Page 13 of She’ll Steal Your Heart
Lauren grinned. “Occupational hazard, I’m guessing?”
“Oh, for sure, and I’ve definitely tapped out of legal shows before because they were too unrealistic, butIn Her Defensedoes pretty well, all things considered. Sure, they screw up some of the finer points, but it’s Hollywood, you know? The show has such a strong message of female empowerment, I’m willing to overlook a few things.”
“But Kristin wasn’t a fan?”
Mia shook her head. “We ended up arguing whenever she watched, which, honestly, is a pretty good way to summarize our whole marriage.”
Lauren scrunched her nose as she ripped off a bite from her chocolate-filled croissant. “Was it always that bad?”
“No.” Mia sipped her cappuccino as her mind spun back to happier times. “We were so much in love during law school. We were both driven for success and so career oriented. I thought I’d found my perfect match.”
“What went wrong?”
Mia shrugged. “Maybe we were too much alike? We both graduated at the top of our class and started as first year associates at the same law firm. Our competitiveness was our downfall, I think. After a while, it started to feel like our entire relationship was based in trying to one-up each other. Who had more billable hours, the biggest office, the most high profile client, who would make partner first… It wasn’t healthy.”
“No, it doesn’t sound like it. I’m sorry it turned out that way.”
“So am I,” Mia said. “I never imagined I’d be starting over as a newly divorced woman with a new business at my age, but here I am.” She’d expected to spend her forties comfortably settled, maybe raising a family. Instead, she was starting from scratch, both personally and professionally.
“You’re rocking it so far.” Lauren tapped her mug against Mia’s.
“I hope so.”
“The café’s doing well, isn’t it?” Lauren asked.
“It is, but…” Mia paused, hesitant to admit the doubt that had begun to creep in recently. “It’s been a bigger adjustment than I’d expected.”
“How so?” Lauren asked.
“It’s a much slower pace than I’m used to,” Mia said. Last year, in the middle of her divorce, with nonstop migraines and a bleeding ulcer, she’d gotten to the point where she hated everything about being a lawyer. She’d been desperate for a reprieve from the stress, but now…now she’d give anything for a little excitement in her life.
Lauren dropped her gaze to the half-eaten pastry in front of her. “Transitions are hard.”
“They are,” Mia agreed. “But while we’re on the topic of lawyers, I’d like to be yours. Unofficially, that is.”
Lauren looked up with wide eyes. “What?”
“I’ll go with you to the precinct after your meeting with Josie. You’ll be treated much more fairly with a lawyer at your side, but assuming Josie doesn’t want to press charges, it should just be a matter of having the warrant dismissed and setting a court date to get the charges against you dropped.”
“Mia… I couldn’t ask you to do that for me.”
“You didn’t ask,” Mia reminded her. “I offered. I’ll enjoy the chance to dust off my legal skills to help a friend.”
Lauren gripped her mug. “I don’t…I don’t want to feel indebted to you. The whole purpose of moving back to Brooklyn was for me to pay off my debts and make a fresh start.”
“And you’re going to do that,” Mia said. “But there’s no reason not to let me help. I’ll give Josie a call tomorrow to see how she wants to handle it. Why don’t you plan to come here in the morning, and we’ll take it from there?”
* * *
When Lauren left the café,she set out for the hostel to check in and leave her things. After that, she had the rest of the day to herself, and she planned to make the most of it…just in case she went to jail tomorrow. The hostel was a twenty-minute walk from Mia’s café, and Lauren’s shoulders ached from the weight of her bags by the time she reached its weathered front door.
She went inside and checked in, receiving a key to one of the shared rooms. She’d booked the cheapest bed in the place, but she wasn’t picky. She’d stayed in plenty of places over the years that weren’t nearly as nice as this one.
She walked upstairs and knocked on the door to her room before she swiped her key card, in case anyone else was inside, but when she opened the door, it was empty. The room contained two sets of bunk beds with blankets neatly tucked. A black cabinet with four lockers took up the space between the beds, a place for guests to lock their valuables.
One of the beds had a yellow jacket tossed across it, but that was the only indication anyone else was currently using the room. Lauren placed her duffel bag on the other bottom bunk, claiming it for herself. As a girl, she’d fallen off the top bunk during a nightmare and broken her collarbone. She hadn’t been able to sleep that far off the ground since.
She sat on the bed and checked her phone, finding several new messages in WhatsApp, her friends chatting happily as they traveled home. Lauren sent a message of her own and then put her phone down. Now, what to do with the rest of her afternoon? She eyed the lockers. Her duffel was too big to fit, but there was nothing inside worth stealing anyway, just her clothes and toiletries, none of which were worth much.
