Free Love, Lies & The D.A. by Rebecca Rohman Page B

the media
who seems obsessed with her case back home in San Francisco.
    While
I’m sorry that Howard’s drunken sister-in-law ruined that hot dress she was
wearing, it gave me an opportunity to speak to her. Even if it was only for a
second, for a short period of time, I got to see her. Her lovely eyes seemed
hollow and filled with sorrow. I wish I could help her.
     
    *     *     *
     
    “I’m
sorry about your dress,” Bobby says as we back out of the parking space.
    “It
will be fine either way. It’s just a dress, one of my favorite dresses, but a
dress nevertheless. Tomorrow, I’ll take it to the cleaners and see if they can
do anything about it.”
    “The
old Jada would have been furious.”
    “These
days I have much bigger fish to fry… I try not to sweat the small stuff.”
    “Good
attitude. So what did he say?”
    I know
he’s talking about Jonathan, but I play dumb.
    “He
who?”
    “Mr.
Kole.”
    “He
apologized. He wanted to pay for my dry cleaning.”
    “And
what did you say?”
    “I
told him it wasn’t necessary.”
    “That’s
all?”
    “Well,
I also told him if he really wanted to help, he should get his drunken friend
under control or he’d be paying a lot of cleaning bills by the end of the
night.”
    “You
couldn’t stop yourself from being mean?”
    “What
can I say—he brings out the worst in me.” I don’t tell him I ended the
conversation on a polite note.
    “Did
you tell him I’m your brother?”
    “No.
Why?”
    “You’re
such a tease. You’re going to leave the poor guy wondering all night long.”
    “I
doubt he’ll be wondering about anything. My personal life is all over the
place. In any case, he knows I just got out of a relationship.”
    “How?”
    “I
might have mentioned something about it when he was trying to pull rank on me.”
    Bobby
laughs. “What did you tell him?”
    “I may
be paraphrasing, but I told him, ‘Do you want to know who I am? I’m a woman who
just caught her fiancé fucking her best friend, so forgive me if I’m not in a
sentimental mood.’”
    “You
didn’t.”
    “I
sure did.”
    “Has
anyone ever told you that you have serious bitch potential?”
    “No.
But I’ll take that as a compliment. In my business, sometimes it’s necessary.”
    “Were
you like that with Richard?” He quickly gasps. “Jada, I’m sorry.”
    “You
don’t have to be afraid to mention his name. It is what it is. I’m facing this,
don’t worry. To answer your question, I think he saw that side of me the last
time I saw him.”
    “I’m
so sorry you’re going through this.”
    “I
feel sorry for his family. I’ll get over him. They’ll probably never get past
this. I hate to admit this, and I won’t ever admit this to anyone else, but I
think because he’s dead, and probably because of the way he died, I’m not so
angry with him anymore. I guess I will always be hurt by what he and Koto did,
but I feel like I’m letting this go.”
    He
holds my hand as I talk.
    “I
wish I didn’t have to find out any more details about him and Koto, but I
suspect sooner or later, it will all come out. I’m afraid then I’ll be angry
with a dead man, and I won’t have any resolve. When I walked in on them, I was
angry, and I dealt with it at that moment. He knew how I felt. However, any new
details that come out… I don’t know.” I sigh.
    “I can
only imagine how difficult this has been for you.”
    “It’s
been easier because you’re here. I haven’t cried for more than fifteen minutes
at a time since you arrived.”
    “I’m
worried about you. Are you going to be okay when I leave?”
    “I’ll
have to be. I think I might go back to San Francisco for a while, but I like it
here. Until this is over, I might split my time between here and there.”
    “Are
you sure you want to go back there?”
    “No.”
    “Jada,
over here, you’re sheltered from the harsh reality of this situation. You will
be confronted with it every minute you