First You Fall

Chapter 9

Maisie walked into the restaurant in a huff. The traffic in LA always sucked but today it was especially bad. And the restaurant Mere chose had the worst parking she'd ever encountered in Los Angeles, which was saying something. Maisie was almost half an hour late to meet up with Mere for lunch, an indiscretion she knew would elicit some type of comment.

Mere looked up from her menu just as Maisie walked towards her. She frowned as Maisie sat down,

"Half an hour? Honestly."
Maisie sighed,

"I'm sorry. Traffic. And the parking here sucks."
"The parking everywhere sucks. You live in Los Angeles."

Maisie glanced up at the server who approached their table looking put out,

"Water?" He rolled his eyes and turned to walk back towards the kitchen.

Maisie pulled her jacket off,

"Hospitality here is warm, Mere."

Mere shrugged,

"He's been at this table every five minutes for the last half hour trying to get your drink order. Cut him some slack." She said as she studied the menu.

Maisie quickly decided what she wanted and pushed her menu aside. When the server returned with her water he didn't look any happier to see her. She and Mere quickly ordered, leaving him to shuffle away towards the kitchen yet again.

Mere grabbed her water glass,

"So..." She said before taking a long sip through her straw. She set the glass down, "Niall Horan."

Maisie almost spit her water out. Mere had a way of always knowing things but saying Niall's name out of the blue like that was definitely enough to shock Maisie.

Maisie picked her napkin up and wiped her mouth before she set it back down in her lap,

"What?"

Mere sighed, obviously annoyed,

"Your new client."

"What about him?"
"He's considered a pariah. You sure it was such a good idea to take him on?"
Maisie's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion,

"A pariah? Who considers him a pariah?"
"Everyone who matters."
Maisie sighed, shaking her head in irritation,

"Mere, one of the first things you taught me was there are no lost causes."
"No, I told you that a lost cause still had potential to change his ways. Niall's not a lost cause, he's persona non grata...and that's worse."

Maisie stared up at Mere, her mouth hanging open in shock,

"You defend politicians now. You should probably get used to cleaning up sexual deviancy." She shot back before sitting against the back of her chair.

Mere looked up at her. Maisie had never really talked back to her before, least of all about her clientele. Maisie still felt Mere was her mentor in some ways. But this felt like it had gone too far. Maisie wasn't sure why she felt such an intense need to defend Niall, but the comment came out of her mouth before she could stop it.

Mere stared back at her protege. Maisie had always had a mind of her own, but she always respected Mere's advice and direction, even if Mere had a brash way of giving it. However, seeing Maisie's defiant face across the table, it was clear. Maisie had taken on Niall and there was nothing anyone could do to talk her out of it.

But Mere was a student of human behavior. She thrived on it. It's why she was so good at her job. And everything in front of her now told her that Maisie was going down a very dangerous path.