Second Chances Read online

  Until he saw one from his brother…

  …reminding him of his obligations that evening.

  “Oh crap.”

  He picked up the phone and rang the front desk. “Meghan?”

  “Yes?”

  “Was this the day I was supposed to do that thing with my brother?”

  “Yes, sir. I added it to your schedule this morning.”

  He pulled out his phone and saw that it was true: six o’clock that night, a four hour block with his brother’s name attached, along with the word ‘clinic’.

  “I have to reschedule.”

  “You can’t.”

  “I’ll just tell him I have a doctor’s appointment.”

  “Sir…”

  “Or maybe that I have plans with Deborah. He can’t get mad if I’m spending the evening with my wife.”

  “Sir!” Meghan said, her voice firm. Richard was about to speak again, to continue rambling, but her tone silenced him. “You told me, in no uncertain terms, that I was not to allow you to reschedule this again.”

  “But that was months ago and—!”

  “And you’ve already cancelled on him four times. You’re doing this, sir.”

  Richard let out a long sigh. “Fine. I’ll go.”

  “Great!” Meghan said, her voice cheerful. “Stacy is back and I’ve got your coffee. I’m sending Nichole in.”

  “Alright,” he said, hanging up. A few seconds later his door opened.

  Nichole strode in, carrying an enormous cup of coffee in both hands. She walked gingerly, as though the floor were made of egg shells.

  She had seemed shy and tentative during her first few days. Very demure. But that was all an act until she got used to Richard and the rest of the staff.

  Then she became a completely different person, passionate and evocative, totally unafraid to express herself. That was the side Richard loved to draw out of her. The side that would one day make her an excellent lawyer, and help him acquire a lot of new clients.

  “Here you go,” she said, handing him the cup.

  “Thank you,” he said, setting it on his desk. “How are you today?”

  “I’m good,” she said.

  “How is your mother?”

  “She is well,” Nichole said.

  She bit her lip, the way she always did when an uncomfortable topic was brought up.

  It was a tic Richard had noticed not long after hiring Nichole, and something he would need to train out of her when she was hired into his practice. If she had that tic in a courtroom, any well trained opponent would know right away that she was lying.

  But, her personal life was none of his business, and if she wanted to lie to him about her mother that was her prerogative.

  “And how is your little brother doing? Tyler, right?”

  She smiled. “Tyler is very well, thank you. He loves school and is having so much fun finger painting and drawing. He told me he wants to be an artist when he grows up.”

  “As good a goal as any,” Richard said. “I never was good at finger painting. I hated getting the paint all over me. Which is odd, because when I was in middle school I would put drops of glue on my palms, watch them dry, and then peel the flakes off.”

  She laughed. “Really?”

  “What can I say? I was an overachiever. Maybe a little strange as well.”

  “Can’t say I ever did that.”

  “It was a different time. You would have still been in diapers, if you were born at all. This was back before texting and insta-gramming and whatever else young people use today to entertain themselves.”

  “Tumblr,” she offered.

  Richard waved his hand. “Before Tumblering, we had to entertain ourselves with what we had. And glue is quite fascinating.”

  “I’m sure,” she said. Richard could tell she wasn’t convinced. “Is there anything you would like that I work on today?”

  He glanced around the office. “I can’t think of anything in particular.”

  “Do you have any research you need finished?”

  “Not right now,” he said. “We don’t have anything else to file this week either. Until I sign a few new clients we won’t have a lot of research to do. I think you’ve done everything on the docket. I suppose I could have you work on some end of year reports…?”

  She laughed. “Sounds tedious.”

  “Oh, they are very tedious,” he said with a laugh. He waved his hand, shrugging the thought away. “And they don’t need done for a few months so we can hold off. I hear you have plenty of work to do anyway.”

  She looked puzzled. “Excuse me?”

  “School started back up, right? Second semester?”

  “Oh, yes,” she said. “The second one.”

  “Congratulations on the last. All ‘A’s, I heard. Graduating with honors is nothing to scoff at.”

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “What classes are you taking now? Anything worse than last time around? Did you sign up for underwater basket weaving like I suggested? I’m telling you, it’s worth the credits to have something easy to go along with the harder classes.”

  She bit her lip. “No, I didn’t end up taking basket weaving this time around.”

  “Oh, well. Maybe next semester.”

  “Maybe.”

  A moment passed.

  “It’s more fun than you’d think,” he offered

  “I’m sure. Was there anything else you needed?”

  “Nope,” he said. “Just wanted to congratulate you. I’ll let you know if I find anything for you to do today, but I’m sure it’s going to be slow. If you want to leave early and work on your homework, feel free to head out whenever. We’ll still count your hours.”

  “Yes, sir,” she said. She started walking toward the door. As she reached for the handle, she stopped. “Sir, I was hoping I could ask you for help with something…”

  “Yes?” he said. Just then, his phone rang. He held up a finger for Nichole to wait and picked it up.

  It was Meghan. “Your nine o’clock is here in the lobby.”

  “Oh okay. Send them on in.”

  He set the phone down and looked up at Nichole. “You were saying?”

  “Never mind. It can wait.”

  Then she slipped out the door.

  Chapter 6

  Nichole

  “I’m being serious here, sis,” Rico said.

  Nichole’s stomach hurt from laughing so much. She was back in her office waiting for Richard to become available, and Rico had called to get her opinion about a dispute he was having with Anita.

  “Wait, wait,” she said, gasping. “So you are telling me Anita asked you to call the hair and makeup people? She asked you?”

  “Yeah,” Rico said defensively. “She was busy, so she asked me to give them a call and get a price for a wedding trial. I still don’t know why they couldn’t just quote me a damn price.”

  “Okay, so then what happened?”

  “Well, so I was like: ‘how much is it for six people to get their hair done?’ and the woman was like ‘are they relaxed or natural?’”

  “And what did you say?”

  “What do you mean ‘what did I say’? She wears it up in a ponytail and she wears it down and curly, so I said ‘both’”

  Nichole laughed. “But it can’t be both!”

  “That’s what the woman on the phone said. But I was like, ‘well, her hair is natural, but it’s usually relaxed too.’ Then, she said: ‘that’s not what it means.’”

  “No, it isn’t,” Nichole agreed

  “So, I was like ‘then what’s it mean,’ and she was like ‘well natural means the hair they were born with.’”

  “Yeah,” Nichole agreed.

  “So I was like ‘so relaxed means she wears a wig?’”

  Nichole burst out laughing.

  “What? That’s not what it means?” Rico asked.

  “No,” she said. “It’s when they put chemicals in to straighte
n your hair. Like permanently straight.”

  “Yeah, she said something like that. But, then why call it ‘relaxed’? That doesn’t describe it very well. They should call it ‘chemically-straightened-hair.’”

  “Maybe you should pitch that to them.”

  “Maybe I should,” Rico said. “But, I think it’s the last time Anita is going to ask for help planning the wedding.”

  “Three months away, Rico,” Nichole said. “Are you ready?”

  “Hell yeah,” Rico said. “I’m ready.”

  “Do you think she’s ready?”

  This time he was slower in responding. “I hope she is.”

  “You have been together for almost three years, so I’m sure she’s more than ready to marry you,” Nichole said.

  “Yeah,” he said. “I hope so.”

  She sobered up and rubbed her forehead. “Did you call yet today?”

  “I did,” Rico said. “I got Officer Martin again.”

  “I always imagine him as being short.”

  “Me too. Probably fat. He sounds fat.”

  “And…? What did Officer Martin say?”

  “No news,” Rico said. “About Mom. But they are still looking into it, and as soon as they know something, they will call.”

  “They always say that.”

  “Yeah,” Rico said. “He said they can’t change it from a ‘missing persons’ case unless they find her. Or a body.”

  “Don’t say that.”

  “It’s true, though,” he said. “Until they find something, it’s low priority.”

  Nichole sighed and shook her head. “They don’t even care, do they?”

  “Sis, just relax. They are doing the best they can.”

  “The best they can sucks.”

  “I know.”

  “Ty asked about her again today.”

  Rico sighed. “He did?”

  “He wants to know when she’s coming home.”

  “Damn. I wish we had an answer for him. But there’s nothing we can do about it. What about Kenni?”

  “I don’t think she even cares anymore,” Nichole said. “She was devastated when Mom first disappeared, but when I mention Mom to her now, she just shrugs and looks away.”

  “It’s rough, sis.”

  “I know.”

  “We need to get her back into Northmont. At least then something will be working out for her.”

  “I know, Rico,” Nichole replied.

  “Did you ask Richard about it?”

  “Not yet,” Nichole said. “I tried, but there wasn’t enough time. He had a meeting.”

  “You need to ask.”

  “I will, Rico,” Nichole said. “I will. I’m going to ask today, because I don’t think I’ll be able to come back tomorrow.”

  “Kenni can’t stay in that school,” Rico repeated. “She hates it. You hated it. I hated it. She needs to go back to Northmont.”

  “She told me they made fun of her at school,” Nichole said, “this morning. Like she did something wrong by leaving and going to Northmont.”

  Rico sighed. “I’ll talk to her tonight. What about Richard? Does he know you didn’t enroll yet?”

  “No,” Nichole said. “But he’s going to figure it out sooner or later.”

  “What then?”

  “I’m guessing he will fire me. Or let me go, or whatever it is they do to interns. The internship was contingent on my grades, and I don’t have grades if I’m not in school.”

  “They aren’t paying you anyway.”

  “Yeah, but its good experience.”

  “It is, but if you aren’t in school, what’s the point?”

  “Yeah I know, but I mean…”

  She didn’t know how to explain to her brother. Rico had stayed at home after their Mom disappeared, helping take care of his siblings as best he could. He was engaged, nearly married, and worked two jobs to keep everyone fed and clothed. He had gone above and beyond what they ever could have asked from him.

  It was already too much to ask, and after running numbers Nichole had figured she wouldn’t be able to stay in college. They just didn’t have enough equity for her to keep going. All of the loan money was spent maintaining the apartment and keeping food on the table while their Mom was missing.

  But, the internship meant something else. When she was chosen out of hundreds of applicants to come work at Franklin and Greenwood she had felt really good about herself. It was what set her above her peers.

  Losing it would be a lot harder than dropping out of college. But, to Rico, it was just somewhere she worked and didn’t get paid.

  “Then you can spend more time at your actual job,” Rico said, “and I’ll have more money to spend on Anita and the wedding.”

  “Yeah,” she agreed, unwilling to argue. It was hard to say anything, because Rico worked almost eighty hours every week to pay for everything. “I’ll ask as soon as he’s free.”

  “Good,” Rico said. “I’ll see you tonight, sis.”

  “Later,” she said, hanging up the cell phone.

  It was hard talking to her brother about anything right now. Not this close to his wedding date. Basically everything revolved around it. He wasn’t interested in listening to her talk about how much it sucked dropping out of school or losing her internship.

  And she couldn’t really complain. He’d given up a lot already.

  Now, after the months went by, they started to get the feeling that it wasn’t likely their Mom would ever come home. Rico had all but given up on her and was looking to the future; to their lives without her. She was gone, and they were on their own.

  Part of Nichole didn’t want to believe that, but the rational side told her that Rico was right. They needed to take care of themselves, no matter what. Maybe her Mom would come home, and maybe not.

  At least, for now, there wasn’t a body.

  At a little after ten in the morning, she went to the front desk. It had probably been long enough that Richard wouldn’t be in his meeting anymore.

  “Hey Meghan,” she said. “Is Richard busy?”

  “I don’t think so,” she said. “Do you need anything in particular?”

  “I was just hoping I could talk to him for a few minutes. I can come back…”

  “Nonsense. Let’s check with him.”

  She dialed into his phone, spoke with him for a minute, and then waved Nichole into his office.

  “You can head on in, sugar. He’s waiting for you.”

  Nichole’s palms were sweaty and she felt a tightness in her stomach. She had to do this, for Kenni, but she hated asking anyone for help. Especially since she was deliberately withholding information from him at the same time.

  As she opened the door, she saw that there were several people already in his office. Richard was sitting on the edge of his desk, coat off and shirt-sleeves rolled up. Other than him, there was a woman in her mid-fifties in a business suit with shoulder length hair and a man in his seventies with wrinkled leathery skin.

  Not what she’d been expecting, she hesitated at the door.

  “Ah, Nichole!” Richard said, gesturing for her to come in. She let the door shut behind her, a confused expression on her face.

  The woman smiled over at her. “So you’re the Nichole we keep hearing so much about?”

  Nichole frowned and looked at Richard, who was also smiling at her.

  “I told them that you were the one who researched the international pricing issue for them a few weeks ago.”

  Nichole nodded. “Oh, okay. The one where possibility of litigation seemed to low.”

  “Yeah,” Richard agreed. “I gave all of your work to Beverly after we made recommendations.”

  “And I thought you did a wonderful job,” the woman said. “I am Beverly, by the way.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Nichole replied, shaking her hand.

  “Beverly handles all of Malcolm’s assets and is the CEO of his company,” Richard explained, gesturing at the o
ld man. “And she was asking me about some of your recommendations. Since you’re here, I thought it might be nice to have you answer some of her questions for her.”

  “Okay,” Nichole said, not really sure what else she could say.

  “If this is putting you on the spot…” Beverly started to say.

  “No, no,” Nichole said. “It’s fine, just caught me off guard.”

  “Ah,” Beverly said. She glanced at her notebook. “You made reference to a small possibility of going before the Supreme Court for settlement.”

  Nichole nodded. “It isn’t likely, but possible.”

  “And you put in the research that, should it happen, we should reference United States V Carolene Products Co.”

  “Yes, that is the relevant case.”

  “But, this was a case about milk, wasn’t it? My father ran a non-profit for many years and his company sells services. We don’t actually sell any products.”

  “It was about condensed milk, but the case itself isn’t the important piece. It’s the footnote by Justice Stone that matters, because if you were to stand before the Supreme Court, it would be against the government specifically.”

  “Oh?”

  “The footnote sets a precedent whereby prejudice against discrete and insular minorities might become a special condition and thereby calls for a more searching judicial inquiry. Basically, it dictates how powerful the government is depending on the circumstances of an individual court case.”

  “Meaning?”

  “In default cases, the government employs rational basis scrutiny, which puts the burden on the individual contesting the government to prove that there is not a rational basis for the constitutional power of the government.

  “Alternatively, the government can apply strict scrutiny in the case of non-economic cases, which puts the government in the position of having to prove that a law furthers the compelling government interest and is narrowly tailored so that it achieves this interest.”

  “Meaning?” Beverly prodded.

  “The entire outcome you would be faced with is decided by which way the Supreme Court initially decides to see your case. If they decide the first way, you’ll lose and the law will stand. But, if you can convince them to see your case under strict scrutiny, then the law will likely be ruled unconstitutional and you will win.