One of them draped a blanket over her, but her eyelids were so heavy, she found she couldn’t open her eyes to say bye. She drifted to sleep.
Strong, solid arms wrapped around her, pulling her close. Hot breath caressed her ear. “You’re mine. You’ve always beenmine.” The kiss was hard, passionate, insistent. Every part of Marina ached to be taken the way this woman wanted to take her. Her lips felt perfectly bruised and as her top fell away from her shoulders she moaned softly, the sound accompanied by a buzz. And then another buzz. And another.
She blinked, unsure for a moment where she was. Her phone vibrated on the side table, making it jump along on its own toward the edge. She fumbled for it and squinted at the number she didn’t recognize.
“Hello?” she murmured and closed her eyes again.
“Don’t tell me you’re sleeping in the middle of the afternoon?” Sheila Black’s voice came through like pins pressing into Marina’s skull.
“No, of course not. I was just deeply involved in a case file. What can I do for you?” There was no need to mention that it was Sunday afternoon. Clearly, Sheila didn’t care.
“I’ve just emailed a document over. I’d like you to read it and amend it as necessary, then send it back to me within the hour.” She spoke sharply to someone in the room. “I take it that won’t be a problem?”
“Of course not. I’ll look at it right now.” Marina went to sit up but got tangled in the blanket and fell off the couch with a thump. “Is there anything I need to be looking for specifically?” she asked, her voice muffled by the blanket she was trying unsuccessfully to pull off her. Was the fucking thing made of Saran Wrap?
“No. Just make sure it’s airtight. Ciao.”
Marina finally yanked the blanket off and shoved it away. Her hair crackled with electricity and made her yelp when she went to pat it down.Coffee first. She got a pot running and yawned as she checked her email and texts. There were three from Rob, asking if she wanted them to come over with dinner,what she wanted, and if they could watch the new Marvel movie. The next one made her smile.
River: I’m hoping you’re still alive enough to read this and that you’re feeling better. I wonder how many more times I’ll get to say that?
Marina thought of the dream she’d been so rudely awakened from. She hadn’t seen the person’s face but she knew it was River, all the same.
It felt so good to have banter that didn’t require any effort.For a woo-woo person, your bedside manner is lacking. Where’s the sympathy? Still alive. Still mortified.
I’m stuck in woo-woo land. I’ll go look for my little violin. Did you want some company to make sure you continue to hydrate tonight?
Marina stared at the ceiling and contemplated the offer to hang out.Wish I could, but I’m working for the rest of the day.
While it wasn’t true, as she only had an hour to get the document done, and then Rob and Jeff were coming over, boundaries would be a good thing to put in place. She wasn’t about to lead River on and let her think she was available for anything beyond a momentary fling. Not that she’d asked for anything at all.
Argue well.
There was nothing more and Marina set down her phone, feeling a little deflated. Had she wanted River to beg? She clearly wasn’t the type, but Marina hadn’t been with anyone who had healthy boundaries and who didn’t play games in so long, she wasn’t sure how to feel about it.
She headed to the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. She felt far better now, but another few hours of sleep wouldn’t have gone amiss. She made her coffee and went into her home office, where she booted up her computer. The document from Sheila was standard fare. Re-zoning permissionwould apply to a proposed area of South Shore, allowing for taller buildings in place of the current maximum of four stories. It would allow for larger commercial spaces as well. Marina made a few small suggestions to terminology to cover any potential objections later and then sent it back with five minutes to spare.
Curious, she pulled up the area in question on Google Maps. It was an older section, no question. Many of the brick buildings needed attention, some were clearly abandoned, and there were a number of vacant lots. Trash was in the gutters, and potholes that could swallow children marred the streets. It would be an easy sell. When she looked at the statistics, that was clear. It was one of the poorest areas of the city, and it desperately needed the income urban redevelopment could offer.
She shut down her computer and stretched. She hadn’t heard back from Sheila but that could only be a good thing. Surely if it was wrong, she’d have heard about it within seconds of it landing in Sheila’s inbox.
As she left her desk, something about the neighborhood name bugged her, but she couldn’t pin down why. She’d probably just heard it mentioned in one of her cases. Real estate law in Chicago was a messy ball of thread that often had to be unraveled with a toothpick in order to file the right paperwork. She picked up her phone and debated sending River a message. But to what end? Should she try dating her after all? Was Jeff right, and it didn’t matter if Marina thought she was kind of a Looney Tune, if everything else was okay? No. There was no time for dating anyone. A partner wanted your attention. They wanted to go do stuff and take weekends away and all that romantic nonsense. Marina had time for sex and an occasional dinner, and that was about it.
Shame. It had felt awfully nice waking up in River’s arms.
Monday morning dawned hot and blue, and Marina’s focus could have guided naval ships to port with just her mind. She cleared file after file, and the new assistant, Yvonne, was sharp, fast, and didn’t mind that Marina didn’t filter everything she said. By afternoon, she seemed up to date on the cases Marina needed to shift to junior lawyers and what paperwork had important deadlines. She ordered Marina’s lunch at her request and left her to eat in silence at her desk, without any chitchat or lingering. She shared no personal information and didn’t ask for any. It was possible she was the perfect assistant.
“Sheila Black for you on line one.” Yvonne’s voice came over the intercom in her office.
Marina picked up the phone. “Good afternoon, Sheila. How are you?”
“The amendments you made to the zoning doc were just what it needed. I want to take a drive through the proposed neighborhood, and I’d like you to go with me. I think there’s nothing as valuable as seeing a place for yourself when you’re going to make it better.”
“I’m at your disposal. When would you like to go?” Marina didn’t need to check her calendar. This was exactly the service Montgomery would expect from her.
“I’ll be outside your building in seven minutes.”
“I’ll be there.” Marina shouldn’t have been surprised that the request was immediate. Sheila didn’t seem like one to wait for anything. She grabbed her jacket and purse and let Yvonne know where she was going, then headed downstairs and out into the midday sun. The heat was intense, the humidity even more so. She could only pray her silk blouse would hold up to the sweat-inducing weather. Before she even had time to take out her phone to check her email, a black town car pulled up, and Sheila lowered the window.
