Chapter Two

The rest of the week seemed to drag on for Aria and Deagan alike, directly after he dropped her off at her car and got into his own, he texted her and since then they had been in constant contact, even while she was in meetings. 

She still had no idea what it was that he did for a living, but her guess was that he worked in the corporate world, judging by his attire the day that they met. The ringing of her office phone broke her concentration from the case file that she was currently working on. Her mind was still processing the information in the contract, in which she was trying to find a loophole that could unbind her client from the contract in question. It was a prenuptial contract, she didn’t generally work with family cases, but this was an exception since the woman and her children had been abused by her husband, she needed to find a clause in the contract that they could use against him in court in order for her to divorce him and still make out with enough money to start a new life for her and her children, it seems that he had thought of it all before they signed the contract since a clause stated that the contract would remain in place despite adulterous behaviour. They had no solid evidence of the abuse and until they got some, the contract was all she had to go on.

Aria Gray, Mighty Legal’s most prized possession and all-in-all the best defence attorney in Seattle, Washington. For a woman in her mid-twenties, Aria had managed to win the hearts of all of her clients with her brilliant mind and her spotless track record.   

“Aria Gray.” She answered in the tone that she used in all of her work encounters, she had friends with whom she worked but she knew where to draw the line between her personal and professional life. 

“Aria, it’s Aycin.” His voice sounded slightly panicked which made her sit up straighter. 

“Ayc, hi. What’s wrong? You sound tense.” She could picture him pacing from wall to wall in his thirty square foot office like she had seen him do many times before. 

“I really need to see you right now; I need your advice on something. I’m really sorry for calling at such short notice, but it’s important, are you free right now?” if not for the evident stress in his voice she wouldn’t have agreed to the meeting, but she did anyway. 

“It’s okay Ayc, I was actually about to head out, but I will stop by at your office on my way home.” She heard him let out a relieved sigh. After saying their goodbyes she hastily packed up and rushed out of the glass office building to her pearly white BMW M4 2015 model, the car was her baby, she had always been a BMW lover, but when she saw this car she knew it was the one. 

Ten minutes later she turned into the hospital parking lot and thanked her lucky stars when she found a space close to the entrance of the west wing where Aycin’s office was located. Aycin was working towards his Ph.D. in neurological cancer research, but already had a permanent position as a junior oncologist and led his own research team at the biggest hospital in Washington. He was currently working on a treatment for brain cancer and frequently consulted her whenever he needed advice. Over the years that they had been working together, the both of them had formed somewhat of a friendship. 

Aria brisk walked to his office which was thankfully on the first floor, she had exactly two hours to speak to him and get home to get ready for dinner at 6 pm. She still had no idea what she was going to wear or what to do with her hair, all she knew was that she was cutting it extremely close and she hated that. 

Reaching his office she didn’t even bother knocking before opening the door and stepping inside. Just as she suspected, Ayc was pacing from end to end, looking deep in thought, the moment the door burst open he turned to face the beautiful woman. 

His eyes softened as he noticed how flustered she looked, he knew he was disturbing her schedule, but he really needed her and it could not wait. 

“Ayc?” Aria called, eyeing him warily as she took in the state of his office. Ayc was a neat freak, never once had she seen any space around him looking so untidy which shocked her. Ayc sighed heavily and collapsed on his desk chair. 

“Ari, I’m so sorry for calling at such short notice, but I was going through my latest research this morning and I noticed a mistake.” She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, confused as to how any of this involved him, catching on to her look he continued, “Remember the contract I asked you to draw up a couple of years ago for when my research is at a point where it can be tested? A few days ago I made a huge breakthrough and my research is finally ready for testing. A woman, thirty-five years old, stage three Acoustic Neuroma, signed the contract and she is booked to start treatment in a week’s time. The mistake that I found was based on the effects of the treatment on the body, it was significantly downplayed, but not necessarily fatal.” By the time he finished she knew exactly why he was freaking out, if he told the woman about the mistake he faced losing his medical research license and if he didn’t, she could lose her life. 

Aria was never one to act on emotions while dealing with a client for the sake of her sanity in the business in which she worked; she had always looked at both sides of the story before advising someone. She sat silently contemplating the options, trying to figure out a possible compromise because in no way was either of the two options ideal. 

She let out a heavy sigh and opened her mouth to speak before closing it again and looking him dead in the eye, she could see uncertainty in his eyes but despite knowing that her words would hurt him she said them anyway, “I’m sorry Ayc, there’s just no other way around this that I can think of. That contract was foolproof, I left no loopholes. Look Ayc, I know it’s a risk but you need to tell her, she deserves to know the complete risk of this new treatment. It’s only fair that she is made aware of the consequences of her decision and it’s not even guaranteed that she will use it against you if you do tell her.” she reasoned, but judging by the look on his face, he did not agree. Ayc stood up angrily and marched around the desk and stared down at Aria sitting on the chair. 

“You’re saying that I should tell her about something which might not even make a difference to fighting this disease and put my career on the line while simultaneously risking everything I’ve worked for since the day I was old enough to spell the word oncology?” his outburst caught her off guard, but also angered her. 

“Ayc, you can’t do this! I get that your job and your research mean a hell of a lot to you, but this is a woman’s life we are talking about! She most probably has a family, people who love her and care about her who don’t want her to die, but you have to understand that your treatment could just as easily cure the disease but in turn, kill her itself!” he didn’t even waver at her words and she could feel herself losing this battle. 

“Aria I know that you mean well, but I asked you here because I thought you’d actually be able to separate your emotions, clearly you can’t!” he said accusingly and hot blood rushed up to her head, she could feel her face turn red from anger. 

“I cannot believe you! I didn’t become a lawyer, because I don’t feel emotions or I know how to detach myself, I did it because I would like to see innocent victims get justice, so are you honestly going to tell me that your research is more important than a person’s life that you’re supposed to save?” she was panting heavily from the amount of anger coursing through her veins. 

He stared her dead in the eye, “My research could save thousands of people so yes, it is important.” She was gobsmacked, 

“You’re pretty much telling me that you are fine with sacrificing the life of an innocent woman for the possibility that the treatment works!” for the first time his head lowered and he broke eye contact not wanting to admit to her blunt statement, “It seems to me that you already made up your mind and you just needed my agreement to relieve your own conscience. I can’t do that Aycin, I won’t. I sincerely hope you do the right thing, if not, I really hope your conscience lets you sleep at night.” She stood up and walked out of his office leaving him in his own thoughts.

He heard the finality in her voice and both of them knew there was no way they would see eye to eye on this subject and probably ever again.