- - 3rd - -
Leave it up to the law firm to make Eden come in to work two days before thanksgiving, and to only give her Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off so that she would have to return on the weekend of thanksgiving. But Eden still went nonetheless, despite disagreeing with their selfish scheduling.
The sound of her Louis Vuitton heels spiking against the smooth waxed floors as she walked down the hallway leading to her office could be heard echoing off of the walls. It was a bright and sunny day despite the chilly weather outside. Eden knew her scenery from inside of the office would be beautiful. The browns and yellows and oranges on the trees. The smell of her pumpkin spice latte sitting on her desk besides her computer as she did her work. The aroma of cinnamon floating up from her pastry. Eden couldn't wait to bask in that.
Eden eased inside of her office. She closed the door behind her and made her way over to her desk. Placing her jacket down on the back of her chair, and sitting her purse on the empty side of her desk.
Eden bent down with a sigh. Coffee and pastry next to her. She logged into her computer and waited for it to start up. In the meantime , she made her way over to the blinds and began to open them up. She could use some sunlight.
Knock knock knock.
"I just got here. Shit." Eden hissed under her breath. She had seriously just walked in the door and she was already being bothered.
"Come in!" Eden faked a sweet voice, looking over her shoulder. She just knew in her mind it was Vester's annoying ass.
"Goodmorning, Ms.Lewis."
Eden was once staring blankly at the door. But suddenly, a small smile formed on her lips at the sight of her boss standing there. Her relationship with Mr.Pecher was hot and cold. But he didn't get on her nerves nearly as much as Vester did. So he was valid.
"Mr.Vester. Goodmorning." Eden spoke. "how are you?"
"Ah, same old same old. How have you been? I know I haven't been checking on you these past few days. I wanted to give you some space to work on that case with Mr.Wang."
"I'm fine. Just been taking things one step at a time like you suggested. Am I still set to meet him on Sunday?" Eden questioned, stepping away from the now opened blinds.
"Yes." Mr.Pecher confirmed. Eden nodded.
She had to admit, meeting clients made her nervous. She didn't like defending bad people in court but Mr.Wang only had things such as robbery and extortion. Now granted, those things were bad. But a horrible person in Eden's eyes was a person who abused, sexual assaulted, the list goes on.
Bad and horrible were different. Eden would never defend a fucking rapist in court. Or anything along those lines.
They told her that as a lawyer you shouldn't build up your own narrative of people. But Eden found that to be bullshit. The line between human nature and unlawful actions was quite thin. People did things because it was apart of human nature to do both the bad and the god. But when Eden met someone she wanted them to be genuine. She often built up her own narratives of people before defending them. That is, if she was given the time to do so. She wasn't given the time for Namjoon, but two months later here she was. In love with him.
She had a feeling that Mr.Wang was a good guy outside of his short comings.
"Eden, I've actually come to tell you something."
Eden held her breath. This was never good.
"Yeah, of course." Eden nodded. Wether she was nervous or not, she shouldn't let it show.
"Um..." Mr.Pecher sighed, stroking his chin as his eyebrows fell into a weary line. He was struggling to piece together his words.
"Recently, Vester has not been coming to work. This is due to a car accident that happened about two days ago. I haven't been paying attention to the news much. So many things happening at once. But a memorial is to be held in his honor on Saturday." Pecher stated.
"M-memorial?" Eden stuttered. Mr.Pecher nodded.
"Yes. He put up a fight in the hospital but the crash was simply too much. It ended up killing him last night."
Eden gasped, hand over her heart. "Oh my goodness."
She was honestly stunned. Her relationship with Vester had never been a great one. But hearing the news quickly saddened her. He was a human and had been a victim of fate. He was probably on his way to work that morning too. It was all so crazy to think about.
"Yes mam. I know you two didn't have the best relationship but a coworker is a coworker regardless and I just figured you should be aware."
"Yes sir, I totally understand. And I am so sorry for your loss as well because I know you two were close." Eden empathized.
"God has a plan for us all Eden. And it's all out of our control. The most I can do is cope and move on. Although it will be a challenge." Mr.Pecher sighed, walking towards the door.
"If you need anything I will be in my office. Please, have a great day Ms.Lewis."
"You as well." She replied softly, a slight pause in between her words.
Eden fiddled with her necklace, staring down at the gleaming blue pendant as she tried to register what just happened.
***
"I don't know Layla. It just messes with me. I feel like it's something going on right under my nose that I know nothing about. And it's not even about Vester's passing. It's just intuition." Eden sighed, staring down at her feet in the warm water as the nail techs massaged them.
"Maybe something is going on. You should always trust your intuition, E. No matter if it's good or bad or something you can't quite pinpoint. Everything that goes on in the dark has to eventually come to the light." Layla said.
"I know." Eden said.
She had gotten off earlier than usual today so she and Layla decided to have a self care evening. They had stopped for lunch and now they were getting their nails done. Eden really needed this after finding out about Vester. It was just so surreal for some reason.
Eden's phone began to vibrate in her purse. She sighed and took it out. As expected, it was a message from Namjoon.
Joon: Hey, are you still at work?
