*I've been watching too much rom-coms lately and I can't help but derive one scene from a local movie because it was too delightful. It's just one bit though and that's it, so roll with me :D
- Santana's POV –
It's Friday morning. I'm going over a few documents that could support our defense for the charity foundation case in my office and mostly trying to get my mind off of Brittany's speech this morning when I hear someone knocking on my glass door. I look up to see Quinn from the other side, staring at me with a raised eyebrow and carrying what seems to be our usual coffee and bagel breakfast.
"No." I mouth towards her exaggeratedly in which she replies with a big pout while holding up the paper bag in her hand. I chuckle subtly and go back to working but this time, Quinn speaks up.
"I fucking swear, S. I will sing 'Do you wanna build a snowman' if you don't let me in!"
I stare at her for a while but when I see her getting ready to sing or whatever, I sigh and put down my pen just as I gesture her to go in. "That better have a generous amount of cream cheese or you're out the door again!"
Quinn excitedly enters my door and places my bagel and coffee on the table. "Honey, I don't slack around with pleasing you and your palate when you're not in the mood."
"I bet Rachel knows all about that, doesn't she?" I jest while grinning devilishly.
"Ugh. You're intolerable, S."
"You're intolerable." I tease, taking a hefty sip of the coffee in front of me.
Quinn rolls her eyes and we settle in a comfortable silence for a few seconds, munching on our breakfast until she speaks again. "As if my tribute to the Devil, aka you," She fake grins at me. "isn't obvious, this breakfast is my way of making it up for being a bitch this past week. I guess a big part of me still wants you to be with Brittany. Hence the cause for my acts."
"Breakfast isn't going to cut it, Q. I'm going to need something more."
"How about breakfast for two weeks?" She grins again and I shake my head, making her know that it isn't enough. "Hmm… How about I take those two pro bono cases off of your hands while I'm at it?" She adds with a defeated tone.
"That can do, I guess." I nod amusingly before raising an eyebrow. "Anyway, continue with your thoughts. And?"
"And for meddling too much into your affairs. It wasn't my place at all."
I smirk and take a sip of my coffee. "What's the magic word, Fabby?"
She purses her lips and sighs. "I'm sorry." She says with a hard tone, almost forceful which amuses me to say the least.
"Good. Because you really were a bitch." I purse my lips. "Which is why I need you to promise not to meddle, manipulate, and get yourself involved in my personal affairs and romantic life again. Not even the slightest mention of a manipulating comment. Just stay away from my personal life and keep your distance then I'll forgive you."
She stares at me for a few seconds as if to digest my words then leans against her seat. "Fine. But you never said-"
"And no conspiracy, you manipulative psycho." I give her a look and this time she grits her teeth, seemingly giving up her hidden intentions.
"Argh. Fine! But you have to stop calling me 'Fabby'. Plus, whatever natural occurrence is out of my hands, okay? The fates decide for you."
"Come on, Q. Don't make it seem as one of those 'accidental' things again like the time you said the opposing counsel 'just happened' to show up at your door and agreed to the settlement you wanted. It turns out though that you bribed the doorman of his building to mess up the elevator so he actually had to take the stairs up to his apartment on the 25th floor every single day." I ramble and laugh at the memory of that case.
"It was just for two weeks. He was going to live and have a healthy lifestyle out of it anyway."
"The man was 300 pounds, Q. That was plain evil!"
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. He was a jerk to me and that was the best deal he was ever going to get from me." We both chuckle this time. "And fine. I swear not to meddle anymore."
"Thank you." I utter sarcastically which she returns with an eye roll. I turn my seat to the side and grab a Marc Jacobs shopping bag I've been keeping there since this morning then place it on the table just in front of her, flashing a smile in the process as I relax against my seat.
Her eyes widen just as she quickly digs in. "Oh my god! Is this the new-"
"Yep. That handbag you can't shut up about for the past week. I know it's sold out everywhere but I gots my ways, baby." I smirk widely and gesture to myself smugly.
"Uh-huh. Is this for shouting at me?" Quinn replies with a raised eyebrow and I just nod sincerely which she returns with a soft smile. "Thank you, S."
"You're welcome, Fabby." I grin devilishly.
"Shut up." She retorts in a fake annoyed tone before she goes on to tell me about their dinner and karaoke night in full detail.
For a lawyer, I hate arguing. Of course I love smashing other lawyers' egos into pieces but I hate arguing with someone I'm involved with. I fucking hate the drama of it all.
So, when George and I argued about me not telling her the 'Britt-and-I-used-to-be-engaged-thing', I fucking hated it. I know it's my fault and I've got no one to blame. I don't even know why I kept it from her. Maybe a little part of me thought that it wouldn't matter enough since it's not going to last anyway. Gosh, what is wrong with me?! Ugh. This is more stressful than what I do for a living.
I guess what's making me think like this is Brittany drunkenly knocking on my door last night and goes on this rant before fainting. Sure, Rachel and Quinn helped me get her inside since she really was knocked out. I even told them to let her stay in the master's bedroom while I stay in the guest bedroom. I barely got any sleep knowing that Brittany's in my bed sleeping for the first time in three years, something I never thought would happen again. And to get her off my mind, I made breakfast this morning and offered my goddamn apartment for her to get ready then a ride to work as well. Shit. Maybe I should have just made her move in again with how freaking hospitable I was. Quinn even gave us a look when we arrived at the firm together. Thankfully, she let it go.
Fast forward a few hours and moving past the craziness, Brittany and I find ourselves in the conference room with Emma Pilsbury sitting between us and from across the table is Del Monico Accounting's CEO and President, Terri Del Monico and her lawyer, David Karofsky.
"I'm sorry, what am I doing here again?" Terri utters with a bored tone partnered with an eye roll.
"They're accusing Del Monico Accounting for embezzling money from the Helping Hands foundation." Karofsky reads from a paper with the same bored tone. "This is really a waste of our time. You don't even have a legitimate claim."
I smile menacingly just as Kitty enters the conference room with a few binders in hand. "Funny you should say that." I say and let our intern place the binders on the table.
They stare at it for a moment before David grabs a few of the documents. "What's that exactly?" Terri speaks up with a crease in her forehead.
"It's a balance sheet the firm made for the foundation, something that doesn't prove anything." He replies just as Kitty dumps a few more folders for him to see.
"You're right but then we decided to dig deeper." I quip.
"We looked into all the books your accounting firm did for the past two years and saw an anomaly. A sudden surge of number in your accounts and a growing loss in the foundation. Care to explain that?" Brittany utters.
"We're an accounting firm and Emma's foundation isn't our only client. Of course we make money by representing them and throughout the years we've developed a good reputation which in turn, caused us to have an increase in business." Terri reasons out with a bored tone.
"Yes, but then the folders in your hand show that 40% of those companies have now gone under or went into a merger with other corporations, making your supposed business with those companies nonexistent. Interesting since it's something you failed to declare on any document." I chime in.
"Where did you find these? This is unauthorized!" Terri angrily exclaims.
"Actually, no. Those are from the foundation's copy of everything you did for them and the others, my intern researched about. Nothing big." I shrug in response.
"These documents are out of date, Lopez. We've already divested those companies off of our radar-" Karosfky interjects.
"Into these." Kitty comments, slowly handing out three more documents.
"And digging further into these documents, we found that there's an irregularity of the foundation's money missing without any explanation on your watch since of course, Del Monico handles the books for our client." Brittany voices out.
"Highly negligent, if you ask me. I mean, if you've developed such a 'good reputation', how do you explain suddenly losing millions of dollars for a client? How do you explain the missing money? Where did it go, into your pocket?" I speak up with a smirk.
Terri grits her teeth and shares a look with her lawyer. "You have nothing to prove that allegation."
"Not yet. This is just a tip of the iceberg." Brittany remarks. "But we'll get the truth out of you during the deposition next week."
"Meanwhile, here's a subpoena asking for all the documents and records you've ever had in your company. Everything." I slide over a piece of paper. "You've got nothing to hide, right? Well, let's see about that." I grin and share a triumphant look with Brittany.
- Brittany's POV –
It's been a week since I confessed how I really feel about Santana and how things are between us right now.
So far, things between us have been lukewarm and friendly. Something seemingly switched inside of her after that breakfast and she's been quite present lately. Honestly, I'm liking how we're reverting back to the innocent way of interacting and joking with each other though Santana still acts a little awkward around me whenever we get a little too close for comfort.
I've noticed a few things about her this past week with how close we've been working together. I found out that Santana's like a God here in the firm. She can go in and out of the office whenever she wants and no one even bats an eye if she's suddenly gone for three hours because lo and behold, she always comes back with literally finished business like it's nothing. It's amazing, actually.
Another thing is that everyone's afraid of her. Like legit. Even some of the Partners are intimidated by her. All the associates and interns in the room go silent and pretend to be busy whenever she's in the same room. They'd be all smiles for a few seconds then the next, it's as if they're about to have a heart attack. Whenever Santana's around and I swear on my life, everyone's face except Kitty's go pale as if the color was sucked out of them.
Oh, I've noticed a few new quirks too, you know. Like the fact that Santana uses eyeglasses now.
The two of us were discussing something about pursuing a pre-trial with the Gilbert case in the conference room when out of the blue, she pulls out eyeglasses. I practically stared at her for a good minute with wide eyes, trying to see if what I'm seeing is true.
"What is it?" Santana's voice gets me off my trance and see her looking back at me quizzically. "Is there something on my face?"
"You uhmm… You're wearing glasses." I say matter of factly.
She chuckles and goes back to the document in her hand. "Yeah. I prefer contacts but one time, I fell asleep and forgot to put them out. I looked like a freaking pink eye hub of bacteria the morning after."
"Since when did you get glasses?"
"Earlier this year, I think. I seldom wear them though."
I nod slowly and go back to writing on my notepad when stupid me, slips up like a fool. "You look cute." Dammit. Our eyes meet for a quick second before I immediately look down and pretend to be finding something on the table. "I-I mean, you look cute when you wear- Like the frame's color is, uhmm…" I bite my lip and stop from embarrassing myself any further.
Thankfully, she doesn't say anything else and decides to let it go. When I glance up in a flash just to catch any expression, I see her smirking while reading the document like she just won something. Ugh.
Another embarrassing instance is this thing with the fax machine in our floor's file room with Santana.
I'm singing my heart out to Adele while making copies of this case I found to support our claim in a pro bono case and reading a few pages of it when Santana comes in the room, a welcome addition to my solitude.
"Hey, Britt. What's that?" She speaks up softly while making her way towards me.
"Just my files for the pro bono. Anything I can help you with, madam?"
"Madam? Let's see, I was supposed to ask Kitty but Quinn stole her away so yeah, I guess." She seems to hold back for a second before speaking. "Can you help me with the fax machine? I kind of need to send these asap." She adds with a pout and holds out the few papers in her hand.
I look at her curiously. "Wait. You've never used a fax machine?"
"Uhmm... Nope."
My eyebrows raise in surprise and amusement at the same time but nevertheless, I nod and gesture for her to take the reins of the machine. "Okay, it's simple and easy. Just load the paper face down on the feeder," I motion towards the spot and watch her hesitantly do as I say. "then on the numeric keypad, just dial the number of the machine you're sending it to as if you're calling a normal office phone. Repeat until you're finished." I add with a smile.
Santana nods furiously and goes to town with the machine like a miracle just happened with how big her grin is. Good lord, that smile. I'm probably staring a little too much but whatever, she's stunning so how could I not? I let her take her time in handling the fax while I admittedly take my sweet, sweet time checking out how fit she is. Oh wow, she's probably even fitter now than she was before.
"That was awesome. Thanks, Britt. Hope I wasn't a bother." Santana pronounces and I'm taken off my wildly inappropriate thoughts. She moves to the side after using the fax and motions for me to continue with my work.
"No p-problem, glad to help." I say and grin a little too much, for far too long that it's probably coming off as scary now. Oh God! In a moment of panic and the hope of removing the awkwardness in the room, I grab a random binder from the pile I brought in to save face and appear busy then stare at it while avoiding eye contact with her. "I-I... A-Anyway, I'll just finish this and be on my way out for a coffee run or something with you guys. Catch you l-later." I add and even foolishly wave my hand in disregard which if I'm not mistaken, came out like I was rudely waving her away.
Stupid.
Now, I don't exactly see her reaction but I hear her chuckle, so I guess that's enough. However, she stops just by the doorway and I glance up to see her looking back at me with an unmistakable glint in her eye.
"I don't know how to say this but u-uh... your binder's upside down." She remarks with a hint of amusement. I blink a few times and check the binder, it really is upside down! Before I can react though, she flashes me a smirk then she's out the door completely in an instant.
Double stupid.
"Ugh!" I groan out in frustration after a minute. I put down the binder then place my hands on top of the other on the machine while resting my head on it, banging my head softly and repeatedly against my hands. "So stupid!" I murmur to myself in annoyance.
As if that wasn't enough, I look up briefly to see Kitty by the door, staring curiously at me and probably with tons of questions in her mind with the image of being caught in a position like this.
"Err... I'll just come back." She utters with a nonchalant tone then turns around. "What is wrong with these people?" She whispers dismissively. Oh gosh, I'd honestly laugh if it weren't a legitimate question.
Don't be mistaken. I still have my mojo and my only slip up was with that eyeglasses and upside down thing. Hey, it's been a few years, I just needed to stretch it out a little a bit. But anyway, aside from those instances, we're getting back into the flow of stuff with the friends thing. Jokes, conversations that don't involve the weather and work or working weather, and then there's also the best part of it all: the teasing. I've missed doing it, actually. I was a little hesitant at first but since we're friends and that's what 'friends' do, why not? Honestly, teasing her every now and then is something I can't shake off since it's practically too glorious.
I think the first instance of that was a few nights ago when I was preparing at Rachel and Quinn's apartment for this little party thrown by Maribel's client in Atlantic City.
I was supposed to go home and get ready there but my meeting with a client ran a bit late which in turn, would make me even more late if I went home. Thankfully, Quinn offered their apartment for me to freshen up and Grams sent over the dress I picked out this morning.
So, here I am, almost finished with putting my make up in their guest bedroom when I hear knocking on the front door. At first, I thought that it was just Quinn or Rachel who forgot their key or something but when I answer the door, I see Santana, in a stunning black dress, looking at me with surprise or rather, checking me out up and down. Oh, maybe it's the bathrobe I'm wearing that's a little too small for my liking, it's practically a dress with how it's barely covering my legs.
"U-Uh…" She trails off, torn between leering and looking away.
A small smirk creeps on my face. "Are you looking for them? I'm the only one here."
"Y-Yeah, I-I know. I was j-just uhmm…" She sighs deeply then clears her throat before looking back at me in the eyes again. "The limo will be here in a few minutes to take us there so i-if you're ready…"
"Oh, where's Quinn?"
"In the office. We're picking her and Kitty up on the way to the party."
I nod and we fall into this awkward staring thing again for a few seconds. "Y-Yeah, I just need to get dressed and I'm good to go."
"Cool." She utters coolly then gets caught in a trance again upon ogling me. "U-Uh… Can I come?" She mumbles almost incoherently.
I grin devilishly and lean against the door. "Sure. I haven't done anything yet though."
Upon realizing what she just said, the blood comes rushing to her face like crazy. "O-Oh my gosh, no! N-Not like that! I just want to go i-inside."
My head tilts to the side and find myself holding back a chuckle. Gosh, this is too easy. "Alright. Just let me get worked up for a bit and you can."
If she wasn't baffled before, she's totally way past that stage now to the point of becoming a human tomato. She's not even looking at me anymore. "Look, I-I'll just wait out here and wait for you to finish."
I purse my lips and literally try my hardest not to laugh in her pleading vermillion face. So, instead of giving her a shame induced heart attack, I just smirk and open the door wide for her to enter. I shut the door and slowly make my way towards the guest bedroom again, looking back at her one last time to catch her staring at me.
"It'll just be for a while. Though we both know it's proven to be much faster when I get a little help from you." I tease with a wink and basically hit it home when she gulps down a big lump in her throat that seemingly went down the wrong pipe when I hear her coughing a few seconds after.
Ah. This 'trying to be friends' thing is fun.
- Santana's POV -
Observation Bias. I think that's what's happening here.
Ever since Brittany gave me that mini-speech during breakfast a week ago, all I've been seeing and noticing for this past week is her and every single thing about her. It fucking sucks. George and I haven't talked about our fight and everything's a little cold between us right now. I was supposed to have some grown up talk with her but our schedules don't seem to match up. Either I'm working or she is and now, she's in Seattle for this medical convention thing. I honestly haven't seen her since she left a few days ago. And yes, it was my fault when I didn't tell Grams and the others at dinner that George didn't know about my past engagement. I should've filled them in even for a tiny bit.
Anyway, back to Brittany. There's something about her these past few days. We're being drawn to each other like gravity. Or maybe it's the thought that she indirectly told me she still has feelings for me, something I thought was gone already. Dammit, it's been fucking hard. Like just this Monday for example, I was on my way back to my office after meeting a client in Brooklyn when I saw her feet through the glass wall of her office.
Admittedly, I slowed down just as my peripheral vision aligns with her open door. I glance a little bit to the right to see her busy going through a bunch of documents on her table, completely unaware of me passing by. I raise an eyebrow for the particular reason of being ignored since I know I look freaking hot. I find myself stopping just outside my office, peeking or more like taking the slowest steps I can into my office and leering as far as I can to catch a glimpse of Brittany opening up the top of her buttoned down blouse to massage her collarbone while looking like she got confused of somethi-
BAM!
I fucking bump into the glass wall of my office, face first or to aptly place it, nose first.
"Ow, fuck!" I exclaim, nursing what hopefully isn't a broken and bleeding nose. I blindly hold on to the wall that just attacked me and contemplating on asking for help just in case I die from fucking stupidity of not looking where I'm going.
"What are you doing?" An emotionless voice echoes. I slowly turn around and see Kitty, looking back at me like freaking Esther from Orphan.
"W-What? Nothing." I stutter, shaking my head and the dizziness away. Kitty and I hold off on staring at each other for a second or two just as she throws a quick look towards Brittany's way. Shit, freaking intern must have seen what I was doing before I bumped into my office.
Before I get to say anything, Kitty sighs and glances at her watch then back at me. "I don't get paid enough for this shit." She utters before walking away while all I'm left to do is stare at her wondering what the hell just happened.
When she's finally out the glass door, my gaze turns a little to the side to see Brittany looking back at me curiously. My eyes widen for a bit and a hundred thoughts enter my mind which are all erased when she smiles sweetly at me and goes back to working as if nothing happened.
Shit. And my nose still hurts a bit, thank you very much.
There have been quite a few interesting things that happened this past week too. Like tons of embarrassing moments and new quirks we've noticed about each other.
Sure, some things are still the same. Like her insatiable appetite for sweets, food in general, and well, penchant for cats. The latter I've yet to see again since Lord Tubbington is according to her, a high roller, flying all over the world with Brittany's parents and Grams' dog wherever they go in a private jet. He and his pal, Fifi the female Shih Tzu, are practically pet royalty. I think I've seen them both somewhere in a business magazine cover with Grams in it.
So, like I said, there are a few new things I've noticed about Brittany. Like the fact that she's now embracing the whole heiress to a billion-dollar fortune thing and there's no longer that aloofness about being rich like when we were in law school. I mean, those hand me down clothes she was so fond of wearing in Harvard before still exists but when she exchanges them with a designer dress and nice pumps? Oh, wow. She does a 180 from the simplest and humblest person in the room into a bigtime professional who's all about business. There's just this air around her nowadays that I can't place. I guess we grew up a little bit in those few years.
There's also that time Brittany impressed the hell out of us when she signed a client Quinn and I were never able to. It was during lunchtime.
Quinn walked into my office, waiting for me to finish setting aside my things while going on about how it's my turn to choose where to eat lunch and something equally irrelevant.
"I don't know, Q. I'll have to think about it. I'm still a bit busy with stuff... Far interesting stuff."
"Wow, you are just the most wonderful best friend ever." Quinn replies sarcastically.
"I've been called that lots of times over the years." I chuckle and grab my wallet as I motion for us to leave my office. "I don't think it's going to make a difference. Your wife will do well with or without me."
"Funny Girl has been her dream since she can remember, S. She's expecting you on her preview night and everyone's flying out as well. Come on, it's going to be fantastic!"
"Yeah, yeah. I'll be there." I retort with a fake annoyed tone. "By the way, where's Britt and Kitty? Are they joining us?"
"I think so. Britt said something about meeting with a potential first client."
"A client? Who?" I say just in time for us to see Brittany and Kitty coming out of the conference room with a familiar woman. Particularly, a client with a multi-million dollar company Quinn and I have never been able to sign in the past since we'd never been able to jive with how the woman's particular fondness over her animal plush toys business. The bitch has this notorious reputation of being difficult and general resistance for signing with a lawyer who's not as old as the freaking Pope himself. We tried pursuing, we really did but I guess she doesn't like us. However, seeing how wide the bitch's grin is followed by a firm handshake with Brittany, things are a little out of place.
Quinn and I share a look, stopping in our tracks in the middle of the hallway and wait for them to finish talking with Kitty leading the woman away soon after while Brittany watches them go before turning her attention to us.
"Oh, hi guys. Just in time for lunch?" She mutters nonchalantly then glances at her watch.
"U-Uhmm… Yep." I nod slowly and squint my eyes at her. "Was that-"
"Yeah." She replies simply, smiling in the process.
"H-How-"
"We hit it off, actually. Turns out she and I have the same fondness for ducks and dinosaurs, kind of how she was inspired to make those plush toys. Poor woman, she's too misunderstood. Anyway, she just signed with me a few minutes ago." She answers with a big grin. "Oh, Kitty said she'll wait by the elevators. Just let me get my purse and we can go to lunch. It's on me." She adds happily before walking away, leaving Quinn and I a bit speechless.
Now, I understand why Mami was so adamant in hiring Brittany again.
The three of us operate in very different ways. Admittedly, that's how we manage to work well together, with filling in each other's shortcomings and also stepping back when we know the other can do better at it. Quinn and I have quite large egos and to be honest, we sometimes forget to take a step back since we always just go barging in. It's like this, I go for the win by apathetically crushing them to the ground and making sure they won't recover then Quinn enters the scene by subtly manipulating them into the route she wants it to go and making sure that it's in our favor. It's always been like that between us for the longest time and that's how we roll, I'm the 'bad cop' and Quinn's the manipulator.
But then, in comes Brittany who suddenly balanced the whole dynamic. She's the one who actually cares on a personal level about our oppressed clients, especially the pro bono cases. She's the compassionate and fair one. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that she's a lawyer with her almost non-existent ego complex. For the same reason, she closes out our whole process by being basically the natural 'good cop' to my 'bad cop' and making sure that everyone's fairly benefited. We've yet to actually put the whole new dynamic into play in a real deposition but it's quite obvious whenever we discuss case-related stuff.
"Did she just sign-" Quinn mutters under her breath and I only nod in disbelief. "Wow." We say in unison after a few seconds and with complete amazement.
One thing that has made a comeback though is the teasing. The goddamn fucking teasing that always makes me go on a loop! I don't even remember how it started again, to be honest. Sure, it makes me go crazy but I don't find anything wrong with it. That's what we always used to do back before we even got together so I guess, teasing will always be constant in our friendship. Or in our attempt to make things normal at that. And so the teasing is back.
An example and one of the first few instances is that time she was in her office past office hours and I found her fast asleep.
It's almost 7pm and I'm just on my way home when I see her still in her office. The thought of ignoring her arose but come on, it's Friday and if she's going to sleep here all night, she might not be found alive until after Monday morning. Oh gosh. Okay, that's overreacting but whatever, it's legit shit.
So, I went against my initial decision and decide to wake her up, maybe give her a ride if she needs it. I walk the few steps towards her and for some reason, find myself staring at how beautiful and calm-looking she is with a stray hair resting across her face. I must have stared a little too much, I guess. Because as careful as I was in removing that stray hair for questionable reasons I will not disclose, she jolts awake. Thankfully, I'm a pro in maintaining my cool because shit, I can't be caught leering like a fucking creep.
"Hi, San. Do you need anything? I wasn't asleep for long, right? I was aiming for a 10-minute nap." She sleepily says with a smile and stretches out a few of her limbs.
"U-Uh… No, not really." I clear my throat and settle myself across from her table. "I-I was uhmm… I'm heading out and just wanted to know if you needed a ride or something."
"Oh, thank you. But Rachel's picking me up in half an hour for dinner, actually. How about you? Any plans for tonight?"
"Well, there's that Housewives reunion episode tonight so that's exciting as it gets."
"I see. D-Do you maybe, wanna join us? We compromised on this pescatarian place so it's a win-win."
I actually think about it for a moment but being around her most of the day and sometimes nay, most of the time, I think that we can draw the line in having dinner. A little space ought to do it.
"Nah, I'm neighbors with the Hobbit and believe it or not, she's over at my apartment more than she should be. So, nope. I'll just force Quinn to have a beer or two with me tonight and I'll be great." I ramble on. Not that she needs to know that but. Whatever.
She chuckles and we're left with a few seconds of staring at each other before she speaks again. "Okay then. Have a great night."
I nod once and flash her a smile. "Have fun with Berry." I turn my back on her and slowly walk away when she speaks again. "San, please close the door."
Uh.
I freeze and find myself swallowing a big freaking lump in my throat. I turn my head as slowly as possible and see her staring back at me like a hawk. "W-What?"
"I said, close the door."
I can't even explain what came over me but like a bewitched human being, I do as she says and close the door slowly and carefully. I look back at her and this time she grins devilishly just as I'm left with a moral dilemma of either feigning a heart attack or something deadlier to stop this auto-pilot thing of mine from happening.
Then she grins and gives me one of those 'what are you doing?' looks.
"San, I meant that as please close the door on your way out." She voices out simply, holding back a chuckle.
Oh.
I bite my lip and almost give myself a punch in the face for looking too much into that, basically the whole embarrassment of the whole thing. She was completely teasing me right there and I should have known! Dammit. "Of course. I-I just thought you needed the silence and- yeah. That t-thing with the air conditioner and the- uh… Yeah, good night."
She shakes her head in amusement and seemingly goes back to her work while I'm fumbling with her door like an idiot. It's just fucking push or pull!
"Sorry, old habit." She throws in with a smirk. I just nod once in understanding before I turn my back completely and hurriedly get out of her office as fast as I can. Fucking doors.
To say the least, she was just starting, of course. There are have been other embarrassing and awkward instances like that with different degrees of humiliation.
Another instance is when we were briefed by Mami about the daughter of a multi-millionaire who's taking over a shipping line. We're in her office and having this little meeting by her long table in this big-ass office of hers.
"And so, one of you needs to sign the shipping heiress. Other than that, I've nothing to add." Mami ends the brief, relaxing against her seat.
The three of us look at each other and wordlessly decide who among us will do it. Quinn speaks up for us. "I think Brittany should do it."
"Yeah. I agree." I say, closing the document in my hand.
Brittany nods and relaxes against her seat. "Thanks. And I just have to raise this about the Gilbert case. I went through the merger transaction and there were a few things that caught my attention..." She trails off. Instead of listening to her talk about the important details of the case, I find myself staring at her more than I should. Watching how her eyes go intense at something she just said, how her forehead creases, the way her mouth moves and-
"Santana." Kitty, who's sitting beside me on my right, whispers and gets me off of my thoughts.
"W-What? W-Were you saying something?" I reply and blink a little too much in the process.
She motions to the document binder in her hand that supposedly is being handed to me. "O-Oh. What are these?"
"It's Brittany's case briefs for the Gilbert case. I have the sample legal memorandum here that I made, if you want."
"I see." I nod just as my eyes land on Brittany again who's talking to Mami and Quinn about something serious. And wow, the woman really is just simply gorgeous. It's really hard to concentrate sometimes when someone as beautiful as her is sitting right in front of you. It never changed too, you know. This has always been her effect on me since law school. Instead of listening to all her discussions on cases or plain going on about something about her day, I always find myself just staring at her which would result in some pouting and other cute habits to present itself.
Like this.
"Hey, you okay?" Brittany speaks up. Something I only noticed when her mouth moved and she's flashing me this soft smile while tilting her head adorably to the side.
My eyebrows raise in surprise upon getting caught of staring at her. "I-I- U-Uh… I-I'm fantabulous."
"Fantabulous?" Brittany repeats with an amused tone.
I nod furiously at no one in particular just as I notice Mami and Quinn holding back on smiling. "K-Kitty was just telling me something a-about the- uhmm… you k-know. Right, Kitty?"
"What now?" Kitty looks up and replies absent-mindedly.
"Y-Yeah, we were talking about that thingy and-" I give the intern a curious look which she just returns by raising an eyebrow. So, I just clear my throat to try to save face. "Sorry, my bad. Can y-you please hand me the memo you made? Good job, honey. Thank you." I mumble without looking at anyone. It takes a few seconds but when I see nothing being handed to me, I look up to see Kitty visibly shocked at something, like Mami and Quinn.
"What? Did I say something wrong?"
"Are you sick?" Kitty trails off and I shake my head slowly. "You said sorry, please, thank you, and a term of endearment in the same sentence." Kitty replies with an astonished look as if I came from fucking Narnia. I blink a few times and just let it go. Instead, I let her pass me the memo without saying anything else. "The other case briefs are still with Brittany, I'll make a few copies later and hand it to you." She adds, still in disbelief.
I glance at Brittany who's still staring at me and visibly entertained by the turn of events. "It's okay. I'll check you out-" I mutter and immediately regret the slip. "A-Ah… I-I mean, I'll check it out. Y-Yeah. Just give it to me later." I clear my throat dismissively for the nth time and train my eyes at the document in my hand.
I look back at Brittany one last time to see her pursing her lips while hiding a grin just as she goes back to discussing something with Mother and Quinn who are somewhat sporting the same expression.
Ah shit.
Due to all those instances and a bunch more, I decided to try out in avoiding her for a bit because the woman will be the death of me with all the teasing. Like you know, test the fates or something. The latest instance though hit me back big time karmically.
Skinny Vanilla Non-Fat Latte, no sugar, with an additional pump of caramel and espresso.
I have no idea what the fuck that all means but it's Quinn's favorite drink. A cup of which I'm carrying in my left hand together with my own drink in a take-out container while the other holds a bag of freshly baked tortilla chips. It's shit how people order coffee nowadays with all those combinations and the works, they just make the line long and slow anyway. I keep mine simple with just a black coffee or if I'm feeling it, maybe some Caramel for a little sugar. If I can remember though, Brittany's the one big on sugary drinks. There's like ten ingredients in hers, I swear. And George. She- Huh. It just occurred to me that I don't know how she takes her coffee.
It's just a little before 4pm, actually. I walk the few steps to Quinn's office from the elevator and in the nick of time, stumble upon her being busy with preparing documents for a conference in a few minutes. "Hello there, my dear friend." I exclaim happily as I enter her office.
"What do you want? I'm busy." She utters nonchalantly without looking at me.
"Nothing. I just dropped by to give you some liquid luck." I say and place the coffee on her table. She glances at the drink then gives me a curious look. "Your favorite from the coffee shop a few blocks away. Thought I'd drop in to buy you some after having a late lunch with my client."
She contemplates it for a bit but succumbs to the coffee aroma. "Alright then. You have my attention but make it really quick since Kitty told me they're on their way up. What do you want?"
"I told you, nothing. Can't I just give my best friend in the whole wide world coffee?" I say with a grin which is only returned with a bored look as she takes a sip of her coffee. "Fine. I need a favor."
"S, I told you I'm busy-"
"It's not a big one, Q. I swear." I retort, taking a bite of the chip in my hand before speaking again. "Just let me sit in on your conference, that's all. I'm just going to watch."
Quinn raises an eyebrow then goes back to organizing her notes. "And why would I let you do that?"
"Because you sit in on mine too and I want to see those sexist assholes have their asses handed to them by you?"
She nods with a chuckle before taking the documents she needs along with the coffee before walking out of her office while I follow her. "And are you sure it's not because you're trying to purposely avoid being alone with Brittany with the recent turn of teasing events?"
I act cool and shrug at the statement. "Nope."
"Look, S. We agreed on me not interfering with your personal life, right? I'd let you sit in but you should know that Brittany is-"
I cut her off just as we reach outside our destination. "Fly on the wall, Q. I'll just be a fly on the wall."
Quinn sighs and decides again speaking some more. "Whatever suits you. But no good cop-bad cop this time, okay? We're going full throttle this time on them, no holds barred. And please get rid of the chips or at least hide them."
"Sure." I grin widely as she opens the door to the conference room, something that is ultimately diminished to a contorted half-pout like I'm having a stroke upon seeing Brittany and Kitty standing across three 30 or so year old men in suits who just entered the room and are seemingly ogling them. I flash Quinn a look but she only shrugs. Ugh. Me and my big mouth. Maybe I should have let her finish her sentence.
"Hey." Brittany mutters softly upon seeing us, making it too late for me to run away now. Whatever, might as well enjoy the show.
"Miss Fabray." Brown haired Asshole Lawyer speaks up in recognition just as we enter.
"Gentlemen." She replies as we settle ourselves across from them, with me on the leftmost side, then Quinn, Brittany, and Kitty on the right most. "I don't think you've met my co-associates, Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce. Of course, our intern, Kitty Wilde." She gestures to us and we all sit down.
"Well, I must say that being surrounded by gorgeous women is such a delight. And seeing that you've got our settlements ready, our day's just about to get better with you giving in to us." Blondie Asshole Lawyer smirks with his eyes not so subtly checking us out.
The four of us share disgusted looks and I'm pretty sure there's nothing I'd want more but to punch this jerk in the face right now.
"Ladies, how about we get this show going? We're kind of in a hurry since we have a Giants game to attend to later with really nice seats by the lower level deck. It's fantastic and if the four of you don't have any plans, maybe we could hook you up in joining us? Or will we be intruding on, I don't know, tea and makeup sessions?" Redhead Asshole Lawyer jests or at least that's his attempt at humor since the other men laugh at his joke. All that's missing is a guy with blue or green hair and they're on their way to completing a Crayola set. "I'm just playing with you, girls." Red adds as he relaxes against his seat.
"Sure." Quinn reins in her inner bitch and retorts with a devilish grin. Instead, she takes out four folders in her pile and dumps them one by one in front of the men. "Motion to compel, motion to strike, motion to dismiss, motion to change venue, and my intern still has about 6 or so documents waiting in preparation."
"Oh, they're all here, actually." Kitty voices out and places the pile of documents in the middle of the table with a mocking grin.
The men's expression immediately changes to that of surprise with Redhead hastily checking out the files handed to them by Quinn.
"What the hell is this?! I thought this was supposed to be a settlement conference?" Brownie angrily says.
"Nah, we're not going that route. No one's going to settle because we're pursuing the trial." Quinn replies without batting an eyelid.
"You can't do that! We had an agreement and you agreed!" Blondie quips. "And what, you're taking this case to trial?"
"No, you imposed an agreement. And unless you don't understand English then yeah, that's what I said." She replies with a mocking chuckle.
I see Redhead seething in anger. "You know what? Do whatever you want. Your company is twice as bigger than ours anyway and we have the upper hand when it comes to public image, the jury won't believe your side. You're not going to win this trial."
"I doubt it." I chime in casually with a shrug. Quinn flashes me a look of 'Be cool' then turns her attention back on the men.
"But yeah, I doubt I won't win. I've only ever lost a trial once and that was during a mock trial back in Harvard with Santana here. So, if you're afraid for me, please don't be because I don't need it. You do." She utters with a deadly sweet smile.
"And before we forget, we're also filing a countersuit for libel, slander, tortuous interference, and a few more others for all the public smearing your company has done which of course, are all well documented." Brittany chimes in.
"What?! That's not possible. You can't-"
"Do that? Please." I quip and mockingly laugh. "You deliberately destroyed her client's reputation just so your client's sales can go up a few notches then you're going to accuse her client of doing the same? We have everything we need to crush all of you and believe me when I say we will make you bleed."
"Gentlemen, your company tarnished my client's good reputation and you're expecting to be paid for that? If any of you think that we're settling, then I'm going to set you boys straight right now." Quinn utters with a smirk. "We aren't settling. We won't be settling. And we'll never be settling." She adds with an icy tone. Looking at the men in front of us, I can see that they're pretty shook up with what just happened complete with intense fear in their eyes right now.
"You're welcome any second now to see yourselves out, gentlemen. We have a tea session to attend to, you see." Brittany mockingly utters while holding back a grin.
"And this is coming from me but really, the best of luck to the three of you if you're going to trial with Quinn, you'll need it." I chuckle.
"Oh yeah, while you boys are watching the game from less than mediocre lower deck seats, we'll be in the luxury box enjoying the game with Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen who are both of my clients, by the way. Have fun though." Quinn remarks as we all grin victoriously.
It's Monday morning yet again. The start of another goddamn week with boring people.
The elevator opens on the designated floor and I find myself walking the few steps to the firm's Courtroom or Moot Court as it's often called, located in the same floor as the second floor of the Library just on the other side.
The Courtroom here, like any other law corporation, is used by anyone in the firm to prepare for a real trial by simulating a mock trial consisting of fellow colleagues at work and sometimes even the partners themselves to test outcomes, theories, or experiment with the cases they handle.
It basically looks like the usual Courtroom with the dark wood theme, just smaller. There's the judge's bench greeting you from the farthest side upon entering the room, the witness' stand beside it, a small space separating the latter from two long desks on opposite sides in front of the bench for the plaintiff, defendant, and their counsels. There's also a small section just on the right side of the bench with a few seats that sits the jury, if needed. Since the place is only for mock trials in the firm, it's smaller and the Bar, the small door leading towards the bench that separates where the action is from the seats, is built around the center in a square like a ring or stage of some sort. The other side of the bar which is the audience's side, the Gallery as it's called, houses at least three rows of theater seats per side for spectators and it's elevated for a few inches per row as to give sight over the entire courtroom. It's just a medium room but it's exciting to be here when there's action going on.
Upon entering the Courtroom, I see that it's packed with people on their feet in a few sides of the room and from what I gather, Mami's already starting to speak up in front of the bench.
"Good morning everyone, I'm glad you're all here right now. It's that time again for a Lopez Hayward tradition. Is everyone excited for Initiation Mock Trials this year?" She exclaims happily and everyone else cheers.
I move to the left side where I'm barely out of sight from anyone except that Fabray and Kitty manages to find me from where I'm standing.
"It's about time you arrived. Where were you?" Quinn asks excitedly while settling beside me.
"In my apartment, sleeping soundly since it's still freaking early. I don't even know why we need to go here. We've won this shit already." I reply nonchalantly and cross my arms in the process, keeping my attention in front.
"What's the Initiation Mock Trials again?" Kitty interjects.
"It's literally an initiation mock trial for newly-hired associates in the firm as well as interns who are eyeing to work here. Like Junior Associates versus Junior Associates, Senior versus Senior, that kind of thing. Everyone goes through it and lawyers can join in on a case by playing plaintiff, defendant, even witness roles during trial. It's where the newbies can show off how good they are with the law and of course, make a lasting impression on the Partners and other people here. It's mainly for fun too, shit here can get entertaining." Quinn answers matter of factly.
"Partners have been directed that they can only use the associates' help in dire situations." Mami says and the cheers get louder. "When I call your name, please step up in front and get a random case from the pile that you will use in the trial. Let's start with the interns."
"I see. What happens when there's only one newly-hired associate like Brittany then?" Kitty asks innocently.
"Then she's going up against any one of us Senior Associates, even if some of us have won it already." Quinn replies.
"Kitty Wilde!" Mother calls out in front.
"Excuse me, I'm about to make someone my bitch." Kitty utters nonchalantly before walking towards the center.
Quinn and I can't help but laugh at the statement. Aww… We may have our differences but I'll miss that kid when her internship ends soon. I look around me and survey the room to find Brittany standing with a few of the other Senior Associates in front. Brittany isn't really newly-hired per se, she was just re-hired after coming back here which made me wonder for a bit why she's up for trial. And looking at her from here, it just occurred to me right now that she was never really able to experience the Initiation at all since she left a little too early. I guess that's why.
"So, who do you think it's going to be among us? Probably Hudson, don't you think so, S?"
"Are you kidding me? Brittany's going to crush Lumps into pieces. And isn't this stuff rigged?"
"It's not rigged, S. We both know that." Quinn raises an eyebrow at me. "The fates decide who goes up in the Initiation from a big fish bowl a la Hunger Games."
I chuckle and give her a side glance. "The fates, huh? Such a shame we didn't go against each other during our Initiation. My darling reputation for Mock Trials would have been more notorious if we went at it."
Quinn snorts and shakes her head. "You pulled one on me once, okay? And I think we should be more worried about being possibly picked right now, S. I mean, I am and so should you, probably even more."
"And why is that?"
"Because you and Brittany are each other's weakness and as far as I know, you two have never went against each other in a mock trial even in law school. It's exciting to even think about it, now that we brought it up." Quinn remarks with a grin.
I give her a dismissive look and look back at Mother again to catch up with what's happening.
"And now we get to the last one, the Senior Associates. Seeing that there's only one newly-hired Senior Associate, may I call on Brittany Pierce to come up front?" Mami exclaims. Brittany obliges and stands beside her, carefully and randomly picking out a case binder from the pile on the desk.
From my view, I see Mother randomly pick out a folded small piece of paper from a fish bowl. And even though serendipity or destiny has been after us for the longest time, it still fails to amaze me how I seem to be the only one who doesn't see things coming like this.
"Santana Lopez."
I'm immediately cut from my thoughts upon hearing Mother's voice echo in the Courtroom. I snap out of it and see everyone turning their attention on me with a couple of 'Ooh's from the crowd, I think I even see excitement wash over their faces. Brittany, on the other hand, looks shocked and nervous at the same time while staring at me. Hell, we're probably sporting the same indescribable expression right now.
"Pierce for the plaintiff, Lopez for the defendant. Trial's due on Thursday." Mami adds with a smile on her face, clearly amused at the sudden turn of events.
I swallow the huge lump in my throat and take a really deep sigh since that's all I can do with how frozen I am.
"The fates have spoken, S." Quinn remarks beside me with a big grin on her face.
I'm going against my better judgment here. There's no specific rule with regard to how we resolve our cases and the way we want to handle them since that would be between me and the opposing counsel only. For the record, I'm not escaping or avoiding responsibility. I just thought that maybe it's best for us not to get involved this much at such a stressful environment like that. I mean, I've done the Initiation and it's not pretty. Things can get a little too personal for everyone and at one point, someone even had a heart attack halfway into the trial. That intense.
After we were all dismissed by Mother, I immediately tried to find a solution to my dilemma while being buried in my office and purposely avoiding everyone. Going around the problem, I finally came to a conclusion and a possible solution after staring at the case binder which will become my life for the whole week. I walk out of my office to take a breather and just my luck, see Brittany walking out of her office carrying a few binders in tow.
"Hey, Britt." I exclaim just enough for her to hear. She stops in her tracks and looks surprised upon seeing me.
"Hey, San. Everything okay?" She utters softly as I approach her.
"Yeah. I just wanted to talk to you about the trial."
"Oh. If it's about Quinn playing your client in the case, I'm okay with it. Though you should know that I'll probably get Rachel to play mine."
My eyebrows raise a bit and I shake my head to let her know that it's not my concern. "I-I- Uhmm… Let's not go to trial. I want to settle."
She stares at me for a good second without batting an eyelid before speaking. "Why?"
"W-Well, no one's ever done it. It's not encouraged but neither is it prohibited. I was thinking that if we settle it now, we'd get the whole week free since we're not working on any cases. It's a win-win." I try my best to reason out.
"But San, everyone's expecting a trial and now you want a settlement because it's the easy way?"
"I-It's not the easy way, it's just- Uhmm…"
"Convenient?" Brittany fills in the blanks with a raised eyebrow.
"Y-Yeah. Exactly. It's convenient." I say with a slight smile.
"You mean, convenient for you?"
My forehead creases at the statement. "What?"
She sighs and bites her lip. "I have a feeling that it's not the only reason why you want to settle. So, why don't you just tell me the truth and I'll concede if that's what you really want."
"N-Nothing, okay?" I gulp heavily and try not to show any expression while also avoiding any eye contact. "Look, I just want to get this over with. I have tons of work that I'd rather attend to than deal with a stupid mock trial. I've done it before anyway."
"Well, I haven't." She reasons out with her forehead creasing. "And if I'm going to be honest, I want to experience going through the Initiation too."
"It's just a mock trial, Britt. We've done countless ones like that back in law school, even competitions. This isn't any different." I chuckle nervously then cross my arms.
She sighs deeply and by the looks of it, tries to be patient with me. "Why are you being so pushy about this? Just tell me the truth. It's just a trial, San. It's not a big deal-"
"I know, okay?!" I whisper angrily. I take a deep breath to calm my fucking nerves. Dammit, I don't even know why I'm being riled up like this. "J-Just- It's what's best for us, Britt."
"What's best for me?" She repeats with a sarcastic chuckle. "You don't know that, Santana. You don't decide what's best for me."
Uh-oh. First name basis. "J-Just agree to it and we get off scot-free for the week. W-What do you say?"
She seems to think about it for a moment but based on the look on her face, I don't think she's happy at all with I said. As far as I've known her, this is what she looks like when she's really disappointed in me. The way she's gazing at me like that, I know well that she can see right through my lies, intentions, and goddamn soul. I'm almost afraid of what she's about to say.
"No."
"W-What?" I almost mumble, completely taken aback by the suddenness of her statement.
"I said, no. I'm not going to settle. I won't settle." She answers sternly.
I grit my teeth and find the words to describe how I'm feeling but to no avail. "Look, Britt. I-"
"I'll see you in court, Santana." She utters simply before walking away, leaving me spewing out expletives under my breath.
Let the games begin.
It wasn't rigged. Team Brittany or Team Santana? :)
The next two chapters have tons of law stuff in it and are interconnected, like a two-parter. Hella LONG.
*Mock trial rules and flow are derived from moot court directives combined with a few ones from TV shows and movies.