Piper found this hilarious. If Michael could only see how fragile she really was he’d be stunned.
“You have no shortage of confidence. And you said two problems. That was only one problem.”
“Maybe you have some fundamental personality flaw that has women running from your house screaming once they discover it. You speak in the third person during sex, or you have an inappropriate bond with your mom or something,” Piper said, fighting hard to keep her face serious.
“Wait, women don’t like those things?” Michael asked with a look of shock as he pretended to write down what she was saying. “Hold on let me take notes since you seem to have this all figured out.”
“Seriously, Michael, there would be absolutely no hope of anything ever panning out with us, and I happen to like what we have right now,” she said with a more serious tone in her voice.
“What exactly do we have right now? You stopped calling months ago. Then I hear from you out of the blue and still don’t know why. Did you kill someone?” Michael tried to let the blow to his pride from her rejection go, and turn the mood back to a light one.
“No, I didn’t kill anyone. You’ll be glad to know I do need your help though. I know men like you really enjoy chivalry. So, no, I won’t have dinner with you, but I do need you.” She pulled a notebook and pen from her bag and placed it on her lap.
Michael was intrigued now. He was born with that unfortunate gene that made it impossible not to help a beautiful woman. “I guess I can settle for being your hero and buying you a drink. What exactly do you need?”
“I’ll definitely take a raincheck on the drink, maybe next week? Today I need some information. I’m writing a paper for school on judicial ethics,” Piper lied. “I need some real world examples to be able to get my head in the right place for this assignment. Since I sat in on some of your cases I thought we could use things that I can relate to. Do you think you can help?” She did her best to look pathetically desperate, and it seemed to be working.
“I guess so. But it’s important you know, I barely even talk to my mom, and I only refer to myself in third person when I’m getting ready in the morning. It helps me get pumped up for the day.” Joking with Piper was like being on vacation, and he would help her write ten papers if it meant she’d stay in his office a little longer. Being a lawyer wasn’t nearly as exciting as he thought it would be. So when a woman like Piper walked in, with a jagged sense of humor and the ability to keep up intellectually, he took notice.
“Great! Now what was that judge’s name for that drug case you lost? The older guy with the big nose?” Piper put her pen to her lips and pretended to rack her brain.
“Judge Lions? I’ve tried a bunch of cases in front of him. We can use him as an example, but you can’t site any names in this paper. Not mine and not his, understood?” The joking had clearly ceased for a minute while Michael made his point.
“No, of course not, I’m trying to get a few real life scenarios so I can make this paper feel authentic. Now let me ask you, have you ever felt like Judge Lions was being biased or unethical?” She put her pen to the paper, ready to write.
“I can’t answer that question. You’re asking me to say if I think a judge who I stand before regularly is doing his job appropriately. I’m sorry, kiddo, that’s not going to happen,” Michael insisted, shaking his head.
“No, that’s not at all what I’m asking you to do. I’m wondering if there have been cases where you feel like the judge is leaning in favor of the defendant for personal reasons. Come on Michael, I promise I won’t bring you into this—or the judge for that matter. I want to be able to look through the eyes of your years of experience. Please, I need your help.” She hated to play that card, but with a man like Michael, who always wanted to lend a hand, she knew he would cave.
Michael gritted his teeth and his nostrils flared. This damn