"Hey Kadin."
Kadin lifted his head from his work to meet the gray eyes and bright orange hair of his colleague, May. Her station was across from his and he often caught her staring at him like she had a question, but didn't know how to ask. She had a nervous energy about her, constantly fiddled with her hair and rubbed her palms against her distressed jeans. But he'd seen her work and holy hell, she was good.
"What's up?" he asked, swiveling his chair to face her. He tried to keep his voice bright when he spoke to her, because she reminded him too much of the skittish bunnies who'd hang out in his parents' backyard in spring.
"Uh." she rubbed her pen between her palms and looked away. "I hate to bother you, so if you don't want to, you don't have to help but... one of our environment designers is out so I've been helping that team a little, but I'm not very good with outdoor scenes so..."
"I'll take a look. Just send it to me."
She nodded. "Okay, thanks a lot. I'll send it over right now. It's supposed to be a shrine with a peaceful and calming vibe."
"Peaceful and calming, got it." He turned back to his work while she returned to her desk. 2:30. Half an hour until he had to meet with Rukiya. He was hoping she'd hang out for a little longer on Saturday, but she probably had other obligations.
But, he had to admit; he liked her company a lot. Her easy-going vibe was infectious, though he saw some cracks when she talked about her boyfriend cheating. That was a stupid thing to ask on his partâshould've just minded his business.
Kadin opened the file from May and got to work on the environmental piece. The shrine was mostly done, only the lighting was off. Outdoor lighting was tricky, so it didn't surprise him that May was struggling. After he was done, he'd send it over to the environment design team for another pass.
Time slipped by him, as it always did when he immersed himself in work, and the next thing he knew, his phone was buzzing. A text from Rukiya came upon his screen. I'm downstairs.
On my way, he replied. He shut down his system and grabbed his bag from beside his desk. "I'm heading out, May. I sent the thing along to the environments team. Text me if anything else comes up."
"Oh, okay. Take care," she said with a smile.
Kadin breezed his way out of the office and headed for the stairs. The elevator he and Rukiya had been trapped in had an "Out of Order" sign slapped on it. Not that he'd ride that death trap, even if it was fixed. It was a long way to the bottom floor, but he didn't care.
Out in the lobby, he met Rukiya standing near the small assortment of chairs arranged around the TVs. She had on a pair of flowing pants with a black turtleneck and a coat draped over her armsâlooking very much like she meant business. He raised his hand to get her attention when she looked his way.
"Hey," Rukiya greeted with a smile. "Ready to go?"
Kadin gestured towards the exit. "Lead the way." He followed Rukiya out into the damp, chilly weather. An overcast sky hung overhead, and the sidewalks were wet and lined with mucky slush. He secured his hat to his head to protect his hair from the wind. Beside him, Rukiya was hunched into her coat, her heels clicking against the sidewalk as she navigated the stream of foot traffic.
"It's right up there." Rukiya nodded at the squat, four-story building sitting on 1st and Bowton.
It was warm inside, and the lobby smelled of coffee. Turner, Braxon and Associates was emblazoned on the wall in wood lettering, and the plants lining the space underneath curled around the letters like a frame. The front desk partitioned the cozy seating area from the petite brunette receptionist tapping away at a keyboard.
"Good afternoon, welcome to Turner, Braxon and associates," she greeted with a smileâan expression that morphed into a gape the moment she laid eyes on Rukiya. They stared at each other silently for a moment, as though exchanging a secret message before Rukiya turned away to hang up her coat. For her part, she seemed unphased.
"We have an appointment with Brigid Turner," Rukiya said simply. "It's under Warrick and Reyes."
The receptionist cleared her throat and gestured to the navy overstuffed couches. "Of course. Please have a seat." She smiled again, but this time it was shaky. "Can I offer you some coffee while you wait?"
"No, thank you," Rukiya answered without missing a beat. She crossed one leg over the next and pulled out her cellphone. Her aloofness clashed with the fear rolling off the young secretary, and the tension in the room spiked to a suffocating degree.
Kadin put on a friendly smile, feeling like a bystander observing an impending train wreck. "I'm fine, thanks."
"I'll see if Mrs. Turner is ready to see you. Excuse me." The receptionist gave one last strained smile and left through the door flanking her desk.
He leaned a little closer to Rukiya and lowered his voice to a whisper. "You know her?"
"Something like that." She breathed a sigh through her nose and continued scrolling through her phone. "Don't mind it."
The receptionist returned and put on another nervous smile. "Mrs. Turner will see you now. Right this way."
They followed her into a narrow hall line with doors, each bearing a gold plate with someone's name on it. They stopped at the one on the very end. Brigid Turner, Senior Associate, was embossed on its gold plate.
The receptionist stepped in and held the door for them. "Please, have a seat."
Brigid Turner sat behind a wood desk laden with books and files, her face pinched into a look of consternation as her eyes roamed a document. A pair of round glasses sat on her nose, the ivory of their frames matching the color of her frilly blouse.
The picture window behind her afforded a view of 1st and Bowton, and the light streaming in illuminated the bookcases that dominated the walls on either side of the desk.Kadin sat in one of the two armchairs in front of the desk and tried not to feel intimidated by the oppressive nature of the office. It had a very closed-off feeling he didn't vibe with. It felt like the bookcases were leaning over him, judging him. He didn't consider himself dumb, but this office made him feel that way.
"My apologies for the wait." Brigid pulled an iPad and apple pen from her desk. "Wendy gave me a short version of what happened, but I'd love to hear your version of events. Please be thorough. I need all the details."
Kadin exchanged a look with Rukiya and kicked off the recap of their nightmare in the elevator. Reliving it was worse than he thought. With everything else going onâhis interview, starting a new job, setting up his living spaceâhe hadn't had time to reflect on it.
"Neither the emergency nor the call buttons worked?" Brigid asked.
Rukiya nodded. "That's right."
"And you tried calling downstairs and to maintenance and got no answer, correct?"
"Correct."
"Mmm. Continue."
Rukiya picked up where Kadin left off and outlined the rest of their time in the elevator up until the firefighters pulled them out. "The shaft was full of rust. I wish I'd taken pictures."
"No need." Brigid pressed the butt of her pen against her cheek. "I'm going to take some time, dig a little deeper into this, but based on this information alone, I'd say you have a solid case. Are you going to get millions? Probably not, but I believe it's worth pursuing. I won't take up anymore of your time. Just leave a contact number with Lindsay, and I'll get back to you in due time."
"Thank you for your time," Rukiya said as she stood.
"It was no trouble at all. Do give Wendy my best."
"Of course."
Kadin followed her out to the front desk, where Lindsay was waiting for them, along with another of her nervous smiles.
"Please leave your contact information here." She passed the clipboard to him first and busied herself with tapping away on her keyboard.
Rukiya stood beside him, her attention out the window. When he passed her the clipboard, she penned down her information, then immediately turned to leave.
"Wait, uh Rukiya!" Lindsay called.
Rukiya paused halfway to the door, her shoulders bunching close to her neck.
"Can I... speak with you for a moment? Privately. Please. I swear it'll only be a minute." She cast a look at Kadin as though begging him to leave.
"Kadin, do you mind waiting for me outside?" Rukiya asked. By the tone of her voice, she was going to kill this woman and bury under this law firm.
He shrugged a shoulder. "Sure." Anything over witnessing a murder.