Power of Attorney: A Novel (A Greenburg Family Book 1) (8 page)

In the end, the pork chop never came. Sarah canceled their orders and grabbed a coffee before heading back home with Patrick in tow. Surprisingly, Patrick did not refute her allegation. He couldn’t really, since he knew that she knew he had lied. Actually, he hadn’t spoken a word since then. He just followed her silently like a good shadow bodyguard.

Sarah also
stayed quiet, mostly because she didn’t know what to say. Yes, Patrick had interrupted her date. True, she didn’t know why. But instead of feeling angry at him for prying into her personal affair, she felt nothing.

When they had gotten close to her building, she couldn’t stand the silence anymore. She turned and said,
“You know; Henry told me a thing or two about how you took care of him when you guys were little. You seemed like a very good big brother.” Patrick just looked at her, and then stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. She’s never seen him at a loss of words to this extent. “But I don’t think that lying to your brother is a good move from someone like you.”

It was conspicuous of Patrick to lie.
Why would he? He’s a man who never pulled a punch, always told it just like it was no matter who he hurt and what was at stake.

“Patrick, look at me.” She waited until his eyes were finally meeting hers. “Why did you lie to Henry?”

Even as Sarah asked him the question, Patrick remained silent. Not a single word or even a gesture for her to read. It looked as if Patrick shut down the working function of his brain, and all he could do was stand there. It remained like that a long time before Sarah finally turned away.

Either he had no idea how to excuse himself
, which never happened unless that person he was arguing with was Jane or he was still thinking about how to say it. Whatever the reason, Sarah gave up trying to get a word out of him and continued to walk to her apartment.

The sky
was getting dark as the soft rumbling sound of the thunder rolled across the town. People started to head back into their shelter. Sarah reached her apartment in time to get away from the rain that started to drizzle down lightly. The moment she got to the room; the drizzle turned into a heavy shower with strong wind. The rattling sound of rain hitting the window was a good indicator that Patrick wasn’t going anywhere at that moment. And she didn’t have the heart to toss him out in the rain.

“Well, now
I’m stuck with you. Better behave Greenburg, you’re on my turf now.” She couldn’t help but smirk and then felt bad when the expression on Patrick’s face reminded Sarah of a kicked puppy. The rain didn’t look like it would stop anytime soon either. Until then, he was stuck inside Sarah’s home.

Sarah was thankful that she cleared most of her stuff
away and had given her small living area a thorough cleaning. She was wasn’t in the mood for a lecture on organization if Patrick ever decided to speak again anytime soon. He was always scolding her whenever she misplaced things in their office. She took off her coat and went straight to the kitchen for a drink.

“Want anything? No alcohol though
. I’m keeping it for my bad days.”

“I was trying to help him
.” Sarah stopped when she heard Patrick’s voice. It was the first time that he spoken since the restaurant, and his voice was quiet and soft, a tone Sarah had never heard from him before. She said nothing, didn’t even move a muscle. She only stood where she was and stayed silent.

“I know that you two wouldn’t work out. Not because you are bad or that Henry’s bad. I just know that you two wouldn’t go far or even if you two did, it would end up
in heartbreak. At least for Henry anyway.” Sarah knew she should feel offended, after all, how could Patrick know anything about their relationship. Every part of her brain screamed for her to shout back something to him, or throw something perhaps. However, her heart knew that what he said was partially true. Sarah knew that deep down she still felt that Henry was more of a friend than an actual boyfriend. She still felt the pang of the uncomfortable formality of their first date. Sarah wished it was different, but nothing could change what was true.

“You don’t know that. You don’t know me
, Patrick” It was the only thing Sarah could think of responding back.

“I think you underestimate my ability to judge people
, Sarah. I might not have been fond of you the first time we met, but I think I know you enough to tell you aren’t as emotionally involved in your relationship as he is. You like him, but not the same way that he likes you.”

“But
…” she sputtered. “Was it worth a lie, that big scene at the restaurant? Don’t you think a simple conversation would have made more sense? Besides, can’t he figure it out on his own or at least let us figure it on our own? Henry’s a grown man, Patrick. I know how much you love him, but not like this.”

“Trust me I know
that now, I’m an imbecile when it comes to emotions.” Patrick knew what he had done. He was very aware of the consequence he might need to face after this. He didn’t know if he could look at Henry ever again. “I guess that’s what I did all my life, let people down. Especially, people who are important to me.”

Sarah was
confused; she didn’t understand what he meant. She turned to face him. Patrick wasn’t the same man she knew at that moment. The person in front of her right now was a little boy from Henry’s story. A vulnerable child stuck in the body of a man. It was the first time she had seen the layer beneath the cold and composed armor that Patrick wore. He looked forborne, lost. Sad. His hands were fidgeting which was unusual. He couldn’t meet her eyes.

“You don’t mean that,”
she said, but Patrick was shaking his head in dismay.

“I know you probably heard about our parents from Henry.
He’s the kind that likes to share stories.” Patrick sucked in a deep breath before letting out a huge sigh. “But you heard it from his point of view. I will tell you mine.”

She
touched his arm and led him to the sofa, urging him to sit. She chose a chair, and when she was settled, he began.

“One day, dad took me out to meet someone. His
‘old friend,’ as he told me, who had come back from Europe. She was nice though. We hung out in the park together and then we went to the restaurant to eat. And when we went back, dad asked me if I liked her. I said ‘yes, she’s really nice.'”

Patrick heaved a sign and rubbed him temples before running his hand
over his face. “That was how he argued with mom the next day. He said, ‘Patrick even like her, he said she’s really nice.’ One week after that, they divorced.” Patrick’s voice was shaking. The memory of that day had haunted him like a shadow that never left his side. It became the mark that he could not get rid of.

“My mom couldn’t look at me for months
, but I couldn’t go with dad. Not when he use my words as an excuse for himself. I trusted him. I let myself befriend that woman and essentially gave him my permission to replace my mom. I swore to myself that I would never trust someone that easily if my own father could hurt me like that.” he voice trailed off; he didn’t need to continue.

Sarah felt as if there was a snake coiled
within her heart as she listened to Patrick. She couldn’t imagine what Patrick must feel like right now, remembering himself as that helpless little boy.

“I let my mom down. I let Henry down. I
’m sure that when you walked in my office on that day, I let you down too.”

Sarah’s stomach dropped
as she listened because she knew it was partially true. Patrick was nothing like she expected; she had been let down. She couldn’t help that she felt that way; he was rude, perfectly horrible. But she didn’t think he was horrible now.

“
It’s true. You were nothing like what I was expecting and I was taken by surprise by your behavior and attitude,” I could do nothing but agree. “But, I know for a fact that you are the best lawyer out there. I mean, you might not know this but you actually are the inspiration for many law students out there. We look … I look … up to you.” Sarah wasn’t lying; she wasn’t the only one who was inspired by Patrick. There were many others who keep pushing on because they wanted to be just like him.

“I know that seems like we
worshipped you or something, but you give a lot of hope to people there.” She wanted to say that he gave her hope, but she knew he already knew that.

“And from what I can see, whatever happened between your parents wasn’t your fault
.”

He interrupted her, lifting his hand to halt her words.
“I gave my dad the reason-”

She
interrupted him right back. “It was
his
decision to use those words Patrick; you were a child. He was trying to justify his actions and was prepared to use any weapons he could. There’s no way you could have known the consequence of your words, no way to even know why he was asking you that question. You were a child.” she stressed.

Patrick
used to win against everyone but ever since this woman came into his life, she has left him speechless on many occasions. There was something interesting about Sarah that Patrick couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

“You are just a human, Patrick. I
know it might be too late to say this,” because she once expected too much of him too, “but I think you did a good job so far. You’ve done so much for Henry, even Henry agrees with that. Your move today might not be the best or most honest, but your intentions were good.” Sarah took a second to collect herself. “Patrick, I might not love Henry the way he wants but I can tell you do. If there is one person who wishes him nothing but happiness and love, it’s you.”

Sarah watched Patrick’s face shift from disbelief to uncertainty and finally to peace.
She knew he put so much pressure on himself to be perfect. Maybe for a second he could let that go.

“Thank you, Sarah. It means a lot
for you to say that,” Patrick whispered quietly. “You know, I think you’re the first person to ever praise me as a brother. I didn’t know how much I needed to hear it.” He smiled this time. Not the usual smirk he gave her when they were spatting in the office, but a real, genuine smile of relief. Sarah moved back to the sofa and sat beside him, holding his hands with her warm one.

“That’s what partners are for
, right? Admit it, you can’t do a thing without me.”

“I was fine on my own
.” Patrick chuckled a little, and it made Sarah smile too.

“Well, I made your work a lot better. I
t would have taken you ages to schedule the jury on your own.”

“
You’re right,” Patrick agreed and raised his eyes up to meet her. They were full of that light again, the light she fell in love with. “You make a lot of things better.”

Somehow,
as they were staring at each other, the distance between them grew less and less. Sarah couldn’t take her eyes off him. Her hand ghosted to his cheek as she tried to draw into that little smile she had never seen before. She wished this was how Patrick looked every day. Still, she wouldn’t mind the grumpy Patrick, not after she had gotten used to it now. It was a part of him, and there was nothing about him she would change.

The kiss came so naturally that Sarah wondered if
it was meant to be. It wasn’t a heated kiss but a slow passionate one, full of comfort and relief. Their foreheads touched as their arms encircled the other. There were no words between them, only the soft sound of their breath, their lips.

That sank into each other, kisses deepening and before long, they found themselves in
Sarah’s room.

Their hands traced over each other, becoming familiar, stripping layer upon layer of clothes away.  Outside of clothes, then inside of clothes
which were gently removed. Why hurry when they had all the time in the world?

Through half-closed eyes, Sarah enjoyed watching Patrick’s
passionate face. He looked cute with those rosy cheeks, much to her amusement. Sarah laughed a little when Patrick struggled with his pants and was glad she didn’t choose to wear jeans today or it might have ended up with a lot of frustration. She lay down on her queen sized bed, the one she never thought she wouldn’t share with anyone.

They took their time and
used precaution, wanting everything to last. Everywhere their skin touched left goose bumps. The cold air of the room made the heat of their skin stand out more than ever before. Patrick’s lips brushed Sarah’s ears causing her to whimper. His breath tickled as he trailed a path down to her neck.

His other hand trailed down
to her navel and explored her body with the gentlest of touch. Further down it moved, burning a trail until for the first time he touched her most private parts. The pleasure was enormous, and her legs unconsciously spread apart as she welcomed the foreign intrusion that had never felt so sweet. Every time he moved, she couldn’t help but let out a soft sigh of bliss. Still, she knew this was just the beginning.

Slowly, he moved within her
, one finger and then another. Sweat rolled from her eyebrows; her throat was parched from her breathy moans.

He caressed her, filled her with his fingers and moved his body between her legs. She welcomed him, welcomed this and nearly cried out as he pushed into her body.