CHAPTER 16 - GOOD GRIEF!

They almost laughed together unknowingly. This was a very unusual occurrence between Elena and Cameron.

Elena, on the other hand, went back to her lawyer instincts—she was good at getting witnesses to speak up, open up, and feel at ease. With that in mind, she started with one of the things he was most curious about from Cameron: how this man in front of her got her secret.

"What caused your facial expression to change so dramatically?" Cameron gave Elena an awkward look.

"Is that correct?" Elena inquired.

"Enough with the nonsense, Elena."

"I?" Elena asked, pointing to herself.

"I?" Cameron spoke in the exact same tone and style as Elena.

Elene smirked. "Irritating."

Cameron chuckled and sipped his coffee. "You were defeated, Smith."

"Whatever you say," Elene said, ignoring Cameron's words. "So let's get right to it, shall we? Is it possible that my suspicions are correct?"

"You're accusing me of being so irritating," Cameron remarked.

"You're the most cunning man I've ever met, Cam." Elena responded. "You did that just so we could finish this job all at once?"

Elena couldn't let her lawyer instincts waver in front of Cameron again. She didn't want to lose to a man she thought was a jerk, but he was—sexy.

She only revealed this after Cameron kissed her passionately and demandingly.

"What about witness statements? Is a trial imminent? Cross-examination? Is there anything else you haven't done?" Cameron inquired, ignoring the insinuations and accusations hurled at him by Elena.

"This week, I'm going to finish everything that's really urgent so I can comfortably focus on beating the Johanson Group," Elena said.

"Don't forget about Brielle,"

"Who do you care about more? Your daughter or your lover in an open relationship?" Elena burst out laughing.

Cameron replied, "Both of them."

Elena simply nodded. "It's encouraging to hear you say that; it pushes me one step further because you don't think the Johanson Group case is serious at all,"

"Elena, my situation and my job are very different. Do you not understand anything?"

"No. And I refuse to comprehend anything related to you "Elena smiled as she finished her sentence. Cameron had never seen such an obnoxious smile.

Before Cameron could respond to Elena's vexing remarks, his phone rang, and he saw that it was Emily who had called.

Cameron mumbled, "Good job."

Elena sighed and rolled her eyes. "It appears that I must leave,"

"Wait a minute, we haven't talked about Chicago yet." Cameron inquired as he answered Emily's phone call.

"Good afternoon, honey." Cameron plays it sweet in the hopes that Emily will call off her marriage to the geeky person she also knows.

"Good afternoon, Cam." Emily responded. "So... you're probably aware of that..."

Elena indicated to Cameron with her thumb that she was returning to her office first.

Cameron motioned with his finger for Elena to wait.

"Emily, pay attention. Whatever you say will not change my decision to visit Chicago."

"Cam!"

"I have to leave now; we'll talk about it next week." Cameron then hung up the video call from Emily and returned his attention to Elena.

"You appear to be in a better frame of mind,"

"Not yet," Cameron replied.

"Ah..." Elena awkwardly nodded her head. "I heard you refer to her as 'darling.'" Elena said those words while raising her fingers in quotation marks in the air.

"It only took a little effort to melt her," Cameron explained.

"That's not going to work for a woman who has waited almost too long."

"It appears you've been through this before, and unfortunately, your guy may not be as good as mine,"

"Cam, stop being so ignorant about my life." Elena locked her gaze on Cameron's.

Cameron did not respond to Elena's words; instead, he showed her the case files that might be related to the Johanson Group.

"I've gone over a few,"

"Me, too," Elena said.

Elena and Cameron spent the next thirty minutes discussing the Johanson Group's case without exchanging the sarcasm they usually use to defend themselves.

***

A week has passed. Elena had already completed her primary responsibilities as a core lawyer and had delegated minor cases to junior attorneys. She is currently in Chicago with Cameron.

Elena stated, "I'm going to stay at the hotel."

"Just sleep at my house."

"No,"

"Are you always this stubborn? I live alone with my mother, and you can sleep in my room."

"Sleeping in your room? The two of you? Don't expect it, Cam." Elena shook her head in disbelief when she heard her own voice say that.

"You sleep in my room and I sleep in the guest room,"

"Ah, fine." Elena answered subconsciously. Then a second later she froze. "Wait a minute! Did I just say 'okay' as if agreeing to what you're offering?"

"He-em," Cameron nodded his head while holding back a laugh.

"No, I corrected it. I would absolutely not accept your offer of any kind." Elena said it with great affirmation.

"It seems too late, we just stopped right in front of my house."

Cameron smirked as he said that. He got out of the rental car he had rented from the airport and opened the door for Elena.

"Come down,"

Elena fixed her gaze, almost glaring. "I'll take a taxi from here to the hotel."

Cameron shook his head in disbelief. "Stop being stubborn, Elena."

And the voice of a middle-aged woman Elena immediately recognized as Cameron's birth mother melted her obstinacy in seconds.

Cameron's mother was a beautiful woman, slim, tall, and looking younger than Elena had imagined. Her dark brown hair was left loose. Her nose is small, her chin is pointed so that it makes her face look very proportionate.

"Elena!! You must be Elena Smith, right?" Cameron's mother hugged herself tightly past Cameron, who incidentally is her biological son.

"Momma, this woman..." Cameron said without finishing his sentence. And then Cameron's mother glanced at her son.

"Let me see you." Cameron's mother caressed her son's forehead, jaw and shoulders lovingly. Then she took a step back. "You look handsome."

Cameron pointed at Elena with the intention of finishing the sentence he hadn't finished just now. "Momma, Elena... she..."

"Your girlfriend?" Cameron's mother wrapped her strong arms around Elena. "Nice to meet you, Elena. Cameron has talked about you a few times—that you are a very talented lawyer, and you will do well on this case."

"Thank you, Mrs. Jones, nice to meet you."

And something that hit Elena square in the face right now was how annoyed she was with Cameron. How could this insane man's biological mother believe she was his son's lover?

"Call me Momma,"

"Okay."

Mrs. Jones led the way, while Elena glared at Cameron, implying, "What did you say to your mother, Cam?!?"