In the big city, everyone gets their hands dirty at some point. Two brothers seem perfect on the outside but hold dark secrets within. Simon is a successful accountant and his brother, Jake, is perfectly fitted in his day job as an event coordinator...
I looked at the clock perched on the wall and saw it was 2 pm already. I worked through lunch again. This was my fourth day in a row missing lunch, but honestly, I didn't care that much about it anymore. I popped the bones in my hand and back before looking back down at the pile of paperwork I had been working on for a day and a half. One of our defense attorneys lost a big case and he was promptly fired. I had to push some money around to pay the giant settlement and not lose half a million dollars because of the screw-up.
I just had to find another two grand in the company and I'd be done with this nightmare. The small intercom on my table came to life. My assistant's voice came through the speaker, "Mr.Bracker, John Edwin is here for you."
I pushed the button on the intercom that turned on my mic, "Let him in, please." I started to straighten up the papers on my desk and make it look neater than my thoughts were. An average looking gentleman opened the door to my office and came in, his glasses perched far down his nose and the bags under his eyes revealing his lack of sleep. I stood up out of my plush desk chair to greet him properly, "Good afternoon, Mr.Edwin."
He reached across the desk and shook my hand with a firm grip, this was something done almost on a daily basis. "Mr.Bracker." As if his appearance hadn't given away his fatigue, his solemn voice did. "You called me?" He sat down in one of the two chairs that split my mahogany desk with a sigh and a slumped back.
"Yes," I quickly searched my desk until I found a manila folder that had Case 172 written on the side. I passed it to him, barely giving him time to open it and examine the contents inside, "I did a little research and found that if you can win this case with the fines and commission riding on it, the firm would have no problem paying for Mr.Lillan's mistake and easily having money left over."
Mr.Edwin reviewed the case for a few silent seconds and then stuck his nose up, "Since when do I have to fix rookie mistakes? I've been here for 12 years and I get to play Mommy or something?"
I sighed, quickly getting fed up with his tone, but trying to hide it as best as I could, "I offered you the case because you're a good attorney that tends to win cases, but if you don't want it I can give the case and Mr.Lillan's last commission check that never processed to someone else." I took the folder back from him and started to go over my numbers again in my head. It wouldn't be hard to make the two grand, but we were better off winning the case.
Mr.Edwin did not leave my office after I took the folder back. He lingered afterward, chewing on his bottom lip in thought. A few more seconds and he came back to life, "Mr.Lillan's last commission never went through?" It was easy to get lawyers on your side when you had money behind you.
"No, it didn't. It never went through and the money goes straight to the firm." I confirmed for him.
Mr.Edwin picked up the folder and looked at it again as if the words said something different, but this time he held it under his arm. He examined me closely as I did a few more numbers on a calculator. "Since when do you give you cases anyway?" He asked me.
Most of the attorneys in this firm don't know how much the boss likes me and not them. It was quite gratifying actually. "Mr.Goodworth gave me special instructions," I answered him simply. I could tell he was going to ask more questions, but he quickly closed his mouth. I did not dismiss him from my office, but he simply removed himself, closing the door behind him. I chuckled to myself, I knew Edwin was easy to manipulate into taking the case. I wondered how he'd come so far as an attorney after all these years and can still get played by a simple accountant.
I considered my problem solved and started shifting my papers from in front of me and to the side of the desk to make more room to start something new. It was only 2 pm and my day was far from over. I shifted my attention from the papers to the computer screen where I opened a new email to send to Mr.Goodworth. I started to write it out.
, Dear, Mr.Goodworth
I gave Mr.Edwin the case after a little convincing
The profits are going to be bigger than we need to cover the settlement
Someone had suddenly burst through the door of my office. I knew someone had to have lost their mind if they think they can bust into my office like they owned-
"Simon!"
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Once I heard the voice and saw the face, I knew it was Jake. I rubbed my face out of frustration from the sudden disruption. I noticed that the room temperature got hotter as Jake stepped closer towards me into the room. I looked at the clock and it was barely half past 2 pm. Why was he here? "Aren't you suppose to be at work, Jake?" Jake ignored my question and perched his butt on the edge of my desk as he looked down at me in my chair. He was radiating off a lot of heat, "Why are you so hot right now?"
Once again, he ignored my question and passed me a sliver of a piece of paper, "I just got this hot brunette's number outside your office." He announced.
I shook my head, "Do you mean my assistant?" I wish he would stop flirting with every girl he came across. Jake had a good energy about him that made him a magnet for everybody around him. He loved the attention.
"Yea, man. Her." He flicked his thumb to the closed door indicating Ashley.
I finally stopped trying to entertain his high jinks. "Jake, why are you not at work? It's the middle of the day." He folded the piece of paper into his pocket after I gave it back to him and he was silent for a moment. For some reason, he was ignoring me a lot today. As I was waiting for him to answer me, I reminded him, "Calm down a little bit, you're running hot right now."
He acknowledged me and soon the temperature in the room wasn't so hot anymore, it wasn't back to normal, but I was comfortable again. "I actually came for a reason." I went back to the email as he talked, making it quick before I hit send and turn my attention back to my brother. "I got a text from Andy." I was listening intently now. If Andy texted him in the middle of the day when he knew we were working, it was an emergency. This wasn't good.
