"Please, Mr. Mason, it really-," Della pleaded, but Perry refused to listen, so she stopped talking.
He picked up the telephone and called Paul, "Can you come down here, Paul?...Yes, this is very important!...All right," Perry put the receiver down, then asked Della, "Do you need some ice for that eye? Or a beefsteak? That is what they put on them, I think."
"I don't need anything, thank you," she shook her head.
Paul knocked on the door.
"Come in!" Perry called.
"Hi - what happened here?!" Paul demanded the second he saw Della's face.
"A guy hit her, while she was here, in my office!" Perry fumed.
"What a shiner," Paul held Della's chin and gently turned her head back and forth to get a good view of her eye.
"I wish I could tell you to go see the other guy, but he got away without a scratch," Della sighed and sat in the chair Perry had pushed towards her.
"He had a lot of nerve," Paul said cooly, in an attempt to hide his anger, "Do you think you could recognize him if you saw him again?"
"Possibly; I'm not sure."
"What did he look like?" Paul and Perry asked at the same time.
"He was tall and big," Della began.
"Hold on, hold on," Paul hastily scribbled that down in his notebook.
"He was tall and big-," Della began again.
"Muscle big or fat big?"
"Umm, both, I guess. He had scruffy blonde hair and some stubble. I don't know much."
"Did you see where he went after that?" Perry asked.
"No, he punched me, then shoved me against my desk. I couldn't see-"
"He shoved you too?!" Perry and Paul cried out at the same time.
"Against my desk."
Perry hit his fist on the top of his desk and Paul nearly chucked his notebook across the room.
"Are you all right?" Perry asked, concerned.
"My side hurts, a little," Della touched her hip gingerly.
"This guy is going to get it," Paul hit his fist against his palm.
"And after you give it to him, I will. This guy needs to learn how to treat a lady," growled Perry.
Della looked up at the two men who wanted to fight for her. She was going to like these boys - her boys - she just knew it.
~~~~~PM~~~~~
Della was told to go to the doctors and to take it easy the rest of the day.
"I will be back in this afternoon," she told them as Paul and Perry ushered her into a taxi before getting down to work.
"You don't need to worry about coming back today," Perry told her.
"Non sense," Della said, "We have a lot of work to do!"
"You will be back tomorrow morning at seven o' clock," Perry closed the taxi door, "Enjoy a day off, Miss Street. You earned it!" He smiled warmly at her.
"All right," she gave in.
"And if you see the guy who hit you, call the police immediately, and call me second!" Perry called as the cab drove away from the curb.
Della's hand waved at them from the open window. Perry turned around to find Paul standing there, watching him with a slight smirk on his face.
"What?" demanded the lawyer.
"I don't say anything," Paul laughed.
Perry gave Paul a questioning look before going back inside.
~~~~~PM~~~~~
Della arrived at seven o' clock on the dot. She was a bit surprised to find Perry was already there. She wondered if he had gone home at all. She went in to his office, limping less than she had been, to give him the morning mail. He looked at her eye and found that appeared even more bruised that it was the day before.
"What did the doctor say about your eye?" he asked.
"He said to let it heal on its own. My vision is still good, and there is really nothing we can do about it," she shrugged carelessly, but it hurt more than she let on.
"We did not find anything on the guy who hit youYou can stay at the office today, if you'd like. I have some people I need to go visit this afternoon, but I will make sure someone is around to make sure everything is all right," Perry told her, "I need a copy of the letter Jerome Rance gave us, please."
"I'll type it up right away!"
Della was busy at her typewriter when a woman entered the office.
"May I help you?" Della asked, taking in the woman's appearance.
"My goodness, what happened here?" the lady stared at Della's face.
"Just an accident. May I help you?"
"I want to see Perry. Is all right if I go right in?"
"Is he expecting you?" Della looked at appointment book and did not see a lady's name on the list.
"Oh, no. He thinks I'm in Europe! I came to surprise him. I'm his - well, I'm girlfriend."
Della stiffened, but the business smile remained on her face.
"I will see if he's busy," Della rose, choosing not to call over the intercom, and opened Perry's door, "There is someone-"
She had hardly begun when the woman pushed past her and cried out,
"Perry!"
Perry stood, looking very surprised. Was that a trace of a smile or was Della imagining? Della suddenly felt very inadequate with her clean but department store skirt and blouse and black eye - of all the times to have a black eye! - standing next to a woman wearing tailored clothing, strong perfume, and a necklace that looked like it was made of genuine diamonds.
"Laura!" Perry finally answered, still seeming quite surprised.
"Will you be needing me, Mr. Mason?" Della asked, an odd tone in her voice.
"No, this isn't business," Laura waved her off with a beringed hand.
Della's face hardened slightly out of dislike for the one Perry had called "Laura", not "Miss So and so" or "Miss Laura", but simply "Laura". She looked at Perry waiting for him to tell her he did not need her. He nodded for her to leave.
"I already told you we didn't need you," Laura said.
"I was waiting to see if my employer did," Della's voice was as sweet as something that was - well, sickeningly sweet.
Laura looked annoyed but Perry was not sure what to think. He did notice that Della had closed the office door a little harder than usual.
Della went back to work, finishing copying the letter Perry needed.
Of course, Perry never said he did not have a girlfriend, he just never said that he did. Take Della out if they won a case to a fancy restaurant? Did that Laura character know about that? Perhaps he called everyone Sleeping Beauty, Della did not know. Maybe he was just being kind to a secretary? Della did not think she would like it if her boyfriend - not that she had one, but that was beside the point - acted that way towards his secretary. Maybe Laura did not know what he was like when she was not around. Maybe Della did know really know what Perry Mason like.
Laura. Ugh. I cannot stand her for so many reasons, not to mention that she dated Perry. Ew. I am sorry!
Please leave a review telling me what you think so far! This story is not over yet!