Noah's Guide to Catching a Cat ✓

01| aulularia

01| aulularia

a pot of gold

The papers on Noah's desk are scattered. They're haphazard. If anyone in Parker & Co were to walk past Noah's office, he'd defensively tell them that there was a, in fact, a system to the perpetual mess that is on his desk.

Sure, it's not as neat as Clovers, but - unlike Clovers. His system was so secure that even he struggled to find what he needed. At times. Only when he's rushing. Like now. 

He could have sworn that last week all his papers concerning the pro-bono case with Dawn Foster was on the left side his desk but he just found a whole file of interviews with the family members in his cupboards.

It's late. It's almost ten at night, four hours past office hours had ended and two hours later than the second last person who'd called it a night. 

And he hadn't completed his hand-over for the next two weeks. 

This was a planned holiday, which meant by right he wasn't supposed to have any cases to handover. On a regular day, he'd be dealing with five different cases and several odds and ends. But somehow, he'd ended up with three cases that had stretched on to his two week getaway and not enough time to work on a hand-over.

Which is probably his fault, Noah slowly admits as he finds another paper for the Dawn Foster case. He lets out a strangled groan, he was confident he'd wrapped up that folder.

 Grumbling, Noah gets off his desk to walk to Clovers desk, the prosecution lawyer (with the very organized desk) that will be helping him out over these three remaining cases. 

Her desk isn't far away, it's in fact right across his. Her desk however, looks larger just because when she wasn't around, there's not a paper on the smooth marble. He's holding the new file in his hands, a small metal tray left on her desk for his files. He picks up the heavy blue folder to add the latest file in. As he's juggling with the folder, too stubborn to just use her desk. 

His phone rings from his desk. 

He rolls his eyes, the song instantly annoying him. He should have left it on silent. It's his way of a joke in the office to have the most siren like alarm - not because he's forgetful - but because he liked to see everyone jump.

And okay - he does misplace his phone every few days.

And yes - the loud abrasive ringtone helps.

He manages to put the file in its folder. The ringing stopped, thankfully. He take a quick walk to his desk. He is almost done, and he wants to go home because he's got a long drive from Washington to North Carolina waiting for him. 

Noah picks up the phone, checking to see who called. 

CLOVER

He smiles at the name, she's probably calling to tell him to go home. Noah smiles as he opens her contact, and types I'm almost done, sheesh. Don't miss me too much when I leave. 

Still grinning from messaging his best friend, he glances at the wild array of papers on his desk. The grin slowly slips. He's two papers sorted when his phone buzzes on the table.

He picks it up. 

Google Nadine Shaw NOW!

Odd. It's been a while since they've talked about Nadine. Nadine is a girl they've gone to school with. She is, till date, one of the most beautiful girls Noah has seen and he's not biased because he used to have feelings for her.

Still, if Clover's messaging him to do it...

It's not technically like he still has feelings for her, Noah reassures himself as he turns on his laptop. He could have used his phone, but he preferred using his laptop or his Ipad which he left at his home.

Once his laptop opens up, he's googling her name. 

Since the last he's seen her, she's become an online influencer. She didn't work, just took the occasional selfie with a new product some company was paying her to advertise. Nothing surreal. Nothing that outstanding.

Who knows? She's probably dating the Rock now or some A-List Celebrity. That was the kind of thing Clover would get excited for, it was her dream to represent A-List Celebrities. 

When the browser loads up, Noah is nothing short of startled. His eyes blink once, and then twice because it's almost too ludicrous to believe. 

It's very unheard of.

The second article on the page showed news from CNN.

Instagram Influencer, Nadine Shaw is offering 50,000 dollars and her hand in marriage for the return of her cat.

And dozen after dozens of articles followed the same tune. Some pictures even included pictures of her parents, a handsome man and a sweet looking woman doing the interview. The media was having a field day.

When my phone rings this time, I answer it to hear Clover's excited voice, "Well, have you seen it yet?"