A/N: Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who reviewed. It means so much to me to know that there are readers out there. Disclaimer: STILL don't own any of these wonderful characters. (*sob*)
Please note I'm working on the phrasing & your comments have been duly noted.Also, I really, really hate this site's story formatting. I use Microsoft Word 2007. For some reason, they never seem to maintain the line breaks and spaces I want so, as a result, a lot of the words may appear jumbled and dumb. I apologize to my readers, but it's beyond my control.
The Catastrophic Nature of Human Behaviour
I drove us to the site of the crime as per Adrian's directions.
And of course, his mansion was everything I'd expected it to be.
Ornate, symbolic, and so large that you could get lost in it's many never-ending hallways.
Adrian's mood instantly dropped, his facial expression unreadable as we walked past the yellow tapes surrounding the room where the whole fiasco had occurred.
I wasn't sure how to feel about it all myself. I hadn't ever been on the site of a crime before.
In numerous novels that I'd read, they'd often described these crime scenes to have an omnious feel to them. The protagonist usually felt a sudden drop in temparature, a gust of eerie wind, or heard taunting whispers.
Now that I was actually standing in a real life one,
all I could feel was sad.
A cloud of melochony seemed to loom over the room.
I had a sour taste in my mouth as I regarded the rest of the primisis.
It was a closed deal, police offers, a posse of journalists and a crime scene investigator had probably been here just a few hours ago.
I walked just slightly further into the room, and wrapped my arms around myself.
Adrian had gone venturing into every corner of the empty guest room.
"Adrian! Put everything right back where you found it. One misplaced item and we're done for. We can't tamper with a crime scene. Do you understand?"
I was afraid that he was only half listening to what I had to say.
All I earned was a quiet nod from him.
Since I'd only managed to muster one pair of gloves,
I'd let Adrian do the investigating, but I was now starting to think that had been poor judgement on my part. He was clearly letting his emotions overpower him.
"This must be it!" He suddenly exclaimed, in the midst of scurging through some cabinet.
"What is it?"
Adrian smirked at me, then shut the cabinet very carefully, put whatever he had to back in place and made his way over to me.
"I think I actually found a clue."
That night, I was writing my initial report about the case for Donna, who had requested me to give her written details as the case progressed. I didn't want to sound like I was sympathising too much, so I wrote it with as much professionalism as I could muster.
I decided to leave our newfound lead out of it, though.
My phone buzzed once more, and I smiled slightly at the caller. It was Brayden Cartwright, my boyfriend. I picked up the phone, excited to finally hear from him.
"Hey Brayden" I spoke into the speaker; a voice not half as cheery as mine regarded me on the other end of the line.
"Sydney, I heard you left LA on a case."
"Yes, I'm so sorry that I forgot to mention it when we spoke last night, but you were going on and on about how your cultural debate went, and I didn't want to ruin your good mood."
I explained, hoping that he wasn't upset.
"So you were only pretending to care about what I had to say?"
I shook my head, where was he getting all these ideas?
"No, In fact, I loved listening about how your debate went. A world with a single culture and its possibilities—it's such a refreshing topic."
I was being genuine; I just wished he'd understand that.
"I...I know. I'm sorry for sounding so clamorous. Congratulations on your first case!"
Despite the happy notion, Brayden's voice sounded anything but enthusiastic.
"I'll be back as soon as possible, Brayden. This is a really important case, so it might take me a little bit. But I promise to make it up to you when I see you again."
This cheered him up just a little; we talked for about an hour and a half after that.
We covered a lot of intriguing topics like the efficiency of fuel, the importance of microphysics and even had a heated debate on where the Anglo-American culture first resonated from. And that was all great, but by the time we cut the call my heart just wasn't in it anymore and I couldn't put a finger on why.
Maybe it was Brayden's utter deficiency of enthusiam for me, I mean; I thought he'd be happy for me. I'd only gushed about getting my first real case assigned to me on several occasions to him. And he just seemed, well...unfazed, upset, even.
I sighed, if there was one thing in the world that I'd never come to terms with, it would be human nature. I just didn't get people.
I sighed and decided to trade the unpleasant thoughts for a good's night sleep.
The next morning I got ready as quickly as I possibly could, the hotel I had obtained wasn't cheap thus certainly had its perks, but I had a lot to do and unfortunately wasn't going to be able to enjoy the Plaza hotel's luxury offers.
After a quick shower and a blow dry, I headed to the parking lot.
Adrian and I had spoken about quite a few things yesterday and he'd even offered me a place to stay, of course I chose the viable option of a hotel that was only a two minute drive from Adrian's apartment. He'd begged that he wanted more of a part in this; he had decided that he was going to actively help me in his case.
At first I'd refused, but then I'd remembered that I probably would've done the same thing if I'd been in his position so I let him on board. Also, he had made an interesting discovery.
I had advised Adrian that the first thing we could do to find a way to prove him innocent was to take a close look at all the people in Lee's life who had a motive that was stronger than Adrian's and make a note of the all the suspects.
Unfortunately, things were still looking quite bleak for Adrian. He and Lee had gotten into a number of brawls a few days before his death, Adrian claimed it was because Lee wanted to be a part of his band and they'd told him he couldn't join.
Adrian had explained how Lee had showed up at his door the day before he'd died and threatened him and his crew.
Apparently, he'd told Adrian that he would 'ruin them for what they'd done'; of course, this only prepended the idea of him being the culprit. So the first thing that was on my to-do list was track down a few people who knew Lee on a daily basis.
After spending an hour or two on the people I could probably associate with the murder, I came up with a pretty solid list. Fortunately for us, Lee didn't seem to be a social butterfly, he had only a few close friends that I figured wouldn't be too hard to find and interrogate.
I called up Adrian after I was done; I'd been sipping on coffee at one of the bistros in his neighbourhood.
"You've reached Adrian Ivashkov. Take a moment to thank your lucky stars and I'll get back to you."
An overly perky voice remarked on the other end of the line. I scoffed at the voice message, clearly Adrian was busy.
And for him, busy probably means partying it up or making out on the couch with a girl.I groaned when the phone beeped and I spoke up despite myself,
"Adrian. It's Sydney; I've got a few leads so just...call me back as soon as you get this.
We need to check them out ASAP." I cut the call after that.
I sighed, picking up all my files and taking one last languid sip of my coffee.
I realized that I had some time to kill.
That was so rare for me I couldn't help but be a little perplexed.
Adrian had practically begged me not to take action on any leads I found without consulting him, and I'd complied. After all, I was a lawyer, not a detective.
And even lawyers got their time-offs.
Before I could constitute a solid measure on what to do next, my phone buzzed.
I answered it almost instantly, not bothering to check the caller ID.
"Adrian, thank god." I said, assuming it was him. The voice on the other end of the line regarded the sentence in a rather bemused way,
"Sydney, are you cheating on Bray-Bray?"
I rolled my eyes skyward. It wasn't Adrian afterall, I checked the caller ID just to be sure, and it was my friend, Julia Cavendish.
She was one of the first people to be outwardly nice to me back when I'd first joined law school, after I'd helped save her best friend, Kristen's life in a freak accident—we'd become even closer friends.
"For the hundredth time, Julia. His name is Brayden. Anyway, no, I'm not. I'm sorry; I thought you were my client, Adrian Ivashkov."
I almost pulled my ear off along with my phone due to the shrieking that followed.
When her squealing subsided, Julia giggled,
"You have got to be KIDDING me! Your first case as a full fledged lawyer and you get to work for Adrian freaking Ivashkov! You are so lucky! I'm jealous."
I frowned, I was baffled. And I didn't like not knowing things.
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"Oh, Sydney, Sydney. Law school whiz, brainy math geek who's good at everything but clueless when it comes to anything that's remotely part of the twenty-first century."
Julia's voice sounded unshaken and animated.
I was about to protest for the sake of my being, but she spoke up again.
"Listen. I happen to be in Palm Springs since I'm here to meet my Aunt and it's been total bore. You want to meet me for a bit? We could go shopping and you could tell me all about Adrian Ivashkov." I turned to look at the giant clock that hung in front of me, courtesy of Marlene's Cafe. I sighed.
This would keep me busy for a little while, and it would be nice to meet someone who wasn't related to my work for a little while. Julia was a good friend who I hadn't seen in quite some time now. Also, I could pick up a few pairs of much needed formal ensembles from the mall.
I finally established that a quick rendezvous with a friend and an opportunity to bag some new outfits out of it couldn't hurt.
"Alright, but I don't have much time. When do you want me to pick you up?"
I had to plan my schedule accordingly.
Julia didn't hesitate, "Uh, like...Now?"
I sighed, maybe I could meet her while waiting for Adrian to call me back, and if he happened to reciprocate while I was with Julia, we could catch up from there.
Also, Julia could fulfil her weird fantasy of meeting the guy. Which still puzzled me,
what was with Adrian Ivashkov and girls?
"I'll be there in fifteen. Message me the address."
"Does this dress make me look fat?" Julia stepped out of the changing room and twirled around in a tacky and almost blinding yellow sundress.
There was nothing about that outfit that I particularly liked, but I didn't want to sound rude. And frankly, Julia looked appealing in almost anything she put on. Her blonde hair, tan skin and perfect figure made sure of that.
She had that preppy look going for her. I looked up from the Economic Times newspaper I'd been scanning and smiled at her.
"You look great and you're not fat."
Julia grinned at the compliment, bobbing her head around like a school girl and then heading back into the dressing room. I sighed; my plan was to get some productive formal wear and a nice chat with an old friend out of this.
Instead, I was apparently stuck as Julia's self esteem booster.
"You know, you're not fat either. So you really should come and grab dessert with me and Jordan after this. You can't say no to chocolate truffles!"
She mumbled from inside the cubicle.
I shook my head, neatly folding the newspaper and putting it back in its place on the magazine stand.
"I don't think so. I still have to work on this case, you know. I'll be taking off in another half hour. If Adrian won't return my calls, I'll just have to begin without him." I explained.
Julia scoffed; it appeared that she was still changing.
"You're dealing with Adrian Ivashkov, honey. Of course he won't return your calls. He's, like, a native from the Planet of the Rich kids and spending his daddy's money is the only thing even remotely close to productivity for the guy."
She walked out of the changing room back in her original clothes; black skinny jeans and an emerald tank-top topped off with a black jacket and heels that looked like they could poke someone's eyeballs out. I cringed.
"I mean—His dad makes, what? A million bucks a day? You probably have his action figure."
I frowned, "I'm almost positive I do not."
Julia didn't regard my response.
"That's not to say he isn't a total catch, because he is. Adrian's pretty famous because he's the son of Nathan Ivashkov—but you already knew that. And another reason for his popularity would be his band, Falling Upstairs, they were pretty ratchet until you know, the whole murder thing happened. The funny thing is the whole murder accusation is just giving him more press attention now than ever. Some girls like the bad boy streak, they think it's hot."
I decided not to comment on her abrupt use of the word 'ratchet' for the sake of not hurting her feelings, again.
I was staring at Julia by the time she'd finished her sentence. If she didn't have to catch her breath, she could probably talk on for ten hours straight without any interruptions. I gulped.
"That's...interesting."
I couldn't help but disagree, when I'd spoken to Adrian, he seemed more than willing to get rid of his adulation. Only someone fairly vacuous would want to go to jail for a framed murder just to gain some 'bad boy cred'.
Since I didn't want to strike another debate with Julia however, I let the thought go as she paid for her outfits and we headed out. After a whole lot of bargaining and coaxing, I managed to part ways with Julia. She headed off for dessert with her boyfriend, Jordan, and I started to wander around the mall, slightly disappointed.
I couldn't help but re-evaluate Julia's words and give a serious thought to Adrian's lack of allegiance. How was I going to handle this case when my client was hardly bothered about his fate himself? Before I could contemplate Adrian's motives any further, my phone buzzed. And this time, to my relief and astonishment, it really was Adrian.
I picked up the phone on the first ring and steadied my voice,
"Adrian. Where on earth have you been? This case isn't going to solve itself. I called you over two hours ago! Did you get my message? I have leads."
I didn't want to sound like I didn't have anything better to do, but now that I was stuck in Palm Springs and had been adjured to focus all my energy into handling and solving this case, I really didn't have anything better to do.
The shift in priorities wasn't amiable, but it was my duty. Unfortunately, Adrian was hard to work with. Surprisingly though, he sounded almost apologetic.
"Sorry, Sage. I was handling some band business. The media just love us now more than ever. I think the whole homicidal thing is in vogue this season."
I rolled my eyes again, refusing to resort to sympathy.
"Where are you? I have tracked down a few suspects, people Lee was in touch with on a day-to-day basis. Do you want to come along or shall I handle it myself?"
I made my tone sound intentionally pissed off.
"Of course I want to come along! Just tell me where you are and I'll come get you."
The voice on the other end stated.
I sighed, "You don't need to come get me anywhere. Meet me at Shaggy's Seafood Shack in fifteen minutes."
Adrian's tone was hesitant.
"Why there?"
"That's where we'll find Suspect number one."
A/N: So? What do you think? This chapter's mostly filler, it's one of the weakest chapters I've written so far & I hate to sound like a broken record but it does get better. There's plenty more Sydrian awaiting in the next few chapters, so there's that. P.S I know Sydney's a little hard to relate to right now, I'm just making her such a tight ass because this personality of hers is poignant to later chapters. It's what I'm aiming for will change evidently with Adrian's influence. So read on!:) Anyway… please do review/fave/follow! :)