When You Know Ch. 01

"I'll go out the service entrance in the back," Joe offered. "Trust me, no one will know. But if you don't come back in here soon I'll find you. Goodnight my lady." With that he kissed her once more and then turned away.

"Goodnight, my lord," she giggled back at him. He bowed at her again, and then turned back toward the kitchen and was gone.

Vicky leaned against the wall and sighed. That was the most exciting experience of her life. For once, she had a story to tell Emma.

As she made her way out, she saw two older women whispering at the door as they saw her. As she got her coat, one of them drew up the courage to talk to her.

"I'm sorry, I have to know," she started. "You were in there, weren't you, with that bartender?"

Vicky blushed, horrified at having been found out. She stammered, but the lady quickly put her hand on her arm.

"Relax dear, I'm not judging," she said. "If I was your age, I would've grabbed him too and had my way with him. He's a hunk." Her other friend then came over. "Leave her alone, Elaine. I'm sorry," she said to Vicky.

"No worries," Vicky said with a smile as they left. She realized she liked being the naughty girl, if only for a night and if only in the minds of these two older women.

Vicky walked back to her apartment, changed into her comfy pajamas, and plopped down on her bed.

'What have I done?' one side of her brain asked.

'And when can we do it again?" the other side replied eagerly.

Vicky laughed at that thought and slowly drifted to sleep. The search for Mr. Right could be put on hold. Maybe everyone was right, nothing wrong with having a little fun. She'd have to make a return visit to that wine bar soon. She had to get his last name, after all.

The next morning, Vicky was at her desk, still going over the events of the previous night. She looked out her office and saw Rebecca giving her a quirky stare from her desk. She then got up and entered her boss' office.

"Your deposition starts in 10 minutes, the witness and opposing counsel are in the front," Rebecca said.

"Bring them to Conference Room A," Vicky said, still smiling. "I'll be there in a minute."

"Seems like someone had a good time last night," Rebecca said with a raised eyebrow.

"It was...interesting, different," Vicky replied.

"Different can be good," Rebecca laughed. "If that's how you glow after different, you should do different more often." With that, she left to set up the deposition.

Vicky's phone rang, it was Emma. Vicky laughed and picked it up.

"Hey Ems," she said.

"Don't hey Ems me," Emma replied. "I'm knee deep in kid vomit here, I need a distraction. Tell me you talked to that bartender. If not, I'm coming down there right now and killing you."

"I talked to him, Ems," Vicky said with a laugh.

"So how did it go?" Emma asked eagerly. "Tell me everything. I was right, wasn't I?"

"Yes, he was very...nice," she responded with another laugh.

"Two laughs? Oh my god you kissed him, didn't you?" Emma pressed. "Didn't you?"

"Not now, I'll tell you later," Vicky said softly. She was alone in her office, but still didn't want to talk about this over the phone.

"What, did you make out with him or something?" Emma said with a raised voice.

"Later, Ems, I promise. I can't talk now," Vicky said, this time giggling.

"OH MY GOD DID YOU FUCK HIM?" her friend shouted through the phone. "YOU DID, DIDN'T YOU? TELL ME I'M DYING HERE!"

"Shh, everyone will hear you," Vicky admonished. "Aren't your kids nearby?"

"Who cares, they might as well learn their mom is nuts sooner or later," she laughed. "And nice dodge, but you still haven't answered me!"

"Later, bye Ems," Vicky said, hanging up the phone as her friend continued to shout desperately over the phone. Vicky laughed to herself once more, composed herself, and got ready to get to business.

The deposition this morning was with one of the plaintiffs in the suit, who was suing her client. They were being represented by a small firm. The other partners were expecting Vicky to wipe the floor with these inexperienced lawyers.

Vicky opened the door and introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Victoria Mullen, counsel for..." with that she stopped in her tracks, and went pale as a ghost.

"Adam Davis, attorney for the plaintiff," the pudgy older lawyer started. "This is my intern, Joe Chambers."

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Mullen," Joe said with an awkward smile, offering his hand to the women he had just fucked in a bar restroom less than 12 hours ago.

"Yes, nice to meet you," Vicky replied, trying to regain control. "Well, let's get started, why don't you bring your witness in."

"I'll get them," Joe offered. Vicky avoided all eye contact with Joe as he left. She tried to recover, but she was seething, and off her game. Was this all some kind of sick plan? Had she underestimated how dirty this other firm played?

If it was a plan, it clearly worked. Vicky stayed off her game all morning, failing to poke the holes in the case that her other partners and client expected her to. Despite everything, she found herself constantly looking over at Joe, who was offering her what looked a comforting, almost apologetic, smile. Still, Vicky was now totally convinced it was all a plan, and that this little shit had horribly used her.

After the deposition, she met with the other lawyer and Joe in her office to schedule the next round of witnesses. A few moments in, the other lawyer received a call.

"Excuse me, it's another case. I'll be a few minutes. Joe can handle the rest of the schedule with you," with that he got up leaving Vicky and Joe alone.

"I just want..." Joe started after he left.

"Not a word, asshole!" Vicky hissed. "Let's just finish this, then you can get the fuck out of my office."

"OK," Joe said softly, head down. After a few silent moments, he started to list the names of the witnesses to be scheduled.

"How could you do that?" Vicky cut him off immediately. "How could you have sex with me just to help your case? You're no better than a prostitute. Now I promise I'm going to crush you guys!" Her animated gestures and loud voice caught the attention of Rebecca outside. She looked in with a curious glance, but Vicky slowly calmed down.

"Please, I can explain," Joe pleaded. "It wasn't a set up, I had no idea who you were or that I'd see you today. You have to believe me."

"So you're the world's first bartender/lawyer?" Vicky stammered.

"The bartending is just a night gig, I need it to pay for school," Joe started. "I'm third year law at Temple."

"Oh," Vicky answered, suddenly realizing it all must be just an unbelievable coincidence. "Temple, that's not a bad school."

"I mean it's not Yale law," said Joe pointing at Vicky's diploma behind her. "But it's the best a middle class kid like me can do."

"No one can know what happened between us," Vicky replied softly. "And nothing like that will ever happen again."

"Why not?" Joe asked. "I'm not a lawyer on this case. There's no ethics issues for anyone."

"Sure there are, you still work for the other side," Vicky said incredulously. "I can't believe I got myself into this."

"My internship is up in a few months," Joe replied. "After that, I won't be involved. We can see each other then."

"No," Vicky shook her head swiftly. "A thousand times no, this is wrong on so many levels."

"Last night was magic," Joe responded. "I felt it, I know you did too. I don't care about anything else; I want to see you again. Come on, it's like fate is talking to us right now."

"If you say that line again, I'll freaking stab you with this pen," Vicky warned.

Joe smiled at her, and she briefly smiled back; both felt a moment passing between them. But then the other lawyer returned before either could say anything else. They finalized the schedule, then Vicky walked them to the elevators. "We'll be in touch," she said to both of them, then turned away without a second glance.

The older lawyer quickly got in the elevator, but Joe waited a brief few seconds, hoping Vicky would turn back and look at him, give him a sign. He was as horrified as Vicky when she walked in that conference room. When she didn't turn back, he sighed and got in the elevator. He figured he just lost a chance at getting to know the most exciting woman he ever met.

Vicky stormed back into her office and plopped into her chair. Rebecca came in a few minutes later.

"What was that?" she asked her boss. "You were in such a great mood this morning, then you walked in there and came out white as a sheet? And why was that intern looking at you with those puppy dog eyes?"

"Don't worry about it, I handled it," Vicky said dismissively. Finally, she said, "I met him, last night..."

"Oh, oh..." said Rebecca, as she realized what that meant. "Well, you didn't know right? It'll be fine, I can't say I blame you, he's really hot."

"Rebecca!" Vicky exclaimed. "He's young enough to be your son!"

"What, just because I'm an old married woman doesn't mean I can't look," Rebecca answered with a laugh. "Besides, age is just a number."

"Now, forget about it and pull yourself together. No one will know." Rebecca then left Vicky alone with her thoughts. As she tried to focus on work, all she could think of was last night, of Joe. He looked even more attractive today in his suit, she thought as she chewed on her pen. The same one she just threatened to stab him with, she laughed at herself. Oh no, she thought at the same time; I like him, I really like him.

Vicky Mullen didn't believe in fate; she worked too hard to leave her life up to such things. She also definitely thought age was not just a number, even if her associate thought like her new friend.

But the events of last night and this morning had changed how Vicky looked at things, she realized. This Joe, Joe Chambers as she now knew, wasn't just a random bartender, there was much more to him. Suddenly as she sat in her office Vicky wanted to know all of it, all of him.

In that moment, Victoria Mullen understood she was in deep, deep trouble. As hard as she tried, she couldn't forget last night; she didn't want to. And she desperately wanted to be with Joe Chambers again to see what happened.