'Thanks again for last night Luke. It worked a treat, Derek was quite out of sorts! If there's anything I can do to help you with Kirsty, let me know x Becca.'
He found her text on his phone after his jog into work the next day. Luke smiled, considering her offer before he went to the staff shower room to shower and change into his suit. He wouldn't mind hanging out with her again and the prospect of getting back at Kirsty was an appealing one. He wasn't sure how to though, given that she was engaged and back with her first love; chances were she wouldn't really care if she thought he'd moved on from her. Come to think of it, Kirsty might welcome it, so she wouldn't have to feel guilty that she'd left him after he'd proposed.
"Luke, there you are," he heard as soon as he entered his office. He frowned to see that Derek had been waiting for him, in his office, in his chair.
"Yeah, this is my office and I'm still well on time," Luke nodded. He always made sure his run got him into work with more than enough time to spare for a shower and breakfast. He hated being late and the extra time in the office helped him prepare his day, go over his schedule and gather the briefs he'd need for meeting his clients or going to court.
"I wasn't criticizing your punctuality," Derek said dryly, pushing himself up and out of the chair. He was only slightly more senior than his colleague, and only by virtue of having been with the company for 6 months longer, but he was exuding that seniority as much as he could as he rounded the desk and made his way towards him. "I just wanted to have a chat," he said nonchalantly.
"Really? About what?" Luke asked innocently. If he were to hazard a guess, he'd guess it was about what had happened last night.
"Don't play dumb Luke," Derek said to the point. "What are you doing with Becca?" he asked, actually sounding concerned.
"As I understand, you don't get to ask that question anymore. Didn't you cheat on her with Gina?" the taller of the two men asked, righting himself to his full height as he gave his colleague an innocent look.
"That's none of your business," he said, resisting the urge to jab him in the chest as he stood in front of him.
"Then neither is it your business about what's going on between us," Luke said simply, sizing his colleague up. He knew if it came to blows, he'd win. But he also knew that if it ever did come to that, it wouldn't happen in his office at work. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get to work," he requested politely.
Derek gave him one more disapproving glance before he nodded.
"Just... watch your back," he gave him a departing warning and headed out to his own office.
Luke shook his head in disbelief as he went to sit at his desk, quickly taking his phone out to text Becca back.
'Yeah, he was just in my office to ask me what 'I was doing with you'. It makes me want to put in a repeat performance, if you're up for it? The office Christmas party is in three weeks, be my date? Luke x'.
Becca hesitated a little when she first read his text. She definitely wouldn't mind seeing him again, as it'd be fun to get to know him better. But she would feel guilty if she were the only one to get something out of it; after all, it had started yesterday with the intent to get back at both their exes. It was time to lay down some ground rules and, as a lawyer, she was sure he wouldn't mind.
'Okay, sure, that sounds nice. Sorry he was a bit of a jerk to you. Let's meet up for lunch to set out a plan of attack, tomorrow? x Becca'.
It didn't take him long to respond but she'd gotten sucked into a new assignment; writing an article on the best ways to get through the holidays if you were a Scrooge or Grinch, or otherwise solo. Becca had always loved Christmas but given the situation she found herself in now she could use some advice on getting through the festive period unscathed.
'Don't worry, he ain't nothing I can't handle. Lunch tomorrow sounds great, see you at the Magnolia Pancake Haus for twelve? Luke x'.
Just seeing his text made her mouth water already; pancakes was such a good shout and she hadn't had any in ages as she and her friends Clara and Moira had tried to be healthier this year.
'See you there! God I fancy pancakes now x Becca'.
Her last response made him fight back a laugh, so as not to make his secretary curious as to what he was up to. Luke hadn't decided yet if he was going to confide in her, but he might still; she knew him well and knew enough of Derek to let him know if she thought he might be crossing a line. He wondered if Becca had told anyone of last night, trying not to linger on how she'd kissed him; he was supposed to be preparing for court later today.
"Tris, could you get me coffee and lunch? I need to finish this brief," Luke called out when his secretary passed his office, realizing that he hadn't gotten as far with it as he needed to have done and his stomach was starting to rumble.
"Sure thing, boss, usual?" Tris asked with a smile. She called him boss, but he wasn't technically; the partners had assigned her to him and they ultimately were in charge of her contract and hours. But on the usual day to day things, Luke was in charge of her time and he was fair. He didn't expect miracles, unlike some of the other lawyers.
"Yes please," came back from behind a stack of papers. It made Tris smile, that was another reason she liked him; he was polite when most of the others weren't. He treated her with respect, like she was a person and not a slave.
What Becca really needed that afternoon, was time with her girlfriends. But as neither of them were there, she settled for swimming in her housing complex's pool. It was one of the perks of having stayed in San Antonio; even in the winter, on most days, she was able to swim outdoors. Not for very long mind, but it was still infinitely more than she could say for back home, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. December always saw temperatures below freezing and often had snow. She wouldn't even contemplate stepping outside without her big winter coat, let alone in a bathing suit. She also knew that Derek rarely made it home before 7pm, so that should give her enough time to swim and forget about him.
Becca had done about 15 laps when she heard, "Hey Bexx." She stopped mid-lap and almost went under when she saw it was her ex-boyfriend, home early for once. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," he said with a soft chuckle.
"What do you want Derek?" she asked when she'd stopped coughing. He sat down on the bench next to where her towel was, meaning she would have to pass him in her bathing suit to get it.
"I just want to talk. We can still be friends, right?" Derek said now, giving her his most charming smile, the one she fell for. She continued swimming, so she didn't have to look at him as she thought of how to answer.
"I haven't decided yet," Becca finally told him honestly. What she really wanted was to never see his face again, not even to try and make him jealous. But, unless she moved away from San Antonio, her job and her friends, that wasn't going to happen.
"Bexx..." he tried to plead, but still with a slightly joking tone.
"I'm entitled to not be sure if I want to remain friends after you cheated on me, Derek," she cut him off resolutely, taking him by surprise. She'd stopped swimming and stood at the slightly shallower end, hands on hips, as she gave him a scathing look.
"Of course, you are. I didn't mean..." he stammered as he tried to rectify the situation.
"Of course, you didn't mean to, but you did. Okay, so how about you give me some space?" Becca told him now. Yes, she wanted to get back at him with Luke, but most of all she just wanted some space to hate him right now. Her ex got up with an uncomfortable look on his face.
"Sure thing, Bexx. Whatever you say," Derek nodded and left her where she was still stood in the pool, breathing heavily. She didn't think he would do as she asked, as he was usually someone who went for what he wanted. He prided himself on getting his man, of being a predator who always got his prey. So it was unusual for him to give up the hunt, even if she knew it probably wouldn't be for long. And she knew she'd better make the most of it while she could.
All morning both of them couldn't think of anything else but the pancakes. The good company was of secondary concern.
"You're in a good mood today," Tris remarked when, unlike normally, Luke started clearing his things to head out for lunch at ten to 12 and came out to her desk to drop off some things for typing and filing.
"I am meeting someone for pancakes, as a lunch... date," he changed his mind from saying meeting to date when he noticed Derek was headed towards them.
"A lunch date? With whom?" his secretary asked surprised.
"Becca, but it's still early days," Luke nodded, only just able to hide a smile when he saw his colleague's back straighten as he debated internally whether to confront him. Tris wasn't blind or born yesterday, so she waited until Derek had gone into his office, slamming his door, before she turned back to the lawyer she worked for.
"And now without Derek being able to overhear?" she asked him curiously. He motioned for her to follow him into his office, closing the door behind her.
"A few nights ago, I ran into Becca, Derek's ex. She found out he'd been cheating on her with Gina and I told her about Kirsty. And we agreed to try to get back at them by pretending we were hooking up," Luke started telling her.
"That doesn't sound like your best idea, if you don't mind me sayin'," she told him honestly.
"Maybe, maybe not," he conceded. "But she deserves better from him, so..." he shrugged, knowing that didn't answer why he still wanted to go through with it. "We're meeting up to come up with a plan on how we want to do this," he added.
"Like lay down some ground rules?" Tris checked.
"Yeah, kind'a."
"That sounds a little bit better. You'd better head off or you'll be late," she noticed the time and handed him a pad of ruled paper for him to note down said ground rules. "Be careful, you don't want to end up hurtin' her," she warned him but headed back to her desk before he could ask what she meant. Maybe setting up these ground rules was a good idea, for both of them. "Go before you're late," Tris called, reminding him he was supposed to have left the office already.
"I'm gone! Thanks Tris," Luke said gratefully, shoving the notepad into his backpack, grabbed his jacket and headed out. Luckily it wasn't far from the office and he could do it at a half-jogging pace. He spotted Becca near the entrance waiting for him and it didn't look like she'd been there long. He gave her a wave, seeing her look relieved that he had actually shown up. "Hey Becca, I hope you've not been waiting long," he said when he was a bit closer.
"No, not at all," she assured him, smiling back when he gave her a big smile. It was weird, it almost felt like they had actually hooked up as they stood by each other a little awkwardly. "Shall we...?" she asked after clearing her throat.
"After you," Luke nodded, gesturing for her to take the lead.
"How bad has he been?" Becca asked, referring to Derek, as she cut into her stack of apple cinnamon pancakes. The lawyer in front of her held up his hand as he finished his mouth full of blueberry pancake.
"Today he's kept to himself mostly. It was more yesterday when he tried talking to me and the rest of the day he kept up little comments," Luke answered now, seeing her look change.
"I'm sorry if he's giving you grief," she apologized, feeling bad for putting him in this position. Derek was her problem, not his. "That's not fair of me," she continued, reaching out to put her hand on his arm. He intercepted it, so he took hold of her hand.
"It's okay, I knew he might react," he reassured her. He'd gone into this with eyes wide-open and he knew Derek had a bit of a nasty streak to him; he'd seen it often enough in meetings when cases were being distributed by the partners.
"Thank you," she said softly now, and he couldn't help being mesmerized by her green eyes. She gave a small smile when she realized and, after maybe a minute, went to let go of his hand.
"Oh sorry," he quickly let go when he realized what she was trying to do. He gave a slightly embarrassed chuckle as he focused back on his pancakes. "These are really good, how are yours?" he changed the topic now. He knew they'd be talking about Derek a lot more later as they figured out how to proceed, so he wanted to talk about something else while they could.
"They're really good," Becca nodded, taking another bite. "How did you get into divorce law?" she asked after a moment's silence. She knew why Derek had gone into it: it was good money and it stroked his ego when he could get the best possible divorce settlement for his client. Unfortunately, he tended to be on the side of the husbands and the best possible deals for them meant diminished alimony payments and rights for the wives. She'd never really been sure if she liked that side of him.
"I like helping people," Luke started, seeing her frown. Divorce law wasn't the first type of law she'd think of in order to help people. "Sometimes people go through some outright miserable times before they come to the decision to call it quits, and I like making this process at least as easy as possible for them. To let them know there is light at the end of the tunnel," he explained now, seeing her straighten up a bit as she started seeing him in a different light. She'd never met anyone who looked at the divorce process in such a manner, having been to a couple of office parties in the two years she'd been with Derek. "And if there's kids involved, to get the deal that sees them looked after in the best possible way. I hate it when people use their children as pawns or weapons," he added.
"Luke..." Becca tried to start, almost in awe of what she'd just heard. "That's such... an incredible approach..." she managed to say now. "How are you not up for partner?"
"There are more things that put someone up for partner," he said with a wry smile, his blue eyes betraying perhaps his lack of ruthlessness that might be a factor. "But I'm hoping I will be soon," Luke added, seeing her give him a comforting smile.
"They'd be fools not to," she told him, getting a grateful smile back.
"Thanks," he nodded, thinking she was being too kind. The chances were, if he was up against one of the other lawyers like Derek, they would get it over him.
They focused on their lunch again for a few minutes, not really speaking, both lost in their own thoughts about what they'd found out about the other. "I hope you don't mind, I figured I'd take notes of what we agree on," Luke said eventually when they'd finished eating and they had to come down to the reason they'd met up for lunch in the first place. He was surprised to see her laugh when he took his notepad from his bag.
"You're such a lawyer," Becca told him, still laughing, and making him laugh now as well. "But sure, that's fine," she addressed what he'd said. He shook his head with a roll of the eyes, as he took out his pen as well.
"So the aim of this endeavor..." he started, simply writing down 'aim: …'
"To get back at them. I don't want Derek back," she set out explicitly, surprising them both with her conviction. But she knew she meant it. She didn't think she could ever trust Derek again, even if she wanted to, so therefore taking him back was not an option. She'd seen a side to his character that, so far, she'd only guessed was there, and she wasn't sure she liked finding out she was right.
"Same here, with Kirsty," Luke agreed. While he didn't think she'd cheated on him, he also knew that the fact she'd agreed to marry someone else instead of him meant that he couldn't trust her not to keep changing her mind.
It took them a little to-ing and fro-ing, but they eventually ended up with some rules or guidelines that they were both happy with.
· at least one public 'date' a week (so 4 until Christmas), where either Kirsty or Derek could see them. With the option for more if there was something in particular either one of them felt would be beneficial.
· Attending the Office Christmas party. For the time being it only referred to Luke's office party, as Derek would obviously be there too. But, if required, this could be extended for him to attend Becca's office party.
· Minimal public displays of affection, unless the situation requires, except for things like flowers/ cards/ gifts to send to each other's office/ home.
It was the last point that took them the longest to discuss, as it felt like the most deceitful part of this whole act. As they were going over the list and coming up with these rules, because Derek worked at the same firm as Luke, it was always going to be easier to rub his face in it than it would be Kirsty's. The only real recourse they had to her was through social media or frequenting the places she did. There was nothing else really that tied her life to Luke's anymore. As he realized this, he also realized that the only thing that would offend her was if he took Becca home to meet his family, his mother in particular. On social media it would have to look as if he was introducing her as his girlfriend, in reality they would only introduce her as a good friend. He didn't want to have to lie to his mother any more than needed.
· Becca would join Luke to Chicago for the few days leading up to the holidays to meet his family, from where she would travel home to Milwaukee for Christmas itself.
"Here's to a good fake relationship," Becca said, knowing she was crazy to be agreeing to any of this, as she held up her glass of water. Her new 'boyfriend' did the same and they carefully clinked glasses.