“She and Mark got called out to do preliminary hearings in the districts,” he replied, writing something in a file. I fired up my computer and did a little quick research to satisfy my curiosity about Club 51. It was a fairly new place and it sounded kind of interesting. I personally thought that finding that napkin was a little too convenient and that it would definitely be worth checking it out on Friday at ten-thirty. Besides, if we went as a group, that would give Jess a reason to get all dressed up and gorgeous-looking and it would give Cam a chance to see her looking that way. I was such a brilliant strategist. Napoleon could have taken lessons from me.
Unable to put it off any longer, I dug into my pile of case files for the next day. Luckily, with one exception, most of the cases seemed pretty straightforward. Unfortunately, the exception was a real winner. I sighed. Cameron and I worked quietly until eleven-thirty and then I took a break and stretched a little, turning toward him and starting a conversation.
“So how long are you going to be here with us, Cam?”
“Why? Trying to get rid of me?” he asked with a laugh.
“Are you kidding? I like having you here. It’s nice to have help and I’ve always enjoyed your company. Besides, you and Jess are just getting to know each other well. Didn’t you tell me just the other night that you found her really attractive and you might want to explore that more?” Okay, I was nudging. Cam stopped what he was doing and turned to face me.
“I did tell you that and I have been thinking about it,” he confirmed.
“So, why don’t you ask her out on a date or something?” I had moved on to pushing.
“Because I like her a lot. I would want it to be a success, so I’m waiting for the timing to be right. I still need to work through some things before starting a new relationship.”
“What …”
Then it dawned on me, Jess might have been right; the “some things” he had to work through might be his feelings about having me pop up out of the blue dating his cousin. Oh God, was I standing in the way of their happiness and ruining it for both of them? Some small part of my brain registered what was about to happen just in the nick of time. I flew out of my seat and bolted toward the door. “I’m having an allergy thing,” I said, my voice catching.
I made it to the ladies room and hurtled myself into a stall just as the first heavy hot tears started to fall. Oh f**k! This wasn’t happening. I could just tell that this was PMS! Even on the pill I always became an emotional basket case a week before my period. God, I hated freaking hormones! I assured myself that even if he needed some time to wrap his head around it, that didn’t mean he was broken-hearted or anything. He would work through it and they would get together and be happy. I needed to get a grip. Get the estrogen under control, Gabrielle! It’s all good. I took a few gulps of air and dried my eyes with toilet paper. I stepped out of the stall and looked in the mirror … at my red eyes and tear-streaked makeup. Shit. Okay, I needed to wash my face. I turned the water on full blast and started frantically pumping icky, thin pink soap into my hand. I heard someone coming through the door and I looked up into the mirror to see Kim, a friend and fellow PD, whose office was at the other end of the hall from ours. Kim was a gorgeous Halle Berry look-alike with short dark hair, beautiful mocha-colored skin, and amazing style and taste and here I stood looking like someone had just dragged me out of the river.
“Hey, Gab. You okay?”
“Allergy attack.”
“Oh, sorry, girl. Want some Claritin?”
“No, thanks. I took something already.” She went into a stall and at that moment my arm started to feel cold and wet. I looked down and saw that while I had been looking up at her, pink soap was running all over one sleeve of my suit jacket, and the other sleeve was sitting in the sink basin, which was rapidly filling with water. I yanked my arms away, managing to splatter pink goo all over my white blouse in the process. I grabbed some brown paper towel and wet it, attempting to scrub it off. Unfortunately, all that did was smear brown all over the pink. Needed more water! I started splashing water across the stain and immediately realized my mistake. Oh f**k! I looked like a contestant in a wet T-shirt contest and I had to interview clients in an hour! In jail! It would probably dry but what if it didn’t?!
Okay, think, Gabrielle! The air blow hand dryer! I went over and tried to turn the air blower upward but it wouldn’t move. Shit! I hit the button, bent my knees and squatted below the pipe. And that’s how Ellen Anderson, the Philadelphia Public Defender, one of the most highly respected attorneys on the East Coast, and my boss, found me as she walked in the door. Then I heard the stall door open and saw Kim’s startled expression in the mirror.
“Ms. Ginsberg? Are you all right?” Ellen sounded like she wasn’t quite sure if she should help me or get the hell out of there.
“Uh, I’m good! Thanks. I had an accident with the soap. And the paper towel. And the water.”
“Hygiene can be a complex thing,” she said, looking at me strangely and heading for a stall.
“Do you need another blouse, Gab?” Kim asked, looking like she was trying not to laugh. “I have an extra in case of emergency. I can bring it to you.”
I glanced up nervously at the stall where my boss was peeing and suddenly all I wanted to do was to get the hell out of there myself. “I’ll come with you to your office. Thanks.” I started following Kim and I was about to pass my office when I saw that Cameron had gone. Not wanting to go down the rest of the hall looking like that, I ducked in. “Can you bring it here?”
“Sure, I’ll be right back.”
I peeled off my sopping jacket and waited. Kim came back in a couple of minutes with another white blouse.
“Thank you so much!”
“No problem. I’ll close the door on the way out,” she said and left.
As soon as she was gone, I ripped off my wet blouse and quickly realized that my bra was wet too. I turned my back to the door and started fanning my chest in an effort to dry it a little. Movement caught my eye and I looked up and out the window to the building across from me, where a group of rather startled-looking businessmen stood gaping at me. I spun around in a panic just as the door opened and Cameron came back in looking down at a file. He looked up at me and then he looked down at my wet see-through bra. Oh, and by the way? I was cold. He dropped the file he was holding and his jaw nearly hit the floor with it.