(I hope you all enjoy! Sorry for my inactivity of late, but I'm back with a new story to kick start my new spell of writing)


Tobias

"Aaaaand... Coffee break!" My best friend Zeke Pedrad announces, tapping his hand down on the bell.

"Sweet! Already? I thought this shift would never end" His younger brother, Uriah, jumps out of from behind his office chair and pulls a leather coat over his shirt and tie.

"Are we going down to Shauna's cafe, Zeke?" Will asks from the desk next to my own.

"If you all want to!" He responds, and we leave the law firm.

My name is Tobias Eaton, and I work at the Dauntless Law Firm in Chicago, IL. It's only my first week on the job, after being fired from my last job as a lawyer back in New York. My friends you just saw there? My Law school buddies from back in the day when I... actually needed to go to law school. I got fired for my addiction. Cocaine. Not on the level of my ability in the courtroom. You see so far in my career, I've lost a grand total of 4 cases. That's why, three hours after I was fired back in New York, Zeke reached out to me and got me a job here with him in Chicago.

Currently, I'm living in a two bedroom apartment with Zeke and his girlfriend Shauna. They were kind enough to take me in while I find my own place. I mean I can afford something, not a scratch on my place in New York but enough to see me get by until I figure out where I want to settle down. So far, I've been reunited with the other two guys. Zeke's brother Uriah and my other buddy Will. You see, I find it quite outstanding that it works out like this. Zeke has two best friends, and Shauna has two best friends and they managed to set all 4 of them up. Not with eachother, obviously, but Uriah is currently dating Marlene and Will, Christina. I had the pleasure of attending the hottest bar in Chicago with the 6 of them, and it was fire. But... I had no luck making it 8. It just stayed at 7.

Shit.


"So how far away is Shauna's cafe, Zeke? It feels like forever" I ask him as we walk down the busy street.

"Not too far, dude chill! I'm the head legal representative at the firm, they wont mind if you're with me when we're 10 minutes late or so" He chuckles

"Asshole" Uriah teases. You'd think that Zeke being 24 and Uriah 22 they wouldn't argue like 5 year old siblings. Oh how wrong you would be.

"You're adopted, shut up" He responds

"Mom doesn't love you, I win" Uriah fights back

"Yeah but she doesn't love you either, Uriah. She loves me the most" Will jokes and the brothers give him a playful glare

"What is your obsession with our mom?" Uriah retorts

"Your mom has the nicest booty I have ever seen on a fine lady her age. If I wasn't in love with Chris, you'd be calling me daddy" He boasts and Zeke gives him an elbow to the side

"I hate you" Uriah says with a wife grin

"Hey Tobias, it's only round the corner from here" Zeke lets me know and I run a hand through my hair. I had a girl compliment me in the bar the other night saying how much it looked like Leo DiCaprio's in the Wolf of Wall Street. I mean... It isn't that short yet but I'll take it!

"Are you guys just getting coffee or are we getting food too? She does do food right, Zeke?" I ask

"Of course she does food, asshole. She even has a whole section of the menu dedicated to me!" Uriah answers for his brother

"I don't get it. You eat more food in a sitting than I do in a week, how aren't you morbidly obese yet?" I laugh

"All in the genes, brother" He flexes his muscles in a comical way and I roll my eyes, despite Will's laughter

"Don't encourage him!" Zeke sighs.


Zeke opens the door lightly with his fingertips and we all enter into the spacious cafe. I marvel in it's delicious décor, and take in the sights of the wooden encased glass cupboard, and the oakwood floors and the tree stumps for chairs... shit! This place is amazing!

"Dude..." I gasp

"Vintage, right?" Zeke laughs as he knocks loudly on the bar "Shaunaaaa I need coffee baby!" He sings, and his girlfriend emerges from around the corner of the bar.

"Hey doofus!" She smiles warmly at her man, leaning over the bar and kissing him. "Table for four?" She asks

"Yeah, yeah!" Zeke says whilst I watch Uriah and Will walk off to find their own girlfriends. You see, they all work here. Chris, Shauna, Marlene. They all grew uptogether here in Chicago, and they all stayed close friends. To the point where they even opened up a cafe together. Goals, right?

"Okay, tables over there, I'll walk over with you guys incase you get lost" Shauna jokes, leading myself and Zeke to the secluded booth in the back of the cafe.

"I'll bring you a waitress and menu's over in just a sec, just give me a wave. I'm sure you will, Zeke" She winks and I take a seat next to the window, looking out over the bustling city.

"So, how is the Flamini case coming along?" He asks me

"I have enough evidence to prove him innocent, but if you ask me I don't think he is." I admit with a laugh

"And how is that?" Zeke asks me, puzzled.

"The guy has a history of crime, hit and runs and various thefts. Violent tendancies incriminated him for 2 years back in 2011, so who's to say he won't kill some random guy for a little extra cash?" I ask Zeke.

"True, but he hired you to represent him, you can't turn around and announce him guilty and then snatch the cash from his hands. You have the evidence, it isn't your place to get involved with the plaintiff party. Just try and help the guy out. Who knows? You might be wrong" He nudges my arm.

"Yeah, fat chance" I joke, pretending to be cocky.

Uriah and Will finally come back to the table, and then Christina comes over with the menu's.

After we finish looking through them, we order the food. I decide on a small dish of Mac and Cheese, Will gets a ham baguette, Zeke and Uriah go halfs on a steak. Well. Zeke has a mouthful and Uriah has the rest.

"And that will be all?" Christina finishes scribbling down the writing, and looks back up "I'll send over the waitress soon to get your coffee orders. It's her first day on the job, so no teasing or jokes or I'll have your heads on pikes outside on the picnic tables. Especially you, Tobias" She adds and we all laugh.

What? My way of flirting is teasing...


After eating our food, we decide having a short break whilst we wait for the coffee's, and talk business for a while, exchanging stories of past cases we worked on. I tell them about a case I once had back in New York, and about the man who was dubbed the 'Brooklyn Banger' because after he murdered his victims, he would set off hundreds of dollars worth of fireworks in the area so the police could find them. He messed up though, because they found his stash of fireworks with two multiple fingertip samples on. Many different people, however. The Brooklyn Banger, also known as Charles Nuffield was the leading suspect, and it was my job to use the incriminating evidence to bring him down in the courtroom. I sent the whole booth into hysterics when I told them the reaction of Charles Nuffield when the Judge sent him down. He burst into tears, begging for his mother as he pissed all over the defendents stand in fear.

"Guys, this is Tris Prior, our new waitress here at the Strathmore Spring Cafe" Shauna introduces us to a girl who's face doesn't first catch my eye. I first satrt down at her shoes, the black flats that are filled with her feet. Covered in black tights, I slide my eye's up to her tight fitting black skirt, not registering what Shauna is saying. Something about how she was extremely close with Tris. They were neighbors throughout high school but they went to different school's altogether. Some bullshit like that I think as I roam upwards, covering my stubbled face with my hand as I look at her white buttoned shirt that modestly shows the outline of her boobs. Her blonde locks fall down, tracing the lines of her neck, which doesn't stand all that high due to her small height.

Finally, reaching her face I see her. Tris Prior. A figment of true beauty. She has that look about her, a look where I can tell she's beautifully classy, yet she has that high-school prettyness that never actually left her. I realise that her hair wasn't even loose down at her neck, but in reality it's in a fishtail plait that was strung down, instead of being left to cover her back, and instead adds even more to marvel at down the front.

"Tobias. Dude. T!" Will nudges me, and my cheeks burn like embers when I realise I was staring.

"How do you want your coffee, Sir?" Tris asks me in a heavenly, yet seemingly nervous voice.

"I... Um... Milk and two sugars, please?"