Secret Escapades With Mr. Moore (Boys of Chicago Series #4)

“Blythe, can I have the report of the case we had earlier this month? The one involving Mr. Ramires?” Atty. Andrea Growel, my boss, asked me. “In a while, Ma’am,” I replied as I rummaged through the hundred folders in front of me. Being a legal assistant is hard. But Andrea Growel makes it easier. She’s not the usual type of a boss. She’s lenient and she doesn’t give me all the work. She’s mostly chill, even when the deadlines are in front of her. That’s why this is the only job that I endured for more than six months. I have had different jobs before—call center agent, cashier, sales lady, barista, everything! I’ve tried everything but nothing seemed to have worked for me. Every single job required me to work overtime, and sometimes, graveyard shift. Office work means I only have to work during office hours. We seldom have overtimes here because Atty. Growl sees to it that we follow a specific timeline for each case we accept. She’s an effective leader and a very good lawyer. She always sees to it that she wins all of her cases. Add to the fact that the wage here is higher than the jobs I’ve had before. I gave the folder she’s asking and she smiled at me. Atty. Growel is a beautiful woman. However, I know that she isn’t interested in men. From what I heard, she’s in a relationship with the owner of CALM magazine. “Thank you, Blythe,” she told me as she scanned the folder I just gave her. “By the way, can you help me file the case of Ms. Fuller? We’re eyeing for that to be passed this week…” I smiled and nodded. I know that case. It’s about a rich heiress who got robbed of her right to the company of her parents. Now I realized why Investigator Hughes was here a while ago. “Noted, attorney,” I told her and proceeded to prepare my things to go and file that case she mentioned. “Do you have any plans tonight? I will be out early today because Gretchen and I will be celebrating our anniversary. You can go home early, too,” Atty. Growel told me. I smiled and nodded. “Thank you, Attorney. Enjoy your night!” She chuckled. “Oh, I will…” she winked at me before I left. I grabbed my keys and drove the company car to the circuit court. I love what I am doing because I plan on being a lawyer, too, one day. If not for the circumstances, I would have been a lawyer now, too. But right now, this is not on the top of my list. I need to earn and start over again. I need to earn and provide a better life for myself and for Bullet. The filing was smooth because there were not a lot of people in the circuit court. It was easy because I was only going to fill up some forms and pass the folder with all the papers needed. To be honest, Atty. Growel personally wrote all those—a feat of hers that I admire the most. Some lawyers give their assistants some work to do—something apart from what they are expected to do. Atty. Growel doesn’t do that. She takes everything into her hands and just gives me the papers I need to do. However, sometimes, I feel like I want to do more than what I am currently doing. Perhaps, it’s because of my desire to become a lawyer someday that I am like this. “Thank you,” the clerk told me when I finished filing. I texted Atty. Growel that I am finished with the filing when I heard a familiar voice calling me. “Blythe?” I looked behind me and saw Tracy, one of my friends in college. I smiled at her. “Tracy!” I beamed and then she jumped to me and hugged me. “Oh, my gosh! It’s been so long!” she exclaimed. “It’s good to finally see you again!” I smiled and nodded. She stared at me and then frowned. “Tell me you pursued your dream to be a lawyer…” she said. Out of all the people I know, Tracy is the person who knows how badly I want to become a lawyer. I bit my lip. “No…not yet.” I shook my head. She nodded and then held my hand. “It’s okay, Blythe. It’s not yet too late, anyway.” That, I smiled. The thing that I loved the most about Tracy is her positivity. She’s always been the brightest in the room and the happiest. That’s why she’s easy to be with. “What are you doing here, then?” she asked me. I raised the folder and smiled. “I worked for Atty. Growel. How about you? Are you a lawyer here?” I asked. She sighed and shook her head. “Nope. I didn’t pursue law because…something happened. I’m here because Dad just wants me to give him some papers he left at home.” I nodded. Her father, Attorney Henderson Mendez, is one of the highest paid lawyers in the country. He’s been matched with different prosecutors and had won all of his cases. He’s Atty. Growel’s role model and she can’t help but gush over him whenever she sees him on court or even outside the court room. “Anyway…are you free tonight?” Tracy asked me. “Let’s go and party in District G.”  I looked at her with narrowed eyes. She still parties a lot. Until now. Tracy gave me a sheepish grin. “Don’t look at me all judgy, Czarina Blythe! Come on! It’s been four years since we last saw each other! I believe we need to hang out!” I pursed my lips in a thin line before sighing. “Okay…but I won’t be long,” I told her. She giggled at my reply. “Great! Now, let’s see each other at eight!” We exchanged numbers and she told me she’ll call me at seven. She even volunteered to pick me up but I declined. My apartment is out of her way so it’s kind of a hassle on her part if she fetches me. She agreed with me and just told me that we just meet in the club she’s talking about.  I went straight home after dropping the car back to the office. Atty. Growel was already out and she left me a note to go home now, too. I ate a light dinner before taking a bath. I wore a maroon halter top and a jean skirt that goes down my mid-thigh. I also wore my trusty black knee-high boots. I put on light make up before booking an Uber for me to go to District G. I never really go to bars anymore but since Tracy asked me, I realized that I wanted to have fun, too—even just for the night. I arrived at the club fifteen minutes earlier. I texted Tracy that I am already here and she told me that she’s already inside. “She’s early,” I told myself as I shrugged and walked inside the bar. Some bouncers asked me my ID and only let me go when they’ve verified that I am not anymore a minor. Me: What part are you in? The club is huge. I can see people already dancing to the beat of the DJ. It’s only quarter to eight but some of them already look wasted. What’s happening? “There’s a celebrity DJ coming,” I heard someone tell me from behind. I looked behind me and saw Tracy smiling at me widely. She hugged me and kissed my cheek. “Come on, Blythe! We have a booth over there!” She sounded really excited as she pulled me behind her towards the booth she’s talking about. The music got even louder and someone introduced a familiar name. It’s probably the DJ that Tracy was talking about because everyone cheered at his entrance. I looked at the DJ booth and saw one of our classmates before in one minor subject—Rush Thunder. Now it makes sense actually, he always has his huge headphones on and bobbing his head to the music that he’s listening to with a care in the world. I admire him, actually, because he was able to go after his passion—music. “He’s good-looking now, huh?” Tracy spoke. She must have seen me watching Rush doing his thing on the DJ booth. I turned to her and shrugged. I saw some shots on our table and it’s really only the two of us, which is good because I am really an awkward person when it comes to strangers. Tracy laughed at my expression. “Oh, come on, Blythe. The way you looked at him in a little…hmmm…what do I call it? Tantalizing?” she asked before letting out another boisterous laugh. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “No! I was just looking at him because his name sounded familiar…” I explained. Tracy nodded before downing one shot of tequila. She wrinkled her nose at the bitter taste. “Yeah, right!” She grinned. “You know, Rush is already one of the highest paid DJs in town—maybe even in the whole state. He’s really big time now…” I shrugged. I’m not really interested in guys his type. I just don’t know why Tracy was insinuating something else. “That’s good for him,” I said as I took one shot. I bit on the lemon before gulping the whole drink down. I licked the salt around the mouth of the glass. Tracy sighed and then looked at the dancefloor. “They’re all smashed…” she commented and then looked at her phone screen. “It’s only eight in the evening.” I chuckled and nodded. “It’s a Friday so they’re only having fun…” Tracy narrowed her eyes at the dancefloor. I saw her pursing her lips in a tight line before looking away. She downed another shot of the tequila without the lemon and the salt. Wow. I didn’t know she’s that thirsty. “Are you okay?” I asked her. Tracy nodded and then gave out a tight smile. “I’m good…” she said. “How about you? Tell me everything I missed.” She looked at me and leaned closer, seemingly very attentive. I smiled. “Nothing much…” I replied. “My mother succumbed to heart disease. I had to take care of her so I needed to quit schooling.” Tracy widened her eyes at me. “Your mother died?” she asked in shock and disbelief. I smiled weakly and nodded. “She did. Months after I quit school, she died.” Tracy placed her palm on top of her mouth while her jaw dropped. ”Oh, my gosh, Blythe! I’m so sorry for your loss…” she said apologetically before coming to my side and hugging me. “I wish I was there for you.” I bit my lip and shook my head. “It’s fine. I got through it.” Tracy frowned at me. “So what have you been up to over the past years?” she asked in a concerned tone. I shrugged. “Work.” “At the law firm?” I nodded. “Although I had different jobs before I landed that one,” I explained. She sighed, her shoulders deflated. “What about law school?” she asked. “Are there no plans on continuing it? That’s your dream, right?” I smiled sadly. “I don’t know yet. Maybe, in the future…” I replied which made her even sadder. She was looking at me with a sad expression before her eyes widened like she’s got a great idea that just came up. “My dad has scholars every year! You had good grades before and I think they could still qualify for his scholarship!” My eyes widened at her words. “What?” My system is filled with confusion. She smiled widely. “I’m so brilliant! I should have been named Genius and not my brother!” she beamed before she took my hand and excitedly looked at me. “You can continue working with Atty. Growel and go to law school at night!” She started enumerating all the requirements I need. “Wait! I’ll just call Dad!” she giggled before taking her phone out and headed to the exit. My jaw is still dropped and my mind didn’t seem to have processed everything that Tracy just said now. Did she just enroll me to a scholarship grant? It took me a few moments before I went to follow Tracy but even before I could do it, I was faced with the greatest nightmare I had in my life. “What are you doing here?” I asked in a rising voice. His gray eyes made me want to run away. Looking at him now gives me a flashback of everything I went through for the past three years. He combed his fingers through his ash blonde hair before narrowing his eyes at me. “Where have you been?” My jaw dropped at his question but I immediately closed them and glared at him. “Who are you to know?” He raised his brow and c****d his head to side, looking so amused at my guts. “Last time I checked, you’re mine, Blythe,” he told me without blinking an eye but I could see the side of his lips rising. I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists. “I’m not…yours.” He nodded and smirked at me. “Then, I’m going to make you mine again.” “I don’t ever want to see you again!” He looked at me and chuckled like my words didn’t matter to him at all. “Well, I’m sorry but I don’t think I can stop now that I’ve found you again.” I felt chills on my spine the moment I heard him utter those words. I froze and was speechless right in front of him. He took a step closer to me and crouched down. I wanted to slap him or push him away and make him leave me but the effect he has on me is still as strong as before. I don’t think I can ever escape his spell. He leaned down until his lips reached my ear. “Welcome back to my life, Blythe. But this time, I’ll make sure that you’ll never leave me again.”