The Hard Way Read online

  “Mom, there isn’t going to be a wife that I’ll share my success with,” Issac announced, and Charlene paused.

  She waved off his comment with her recently manicured hand and took a sip of champagne. “Young men always want to play the field. Don’t worry, you’ll find a woman worth settling down for.”

  “Settling down isn’t the problem—it’s the woman, Mom. You know this.” He turned his stare on to Gordon. “You both know this.”

  Gordon’s face fell into a deep frown. His salt and pepper moustache barely concealed his displeasure. “I just wish you would wait until I’m out of office to be loud and proud to the public. You know, just because you’re gay, you don’t have to be so in-your-face about it.”

  Issac scoffed. “I could not have been less in-your-face about it! I’m tired of turning down dates because it might make you look bad, and do you really want the approval of anyone that would look down their nose at you for having a gay son?”

  “You are not gay,” Charlene insisted. “So, you experimented, it happens. You’re bisexual at most.”

  “Mom, I’m gay, I’ve always been gay, I’m pretty sure. I hate that you act like this is news every time I come to dinner.”

  Gordon interjected, “I don’t personally care who you lie down with, but the deputy mayor’s son can’t be seen driving around town with his boyfriend! It could cost the mayor votes in the upcoming election. Don’t you care about what would happen to your family if Mayor Barrett didn’t win again?”

  “You’re not going to guilt me into hiding who I am.”

  Gordon smirked and wiped the dressing on his hands onto a napkin. He threw the oily streaked cloth onto his plate and nodded at Charlene. “I’ll tell you one thing, Issac. You can parade around Baltimore with six guys a day if you want, but you will not have anything to do with this family.”

  Tristan raised his head, his eyes looking from Gordon to Issac.

  Issac pushed his chair back from the table and got to his feet. “You do what you have to do, Dad,” he spat, as he waved goodbye at Charlene, who had balled up her fists and her chin trembled.

  “Way ahead of you, son!” Gordon’s voice called out as Issac let the front door of his father’s suburban home slam shut. He climbed inside of his car and fumbled with putting the key in the ignition. His hand steadied and he slid the key in. He turned the radio up as far as it would go, and peeled out of the driveway.

  I don’t need them. I’m not a lost kid anymore. I know who I am.

  Chapter 5

  “Will you be able to come see me in the play tomorrow, Daddy?” Jade asked, as Noah gathered his notes, phone, and laptop. He kissed her on the forehead.

  “Not this time, sweetheart.”

  The bottom of Jade’s lip began to curl as she started up, “Daddy! Ever since you got your new job, you don’t do anything with me anymore.”

  Noah paused as he was heading out of the door. “Jade, I’ve been to all of your other plays this year. This time, your Dad and Andrew will be at the play. They’re going to record it for me, so I’ll be able to see how well you did when I pick you up on Sunday.” He zipped his coat up, and waved goodbye to Madeline.

  “Please make sure that Jade does her homework before Cullen gets here, Mom.”

  Madeline wrapped Jade up in a big hug and nodded. “It’ll get done. You just focus on your case.”

  “Cases!” Noah called back as the door closed behind him. He hurried over to his car and eased into the seat. Ever since he started at the law firm, he hadn’t stopped moving. On his second day, he checked his case counter and he had been assigned two cases. When he reached his two-month mark, he had already closed thirty cases. His attendance at Jade’s after-school plays had lessened, and Madeline was dropping Jade off at Cullen’s more and more these days. Noah used most of his weekends to sort through his notes for every client and to plan his opening statement for the court date.

  It’s not like the workaholic persona he had adopted hadn’t been paying off. It was the first time in years that he hadn’t been strapped for cash. For once, he could afford to give Jade everything that her little heart desired. Noah had begun looking for a new car, and there was a rumor circulating around that Noah may get moved to the second floor. However, Noah did admit that he hadn’t allowed himself much time to celebrate. His colleagues at Walsh offered to take him out for drinks when he won a big case, but Noah had already moved onto the next one while they were celebrating his win.

  Members of the grounds-keeping staff were scraping piles of snow onto larger fluffy white piles as Noah pulled into the parking lot. Baltimore had received a fresh batch of snow overnight despite not having recovered from the last snow storm.

  “Good morning, Kevin!” Noah called out as he hurried inside, not wanting to linger outside. Kevin, a slightly younger man, waved at him and then bent his knees to pick up more snow.

  Noah took his gloves off as he headed towards the stairwell; Rhonda leaned over her desk as she saw him walk by.

  “Good morning, Noah!”

  “Good morning, Rhonda!” he said. There was a short series of thuds as Rhonda hurried over to him.

  “Congratulations on your case with that software company, I was really surprised that one of our guys won that one. The prosecution’s lawyer used to work for us a few years ago, first floor.”

  “Well, I’m happy to have done that for the firm.” Noah took long strides up the stairs, Rhonda heaved behind him.

  “Hey, I meant to tell you the other day that my niece is newly single. She could really go for a guy like you. Tall, handsome, young, good head on your shoulders.”

  Noah chuckled as he pushed open the door to the third floor. “That’s great, Rhonda. However, do you have any nephews instead?” he asked and grinned at Rhonda’s shocked gasp.

  “I had no idea! You? Men?” she pried, following him to his cubicle. The conversation had roused Issac’s interest; he turned his head towards them, shamelessly listening.

  “I have a daughter by an ex-boyfriend, Rhonda. I could have sworn that I mentioned that to everyone. Her name is Jade, she’s in second grade…”

  “Well, that’s all well and good but I didn’t know you were into men. I’ll ask my nephews if they’d like a date with a handsome, successful lawyer.”

  “Rhonda, I was kidding. I don’t have time to date anyone. I’ve got too much to focus on right now.”

  Issac chuckled. “Well, you’ll make time for the man that you want to make time for. Also, you need to make room for a little play time.” He raised his eyebrows, smirking at Noah.

  Rhonda’s head rotated between Issac and Noah, and then back to Issac before she finally shrugged her shoulders and walked away from their cubicle. She mumbled, “Are they all gay on the third floor?”

  Noah placed his laptop on his desk and waved a hand at Issac. “Easy for you to say. You only have to look out for yourself since you don’t have any children.”

  “Don’t remind me,” Issac said. “I would love to have a little girl or boy, maybe a husband.”

  Noah shrugged as he scrolled through the case counter. “Then why don’t you start looking for someone that you can settle down with?” he asked, then noted Issac’s suggestive glance. Noah cleared his throat. “Maybe someone you don’t work with.”

  Issac pushed his feet against the floor beneath his desk and rolled his chair over to Noah, his knees grazing against Noah’s thigh. “Hey, Noah?”

  “What?” Noah responded, notating the name of his new client on his notepad, and making a note to himself to give her a call later.

  Issac grinned, leaning forward and into Noah’s view. He pushed Noah’s laptop to the edge of the desk, despite Noah’s dirty look.

  “What are you doing tonight?” The question hung between them like a dare. Noah examined Issac and waited for him to say just kidding or something similar, but his eyes were glued onto Noah as he patiently waited for his response.

  “Are you seriou
s?” Noah asked.

  “Of course, I’m serious. I’m not proposing marriage, I’m just proposing dinner, maybe a couple of drinks. My treat,” Issac replied.

  “I’m going to go home, prep for court, and hope that I don’t spend too much time prepping that I forget to tuck my daughter in.”

  “You know, it’s not a turn-off to me that you have a kid.”

  “That’s great, some other single father will really like that about you.” Noah sighed and gestured at the placement of Issac’s leg. “Could you move your leg, please? And your whole self? I have a lot to do.”

  “So do I. I just wanted to help you relax after work today.”

  “I’m getting the feeling that you’re not used to being told no,” Noah said, redirecting his attention to his new case.

  “What do you mean?” Issac pried.

  Noah sighed and said, “Well, isn’t your father the Deputy Mayor? I’m pretty sure he’s always been nearby the most successful politicians in town, doing some sort of important work. You probably had a good life growing up, and you probably weren’t told no very often.”

  “You’re saying that I’m entitled? When I’ve worked just as hard as you to get here?”

  Noah chuckled, “You do not work as hard as me, Issac. I have seen you leave early plenty of times, and you’ve only won a handful of cases.”

  Issac held his hands up in defense. “You know, I hope all of the cases that you’ve won will keep you warm at night. You didn’t seem like a huge dick before.” He rolled his chair back over to his desk and logged onto his own computer.

  Noah chanced the occasional glance at him, his cheeks were flushed red, his eyes were narrowed, pretending to focus hard on whatever was on the screen. He’s probably not even that bad of a guy. He found his next case but the column had been split into two.

  What the hell? He clicked on the link to the case and in the space that would normally be reserved for the name of the lawyer there were two names: ISSAC FITZGERALD and NOAH WILSON.

  “Fuck,” Noah said, and Issac shifted in his seat. Issac’s palm was pressed against his face, and he lazily looked through his emails. Noah cleared his throat and rolled his chair over to Issac’s desk.

  Issac lifted his head and eyed Noah with caution.

  Maybe he thinks I’m about to deliver the final blow. Noah broke into a smile and clapped his hand on Issac’s shoulder. “So, we’re working our first case together! It’s going to be great.”

  “We are?” Issac asked.

  Fuck.

  Chapter 6

  Mitchell Lowe could definitely afford to sue. Issac and Noah wandered through Mitchell’s impressive home as Mitchell gave them a rundown of why he was suing Flex & Fit Enterprises.

  He’s definitely thinner, Noah noted, walking past photos of Mitchell with his wife and three daughters. Three, petite, blonde pixies were in the photos that hung on the walls, but Mitchell looked like a round ball of flesh stuffed into argyle sweaters and khaki pants.

  The man in front of him leading them through his extravagant home was almost as slim as Noah had been in his track days before he got pregnant with Jade. Mitchell’s muscles were defined, and Noah surmised that you could bounce a quarter off of his ass.

  Mitchell stopped his tour in his sitting room. He swung his arm out towards the couch and handed each of them a bottle of water.

  “I don’t know if you guys are the type of people to drink before five, but I feel awful if I don’t offer you a beverage. Especially since you’re going to help me take these Flex & Fit assholes down.”

  Issac took a long sip from his water bottle. “Let’s talk about these assholes, Mitchell.”

  Noah cast a glare at Issac, and Issac shrugged. “Why do you want to sue Flex & Fit? It looks like it’s done what it promised.”

  Mitchell ran a hand over his stomach, maybe something he had been used to doing for years before he shrank several pant sizes. “I’ve lost weight, I know. It looks like I swallowed three of me in any of our old family photos. But the man in those photos was a lot happier, he didn’t have any of the mood swings or liver damage that comes with using Flex & Fit products.”

  “Liver damage?” Noah repeated. He reached into his laptop bag and pulled out a steno pad; his pen clicked open and he scribbled their conversation across the page.

  “I started to feel strangely after about three months on the Flex & Fit pills, the weight was shedding fast, and I had looked better than I had in years. My wife was intimate with me again, I could help my kids practice tennis. But I began to feel sicker and sicker, and I didn’t want to believe that it was the pills. I had my annual physical recently, and I confided in my doctor that a small tremor had started in my left hand… and that my toes were becoming a yellowish color. He ran some tests and a few days later, I found out that I was on my way to complete liver failure if we didn’t do anything.”

  “How did you know that it was the pills, though?” Noah asked. “It’s not like I don’t believe you, but if this was the cause of something else, maybe heavy drinking or hepatitis, we may not have a real case here.”

  Issac scanned Noah’s expression for cues. How do I even begin to help? Noah’s perfectly good at this on his own.

  Mitchell scoffed as he caught a runaway tear on the back of his tanned hand. “I’m not a drunk, and I certainly do not have hepatitis,” he said.

  Issac leaned forward and placed his hand on top of Mitchell’s. “That’s not what we’re saying. We want to make sure that we’re presenting the right information to the judge before we take Flex & Fit to trial. How did you know it was the Flex & Fit weight loss pills?”

  Mitchell patted Issac’s hand and replied, “It turns out that the Flex & Fit weight loss pills have an abnormal amount of Acetaminophen. I was taking the pills sometimes four times a day. Fit & Flex actually suggests that you take six doses of two pills every day to keep the effects of the pill in motion, but I hated the way that I felt after four doses.”

  “Understandably,” Noah commented.

  Mitchell squeezed Issac’s hand. “If you could help me bring them to justice for this, and to let everyone else know that Fit & Flex is not here to make you thin but to profit off of your deteriorating body, I could really move forward.”

  “Of course.” Issac looked over to Noah, who had been furiously scribbling. Noah paused, and took a long sip of his water before returning his attention to Mitchell.

  When does he sleep, I wonder? Issac thought as Mitchell stood to his feet and extended his hand towards Noah. Noah set his materials down and shook Mitchell’s hands, flashing him a pageant smile. “Don’t worry. We will not let them get away with this.”

  Mitchell smiled at them and said, “Thank you.” He lead them back to the front door, as his home was big enough to get lost in that he wasn’t confident they could make it back without help. Noah and Issac discussed the case on the way back to Issac’s apartment. He had offered up his place as a space to review the details of Mitchell’s case since Noah had Jade to worry about at his home, and any restaurant would be too noisy.

  They pulled into the parking lot of the high-rise building where Issac had lived for the last two years. Noah took in the architecture of the building, the way two stone lions had been sculpted by the main entrance, the maintenance staff mulling about, and the absence of a door man.

  “The Deputy Mayor’s son can’t afford a building with a doorman? I’m shocked.”

  Issac bit down on his lip as they moved through the lobby, past the resident mailboxes and onto the elevator. Noah leaned against the wood paneled wall as the doors shut with a loud ding. Issac gripped the metal bar that lined the walls of the elevator. They were raised from floor to floor without interruption, with everyone at work for the day.

  I feel silly saying this moments before we walk into my apartment on the highest floor. “Noah, I don’t have this exorbitant amount of money that you keep referencing. I get told no all of the time, and you aren’t the f
irst man to turn me down for a date,” Issac stated.

  Noah’s eyes narrowed as he studied Issac. “Seriously? You’re still upset about that?”

  “Of course I am! I don’t take kindly to being treated like some spoiled rich kid.” The doors opened and an elderly woman with a colorful headwrap looked between the two of them as she stepped onto the elevator. Issac hurried off, grasping the cuff of Noah’s sleeve as he went.

  The hallway smelled of apricots. A large window was at the end of the hall, allowing all of the available sunlight to illuminate the floor.

  Noah fixed his dubious expression. “Look, I’m sorry for offending you. You came on a little strong, and I couldn’t help but notice that no didn’t seem good enough to you.”

  Issac marched towards his apartment, number 1002, and Noah followed behind him, bracing himself for a response from Issac. Issac unlocked the door and Noah felt his apology from earlier go by the wayside.