Womanizer

Brian Haner stood on the balcony of his penthouse apartment, overlooking Los Angeles’ Westside. Putting a cigarette between his lips, he flicked open his zippo lighter and inhaled to light it. He pocketed the silver lighter and took a drag from his first cigarette of the day. Brian could already tell he was going to smoke a lot more throughout the day.

He tried to quit a few times. He really did. He’d tried the patch, toothpicks, chewing gum— pretty much anything that could help, but nothing worked. Life got stressful, his job got stressful, and it seemed like there was nothing that could calm him down except for a cigarette. He didn’t have the word ‘Marlboro’ tattooed on his fingers for nothing.

Don’t forget the sex. Sex always helped. When did it not? It was his second go-to thing after smoking and it pretty much never failed. It only failed when the woman he’d chosen for the night was a prude, or annoying, or a total deadweight. He liked the ‘innocent but kinky’ ones. The ones that did more in bed than just lay there while he did all the work. The ones that were intelligent, and he could actually have a conversation with. Those were the ones he liked to get in bed with.

Finishing up his cigarette, he stepped back into his apartment. The smell of the fresh brew he’d started a few minutes before wafted through his place. He walked to his sleek, modern kitchen and grabbed two coffee mugs from the cupboard. Just as he began pouring dark coffee into the first mug, he heard a pair of heels coming from behind. Without turning around, he offered, “Coffee?”

“Can I get it to-go?” She asked. “We’re both already late for work.”

Refraining from making a sexual comment about what else she could get to-go, he nodded. He grabbed a styrofoam cup and a lid to fit, pouring the coffee into the cup. He placed it on the countertop in front of her. “All yours.”

“Who knew you were such a good host?” She grinned, pulling open the refrigerator door.

He watched her bend down to grab the cream as he stirred spoonfuls of sugar into his coffee. He didn’t even like cream in his coffee. He only kept it for the women that stayed over. Maybe he put it on the bottom shelf on purpose, maybe he didn’t.

“I’m always a good host,” He finally replied with a smile. “What are you talking about?”

“Hm, I guess you’re right,” She said. She poured a small amount of cream into her coffee. His eyes drifted back to her ass in her pencil skirt when she bent down to put it back on the shelf.

Although the two of them were already late for work, neither were really rushing to get there. It was pretty much silent in the kitchen as the two of them sipped on their coffee and looked down at their phones, checking emails and going over their daily schedules.

He looked up from the screen of his iPhone, watching the brunette. She’d gone from being naked in his bed a while before to being dressed in the colors of the American flag— white blouse, red skirt, navy blue blazer, and matching blue shoes. She looked down at her phone intently. He always wondered what she was thinking, what her next move was going to be, but there were some things they couldn’t tell each other.

“Are you nervous?” She looked up, tossing her dark hair over her shoulder.

“Never,” He replied coolly.

She smirked, “Really, because I thought I saw you shaking last night.”

“Ha ha,” Brian deadpanned. “If you saw me shaking it was because you were on my dick.”

“Blame it on whatever,” She said, clearly enjoying their back and forth. She grabbed her purse. “Just bring your A-game.”

“I always bring it.” Brian winked at her in a sexual gesture.

“Not always.” She winked back at him, mocking him.

Brian laughed out loud, “Really? Do you need a replay of last night?”

“I might, but I’ve gotta get to work.” She grabbed her cup of coffee and made her way to the door slowly with him following her. “Maybe tonight— you know, to celebrate my win when I kick your ass later.”

He held the door open for her, amused. “See you in court, counselor.”

“Goodbye, Brian,” She smiled coyly, touching his arm lightly as she passed.

He momentarily watched her sashay down the hall before he closed the door. Goddamn Alison Torres. He had a bad habit of mixing business with pleasure, and he considered quitting every time. Just like the smoking, he couldn’t help himself.

He put on the jacket to his suit and perfected his dark hair in the mirror that hung in the foyer. He finished up his mug of coffee, grabbed his keys and phone, and waited for a minute before heading downstairs. Things would go straight to hell if someone found out that a defense attorney and a prosecutor from the District Attorney’s office were sleeping together.

Brian and Alison went back some years. They met as colleagues back at the DA’s office. The parking lot there was always tight on space and the two of them nearly ran into each other trying to get the last parking space in the lot. Brian got to it first, wearing a triumphant grin on his face as he got out of his car with his briefcase in hand. Alison laid on her car horn, shouting insults at him from her car. It was only later on that Brian’s boss introduced him to the new girl, Alison Torres.

They almost immediately forgot about the parking lot ordeal and hit it off right away. They were assigned two cases to work on jointly. Alison was sexy, smart, and Brian could tell she had a wild side to her. He got her into his bed after the third or fourth day, he couldn’t really remember. Whatever the case, after that the rest was history.

Downstairs in the private parking lot, he slipped into the driver’s seat of his Lexus SUV. He started up the car and pulled out of the parking spot, hoping traffic wasn’t too bad. That would be the last thing he needed to add to his lateness.

He was sort of lying when he’d told Alison that he wasn’t nervous. Brian was very confident in his skills as a lawyer and had successfully won several high-profile criminal cases and nearly nothing ever shook him. Alison, however, was the one thing that sometimes made his stomach do somersaults.

It was his first time going up against her since he’d been back in California. He had only been back for about five weeks now, and he’d been dropped with his first case— a wealthy businessman accused of using a date-rape drug to assault a woman at a hotel bar. He was surprised to find out who he was going up against, but it only made him work harder.

Alison and Brian were both admittedly stubborn and competitive people. They both thought just alike and always had tricks up their sleeves. It was hard to forget how goddamn good of a lawyer Alison was, just from the few times he had worked with her on prosecutions. Now, he was on the opposing team and enemies as far as everyone else knew. They had lost brief contact when he left the DA’s office to practice defense in New York for a couple years, and now he wondered what it was going to be like if they continued in the direction things were headed.

In the building which he worked, the elevator doors opened up on the thirteenth floor. Johnson Haner was proudly displayed on the wall, letting everyone know who the managing partners of the firm were. Brian never got tired of seeing his name on the wall. He’d worked so hard all these years and transferred from Manhattan to Los Angeles just for this. Brian thanked the Gods above for removing the former partners. The firm was originally run by two older men— one in his fifties, the other in his sixties— who simultaneously decided to call it quits on the law. One wanted to retire and the other was battling illness. Brian was highly honored and flattered that they trusted him enough and were willing to put his name on the wall.

The office was bustling already, people carrying stacks of files and such for whatever they were working on. Brian was glad that it didn’t take too much adjusting to his new ‘job’; he basically already knew everyone before the name change was official. He had visited LA enough to stop by often and quickly became well-liked amongst his peers, especially by the ladies.

“Hey, Marva,” He greeted his inherited assistant when he passed her desk.

Marva was in her early forties and still youthful. Dirty blonde hair, big green eyes, and a nice rack. Brian couldn’t even lie and say that the thought of her never crossed his mind, but she had made it very clear that she wasn’t going to fall for his charm. “Brian, where have you been?”

“Morning appointment,” He replied and she knew what he meant by that. He spent a few minutes chatting with her while she rambled off some things he had to do before he was due in court at two o’clock.

“Brian.”

Brian glanced up, noticing his associate was the one who had called his name. Levi McCarthy was approaching him with some papers in hand. Dressed in a dark suit like Brian’s and pale blue eyes and light brown hair, he was practically a version of Brian himself. He wasn’t inherited by one of the former partners though. Brian handpicked Levi McCarthy to work with him. The kid was graduated from law school already, smart as hell, fast as hell, levelheaded, and generally reminded Brian a lot of himself.

“I have something major to tell you,” Levi said.

“I’ve gotta go check on something right now,” Brian told him. “Is its urgency going to change within the next few minutes?”

“No, but it’s about the case,” Levi said, bouncing on the balls of his feet anxiously.

Brian sighed, hoping it was good news. “Fine. My office in ten minutes. I have to go see our paralegal for a second.”