Chapter 4: Unexpected Visitor
The next morning, Amy walked into her office to see someone sitting in her chair, facing the opposite direction.
"Morning, Bruce," she said, setting her briefcase down and flipping through some files. "Have I thanked you for taking me out last night?"
"About 5 times," she heard Bruce say from the doorway.
Amy looked bewildered. "If you're standing there, who's…" She pointed to her desk, and the chair swiveled around.
"Hello, Amy, Bruce," the man sitting at her desk greeted.
"David McLaren," Bruce said dryly.
"Why are you in my office, David?" Amy hissed at him. "I thought I made it clear that there is no us."
"I think I'll go get us some coffee," Bruce said, desperate to get out of there.
"No, Bruce, I want you to stay," Amy ordered him. "I want you to stay and tell David exactly what we did last night."
Bruce gave Amy a look like she was crazy, and David said, "Now, this sounds juicy."
"Nothing happened, and if you were smart, you'd leave," Bruce told David. "Now."
"You know what, Mr. Van Exel? If you were smart, you'd stop seeing your boss. Unless, that is, you want to get fired." He smiled slightly.
"You wouldn't have the nerve," Amy said, shocked.
"What do you want from us?" Bruce asked calmly.
"Bruce! What are you doing?" Amy asked, hurt.
"Trying to keep my job. Or would you prefer to be unemployed?"
"Nobody needs to know, Bruce," she told him, putting her hand against his chest. "As long as we don't show it here…"
"Do you really want that kind of a relationship?" he asked softly. "I don't want to worry about looking over my shoulder every 5 seconds."
"What are you trying to say, Bruce?" Amy asked, getting upset. "Are you saying that this isn't going to work?"
"I want it to, but I don't see how unless…" he trailed off.
"Unless what?" Amy asked desperately.
"Unless I stop working for you," he responded.
She ran her hand down his chest. "I – I don't know if I could handle that again." She looked on the verge of tears, so Bruce turned to David.
"Could you please leave?" he asked impatiently.
David silently got up and left, glaring at Bruce as he went. Bruce turned back to Amy. "We have to think of something, or we'll both lose our jobs."
Amy regained her composure and nodded her head, walking toward her desk. "You're right. But how would we go about it without it looking like something completely ostentatious?"
Bruce didn't answer right away, so Amy looked up to see him stifling a laugh. "Now what?"
"I'm sorry," he apologized, outright laughing now. "I just thought how only a judge would use the word ostentatious." He continued to laugh as Amy glared at him.
"It's not funny," she said as she walked past him.
"I said I was sorry!" he called after her as they made their way to the courtroom for the first case of the day.
