The Lawyer by Alice Bright Read Free Book Online

classes and my job. I made a mental note to plan something special for us to do this weekend. We both had Saturday off, so maybe we could go on a hike or see a movie. We needed to do something. We’d still made love over the last few weeks, but there hadn’t been a lot of time for “us.” Part of what I liked about living together was actually getting to see my boyfriend, so the fact that we never saw each other was hard.
              Just then, Alex’s 9:00 client walked in and pulled me from my thoughts.
              “Good morning, Mr. Drew,” I greeted him with a smile. “I’ll let Alex know you’re here.”
              I knocked gently on Alex’s door before I walked inside.
              “Hey, Mr. Drew is here for you when you’re ready.”
              “Thanks, Elizabeth. Oh, and Liz?”
              “Yes, Mr. Smith?”
              “I apologize for my abruptness earlier. I had no reason to be tart with you and I apologize for my rudeness.”
              “It’s fine.”
              “It’s not fine. It was unbecoming and I’ll work on being more calm when I get to the office. It was a rough morning and I didn’t mean to take it out on you.”
              I gave Alex a soft smile. “It’s really okay,” I told him. “I understand that you have a pretty challenging job.”
              “Liz?”
              “Yes, Alex?”
              "You look really beautiful today.”

Chapter 8
                  Alex let me go home early since he had appointments away from work during the afternoon. I decided to surprise Tim with his favorite foods since I knew he was off work today. I ordered take out from his favorite restaurant, which, coincidentally enough, was the restaurant we’d had our first date at. Neither one of us were particularly fancy or extravagant, but we both loved good food.
              The meal was still hot when I arrived home and pulled up into the driveway. I was surprised to see a car parked out front. Maybe he had some friends over to study for the upcoming anthropology test. It had been a challenging course and he had been studying more and more for it.
              I hurried inside and dropped the bags of food on the kitchen counter. The smell of fresh chicken and mashed potatoes began to waft deliciously throughout our tiny home. The living room and kitchen were both surprisingly empty, but maybe the car outside hadn’t been one of his friends, after all. Occasionally the neighbor across the street would park in our space when she had too many people over. I headed down the hall to the bedroom and opened the door to see if Alex was inside.
              “Hey, Sweetie,” I called out as I walked in.
              “Oh, shit!” Tim called out as I opened the door, tumbling off the bed in a pile of blankets.
              “It’s just me, Sweetie,” I said, walking into the room. Had it been this messy this morning? And why was Alex in bed in the middle of the day?
              “What are you doing home so early?” Tim asked, standing up and revealing his fully nude body.
              “I brought you lunch to surprise you,” I said, eyeing him curiously. “Why are you naked?”
              “I-uh…”
              No. It couldn't be. I tried not to let my mind think the worst of the situation. After all, Tim would never cheat on me. He just wouldn't. He wouldn't do that to me. He wouldn't hurt me like that. We'd been having problems, sure, but what couple didn't? You just worked through it when you had a problem, right? And eventually things got better...right?
              I heard a sound from the bathroom