The Intern

"I don't think my father's accident was an accident," (28)

I had really thought that there could be nothing else that could shock me at this point. Finding out that Micah loved me? Blew my mind.

Finding out that my father had brought back a showgirl from Europe? Made my blood boil but shocked me as well.

Finding out where my mother was and actually meeting her? I was floored.

Finding out that there was a list of people who were potential victims to a murderer and that I was on that list? No words could describe.

But this... this was just the fucking icing on the cake.

I was rendered speechless. So speechless that Vivian had to call my name at least three times before I could answer. We agreed to meet up for lunch right away. I left Jack a note and told him I'd be fine and back in office before he knew it.

We met at one of the higher-end restaurants in the city where she had easily gotten a reservation at the last minute. Vivian oozed elegance and class when I saw her already waiting for me at our table. She had long, wavy brown hair that was swept behind her ears and cascaded down to her elbows. Her sparkly brown eyes crinkled at the edge as she smiled upon seeing me; no doubt I was the female version of my father. Vivian was dressed in a white pantsuit; probably designer just by looking at it.

She immediately stood and shook my hand before we sat back down.

"Thank you so much for meeting me. Let me apologize for dropping a bomb like that over the phone." She spoke but I could only focus on her beautiful diamond drop earrings and the huge rock on her left hand.

"You're married?"

Immediately, she withdrew her hand and hid them under the table. "Yes, I am... that's why what I had with your father was an affair."

"Does your husband know?"

"Not at first but I suspected he knew about me having an affair later on but not with whom," she looked down at her hands that were now on the table again, "Elliot wasn't always the most perceptive,"

It was then it struck me like a bolt of lightning. Elliot Coldwell, a well-known prosecutor who would always butt heads with my father in court. My father was sleeping with his enemy's wife?

For five years!

I rubbed my temples. I really wished I hadn't known about this. I wanted to go back to believing that he didn't have a woman in his life, much less someone else's wife.

"I know how bad this looks and I'm sorry you had to find out like this..."

"How did this thing start?"

"Five years ago, your father had lost a case against my husband for the first time in years. So, to rub it in his face, Elliot invited him out to dinner as a way of making it up to him but really he wanted to brag. That was also the first time he had ever brought me around his colleagues and the first time I had met your father.

"I had always admired his frankness and his ability to stand up for himself," she continued, "I was just Elliot's meek wife who stayed at home and looked after his sick mother—who hated my guts by the way—so naturally, I stayed quiet throughout dinner. Elliot started drinking even more because he was in a great mood about the case but whenever he drank... he would say things... demeaning things out loud." she shook her head as if reliving specific situations.

"I'm sorry to hear that," I tried to comfort her in the only way I knew how to. I reached across and rested my hand on top of hers.

"It's alright, I've been dealing with it for the five years we'd been married prior but your father... he wasn't having any of it. He stood up for me when my husband complained about me not being a good wife... he stood up for me when my husband said I was boring and bland. He called me beautiful and classy... something my husband rarely said to me. You see, I was just a waitress when I met Elliot and he never let me forget it..."