On Monday, both Cody and Bailey woke up with feelings of either despair or regret. Bailey had a looming cloud of regret following her around while Cody had a thunder storm of emotions swirling inside of him. The morning started off as if Cody and Bailey had fallen from a high cliff and then have their backs hit a body of water later on from the fall, drenched in cold, painful liquid. That is how their Monday morning had gone. Before noon, Cody still hadn't told Bailey about who was their opponent. He didn't want to add stress to her day at the get-go. He wanted to permit her some time of joy in her morning. He carefully calculated the right time to tell Bailey. When lunch was over, Cody fixed himself of Gin and Tonic and had four sips and then had set down the glass. Then he straightened out his dark blue neck tie and cleared his throat. He knew that it was the right moment to drop the load on Bailey and get it over with. He casually walked to her desk as to give an air comfort before she would have to take in the information. For Cody, it would be like swallowing a pill for the common cold with just enough water to wash it down. He leaned his right arm on Bailey's desk.

"Miss Pickett."

Bailey lifted her head up in surprise.

"Hello, Mr. Martin. How may I help you?"

"You don't have to do anything but listen to me."

"Okay."

"First of all, Miss Pickett, I am sorry that I am late on giving you the information that you probably have been waiting since this morning but I was afraid that your mood might quickly be ruined so I decided to hold it off until now."

"What is it, Mr. Martin?"

"I'm going to tell you who our opponent is."

"Who is it?"

"Barbara Brownstein."

"Is she a different Barbara?"

"No….She's the same Barbara that we ran into on Saturday."

"Oh….."

"Is that all you have to say? I thought that you would be more shocked."

"Well, I would be if I knew more about her. Why? Are you not happy at all that you'll be going against your ex-girlfriend?"

"I don't like that she going against us period. The moment she'll see us come inside the court room, she'll make sure to do all that she can to let the murderer off the case."

"But what about having ethics in the court room?"

"She won't care how to correctly act as a Lawyer, all she'll care is that she can rip us apart and make us look bad."

"Maybe she won't let her emotions get the better of her in the court room. You know, people do tend to act differently when around different people."

"Even if that would be the case, I don't think that we could go against her."

"What are you saying, Sir?"

"I think that you shouldn't attend at court, Miss Pickett."

Bailey felt frustrated. She wanted to help Cody win the case for the victim's family. She stood up in rage and leaned in with both of her hands laying flat on the surface of her desk.

"Mr. Martin, you're not being fair! Why should I have to stay behind so you and Barbara duke it out in court?"

"Miss Pickett, I'm only suggesting that you don't come for your own good. For crying out woman, don't you realize that I'm only looking out for your well-being?! I can handle Barbara tearing me apart but I wouldn't know what to do if she attacked both of us."

Bailey backed off a bit. She leaned away from her desk just a tad bit but still kept her hands firmly pressed against her desk.

"I hadn't thought of that. But, still, you should give me a chance to prove my skills as an Attorney at Law."

"Even if we could handle Barbara together, I'm still iffy on the murderer. What if he made an attempt to prevent himself from going into jail if there was no one to testify against him? He might just as well target you or I and kill us off. He'd probably target you first."

"Why is that?"

"He'd figure that you're new to the game and you're a woman. The sucky thing about life, Miss Pickett, is that there aren't enough men like me who think highly of women. We still live in a somewhat patriarchal society. It sure isn't as bad as it used to be throughout the long course of history but there still is room for improvements in society."

"So, he'll just think that I'm weak which then makes me vulnerable?"

"That what he could be thinking. But he may not even pay attention to the fact that he could be put in jail. He might even care if he is thrown in jail. My point is, Miss Pickett, is that I'm just concerned about your safety. You certainly have proven yourself to me but with Barbara going against us and that she's defending a murderer, it's a tough decision to let you come or to stay behind."

"I don't need you to worry about me. We'll be in court."

"So, you could have cared less if my brother forced himself on you?"

"That is completely different. And why are bringing that up now?"

"Because it just happened yesterday! I came in to help you because you didn't look very comfortable being pinned by Zack. I was only trying to look out for you!"

"But there's a difference between being attacked out in the open and being attacked in a court room."

"So, you think that there's a difference from being attacked from an open space and a confined space."

"No. That's not what I meant, Mr. Martin."

"Then what did you mean?"

"All I was saying is that while on the street there's less of a chance of getting help while in a court room there are more witnesses to be nearby when someone may need help."

"I see then….."

Cody pursed his lips together and turned his head away from Bailey. He stamped his hand on her desk twice and then pulled his body away from it. Bailey looked over at Cody with cautious eyes.

"Mr. Martin, are you okay?"

"Yes!...Back to work, Miss Pickett."

Bailey didn't like how Cody's voice sounded, especially when he said her name. It sounded like a sizzling hot fajita plate. It was a sheathed growl that slipped from his bad tempered mouth. Bailey walked around her desk to make sure that Cody was okay. She was about to place a gentle hand on Cody's left shoulder but didn't have the chance to do so. He jerked away from her and walked away with heavy steps and his speed increased in small increments. Without even looking at her, Cody gave Bailey a big slap in the face.

"Get back work now, Miss Pickett!"

Cody brooded off the rest of the way to his desk. Bailey stood stiffer that Barbara did on Saturday. Her body was rigid and cold. She hung her head down in shame. She never thought that Cody could be so angry at her. His words really shook her to the core when they were drenched in animosity. He may as well have actually hit her but it wasn't his fists that collided with her body but rather his words and tone of voice. Bailey turned around back her chair and sat down at her desk. When she lifted her up, she did not see Cody at his desk. She figured that he must have gone off to the other room to blow off steam. Bailey's suspicious were correct as she could hear from a distance Cody mumbling to himself. Bailey thought it would be best to return to her work and that is what she did. After two of working, Bailey lifted her head up to check the time on the wall clock. There was at least two more hours until the work day was over. She then looked around the office and still there was no sight of Cody. Bailey wondered if it was really possible that Cody was still in the other room. Bailey took the initiative to get up from her desk and walk toward the other room. Before she could enter the other side of the office, Cody stumbled out and stared at Bailey. He cracked his neck and coughed. Bailey got a better look of her boss and was shocked at the condition that he was. He stepped closer to him in an attempt to see if he had any severe wounds but he drew back like a rooster hiding away from a fox. Bailey cocked an eyebrow up in utter confusion.

"Mr. Martin, are you okay? Why does your face look pale?"

Cody coughed and some blood drizzled down his lower lip. Bailey gasped but stepped forward him but he ignored her advance and went over to his Gin and Tonic. He lifted the glass and drank some of the alcoholic liquid. As he drank, his sleeve revealed two cuts against his right wrist. Bailey had enough evidence to take action. She approached Cody and took the glass out of his hand and set it down on his desk. He turned to her with discontent. Bailey took hold of one of his hands and dragged him back to the other room and sat him down on the couch.

"Sir, please stay here. I'll be right back."

Cody scoffed but Bailey left the office anyway. He tapped away on his right thigh with his index finger. He tapped against his leg until some blood slid down and stained a part of his pants. He kept tapping his thigh until Bailey came back. When she came back and sat down next to him, she had two handfuls of damp paper towels and dry paper towels. She took one paper towel and pushed up a sleeve that covered one of Cody's wrists. She dabbed the wet paper towel against the fairly fresh cuts and then she took a piece of a dry paper towel and wrapped it around his wrist.

"Mr. Martin, would you be so kind as to take off your jacket? I fear that you have damaged your arms and I need better access to them."

Cody growled but complied to Bailey's request. He took off his gray suit jacket and placed it on the couch. Bailey then asked him to roll up his sleeves and he did as she asked. Bailey then continued to tend to his self-inflicted wounds. As Bailey was busy taking care of Cody's wounds, she had a few questions for him.

"Mr. Martin, what were you doing in her this whole time?"

"I was having a fit."

"I could hear it. But why?"

"I was angry."

"At me?"

"No. I was angry at myself."

"Why would you be angry at yourself?"

"It's because I used a harsh tone of voice at you. I should never have to raise my voice to you. It's just that I got so frustrated with you."

"Well, you can blame me for being stubborn."

"It's not your fault. Most humans are naturally stubborn. It's part of our DNA. I should have bit my tongue and not suggest to you that you shouldn't go to court on Friday."

"That wasn't your fault. I was too stubborn to see that you were only thinking of what would be best for my safety. That means a lot to me, Sir. I'm sorry that I caused so much frustration and self-inflicted anguish on you, Mr. Martin."

"Oh. That's okay."

"No. It's not. How can it be okay when you're bleeding? Why did you have you do this to yourself?

"It's because I found it fit to punish myself and the only thing I could think of was to bang my body up against the walls and scratch myself ."

Bailey was about to say something in response but got distracted by the sight of blood trickling down his neck.

"Excuse me, Mr. Martin, but could you tilt your head to the right so that I could have better access to your neck?"

Cody bends his head toward his right as Bailey asked of him.

"Thank you."

Bailey takes a damp paper towel and dabs it against the broken skin on Cody's neck. She starts up where they left off.

"I don't think that it's worth beating yourself up just because you felt guilt that you rose your voice tome. A simple explanation for your actions would have been fine and then we could have both apologized and be done with it."

"But the thing is that I feel as though I committed a crime worse than murder. I yelled at you."

"Why should you worry so much about you act around me? You yelled at me which did hurt but we're both adults, Mr. Martin. We learn to deal with this sort of things and then get over it much quicker than kids or teens."

Cody straightened out his neck and turned to Bailey. He gazed into her deep brown eyes with his blue and green ones. Bailey hitched her breath and drew back.

"I care so much because I view you to be a very precious person to me and ought not to raise my voice to you. I love you, Bailey and I'm sorry for being so hard on you. I hope that you can forgive me."

Bailey blinked a few times. Cody leaned in and waited to see any change in Bailey's reaction. He leaned in closer to her as if he was going to kiss her. Bailey intervened by casually pressed a piece of wet paper towel against his lips. Cody stopped in mid-lean in confusion and slight disappointment. Bailey looked past Cody.

"You still had some blood sticking to your bottom lip."

Bailey dabbed Cody's lip and then drew her hand back to her body. Cody touched his lip with his left hand. He could tell that his lip felt less heavy with the blood being removed from it. He dropped his hand and looked back at Bailey.

"Oh. Thank you."

"Sure thing."

Cody stared at Bailey with sad eyes. Bailey looked at Cody with guilt printed on her forehead in bold font. Cody had let out a sigh escape his mouth and then patted his knees with his hands that were caked in dried up blood. His light blue, button-up shirt was torn at the sides of his sleeves. Bailey took one last damp paper towel and used it to wipe away as much blood as possible.

"Mr. Martin, you shouldn't have done this to yourself. I'm not worth. No woman is worth beating yourself over the head for. You need to take better of yourself."

Cody had let Bailey's words sink in deeper than the moisture that came in contact with his bloodied skin. He took a moment to think things through before giving Bailey a response. He swiveled his head toward her.

"Miss Pickett, I'm a guy. I'm going to use that as my excuse for beating myself up. Men and women deal with their emotions in different ways. I chose to beat myself up so I would be able to let my frustrations out. After all, I was frustrated with myself and thus I punished myself."

"But still, Mr. Martin, even men wouldn't want to go through what you did. It's simply not worth it."

"Have you ever considered that I may think that it was worth it? Maybe I did want to beat myself. Maybe I deserved all these scratches and bruises."

"No one deserves to be punished if they do not bring harm to anybody else or that they did not infringe on the freedom and right of everybody else and their selves."

Cody cracked his neck again and Bailey cringed at the loud sound. She continued to dab away the blood on his left arm.

"Fine. Maybe I did go a little overboard with my actions but for whatever they were, they were and never will be meant for you."

"I'm glad to hear that, Sir."

Cody breathed in slow and sucked up some blood that was left behind. It was the smallest amount of blood but it was just enough to make Cody believe that he tasted a copper penny. He knew that it wasn't copper but iron that he tasted. He knew this because he read on the internet that iron and copper taste similar and that he already knew from common knowledge that there was iron in his bloodstream. In short, he was tasting his own blood. Bailey finished up dabbing away any excess blood and wrapped up the biggest cuts with dry paper towels. When she was down, she looked back up at Cody.

"There you go, Mr. Martin. I've taken care most of your wounds. Now, please, don't do anything rash like this again. I would like to finish my time as an assistant before I become an Attorney with you."

"I understand, Miss Pickett."

Bailey stared at Cody. He stared back at her. She leaned in and placed a tender kiss on his cheek and then drew back.

"Please, get better soon."

"I will."

Bailey smiled. She took a moment to pause.

"So, Mr. Martin."

"Hmm?"

"About our fight that eventually ended up in tragedy for you…."

"No need to explain, Miss Pickett. You can come to court with me on Friday…if you still want to."

"I'm relieved to hear that but that wasn't what I was concerned about. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry."

"There's no need to apologize, Miss Pickett. I'm sorry for what I did to you."

"You shouldn't be sorry. You were only trying to look out for me. I should be sorry because I caused you to hurt yourself."

"That was my decision to hurt myself."

"But I'm sure that I played some small part in you hurting yourself."

"That may be true but I'm sorry for pressing the issue that you shouldn't come to the trial on Friday."

"You were only concerned about my well-being."

Cody was silent. He didn't know what to say next. Bailey leaned in and wrapped her arms around his body. She held him tight in a warm embrace. Cody leaned in Bailey's embrace and wrapped one limp arm around her body. He then nuzzled his nose into the crook of her neck. Bailey had her eyes closed and enjoyed the hug that she shared with Cody. After some time, Bailey pulled away from Cody's body. Cody was forced to pull his arm away from Bailey's body. Bailey placed a friendly hand on his left knee and looked at him tenderly.

"Well, looks like things are fine now. "

"I suppose so."

Bailey smiled at Cody and then took her hand off his knee. She brought her hands to his neck and straightened out his collar and necktie. Once she was done with the small chore, she drew back again.

"I guess that we should get back to work."

"Yes."

"Is there anything I could do for you, Mr. Martin? Maybe I could get you a cup of water."

"You don't have to do anything for me. You've done enough."

"I think I should get you a cup of water."

"Please, don't."

"Sir, you lost a good amount of blood which means you lost quite a bit of water too. I'll go get you some water."

"But-"

Bailey had gotten up from the couch before Cody had time to protest. She was gone before he had the chance to complete speaking his first syllable. Cody slumped into the couch and sunk his lower back into one of the soft cushions. Cody grunted and then spat out some left over blood that swashed around in his mouth onto the coffee table that stood in front of the couch. The mixture of blood and saliva stuck to the mahogany wood surface of the table. Cody placed both of his hands on his knees and pushed himself up from the couch. He grabbed his grey suit jacket and went back to the main office. He returned to his desk and threw his jacket on his chair. He lifted the glass of his Gin and Tonic and took two sips before he placed the glass back down on the desk' s surface. Just as Cody had rounded his desk to his chair, Bailey came back. She walked up to him and handed him a small paper cup filled with water. He carefully took the cup of water from Bailey and thanked her. She bowed her head with pleasure and then returned to her desk. Cody watched Bailey walk away and then drank his water in one big swig. He crumpled the cup in his hand and tossed it in the waste basket.

For the rest of the work day and for the rest of the week, for that matter, things were silent between Cody and Bailey. The next few days were the days where Cody and Bailey would quietly healed from the incident that occurred on Monday. Cody's wounds healed over the course of the week and he was as good as new before Friday came. By the end of the work day on Thursday, Bailey would check over at Cody every so often just to see if was still there. She was on edge and felt nervous about the trial that would happen the next day. Before she left, she wrote a note to Cody. She walked up to his desk, placed the note on his desk and then said goodbye to him. He returned her gesture and with that, Bailey left the office. Upon her departure, Cody slid the note close to his body and picked it up to read it.

The note read as follows:

"Mr. Martin, if, for some reason, we lose the case tomorrow, then I will completely understand that you feel as though I am no longer fit to be your assistant then I wouldn't blame you if you had let me go. However, I do hope that we win the case, not just for justice, but because I would like to celebrate the victory with you. I do enjoy working for you and I do not want to lose that chance to continue being your assistant, but if we do not win then it will be okay with me if you choose to get a new assistant or insist to work by yourself. I hope that you understand how I feel.

-Miss Pickett"

Cody re-read the note and then folded it up and placed it on his desk. He leaned back in his chair and folded his hands together. He thought for a while and then came to a conclusion, more like a resolution. He would ensure that he and Bailey would win the case and rub it in Barbara's face. With a new goal in mind, Cody gathered his belongings and left the office.

To Be Continued…