Started From The Bottom

It was 6 AM on Monday morning and the last thing I wanted to do was wake up.

I slammed my arms around until my alarm eventually turned off. Every fiber of my being was aching, like I'd just been hit by a bus. I peeped through my lashes and saw that the bathroom light was turned on. I listened carefully and realized Jonah was taking a shower.

We made it back in town late last night. Our original plan was to leave Sunday afternoon, at the absolute latest, but every time we tried to leave Jonah's mom and sisters would come up with an excuse to make us stay. “The next train doesn't come for another hour, you might as well wait here until then!” Mandy said, knowing well that she'd distract us enough to stay longer than an hour.

I groaned as I propped myself up on my elbows. I turned on my iHeartRadio app and listened to a local morning talk show as I waited for Jonah to get out the bathroom.

I'm not sure what it was about Long Island (maybe the food? Air? Water? I'm naming essentials here...) but Jonah and I couldn't keep our hands off each other.

He'd been the happiest and most relaxed form of himself that I'd seen in a while.

We both had an early morning today, so we promised once we got back to the City we'd stay the night at our own compounds. That didn't work out so well. Once Jonah dropped me off at my apartment, our goodbye kiss in the hallway turned into a “late night” in bed.

Jonah opened the bathroom door and a flood of steam came rushing out. His hair was damp and he held onto the towel that was wrapped around his waist.

“Could you have used any more hot water?” I said sarcastically.

Jonah picked up his bag that he'd thrown off the side of my bed the night before and began digging through it. “Why do you think I stayed here? I wasn't about to use my hot water.” He'd practically emptied out his bag. “Shit!”

“What is it?” I asked as I sat up. My eyes were still half shut.

He sighed as he put everything back. “I don't have any fresh clothes for work. I have to go back to my place.”

“You can just borrow something from my closet.” I smiled. Jonah picked up a pillow and threw it at me.

After Jonah left I decided I might as well get a start on my day. I took a shower, got ready, and headed to class.

_-_-_-_-_____________-_-_-_-_____________-_-_-_-_____________-_-_-_

“How was the weekend at the in-laws?” Henry asked, teasingly, as we walked out of class.

“Ha ha, very funny!” I nudged his shoulder.

“Well, tell us already. How was it? Is she a monster? Or as sweet as J?” Sarah asked.

We went to our normal brunch spot and I spent most of our break time catching them up on my weekend away.

Later that evening I stopped by Kadie's office since it was a short walk across Central Park from my school.

We lounged around on the couches in her office and ate Chinese food. Kadie still had work to do so she hovered over the coffee table to read papers every now and then.

“So, she straight up ask you to do it?” Kadie pushed the papers away and gave her full attention to me...and her box of orange chicken.

I stopped chewing and swallowed. I took a quick sip of my drink, “She didn't tell me to do it per se, but she definitely beat around the bush.”

“Wow, I wasn't even asked until after the engagement.” Kadie raised her brows as she took a bite of her food. “Honestly Lynn, don't be offended. It's what all Jewish mothers want for their son's non-Jewish girlfriends”

“I didn't take it offensively, I just thought it was a lot to ask, especially since we...” Our attention was distracted from the conversation when Adam knocked on Kadie's door and walked in.

“Hey honey” He spoke calmly as he walked in. Kadie walked over to him and gave him a kiss. “Mmm...orange chicken?”

“Ugh, sorry” Kadie picked up her bottle of water and drank it. “What's going on? You're off of work early.”

He rocked on his feet. “I'm going back in a bit, I just thought I'd stop by and tell you”

“Tell me what?” Her hands rested on her hips as she waited for him to finish.

“You can't tell anyone you heard this from me. It's completely 100% confidential.”

Kadie dramatically covered her mouth with her hands. “Oh my God! I swear! Now tell me!”

Adam looked over to where I was sitting. Kadie was practically shaking from anticipation. He widened his eyes as he waited for me. “Okay, fine, I won't say anything either!”

“Apparently Darlington is about to lose a major client that signed with her due to a breach of contract.” He placed heavy emphasis on the words knowing that we'd understand which client he was referring to.

Kadie gasped loudly.

Adam smiled as he nodded his head. “That means, they'll be looking for a different company to represent them.” Kadie was growing tense with each nod. “Now, you're a new company so they may not consider you. But” He dragged out the word. “If a major firm like mine was involved...”

“Oh my God” Kadie exclaimed, putting two and two together. She bent down into a squat, still covering her mouth. This was a huge deal. If Kadie was some how able to represent an internationally well-known client, it would give her a fighting chance to be among the top firms.

Adam laughed as he bent his tall frame down to meet her. “What do you say?” He grabbed her hands “Should we give it a try?”