Bluegrass State of Mind(29)

"I'm sorry to do this, sweetie. I got a text from the office. Something has come up and I need to meet with a couple of senators. I'm taking the late train to D.C. and will be out of town until Monday." Chad faked a pout and gave her knee a squeeze. Kenna managed to hide her eye roll. She hated the pout. It just rubbed her the wrong way.

"Can't you stay longer? I've only been here an hour and I haven't been able to see you much recently," she asked with a hint of a whine to her voice. She stopped and cringed. She was not a whiner, so she decided to blame that on the sparkling peach martini.

"Sorry, but it can't wait. I'll call you when I get back in town. I only have twenty minutes to get to the train station, so I have to go, babe." He leaned over and kissed her goodbye, his hand sliding up her skirt and around her thigh. "Think of me and miss me."

She watched him slide out from behind the table and turn to give her a wink. "Happy birthday," he said as he put on his coat and left.

Kenna sighed. Maybe it was time to cut Chad loose. Maybe it was time for her to just have a good time. This wasn't the time to think about it, though. It was a Friday night. It was her birthday. She had just settled a big case, so she was going to have another drink and hang with her friends.

Kenna and Danielle hit the dance floor, dancing together until they got separated by two hunks. Why not? This was her birthday, after all. Danielle and Kenna made their way back to the table after getting worn out from a couple of crazy dances.

"Damn!" Kenna guessed the look of dismay was easy to read on her face because she knew the music was too loud for Danielle to hear. Danielle raised an eyebrow to her as if to see what was wrong.

Having to raise her voice over the music, she yelled to Danielle, "I left the Lawrence file at the office. I need to take it home with me tonight so I can start work on it tomorrow. That means I have to go back to the office tonight." She stuck out her lip in a pout and for dramatic measure she stomped a foot. She broke out laughing, not being able to keep the facade going.

"Bummer. Hey, when you're ready to leave, do you think you can take me back to the office so I can pick up my car?" Danielle asked.

Kenna nodded yes in response and picked up her third martini.

Two hours later she was ready to go. She signaled Danielle and the two of them linked arms as they went outside to wait for the valet. She turned to Danielle. "I think I'm going to break it off with Chad." She knew she caught Danielle unaware by the way her head snapped around.

"Dude, what? You were just gushing over him at the office this evening. What happened?"

"I think our schedules are too crazy. Besides, he texted me eight times in the last hour. Apparently the first text came when I was dancing and I didn't answer back. So I got three more texts wanting to know why I wasn't responding and what was I doing. Then they just got a little weird, saying things like I was punishing him for going away. It wasn't that at all, I was just having a good time with you and my friends. I didn't want to text him the whole time he was on the train. I just think he's insecure and clingy at times. Maybe I'm rushing the break-up and maybe it's the three martinis speaking, but I just feel like I want my life to go off in a new direction."

Kenna pulled into the parking garage beneath the building and heard Danielle cursing under her breath. "Such ugly words from such a pretty girl," Kenna said to Danielle in the snootiest voice she could manage.

"I must've left my car keys in my desk, because I can't find them in my purse. I'll just come up with you and look for them. They have to be up there somewhere," Danielle said as they both got out of the car. Kenna and Danielle rode the elevator to the ninth floor, amusing each other with stories from the club. When the doors opened, Kenna noticed that the lights were still on.

"I guess I forgot to hit the switch when I left," Danielle murmured.

"I'll get that file from my office while you look for your keys and I'll meet you back at the elevator in a couple of minutes," she said to Danielle as she walked across the marble entranceway. She turned to her right and made the short dogleg to her office.

She unlocked her door and sat at her desk, searching for the file buried under stacks of messages and notes that were piled around. Finding the file, she turned off her lamp and picked up her keys. As she was locking her door, she cocked her head. She could've sworn she heard a scream coming from the back conference room. She shook her head. Deciding she was hearing things, she locked her door. Before she could turn back to the lobby, she heard it again. This time she was sure it was coming from the conference room. She went further down the hall, her Manolos not making a sound on the thick Persian carpet as she passed cubicles on the right and the other junior partners’ offices on her left.