Hi everyone!
Hope you'll enjoy reading this. It's planned to be a multichapter fic. I have everything planned and I'm really excited about it, hope you are as well after reading this 1st chapter.
Goes without saying English is not my first language so I apologize in advance.
Reviews are highly appreciated!
"And for these reason the court accepts the plaintiff's requests. The court awards child support in the amount of $25,000 per year and extra $5,000 per year for spouse support."
As the judge tapped the gavel on the block April smiled smugly, looking down to her client.
Another win for one of her clients. And that only meant another win for her.
April Kepner, ladies and gentlemen.
She was only 32 years old but she was already one of the youngest and most popular private practice attorney of the city. The Seattle courthouse's rising star.
Born and raised in Moline, Ohio. Second of four daughters for Joe and Karen Kepner, she had always been the most promising, always the best in her class since 1st grade. She had studied law in Columbus and graduated with honors. The only Kepner who had ever graduated. The pride of her family.
It had been almost 4 years and a half now. She had been working for "Hunt,Sloan&Shepherd law firm" since then. She had practiced there since her graduation and they had immediately hired her after a while. She had sacrificed a huge part of her personal life for that job. She'd worked hard and she'd earned it.
"I don't know how to thank you, Ms. Kepner." Her client hugged her tightly as soon as they left the court.
"You're welcome, Janet." April smiled. "I'll let you know the payment details as soon as the judge's office call us. I'll keep in touch."
"Thank you again for everything."
April smiled again watching the woman walking away. That was her third and last case of the day. It was nearly 4.30 p.m. but April was already exhausted.
Exhausted but happy nonetheless.
Who would have thought.
April Kepner, was a private practice attorney. Her range of cases went from civil litigation suits to commercial cases, from probate cases to divorce and child custody cases. Like Mrs. Gibbs case. The one April had just won.
To be honest she didn't quite like divorce cases. Divorce was against her belief. But even if she'd rather prefer not dealing with those cases, work was work and Kepners were known for their strong work ethics.
April Kepner, the mild-mannered girl from Moline who spent her childwood and teen age years feeding pigs and fighting acne was now a kick ass lawyer.
"Hey legal eagle! I hear congratulations are in order!"
April was about to leave the courthouse when a voice called her from behind and April immediately recognized her.
"Hi Arizona!" April turned around, greeting her.
Arizona Robbins was one of the few people April could consider as her friend. She was a lawyer as well, Assistant District Attorney to be precise. She and April had known each other from the early days April had come to Seattle. Arizona had been her first case actually. April had worked with Owen on her divorce and she and Arizona had got along pretty quickly since then.
"So, what are your plan for tonight?" The blonde woman asked cheerfully. "It's Callie's turn for Sofia so I'm all yours!"
"Thanks Arizona but it's not necessary. I'm fine." April confessed.
Arizona inhaled deeply, watching her friend trying to avoid her. Again.
"You and Matthew broke up last week. You need a girls' night out!"
"It's nothing. We went out on a few dates. It's not like we were together or anything. I'm totally fine."
"Either way we need to go out and we need to drink. Just name your poison. Champagne? Tequila? Pinot Noir?"
"I don't hold alcohol like you do, Arizona, so no thanks but it was sweet of you."
"April, come on!" Arizona protested.
April was so grateful for Arizona. She felt truly blessed to have Arizona as her friend but she could be really persistent sometimes and April just needed to focus on her job.
"Besides I have to prepare a case, it's a big medical malpractice lawsuit." April stated proudly. "Hunt has assigned it to me. I have to work hand in hand with our expert. He's a plastics surgeon." April explained her. "Hunt hired him a while ago. He works mostly in Boston and he has been busy until now. I'm going to meet him tomorrow morning!"
"Is he, by chance, Dr. Avery?" Arizona asked.
"Owen haven't told me his name. Why? Do you know him? Is he good?"
"I think we worked with a big hotshot surgeon from Boston, his name was Avery. He's pretty good. Our expert called him a couple times for helping him reviewing some records, a little while ago. I've never met him but rumor has it that he's pretty handsome. Anyway it's good for you April, I'm really happy for you but you're not going to study tonight! Tonight we are going out. We are going to drink and….oh no, not again." She sighed.
"What?"
Arizona stopped talking and immediately changed the topic of her conversation. "…and they asked for a plea but I think we can bid high with Conspiracy and Reckless endangerment."
April frowned then turned to look back.
"Well well, my favorite girls are here."
"Morning, boss!" Arizona greeted him with a fake smile. She was a little embarrassed because Stark had put her in an awkward position with April.
Robert Stark, District Attorney, was Arizona's boss. April knew him quite well from what Arizona had told her about him and he practically resembled what April disliked most in a man. The only thing they had in common? Hair color.
Married and divorced three times. No children. He had always acted inappropriately with April, like he used to do with any other young attractive female attorney and after an initial denial April couldn't help but admit that her friend Arizona was right when she had told her Robert Stark had a thing for her. Robert Stark was interested in her in a way that made April cringed every time she thought about him. He was a good lawyer but a creepy man.
"Good morning, Mr. Stark"
"I've already told you April, just call me Robert." He told her "So any chance I could be delighted of having a little chat with you? The job offer still stands."
"Well I can't now. I'm sorry." She apologized. "I really need to go back to the office preparing on my next case."
"It's a big one." Arizona stepped in the conversation to help her friend. "Huge case!"
April was in a tough position and Arizona knew that. Stark was the D.A. so April had to refer with him from time to time. And not to mention he was Arizona's boss. April didn't want to be too rude with him but she was not by any chance interested in working with him on a permanent basis. But he was the District Attorney and obviously for that reason she couldn't turn down his offer like anybody else's.
"Maybe next time." April forced a smile.
"April. You're so wasted as an average attorney working for Owen Hunt. You are too… good for him. Instead you could work for me and Robbins on real huge cases. That would be a big step in your career."
Stark had offered her a job as Executive Assistant District Attorney. Basically a job where she had to work with him 24/7.
"You know how politics works here April. Hearing that you turned down a job in the district attorney's office is not gonna help you, at all. It's a one in a lifetime kind of offer."
"It's not that I don't respect your offer, really, I'm really flattered but I …"
"Well, actually she agreed!" Arizona cut her off. Then turned to look at April, intently. Arizona had a plan. April knew too well that look on her friend's face. She was just not quite sure she was gonna like her plan.
"Did she?" Stark asked noticing the utterly surprised look on April's face.
"Kinda." Arizona cleared her throat. "Boss, April agreed to work with us on one case and then she would make up her mind! Just one case!"
"I…yeah…exactly. I'm going to work with you. On one case." April spelled out those words trying to convince herself that what her friend had just gotten her into was for the best.
"Well finally, I'm glad to hear that. I'll see you in my office first thing tomorrow morning! You're not gonna regret that. Have a nice day, ladies."
April forced herself to smile again then turned to look at her friend.
"Hold that thought and just hear me out please." Arizona begged her as soon as Stark left the two women alone.
"Why did you say that? Are you out of your mind?" April hissed.
"No I'm not crazy and you should thank me instead." Arizona stated proudly. "He wouldn't let you off the hook with that job offer and you know that."
"And what was that? Was he trying to impress me or was it a threat?" April grunted.
"April, listen to me. It's just one case. You know him. He just wants to show you off a little. Plus, that way we could work together. It's gonna be fun!" Arizona stated, enthusiastically.
"Show me off? What does it even mean?! And no, Arizona, it's not gonna be fun actually. Owen hates him and now I have to lie to him because I'm pretty sure he'll fire me if he finds out I'm working with Stark. God Arizona, I thought you had an idea!"
"Just do it for me, please?" Arizona pouted "He's my boss. He'll make my life a misery if he finds out we were just playing him. Just work with me on this one case. Owen won't find out and Stark will let you off the hook eventually. He's not stupid. He knows he can't get into your pants but he just wants to have a little win. Just let him believe he has a little power over you."
"He has absolutely no power over me." April stated proudly.
"I know that! Look at the bright side, it's better than having that little chat in his office with him, right?" Arizona told her, playfully.
She wasn't totally convinced about Arizona's plan but she was right about politics.
You have to go along to get along.
One word from Stark and everything she had worked for could be completely ruined. Working with them and winning the case would just show that she was a strong talented lawyer and that she could turn down a job in the D.A. office whenever she liked without fear of retaliations of any kind.
"Fine!" April sighed. "But I think I need to tell Owen about it."
"I understand."
"And now I really need a drink. What time are you picking me up?"
"9.30! I love you!" Arizona hugged her.
Several hours later and after only three drinks April knew already she was gonna regret that drink night the next morning. Her head was already pounding and the next day, no matter how many aspirins she was going to take, it was going to pound like hell.
Arizona had brought her in her favorite bar. Not too far from her place and April's apartment as well. It was in a safe neighborhood. They could even have a nice walk to get home.
"So, you haven't even told me what happened with Matthew." Arizona grimaced as the tequila was going down her throat.
"There's nothing to talk about. It was not gonna work anyway."
"Are you upset? That it didn't work I mean…"
"No, I'm not upset. It's okay. He's a good guy."
"You're not still thinking about Judge Shepherd, right?" Arizona winked.
"I'm not thinking about him, he's just Amelia's brother. He's a very interesting man, as long as a very married man!" April pointed out, chuckling.
"You so had a crush on him!"
"I did not!" April chuckled.
"So what did Matthew do? Did he try to cross the southern board?" Arizona asked playfully, gesturing with her hand.
"It's not that, okay? I am a virgin but I'm not that virgin! I'm doing stuff!" She deliberately kept her voice low. "I just didn't feel like doing that stuff with him."
Arizona looked at her friend, sighing. She put down her glass and inhaled deeply before starting to talk.
"April, you are a beautiful woman and men are really attracted to you. Sexually attracted. And I get that you don't get that but it's not a bad thing you know? And you can't blame the guy for really liking you."
"I'm not that attractive!" April quickly dismissed her.
"See? This is the real problem. It's not Jesus or what you promised him. And it's not your sisters and that 'ugly duckling' crap. It's you!" Arizona snapped at her. "The problem is you! You are a woman with needs and instead of fulfilling your needs you keep stuffing them down because you're not feeling beautiful enough or sexy enough or wanted enough or whatever! If only you had half the self-confidence you're showing in courtroom with yourself and your body!"
"I am confident with myself and my…body!" April blurted out.
"Yeah…right…" Arizona muttered finishing her shot of tequila. "Talking about body image you're the queen of self-confidence. Right. My bad." She remarked, sarcastically.
"You're drunk!" April observed.
"A drunk mind speaks a sober heart, my friend." She quoted, nonchalantly.
"Ok, I'm gonna prove you you're wrong!" April exclaimed. "Because you are wrong!"
"Really? You know sometimes acknowledging what we need is more difficult that actually acquiring it."
"Yes, Arizona, yes! You're flat out wrong! First thing tomorrow morning…"
"If you want to prove me I'm wrong you've got to do it now." Arizona cut her off, challenging her. "At least the alcohol you ingested will help you loosen up a little bit."
"What do I need to do here, then? Dancing on the table?!" April chuckled. "Because I'd love to dance on the table!"
"No dancing on the table. I'm going to pick a guy here and you have to talk to him." Arizona explained quietly "If he offers you a drink, you win!"
"That's it?" April raised her brows.
"That's it!" Arizona nodded.
April scoffed. Arizona was right she was not the queen of self-confidence but for God's sake she was able to go ask a random guy to offer her a drink.
She looked around. There were a lot of guys. Some near the counter, drinking. Some were playing darts on the right corner and April was quite sure some of them had glanced over her table more than once.
"The guy over there!" Arizona pointed her finger to the corner in the opposite side of the bar.
"Who?" April narrowed her eyes. It was too dark over there and all she could see was a man in a hoodie. "Him?"
"I'm not gonna pick one these bozos over here. I've noticed how they were glancing at you, smart-ass! The guy with the hood or I win!"
"Fine!" April finished her drink in one gulp. Then grabbed a paper napkin and wiped her mouth.
She got up from the table and walked towards him, adjusting her green blouse and checking her buttons.
"You go, girl!" Arizona blurted out.
April wasn't totally drunk.
She was just tipsy enough to agree on doing a pretty stupid thing and yet not sufficiently drunk to not realize she was going to regret it. That was the kind of stupid things people like her usually regretted. Like a hangover. But she had to prove Arizona was wrong. So she was gonna do it. She was nearly stumbling in her heels and she suddenly remembered there was a reason why law dictated that drunk people couldn't give informed consent.
She was quite sure she had even read somewhere that in Chinese business culture, it was believed that potential business partners had been forced to get drunk together before any major deals took place!
She perfectly recalled that the law recognized three levels of intoxication: mild intoxication, advanced intoxication and extreme intoxication. She might put herself in the 1st level. Not that bad. Also public intoxication charges required some obvious display of intoxicated incompetence or disruptive behavior. Totally not her case.
She was just experiencing feelings of looseness and she was becoming more socially confident. She was about to initiate a conversation with a complete stranger, in a bar, and asking him to buy her a drink.
"Can I help you?"
His voice was low, extremely low and it took her a few seconds more than the normal to process it.
She widened her eyes when she realized that she had already reached his table and she probably had reached it several seconds before because he was looking at her with an amused look. She had lost herself in her internal rambling. Again.
"Yeah, I'm…Hi…I was just wondering if you…Oh my God!"
As soon as she looked at him, when she really focused on his face April couldn't help but gasp. He had the most unbelievably gorgeous pair of green eyes. A perfect pair of green eyes that were kinda ipnotizing her. She had lost control of her body functions all of a sudden and she couldn't entirely blame it on the drunken stupor.
"Are you okay?" He asked, concerned.
She remained completely still while he got up from his table, standing right in front of her and tilting his head a little to look at her closely. He must have taken her for a psycho.
"Yes, I'm okay. I'm fine. I'm totally fine." She was panicking. She was about to begin her usual messy rambling speech and she couldn't allow herself to that. Not in that situation. Not with him. She was a lawyer, for God's sake. Her speeches in courtroom were riveting, flawless, articulated and now she was just mumbling.
She closed her eyes for a brief second and inhaled deeply to calm herself. Then opened her eyes again, smiling.
"Hi" She cleared her throat." I'm sorry to bother you. My name's April." She tentatively offered her hand. "I was wondering if you'd like to offer me a drink."
He pursued his lips before replying. And it took him several seconds before replying. He just kept staring at her, grinning and she thought he was about to burst into laugh at any seconds.
Then he reached for her hand and shook it gently.
"Nice to meet you, April. I'm Jackson. And believe me I'd more than happy to offer you a drink, but not tonight."
"Not tonight?!"
"Not tonight." He simply replied, shaking his head. "I've noticed you and your friend were drinking and I think you have already drank enough tonight."
"We were drinking but, well…we haven't drank that much." She quipped.
"Three shots of what it seemed to be tequila since I've been here, maybe another one before I've arrived?" He told her. "And you don't seem the kind of girl who has a high tolerance for alcohol."
"Were you keeping count of my drinks?" She was confused to say the least. She didn't know exactly how many drink she'd had herself.
He chuckled, raising his brows "I don't think you really want to get into this right now, do you?"
"Well yes! Wait, no…I don't know." She muttered.
"Which one is it?"
Was it him or was it the alcohol that made her unable to give him an appropriate response?
"Ok, you know what?! It was just a drink but if you don't want to offer me a drink it's okay. It was nice meeting you, Jackson." She blurted out, spinning on her heels, walking away.
"I didn't recall making this statement!"
"No?" She turned back to face him again, crossing her arms on her chest. She couldn't help but smug a little.
"No." He chuckled, taking a step forward her. He pursed his lips, his gaze wandering down to her mouth which immediately went dry. "I've never said that I don't want to offer you a drink, April, I've just said not tonight." He explained. "You had enough drinks for tonight."
Maybe he was right. Maybe she should stop this whole flirting-while drunk/tipsy thing. Was there a drunk/tipsy scale anyway?
"Would tomorrow night work for you? Can I offer you a drink tomorrow night?"
"Well, I'm busy tomorrow, really busy but…I..." Then she looked at him. He seemed a nice guy and he seemed really interested in make it up to her. And he was so handsome. "I think I can do that!"
"Is that a yes?" He asked her, and his eyes sparkled. He seemed to be excited like a kid in a candy store.
"Yes, you can offer me a drink tomorrow night!" She giggled.
"Excellent! Here, tomorrow night, 9 o'clock?"
"Here, tomorrow night, 9 o'clock!" She repeated, glancing sideways as she felt her cheeks starting to burn. If there was a chance he had not noticed that, she only had to thank that dim light.
"I'll see you tomorrow, April." He grabbed his jacket hanged on the chair, his eyes never leaving hers. "You are not driving home, right?"
"My apartment is really close by, so if we want we could always…" She watched as he crossed his arms on his chest, his lips tightened in a little smug and she realized that what she had just said could sound like an invitation. Very unbecoming.
"That is not what I meant, that was not an invitation. I meant we as in 'my friend and I' not we as in 'me and you'. Of course not, no way. I'm just saying we'll walk home. Have a little walk should be good."
"You should call a cab." He just said. His jacket was on his shoulder now. He was ready to go but he didn't move a muscle. Hands on his front jeans's pocket, he kept staring at her, his head tilted a little bit. "Or I could always take you home myself if you want."
"It's not necessary I am not naïve, I have pepper spray in my pursue." She had just deliberately avoid to even consider replying to his offer because if she had she'd totally said yes.
"Tell me you're calling a cab, April." He chuckled.
"Yes, definitely. I'll call a cab. We should..." She glanced at her watch. It was nearly 1 a.m. "We should really go, my friend and I, we have to go to work tomorrow." She stated, her mouth had gone dry and she was fumbling her words. Not a good sign. "I…um… I got to go now. Have a goodnight, Jackson."
She ran like the wind reaching for Arizona's table.
"So? What the hell happened there?" Arizona asked, her mouth full of peanuts. "He was standing right in front of you and I thought he was going to kiss you! It was like watching a car crash in slow motion!"
"A car crash?!"
"Yes, watching the inevitable happening!"
"Is he still there?" April asked frantically. She was too excited and too embarrassed to even bring herself to turn to look back to see if he was still there.
"Nope, he just walked out the door. Let me tell you something, I am not an expert in men's butts but he seems to be having a real fine ass!"
April laughed at her friend "Oh kay, we should really go. You're so drunk." She told her and helped Arizona standing up on her feet.
"You should have kissed him. You know the way he was staring at you. Like you were a dessert tray. His dessert tray!"
"His dessert tray?"
"It was like he was picturing you naked in front of him." Arizona went on talking, while they were heading to the exit.
"Come on it was dark over there, you haven't seen anything about the wayhe was looking at me."
"Body language never lies! You should have just given him your number!"
"No need! We're gonna see again tomorrow night!" April exclaimed.
"Seriously? Well tell me you're gonna jump his bone then, please? I'm begging you." Arizona cried.
April chuckled and didn't even reply to her drunk friend. She should have been embarrassed but she wasn't. She had approached a random guy in a bar and flirt with him and now she could admit she had liked it more than what she had imagined. And she was one hundred percent convinced she was not going to regret it in the morning.
And she was going to see him for a drink the next day.
The air was a little cold outside and April breathed in that cold air slowly as soon as they exited the bar. Now that the alcohol was starting to dilute in her system her brain was slowly regaining full control of her emotions.
She was probably having a bad hangover headache the next morning but she couldn't care less. Hopefully, she was going to see him again and that was all that mattered. She only hoped she'd manage to have a few hours of sleep but she was quite sure she was gonna spend the rest of the night lying in her bed, thinking about him.