Chapter 3

"Aaliyah can you please bring me the child custody files for Mr. and Mrs. Samuelson? Okay thank you."

Hanging up the phone, I know I have a lot of work to do for this case. Mr. Samuelson caught his wife cheating with his boss and Mrs. Samuelson caught her husband drunk and abusing their kids again. Although this child custody case would be simple, Mr. Samuelson is putting up a fight.

Interrupted by a soft knock on my door I tell the person on the other end to come in.

"Ms. Carter, um there's something I have to tell you." Yasmin, my secretary, gulps closing the door behind her.

"Go ahead." I say my eyes glued to case papers.

She fidgets for a bit before taking in a deep breath and saying, "Um, Mr. Alexander Adair called us."

My head snaps straight up from the papers. I stare at Yasmin for a couple seconds, blinking rapidly as I try to make sense of what she said. Tension covers the air like a thick smog and nervousness grows like weeds inside of me as I stomach who just called us.

"Alexander Adair?" I ask incredulously.

"Yes, Mr. Adair." She says looking pale.

"The billionaire who owns Adair Consolidated?" I ask making sure I'm hearing it right.

"Yes, ma'am he's the one." Nods Yasmin.

My mind drifts to a thousand reasons as to why he would call our firm. I mean we are one of New York's finest law firms, but what would a billionaire like Alexander Adair want with ordinary lawyers like us. I'm pretty sure he has much more experienced and expensive lawyers at his disposal.

"Why did he call us?" I ask finally giving up on what it could be.

"He said he wanted a top lawyer of New York City to handle his divorce case, and with research he said it was our firm and you Ms. Carter." She says with a soft smile on her red lips.

My eyes go wide in shock as I take in the compliment. I don't know whether I should be happy about being ranked as a top lawyer or terrified that he wants me to handle his case. I know I have a great track record in terms of winning cases and always going beyond to help my client, but I've never thought that a billionaire would want me to handle their case.

Alexander Adair is one of the wealthiest and powerful people on the planet. People die just to work with him and his company. From what I know he owns multiple business chains around the world, and his business continues to expand if that's even possible from the amount of wealth he already owns. From private islands, jets, mansions, you name it. To top it off, he was also listed as the hottest person in the world for three years straight. Although he was seen as charitable, that's all the good that was said about him. The media defined him as fierce, ruthless, intimidating, and unforgiving.

"Did he say what it was for?" I ask totally forgetting that Yasmin already told me the reason.

"Mr. Adair said he wants to file for his divorce and to set an appointment by the end of this week." She reminds me.

"What did you tell him?" I ask the tips of my heels tapping nervously on the floor. 

"I said I'll have to check with Ms. Carter, and I'll call him back within twenty-four hours."

A take a moment to reflect if I should or shouldn't meet with him. I mean I'm not scared to handle his case, maybe a little nervous, and it's because for the first time ever I'll be handling a billionaire's case. From what I heard about him, he's not easy to work with.

But again, I know I can handle people who aren't easy to work with.

"Okay, let me take a look at my schedule to see what day I am available for him to come in to discuss the case." I say making my decision.

Yasmin looks appalled as she says, "Sorry Ms. Carter if this sounds rude, but you're going to take Mr. Adair's case?"

Honestly, as much as I don't want to deal with the attitude of a billionaire because if something went wrong, he had the money and power to literally remove me from my job, but I don't dismiss cases until I think that I can't fight it. If he decided to remove me well, I know the law and would give him a fight.

"Yes, I'll hear what he has to say and then from there I will let them know whether I can take it or not. You know how I take my cases." I state.

"He said that his wife will be coming in as well." Says Yasmin.

She'll be coming in too? It's always been the norm especially during a divorce that each spouse gets their own lawyer to prevent conflict of interest. I'm pretty sure Adair and his wife know that, so it doesn't make sense for them to come together.

"Why are they coming together?" I ask.

"I have no clue." She shrugs.

She probably thinks I'm crazy to even consider the Adairs’ case.

There's another knock on my door. "Ms. Carter, here is the child custody file you asked for...." Aaliyah pauses feeling the tension in the air.

"Is everything okay?" She asks looking from me to Yasmin.

"Yes, everything is fine." I say motioning her to hand me the file.

Handing me the file, she doesn't look convinced but doesn't utter a word. Instead, before leaving she turns around and gives me one of her playful smiles telling me that she can't wait to hear about it. I have to tell her all about this as soon as we are off from work. I know she'll be in heaven after she hears about it.

The entire day went by with phone calls appointments and studying case files. Yasmin called Mr. Adair back and we set up an appointment happening two days from now.

As the day came to an end, everyone said their goodbyes and headed home. Packing up my stuff I head out to see Aaliyah waiting near the elevators.

"Sarah, you have to tell me what happened!" She exclaims.

"Let's go to my house, well have dinner and I'll tell whose case came in today." I smile.

"Yummy food and a secret case. I can't wait!"

*****

"WHAT!" Aaliyah shrieks dropping her fork onto the plate in surprise. 

"You heard me." I say casually taking a bite of my mom's delicious fettuccine alfredo.

"Wow, I...I don't even know what to say." Aaliyah stutters her eyes wide in shock.

"That was exactly my reaction when Yasmin told me that Mr. Adair called in." I laugh.

"And you took it?" Aaliyah, just like Yasmin, is staring at me like I'm crazy.

"Aaliyah you know me, I don't just dismiss cases, even if it is a billionaire like Mr. Adair." I emphasize waving my fork in the air.

"One, I can't believe he's getting divorced. Two, I can't believe he chose our firm, and three I can't believe you said yes!"

"Yeah, I know call me crazy." I chuckle.

"I've seen him on tv and in magazines, but never in person. I wonder how he is." Aaliyah says twirling her last fettucine bite around her fork.

"Don't get too excited. From what we know, he's not the kindest person."

"But still...it's Alexander Adair! In person! In our firm! In your office! In front of ME!" She shrieks again totally fan girling about him.

Aaliyah's pupils start to dilate and a huge smile creeps up on her face as she talks about him. It's like she's in la la land. If anyone saw my face right now, they would totally see that I'm weirded out by her reaction.

I wasn't a hopeless romantic like Aaliyah. It all had to do with how my parents relationship went and ended. It wasn't a pretty sight. Throughout my school years I was careful of who I dated since I wanted to save myself from the heartbreak. Although I only dated two guys, I ended each relationship within two weeks when I realized that they weren't who I was looking for. I didn't hate love, I just didn't think it was for me. Being in a relationship scares me, but I admire all those who were completely in love with their partners.

"O-kay." I say awkwardly grabbing our empty plates, desperately wanting this conversation to end. 

Aaliyah and I quickly wash our dishes and head into the theatre room where we find my mom completely engrossed in Lucifer. When we came home, she quickly came out to greet me, but as soon as she saw that I had Aaliyah she took the opportunity to continue watching her show. She makes me laugh sometimes in regards to how much she ends up loving things.

"Lucifer is hot!" Aaliyah exclaims causing Elizabeth's attention to turn to us. 

"You can say that again." Elizabeth chuckles as Aaliyah takes a seat right next to her. 

Smiling, I take a seat right next to Aaliyah as I watch both of them talk about the show. Aaliyah, just like my mom, is obsessed with it and has finished watching the final season. My mom made Aaliyah promise that she won't give anything away until she catches up. 

"Do you want to go for a walk? I kind of feel bloated." Aaliyah asks me dramatically rubbing her hand across her belly. 

"Um..." I pause not wanting to leave my mom alone. 

"Oh, go on ahead. It's beautiful outside and the sun is setting! Go enjoy it! I'll be fine." Elizabeth smiles knowing very well the concern that grows inside of me. 

"Please please please!" Aaliyah begs. 

Letting out a deep sigh I say, "Fine." 

An excited Aaliyah jumps up from the recliner and grabs me by the hand dragging me out of the room before I could change my mind. 

"Bye mom! I'll be home in half in hour!" I shout and she replies with an okay. 

The cool crisp autumn breeze blows gently in my hair as I take in the woody scent of trees that stand tall in the vast park. The sun is still setting and a mix of purple, pink, and blue paints across the sky, like fireworks that remain frozen in the air. A few people walk by us enjoying their evening stroll while I listen to Aaliyah talking about Alexander Adair. 

"Will it be weird?" Aaliyah asks wrapping her scarf tightly around her neck.

"What will be weird?" I ask breathing in the cool air.

"Meeting with Mr. and Mrs. Adair about their divorce?"

"How would it be weird? I don't personally know them and it’s like any other case for me. The only thing that would be weird is them coming together. Maybe they have everything figured out in terms of who gets what." I say shoving my hands into my pocket to keep them warm. 

"True. I don't know I guess because it's a hot billionaire and my crush, but when he comes in can I take him to your office instead of Yasmin?" She asks with a huge grin on her face.

Is she being serious?

"Um, okay yeah you can. Just let Yasmin know." I say awkwardly.

"Yay okay!" She smiles.                                                                                                   

We both walk in silence enjoying the peaceful atmosphere until a series of ear-piercing screams are heard from around us. 

"THERE HE IS!" A woman shouts frantically and a large group of people start to run towards the direction that she's pointing at.

Turning around to see what was going on, a hard body slams into mine causing me to lose my balance. A pair of strong arms snake themselves around my tiny waist saving me from falling onto the wet grass. My hands rest on his broad shoulders hidden behind the fabric of his black blazer and my eyes fix onto his marble-colored hazel ones. 

For the first time in my life, I feel like my world has been turned right side up. The piercing screams of people are now silent as if someone clicked mute. Time seems to have slowed down and all I can feel are his large warm hands igniting sparks up my spine and the quick flutter of my thudding heart. 

"Sorry." His velvety smooth voice says as he lets go of my waist.

Before I could thank him, he walks right past me with large men dressed in black shielding him from the bright flashes of cameras and peoples desires of wanting to get close to him. Exiting the park and getting into a silver car, the crowd runs behind them until they can no longer keep up, allowing him to disappear into the sunset. 

"That was Alexander Adair." Aaliyah breathes with astonishment.