Chapter 9

It's a new year, the time for a clean slate, and a fresh start. The Cohen family, however, remained broken. Thomas stared longingly at the empty reserved seat where Olivia should have been sitting and smiling, cheering him on as they named governor again; his last term in office. Had Chance been alive, he'd probably be looking forward to spending time with his grandchildren during retirement. But life is unpredictable, the only person standing beside him was his wife who was just as sad by Olivia's no-show.

Dave, their once highly recommended bodyguard was paid to watch and report back everything Olivia did since she moved out of the main house. Instead, the hunk of a man now works practically for free after being fired because he refused to give up Olivia's details to them. Regardless, both Victoria and Thomas were proud and quite impressed with their daughter's development, she was quite an attorney they'd been told by the new guy who shadowed Olivia without her knowledge.

Thomas was shocked when he learned how Olivia told off her former boss about not being his errand bitch, words he never knew his daughter spoke. She now works at a legal clinic that helped those who can’t afford the right to a counsel who gives two shit about their cases. He wished he could go back in time and stop himself from making that deal that caused his only son, the pride and joy of the family. Olivia might have adored him and her brother but Thomas knew she was never interested in joining the army.

“Smile and pay attention honey, the press is watching,” his wife whispered in his ear with a minor shove to his aging ribs.

Doing as he was told with a heavy heart, Thomas held on to his wife and grinned at the flashing lights and curious onlookers. For the first time since he was a boy, Thomas Cohen truly understood how every action has a reaction along with consequences.

*+*

“Wait, Mark, you're not making enough revolution for the compression tester to examine. Look, since we're doing it by hand, we need the engine to turn over ten times in the Four-Stroke Cycle so we understand how much pressure is being compressed, okay,” Jarius said to one of his newest trainees, Mark Twain, who didn’t have much experience in the field of mechanical engineering but always tried to understand what he didn’t know or understood.

On the other hand, his partner, Dominic West, a cocky little shit who obviously didn't care enough to share his skills with Mark, stood at the front of his assigned vehicle with his head of brunette hair buried under the hood deep in concentration.

“How are things going here?” Jarius asked the slumped-over figure.

Frightened by Jarius's sudden presence, Dom immediately regretted his next action when the back of his head hit the base of the hood hard as he yelped in pain. “A little warning would've been nice,” he snapped holding onto the back of his head immediately feeling a small bump.

“Maybe if you paid more attention to the safety guidelines I had given you guys to read weeks ago, you would've realized that you're breaking every one of them pertaining to safety,” Jairus sneered glaring at the brooding young man.

“First off, your posture for such a muscular guy is wrong and, you would've realized that Mark left all the used tools laying around where either one of you could've been severely hurt. Listen, Dom, your skills are undeniably useful but sometimes it's not all about just working, to be a good mechanic you have to take care of the people around you starting with Mark.” Jairus explained much more calmly understanding Dom's competitive and survival nature more than anyone.

In the midst of the conversation, a loud shouting could be heard just a few meters away. Due to the eruption, everyone stopped what they were doing as the sound came closer. Suddenly it stopped right at the entrance behind the door, anxiety not working well with Mark's mind he clenched the small iron hammer in his hand while Dom's grip held firmly on a baseball bat he always had in the corner near his and Mark's station.

Fully aware of the type of man their boss is, Jairius already had his 9mm semi-automatic pistol ready and aimed at the door. With each man harmed and prepared, they slowly walked to the door in perfect harmony forming a triangle so whatever was on the other side had no escape. As the doorknob turned, the tension in the air could be steamed, fried, and grilled and that still wouldn't change the feeling.

Suddenly….

“GOOD MORNING! MY HANDSOME PARTNERS!” The door flew wide open exposing a medium-height man with his arms stretched wide open and his eyes closed. When the sighing of the other workers could be heard in the dead silence after the man's voice finished echoing, he finally opened his eyes. “Damn! So y'all trying to kill a young black fella up in this huh? Well, today ain't the day bitches!” he said as his strong and heavy country accent echoed throughout the room.

Frustratedly, Dom stomped back to his post leaving Mark who still stood in the same position along with a glaring Jarius who was still aiming his gun for the perfect bull's eye. “I should just kill your fucking ass, Jamie,” Jarius responded, face clearly stoned by the emotion of anger.

Jamie Murray, a hard-working man the same age Chance would've been came from a little town in Orlando and was also a good friend of Jarius, a former comrade too, the best sniper in his class. Juggling between school and his part-time work with Jarius, Jaime realized he was missing his 'partners in crime as he would call them even though his boss considered him a pain in the ass but without a doubt, he was always up to sharing his knowledge.

Instead of replying, Jamie just simply waved off Jairus like he always does every single time his boss threatens to erase him from existence. He made his way over to Mark by quickly twirling him around and grabbing the hammer from his hand.

“Well, Hello chopsticks, you'll never know what I just learned,” Jaime says grabbing poor Mark hard by the neck and pointing to something in the vehicle. “Hey, Prince Charming, you need to hear this. Come on over here,” he called in the direction of Dom's station.

“No thanks,” Dom bluntly replied.

“Seems he's still himself, that means a stuck-up brat,” Jaime whispered to Mark but loud enough for Dom to hear as he walked off with the lad, yapping away at whatever he had understood from Jairus's lecture yesterday evening when they were working late and everybody else went home.

When the realization of what his boss had said to him earlier started to sink in at his selfish behavior, Dom made his way over to his partners and began listening to what Jamie was saying.

Just as Jarius was leaving to let them be, a single thought came to his mind. “Good job guys, drinks are on me tonight,” he announced making everyone cheer. It's been a while since Jairuis took the guys out drinking and the new year might just change that.

*+*

Applying a small amount of red lipstick, Oliva felt a little slutty with the bold color along with her outfit for tonight's celebration in honor of her. She had won her first solo lawsuit against a hotshot businessman, Orlando Masters, owner of Masters Construction, the second-largest company of its kind in the city. One of Orlando's workers who happened to be an immigrant was severely hurt on the job and instead of helping the injured man, he fired him. Evan Gomez had heard about the clinic and Sheldon, the boss along with the rest of his team was out of town on another case, Olivia being the next best person they had.

Even though she lacked experience within the courtroom, Oliva knew the ins and out of corporate law better than anyone and knew they had a win after hearing Evan's testimony. Working vigorously in obtaining the necessary evidence of negligence, Olivia not only won the two million dollar lawsuit, but she also managed to convince the judge to offer Masters Construction an ultimatum, create a healthcare plan equally for every worker or shut down production, and being the businessman he is, Orlando agreed to the terms. As slimy as the man is, Olivia knew the guy valued his business.

Staring at her reflection one last time, she grinned at herself. The cream short-sleeve cropped mock turtleneck with its cross-over waistline detail made her chest look slightly bigger than they really are while the black bandage-style pencil skirt stuck to her figure like glue. Grabbing the envelope clutch with gold hardware that matched her stilettos, Olivia quickly left her apartment to hail a taxi because she planned on getting drunk tonight.

“Oil! Oli!” The group of ten yelled and chanted as Olivia down her shots.

“Alright, alright! Cheers to Oliva Fraser for not only winning and getting justice for her client, but she kicked ass doing it too. To Olivia!” Sheldon toasted as the rest of the group members congratulated and cheered along with him. “Now, have fun, drinks on me!” He yelled over the music.

Laughing, Olivia shakes her head at her already drunk-ish coworkers. “So, you're a lawyer,” the familiar baritone voice said from behind but she wasn't sure at first. Then again, Jairus was so close even her body started leaning towards him.

Turning around, sure enough, Jairus stood there staring at her. He seemed a lot more carefree and less intimidating. “Care to dance?” He asked stunning Olivia for a second.

“Yes, I'd love to,” Olivia answered once she found her voice. Taking a hold of her hand, Jairus guided them to the dancefloor. With several shots already in her system, the moment The Weeknd - Blinding Lights started playing, Olivia let loose but she wasn’t alone.

With every sway of her hips, Olivia could feel Jairus's paw of a hand and body moving expertly behind her. Grinding against each other, no one else on the dancefloor mattered as they both moved in perfect synergy. Jairus actually surprised Olivia with the way his body glided so effortlessly to the quick tempo of the music.

“Let's get out of here,” The Frenchman whispered in Olivia's ear once the song was over and another started playing.

Without hesitation, Olivia blindly left the club with the mysterious and secretive man of her wet dreams. They haven't spoken since Christmas morning but at this moment she didn't care, Jairus was the one who approached her tonight, and that had to count for something.

________________________