Page 8
Story: The Christmas Bet
“Well, that was actually my next question, so feel free to answer it anyway.”
Her eyebrows shoot up. “Wow, so smooth. You always have an answer for anything, don’t you.” She smiles up at me.
I shrug. “Comes with the territory. Lawyer and all. But I do believe I asked you a question.”
“Wow, still can’t stop being pushy. Seems you are an excellent lawyer.” She looks at me, then back at the path in front of us. We turn and cross onto 6th Avenue, making our way towards Central Park. “Well, let’s see. In my spare time, I like to hang out with friends and go to karaoke bars. But when I’m not doing that, I love to read.”
“Oh, so a reader? What kind of books do you read?” I raise my eyebrows at her.
“The smutty kind.” She chuckles.
I shake my head, wondering if I heard her right. “I’m sorry, what? The smutty kind?”
“Yeah. You know the romance books with the sexy stuff in them. You have the hunk of a book boyfriend that has it bad for the woman in the book. They do all sorts of sexy things together and then live happily ever after.” Allison smiles. “Also, my favorite color is purple. Oh, and blue. Well, I really like red too …”
“So, what you’re saying is you don’t have one favorite color, but you love them all.”
She crinkles her nose, “Um, yeah. Guess I do.”
“So, no room in that reading schedule for dates then?”
“Well, I’m here, aren’t I?” she bites back.
“Touché.” I laugh, and we fall silent for a block until I break it. “Does your family live out here?”
She doesn’t respond right away. “I only had my parents, and they passed away when I was eighteen.”
“Wow. I’m sorry.” I’m really racking up the wins on this one. I clear my throat and try to change the subject. “Look, I really am sorry. Despite the back and forth, you really are a beautiful woman who I’m thanking my lucky stars actually came out tonight for a date.” Despite my ass of a way of getting her here, but I leave that out.
“It’s all right. I needed to get out. It’s been a bad couple of weeks. So, I actually owe you a thank you.” The corners of her mouth turn down.
“What happened?”
She shakes her head. “It’s not important. But I do have a question for you. Did you always want to become a lawyer? When little Conner was running around the house, was he playing lawyer instead of cops and robbers?” Her lips turn up slightly, but her eyes stay glued to the ground ahead.
“No, actually. When I was little, I wanted to be a police officer.” I always wanted to make sure people got justice. I wanted to protect people, save the good from the bad. It’s always been in my blood, something that was taught to me at such a young age.
“What changed your mind?” Allison looks up at me, her brows pulling together.
I grip her arm a little tighter against mine for a moment. This is never an easy thing to talk about. I let out a sigh. “My father was a cop. When I was sixteen, he was killed in the line of duty.”
Allison gasps, “Oh, I’m so sorry, Conner.”
“He was just sitting in his car when someone came up and opened fire on him.” I pause for a moment. She pulls herself closer to me, and I can see the emotion locked on her face. “They arrested a guy, but he was later found innocent and that it was a case of mistaken identity. So, his killer was never caught, and a man’s life was ruined because of some horrible lawyer who was given to him by the state. There was no one to actually defend this guy. No one who gave a damn other than just blaming someone for my father’s death. So, in the process, two lives were ruined.”
“That’s when you decided to become a lawyer?”
“Yeah. After a year of this man’s life being dragged through the mud, I knew … I knew I needed to protect people like him.” I take a deep breath as I continue. “So, now I do. It may not be the way my father protected people, but I still get people justice.” I shrug. “I take on some cases of people that may not be able to afford a good lawyer. Pro bono work. It’s my way of fighting for what’s right.”
I look down at her as she looks up at me. She glances away, pushing the hair away that the wind blew into her face.
“I’m sorry you lost your father,” she says quietly.
I grip her arm tighter and nod. Around us carolers are already out and singing Christmas carols. I can hear Santas along the road ringing their bells as we continue down the sidewalk.
“It was a long time ago. And I think he would be proud of what I’ve become since then. But let’s change this topic. So, you read smut.” I curl my lips up and give her a sidelong look.
She throws her head back and laughs. “Of course you remember that.” We stop at the crosswalk and turn down Central Park. “My building’s right here.” She points to the building on our left after we cross. “Um, would you like to come up for a little bit? I have some beer or wine.”
Her eyebrows shoot up. “Wow, so smooth. You always have an answer for anything, don’t you.” She smiles up at me.
I shrug. “Comes with the territory. Lawyer and all. But I do believe I asked you a question.”
“Wow, still can’t stop being pushy. Seems you are an excellent lawyer.” She looks at me, then back at the path in front of us. We turn and cross onto 6th Avenue, making our way towards Central Park. “Well, let’s see. In my spare time, I like to hang out with friends and go to karaoke bars. But when I’m not doing that, I love to read.”
“Oh, so a reader? What kind of books do you read?” I raise my eyebrows at her.
“The smutty kind.” She chuckles.
I shake my head, wondering if I heard her right. “I’m sorry, what? The smutty kind?”
“Yeah. You know the romance books with the sexy stuff in them. You have the hunk of a book boyfriend that has it bad for the woman in the book. They do all sorts of sexy things together and then live happily ever after.” Allison smiles. “Also, my favorite color is purple. Oh, and blue. Well, I really like red too …”
“So, what you’re saying is you don’t have one favorite color, but you love them all.”
She crinkles her nose, “Um, yeah. Guess I do.”
“So, no room in that reading schedule for dates then?”
“Well, I’m here, aren’t I?” she bites back.
“Touché.” I laugh, and we fall silent for a block until I break it. “Does your family live out here?”
She doesn’t respond right away. “I only had my parents, and they passed away when I was eighteen.”
“Wow. I’m sorry.” I’m really racking up the wins on this one. I clear my throat and try to change the subject. “Look, I really am sorry. Despite the back and forth, you really are a beautiful woman who I’m thanking my lucky stars actually came out tonight for a date.” Despite my ass of a way of getting her here, but I leave that out.
“It’s all right. I needed to get out. It’s been a bad couple of weeks. So, I actually owe you a thank you.” The corners of her mouth turn down.
“What happened?”
She shakes her head. “It’s not important. But I do have a question for you. Did you always want to become a lawyer? When little Conner was running around the house, was he playing lawyer instead of cops and robbers?” Her lips turn up slightly, but her eyes stay glued to the ground ahead.
“No, actually. When I was little, I wanted to be a police officer.” I always wanted to make sure people got justice. I wanted to protect people, save the good from the bad. It’s always been in my blood, something that was taught to me at such a young age.
“What changed your mind?” Allison looks up at me, her brows pulling together.
I grip her arm a little tighter against mine for a moment. This is never an easy thing to talk about. I let out a sigh. “My father was a cop. When I was sixteen, he was killed in the line of duty.”
Allison gasps, “Oh, I’m so sorry, Conner.”
“He was just sitting in his car when someone came up and opened fire on him.” I pause for a moment. She pulls herself closer to me, and I can see the emotion locked on her face. “They arrested a guy, but he was later found innocent and that it was a case of mistaken identity. So, his killer was never caught, and a man’s life was ruined because of some horrible lawyer who was given to him by the state. There was no one to actually defend this guy. No one who gave a damn other than just blaming someone for my father’s death. So, in the process, two lives were ruined.”
“That’s when you decided to become a lawyer?”
“Yeah. After a year of this man’s life being dragged through the mud, I knew … I knew I needed to protect people like him.” I take a deep breath as I continue. “So, now I do. It may not be the way my father protected people, but I still get people justice.” I shrug. “I take on some cases of people that may not be able to afford a good lawyer. Pro bono work. It’s my way of fighting for what’s right.”
I look down at her as she looks up at me. She glances away, pushing the hair away that the wind blew into her face.
“I’m sorry you lost your father,” she says quietly.
I grip her arm tighter and nod. Around us carolers are already out and singing Christmas carols. I can hear Santas along the road ringing their bells as we continue down the sidewalk.
“It was a long time ago. And I think he would be proud of what I’ve become since then. But let’s change this topic. So, you read smut.” I curl my lips up and give her a sidelong look.
She throws her head back and laughs. “Of course you remember that.” We stop at the crosswalk and turn down Central Park. “My building’s right here.” She points to the building on our left after we cross. “Um, would you like to come up for a little bit? I have some beer or wine.”