Hope you guys enjoy the next chapter!
The Christmas holidays had just begun, and so other than needing to go into work for a couple of hours every few days, Clary was spending a lot more time at home. That meant she generally had dinner cooked for Jace when he got back from work, and it also meant that the smell of paint flooded the rooms of their house more often as well. Jace had always loved seeing Clary when she was painting, and there had been a couple of days that he had come home and she had been so absorbed in her art with music playing in the background, that she hadn't even realized how much time had passed. He had walked up behind her quietly and looked over her shoulder, at the greens and blues and purples that were swirling over her canvas and gently pressed a kiss to the nape of her neck. Clary had sighed, her body going relaxed against his, the paintbrush going slack in her hand.
Jace absolutely loved how things had shifted with them, almost back to the way that they used to be. They still weren't back there yet, but then, maybe that was a good thing. Because they were older now, so their relationship growing and changing into something else was reflecting that.
He was also started to mend bridges with his cousins and his friends, now that he wasn't working all the time, and Simon didn't seem to want to gouge his eyes out every time they sat across from a table with each other. Surprisingly, it was Magnus who seemed to forgive him the quickest, or at least get over the animosity the a few of their friends had toward him given how he had been treating Clary. Jace was thankful for that, especially since it was clear how well Clary and Magnus got on.
The court case had finally begun, and Jace hoped that it would wind up before Christmas because this year he had plans that he refused to cancel. After they had found out who the two surprising witnesses were, they had managed to get the upper hand again. It may have required Sebastian doing some flirting and bribing with a pretty blonde who was new at the States Attorney's office, but Sebastian had no problem with that. They only had three weeks until Christmas, and Jace and Sebastian had been preparing for this case for months now and they were ready for anything that was being thrown in their direction, so he was confident that everything was going to be able to go forward the way he hoped they would.
"Alright, so, you've got court tomorrow morning at nine thirty," Kaelie read out to both Jace and Sebastian from the iPad that she was holding. "For today, you don't have anything else planned except that Hodge did say he wanted to meet up with you both at some point just to go through your cross examination of the Attorney's witnesses. Did you want me to get in contact with Sarah to set something up?" It was funny, really, that more often than not, when Jace had to meet up with Hodge, his secretary had to organize something with Hodge's secretary to set it up.
"Yup, that sounds good," Jace nodded with a small smile as he picked up his pen and started turning it over in his fingers, his attention shifting to his computer screen. "Thanks, Kaelie." The blonde left the room and Jace pursed his lips at the computer as the door to his office closed. He was expecting Sebastian to leave as well, since they didn't have anything else to go over, and after a moment of Sebastian still sitting there, he looked over the top of his laptop. "What's up?"
"Oh my god," Sebastian let out a snort, shaking his head as he moved forward on his seat, closer to Jace's desk. "You're so oblivious." Jace lifted an eyebrow as he dropped his pen and focused on the other lawyer.
"About what?" He asked.
"About her!" Sebastian wasn't exactly subtle about the way he jerked his head toward the glass door that separated Jace's office from the rest of the law firm, and Kaelie who was at a desk just outside.
"What about her?" Jace just blinked at Sebastian.
"Holy shit, man," Sebastian shook his head. "She's so into you! Why aren't you banging her? Kinda cliched, I know, doing the secretary, but she's fucking hot, and it would definitely help loosen you up." A smirk spread across his face and he tilted his head to the side. "Although, you have seemed a little happier lately, a little less like you've got something shoved up your ass." He dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Is that why you've been like that? Are you getting it on with her?"
"No!" Jace protested, shaking his head and screwing up his nose in surprise. "No—what the hell? I'm married, I'm not doing anything with Kaelie."
"Really?" Sebastian looked surprise as he glanced down at Jace's left hand. "I mean, I know you wear the ring, and you've got the photo—" he nodded over to the photo of Jace and Clary. "But you never really talk about her, and I've never seen her around. I kinda thought that you guys were just..." he trailed off as he looked for the right idea and then shrugged. "I don't know, just weren't together properly. Or had some sort of understanding, or whatever."
"I've never cheated on my wife, and I never plan to," Jace responded, his voice maybe a little sharper than it needed to be. Sebastian wasn't wrong in his observations; in the time that they had worked together, it wasn't as though he had made Clary a priority. He hated that, but that was what he was changing now. Even though he wasn't screaming his devotion to her from the rooftops, obviously the little changes were becoming obvious if Sebastian had picked up that he seemed happier.
"Alright, well," Sebastian shrugged and stood up with a grin. "If you're not going to make a move on her, then I definitely will."
"And I'm never going to make a move on her, so she's all yours," Jace reiterated, because Sebastian was still looking at him a bit disbelievingly.
"Sounds good," Sebastian had a devilish smile. "Then maybe I'll ask her to see if she wants to go out for lunch with me." Jace just turned his attention back to his computer and waved his hand dismissively at Sebastian. The other man began walking toward the door, but then paused. "Or maybe I'll ask her out to lunch with me," his voice changed octave slightly and Jace sighed as he looked up to see who had caught Sebastian's attention.
Clary.
"Shit—she's gorgeous," Sebastian smirked. "I wouldn't mind—"
"That's my wife," Jace spoke over him, not wanting to know at all what Sebastian was going to say next. He had heard the things that Sebastian said about woman, especially the ones that he found attractive, and he did not need to hear whatever comments Sebastian had about Clary.
"That's your wife?" Sebastian turned around and looked over to the photo of Jace and Clary together before back through the glass to where Clary and Kaelie were talking, Kaelie standing up and blocking Clary from entering into Jace's office. "Shit, man, if I was with a woman like that, I would be showing her off everywhere." Jace pursed his lips as he felt guilt clench around his stomach like a cold fist.
But one of the things that Doctor Gray had kept on saying that he needed to leave that guilt behind them, that in order for him to be able to move forward he needed to let that go.
So instead, he focused on what Sebastian had said, which was actually very true—for once.
He should be showing her off.
Clary deserved to be with someone who was proud to announce her as their wife.
Jace strode past Sebastian, opening up the door and hearing the tail end of what Kaelie was saying to Clary. Clary was just looking at the blonde with a level expression, and when she saw Jace behind her, the corner of her mouth pulled upwards slightly.
"I'm sorry, but you don't have an appointment," Kaelie was saying with some emphasis, so she must have been repeating it. "You can only go in there if you have an appointment."
"She doesn't need one, Kaelie," Jace stated as he stepped around the blonde and his secretary's eyes widened as she saw him standing there. "This is my wife." He looped an arm around Clary's waist and tugged her in for a long, hard kiss. Clary stiffened at first, surprised by the public display of affection that they had never really been big fans of and definitely hadn't been in the past year or so, but then she relaxed against him, one of her hands resting on his chest. "Hold any calls, okay?" Jace mumbled to Kaelie after a moment, barely sparing her a glance as he dropped his hand to Clary's.
"Uh, yes—okay." Jace paid no attention to Kaelie as he took Clary into his office where Sebastian was still standing with a smirk on his face.
"Clary, this is Sebastian, who's working with me on the case we've got in court at the moment," Jace introduced the pair, but he raised an eyebrow pointedly at the younger. "And he was just leaving." Sebastian smirk dropped and he rolled his eyes, but he walked out of the office and closed the door behind him. Now that they were finally alone, Jace turned to face Clary, still gripping her hand. "Hi."
"Hi," Clary smiled up at him, reaching up on her tip-toes to give him a quick kiss on the mouth. "I brought you lunch." Jace looked down at the hand that he wasn't holding, where she was gripping a plastic bag. "Sushi."
"You're amazing," Jace breathed as he looked over at the clock and realized that it was almost one in the afternoon. Kaelie would usually order him in lunch when he told her that he was hungry, but he and Sebastian had been working so hard he just hadn't thought about eating. That wasn't particularly unusual for him, though.
"I know," Clary stuck her tongue out at him playfully, and it was such an adorable gesture that Jace felt his whole body sing. She didn't seem to realize what she had done to him and skipped past, letting go of his hand and putting down the plastic bag on his desk. She began pulling out the containers inside before looking over her shoulder to where Jace was still standing, watching her. "Are you joining me, or am I going to eat all of this by myself?"
"Hell yeah, I'm joining you," Jace told her as he came over. Instead of going around to the other side of the desk where he usually sat, he pulled up one of the other leather seats next to the one that Sebastian had just been sitting on, so that they could both sit on the same side of the desk. He had pulled the chair up so close to the other one, that when Clary sat down, their knees bumped together. She flashed him a smile before using the chopsticks to pick up the first piece of sushi. "I remember when you were so undignified and used to use your fingers because you could never figure out how to work the chopsticks," Jace teased her lightly.
"Shut up," Clary rolled her eyes at him, waving her chopsticks in his direction. "Or I'll use my fingers again and embarrass you in front of all your classy colleagues." Jace laughed and had a piece of his own sushi. "So when did you get Blondie out there? Last time I checked Charlotte Branwell was your secretary."
"Oh, Char's been gone for about a year," Jace replied. "Kaelie is the niece of one of the other lawyers, and she's smarter than she looks. Had my doubts, but she's actually very good at her job." Clary nodded, her eyes flickering toward the door before looking back down at her container. Jace pursed his lips as he looked toward the door, where Kaelie was standing and resting against her desk, speaking with Sebastian—the man moved fast. Kaelie was gorgeous, that was a given. Long, wavy blonde hair, immaculate make up, tiny figure that she showed off with a high waisted skirt, a blouse with a deep v-neck and shoes that looked as though she could break her neck in if she fell over. "I've never looked at her as anything other than a colleague," he said quietly, just wanting to make sure she understood, as he picked up another piece of sushi. Clary nodded again without saying anything, but her face looked slightly more relaxed. "So what are your plans for the rest of the day?"
"Isabelle is finishing early today," Clary said, leaning back in the leather seat. "So we're going to do some Christmas shopping. It's the first Christmas that her and Simon are spending together as a married couple and so she wants to make it special."
"She hasn't realized that being married is pretty much exactly the same as living together?" Jace raised an eyebrow.
"It'll sink in eventually," Clary grinned. "I remember when we first got married...And the first thing people asked after seeing us after some time is—"
"'How's married life?'" Jace finished with her, and they both let out laughs.
"Fuck, I hated that question," Clary shook her head.
"People just didn't seem to realize that it was exactly the same," Jace grinned. The atmosphere felt relaxed, and Clary bumped her knee against his as she chewed, and Jace loved the way her eyes were glittering and her shoulders were slumped, showing how relaxed she was.
Things were going to be okay.
Now he just needed to ensure that they won this case before Christmas.
Okay.
So.
I went to a Halsey concert last night.
Holy FUCK.
She was incredible.
She was fucking amazing.
I still can't even put it all into words.
My favourite artist is Eminem, and I've seen him live, and my second favourite is Halsey, and I've seen her live, and they both just killed it.
She put on an incredible performance and her vocals were insane and just...Oh my god! Haha.
Khelani opened for her and she was amazing as well.
OMG.
So I'm just going to leave this here and continue watching videos of her for the rest of the day.
Peace out, beautiful people x