Dill My Pickle (Sample - First 5 Chapters)

1 Elliot

He smiled, "You owe me, right?"

"For what?"

"Hey, who found your apartment and signed your lease only weeks ago so you could move right in from California and have your own place?"

I sighed. I couldn't argue with him there. When I had called Austin to tell him that I needed out of California for good and was considering moving out to Nashville with him for a fresh start, he hadn't even questioned it. In all honesty, I don't know that I could have made the move so quickly or so easily. I had needed an out and he had given it to me. I owed him at least this much in return. Especially since Jenny herself had played such a large part in readying my apartment before my arrival.

I leaned back in my chair and considered it. I hadn't hit my firm's pro bono quota for the quarter and, being the new guy, I couldn't afford to ruffle any feathers at work. It would look nice to claim I helped some farmers keep their land and I would be even with Austin once again. Finally, I nodded.

"I'll work their case," I told him. "But I can't promise they'll win."

"They just need someone on their side, Elliot. They just need someone to fight for them."

The way he was smiling at me made me think he would do it himself if he could. I wondered if there was anything in this world that Austin wouldn't do for Jenny. Just as quickly as the thought entered my mind, I found myself wondering what that was like. I had never had anything like that. I thought I had, once, but I hadn't. Not truly. I really believed this man would take a bullet for his woman if, of course, taking a bullet was something that one had the speed and agility to actually do which I suspected seriously he did not. Still, the willingness itself was something to marvel at.

"Jenny can take you over later this morning," Austin told me, draining the last of his coffee and taking the last bite of his eggs. "Your office lets you go on client meetings, don't they?"

"They do. Though they usually aren't an hour away."

"Eleven. In front of our apartment. She'll be waiting. Now, I gotta go. Wish me luck."

"Good luck man," I told him, reaching out to fist bump him as he gathered his things. "Though you don't need it. You're going to kill this interview."

He smiled at me one last time before dropping some cash for his bill onto the table and heading out the door. I watched him go, silently wishing him luck as he climbed into his truck and sped off.

Austin had been wanting to get into the music industry since college but he never had because he didn't think he could. Until Jenny, that is. She had somehow managed to show him what I never could. That he was an insanely talented musician with a keen eye for other talent and the passion that made a great manager. So he had moved to Nashville with the hopes of landing a gig with one of the prominent music labels there. When his job search fizzled out after a few weeks, he had given up and stuck with a few gigs playing music at some local bars. But then he'd met Jenny and a few months later, he was back to interviewing with some of the biggest labels in Nashville.

I packed my papers more tidily into my suitcase and headed out to my own car outside needing to get to the office earlier than I anticipated now that I would need to be leaving at eleven to handle this situation. I drove downtown and pulled up outside one of the newer skyscrapers in this growing city. I tossed my keys to the valet and gave him a nod as I met another attorney, William Lewis, as he entered the building as well. We chatted briefly about the basketball game on television last night before the conversation shifted to another case that we had both been assigned to. William followed me all the way to my office talking about the case and took a seat across from me as I sat down and logged into my computer.