Three's Company

22. Faithful

Heath saw her again. Not because he wanted to, but because he realised he had made a huge error. A minor hiccup had resulted in him standing on her doorstep at seven a.m., dressed in a clean suit and polished shoes.

She opened the door in the middle of her farm chores. Since she was accustomed to waking up early, she had on a pair of slinky flare bottoms and a matching sweetheart top.

Before she could tell him to fuck off as she should, he cleared his throat. "That's not why I'm here." He sighed, his well-groomed appearance made him seem more attractive than usual, but she could see how tired his eyes were. "I have a big trial at noon, and one of the court orders I'm serving is in the fucking study. I locked it in the bottom drawer before leaving, and I need it now. I don't have much time before I have to go to court."

Her face immediately fell. "Oh."

He gave her a sidelong glance and motioned behind her, her expression frozen. "Can I come in and get the file?"

He was frantic, but because it was him, she felt her tense shoulders relax. "Um, sure, yeah."

He didn't say anything else before walking into the house with a simple head nod.

He dashed into the study, letting her brown eyes take him in.

There was something wrong with him. He was anxious, she didn't have to ask him to know that. Even more so than usual. Despite his well-groomed appearance, there was an air of uncertainty around him.

She wondered if he had gotten any sleep, it wasn't unusual for him to act like this when he was doing a big case. And clearly, this one was huge.

Heath was a lawyer, if that wasn't obvious by now. He was a hotshot city lawyer who was very good at his job.

Well, duh. Lawyers had to be good at lying, and he seemed to be naturally gifted at it.

She walked into her kitchen as he tore apart the study, trying to find the file, knowing what he was like on the mornings of his court hearings. "Fuck!" As she passed by, she heard him curse.

Yep. Something was clearly wrong.

Otto was ecstatic to see his father, running after him and barking for his attention. Despite her desire for the puppy's undivided attention, she decided the anxious man probably needed the company more and let him run after him.

When Mona entered the kitchen, the first thing she did was turn on the coffee machine. While she waited, she began taking cooking ingredients from the cupboards and arranging them on the countertop.

Her soft hum drifted in with the sizzle of the pan, pouring pancake batter on its skillet and waiting for the bubbles to appear before flipping them. It didn't take her long to slice up some strawberries and bananas she'd picked up on the farm that morning and place them in a small bowl.

By the time she had a plate of mini pancakes and coffee ready, he was rushing out of the study with a large black folder in his hands.

"I found the file, I'm good to go." He said, not paying her much attention. He seemed lost in his mind, finally able to breathe again. "Sorry for barging in like that."

His head lifted to catch her gaze, and he noticed the spread laid out for him.

"Don't you want to eat before you leave?" She inquired, a concerned expression on her face.