Chapter Five: Rivals

Mercedes stared at the man that sat across from her with a frown on her face. He also had a bored look on his face with his legs crossed. She's been here for thirty minutes and this is how they've been after she told him her story. The silence was annoying to her.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" She asked with a frown.

"What's your friend's name again?" He asked.

She rolled her eyes. "Ronnie Jacobs."

"That's fine. You can leave now." He said and yawned.

"You're so weird." She got up from the couch and took her bag and left his office without giving him a glance. She nodded at the secretary and walked to the elevator. She entered the elevator which took her to the ground floor. She left the building, took a cab and went home.

"Hey, how was it? " Christy asked her immediately she entered the house. She frowned as she thought of the lawyer. She closed the door and plopped down on the couch beside Christy.

"That guy is really weird." She said as she took off her heels.

"He's really good looking though." Christy said with a small smirk. Mercedes shook her head and sighed again.

"I just want this to be over." She mumbled.

"Dad said you shouldn't worry, Mr Savage is a very good lawyer." Her best friend assured.

"Whatever." She said and picked up her heels and got up from the couch. "I'm gonna take a nap." She said and started leaving the living room.

"Hey, um." Christy called out making her stop walking.

Mercedes looked at her. "What is it?"

"Do you think you need therapy? What happened to you was-" Christy started.

"I'm fine, Chris." Mercedes cut in.

"I just heard you scream last night." Christy said in worry.

Mercedes chuckled. "It was just the usual nightmare. Nothing to worry about." She assured.

"Okay." Christy nodded. Mercedes smiled and went upstairs.

***

Desean sighed. With the story Mercedes told, she wouldn't go to prison because it was self defense. That's if she told the truth though. From the little research he did and the file Nick gave him, he got that the deceased was from a powerful family. He was the son of Ashton Jacobs who was a very powerful business tycoon which means the case was not going to be an easy one. He was sure Ashton was going to hire a very good lawyer to represent him.

His phone vibrated and it was a message from his mom, Maisha.

Mom: Let's have dinner today. Come to the house.

He sighed and texted her back:

DeSean: A'ight.

He checked the time in his phone and it was time for lunch. He got up from his chair, put his phone in his pocket when his office door opened and Elsa walked in.

"I'm about to go for lunch, no need to remind me." He glanced at Elsa as he took his wallet.

"That's not it." Elsa spoke.

"What is it?" He asked as he walked to her.

"The case you just took, DeSean." She said.

"What about it?" He raised a brow.

"Jimmy's the one representing the deceased family." She dropped the news.

"I don't understand." He said.

"Jimmy's who you'll be fighting against in court." She said.

He cussed. "Fuck. How did that happen?"

"I heard the family of the deceased and Jimmy go way back." She explained.

"Does Nick know about this?" He was getting angry at the thought of Nick knowing about it and still pressured him to take the case despite knowing his history with Jimmy.

"I don't know." She shook her head.

"How did you know about this?" He questioned with his arms crossed.

"Oh, Bella told me. And everyone's talking about it. It was even on the news earlier."

"It was on the news?" He was shocked.

"Of course."

"How come I didn't see it?"

"You don't watch the news, remember?" She said in a duh tone.

He sighed. "I'm going to see Nick." He walked out of his office, ignoring Elsa who was about to say something. He went to Nick's office and opened the door. Inside the office was Jimmy Price, his rival since the day he started at Nicholas & Brett's Law Firm.

He was dressed in a blue Italian suit, white collar shirt navy blue tie and black loafers. He was a handsome bald black man with brown skin, dark eyes, pointed nose, full lips and a full beard. He was leaning against Nick's desk while Nick stood beside his shelf with an open book in his hands.

Nick looked up from the book. "Oh you're here." He said and closed the book and put it back in the shelf.

"Nick why am I hearing Jimmy's the one representing Ashton Jacob on his son's murder case?" He asked, ignoring Jimmy's presence.

"How's that any of your business, DeSean? Are you pissed he came to me instead of you? Not everything's about you, DeSean." Jimmy spoke with annoyance.

He looked at Jimmy with a frown."Shut up, Jimmy." He turned to Nick who was now looking at another book. "Nick, it's not true, right?"

"What is your problem, DeSean?" Jimmy asked with annoyance as he walked to DeSean who was standing in the middle of the office.

"Nick?" DeSean called instead, ignoring Jimmy who stood in front of him.

"Yes he's representing Ashton Jacobs." Nick answered and closed the book he was holding.

"Why?" DeSean asked angrily.

"There's no why, DeSean. Ashton chose me, not you. Accept it." Jimmy spat angrily.

DeSean looked at Jimmy. "I'm the muderer's lawyer." He said and crossed his arms.

Jimmy was surprised."What? Stop playing. It was Dave Miller's case you took."

"Dave Miller's daughter's best friend is the murderer." DeSean said.

"What?"

"How do you know I had a case though?" DeSean questioned, eyeing his rival suspiciously.

"I just know." Jimmy simply said and turned to face Nick who was now seated on his chair behind his desk reading a book.

"So what are we gonna do, Nick? We can't take the same case." Jimmy said.

"Drop out of the case." DeSean said with no emotion in his voice.

Jimmy looked at him with a frown. "I can't do that. Ashton's a family friend."

"You should drop out of the case, Jimmy. I'm telling you this because we're colleagues and I don't want you to get hurt cause I'll surely win this case." DeSean said coldly with a smirk.

"Just because you've never lost a case doesn't mean you won't lose this one." Jimmy challenged.

"Keep giving yourself hope. Just know that you'll never win against me." DeSean said with a smug look. Jimmy opened his mouth to say something but Nick beat him to it.

"Stop." Nick spoke making the men look at him.

"But are we seriously gonna be rivals Nick?" Jimmy asked.

"You've always been rivals." Nick smirked.

"You know what I'm talking about." Jimmy said.

"My hands are tied. Ashton and Dave want you to represent them and there's nothing I can do about it. And besides, it's a win-win for everybody. If Ashton wins, I get money, if Dave wins, I get money, so it's settled. Just don't kill yourselves. You're both ace lawyers-"

"Some of us have never lost a case." DeSean mumbled as he put his hands in his pockets.

"Shut up, DeSean." Nick said with a frown making Jimmy chuckle.

"You too, Jimmy." He said to Jimmy.

"Sorry." Jimmy whispered, smiling sheepishly.

Nick rolled his eyes. "You're both ace lawyers, so you should do your best in this case."

"Yes sir." They said and turned to leave when Nick's voice stopped them.

"Oh and by the way, DeSean, you're associate is coming in tomorrow." Nick said.

"My associate?" DeSean questioned.

"What does he need an associate for? He's not a senior partner." Jimmy said.

"I am a senior partner, Jimmy." DeSean said to Jimmy with a smirk.

"What?" Jimmy was surprised.

"I got the promotion before you, child." DeSean smirked.

Jimmy frowned. "I'm older than you asshole."

"Thirty is not a thing to be proud of if you're not a senior partner and you've lost many cases." DeSean smirked.

"Two isn't many. And I have a wife, asshole." Jimmy was getting angry and DeSean could tell by the way his breathing pattern changed. He decided to push his buttons more.

"That's cheating on you with her boss. Tell me Jimmy, is your dick too small?" DeSean smirked, whispering the last part.

"You bas-" Jimmy held DeSean's collar, ready to punch his face. DeSean chuckled darkly.

"That's enough, Jimmy. Let him go." Nick ordered. Jimmy breathed heavily as he contemplated on whether to listen to his boss or not. He sighed and left DeSean's collar.

"You're gonna lose this case. I promise you." He said and left the office. DeSean chuckled as he arranged his now rumpled collar.

"You should watch your mouth, DeSean. I'm not gonna stop him next time from punching you." Nick warned.

"That's never gonna happen." DeSean said as he dusted his suit.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Nick said.

"So my associate-" DeSean started.

"Yeah, he'll be coming tomorrow. When you see him, you'll know." Nick said.

"Alright."

"Now get out of here." Nick said and focused his attention on his book

"Later." DeSean said and left the office.