Arthur Smith was a fine specimen.
The kind you could not take your eyes off once you lay on.
His bold pair of blue eyes, staring at you as if looking past your soul would give you a shiver down the spine.
"...little girl!"
The way those words flowed out of his mouth, I could breathe it in, feeling the intensity of his voice such that all of a sudden everyone and everything around me would freeze.
And all you could hear and see...him...outside and inside of you.
Up and down...every fucking where.
"Sorry, I'm late!"
The hand fist on the table shook me out of my reverie as I looked up at the person who it was.
Grayson.
He took a seat and the waiter came right away to take our orders. He looked at my two empty glasses.
Before he could say anything, I spoke out.
"He will take two dry martinies. Keep it coming."
The waiter noted and returned to grab the drinks.
That smirk I was so familiar with was plastered all over his face. My mind had memorised the way his face would mould and the lips curved to make out that expression.
I closed and opened my eyes at the same time and came face-to-face with Grayson chuckling.
"What is going on now?"
He asked. I remained silent, not knowing what to say, or where to start.
The waiter returned with the first round of martinis and placed it on the table, leaving us right away.
"Janet!"
"Yes?"
I looked up at him, not being able to see directly because, in my head, it was all him as if I was intoxicated by my past tonight.
"There has to be something for you to come see me over drinks and leave your kids behind."
Grayson knew me all too well that there was no way I would ever agree to leave Emily and Aiden alone unless there was something up.
It all started with me working on his father's case. He needed company and I had to dig more for the ongoing case which over time turned into more than a client-lawyer relationship.
I thought after the case was over, it would come to a stop. Sometimes I would reject his offers to come meet over drinks even during the case because of my babies.
At one point, when it came to an end, I felt relieved, not feeling obligated to come and see him over the drinks.
But everything in my life has been ironic that I ended up calling him over drinks for the very first time right after the case was over after multiple rejections from his side.
"What is this?"
I asked rocking our baby boy on my lap as my husband tossed a manilla envelope in my way.
His silence prompted me to open the envelope, earning a small gasp as I saw the black letters engraved on the white paper.
Emily was fast asleep on his lap, with him sitting on the sofa. I looked up at him.
I always knew that someday or the other day, it was coming. But I got so used to the life that I have right then...we have created, with our newborn boy.
"I think it's time..."
I could not even bear to listen anymore as I stormed out of our house, holding three-month-old Aiden close to my chest and got inside my car on standby. I heard him coming after me, yelling out my name.
I did not want to hear another word as I sped away. I just needed to be out. My fault once again for thinking everything was finally working out.
One moment, I would be at ease and in the next second be stuck by distress so bad, so unexpected that I found myself back on the table with just a glass of water before me, with my baby fast asleep on my lap.
All the strangers in the restaurant gave me a weird look for being here with a newborn. I have been around such gazes for a long time and have gotten used to it.
What I did not expect was for Grayson to show up...that was how it started.
"What is it?"
He asked.
"Cole wants a divorce."
All of that was three years back and after that, we met for drinks countless times, whenever one of us had an issue or just to talk about life.
With Viviana out working for her family business, Grayson was the only one in the city that I could call as a friend and listener of my cold and mundane life.
"Why?"
He had asked.
Nobody knew anything about me other than the fact that I was Janet Johnson, a lawyer who worked in Sawyer's firm.
I took professionalism too seriously. And none of my clients did not know anything about me.
When I would decline Grayson for drinks even during the case, he never came to know why...the reason being my kids.
So he was a bit taken aback when he saw the baby on my lap. He did not know that I was a mother all along and a married woman too until I mentioned to him that my husband sought a divorce from me.
So as I sat before Grayson tonight, he did have a certain idea about who I was and what my life looked like...but not everything.
As my past caught up to me, I did not know how to deal with it. I have always struggled when it came to him.
I never told him why Cole wanted a divorce from me even when he had asked. But after that evening, Grayson just did not like him anymore...and that was a year back.
I had no idea how he was going to react when I tell why.
Perhaps I could start by letting it out, to begin with...
"Emily is not his."
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The story will begin with a soft and static note before all the drama unfolds. It will transition between the past and the present.
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