Only You

Chapter Twelve

Michael
Today was finally my last day in court with the huge case that I've been dealing with for months. I fee like I did really well with everything, even though my rival, Lance Gross, came strong too. I shook his hand after the court hearing and invited him over for dinner sometime.

"Really, man?" He asks in surprise,"I thought we hated each other."

"It's just a peace offering. Take it or leave it." I reply.

"Alright. When?"

"Friday night at 6." I say.

"Great. I'll bring the wine." He says before patting my back and walking down the court stairs.

I check the time. It's only 4:00pm. I hop into my private car and tell my chauffeur to bring me home.

"Yes, sir." He says.

I arrive to my house and head in. Now that the case is over, I really don't know what to do with my life. I'm gonna take a well needed break from huge cases for one. I hear hushed tones coming from the kitchen as I get closer.

I enter in to find Harris and Fallon sitting at the kitchen island in deep conversation. My heads turn towards me and I notice the sadness in their faces.

"Am I interrupting something?" I ask as I place my briefcase on the counter.

Harris looks at Fallon in concern then shakes his head.

"No.... How was the court hearing?" He asks obviously trying to change the subject.

"It went great actually. He's going to prison for a while." I say proudly.

Fallon stays silent as she stares out the window.

"That's awesome, man." He says.

I loosen up my tie and remove my blazer as I sit at the kitchen table.

"What you have for me today, Harris?" I ask.

"It doesn't have a name yet, but it's really good." He replies.

I look around my house with new relaxed eyes. Harris brings over a bowl of some type of hot soup and a French baguette.

"I'm trusting you, man." I say as I pick up the spoon.

He shrugs and walks away back to Fallon. He whispers something in her ear as he rubs her back and she nods her head. The next moment, she gets up and walks out of the kitchen. Once she's gone, I call Harris over.

"What's going on?" I ask.

"It's not my place to tell you. It's not even my business." Harris replies.

"I'm just concerned about my workers. Is she I her period or something? Got into an argument with her friend?" I ask.

"It's bigger than that Michael, and it's best that I don't tell you her business." Harris replies while walking into the kitchen.

He leaves me wondering. My face turns red in embarrassment and anger. I push my chair out and get up out of my chair. My food is just gonna have to wait. I begin to head upstairs to confront Fallon.

I knock on her door and it take her a couple of minutes to finally respond. She obviously just got out the shower because she has a towel wrapped around her body and drops of water on her brown skin. I keep my face straight.

"Sorry, but can I talk to you?" I ask her.

"Yeah. Give me like five minutes to get dressed." She says.

"I'll wait out here." I reply.

She nods her head and closes the door. I scratch my neck and sit on the top step of the staircase while I wait. A couple minutes, I hear her door open then shut. She sits down next to me, but keeps a respectful distance between us.

I don't even know how to begin. I didn't really think this through.

"Are you gonna talk?" She asks quietly.

"W-um. I'm just concerned about you. You seemed sad when I came home."

"I'm fine now. Thank you for your concern." She replies in a rehearsed tone.

"You can tell me, Fallon. I won't make fun of you."

She stares down the steps to avoid making eye contact.

"It's complicated..." She says,"You'll judge me."

"I'm sure that I'll understand. I wouldn't judge you"

I scooch closer to her and nudge her shoulder in encouragement. She begins to shake her head and her voice cracks as she tries to cough out what she has to say. I put my arm around her and nestle her onto my chest.

"He beat me." She muffles into my shirt.

"What?" I ask as if I didn't clearly.

"Everyday...." She says while sniffling.

She squeezes my arms as she muffles incoherent words into my shirt and cries. We stay like this for a while before she finally calms down a bit. She wipes the last couple of tears away and sniffles.

"Sorry." She says apologizing.

"There's no need to apologize. It's okay to cry." I say with my hand on the small of her back.

She looks at her hands in embarrassment. I place my hand on her chin and turn her face towards mine. She stares into my eyes.

"Don't be afraid to look me in my eyes."

With that, I lean in and softly kiss her salty-teared lips. She's slow to respond, but her lips slowly mold into mine. The feel of her lips on mine felt so right. Before we can get into a groove, she moves away.

"Stop. We can't." She says with her hand up.

I open my mouth to protest, but nothing comes out. She's right. What am I doing?

"I don't know what got into me. Sorry." I reply.

"It's okay." She mumbles.

An air of awkwardness falls over us. Fallon gets up abruptly and mumbles something before returning to her bedroom and shutting the door behind her. Now that was awkward. I suck at making people feel better.