"What did you just say? Leigh Devon?" I at once asked him, and he quickly glared at me. I need to clarify if what I heard is correct... it has been ages since I heard that name.
"You knew her?" He astonishingly asked me.
So, I really heard him right. I quickly closed the folder I was holding to pay attention to him."What's her case?" I asked directly. He handed me the folder that Yella gave him earlier, which I quickly accepted.
"It's just about a land case." He answered me as I now looked at what was inside. "Why? Are you interested? That is just a small case Ferrer, her defense isn't quite strong." I didn't look at him because I was busy looking at what was written on the paper.
Her file says she is the complainant.
"His late father has a lot of debts to an old woman... and if I'm not mistaken the old women, Ms. Cruz wants the land to be the payment for all the debts that left behind and Ms. Devon did not agree so she filed a case against Ms. Cruz." Brent explained to me, and I looked at him this time."And what's the problem? Why don't you accept it?" I asked more.
"Apart from the fact that her case is not that strong, she's asking for a pro bono. And I told her before that I’m not still available for a pro bono yet and now... she filed the paper again showing that she will pay me half first. I have many pending cases so I can't really accept him. Then the whole next month I might stay at El Zey Company. And then of course, I'll prioritize my fully paid clients."I close the folder. "Okay... then pass this case to me," I said seriously, and I noticed the frown on his forehead again as if wondering.
"Wayne, are you serious? She can't even pay my retainer fee that's worth 25,000 pesos per hour compared to you that 250,000 per hour?" He guesses.
Yes! You read it right. My retainer fee is much higher than others. Trial lawyers are expensive. But of course, it still depends on if the case appealed to the higher court like court of appeals and the supreme court. Well, majority of cases that I managed appealed on the supreme court that's why my fee doubled or even tripled in just an hour. "Then I'll make a pro bono," I answered back.
He laughed at me like I throw a corny joke. "Are you f*cking kidding me? Your signature is f*cking precious like hell bro. Tell me, what's the catch?"
I can't help it but to smirk at him and stand up quickly. I have no intention of answering that. That's too personal.
When I was about to turn my back on him to leave the office, he spoke again that made me stop. "You knew her, don't you?”
"Maybe yes, maybe no," that's all I answered and then finally left the office while I was holding the folder.
Yes. I f*cking knew her. I knew everything about her... but that was before because now, I think that's going to change! It's been almost 5 years and I don't really expect that we'll ever meet again. ESPECIALLY HERE AT MY OWN LAW FIRM!
I adjusted my coat and when I met Celine which is my intern, I quickly stopped walking."Go to the waiting area, call Leigh Devon and send her to the meeting room. Don't say anything to her,"
"Yes Attorney." She answered.I finally entered the meeting room and at once sat down in front of a long table here inside. While waiting for her, I face the transparent wall and keep smirking out of nowhere. I did not expect that we would meet here again. What is really the catch? You will see.
After minutes, I heard a soft knock on the door. I am 100% sure that is her, so I didn't waste any more time looking back at her. I just heard the door close softly until she said, "Attorney Ong?" she called from behind. Her voice is still sweet like before.
She thought that I was Brent, so I slowly stood up and then slowly faced her. I noticed the automatic widening of her eyes... in shock maybe when she saw me. I at once make a scan of her from her head to toe, secretly.
Nothing much has changed in her, except her wavy light brown hair and a sexy body that is not like before. Her breast has also grown a bit, which is not it used to be. I smirk in my own thoughts. She still looks beautiful on her simple white blouse and her faded jeans."You seem amused," I said and smirk after scanning her visual.
"W- Wayne." She mentioned my name.
I smirk again. She was obviously guilty of what she had done before. I noticed it because I am a lawyer."Yeah. It’s good that you still know me," I said nonchalantly.
She gulped badly. "I'm- I'm here for Attorney Ong, n-not you."
I knew that she is nervous at these times, I can sense it. I slowly stepped closer to her, but she quickly backed away from me, so I smiled again. "I don't bite... don't be afraid," And then I smirk.I started approaching her again and this time, she remained stiff while fighting my gazes. "Leigh Devon, I didn't expect that we would meet here," I said while looking directly into her eyes. There was no emotion in the tone of my voice because I was not sure if I was happy to meet her again."Y-yeah, I also didn't expect to see you here W-Wayne Ferrer." She said stuttering.
We stared at each other for a few minutes and seemed to be reading each other’s thoughts. She didn’t even look bother. "Why don't we sit down, so we can talk better," I said and turned my back on her.I was about to step back to the table when she spoke again which made me a little taken aback."Like I've said... I'm- I'm here for Attorney Brent Ong, not because of you!" She said emphatically. I feigned a smile and ignored what she said and went straight to the table. I took the folder that belongs to her and held it. I noticed that she also throws a gaze and suddenly, she seems surprised."So, are you going to sit down?""Who gave you that?!" She asked and approached me with an angry expression."What do you think?" I remained calm with the words I was uttering."I don't have time to think, and I don’t have time for this bullshit Wayne!”This is the thing that I like about her, she is too confident and bold. "Obviously, I can help you. I'm one of the best lawyers in the country— “"Is it free? Because I don't care if you're a good lawyer because all I need to know... it is for free!" She quickly and forcefully interrupted what I was saying. I feigned a laugh because of what she said
I took a quick step out of that building, I don't want to go back to this place anymore. When I saw Pio's pick up, I at once got on it and slammed the door shut."What happened?" Pio at once asked me and based on the tone of his voice, he seemed to be interested on what happened between the lawyer and me."I'll tell you later, I want to go home," I replied weakly to him, and I just averted my eyes so that he could not see the tears forming in my eyes.The good this is, he never asked again and without a word, he started the car while I was just looking out the window.I am Analeigh Devon, but you can call me Leigh for short. I am 25 years old, and I am an orphan now because both my parents are dead. My mother has been dead for a long time, it was just before college while my father died last year.When I returned to our province after my grieve, I just found out that he had left me his endless debt to Ms. Cruz where it wants to take
I just looked at the canned beers that my friend Catleya put on the table that I was sitting at and then I quickly took one of them and opened it forcely."Jeez. If you just don't have a big problem right now... I assure you, you won't entice me to drink this evening." She told me and then sat down in front of me as she took a canned beer for her own.By the way, she is Catleya Santa Mesa, she is one of my friends here in the province. We did not lose our connections even I leave this town long time ago so our relationship is still strong like before. She is an pre school teacher here in our town that’s why she had second thoughts when I persuaded her to drink this evening. Of course, she need to keep her respected name here as a teacher."It's a good thing it's Saturday tomorrow so I don't have to go to school with hang over." She added sighing.I just drank almost halfway through my beer without realizing it. A few seconds later I felt l
I stopped drinking for her and give my full attention to Catleya. "So- how can you say that? How sure you are?""Okay. Hold on tight to where you're sitting because you'll just be able to say in your mind why I left this man after you hear what I have to say." she said with full of assurance."You are so dramatic,” I replied defiantly."Whatever you say so! So let's start, first of all he topped on his bar exam. After that, he entered a law firm in Quezon City as a criminal lawyer. He won the first four cases he handled and the other two were serious cases, followed by the two more cases that he handled as a trial lawyer. And even once, he has not lost any of his case. He built his own law firm reason why he left his previous firm where he worked. Because of that, everyone admires him even more. Just imagine... he is just a novice lawyer but he have already built his firm, that's really impressive.” Every words she utter, she
THE next morning, I woke up to a loud knock coming from outside my house. When I opened my eyes, the sunlight hit my eyes, so I felt like my head was automatically felt heavy. Our house is not big, and it is only one floor, and the material is only wood so I could hear the loud knocking of whoever that person was.Even though I was still drowsy and had a little hang over because of the drinking I did last night, I was forced to get up to open whoever was knocking. I also tied my long hair and then I finally opened the door. I didn't expect to see a devil this morning. I could not help but feel angry when I saw one of her eyebrows raised as she looked at me and followed by the opening of her handy fan.I feel like my entire day ruined. She is Ms. Delailah Cruz.She is an old lady and almost all the land here in our area is already owned by her. She has a bad temper, and she loves to gamble... she’s a playmate of my dad when he was still alive reason we had drow
After that, I quickly stood up here in my seat and face him. "I've already signed it, so I think we're done now. I'll be back on Monday to catch up, for now I need to leave," I said and I wouldn't have waited for his answer and would have turned around to leave but he spoke again. "I need to get your address." he said nonchalantly reason I turned my gaze back to him. "Why? Is that still necessary?" I asked while frowning. "Yes. I'm going to your house tomorrow. Why? You'll find out." He answered, and before I could speak, he had already taken something from inside his coat and handed it to me. I throw a gaze at it and saw that it was a calling card. "That's my personal number, text me what your address is. I'll wait." I just didn't say anything and finally grab it. I didn’t even give him a look and rush outside to end our conversation. When I got on the elevator a
"Look. There’s a handsome guy." She whispered to me and even though I’m not extremely interested, I followed her sight to see where she was looking. I immediately saw the person she was referring to. I must agree with her... she was right, the boy was handsome and looked elegant at the same time because of his clothes and shoes that seems expensive. He was wearing a black t-shirt and a light khaki pants. The other boy and girl he was with were also quite handsome and pretty like him… but his visual stands out to my eyes. I was even shocked when our eyes met reason, I quickly avoided his gaze. Damn! Did he caught me staring at him? I hope not!I just secretly swallowed hard when I felt that the handsome boy was standing behind me."Your kill joy as always Wayne." I heard the boy say. I don’t know who he’s referring to because I can’t even move a bit
THE next day, I was startled by a series of knocks I heard outside my door that disturb me from sleeping peacefully. I could not help but feel annoyed because this was the second time that someone was disturbing my sleep. The first one was because of the old woman from yesterday then this happened again today. Don't tell me that was Mrs. Cruz again… because by chance, I might not be able to control myself anymore and I would strangle her with the gold necklaces wrapped around her neck. I feel like I'm deafened by that series of knocks that continuously can be heard in the background, so even though I don’t want to get up yet… I didn't hesitate to get up from where I was lying. If it is just the old woman from yesterday bothering me right now, I will let her taste her own medicine! I swear to God! I didn't even bother to fix myself much and my messy hair from my sleep and then straightly went to the door. Without a word, I opened the door and at once showed who