Advice of Counsel (The Samuel Collins Series Book 1) (5 page)

“I was waiting for you to ask me.  It’s obvious that you like
to be in control.”

“Funny, I’ve noticed the same thing about you,” she fired back.

I pulled her to me and kissed her again, another long drawn-out
one, and when I pulled away from her it was only with considerable effort.

“Name a time and place and I’ll be there,” I told her.

“Friday night,” she said smiling.  “You can pick me up at my
house.  Do you have a tux?”

“For what?”

“A 50th wedding anniversary party.”

“You set me up!”

She gave me a look that included curling her bottom lip into a
pout and batting her eyelashes.  “Pleeeease!”

I knew I had been conned, but I didn’t care.  In truth, the
idea of going out in public with Landra Krally all dressed up in formal gear
sounded pretty damn good.

“All right.  But you’ll owe me big time.”

“You’ll go?” she said, wrapping her arms around my neck again. 
“Awesome!”

I undraped her arms from my neck.  “Now get out of here and go
home.” I directed her back through the living room towards the door.

“You’re kicking me out?” she exclaimed, laughing.

“Damn right,” I said.  The Siamese was sitting on the hearth
again.  “And take that bastard with you.”

The cat looked at me and hissed, and Landra laughed and scooped
him up in her arms and let him out the front door.  She took my hand and pulled
me down one step below her so that we were eye level with each other, then she
wrapped her arms back around my neck and gave me a good night kiss that somehow
managed to top the first two.  I was about to pull her back inside and take her
straight back to my bedroom, when she abruptly ended the kiss and bounded down
my steps all in one motion.

“Bye Sam,” she said, without turning back, but I knew she had a
smile on her face because there was laughter in her voice.

“That’s Samuel to you,” I called out, and I could hear her
laughing as she crossed the street into Mrs. Howard’s yard and disappeared into
the house.

I went back inside and took a cold shower while I contemplated
how big a fool I was for getting involved with Landra Krally.  But then I
thought . . .
Fuck it.  I like her.
  Anyway, it wasn’t the first stupid
thing I’d done in my life.   I searched through my closet and found my tux and
set it out so I’d remember to take it to the dry cleaners in the morning, then
I looked through some files I’d brought home from the office.  It was
impossible to concentrate because the kitchen scene kept interrupting my
thoughts.  I couldn’t wait to kiss her again.  I eventually gave up on the
files and went to bed, and when I finally fell asleep, it was with visions of
Landra in that hot little exercise number running through my head.  It was the
best night’s sleep I’d had in ages.

True to her word, Mrs. Howard was knocking on my door at 8:00 a.m. the next morning, and I found myself actually glad to see her.  Funny how a
man’s stomach can overrule his mind in matters involving food.  The stomach and
the Old Fella are a lot alike in that respect.  They both have the capacity to
think for themselves, almost like they’re separate entities within a man’s
body, and they can both make a man do things he would never do otherwise.

“Good morning, Mrs. Howard.”

“Hi, Sam,” she said happily.  She looked kind of tired and the
bun on her head was not as tidy as it usually was.

“You doing okay today?” I asked her, taking the basket of
muffins and looking under the napkin. 
Blueberry.

“Oh, I’m fine.”

“I’ll give these back to you,” I said, handing her the two
baskets and napkins from the muffins she had brought over the previous week. 
Now that she had me hooked, I had to make sure she had a good supply on hand so
she’d have no reason to cut me off.

“What did you think of Landra?”  Her eyes were sparkling and I
got the feeling she knew exactly what I thought of Landra.

“I think she’d drive me crazy if I gave her the chance.  She
conned me into taking her to some function Friday night.”

Mrs. Howard laughed.  “I know.  She told me.  Landra is a very
head-strong girl, but you seem to know how to handle her.”

What did they do?  Sit up the night before and talk about what
went on in my kitchen?  I dug into the basket and ate one of the muffins.

“How do you make such good muffins?” I asked, deliberately
changing the subject.

“I just have the best recipes.  I’m glad you like them, dear,”
she said, giving me a toothy grin.  “I’ll let you get to your office now.”

“Okay.  Thanks, Mrs. Howard.”

I was busy at the office that week and the first three days
flew by.  I wondered if Landra would call or stop by when she was visiting Mrs.
Howard, but I hadn’t heard a word from her.

On Thursday, I made my way into the office around 9:00 o’clock
and returned phone calls for the first two hours.  It was just past 11:00 o’clock when Penny knocked on my door and came in. She had standing instructions
that, barring an emergency, I was not to be disturbed if my door was closed, so
I knew that the shit had hit the fan for whoever was on hold.

“It’s Maddie Griffin, and she sounds close to tears,” Penny
said, pointing to the phone. “She insisted I disturb you.”

“That’s okay.”  I picked up the phone. “What happened?”

“I guess the company got their copy of my discrimination
charge.  Larry’s giving me such a hard time, Samuel.  He’s giving me all this
shit-work to do, and he’s saying horrible things to me.”

“Are you in your office right now?”

“Yeah, but I’m on my cell phone.”  She said it like
sale
phone
.  “Hold on a second.  Someone’s at my door.”  She put the phone down
and what I overheard next floored me.

“Listen, bitch,” a man said.  “You try to bring me down and
I’ll make you look like the biggest slut on the planet.  How do you think the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s going to react if I tell them we had
sex in my office?”

“Get out,” I heard Maddie say.

“I’ll leave when I’m good and ready.”

“Get out of my office, Larry.”

“Sit down and shut up or I’ll write you up for
insubordination.  That’s better.  Now . . . here’s how it’s going to work. 
You’re going to march those big tits of yours right back to the EEOC and
withdraw your charge.”

“Or else?”

“Or else I’ll make your life so miserable here at Datacare
you’ll wish it was you that died in that accident instead of your husband.”

Keep your cool Maddie
.  Let that asshole dig his own
grave.

I heard a door slam and Maddie was back on the phone.  “Did you
hear that?”

“Every word.”  I had just become a witness in our lawsuit, a
fact that had the possibility of coming back to haunt me down the road.

“I’m so mad I’m shaking.  I’ve got to get out of here.”

“Don’t drive when you’re so upset.  I’ll come get you and take
you to lunch.  Where can I pick you up?”

She hesitated for a second before answering.  “I guess in front
of the main building.”

I looked at my watch.  “I’ll be there in 15 minutes.”

“Okay.”

“Hey, Maddie!”  I caught her just before she hung up.  “Think
dollar signs, and add a zero every time that asshole says something like that.”

She managed the slightest laugh.  “Thanks, Samuel.”

San Antonio is a culture all its own, with its rich Hispanic
heritage, and nowhere is this more apparent than in its cuisine.  In a city
where the breakfast taco has made the little brown bag an institution, and the
all night Mexican eateries draw as big a crowd at 2:00 a.m. on the weekends as
they do for their lunch crowd, Tex-Mex restaurants rule.

The locals know that the best Mexican restaurants are the ones
that would make tourists raise their eyebrows.  From the outside, they look
seedy as hell, but these are the mom-and-pop establishments that dish out a
Mexican plate how it’s supposed to be.

I took Maddie to my favorite hole-in-the-wall, and we sat at a
tiny table for two right by the window.  The décor of the tiny restaurant
changes with the season, and that day they had a paper chain of bright colored
birds draped from one end of the place to the other.  I ordered a deluxe
Mexican plate, which consists of two enchiladas, rice, beans, a taco and a
chalupa, and homemade flour tortillas on the side.  Maddie ordered a hamburger.

“A hamburger?  I’ve eaten here a thousand times and not once
have I ordered a
hamburger,
” I told her.

“Mexican restaurants always have good burgers.”

That was news to me, but sure enough, it looked pretty good
when it came.  I ate everything on my plate then sopped up the sauce with two
homemade flour tortillas, while we discussed strategy for Maddie’s case.

It was obvious that her boss wasn’t going to go easy on her. 
Larry was an asshole, and that was all there was to it.  I just hoped he didn’t
turn out to be a dangerous asshole.  From what I’d heard on the phone, he
sounded like he could play dirty.  And while I wasn’t worried about beating him
in a courtroom, I didn’t want to have to worry about Maddie’s safety.

“Do you think he’d ever physically hurt you?”

“I don’t think so.  He’s the worst control freak I’ve ever
met.  He doesn’t like his subordinates to talk to any of his superiors, even in
casual conversation.  Almost like he’s paranoid that we’re going over his head
or something.  He’s definitely weird . . . but I’m not scared of him, put it
that way.”

I gave Maddie a micro-cassette recorder to take back to the
office with her and told her to try to record any conversations when Larry came
into her office like he had done that morning.  She was in much better spirits
when I dropped her back off at Datacare.  I, on the other hand, was in no shape
for work.  Eat that much Mexican food for lunch and you realize why Mexicans
take a mid-day siesta.  Their food hits you like a sleeping pill.   I decided
to go home early and relax by my pool.

It was a beautiful day without a cloud in the sky, and I had
just pulled into my driveway when Landra came across the street and met me at
my car.

“Hi, Sam.”  She was all dressed up in a black suit with a short
skirt that showed off her legs and a matching jacket with a tight white shirt
underneath. She had done something to her hair to make it look really full and
it had this messy, sexy look, like bed-head.  She looked damn good and I
realized I had missed her.

“Where have you been?” I said, looking her up and down and
motioning to her outfit.

“Working on funding for the shelter.  Have you missed me?”

“Honestly?  No.”

“You’re such a liar.  I can tell by the smile on your face that
you’re glad to see me.”

“You didn’t ask if I was glad to see you.  You asked if I
missed you.”

“Yeah, but you missed me
and
you’re glad to see me.”

“Don’t you have some place you need to be?”  I started off
towards my mailbox and Landra followed beside me.

“Yeah, but I’ve got a couple of minutes.  Are we still on for
tomorrow?”

I acted like I had no idea what she was talking about.  “What
do you mean?  What’s tomorrow?”

She took my arm and pulled me to a stop.  “The party!  It’s
tomorrow night.  You said you’d take me!”

I let a couple of seconds tick off like I was trying to
remember, then I started laughing.  “Gotcha!”

She slugged me in the chest.  “Jerk.  What are you doing home
so early, anyway?”

“I didn’t feel like working.  What time should I pick you up
tomorrow?”

“How about 7:00 o’clock?”

“Seven it is.  I’m looking forward to it,” I told her.

Landra’s face lit up.  “You are?”

I held my fingers about a millimeter apart.  “Just a little.”

She laughed and I really wanted to kiss her again – and I
didn’t want to wait until our date.

“Me too,” she said.  She took my hand and squeezed it, then she
leaned in and gave me a quick kiss on the lips.  “I’ve got to go.  I’ll see you
tomorrow.”

I pulled her back to me and hooked my arm around her neck and
kissed her again, and it turned into what I’ve come to refer to as the
mailbox
kiss
.  It was slow and intense, with neither of us making any effort to
bring it to a conclusion.  We were right out there by the street and Landra had
her arms wrapped around my waist and her body was pressed up right against
mine.  I was totally engrossed in the kiss, unaware of anything going on around
us.

Well, I guess she leaned against me a little too hard, and
somehow I lost my balance.  We fell back against the mailbox, and the damn
thing came completely off its post and crashed into the street.  The sound of
the metal box hitting the asphalt was deafening, alerting the neighborhood that
something was going down.  I fell and landed on my butt in the grass and Landra
landed on top of me, and within seconds, neighbors came running like ants from
every direction.

I was laughing so hard I could barely talk.  “Are you okay?” I
asked Landra.

“Yeah, are you?”

“I’m fine.  Damn you’re heavy!”  She was still lying on top of
me, laughing and making no effort to get off.

“I am not!” she said insulted.  She rolled off and sat in the
grass, and I sat up and started picking leaves and grass out of her hair.  We
were both still laughing when Mrs. Howard arrived with a worried expression on
her face, followed shortly thereafter by Andy and Verna, and two neighbors I’d
never met.  I wondered how much of the show they’d caught.

“Are you two okay?” Andy called out.

“We’re fine,” I said, getting to my feet and helping Landra
up.  If she was embarrassed, she didn’t show it. 

“Hi Andy, Verna,” Landra called out.  I dusted her off in a
couple of spots and picked some more leaves out of her hair.  If the neighbors
hadn’t been there, I would have picked up right where we’d left off.

“Did you see how she was all over me?” I asked the group.

Landra’s eyes got real big and she opened her mouth like she
was going to say something, but she slugged me instead.  The neighbors were all
smiles.  They were obviously happy about the prospect of a romance between the
neighborhood darling and the new neighbor.

I picked the mailbox up out of the street and held it upside
down, looking for the bolt that held it to the post, but it wasn’t there.  I
was looking on the ground close to where the mailbox had landed, when Landra
tapped me on the shoulder. She took my hand and placed the bolt in it, then
folded my fingers closed.

“Wanna screw?”  she asked, with a big smile on her face.

“More than anything,” I told her.

Landra laughed.  “I’ve got to get out of here before I lose my
job,” she said.  “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See ya tomorrow,” I said, still laughing.

I was keenly aware of the neighbors watching me watch her cross
the street.  She got in her car and backed into the street, and pulled up
beside me with her window down.

“Bye, Sam.”

“Goodbye, Landra.”

I spent the rest of the afternoon being lazy.  The truth was, I
was having a hard time getting Landra out of my mind.  I kept replaying the
mailbox kiss in my head, and I could just imagine how it must have looked to
the neighbors.  Not that I cared one way or the other what they thought.  If
I’d witnessed something like that, I would have laughed my ass off.  They were
all way too polite to do that.

I had just come in from sitting by my pool when my doorbell
rang and I opened the door to find Maddie, Oliver and the baby on my front
porch.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” Maddie asked.  She was still
in her work clothes.

The baby was remarkably clean, so I invited them inside.  “Can
I get you something to drink?”

She and Oliver spoke at the same time.  “No, we’re fine,”
Maddie said.

“I’m so thirsty,” Oliver said dramatically.  “I’m 150 miles
thirsty.”

“Wow.  Then we better get you something to drink,” I told him. 
“You want a beer?”

Oliver laughed.  “Kids don’t drink beer.  May I have some milk
please?”

I find that a kid’s manners say a lot about his parents, and
the more time I spent with Oliver, the higher Maddie rose on my parent-rating
scale. I poured him a glass of milk and handed it to him and he drank it down
on the spot, then set his glass down by the sink.

“I’m really hungry too,” Oliver said, but this time Maddie
protested.

“It’s okay,” I told her.  I looked at Oliver, “What are you
hungry for?”

He seemed to be thinking really hard about it.  “What do you
have?” he finally asked.