2 7

major & minor

—

IT WAS A tidy room, that I could tell for sure. Beyond that fact, I didn't know what else I was expecting. I mean, I was stepping into the office of a wealthy businessman, not the den of an evil monster. I wasn't scared that I would see dead bodies and cobwebs hanging from the ceiling, but a neatly polished room wasn't what I had pictured. Maybe some wayward papers strewn about or an overflowing trash can — just something to give the appearance that sinister things happened in this room. Instead, I was met with shiny hardwood floors, an expensive-looking oak desk with a swivel chair tucked into it, a shelf lined with books and houseplants, and a file cabinet up against it.

I had no idea now how I would rifle through his belongings to find the things Teddy told me I should look for. I wanted to call him, but he was doing God knows what, and by the way he would describe it, it seemed as if he needed to do it alone in order to ensure its success.

Quickly, but gently enough to not make a sound, I closed the study door behind me. I was here to find a Cartier necklace, but I was also here to find anything that could help Teddy with his case. Since I saw neither of those things out in the open, it meant I had to go through the drawers after all.

I made my way over to the desk on my tip toes before I realized I was alone and there was no need for me to do so. This was already shaping up to be one hell of a night.

—

LEAVING THE ROOM, I was careful to keep my phone out of sight. Not being one who understood financial documents, I just took as many pictures of whatever I could find, hoping that it was what Teddy was asking for. In the moment, what mattered was that at least I held Selena's necklace in my hands as well. If that weren't the case, then I knew she would wring my skinny neck, I had no doubt in her abilities to do so.

The end of the hallway deposited me back into the party, but I thankfully went unnoticed by the strangers all around me. They were all too busy wrapped up in their own affairs, drinking expensive champagne and clutching their stomachs as they laughed a little too hard to be realistic at their friends' anecdotes. I didn't want to be here anymore, especially now that I had soured things between Caleb and I. I just didn't fit in here, I had no one to talk to.

I stood up straight, solidifying my resolve. I just needed to give Selena this necklace and be on with my way, I wasn't even required to stay for the whole time at this party. Especially since Caleb happened to be nowhere in sight and he was my date. 

Thankfully, I spotted the woman in question, talking with another woman by the fireplace. They were both dressed elegantly, clearly having put effort into their looks while I felt as if I had rolled out of bed in the clothes I were wearing, making me extremely nervous to approach them.

But I didn't have to right now, the night had other plans for me.

Those plans being a very drunk, disheveled Caleb stepping in front of me out of nowhere and blocking my path. "Marilyn," he said as he pointed an accusing finger at me, rather loudly too, "I need to talk to you."

Taking a quick glance around the room, there were definitely a few pairs of eyes on us — and even that seemed to be an understatement. Looking past Caleb's tall frame, I could even see Selena scowl at me from where she stood. When Teddy was the one who had me spying on my bosses, I was surprised that it was Caleb who was putting my job on the line.

I grabbed Caleb's hand quickly, mouthing an apology to Mrs. Gates before ducking off with him towards the hallway I had just left from. For such a tall and athletic guy, he was very easy to drag along behind me, most likely because of his slightly inebriated state. "Come on, big boy," I said under my breath as I took him with me.

When we finally found a place where we could speak in private — an empty hallway with no access to any bathrooms, so nobody would have any good reason to follow us here — I let go of his hand so I could use both of mine to shake his shoulders.

"Caleb, what's gotten into you," I asked with an urgency in my voice. "This is a fancy dinner party my boss is hosting, you can't embarrass me here. I mean, I wouldn't want you to embarrass me anywhere, but definitely not here."

In response, he simply let out a low grumble before hanging his head so as not to look me in the eyes.

I sighed, letting him go and leaning back against a wall. "Caleb, I'm sorry I hurt your feelings. I just had to do something for my boss and it was really urgent. So the fact that you just came up on me out of nowhere really frustrated me."

I wasn't entirely sure what was going through Caleb's head, for all I knew, there was a whole universe of contradicting emotions going on in there. I wondered how many of them were about me.

"That necklace, huh?" Caleb asked, putting only half the effort into pointing at the necklace I held in my hands. "Is that what you blew me off for? It looks really nice, I don't blame you."

I let out a chuckle, my back sliding down against the wall until I had made it to the floor. I had no concrete idea of what had happened here, yet there was an unparalleled clarity to seeing Caleb in this light. All drunk and deflated after he way he was riled up earlier, an empty shell of bravado loosely hanging over his skin. There wasn't enough room in my hart for both him and Teddy, and I think I had made my choice already.

"I guess this is it, then," Caleb said dryly. I raised an eyebrow at him. Surely, I had come to some conclusions of my own, like how it was time for me to stop pining over Caleb, but whatever was going on with him was a mystery to me. "It's time to go to sleep, huh?"

"Caleb, it's only eleven o'clock —" I started before I realized that he was drunk off his rocker and he actually did need to get to sleep if he wanted to not risk his hangover tomorrow morning getting any worse.

"I thought I would have a chill time kicking it with my dope friend tonight," he slurred and mumbled out and I fought to contain a laugh to myself. "Of course, she had to be a jackass and leave me to talk to a bunch of rich weirdos who I had never heard of. I had a perfectly good date that I could've moved to today. What a cock blocker."

I had never heard Caleb talk this way, he was always an upbeat and cheery person when we ran into each other in the apartment complex, so this came as a huge surprise to me. I was thankfully aware that he was not the one anymore, so I felt no twinge of pain from hearing that he had options like I would've before. After all, now I had someone else to worry about.

But there was something else in our relationship that didn't change and shouldn't ever. "You're drunk, Caleb," I sighed. "Let me get you home."

—

I WAS RELIEVED.

After the scene that Caleb had caused at the party, when I dropped of Selena's necklace — a lot later than she wanted me to — she told me I didn't need to stay for the rest of the night if I was just going to embarrass her any further. Of course, the twins were living for it, but so was I for an entirely different reason.

As complicated as my feelings were about Teddy's case, the fact that I had successfully procured evidence of Mr. Gates' financial records gave me a giddy feeling on the inside. I guess it could've been chalked up to my newfound — but ever-present — desire for romance with Teddy and the fact that progress on his case would definitely please him, or maybe I had been drinking the justice Kool-Aid.

Which was why as soon as I had called a cab to pick up Caleb from the party, I had gotten one of my own to take me to the S.S. Justice. The rain from earlier had let up, leaving the crisp smell of it in the air and a cool breeze behind as well, making for a lovely night to be out on the water.

I was glad, really, that Teddy had chosen such a spot for us to meet at. When I finally made it there and he let me climb aboard, sitting on the deck as the slowly-churning water rocked at the sides back and forth was almost a lullaby in the sense that it was so soothing.

Teddy appeared from the cabin with two bottles of beer in his hands and a grin on his face. He was definitely happy to see me, not to mention happy that I was happy because that definitely meant good news.

"I can't believe it," he said with a chuckle as he handed me the other beer. "Wow, we're finally going to win that case, huh? With what I found and what you found, we really might have something."

I raised my bottle up so that he could knock his against mine in a toast before lifting it to my lips. When I was done, I lowered it and asked, "what did you find? You still haven't told me."

"Proof," he said with a grin wide like the moon reflected on the Atlantic tonight and I couldn't help but cock my head to smile up at him. "George himself wasn't there at the docks tonight, but one of his trained monkeys were. They had like this huge, shady as hell meeting too with a mysterious woman, and it ended with said lady getting handed a manilla envelope chock-full of cash."

"And you know who this woman is?" I asked, suddenly feeling something turn in my stomach.

"No, but we know he is dealing in something at least," Teddy said and took a sip of his beer. "And you know from what you showed me on your phone that he's been skimming from off the top at his company."

"Really," I gasped, knowing that I did not understand what I had even taken pictures of. I sure was glad I had gotten evidence of the right thing. "That's amazing!"

"Yes!" Teddy exclaimed, throwing his hands up in excitement, causing some of his beer to slosh out of the bottle onto the deck and causing for me to childishly burst into laughter. I didn't know if it was the slight buzz from the alcohol, or the heat of the moment, or my feelings for Teddy — but it came to me as an instinct and in my head, I was worried that he did not find it as funny as I did.

But thankfully, after a moment's passing, he started to see the humor in it as well. We laughed at it over the course of a minute or so, filling the lack of the right words to say between the two of us until it came to an end and we were nothing but silent. Looking each other in the eyes, nothing but a small void space keeping him away from me and everything in my head was just Teddy, Teddy, Teddy right now. There was no way for me to tell if he felt the same way — not about himself, of course, but about me.

But by the way his lips were slightly parted, his breath slowly escaping from them, and his eyes watching me the way they always seemed to, maybe I wasn't too far off the marker. Maybe Louisa was right, I had to shoot my shot here.

Quickly, my lips bridged the distance between us, crashing into his and holding there for but a moment until I finally pulled away to see how he felt about that. He was deadly silent, surprise captured in his irises, and my stomach turned with the thought that maybe I was going about this in all the wrong ways.

"Damn, I thought I was going to be the one to do that," he said before pulling me back in and bringing our lips together sweetly. His lips tasted bitter with the flavor of the beer, but equally as intoxicating and I couldn't help but lean into it, my fingers threading through his soft hair as an excuse for my body to slide more closely up against his.

Sitting here underneath the stars, with my hands in his hair and his hands on my waist, our lips colliding against each other's, I couldn't help but wonder if things had happened differently. Couldn't help but wonder if I had went and told Selena what was going on in her backyard that fateful night. If I hadn't found myself throwing a rock at Teddy Burke and ran inside instead.

It felt like the universe does its best to bring certain people together and make certain things happen. Some things were too strange and strong to be coincidences.