Blind Trust with the Don

Chapter 9: Mix it Up.

Olivia's POV.

“I miss you too," I said, turning to the large window and tucking my cell phone into my chin as I smiled down at the city passing down below me.

“Yeah?" Marcell's deep soothing voice came through the phone. “How much?"

“Enough," I laughed.

“Prove it," Marcell teased me.

“I'm at work, Marcell."

“So am I," He lobbied back.

“Yeah, but our works are a little different."

“How so?" His voice changed. I imagined him leaning back in his office chair, propping his feet up on his desk.

“I have co-workers for one."

“So do I. Lots of them. With guns." Marcell wasn't letting me get by with my excuses, and I wasn't going to complain I loved this side of him, this lighthearted joking reminded me of the first time we spoke on the phone. The flirt. The man who made me laugh despite the danger.

“I'm not having phone s*x with you," I hurriedly spoke into the phone, glancing over my shoulder to make sure no one had come to the door.

“Where's your sense of adventure? The Olivia I know wouldn't shy away from a challenge." Marcell was relentless.

“I'm not going to get fired on my second day of work for having phone s*x with my boyfriend…"

“Boyfriend, huh?" Marcell interrupted me.

“I assume that's what you are. It's easier than trying to explain that you're the man I sleep with every night and have feelings for, but we haven't quite found a label that fits yet." I over-explained.

“I like the sound of it. However, I think I'm more than your friend." Marcell passively replied.

“Then what would you say? If someone asked you who I was to you?" I asked, holding my breath waiting for his reply.

“I'd tell them you're mine." He told me without hesitation.

“So, you're my boymine, bro-mine? My-guy?" I joked. He was getting too close to my feelings, too close to that vulnerable spot that I needed to deflect him from.

“Yeah." Marcell sighed in the earpiece, “I'm yours."

“Good."

“Well, if you're not going to indulge me with my fantasy then at least tell me what you're wearing." Marcell's tone shifted again.

“You have a fantasy of having phone s*x with me?" I laughed again.

“I have a very active imagination, Olivia. There's not one scenario I haven't fantasized you in detail."

“You'll just have to wait and see what I'm wearing later."

“Later?"

“On our date?" Suddenly fearful he had forgotten about our plans.

“I can't wait, darling…"

“Hey! There you are!" Tolbert came storming into my office, not even bothering to knock.

“Who's that?" Marcell asked, his voice shifting again to something now darker.

“Tolbert," I said, shocked by my co-worker invading my space.

“Hey, there's a mixer downstairs in the lobby. The CEOs arrange it every year for the new associates to meet each other. Come on, I'll walk you."

Either Tolbert didn't notice I was on the phone or didn't care because he just stood there watching me, waiting for me to join him around the desk by the door.

“I have to go, I'll call you back later," I said, not waiting to hear Marcell's response before I ended the call.

I followed Tolbert out of the short hallway as he spoke casually to passing attorneys. I kept tucked into myself as I scanned the hallways for any sign of Pauly. But there was no sign of him anywhere by the time we got to the elevators. I had no choice but to get into the tight space with him.

“How are you liking your first week here?" Tolbert asked as the elevator doors closed.

“It's just been two days now, but I'm hopeful that I'll be able to be a viable member of the team."

I smoothed my hands down my grey pencil skirt, tucking my phone into my pocket and ignoring the sharp brief buzz of my phone indicating that I had missed a text message. I assumed it was from a worrisome Marcell. I focused on the descending numbers of the elevator, totally ignoring Tolbert's words, suddenly realizing he wasn't speaking to me I didn't feel so bad. With his phone glued to his ear, he waved me off, mouthing he'd find me later, and quickly made his way to the glass doors.

I scanned the lobby. Round tall tables with a few people stood around them, eating what I could only assume, were puffed pastries and expensive finger foods. Feeling like the new kid on the first day of school, I slowly walked toward the long tables piled high with a heaping amount of food and forced myself to build a plate.

“Holy s**t, Olivia," Pauly cursed, coming up behind me, startling me horribly causing the cocktail shrimp I had just piled onto my plate to tumble back onto the tray.

“Jesus, Pauly, what the hell is wrong with you?" I grumbled, picking the shrimp back up and slamming them back on my plate before I moved on to the next tray.

“How about when I went to your office to find you and you weren't there. Or, how about the fact that I got about ten phone calls from Marcell, who's worried out of his mind because he heard the voice of a man and then you hung up on him." Pauly panted, sweat gathered on his brow.

“Did you run here?" I asked, my hand stilling on the handle of some type of hummus.

“Yes."

“Fourteen flights? Impressive."

“Seriously, Olivia, you can't leave without me. You promised me." There was a hint of hurt in Pauly's voice.

“I'm sorry. But I didn't really have much of a choice. Tolbert came to my office and told me there was this thing downstairs and I needed to come to it. He wouldn't leave unless I followed him. What was I supposed to say? That I had to find my intern before leaving?"

“Yes. Shit." Pauly grumbled, fishing in his pocket for his phone, “It's the boss, I have to take this. Stay down here and don't head back up without at least telling me."

“Where were you?"

“Norma hooked me helping her fix the damned copier…"

I watched Pauly answer the phone as he hurried out the back door of the building that led to a small garden. I watched as he mainly listened, scrubbing his hand across his face before shoving his hand in his hair, calming himself down before shoving his hand into his pocket, and opening his mouth to talk.

Turning away from the scene playing out on the other side of the door, I scanned the room as it filled with more of my co-workers. The building wasn't just a skyscraper, but it also had an addition that used to be shops of sorts back in the day, recently Carmichael and Philips expanded their firm from criminal prosecution to family and small courts claims. Keeping them sequestered in different sectors, I watched as the attorneys from the attached building walked through their attached doors, not expecting to see a familiar face among the small team of attorneys.

“Ellie?" I whispered to no one other than the shrimp and crackers on my plate.

I couldn't stop my feet from their motion as I wove in and out of the gathering bodies towards the petite blonde, who stood in the corner in her yellow sheath dress, standing out among all the greys and blacks of everyone else in the room, myself included.

Eleanor Hart hadn't changed a day since I first saw her so many years ago on our first day of law school, even then she had a way of being in a room but still so completely removed from it. She always reminded me of a caged bird. So quiet. So fragile. But she was the best among us. So smart and quick. She remembered every single detail, making her the best person to quiz you before a test. If it wasn't for Eleanor Hart, I wouldn't have passed the bar.

“Ellie?" I asked, though I knew there was no mistaking who she was, a bright smile overtook her small face.

“Liv?" She asked in turn her, face scanning all of me, taking in the difference of my hair, though while she knew me my hair was a lovely shade of lavender.

“What are you doing here? I mean not that I'm complaining, I just didn't anticipate actually knowing anyone!"

“There was an opening in the family law department. I guess you could say I needed a change of scenery."

After passing the bar, Ellie had instantly been offered a coveted position at a small but reputable position in a firm just an hour or so outside the city. The last I had heard she had been ultimately living the lawyer dream, working her way through the ranks, unlike most of us who were slowly but surely working our way through rank law firms till we landed a secure job like Carmichael and Philips.

“How long have you been back in town?" I pried, but Ellie knew my nature and wasn't fazed.

“Just a few months. I've been staying at The Waldorf."

“You've been staying at The Waldorf? For a few months?" I couldn't hold back the complete and utter shock that I was feeling. Ellie came from old country money; her mother was one to spare no expense for her daughter's comfort.

“It's just till I can find something," Ellie tried to explain.

“I'm actually looking for a roommate," I harshly replied. “Mine just got married and moved. It actually would be doing me a huge favor if you would move in."

“Really?" Ellie's face lit up again.

“I swear."

“Hey, sorry," Pauly came up behind me, apologizing before registering that I was speaking to someone. When he noticed Ellie, he stiffened in the presence of my adorably attractive blonde friend.

“Pauly, this is Ellie. Eleanor Hart, she's Carmichael and Philip's newest Family Law attorney, and my new roommate."

I smiled at my friends as they digested each other, taking in how cute they would be together. Marcell told me I needed a hobby. Perhaps I could play matchmaker.

“Wait," Pauly shook his head. “Did you say, roommate?"