The sun's bright rays blasted through my driver's side window as the flaming orb rose in the morning sky. There were very few clouds, giving off a mist look. I headed south on the interstate toward my suburb. I let my mind wander while I drove, thinking over the conversation I'd had with Nick just ten minutes prior. He'd tugged at my heartstrings telling me about when he knew he didn't want me to be a one-night stand. The look in his eyes as he said it made the butterflies in my stomach go wild.

I connected my phone to the car via auxiliary cord, silencing the radio, and called Monica.

"Finally I hear something out of you!" Her voice came on the line, blasting through my speakers loud enough that I had to turn the volume down. "You have been so AWOL lately!"

"What? I don't get a hello?"

"Hello, my ass," Monica said, trying her best to sound angry at me but failing miserably.

"See, it's nice of your ass to greet me!" I laughed.

"Oh god, what am I going to do with you," she groaned. "Are you coming in to work today?"

"I'm about to be on my way. Just have to stop by my house and change," I said.

"Stop by the house? Where have you been?"

I didn't want to tell her yet. Monica was my best friend and I knew she'd support me through anything, but I was still worried about how she'd react. I wasn't in the mood for a lecture. My head was already spinning fast enough. I didn't need to turbo-charge it.

"Why don't we get some coffee on the way to the office," I suggested, bypassing her question as I turned onto my street.

Her tone seemed to brighten instantly. "Yeah, I'd love to!"

"Let's meet at the cafe down the street," I said. I knew she loved that place. "I'll see you in about thirty minutes."

"It's a date!"

The first thing I noticed when I pulled into the driveway was Derek's vehicle beside me. This couldn't be good.

Once I stepped out of the vehicle, I realized he was sitting on the wooden bench on my front porch, and he definitely wasn't excited to see me.

"Hi," I muttered, shutting the door.

He didn't say anything until I reached the porch. "We need to have a chat."

"Okay," I nodded, trying to sound casual.

I walked in the house, heading for the kitchen, and Derek followed behind me. I opened the fridge in search of a Coke. I was in desperate need of caffeine. Especially if I was going to have a pissy talk with Derek.

"Morning," I said, popping the can open.

"So how was your meeting with Mrs. Wembley last night?" He got straight to the point.

I'd forgotten that I had told Derek I was meeting Mrs. Wembley. "It was good," I yawned.

"What did you guys talk about?" Derek asked, crossing his arms.

"The case."

"You know, that's funny," he said sarcastically. "Because I clearly remember seeing you with someone who most definitely wasn't Mrs. Wembley."

Oh, shit. I tried to maintain my story, acting like I had no clue what he was referring to. "What are you talking about?"

"You had dinner with Nick Granger, Carrie!" Derek snapped, throwing his hands up. "Why the fuck did you have dinner with him? And why did you lie to me about it?"

I was stunned. Stunned was an understatement. How the hell did he know I was out with Nick? I wondered if one of Derek's coworkers might have been at the restaurant and told him, but I dismissed that thought, thinking I probably would've recognized them.

"H-how did you-"

"How did I find out?" Derek clinched his fist.

I nodded slowly, able to speak.

"I didn't believe your story when you said you were meeting Mrs. Wembley. You never wear a dress to a business affair. I don't care how upscale the restaurant is," he explained, becoming more angered by the second. "I wanted to see for myself if you were lying to me because it sure seemed like you were hiding something. I followed you to the parking garage and saw you talking to Nick Granger. Then I watched you have dinner with him. Oh, and let's not forget, you went to a hotel with him! That was just real sweet to see my fiancé with another man! My coworker, none the less! The man you know I fucking despise and you're running around with him behind my back!"

I stood there in shock. It had never crossed my mind that Derek would even consider following me. I suddenly felt like I was going to vomit as pang after pang of anxiety shot through my stomach and a lump formed in my throat.

"Care to explain?" His words were laced with venom. "Cause I'd damn sure love to hear this!"

If he thought he was going to back me into a corner and make me the bad guy, he had another thing coming. If I was going down, I was dragging him with me.

I straightened up, placing my hands on my hips authoritatively. "Why don't you tell me what you were really doing after I left the party Tuesday night?" I spat.

Derek's frown deepened and a hint of worry flickered in his eyes. "I told you, Carrie. I was looking for you."

He was in for a very rude awakening if he thought I was going to let him play it that way.

"Were you? Were you really, Derek? Because I distinctly remember seeing you and Christine groping like baboons outside the ballroom!" I shouted.

Derek took a step back but his expression stayed the same. "Carrie, no. You were drunk. You don't know-"

"What I'm talking about?" I finished his sentence. "I really fucking wish that was the case! I wanted to believe it was my imagination! But it's pretty hard to dispute the hotel manager confirming my suspicions, Derek!"

His eyes widened to the size of saucers and his cheeks began to redden. He didn't respond. I'd hit the nail on the head.

My worst nightmare was true. My fiancé was a lying, repetitive cheater. I sure knew how to pick 'em. How had I never suspected a thing this whole time? How long had he been renting hotel rooms behind my back?

"Why don't you try telling me what's really going on," I continued. "And I want the truth this time."

His chest rose and fell as he took in a deep breath. Still, he said nothing. A scowl was plastered across his face. He shoved his hands in his pockets and broke our eye contact.

"What the hell makes you think you're so innocent either?" His voice was barely audible but he sounded heartbroken.

I wasn't buying it. If it hurt him that much to see me with another man, how could he be content with fucking other women?

"Don't play that card."

His gaze snapped back to my face and his eyes darkened. "What gives you the right to be angry with me when you've spent the past two nights with him?"

"Maybe because I haven't been cheating for probably months with God knows how many bitches behind my fiancé's back with no fucking excuse whatsoever!" I countered.

"Hey! You didn't have an excuse either!" he hollered back. Surely the neighbors could hear us by now.

Derek had a right to be pissed. I would be too if I were him. No one should cheat without repercussions. I knew it was going to bite me in the ass at some point. I just didn't expect it to be like this. I didn't expect to find out he'd been cheating too. I wasn't prepared to feel so empty.

I sighed, running my fingers through my messy hair. "Two wrongs don't make a right."

Derek reacted rather quickly, turning and slamming his fist against my pantry door, leaving a dent in the white painted wood. I jumped at the sound, my heartrate beginning to pick up.

Before I could say another word, he was out the door and flooring the accelerator out of my neighborhood. I couldn't comprehend what had just happened. Had we broken up without actually saying it? Would he come back or had he left for good? What the hell was I supposed to do now?

I leaned against the fridge for the longest time until my phone startled me out of my thoughts, vibrating in my pocket.

"Where are you? I thought we said thirty minutes," Monica said before I could even say hello.

I groaned, slowly trekking to the bathroom to start the shower. "I'm sorry. Derek and I just had a fight."

"What?" she shrieked. "But you guys never fight! What happened? Are you okay?"

I shook my head, staring at my miserable reflection in the mirror. "I'm fine."

"Do you want me to meet you at your house with breakfast?" she offered.

I could just picture Monica trying to juggle two coffees and two iHop to-go boxes. It was pretty comical.

"Don't worry about it," I said. "I'll see you at the office in an hour. I'm sorry, Monica."

"No. I totally understand. Take your time. I'll have your favorite waiting on you when you get there!"

She really was the best friend a girl could ask for.

I dreaded going to the office but I had to face my boss at some point. There was no going around Claire White. She would hunt you down if necessary.

I rushed through my shower and half-assed my wardrobe. My motivation scale had hit zero and I couldn't be bothered to even dry my hair, settling for a damp bun.

When I arrived at Taylor, Pickett, Barnes and Hough, I could feel my adrenaline kick in. I had been mentally preparing myself for being grilled and possibly fired the entire drive there. All I could do now was find out what type of punishment I'd be receiving. No doubt this would lessen, if not ruin my chances of becoming a partner.

As soon as I entered the lobby Monica was waiting for me, coffee in hand. "Claire's waiting for you," she rolled her eyes, patting me on the back.

I was all-too-happy to take the coffee, having had a severe lack of energy all morning so far. "Oh, goody," I joked.

I decided to set my briefcase in my office before facing my boss, but I didn't make it halfway down the hall when she called my name from behind her desk. My attempt at passing by unnoticed had not gone as planned.

"Yes?" I leaned in the doorway.

Claire White was my own personal version of Miranda Priestly. I looked up to her as an attorney, but aside from that, she didn't thrill me too much. She was demanding and conceited. She was successful and she knew it. If you weren't on her level, you weren't worth her time usually. At least, that had been my experience so far.

"Take a seat." She pointed to the chair across from her with her pen, not bothering to look up from her computer.

I did as instructed. "Good morn-"

"I swear, if one more cheery lunatic says good morning to me today," she grumbled.

I almost apologized, but Claire wasn't the type of woman you said you were sorry to without pissing her off more. It just didn't happen.

"Now, Carrie." She finally looked away from her work. "What's wrong with you?"

I could feel my face getting hotter with embarrassment and angst. There was no right way to explain myself to her.

"I know you're mad, Claire. I had no intention of-"

"Being a dumbass," she interjected. She raised her thin, greying eyebrows disapprovingly. "I'm not going to bother lecturing you. I know you know you were stupid. However, I trust that you will fix your mistakes. I hired you because you're a good attorney, Carrie, and I expect you not to allow some imbecilic man to alter that about you."

My brows drew together and I opened my mouth to speak but was cut off again.

"Monica filled me in," she clarified. "I could've told you that boy was wrong for you as soon as I heard the mention of Hampton, Burns and Hampton."

"Oh," was all I could muster. How was I supposed to respond to something like that?

"Yes. Well. I think it's time you go to work now," Claire shooed me out of her office.

I walked back to my office in a daze. I couldn't believe Claire hadn't immediately fired me or annihilated my potential partnership. Either she felt bad for me once she'd heard about Derek's extensive infidelity, or Monica just had one hell of a way with words.

My Thursday morning consisted of three meetings with clients and a lot of caffeine. My last client of the day was Regina Evans, a gorgeous young blonde who was trying to acquire a protective order against her ex-boyfriend who didn't seem to understand the meaning of the term "break-up."

After six weeks of Regina telling him to leave her alone, Jared Kraft had become quite the stalker. He constantly showed up at her house in the middle of the night, called her so many times that she had to change her number, and sent flowers and love letters to her office on a daily basis. When Regina refused to take him back, Jared threatened to physically harm her. That's when she contacted Taylor, Pickett, Barnes and Hough.

I had been reviewing Regina's case file for twenty minutes when she knocked on my door, standing there awkwardly as if she wasn't sure if it was okay to enter yet.

"Hey," I smiled. "Come on in. Sit down. How are you doing?"

Her hair was pulled back in a high ponytail and I noticed she'd gotten soft brown streaks added since we'd last met. She looked great in her cute green vest and skinny jeans but I could see passed her façade. Her eyes were slightly reddened and puffy. She'd been crying but was trying to hide it behind a fake smile. I admired her effort.

"Do you think I have half a chance?" Regina's voice was shaky, though she tried to sound confident. She'd been worrying about this protective order for weeks and it was obvious it was taking a huge toll on her lifestyle, and not to mention, her emotional wellbeing.

I believed she had a solid case though, and I was willing to back her one-hundred percent all the way until Jared Kraft became nothing more than a vague, shitty memory. He didn't even deserve to be that much. It was too good for him.

"You've got a great chance, Regina," I flashed her a warm, reassuring smile. "I just need to get a few more details from you and then I'll have my assistant draw up some paperwork and you can fill out the forms and see the judge."

I knew she was anxious to see the judge. She'd been fretting over it since our first phone call. Her biggest concern was that the judge wouldn't believe her, but I couldn't fathom that scenario.

We talked for fifteen more minutes while I jotted down bullet-pointed notes. I wanted to piece together the most rock-solid case possible to make sure we wouldn't have to try again. I knew for sure the judge would grant the temporary protective order which would only last thirty days, but I was about eighty percent sure Regina would claim a victory on the second hearing. I didn't like anything short of ninety-five and my gut feeling was usually right.

I continued to review the pile of paperwork scattered across my desk long after Regina had left. I glanced over the copy of the police report she'd provided me with from eight months prior when Jared had first slapped her. He'd been arrested, but at the time she was too scared to press charges.

I looked at my bullet points for the hearing, imagining how everything might go. I knew Jared would probably have a public defender on his side. I made a note to snoop around and try to determine who the attorney would be.

I was so wrapped up in reviewing the case that I didn't notice the sound of the door opening until it hit the rubber doorstop, making a light banging sound.

I glanced up, startled. "Dear God!"

Nick chuckled, leaning against the door facing. "Nice to see you too, Carrie."