pleasure, Mr. Montegue,” I assured him, unable to wipe the smile off my face. I felt like I was on cloud nine and it was only the start of a fantastic evening. I couldn’t wait to tell my fiancé David about this. “And if you need any help at all in the future, I am only a phone call away.”

Randy nodded, squeezing my hand one more time before he turned around to celebrate with his family. I smiled as he picked up his daughter, happily swinging her around as her laughter filled the courtroom. It was moments like this that let me know I had mad the right career choice. I was doing what I loved, helping the people that made a difference in the world.

“You’re gonna make partner!” Hollie sang, racing back over to my side after I shook hands with the prosecution and the judge. “You’re gonna make partner!”

“We don’t know that for sure,” I corrected, pointing a finger at her. “But hopefully this win was a step in the right direction. We’ll see what Michael says on Monday when he’s back from his trip.”

“Ha, like Michael would be dumb enough to turn down the best attorney in the firm. You are going to make partner so stop being modest and let’s celebrate!” Hollie announced. “What do you say? Let’s go get a round of drinks to celebrate! We can put it on Douglas’ tab if we go to the bar across from the firm!”

I chuckled and looked down at my watch. Shoot, it was six o’clock already? “As much as I’d love to, Hols, I’ve got a dinner reservation at eight with David,” I frowned, giving Hollie an apologetic look. “It’s our anniversary and I can’t miss it. He’s been super patient throughout this whole trial and now I need to show him how much he means to me,” I smiled, my thoughts drifting back to my fiancé.

We met when I was in law school and had dated on and off for a couple years until he finally popped the question six months ago. Unfortunately our relationship had kind of taken a back seat during the Montegue trial, making it hard for us to spend time together. Hopefully now that the case was done we could focus on each other again.

“Well, what are you standing around here for then?” Hollie laughed, giving me a shove towards the door. “You better go get ready! Oh, and wear the little black lace dress! That will drive him crazy!”

“I promise I’ll make up to you. How about we do lunch tomorrow or something?” I asked, grabbing my briefcase and walking backwards towards the door.

“Sure, sounds good. Text me!” she called before I turned and headed out the door.

My heart soared with happiness as I made my way home. I just couldn’t stop thinking about finally being able to spend some quality alone time with David, not to mention the high I was still feeling from winning the case. Tonight was going to be perfect!

Within an hour I was showered and dressed in my favorite black skin-tight lace dress. I danced around in front of the mirror as I curled my long blonde hair and applied just the right amount of make-up. When I was certain that I couldn’t make myself look any better, I slipped on a pair of black studded heels and called a cab. Oh, David was going to love this outfit… and I bet he would love what was underneath it even more…

“Reservation for Marks,” I said, walking up to the hostess stand at exactly 8pm. David wasn’t anywhere to be seen, but that wasn’t surprising. I still had at least twenty minutes before he would show up—that was normal. It wasn’t uncommon for him to get held up at the office by changes to designs or new business proposals at the architect firm. I just hoped he would be here soon. I couldn’t wait to share the good news.

The short waitress lead me over to the table and I ordered the wine and both David and my usual entrees. “Are you sure you don’t want to wait until your other guest arrives?” I waitress asked, pouring me a glass of the rich red wine.

I shook my head with a small smile as I brought the glass to my lips. “No, my fiancé will be here shortly,” I took a sip of the wine, its sweetness lingering on my tongue. This was the best wine I had ever had, and the success of the day made it even better. I couldn’t help but look around the restaurant happily, my heart racing with anticipation as I waited for David. I felt like I was on cloud nine.

An hour and a half and the bottle of wine later, I was still sitting at the table by myself. Only this time I was pushing around my salad with my head in my hand, staring blankly into the ice-cold prime rib dinner. I was trying my best to hold it together as I kept glancing down at my phone. Where was he? It wasn’t like David not to show up without so much as a text message.

I pinched my eyes shut and bit down on my bottom lip, trying to fight the worst-case scenarios that kept popping up in my head. Something probably happened at work and he was going to call or text any minute… he had to.

Suddenly my phone buzzed in my hand and butterflies erupted in my stomach when his name flashed across the screen. Finally, he was texting to tell me he was on his way!

However when I opened the text, my heart stopped in my chest and I couldn’t breath. In that instant my heart shattered in a million pieces and I couldn’t believe what I was looking at. This couldn’t be true! David loved me and wouldn’t do this to me, but the proof was right in front of me.

Mel, I can’t do this anymore. It’s just not the right time for us to be together. You’re busy with work all the time and I’m tired of waiting. We just need to go our separate ways. I hope you can forgive me for what we both know is right.
David

“No…” I whimpered in shock, covering my mouth with my hand and shaking my head. “It-It can’t be true…” I muttered to myself, feeling hot tears burning my eyes.

After reading those words, I could feel my heart breaking in a million pieces. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t move, I couldn’t do anything. I was completely crushed and the tears instantly started to fall. The feeling could only be described as being shot directly in the heart, and David was the one who had done it.

“Miss? Is everything, okay?” I looked up to see the waitress staring at me with a sad look on her face. I quickly wiped my eyes and tried to pull myself together.

“Yes, everything’s fine,” I lied, feeling like I was literally crumbling inside. How could David do this to me? I mean, he didn’t even want to talk about this? Didn’t we agree that we were going to be together until ‘death do us part’, or at least that was the plan, right? I couldn’t believe any of this… it had to be a sick joke.

“Would you like a to-go box, Miss?” Oh, great, she pitied me too.

“No, just the check,” I said with a shaky tone. I was so embarrassed and hurt that it wasn’t even funny. Reaching for my clutch on the chair next to me, I pulled out my bankcard and handed it to the waitress.

The next thing I knew, I was sitting at the hotel bar across the street with a drink in my hand. I needed something to numb the cruel pain that was rising in my chest. I was in for one hell of the night and if I had my way, I wouldn’t remember any of it in the morning and I could go back to my miserable life. Fuck, how could this day have gone from good to so terribly bad in the matter of seconds?

“Another,” I groaned, setting my empty martini glass back on the bar. My head was spinning a little bit but it wasn’t enough to make me forget about what just happened.

“I think you’ve had enough,” Marcus the bartender said, leaning against the bar with a patient look.

What was he talking about? I hadn’t had that many martinis! “I’m fine… really,” I vowed. “I just want another drink, please.” I reached for the glass but right when I was about to take it, the bartender moved it away.

“Marcus, right? Your name is Marcus! See? If I were drunk, I wouldn’t have remembered your name,” I said with a smile, trying the best defense I could think of. I guess if that failed, I could always try flirting with him for another glass? I just needed enough of something to push me over the edge so I would stop thinking about David’s stupid face.

“I’m wearing a nametag,” he scoffed, shaking his head. “So you’re logic is a bit flawed.”

“But I’m a lawyer,” I corrected, my voice slurring ever so slightly. “So I don’t need logic. Just a good defense!” Unfortunately, Marcus had turned away from me and moved toward the other end of the bar.

“Hey! Come back! I wasn’t done…” I grumbled.

“I’m sorry, Miss. I’m just doing my job. Being a lawyer you should know that California State Law says—” Marcus said over his shoulder, not even looking at me.

“She’s with me,” a deep voice interrupted.

I watched as Marcus turned around, the startled expression on his face quickly turning into a smile. “Oh… yes. I’m sorry, Sir. I didn’t realize she was with your party in the back room,” he said motioning toward the room with all the commotion. What was going on back their anyway? It sounded like a good time.

I slowly spun around on the bar stool to find myself face-to-face with a man with heavily tattooed arms, spiked hair, and the most gorgeous brown eyes I had ever seen. My breath caught in my throat as I wobbled lightly on the barstool, my mind trying to keep up with what was going on.

“I’m not with you…” I said, though part of me wanted to be. Hell, just look at this guy! He was drop dead gorgeous! What was he some kind of rock star? Yeah right. It must have been the alcohol talking.

“Come on. Let’s go find a nice quiet corner and we can catch up,” he smirked before nodding toward the bartender and taking my elbow. With one swift motion he effortlessly helped me off the barstool, steered me toward a dark corner of the bar, and slide me into a secluded booth.

“And you are?” I asked, squinting at the man before ripping my elbow out of his grasp. He was sitting so close that I couldn’t help but take in his intoxicating aroma. He smelled like a mix of the most mouthwatering cologne I had ever smelled, alcohol, and smoke.

He chuckled and leaned back against the booth, his dark brown eyes washing over my face. “Brian. Nice to meet you…” The man raised a questioning brow at me as he leaned and elbow on the table, waiting for me to reply. God was there anything this man didn’t look attractive doing?

“I-I…I’m Melody. Melody Macallan,” I said, brushing my hair nervously behind my ears before reaching out to shake his hand. Was I seriously blushing right now? I never blushed!

“Nice to meet you, Melody,” he chuckled, a handsome smile adorning his perfect features. This guy looked like a Greek god with his perfect cheekbones, straight nose, and very kissable looking lips. I bit my own lip at the thought, looking away from him. “Please, have a seat.”

As soon as I sat down, Marcus appeared, depositing a bottle and two glasses on the table. Brian poured us each a drink and tipped his glass to me. “To new friends.”

I reluctantly tapped my glass against his, sloshing a bit of the amber liquid onto the table. “To new friends,” I replied skeptically before taking a sip and sputtering slightly. Whatever he put in my glass was dark, complex, heady and aromatic, tasting of smoke and something a little bitter. It was simply amazing and exactly what I had been missing.

“What is this?” I asked after taking another sip.

“Scotch… but only the best Laphroaig. It’s my favorite and I’m glad they had it here. Do you like?” Brian replied, watching me carefully with a small smirk on his lips. There was something about that look that was both incredibly sexy and dangerous at the same time.

“I’m not sure,” I admitted, swirling around the contents of my glass. “I don’t drink much and certainly not scotch…”

Brian threw his head back with a music laugh. “It’s an acquired taste, but once you get used to it, you’ll never want anything else. Ask my friends,” he chuckled, leaning forward on his elbows and pointing his thumb in the direction of the back room.

I could feel Brian’s gaze resting on me and I dropped my gaze to the table. Something about the way he looked at me made the butterflies spring to life in my stomach and I fought the urge to bite my fingernails. It was a nasty little habit I had finally outgrown but Brian was bring all my insecurities back to the surface.

“So what is a pretty woman like you drinking all by yourself in a hotel bar?”

Notes

So, I had this awesome story idea that just came to me the other night and I had to start it! I hope you like it! I haven't written a story by myself in a loooong ass time so I hope it is okay! Let me know what you think! <3