The Love Cube

Chapter 1

Heather was having a stressful morning to say the least. She had just broken up with her boyfriend the previous night, her 4th in under an year. The reason being, she was emotionally unavailable and the fact that they broke up via video call was testament enough.

‘Emotionally constipated bi.tch’ was what Dawson had called her before hanging up on her.

Dawson had been a di.ck by normal standards but had been the most promising of all her previous boyfriends. The tabloids were going to have a field day with her, considering this had been her most publicized relationship yet.

Being one of the most sort after lawyers in the country, sitting prettily at the top of the food chain, more so in a predominantly male-dominated industry did that to you, backed up with the success of most of your cases. She was stressed, but not majorly because the relationship had ended but the damage control that would be needed. What reason would she give for the break up this time? She was running out of reasons and, once again, like her previous boyfriends, she was very much expected to break the news to the public. The investment random people had in other people's relationships baffled her.

She started her coffee maker while going through her schedule for the day. The break up still nagging at the back of her mind. After having her coffee and getting updated on her schedule, she decided to have a shower to mentally prepare herself to face the long array of meetings she was scheduled to have throughout the day.

Heather had not love Dawson per say, but she liked him enough and the attraction between them was at first sight. He was a prominent business man in the motor vehicle industry who she met after representing his sister through a nasty divorce. They had set off with easy conversation, dates and next they were in a relationship two months into knowing each other. They had caused such a frenzy in the beginning of their relationship as a power couple, even outdoing famous celebrities.

Yeah, they had moved pretty fast but Heather didn’t even factor in the length of courting before she accepted any proposal to be a girlfriend. That’s how she was getting dumped for the fourth time in one year. The feminist tabloids were not going to be pleased with this one. Did she care? Not really. It was bound to happen. She never emotionally invested in any of her relationships, her career and herself were the most important things to her. Try to interfere with either, you were as good as gone to her. The men she dated were as much as arm candy to her as she was to them, so she never felt guilty when they got to know her and never stuck around.

Her fight with Dawson had been predominantly over the same thing. Many hours spent working, which were backed up with little to no communication.

“Zero effort” as he had said, which she had countered with she was a busy woman with responsibilities and didn’t have time to waste conversing all through like a love-sick teenager and let's not get into the canceled dates which she never tried to reschedule but out rightly cancelled with no remorse. She was chasing her bag and in no way was a man a priority in her life. Last she checked she wasn’t the one who proposed the relationship.

One would wonder, if she didn’t like the men, why exactly was she entertaining said relationships? Most men, especially prominent ones, were persistent. She had enough experience to know how that went. The thrill of the chase was something most enjoyed. That alpha male ego always needed to be boosted and the earlier they got what they wanted the quicker they left her alone. Was she worried about being labeled a slut? Not really, enough of the sexism where men could parade different partners and would praised and she couldn’t do the same. Love wasn’t something she was looking for but she was not aversed to enjoying herself.

Heather pulled up to her workplace in a record of 45 minutes. Traffic was crazy, especially on Monday mornings. She parked her car and proceeded to get in to the building, greeting the security on her way in. Her office was on the fourth floor among the other senior lawyers of the firm. It didn’t take her long to get there and was met by her secretary who was not as pleased to see her. Yes, the Dawson issue. She had decided on the typical 'they had ended the relationship on good terms and were both too busy with their careers to sustain a long-term relationship,' which was very true in her case. The split was less than amicable, but nobody needed to know that.

First thing on her schedule was a meeting with her boss. Most times they were generally allocated cases or clients privately to sort them out, so a one on one meeting with her boss was something rare and she knew it had to be pretty important. After setting her coat and purse down, she called her boss’s secretary to inform her that she was on her way up to see him. She could barely come up with any guesses about what her boss wanted from her, but since he signed her paychecks generously, she was under his beck and call.

At the reception she was met by Janice, the beautiful, warmhearted, middle aged lady who had been the secretary from way before she even joined the firm. She gave her warm smile and informed her Mr Marcus was ready to see her. She let herself in after a knock to alert her boss of her entry. Heather would never get used to her boss’s office, the plain gray walls, the white floor tiles and the general lack of furniture. The office only had a mahogany working desk and two visitor chairs. How more impersonal could an office get not adding to the cold drift the room always seemed to posses. She internally shivered but offered a smile as she was offered a seat.

Mr Marcus was a man of few words. Never beat around the bush but tackled things head on and after few pleasantries informed her that the reason he had requested her audience was he had a big profile case that he needed her to take. It was a litigation case between a close friend of his who was the client behind the construction of the Multi Billion dollar Mall that had gone up in flames a few days ago. The contractor had refused to shoulder the burden despite investigations claiming the problem was caused by an electric connection problem. The contractor believed there was foul play from the client's side and wanted more investigations undertaken and would not be responsible for the damages, hence the court case.

“ You are the most qualified person for this. When Matthew contacted me, I wanted to pursue this myself because he is a close friend of mine, but because this seems like one of those cases that will take up a long period I recommended you and Matthew agreed since your reputation precedes you,” Heather smiled and Mr Marcus smiled back while nodding.

``I have my utmost confidence that you will get him the results he wants. Janice has all the necessary files regarding the case. Matthew is at your disposal as well as his lawyer, who was contacted during the contractual agreements for the building.’’ Heather knew this was going to be a long one and the stakes were high,it was win or win for her.

“Thank you Sir for recommending me, I will definitely not fail either of you, ” Heather replied. She stood and shook his hand and saw herself out. Janice ever prepared handed her all the documents she needed to which Heather thanked her and took the lift down to her floor.

She was barely settled on her desk when her secretary reminded her of the lunch date she had with her cousin Estella . Knowing Heather she knew if she didn’t remind her and she buried herself in the files she had just received, she would completely forget about it all together. She loved her cousin and was looking forward to seeing her, canceling on her or getting late was something she wanted to avoid.

Her secretary(Grace) was not going away after informing her about her lunch date so something else was up.

“It's too early for gossiping, Grace,” Heather said, smiling knowingly. Grace laughed but didn’t argue back about the fact that she was there to gossip.

“Looking at the comments on the gossip columns I can say everyone is definitely surprised, as well as not surprised about your break up with Dawson. Want to talk about it?” Grace asked and Heather groaned. Talking about Dawson wasn’t something she was looking forward to. Basically there was no story behind it and trying to get that across was difficult. Most people expected a big story full of emotional turmoil between a couple, but that wasn’t what exactly happened in most of her relationships, if you could call them that, she thought bitterly.

“There is nothing to talk about Grace, we were too busy to sustain a relationship and parted ways.” Heather replied .Grace sighed and gave her a sad smile, knowing no matter how much she pressed, Heather wouldn't budge. This was not healthy.

This would be the tenth relationship that was coming to an end since she had known Heather and they had known each for three years to put it into perspective why she was worried about her boss who she considered a friend. Heather was what the tabloids referred to as a serial dater with commitment problems. Her behavior had to have stemmed from somewhere but her boss was a closed book through and through. Never talked about her feelings, never allowed anyone close enough. Regardless, she always made sure that she voiced her availability as a shoulder the other could lean on.

“That’s not the real reason we know it Heather, but never forget I am always here if you need someone to talk to. And yes, you don’t pay me to therapize you ,you have said it more than enough,” Grace replied as she moved back to her desk. Heather rolled her eyes, she was thankful for Grace’s concern, but this wasn’t a big deal. She was a big girl who could take care of herself, having her defenses down and allowing people in would just get her hurt.

Heather looked at the big file labeled MC Case and cracked her knuckles. She had so much paper work to go through plus the legal documents to find a loophole in any clause. A part from that, she needed to go through all the fire reports as well schedule meetings with different people to get a feel of everything. She hated surprises and so ensured before getting to the courthouse all her bases were covered. All stones unturned and every information, whether useful or not to the case under her thumb. Going through all the tender documents as well as the contract agreement between the client and the contractor didn’t take long as everything was meticulously done. Nothing out of place, the terms of litigation in case of different accidents as well as the claim processes properly spelled out. In this case a fire from the contractors' negligence was very much supposed to be shouldered by the contractor and since the cause was not an external factor insurance was not covering it. The reluctance by the contractor was the reason why everyone was in this mess. She guessed losing billions was not something he was keen on and if he suspected something was wrong then he was very much free to pursue justice for himself.

After checking through all the contract documentation, next was investigating each key player involved. Some would be her witnesses in court and if not her, then the opposing counsel. The first person was the client. Mr Matthew Carter,60 years old, heir to an oil processing company formerly owned by his father a famous oil tycoon. He hailed from old money as the family had cemented itself in the oil industry. He had two wives, the first having passed on leaving behind her son. She was a famous actress when they got together at the peak of her career. After she passed away, he remarried Karina Rosenberg, a heiress whose family was in the mining industry. Talk about money marrying into money. With her he had four children ,two sons and two daughters, adding to the first son he had five children. Heather noted each down and purposed to look into each later in the evening to see what the overall relationship was between them.

Next was the the contracting firm. Torez and Co Contractors, which was the biggest construction firm in the country headed by the Torez and Elias Family, which was initially formed by the Torez family but later merged with Elias when their sons married. The reputation of the company was widely known, for delivering the best monuments in and out of the country. Their reputation was on the line with this considering the magnitude of the project. The Mall they had been contracted to build was one of the projects that had been most looked forward to not only in the country but the continent as a whole as the mall was set to be the biggest with modern architecture that was to die for. Now a small conduit problem had blown everything into flames.

Most of the other works were still sub contracted under Torez and Co Contractors which was an interesting point as most works especially electric, landscaping and plumbing were always sub contracted to other contractors and were not handled by the parent contractor. If Heather said this was a consequence of greed was she at fault? The wealthy got greedier day by day so it wasn’t surprising as she worked for most of them. Next was the site managers and foremen who she would need to interview as well and definitely the security. The fire took place at night. Someone must have seen something.

Lastly she needed to go through the accounts and find a trusted person who counter check and ensure everything was at par for if they were to ask for compensation, those numbers were what the figures would be based on. A tap on her shoulder was what disrupted her concentration and she was met by Grace who pointed at her watch to show her it was lunch time. She had to get going.

Thanking her and getting the file as well her purse and coat, she left not planning to get back to the office till the following day as she had plans regarding the case.

She got to the restaurant that they had planned on meeting at in record time. Estela had already arrived and was sipping some lemon juice waiting for her. Estela the ever punctual one. Heather smiled while weaving through the tables and was later spotted by Estela who stood up and was already arms wide open waiting for her. They met each other with a warm hug and beaming smiles. They were each others favorite cousins since childhood and their bond was still as strong as ever.

“How are you doing Heather? It has been pretty long since we saw each other,” Estela asked her.

“I am doing well cousin,” Heather answered. Estela had grown so much since they had last met an year before. They texted and called but both were really busy with their lives. Estela had become the CEO of her parents company as she had reached the legal age that had been required according to her parents' will. Her parents had sadly passed away when she was ten and she was raised by their grandmother.

“How is your new position taking you?” Heather asked smiling.

“Really well, compared to your dating life, if I may say,” Estela replied, grinning. Heather couldn’t help but laugh at the jab thrown at her by the other.

Estela rarely concerned herself with Heather’s dating life and had always encouraged her to kiss as many frogs as possible as she waited for prince charming.

“And no, I will not ask why or what was wrong this time,” Estela proceeded, “You always have enough on your plate, this lunch is supposed to be us catching up with no stressful conversations on the table,” Heather couldn’t agree more. Conversation flowed between them seamlessly as it always did, with both of them catching up on the latest family gossip, the new fashion trends and the new bachelors that everyone was raving about in town.

After the lunch they both bid each other goodbye and Heather drove to her first meeting the police station where she wanted to get the report on the fire as well as schedule an interview with the officer who was in charge of the case. The police office was on a slow when she got there most officers and detectives just lounging around after lunch. At the reception she registered herself and inquired about the officer and was directed to an office that was past the open office space where most officers seemed to be located.

The name plate at the door read Detective Kingsley. The absence of a secretary meant that she could invite herself in, she thought. Knocking once and pulling on the handle, she slowly peered into the room and was met by a pair of dark surprised eyes that were housed behind a pair of dark-rimmed glasses, an angular face with a four o'clock shadow and a well trimmed beard. His hair was trimmed short and the sides completely shaved. Who would have thought an Adonis was crumbled up in this hole? A whiff of cologne hit her nose next.Speak of sensory overload- her eyes and nose were so busy that she almost missed the hello that the detective had uttered.

“Get a hold of yourself Heather!” she internally chastised herself.

“ Hello, are you detective Kingsley? I was directed here from the reception?” she inquired .

“You are in the right place, welcome and have a seat,” Kingsley replied.

“How may I help you Miss…..” he trailed off despite very well knowing the name of the woman before him.

“Call me Heather,” she replied, offering him a polite smile.

“ I am working on the Matthew Carter case and I was informed you were the detective/officer in charge of it”

“I would love to get a copy of your report as well as schedule some interviews with you and all the other officers that were on site.”

Kingsley had the report prepared since he got news of the court case that was set to happen between both parties that morning, as well as the fact that the contractor had requested he undertake further investigations on the case.

“I have a copy you could use,” he replied as he handed it to her,“ As for interviews, any day from tomorrow is fine with most of us. We were a group of ten so I believe you can pick a day that you are most comfortable with,” Heather nodded as she skimmed through the report that barely had much to it.

“I will counter check with my secretary about my schedule and get back to you when we can have the meeting.” His phone number as well as email were attached to the report so there was no reason to ask for it. Kingsley nodded as Heather rose from her seat, intending to keep the meeting as short as possible. She had another stop to make and there was ample time to discuss the nitty gritty details with the detective later. Offering a handshake she bid him goodbye and as she walked to her car she reminisced about the warm calloused feel of the detective’s palm. She could still appreciate a good looking man despite being fresh out of a break up, her hormones had not taken a break, her heart had.

Unbeknown to her were the numerous pairs of eyes that were watching her through the tinted windows of the station, among them a dark pair.