Nic Tatano - The Empire State Cat’s Christmas Gift

The burly, fiftyish guy with salt-and-pepper hair operating the cart handed a cup of coffee to the man as she moved forward. He gave her a warm smile. “Can I help you, young lady?”

“Thank you for calling me young.”

“No charge for compliments.”

“You got a cold club soda, or sparkling water?”

“Sure.” He reached into the cooler, pulled out a can and handed it to her. “Dollar.”

She reached into her pocket. Empty. “Damn it. I forgot some money. I’m in the hotel, I’ll be right back.”

The man in the suit apparently overheard. “Hang on a minute.” He put the phone against his chest, reached in his pocket and handed the guy a dollar bill. “I got it.”

She turned to face him. “Thank you, that’s very kind of you—”

And then it hit her.

Her eyes went wide as she looked into the face of the white knight from the restaurant.

She had called him awfully cute , but up close he was beyond cute.

And here she was looking like absolute crap in the paint covered sweatpants and old t-shirt she kept in her car.

“No problem,” he said, flashing her a smile. “Excuse me.” He turned away and went back to his phone call as he looked at his watch. “I’m back. Anyway, I’ll see you Saturday night but I gotta go.” He started to walk away. “Love you too.”

Tish shook her head. “Well, damn. Can this week get any worse?”

The soda cart guy studied her face. “Something wrong, Miss?”

“My luck just needs to change, that’s all.”

*

Spencer waited until Ariel left the office for a deposition. She’d be gone an hour or so, more than enough time for him to follow through on her idea.

Finding out the identity of the lawyer who had seriously kicked ass in the courtroom the other day. Ariel was right about the woman being his type. Intelligence trumped everything with him, and that woman was off-the-charts brilliant. Her combination of street smarts and knowledge of the law was impressive. Toss in some New York City spunk and her appeal skyrocketed.

And she was quietly beautiful with those spectacular eyes.

He logged into the New York City justice system database and called up the docket for the new judge, then clicked on the case that had been scheduled for her first morning.

A quick read reminded him there was a female attorney for both the plaintiff and the defendant. One of the names was somehow familiar. “Where the hell do I know that from?” He paused a minute, but couldn’t place it.

He opened another window on the laptop and logged into the New York Bar Association website, then typed in the name of the defendant’s lawyer, Jolene Davis.

He drummed his fingers on the desk as he waited for her bio to load. Then shook his head as the screen featured a photo of a brunette in her fifties. “Nope, not her. Gotta be the other one.” He typed in “Tish McKenna” and waited.

There she was.

His pulse quickened a bit as he started to read her bio—

Which stopped him dead in his tracks. His jaw dropped as he saw the name of the law school and the year she’d graduated.

“You gotta be kidding me. She was in my class? How the hell did I miss someone like that?”

Because you were young and stupid. And into flashy bimbos back then like most men of that age.

He simply couldn’t remember her at all. Next stop, the website for his law school’s alumni association. He pulled up the photo of the graduating class, read the caption to find the name and her place in the photo. When he saw her face he instantly remembered the woman.

“Oh.” His eyes narrowed as his jaw and fists clenched. “ Her .”

There she was, middle of the picture in a cap and gown standing next to the Dean of the law school. She was the valedictorian, her grades so far ahead of the other students it wasn’t even close. The one person who had kept him in second place. Known back then as Mrs. Spock , nicknamed after the Star Trek character who had no emotions and was driven by pure logic. She had been all business, all the time. Never socialized with any of the other students. Never smiled, cracked a joke or made any comment in class regarding anything other than the law. Didn’t go to any of the parties. As far as anyone knew, she never dated. It was like having a nun as a classmate. She sat in the first row, her hand always shooting up like a rocket a nanosecond after the professor asked a question. Answers always perfect. Able to cite obscure legal precedents in a single bound. The woman was a walking law library who got a perfect score on every single exam.

Everyone had hated her. Part jealousy, part lack of personality.

Okay, mostly jealousy.

He’d admired her performance in the classroom and actually tried to strike up a conversation with her in the law library during his first year, just to be nice since he knew she hadn’t made any friends. He sat down across from her and slid a cup of coffee next to her book. She’d told him, “No offense, and don’t take this the wrong way, but I prefer to study alone.” She’d picked up her books and moved to another table, leaving him with two cups of java. She was the most driven woman he’d ever seen.

Her.

But the graduation photo didn’t remotely look like the woman he’d seen in the courtroom.

The law student with the long, stringy blonde hair who had always looked like an unmade bed in cargo pants and bulky sweatshirts had blossomed like the proverbial ugly duckling into a swan.

“Okay, where is she now?”

Spencer did a search for her firm and his eyes bugged out.

“She’s in this building? On this floor? You gotta be kidding me!”

He stared at the photo on her website, the same woman he’d seen in the courtroom.

Actually smiling a bit.

The website was nothing fancy, pure business. No surprise there. She apparently ran a one-person firm. No surprise there either, as he couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to work with her and the attitude that came with it.

Back to the justice system website for a search of her cases. “Let’s see what kind of clients she likes.”

The list was impressive. Tish McKenna obviously wasn’t in it for the money—he used to be the same. All her clients seemed to be on the side of good. Lots of pro bono work for charities. A few high profile cases he remembered.

And she won almost every time. Just like law school.

“Bus-ted! Again!”

He swung his chair around and saw Ariel smiling at him. “What happened to your deposition?”

“Canceled. Much to your dismay.” She pointed at the laptop. “Ah, stalking the classy attorney, I see.”

His face immediately flushed. “I was just curious since, uh, you know, you said we should hire her.”

“Oh, gimme a break, Spence, you’ve got a thing for her. We’ve been friends too long for me to miss the signals. Those glasses came off and it was game over. If we’d stayed in the courtroom any longer you would have needed a drool cup.” She pulled up a chair and sat next to him. “So, what’d you find out about the mystery woman?”