13. The plot

KIMBERLY

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As soon as the door to the restaurant closed behind me, I paused and exhaled.

I wanted to pretend like I was okay. I wanted to act like his presence didn’t affect me. I wanted to lie to myself that I had completely moved on from him and I wasn’t affected by his presence but that was a big lie. I still hated him and I hated myself for having any form of emotion toward him.

Apart from hating him, I also hated myself for feeling pity toward him. For him to find a lawyer in New York, it meant his usual lawyer had abandoned him. It made me wonder how bad his business was doing and how much trouble he was in and I despised it.

When he held me, it felt too familiar. It felt like I had been scorched and having that reaction almost had me going violent. I never confronted him about what he did and I felt like doing it right at that moment. I wanted to slap him for thinking he still had the right to touch me, but I was a lawyer and I knew the charges that came with attacking someone else unprovoked.

I looked behind me even if the door was already shielding him from view. I wondered how I was going to go through this trial without giving myself away to George. He would notice something was wrong. He would notice my odd behavior whenever I was around Jackson and I couldn’t let that happen.

I released another deep breath. I was stronger than this. I didn’t need to run away or cower whenever I saw him. I was strong enough to bring him to his knees. But then again, I was not prepared to see him today so I couldn’t entirely fault myself for my behavior.

Next time, however, I would try my best to rein in my emotions and act like a professional. Besides, I wouldn’t be seeing him again after the case was over.

Nodding to myself, I hailed a cab and went to Reiya’s place. Despite staying away for five years, I could still navigate the roads well. Not much had changed.

Reiya wasn’t living in her old apartment anymore. She now shared a house with her fiancé and it was huge, which was why she wanted me to stay with her during the period I’d be living here. I’d never seen it in person but she had given me a tour via video call. Even when I dropped Amelia off this morning, she picked her up by the gate.

The cab driver dropped me off by the gate and I rang the bell by the side of the gate.

“Kim!?” I heard her through the intercom and I stood directly by the camera, waving at her with a stiff smile. “That was fast. Are you done with your meeting already?”

“Not really. Just open up first.”

“Okay.” She responded and the gates opened up. By the time I walked up to the door, she had come out with Amelia trailing behind her. “You sounded down, did something happen?”

“Mommy!” Amelia exclaimed, running into my arms like she didn’t ignore me when I was dropping her off. I laughed as I carried her inside the house, falling in step with my friend.

“Did you miss mommy?” I cooed.

She nodded. “I did. Aunt Ree gave me a lot of new toys. I’m playing dolls.”

“Did she now?” I narrowed my eyes on Reiya and she smiled sheepishly.

“Yes.” She wiggled around in my arms and I gently dropped her on the floor. “We were building a house for my doll before you came!”

“Can I join?”

“Nope.” She popped the p, shaking her head as she walked back into the living room. I followed behind her and truly, there were a lot of toys scattered around. I shook my head exasperatedly.

“I don’t have any more space for these, Reiya.”

“She can use them when she’s around.”

“She’ll want to take something home if not all.”

“Well, rent a bigger place. It’s not like you can’t afford it.”

She didn’t understand yet, but when she got her kids, she would get why I hated having so many toys around. I stared at Amelia as she went back to building her house. At least, one of us was having a good day. I could only hope she quickly got bored of the toys, so I wouldn’t have to bring them back home.

I tsked. Maybe I was spoiling her too much. Was I the problem? Or was Reiya the problem?

“So what’s wrong?” Reiya nudged me. “Are you going to tell me what happened this morning?”

I sighed, debating whether or not to tell her about what happened. When I first left, she told me that Jackson wanted to know where I was and wanted to update me on the things happening in his life, but she soon stopped when she realized I didn’t want to hear anything about him again.

We barely talked about him and I didn’t know if it was a good topic.

“You know you can tell me anything right? I can hear you fighting with yourself right now.”

I chuckled and turned to look at her. She was my best friend whom I shared everything with since we met each other in the first year of college. There was no point in hiding anything from her. I just didn’t want to come off as a weak bitch that still ran at the sight of her ex-husband.

“It turns out that our supposed big client is Jackson.”

“Jackson?” Reiya repeated as if trying to recall who I was talking about. “Wait, do you mean the Jackson? Like Jackson Clarke? That Jackson?”

I nodded.

“Oh my god! And the plot thickens!” I rolled my eyes at her theatrics. “How did it feel meeting your old man while you’re with your new man?”