Of all the boys in the Player clan Aiden had been the only one not to develop a talent or desire for football. He had to endure much physical horseplay from his brothers, when he would have preferred to climb a tree or read a book. He eventually joined track and did quite well, receiving several trophies and helping the team get to State, which pleased his parents.
The man sitting next to me now had the same sparkle in his eyes, but he had certainly grown into his body.
All of the awkward gangliness had vanished.
This guy was cool and confident, just oozing with ability and charm. As Mr. Mahoney spoke Aiden glanced over in my direction, giving me another quick grin. I couldn’t help but feel a chill of excitement at his flirtation.
What is the matter with you, Blair! I scolded myself.
I needed to be focused on what the senior partner was saying, as he opened each folder carefully and explained the contents of each as he did so.
"I want to tell you both about your first case," Mr. Mahoney said as he placed a few folders on the table. "It is going to be a murder case. I want you both to understand that I chose this case for the two of you with a very real purpose in mind. Murder cases are the hardest to stomach. You will both have to face many things that you may not be used to. Grisly evidence, questionable witnesses, and in the end it is your collection and presentation of evidence that will either set a man free or send a man to jail for the rest of his life. Keep that in mind as you work. The stakes are real."
I felt my stomach drop out from under me as an understanding of the urgency of what we were doing began to take hold in my mind.
Nonetheless I felt anxious to get started.
This would probably be the most important case of my life and I was ready to jump in. I had never imagined that I would be acting defense on a murder trial. Mr. Mahoney was throwing us in the deep end, and only one of us would end up victorious.
Hearing him describe the details of the case helped me to focus and I pushed all thoughts of Aiden to the back of my mind. That is where they would have to stay for the next three months, the duration of our competition.
I had no intentions of easing up in my competitive nature.
As far as I was concerned the man next to me could have been a complete stranger. I planned on bringing my A-game and winning the competition regardless.
"The two of you will be working closely with myself and one of the other partners, Agnes Klein during the course of the case work and through the trial,” Mr. Mahoney continued. "You will be building the defense based on the evidence collected by the case detectives. I want you to understand again, there will be a lot of things you will see in the evidence files that you most likely have never been exposed to. If you can handle a case like this, than I have no doubt that you will both be successful with any path that you follow in the world of law." Aiden and I exchanged a glance. I felt as if we were lions staring each other down over the carcass of a fallen gazelle. "Are there any questions so far?"
"What about the client?" I asked.
"What do you mean?" Mr. Mahoney asked.
"Will we have a chance to meet the client before the trial?"
"Of course, Ms. Michaels,” he explained. "Usually only the lead members of the team meet with the client, but I’m sure a meeting could be arranged if you think it would help you with the case."
"Would that create a conflict of interests?" Aiden interjected. "Would meeting the client be against our interests? I mean, the evidence should speak for itself, right? We should be working with an objective mind."
"You both bring us very good points,” Mr. Mahoney said with an impressed tone. "I'll take them both into consideration and let you know if we decide to arrange a meeting for all of us or just the lead members."
"What is his name?" I asked. "The client, I mean."
Mr. Mahoney looked at me with consideration. His hand moved to the folder containing the information on the biography of the client. Despite my inclination to glance down at the name printed on the tab of the folder I kept my eyes on Mr. Mahoney's face.
"Darius Shaw," he said at last. "He's being accused of the murder of his wife Rita Shaw. All of the information is here which you will see in more detail once we begin. Mr. and Mrs. Shaw were estranged and our client was found standing over the body of the slain victim when the police arrived."
"Does he claim his own innocence?" I asked.
"Regardless," Aiden interjected. "We have to present the best case in his defense. His innocence is arbitrary."
"Is it?" I said flashing him a challenging glance.
"I understand your reasoning to ask that,” Mr. Mahoney said. "And the answer is, yes. He does."
"Thank you, sir. It is helpful to know his name,” I said, grinning out of the corner of my mouth.
A few hours after the meeting had ended and Mr. Mahoney walked us out to the lobby, thanking us for our time.
"I want to remind you that you’re the top two selected out of a large pool of applicants,” he said. "I expect nothing less than greatness from you both, and I’m excited to see what the two of you’re capable of."
"Thank you very much for the opportunity, sir,” I said extending my hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet you both,” he said as he shook my hand and then Aiden's in turn.
He returned to the hallway stopping to ask something of the receptionist, while Aiden and I stepped into the arriving elevator.
I hadn’t known how I would respond once Aiden and I were alone.
I had kind of hoped to get a head start while leaving as to avoid any awkward reunion, but here we were trapped in the small steel box carrying us both back to the first floor. He leaned against the railing of the elevator looking me over. I recognized the look on his face as reminiscent of the boy I had once known.
"Blair Michaels," he said with a huge grin lighting up his face and finally acknowledging what neither of us had said in the conference room. "I can hardly believe it. How the hell are you?"
"Aiden," I said with a calm smile, cautious to reveal too much emotion. "How have you been?"
God, he was cute.
"Good... great," he answered. "I wasn’t expecting to see you. Wow."
At that point the elevator door opened and I darted out as soon as I could fit through the door.
"It's great to see you Aiden," I blurted over my shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow."
I surged towards my car, but to no avail since he caught up with me in the parking lot placing a hand on my elbow as he stepped alongside me.
"Have lunch with me,” he said.
He never was one to take a hint.
I eyed him suspiciously, not sure what I was feeling. On the one hand I was glad to see an old friend, and we had been good friends after all. I had often regretted losing touch. Perhaps it would be nice to catch up again.
We had been children then and now we were adults, completely different circumstances.
I had a chance to get to know him within a whole new context.
On the other hand, I thought, he is now the enemy.
I came into this opportunity fully prepared to use every resource at my dispense to win this job, and he was my competition. I didn’t want to get too close, even on a casual level.