Broken (Endurance) (10 page)

"Why did you do it, Dad?" Cressida yelled.

He stopped.  His shoulders rose and fell on a heavy breath as he turned and re-entered the office.  With a calm, deliberate motion he closed the door behind him.

Maxwell suddenly felt out of place. "Do you want me to come back later?"

"No, I'm going to need a friend." Cressida’s eyes remained on
her
father.

"What are you talking about?" Charleston asked cautiously. "You are making a scene in front of your client."

"I will be right outside when you need me." Maxwell walked out of the room, but stayed close.

Cressida glared at her father with more hatred than she would have thought possible.  Seeing the calm, serenity in his hypocritical eyes only enraged her more.  "You knew I wouldn't take that case."

"Is this the whole Blake Carter thing again? It's not a big deal."

"Blake told me he’d requested me as his lawyer."

"Are you going to listen to a crazy man?"

"I know crazy when I see it, and he ain't crazy."

"Look, we are lawyers and sometimes we have to defend the trash that no one else will. It's our job.  If you can't handle that, then you’re not fit to be in this field!"

"I have won more cases than I have lost. I know I'm a damn good lawyer and what makes me good at what I do is my instincts. That man is guilty. You know it. I know it.  Everyone involved in this case knows it!"

"So what!" Charleston yelled, his face growing crimson.

"I want to know why my father lied to me," Cressida yelled back.

"I refuse to be interrogated by my own daughter!" Charleston stormed out of her office and slammed the door behind him.

Cressida grabbed a book off the mantle and sent it flying through the air where it slammed into the door behind her father. She stomped up and down the length of her office before breaking down again.  Her knees crumbled and no longer held her weight as she slowly slid to the floor, crying. A few moments later Maxwell came back in. He helped her to her feet, grabbed her briefcase and purse, and walked her out of the office and brought her to his car.

Offering no argument, Cressida sat and stared while he drove her to his home. On leaden legs, she dragged herself out of his car, Maxwell’s guiding hand barely enough to support her.  A thick cloud of lethargy weighted on her as she followed him inside. 

Greeted by Mei’s grandmother, Lin Li, Cressida forced a smile.  When dinner was served, Cressida leaned back in the dining room chair facing Maxwell and Lin Li. She was distracted and found it impossible to keep up with the conversation. Tidbits of information made it through her muddled thoughts.  Lin had heard from Mei who was settling in nicely at college.

Maxwell laughed to himself. He could feel the tension in his son’s voice.

Winston came in to collect the empty dinner plates and paused over Cressida's plate. Realizing she’d barely touched her dinner, she smiled and nodded. The altercation with her father had all but extinguished her appetite. Over and over again, she sought other secrets her father may long have kept from her.

"Come with me." Maxwell touched the back of her chair. Cressida slowly stood up as he pulled the chair from under her. “Excuse us, Lin.” He led her away from the table.

Though unaware of the young woman’s problems, Lin felt the depth of sorrow Cressida carried, and empathized.  One so young shouldn’t yet be burdened with such pain.

Anna, one of the servants, walked into the dining room smiling at Lin. "Hello, darling. Your daughter and granddaughter are here to see you," she said. "Are you ready to see them? I can take you to the family room."

"Yes." Lin Li nodded and set her napkin on the table.  With her hands gingerly set within the confines of her wheelchair, she gestured to Anna she was ready to leave the table.

Anna unlocked her wheelchair and rolled her away.

Maxwell guided Cressida outside. He’d grabbed a blanket from the hall closet and now led her out to the nearby lake. “Here looks like a nice spot.”  He spread the blanket out and gestured for her to sit down.

"What is this all about?" Cressida struggled awkwardly as she tried to rid herself of her shoes.

"Now, come here before you kill yourself, woman." Maxwell laughed. He reached for her hand, taking it with gentle authority as he helped her sit on the blanket.

"Maxwell, you don't have to be so nice to me." Cressida looked at him with tired eyes and smiled.

"No, but I want to." He leaned in to kiss her. He glided his hands along her thigh and down over her calf, slipping off one shoe, then the other. "When I’ve had a really bad day, I come out here and look at the stars. I can lay back and relax, let my mind clear so that I can figure out what's really going on."

"It's beautiful out here." Cressida’s eyes narrowed as she looked over the smooth surface of the lake then settle back on her elbows.

Maxwell stretched out beside her.

"I just don't know how I’m going to make it through this case.  It’s impossible.  My God, if he goes free, how will I ever live with myself?  There’s no winning this.  Either way, I’m screwed.  I can allow a guilty monster to walk the streets again and die of shame, or I can lose the case and say goodbye to my career. "

Maxwell wanted to argue her last point, but kept quiet.  She was too good a lawyer to lose her career over one lost case.  Instead, he silently slipped his hand over hers and   listened as she vented her frustrations.  She was talking instead of just staring blankly into space. If nothing else, he’d helped her out of her stupor.

"What kind of father does that to his daughter?” she was asking.  “What kind of man can look at his little girl and so blatantly lie right there to her face?  What else do you think he’s hiding from me?" She stopped for a moment and caught her breath.

"What do you feel?"

Cressida allowed her muscles to relax and she lay completely back on the blanket.  "Maxwell, do you think my father made a deal with Blake Carter?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don’t know exactly.  I just don’t understand why he lied to me. There has to be more to it that just getting me to take this case. The only thing I can come up with is that he made a deal with this guy.”  She stared at the stars, her gaze heavy and pensive.  “My mom might know something."

"Your brain is going a mile a minute." Maxwell chuckled and gave her hand a squeeze. "But you could be on to something. Someone made a deal with somebody."

"Maxwell, I want to thank you for being so supportive. I really needed a friend today." She propped herself back up on her elbows.

Maxwell turned to face her, his arm stiff as it held him just inches above her up turned face. "I don't want to be your friend." His voice was thicker and huskier than he’d intended.

"What?" Her soft coo of surprise played with the curve of her lips.

"You’re killing me with the 'F' word. One day I hope to be more than your friend."

"You really feel... well… you know… this way for me?" she asked.

"I’ve always liked you. I just didn't think that I was your type." Maxwell thought back to the first night he said these same words to her, remembering she had been drunk and unlikely to remember the entire night.

"Why would you say that?"

"I've seen the way you look at my brother," Maxwell confessed, hiding the jealous sarcasm that threatened to glide into his voice.

"That was a long time ago and I'm passed that now. Look, I know when a guy is interested. Your brother wasn't into me. He liked me, but not in that way." Cressida smiled at Maxwell. "Did you ever think that maybe you were meant for someone else?"

"Yeah, I have."

"Look, we’ve both had some pretty crappy lovers in the past. We don't know where this may lead. So let’s just take one day at a time," Cressida said.

"One day at a time, uh?" Maxwell said, pulling her close to kiss her. "I know what I want.  Do you?"

Parenting

Max slept fitfully in his bed. He had been sleeping peacefully for the pass four hours, when he began to hear his son calling out to him. He opened his eyes and lay awake just staring up at the ceiling.

He looked at his watch; it was after ten p.m. He sat up and swung his feet off the bed just as his roommate walked in.

"Hey, you are?" his roommate asked, offering out his hand..

"Oh, hey, I'm Max, Max Martinez." He shook his roommate’s hand.

"My name is Samuel Peters."

"Is this your first year here?" Max asked.

"No, second. I love this school. We got many beautiful girls and they are all on our level, know what I mean?"

Max just smiled as he stood up and stretched. "Do they have a gym around here?"

"Yeah, right downstairs. I'll walk you there," Samuel offered.

"Great, I'm in no mood to get lost," Max replied. "Let me just get cleaned up right quick." Max grabbed a shirt and walked into the bathroom to brush his teeth. A few minutes later he walked out, ready to go.

"So you work out a lot?" Samuel asked, feeling intimidated by Max's height and build.

"Yeah, everyone in my family works out a lot. I guess it's like a contagious disease. I got my wife into it, too." Max chuckled as they walked down the stairs and headed to the gym.

"You’re married?" Samuel asked with feigned surprise.

"Yep," Max replied with pride.

"Wow.  Wow.  How, old are you?"

"Twenty.  Twenty-one by October."

"Twenty. And how old is your wife?"

"Twenty.  We’re a few months apart"

"Are you guys sure about what... Ah, I don't want to get all in your business." Samuel cut himself off realizing it was probably best not to ask too many questions so soon.

"We know what we got ourselves into and getting married young, having a child young; it's rough, but worth it."

"She sounds beautiful."

"She is."

"So, does she go here?"

"Yeah." Max followed him around the corner and down the hall.

"She sounds like a great catch."

"She is beautiful inside and out."

"What does she look like?" Despite his decision to curb the questions, he couldn’t resist.

"She is exotic and all mine," Max warned.

Samuel picked up on the possessive note that hung on Max’s statement.  "Oh, I wouldn't want to cross you, man. I just want to make sure I don't hit in her." Samuel played it cool.

"Fair enough," Max said with a wary smile.

"Okay, so this is it," Samuel announced pushing a heavy door back.

"Cool, thanks," Max said.  With a cool and confident stride, he walked past him and set his headphones on as he headed straight to the treadmill.

Samuel stood at the door a moment, wanting to talk some more.  His hunger for Mei grew and his desire to know more about her was intense, almost desperate.  He could force himself to work out, but wasn’t really into that kind of thing. "I’ll see you back at the dorm," he called out, waving at Max.