By the time Lexa buzzed Clarke in the following Saturday morning, she had made sure her loft looked spotless. On the way home from the morning walk, Lexa and Lincoln got freshly baked croissants and blueberry scones. She packed a duffel bag of dog's things, everything from his food to a blanket, a beach towel and a specially bought for the occasion puppy seat belt. Most of the things were, quite honestly, just in case, but Lexa liked to be prepared for anything.
To her surprise, when she opened the door, it was not Clarke who she saw on the other end, but a young man with a manila envelope.
"Alexandria Komtrikru?"
Lexa's heart soared with excitement at the forgotten sensation of being referred to by her full name. She motioned Clarke to come inside, who mouthed, "Alexandria?" in return. Lexa raised her eyebrow as if to say, I'll deal with you later.
"You've been served," the man handed her the envelope before disappearing.
"What's that about?" asked Clarke when Lexa gently kicked the door shut.
"I'm being sued," beamed Lexa reading the summons.
"And you're happy?" Clarke was confused.
"What?" Lexa was excited like a child on a Christmas morning and nothing could distract her from it. "Do you want to drink something, coffee, tea? I have to make a quick phone call."
She was fixing Clarke a cup of americano while waiting for a person on the other side to pick up. Clarke was sitting on a high stool at the kitchen island, looking around the loft. Lexa noticed that she held her gaze at the "Books turn muggles into wizards" poster for a while.
"Hey, did I wake you? I need a lawyer."
"God, Lexa, what did you do?"
"Nothing, I'll take care of it. I just want you to be the attorney of record."
"What's the case?"
"Dachshund's degenerative disease caused by a playful bite."
"Are you messing with me?"
"It is what it is. I'll do the heavy lifting, though honestly, there is not much to lift. But I need you to represent me."
"I'll trust you but don't eff me up, kid."
"You're the best, Anya, thank you!"
Excited Lexa passed the cup of coffee to perplexed Clarke and moved a bag of fresh croissants towards her. She excused herself and made another phone call to Otto's mom to offer her joined defense, which she turned down apologizing and citing her attorney.
This should be interesting. Let the backstabbing begin.
She made herself a cappuccino all the while telling Clarke about the dachshund Cage, who had been very obnoxious in the dog park once, and several dogs had run up to him to shut him up. However, from all of them only Lincoln and Otto were cited in the lawsuit. Lexa suspected that it was a case of breed discrimination.
"Apparently, they are one of the most dangerous breeds according to some, so this is absolutely prejudicial. Besides, the plaintiff wants me to pay for a spinal surgery that had nothing to do with the incident. I'll argue for the dismissal." Lexa paused and then corrected herself, "I mean, I'll ask Anya to argue for the dismissal."
She seemed to return to the reality of her situation. She realized that Clarke was beyond puzzled at her reaction, however, Lexa didn't feel embarrassed or felt the need to apologize for possibly appearing maniac. What she was looking for in her friendship with Clarke was genuine connection and she didn't want to fake who she was. She felt alive fighting the injustice, establishing the truth, making sure that people were treated fairly. And the fact that she got to be part of it again gave her power and purpose.
However, today was about Clarke and taking Lincoln out to have fun, so she packed the leftover baked goodies and some fruit for later, and they were off.
As Clarke presented her red Toyota Yaris, Lexa dropped her duffel bag on the ground and clasped a hand to her mouth. Somehow she thought the vehicle that would drive them out of the city would be an SUV, which would explain why Clarke didn't use it in the city. Having a three-door tiny car for the puppy's first ride was less than ideal, and Lexa had to rethink the dynamics of the process.
She gave Clarke the leash and climbed in the back of the car to cover the seat with the old blanket in case Lincoln had an accident of any kind. Then she lured the hyper dog with the treats and petted him while he was adjusting to the new environment. Clark was watching from the outside with a curious smile of a rookie. Lexa asked her to pass the bag and close the door, which Clarke took for the cue to go and got in the driver's seat. However, Lincoln wasn't ready. He started running across the seat, then tried to get on a passenger's seat, licked Clarke's ear and didn't want to come to a calm sitting position.
It took Lexa another good ten minutes to lure Lincoln to lie down next to her. All the meanwhile she was wondering if Clarke was annoyed or uncomfortable, however, her own patience was running thin, and when she found it to be acceptable, she buckled her hyper pup up and gave Clarke the green light.
She did apologize for the amount of time it took, but added no more. Doing the most basic new things was sometimes exhausting with Lincoln, like putting a raincoat, washing him or applying the anti-flea drops. She would have to chase him around the loft and then hold him tight. Loving Lincoln changed her type A neurotic personality for a calmer person, however, that didn't mean that she wasn't feeling like a warm bath or at least a foot rub after even the smallest battle.
At first Lexa thought that she'd stay with the dog in the backseat till the nearest gas station and then would sit next to Clarke, but as she sprawled in the back, one hand holding on to Lincoln, who was leaving saliva drawings on the window, she thought that this was nice. Like a parent after a child's fit, she needed a break in the vacuum of her thoughts.
Clarke glanced a few times in the rear-view mirror to see how things were going in the backseat but didn't say anything. When Lexa returned, she noticed they were riding in complete silence, interrupted by Lincoln's heavy breathing. The day was hot, and suddenly Lexa felt like going to the sea.
"Can we go to the water instead?" was the first thing she'd said in almost half an hour.
Clarke nodded and reprogrammed her navigator to take them to the lake. They continued in silence, which didn't bother Lexa at all. If you can't be silent with a person, then there is nothing to talk about. As the landscape began to change, Lexa started nodding off, so she asked Clarke to stop at the gas station to change sits. Instead Clarke found them a Starbucks drive-through, which gave Lexa an opportunity climb gracefully into the front seat. Lincoln got his first puppy latte of a lifetime and was at first confused what it was. Clarke had iced tea, while Lexa loaded on double doppio.
"I got up early for this," she shrugged. More like, I couldn't sleep much, knowing you'll come to my place.
Lexa finally started to have fun, fueled by an excess of caffeine, she offered to turn on music. She never listened to the radio so she laughed out loud when Clarke would sing along to ridiculously stupid pop songs.
They reached the lake and found a parking spot. Lexa took alert Lincoln out on a leash and asked Clarke to hold him while she fixed his breakfast. She explained that she hadn't fed him before as a cautionary measure. There were no people on this side of a lake, so Lexa took Lincoln off the leash. She grabbed a bag of grapes from the car and they ventured out on the pebble shore.
The day was pleasantly warm. A cool breeze ruffled Lexa's long hair. Irritated, she put it in a bun. They had walked for some time, when Clarke stopped and looked around.
"I wish there were a boat."
"It's not that kind of movie," Lexa chuckled, also wishing there had been a boat indeed.
They agreed to make it there mission to find a boat. Lexa told how she used to go fishing back home up north. Frankly, she didn't like it much but it gave her ties to her community and she got to take her dogs with her. Clarke had never been fishing but she liked the idea of sitting in a boat on an empty lake alone with her own thoughts. Lexa chuckled that one didn't need to go fishing in order to do that.
Lincoln was enjoying his newfound freedom, when Clarke asked why he didn't go into the water.
"I don't think it's his cuppa tea but we could try and make him." Lexa was always up to a challenge. She took off her shoes and rolled up her jeans.
Once again, Lexa was luring the puppy with the treats from her pocket, and he was cooperating until the point his paws touched the stingingly cold water. Lincoln jumped back and ran out on the shore. However, Lexa wasn't willing to give up so easily. As she attempted the trick a few more times, she felt frustration building up after each failure. She thought that it would be fun to have a dog that liked swimming. Why was Lincoln so difficult? She grunted when she noticed that Clarke was filming the whole fiasco with her phone.
Lexa put the puppy on the leash and tried to lure him into the water again. Her goal was to make him stay in water, not swim, however even that small step seemed unattainable. Lexa trod carefully on the underwater pebble, training her gaze on the puppy for the signs of discomfort. Despite all her efforts she completely missed it when Lincoln pulled back for the shore, knocking Lexa face forward into the water.
"Jesus, bloody Mary and Joseph!"
The water might as well have been minus negative degrees. Not only was it cold but Lexa also hit her knee pretty hard on an underwater rock. She tried to stand up but her legs were cramping. That'll teach you to drag the puppy into the cold water.
When it became evident to Clarke that Lexa's futile attempts to get herself out on the shore were getting her nowhere, she kicked off her sneakers and walked into the water. She seized Lexa by the hand and helped her get up, propping her with her body. Lexa's left leg was cramping so agonizingly painful that she let out a weak shriek.
Once on the shore, Lexa sat on a large hot rock.
"This will be my drier," she sneered.
Concerned Lincoln tried to climb next to her. The leash that Lexa released as she was falling was still attached to his harness. She helped Lincoln to get on the stone, took off his leash and squeezed him hard.
She was soaking wet below the waist, soggy jeans draining water on the hot pebbles that evaporated it almost immediately. Lexa contemplated it a bit but figured, modesty aside, she needed to get the jeans off and dry them a bit. Her naked skin revealed a huge bruise on her right knee.
"How's your knee?"
"Hurts."
"Can you move your leg?"
"Yes. It's fine." She felt as if she was telling this to Lincoln more than to Clarke.
"I have a first aid kit in my car."
"It's just a bruise, Clarke."
They walked to the car when Lexa got a bit warmer. Clarke turned on the seat heaters and wrapped Lexa in a beach towel.
"Do you know if there is an H&M near by? I need pants."
On the way back Lexa was mentally kicking herself for being such a klutz. She didn't know what it was that they were doing with Clarke, however, she was sure that interrupting it by disgracefully getting injured in a slip and fall was not going to advance it well.
Lexa invited Clarke to come up to her apartment. She had mixed feelings of embarrassment and upcoming cold, both of which she knew how to kill with one shot. When she changed into dry clothes, she asked Clarke if she wanted to have a drink.
"I'm driving," Lexa could hear a skosh of disappointment in Clarke's voice.
"We can have a slumber party. I'm sure Lincoln will share the couch with you later." Lexa made the cutest face she could produce and added a dash of puppy eyes. She was not beneath playing the suffering victim card just not to be drinking alone, but she hoped she would not have to go that far.
Clarke was considering the proposal but Lexa could feel it was going her way. She could always tell which way the judge and the jury swayed, so it was easy with Clarke. Lexa moved towards her bar before Clarke said anything.
"What will it be?"
"How big is your bar?"
"It's a lawyer's bar, Clarke."
"I don't know what it means."
"It means I'll have some Jack and you can have whatever it is that you want."
Clarke wanted red wine.
"You have a nice apartment."
"That's why I don't have a car anymore." Lexa passed Clarke her glass and sat next to her on the couch.
She told her a very censored version of the aftermath of her suspension. The Jack made her mellow and she did not want to talk about the past much. She asked Clarke how her painting was going, and it turned out that Clarke had been sitting on some extraordinary news of her own this whole time. She had contacted Showz gallery and asked them if she could show her work there. Now she had to select a few paintings for their consideration. She asked Lexa if she could stop by next Saturday.
"I'm having some people over for some cheese and wine to help me make the decision."
Lexa accepted the invitation at once. Was it the Jack or just the idea of having a party, Lexa felt as if she was back in her student days. She missed that time. Not the exams or the cramming, but the idealism and the dreams, the fascinating period in life when you know what life's made of. Also, being able to party and show up in the morning as if you hadn't slept less than three hours, the sound of the leather armchairs in the library and the friends who get you.
She told all that to Clarke, who smiled and said that her life had not changed much since college, safe for a brief stunt at med school. She confessed that it had been pure hell and had she known that whether you saved people or you killed them was up to the lawyers to decide, she would have become a lawyer.
"Lawyers' fate is in the hands of other lawyers. We're like matryoshka dolls, waiting for someone to mess up. You're better off being an artist."
Suddenly Lexa realized that she was drinking on an empty stomach again. She picked a folder with take-away menus from the kitchen counter and tossed it to Clarke to choose. Clarke went with the Chinese.
The following morning Lexa woke up with a killer headache and a taste of something dead in her mouth. What the… In an attempt to identify her disposition, she quickly sat up, which made her head spin. She was in her bed, the sun was shining and the clock on the wall showed 9AM. She attempted to recollect her memories from the night before.
Fuck, Clarke!
She was scared to look, but the body next to her belonged to Lincoln. Clarke was sleeping soundly on the couch. Lexa breathed a sigh of relief. She remembered walking and feeding Lincoln before having dinner. Talking about foreign language films and sci-fi shows that didn't make any scientific sense. Lexa had promised to email Clarke a recipe of a perfect pasta. They had had a serious existential debate about Harry Potter, and Lexa had got a little bit carried away proving her point that there's a whole different book written between the lines. Lexa chuckled remembering that. She saw several books lying on the floor by the couch amidst the empty take-away boxes. When she had got significantly more intoxicated, she had started going on and on about the dachshund's case and all the reasons why it was a frivolous lawsuit. At the end of the night, she had made bed for Clarke on the couch. She even remembered finding her a spare toothbrush.
All in all, Lexa was pretty content with what she remembered of the previous night. She let her aching head touch the pillow for a little bit longer before tiptoeing to the kitchen to brew fresh coffee.