Chapter One

Three more months. Just three more months and she would officially become Courtney Hall. Three more months until the best day of her life. Courtney felt a smile form on her lips. Everything was falling into place.

"What are you smiling about?" Wesley teased, giving her a peck on the cheek. He rubbed away grains of sand from his eyes; despite having the later shift at the police station, he always tried his best to wake up to catch at least a glimpse at his fiancé before she left for work. It was one of the many things Courtney loved about him.

"Exactly three more months until our wedding," Courtney admitted excitedly before turning her head to give Wesley a passionate kiss.

"Not soon enough," Wesley said, pulling away from their kiss. He stood up to make himself a much-needed cup of coffee and Courtney huffed silently. Him pulling away from their kiss first was something she had to fix when they got married (experience had taught her not to bring up flaws when she was still dating a guy; it only resulted to breakups…or cheating). That and his annoying habit of mouthing the words when he read, his love for that hideous green sweater that always reminded her of green jelly (ugh, that despicable, disgusting, snot-looking, sugary disgrace to the world), and his weakness for raccoons. Actually, scratch that last one; he did get pretty adorable when his face lit up whenever a raccoon responded to his interactions. She would have to cross that off the list she kept hidden in an empty jam jar (Wesley hated jam) later.

"I don't know," Courtney sighed. "I still have to finalize our plans for our backup-backups. And three months is such little time. It took me four months to finalize our backup arrangements!"

Wesley chuckled softly at her worry. There was something about Courtney's collectedness and organization that he found very alluring. Being the indecisive person he was, it also allowed him to kick back, relax, and let Courtney take charge.

"With you in charge, everything will be fine. You'll get it done," he assured her.

Courtney smiled at that. It was true; she was the most in-charge, successful girl she knew. "Yeah, you're right."

When she turned to smile at him, the clock on the wall caught her attention. Oh my God, I'm going to be late! She was never late!

"I have to go!" she exclaimed hurriedly, already halfway out the door. "See you later!"


Courtney rushed up the steps to Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, the best law firm in Canada and of course, where she worked.

"Good morning, Courtney," greeted her personal assistant (yes, assistant), Ruby, timidly. She handed Courtney a tall Starbucks green tea latte and Courtney accepted it appreciatively, loving the warmth it radiated on her hands and face. She never missed her morning caffeine; it was one of her rules of life. Without the daily jolt, she would probably be an assistant, too. And Courtney was nothing if she wasn't on top of somebody.

"Morning," Courtney replied automatically as she walked to her office.

"There's a stack of papers for you on your desk," Ruby informed her. "Just agreements to sign for the H&M and painting cases, and there's a bit more information for the current case."

"Got it, thanks," she replied before closing the door to her room.

She and Ruby were friends—that's what happened when they were the two youngest in the company (along with Christina, Courtney's Filipino friend who was also a lawyer, but was assigned to smaller cases) and Ruby agreed with everything Courtney said, but there was a lot to do. Sigh, a lawyer's work was never done. Or maybe that only applied to her; after all, she did have one of the highest positions in the company, thanks to the fact that she had graduated as one of the top students in Harvard Law School. And she was only 26.

The absolutely huge stack of papers Ruby mentioned caught her eye as soon as she entered her office. Secretly, they pleased her, but outwardly she pretended to hate them as much as the next lawyer. They were a fresh reminder to how successful she had become, especially after the buzz of Total Drama faded and she returned to being nothing but her overachieving intellectual self. To the world, anyway. Of course, she had always known she was destined for great things; she knew she was going to be a lawyer when she was seven. Give her another year or two, and she would be rulingthis company.

Happily, she sat down at her desk and sorted through the sheets, paying careful attention to every little word. She highlighted anything she would later on argue about and circled the important details she had to make sure happened. She signed the agreements for her older cases after carefully reading through them several times. Twenty-eight times, to be exact.

Time passed by in a blur. Courtney could hardly remember anything that happened that day, other than her busy checking and signing. She vaguely remembered answering a couple of calls, but none of the conversations stuck in her mind. Oh well, she probably wrote notes to herself for the important messages. She wouldn't be Courtney otherwise.

By 9 o'clock, earlier than usual despite the fact that 15 hours of work was more than others thought endurable, she decided to call it quits. No way was she going to get anything done at this rate; she had been unable to fall asleep last night and her exhaustion was taking its toll. Not only did she not remember much of that day, but the words were also swimming in her brain. She put necessary papers in her bag and locked her office. As she headed towards the elevator, a voice called out her name.

"Courtney!"

She turned, finding herself a few feet away from Eric van Allen, her boss.

"Yes, Mr. van Allen?" she asked politely, even though all she wanted to do was just collapse in bed. Might as well be nice to him while he still is the boss, she thought to herself.

"I just got a call. A man is being sued for theft," Eric said. "It sounds pretty interesting but it might be a tough case so I was wondering if you would like to meet with him and find out more."

"Of course," Courtney agreed brightly, all fatigue forgotten. Finally, another case! Her English teacher case was coming to an end—the last trial was on Monday, just three days away—and she hadn't been assigned anything else yet. Her other recent case had just finished last week and she had been able to settle a claim for the piracy case. Being a lawyer was nothing like the shows portrayed; not many people wanted or needed to sue. "Just email me the details and I'll take care of it."

Her boss smiled approvingly. "I thought so. Goodnight, Courtney."

"Goodnight Mr. van Allen."

Her smile lasted through the whole drive home.


The next morning, Courtney woke up just past 11 a.m. She smiled at the almost unfamiliar feeling of being refreshed. After getting home last night at around 9:15, she had stayed up for another four hours to do some more work in the comfort of her home. As always, the sleep was much appreciated.

She mentally went through the things she would have to do that day, the way she did every morning. After toasting herself a bagel for brunch, she'd have to shower, brush her teeth, and change out of her sleepwear, which was unusually similar to the one she wore back when she was 16. Then, she'd have to do the laundry and put in a few more hours on the teacher case after. Later, she and Christina would go shopping; Christina had begged for weeks until Courtney finally agreed, as long as they didn't spend over two hours.

"Come on, Court! You need to have some fun," Christina said.

"Hey! I have plenty of fun," Courtney argued.

Christina snorted. "Please, you're about as fun as my lola, sorry, grandmother, telling her stories. Which, in case you were wondering, is not at all."

Courtney decided to ignore that last jibe; she knew her friend was only teasing. "I have a ton of stuff to do! And my last trial's on the Monday after!"

"Exactly! You need to relax before you go into work overload on Sunday. The timing couldn't be more perfect!"

Courtney hated to admit it, but she saw Christina's point. "Fine."

Thinking about their conversation, Courtney started to regret her decision. The new information Ruby had given her had proven to be very useful and now, she had to put the necessary changes in her statements and arguments. Maybe she should cancel…No, Christina would get mad, and although Courtney didn't care too much for friends, she had to admit, it was a nice to not be hated by all her peers. For some reason, even though Courtney was smart, athletic, pretty, and well, perfect, no one seemed to like her in college or law school. It was only when she started dating Wesley, when she was halfway through her first year of law school, did she actually have someone to confide to, other than Bridgette, the only friend she made from Total Drama. But Bridgette was living in Malibu with Geoff—the two had gotten married while still in college, a choice Courtney herself would never have made—while Courtney was inVancouver and it just wasn't the same as having an actual friend with her.

Courtney snapped herself out of her thoughts. There was no time, especially if she was going to go out with Christina later. Knowing her friend, Christina would probably follow what she called "Filipino time," meaning they would finish way past two hours. And because Wesley was already at work (he only had Sunday late afternoons off), there was nothing to distract her. Courtney took a long, deep, calming breath—a trick she learned from yoga…before she screamed at the instructor for criticizing her forearm stand—and forced herself out of the comfort of her bed.

It was time to get the day started.


Christina picked up a hanger and turned to Courtney. "This would look amazing on you!"

Courtney looked at the dress critically. It was a sleeveless black number with one side longer than the other. Even though it was pretty, she would never wear it, nor did she think she would have anything to wear it to.

"Not my type," Courtney said, scrunching up her nose in distaste.

Christina pouted but continued to go through the racks. Two hours had already passed—Courtney had been right earlier; Christina was following "Filipino time," and Courtney had yet to buy a single item. Christina was determined to find something her Hispanic friend would like; she herself was already carrying several bags.

Christina sighed silently. It was always like this with Courtney. Sure, she was a fairly great friend and she could be funny if she wanted to (not that she ever did), but the girl just could not relax. She always acted like she had a pole stuck up her butt and no matter how hard Christina tried, that pole remained stuck. Even going out on supposed fun days like this, work was always Courtney's top priority. Back in the Philippines, everyone loved to slack off and just enjoy life.

"What about this?" she asked, unsuccessfully trying to hold back a laugh.

This was definitely not Courtney's type. It was a beautiful maroon dress, with spaghetti straps and a silky-soft texture. The only problem? It would come around just past Courtney's butt if she were standing upright. She couldn't even imagine how short it would be if she were sitting.

Courtney rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and why not dispose the rest of my pride and join a strip club while I'm at it?"

The two continued to browse through the racks. Finally, Courtney picked up a gray cardigan and held it up for Christina to see. "This is nice."

"Yeah, and it looks like your ten other gray cardigans," Christina noted. "Total waste to have more than one."

"Hey," Courtney protested. "I need extras!"

"Yeah, well, you need a change in wardrobe even more," Christina said, only half-joking. She had seen Courtney's closet; several cardigans in various dull and earthy tones, pencil skirts, a few track pants, and collared tops. Even her bras and underwear were boring; each one was nude for "practical reasons." It was like she read the handbook to being a stereotypical lawyer and fixed her wardrobe accordingly. Knowing Courtney, she probably had. Wait, no, Courtney probably wrote the handbook.

Courtney pretended not to hear her. She didn't need to deal with criticism; there was already too much on her plate, thank you. Speaking of which…

"I'm done," she announced. She hadn't even reached halfway in her edits to her speech and it was calling her, a nagging voice in the back of her mind.

Christina mistook this as offense. "I didn't mean it," she said quickly. "Your wardrobe is totally fine. I mean, as long as you like it, I—"

"Please, I don't care about that," Courtney cut in. "I have to get back to work." She sighed heavily as a reminder to her friend of how much more work-heavy and important her position was. Christina was sweet, but success was oh so much sweeter. She couldn't afford to get sidetracked by petty things like shopping.

"Oh, okay," Christina said in relief. A fight with Courtney and she would be sent to hell. Literally. She wouldn't put murder past the devi—err, girl.

Courtney had ridden with Christina—another reason she couldn't leave earlier—so they both headed towards the parking lot.

"I heard you got yourself a new case," Christina said.

"Nothing final yet," Courtney answered. "I still haven't checked to see if Mr. van Allen sent me the details yet. But I'll look into it tomorrow. And it's just a defending case."

"Lucky," Christina sighed enviously. "I only have one case right now."

"Yeah, well, I am one of the best. Back when I was in Total Drama, I was the only one who was a CIT. I only went easy on everyone because I had such a huge advantage." Or at least, that's what she told herself.

Christina chose her words carefully. "That was…nice of you."

"I know. But it's time I stopped playing nice." Courtney gave her friend a grin that frightened the Filipino. "I'm in it to rule it."


"Hi beautiful," Wesley greeted before giving Courtney a sweet kiss.

This time, Courtney made sure she pulled away first. "How was work?"

Wesley sighed tiredly and Courtney could see the dark circles under his eyes; it was already midnight. But despite the obvious exhaustion on his face, his good looks still sent shivers down Courtney's spine. They had been together for almost two years now but Courtney still couldn't believe he was hers. His brown eyes, although tired, were warm and loving, his dirty blond hair was mostly neat and away from his face, and he was well muscled; you had to be to work in the police force. "Nothing particularly exciting."

Courtney could tell he wanted to kiss her, and probably even more than that, but he held himself back. Another thing Courtney loved about him; he wasn't pushy. Feeling generous (and okay, maybe she wanted to, too) she tiptoed and gave him a long sweet kiss. It didn't stop there. When she pulled back, Wesley immediately had his mouth on hers again, his tongue teasing hers. A moan of pleasure escaped Courtney and she wrapped her arms around Wesley's neck, pulling him in closer. Slowly, the kiss descended from sweet to needy. The couple couldn't get enough of each other; Courtney moved her arms to Wesley's hair, letting her hands get tangled in his soft strands. She bit lightly on his lower lip and he growled with lust. The playful teases between their tongues intensified, becoming a battle. Everything around them ceased to exist; the only thing that mattered was the passion they shared for each other.

Later that night, Courtney shivered and cuddled closer to Wesley, half asleep. Wesley stroked her soft brown hair, his own eyes starting to droop.

"Wesley?" Courtney asked, her voice soft.

"Yes?"

"I love you."

Courtney drifted and lost consciousness, but not before hearing his reply, "I love you, too."


At 8 a.m. the next morning, Courtney let out a loud yawn as she opened her MacBook Pro in the study. Her final trial was tomorrow so it was time she checked to see if Mr. van Allen had emailed yet. As soon as she found out the details, she was going to make sure her client would not lose the lawsuit.

The brunette waited patiently—a rarity for her; patience was a virtue she did not have—as the browser loaded. In her opinion, weekend mornings were the best. Wesley was always either at work or still asleep—a good thing because although she loved her fiancé, he could not function without noise (another trait she didn't like about him). Being the uneventful place it was, Muskoka mornings were always perfectly silent; nothing ever changed and Courtney savored the stillness of everything. Besides, even though loud noises weren't in Courtney's good side, too many sounds in the morning, especially on days she didn't get much sleep, was just torture.

Finally, the page loaded. When she finally made her way down to the email—moving the emails into folders so that they were separated into "URGENT," "Read Later," and "Read,"—she clicked open the email called "Potential Case." Automatically, her eyes scanned through the email, looking for something unimportant to skip over. Being a lawyer, she got several emails with excessively long introductions and skipping over them was practically a part of her DNA.

Luckily for her, her boss understood the uselessness of small talk and had gone straight to the point; the email began with: "Courtney, this is the information you'll need," and proceeded with a bulleted list. She smiled in her head, thankful to not have to sift through words. But her happiness was short lived because as soon as her eyes laid on her client-to-be's name, her heart thudded and blood roared in her ears.

Duncan.


Hi everyone, somecallmej here :) This is gonna be the second fanfic I've written (though I never finished my first one...oops) so please go easy on me. I welcome any constructive criticism as long as it's not mean (hates will be deleted) so please don't forget to review! I'd love to hear your thoughts, even if it's something as simple as, "update soon."

I've already got chapter two ready, but I'm aiming for at least 15 reviews. So send a review!

-J