Manhattan District Attorney's Office
Five Years After the Lynch-Belden Wedding
The
young Assistant District Attorney brushed a lock of hair back from his
eyes and glanced over at the clock. 8:45. He had spent almost fourteen
hours dealing with arraignments and then preparing for what would be
another long day of the same tomorrow. He had decided to finish this
last brief he was reading and head home when another Assistant District
Attorney stuck his head into the office.
"Good. You're still here. Come help us celebrate."
"Celebrate?" He asked, looking up from his work.
"Yeah, Barb won her case." Barb was another ADA who had been working for months on a complicated case.
"DiBeneditto?" He referred to the highly publicized and complicated case involving a refuted member of a Mafia family.
"Yep. We're all going to O'Dell's for drinks. C'mon."
The
last thing he felt like doing after such a long day was to go drinking
in a loud, crowded bar, but Barbara Kendall was a good prosecutor.
She'd worked many long hours on this case and deserved his
congratulations. He turned off his computer and grabbed his jacket
before following his co-workers out of the office.
The
exuberant entourage from the District Attorney's office crowded into an
already packed bar and took over several tables in the back. It seemed
that every young attorney in Manhattan was there, surprising for a
weeknight. Almost as soon as he arrived the young ADA was glad he had
decided to come. Since joining the office only a short time ago, he had
consistently worked fourteen or more hour days, wanting to spend as
little time as possible in his nearly-empty apartment. That evening he
realized that he needed to make some time in his life for relaxation.
It
was almost midnight before he left the bar with the same co-worker
who'd invited him. When they exited the still-packed building, the
late-summer evening air felt cool and refreshing. He wondered whether
he should chance walking home or hail a cab.
"Thanks so much
for inviting me, Walt. I didn't realize how much I needed to get out
and relax!" He said as they walked out onto the sidewalk.
"You know what they say about all work and no play?" His colleague responded.
"Yeah!" He grinned as he looked up and down the street.
"Share a cab?" Walt asked.
"I
dunno...I think..." He stopped mid-sentence as he noticed the two
scantily clad women standing on the corner. It was quite obvious they
were looking for "business". His colleague noticed them at the same
time.
"I thought they'd cleaned up this area." Walt commented.
The
ADA didn't respond. He was staring noticeably at the two women. One, a
petite brunette with huge blue-lidded eyes looked directly at him and
winked. She said something to her companion and wobbled down the block
on her platform shoes.
She patted down her straight black bangs and batted her eyelashes as she neared the two attorneys.
She
smiled at Walt before directing her attention to the other gentleman.
"Hi Handsome," she said huskily. "You come here often?" The young man
looked at his co-worker sheepishly.
"No...I...What the? What are you...?" He looked around nervously.
"Sssh." She hushed him as she stepped nearer. "You been in New York long?"
He nodded his understanding. "Couple of months."
"I
see...Well, Handsome, my name is Dixie. Dixie Brown and I think you are
incredibly sexy." She laughed and winked a big blue eye at him. "Now,
Handsome, I want you to give me your hand." She took his right hand
with one of hers as she reached inside her low-cut blouse with the
other hand. "I'm going to give you something...but only if you promise
me you won't let anyone else see it. Anyone! Promise?"
He nodded. "Of course."
She
placed a business card in his palm and closed his fingers around it. He
discreetly shoved his hand into his pants pocket, all the while
grinning.
"You look at that later and use it. Okay?"
He nodded.
"Good.
I guess I'll see you around, Handsome." She wobbled off towards the
corner, stopping once to look over her shoulder and wink at him again.
He laughed out loud.
"Do you know her?" Walt asked. His mouth literally hung open.
He
turned to his companion. "Yeah. Her brother was my best friend in High
School," he laughed at the shocked look he received. He had to add it.
"And I took her to her Senior Prom!" |
