A/N: Thanks as always for continuing to read, review and follow! I appreciate it. I want to take just a moment to thank you for your kind words regarding the loss of my friend. It's been a tough week with that and family drama in my own family. This is a shorter chapter given everything that's happened this week. I hope everyone's okay with that. It was just hard to find my groove. I think it's coming back to me though. Hope you enjoy this update!
/
"I think you're being very smart …"
"Something you've told me repeatedly. Although, you usually say brilliant." Mirth shone brightly in hazel eyes.
Bianca rolled her eyes at her wife. "Would you let me finish?"
Marissa grinned. "Sorry. Please continue."
"You're impossible sometimes." Bianca chuckled as she joined her wife in bed. "Anyway, what I was saying is that I think you're being very smart for not representing Doug. If we can stay out of it, I think it's probably best for everyone concerned."
"My thoughts exactly. I especially don't want the kids put in the middle, and if I represented him, I know that's what would happen."
"Definitely because you know she would twist things around and push the blame on you, say you brainwashed him to file for divorce. Hearing about her sister explains a lot about Tammy though."
"Yes, it does, but it doesn't excuse anything though. She's still a raging bitch."
"No, it doesn't, and yes, she is." Not even Bianca, who was probably the most forgiving person around, was going to easily forgive Tammy, not this time and not after everything she had said and done to her family. No, the woman was out of second, third or fourth chances. Tammy had exhausted all of them and was not going to get anymore. "Any thoughts as to who you'll recommend to him?"
"If he calls, I'm thinking either Claudia or Sophia. As far as I know, neither has any kind of connection to either Tammy or Doug. That will help considerably. Plus, both are strong litigators and won't be intimidated by anything Tammy or whoever may represent her may throw their way."
"And they're not afraid to tell you to back off if you were to ever try to become involved, not that you would because I know you really want to stay out of this."
"Damn skippy I do. We do not need the drama."
"So, Greenlee seemed intrigued by Meyers."
"Yeah, she did. Of course, she's not the one putting all these extra hours in. Oh, that reminds me. Thursday is going to be a really long day. We'll be in an all-day meeting with Meyers and his people, and Bryce wants us to wine and dine them afterwards. So, it will just be you and the kids."
"There's more, isn't there?"
"I'm afraid so. If everything goes well, I have a feeling there's going to be more of that. I'm sorry. I'll try and limit my time away as much as I can. I promise."
Bianca sighed. As much as she wanted to complain, she knew she really couldn't. Marissa was more than understanding when their roles were reversed and Bianca had to spend long hours away from home, sometimes even going out of town. Plus, the brunette knew Marissa meant what she said. "I understand. It will be hard, but we'll figure it out. Don't worry about us. You go be your brilliant self."
"I'm brilliant again, huh?" Marissa gave her wife a cheeky grin.
"You have your moments."
Marissa moved quickly and straddled Bianca's lap. "Only moments? Looks like I need to up my game."
"Who am I to argue with that, Counselor?" Bianca managed to get the quip out before Marissa captured her lips. The brunette moaned as the kiss grew heated, and soon, the couple had no further need for words.
/
Bianca glanced over at her wife as she sipped her coffee. "You okay?"
Marissa snapped her head up. "Huh? Oh yeah, I am. I'm just thinking about today. Are you sure okay taking Danny into work with you?"
"Are you kidding? Of course I am. Jan, Aya and the rest of the staff there can't wait to see him again, and they really can't wait to do their very best to spoil him." Since Marissa would be in her meeting with the other partners and Brady Meyers all day followed by dinner out with him and didn't know exactly when it would be over, the couple decided that it didn't make any sense for her to take Danny to daycare. Not only would they not want him to be out that late, the daycare itself would be closed by the time Marissa left the office meaning Bianca would have to pick up their son on her way home from work. Instead, Bianca was going to take Danny with her to the Miranda Center. When everyone there heard the little boy was spending the day there, they were beyond thrilled, and couldn't wait to dote on him.
"I have no doubt they'll do a good of that. Now, you're not going to try and carry everything in yourself, are you?"
"No, I'm not. Aya made me promise to let them help. We've got a spot for his pack-n-play all laid out along with his play mat. Jan made sure the cleaning crew came in last night, and I've been assured that my office will be spotless. It will also be baby-proofed more than it needs to be considering Danny's not even crawling yet."
Marissa chuckled. "Leave it to the two of them to take care of everything."
"Yep. Kendall mentioned that she might stop by."
"What about her partner in crime?"
Bianca laughed. "I'm sure Greenlee will be with her. It actually should be a pretty light day for me. I don't have any meetings thanks to Jan. She shifted things around for me."
"Tell her and Aya I really appreciate them looking out for you and Danny."
"I will."
"Okay, the diaper bag is fully stocked. It was getting a little low on diapers." Marissa glanced at the clock. "I need to go." The redhead kissed each of the kids before gathering her things.
Bianca walked her wife to the door and handed her a travel mug filled with coffee. The extra caffeine would be needed that day. "Good luck. You don't need it though because you are a brilliant, kickass lawyer. All of you have worked really hard on this. I know you'll all do great. Don't worry. You've got this."
Marissa leaned in for a loving kiss. "Thank you. I'll call or text when I can. I love you."
"I love you too. Go get 'em."
/
"Good morning, Bruce. How are you today?"
The security guard at the front gate smiled brightly. "Morning, Bianca. I can't complain. You?"
"Not bad. How is Lucy?"
Bruce smiled even more. His wife was one of his favorite subjects. He appreciated the fact that Bianca always took the time to ask about her. "She's doing pretty good. A little anxious, but I guess that's normal, at least that's what I hear."
"Don't worry. It is. I have a special visitor today that I forgot to add to the list. I hope that's okay."
The security guard frowned. That was definitely out of the ordinary. Events from the not so distant past had called for an increase in security, and rightfully so in Bruce's opinion. It wasn't like Bianca to flout those rules. He then saw Bianca's smile as she nodded her head towards the backseat of her car. Bruce ducked down to get a better look, and a huge grin spread across the brawny guard's face. "Hey, it's the little guy!"
Danny's eyes widened at first seeing the mountain of a man, but that quickly turned into a big smile.
Bianca chuckled as her son charmed the guard.
"Well, I think we can let this visitor slide by. To what do we owe the honor of his presence?"
"Marissa has an all-day meeting, and it just made sense for Danny to come with me today."
"Definitely our gain. He's getting big. He'll be bigger than me before you know it." Bruce winked.
Bianca laughed. "You've met my wife, right?"
Bruce knew Marissa very well. "Feisty redhead?"
"That's her. I really don't see him getting anywhere close to your size."
"Yeah, she is a little on the short side."
"You're what, 6 foot 9? I think most people are next to you." Bianca smirked.
"Fair enough. She may be small, but I wouldn't want to be on her bad side." Bruce laughed. The guard was a gentle giant normally, but when he was called into action, he was a force to be reckoned with. "Okay if I stop by later on my break to see him?"
Bianca smiled. Bruce and his wife were expecting their first child in a little over two months so he had been asking Bianca a number of baby questions. He was nervous, but the brunette had no doubt that he was going to be a great dad. "Of course. If you're lucky, maybe I'll even let you change his diaper." Bianca couldn't help but laugh at his panicked expression.
"Um … um …"
"I'm kidding, Bruce."
The guard let out a sigh of relief. "Don't do that to me, Bianca. I know I have to learn to do it, but I've still got a little time. Do you need any help taking anything in?"
"Thanks, but I'm good. Jan and Aya are on standby and just waiting for me."
"Good. Go on in. I'll see you and the little guy later."
/
Jan was the first one out of the building with Aya right on her heels as Bianca pulled into her parking spot.
"Morning, Bianca! Morning, Danny!"
The tiny redhead giggled and waved his arms.
While Bianca removed Danny from his car seat, Jan and Aya grabbed the items needed for Danny's visit for her and carried them inside. Once in her office, Bianca handed her son over to an excited Jan.
"Are you sure you don't want me to do that for you?" Jan asked as Bianca began to set up the pack-n-play.
"I'm sure. I got this. I've had plenty of practice." Bianca glanced over and saw an anxious Aya standing next to Jan and shook her head clearly amused by the pair. "You can hold him soon, Aya. I promise."
Aya smiled sheepishly. "Thanks. Is it bad that I'm kind of glad Marissa's busy all day, and we get to watch Danny?"
Bianca laughed. "I guess not. I suppose I need to bring Danny in here more often, huh?"
Jan and Aya glanced at each other and smiled.
"Aya and I won't object to that."
/
The partners of Thompson, Stevens, Montgomery, Cortlandt, and Tasker were assembled in the firm's large conference room reviewing their presentation one final time as they awaited the arrival of Brady Meyers. While they were doing that, Ellie and Alana, Geoff's secretary, were arranging refreshments for the morning. Patricia, Bryce's secretary, situated herself near where her boss would be sitting. She would be responsible for taking the meeting minutes. Bryce received a call from the receptionist to let him know that Meyers and his team had arrived.
"They're here. Are we ready?"
"As ready as we'll ever be. Go get him, Bryce." Jack assured the man.
"Marissa, is there anything else you need?" Ellie asked.
"I think we're good right now. Thank you both."
"You're welcome. We'll be back at lunchtime then." Alana said as she and Ellie left.
A few minutes later Bryce led Brady Meyers and his team into the conference room, and the introductions began.
Bryce and the group finally made their way over to where Marissa was. "Brady Meyers, this is Marissa Tasker. Marissa heads up our Family Law department. Marissa, this is Brady Meyers. I'm going to leave you in her very capable hands while I speak to Geoff for a moment, Brady."
Marissa held out her hand. "Mr. Meyers, it is a pleasure to finally meet you."
Meyers took the proffered hand and smiled his trademark killer smile. The man was a little surprised by the firmness of the handshake but adjusted quickly enough. He supposed it made sense given what she did. When doing business with others, he found a firm handshake was a sign of confidence, and that was always a good thing. For her to be a partner at her age, she had to be confident. The man had to admit that he was not expecting someone as attractive as Marissa to be a partner. Brady couldn't help but think this was going to be a very enjoyable visit now. When his COO, Charles Miller, told him about visiting the small town of Pine Valley, the tech giant was anything but thrilled. What could there possibly be in the small town that he might find interesting? Now, he knew the answer to that question, and it had come in the form of the redhead in front of him.
"Please, call me Brady. Mr. Meyers is my father. And the pleasure is all mine, Ms. Tasker."
"Only if you'll call me Marissa." The redhead studied the man. She could see the intelligence behind the piercing blue eyes. He was about ten years older than her, had wavy brown hair, a chiseled jaw with just the right amount of facial hair which was neatly groomed, and very fit. Overall, Meyers was very attractive and deserving of his place on the many lists of most attractive people, and Marissa could tell from the way he was smiling at her that he knew it. She really didn't like that last part. It bothered her a little bit. She would keep that to herself though.
"Family law? So, you handle a lot of divorces. I hope that hasn't made you a cynic when it comes to matters of the heart."
"Divorce is just one aspect of family law that we handle. As for making me a cynic, the answer would be 'no'. My wife sees to and takes care of my heart extremely well."
The man raised an eyebrow. This was definitely going to be interesting. "Well, that's good to know."
A man with graying hair took the opportunity to inject himself into the conversation. "Hello, I'm Charles Miller, Chief Operating Officer of Meyers Tech and the one responsible for keeping Brady in line."
"Chuck's right. It's part of his unofficial job description, and I do my best to keep him on his toes and make sure that he earns that salary."
The man sighed. "Yes, he does, and please, call me Charles."
Marissa smiled warmly. "It's nice to meet you, Charles, and please, call me Marissa."
Bryce called to everyone. "If you could all please take your seats, we'll get started."
As Marissa began to take her seat, Brady hurried over to hold it out for her.
"Thank you." Marissa murmured politely.
"You are more than welcome. Just showing the manners my mom taught me." Brady smiled, making sure his dimples were showing this time for the fullest effect.
Charles shook his head and whispered to Brady as they took their seats. "Don't."
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Chuck." Brady grinned as he positioned himself across from Marissa and ignored the other man's warning glare. As he listened to the presentation, blue eyes discretely drifted over to the redhead. Brady was definitely going to have to do some research on a certain lawyer the first chance he got.