See you again

Chapter 26

I heaved a sigh. I completely forgot. Aaron finished fighting his battle and I still had to fight my own. "Long time, no see, Chico," I said, immediately recognizing the lawyer. He flashed a closed grin. "Sorry to interrupt you, but I need to speak to you about your grandmother." Another squeeze was given to my hand."I figured as much... How did you even find me here?" I asked, standing up from Aaron's bed. "Lawyers have their ways." I narrowed my eyes at the man and rolled my eyes."I'll be back, Aaron." After closing the door behind me, I recognized a rather whiny voice coming from the waiting room.

As we approached closer, I saw Caitlyn harassing the secretary at the desk asking if she could visit Aaron. How did she even know he was here? My eyes widened and I clung to a wall trying not to be seen by her."What the heck are you doing?" Chico asked as his eyebrows scrunched upwards. "That girl can't see that I'm here," I said, nodding to Caitlyn with my head.

He shook his head while rolling his eyes. "You are an adult now, you shouldn't have to be worrying about trivial teenager problems anymore." I scoffed. "I believe 18 is still considered a teenager, Chico. Now come on, there's another waiting room on the other side of the building," I said, hastily getting away from Caitlyn's view. Chico shook his head as he followed me down the hall. "Who is she anyway? I saw her at your school earlier today." I stopped in my tracks and spun around to face him.

"So it's your fault she's here?"

"Why would it be my fault?"

"So you went to my school, figuring that I'd be in there, but I wasn't and you were directed here..." I thought for a bit and continued. "Well, absolutely no one knew about this surgery except Mrs. Kim in the attendance office because I had called her earlier this morning. And you probably shook her down for my whereabouts? And Caitlyn must have obviously been in the office as well and overheard..." I sighed. "And knowing her blabber mouth the entire school will now about this by the end of the day..." I trailed off. "With an intuition like yours, you should be an investigator or something. Or maybe even a, dare I say, a lawyer?" he suggested, continuing to walk down the hall.

"I really wouldn't want to use my intuition as a career. It seems kind of unfair to those who study so hard while it just kind of comes naturally to me."

"A lot of things in life are unfair."

"I think I, of all people, would understand the unfairness of life. I think I'd like to try and avoid it at all costs." Chico grew silent and I knew he knew what had been brought up. "You know, I thought you'd never need me again after the whole ordeal with your parents..."

"Me neither..." I said with a sigh. Chico was still in law school when my family first met him. My father had unlawfully been issued a parking ticket and he hired Chico to help resolve it, figuring it would be cheaper to get a lawyer that was still in school. I was only 12 when I first met him.

His name is actually Francisco, but for some reason, he introduced himself to me as Chico. I figured it was just a way for him to get along with a shy kid that didn't easily become acquainted with people. After the whole parking ticket issue was solved, we never really needed his services. His office was stationed right in the heart of our town, so we'd see him quite often. It was four years later when we, or I, needed his service again. He was a fully established lawyer by that time, and he made the transition of my parents' belongings rather simple for my grandmother and me.

Now that I am touching on the subject, I do remember there being quite a large amount of charges on the second party that crashed into my parents..."Oh, hello Francisco, what brings you here?" Aaron's father asked as we passed him in the halls. My eyes widened in realization. Chico was the lawyer that helped us sue the Collin's family. "Just needed to speak to your son's girlfriend about a few things," Chico replied curtly. I inwardly squealed about the my newly found label even if it wasn't even official because official or not it still made me feel tingly on the inside.

"Ah, well, carry on," Aaron's father said, walking into another patient's room."What a small world..." Chico muttered under his breath. After getting lost in the endless hallways of the hospital, we finally arrived in the other waiting room and we took a seat. "How do you know that my, uh, boyfriend's father is that guy?" I asked, stumbling over the 'b' word.

"I had to deal with them quite, um, back then. I had a case involving them." I already knew what he was talking about. Obviously he wasn't legally allowed to bring that up, but now that I already knew there was no point in hiding it anymore."So it is true, isn't it?" I asked, slumping in my seat."What's true?"

"Aaron's sister Melanie killed my parents." Chico was surprised and ran a hand messily through his hair. I probably shouldn't have been so blatant about the topic, but I needed to get it off my chest. With a heavy sigh, he reluctantly replied, "Yes, his sister did indeed kill your parents."

"Oh," is all I manage to say. How else was I supposed to react to such news? "I hope this won't hinder your relationship. I mean, that whole thing is pretty much over and done with, you know?"

"Do you think he knows?" I asked bruptly."Who? Aaron?" I nodded and he shrugged his shoulders. "I only dealt with his father during the whole event. I'm sure he knows that his father was sued, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't know that it was your family who filed the suit." "Should I tell him?"

"I don't really think now is an appropriate time for that, but you should tell him eventually."After that conversation, Chico had me sign a few documents regarding my grandmother's death and my inheritance. My eyes widened when I saw the large number that would be transferred into my own account.

"Why am I getting so much money?" I asked, dumbfounded."When your parents died, your grandmother not only received their money and their retirement, but also the money from the lawsuit. And considering that your house is already paid off, your grandmother didn't really spend much of the money. All you have to do is sign here and the money's all legally yours," he said, pointing to a line.