Moonlit Secrets

A Seed of Doubt

Annika and Damien were seated at a round, black table in the dimly lit restaurant. A warm, soft light bathed the room, casting a gentle glow on the chefs as they expertly prepared fresh sushi behind the open bar. The secluded location on the city's outskirts ensured a quiet atmosphere, perfect for a private conversation.

A young woman with long, dark hair pulled back in a tight ponytail approached their table. "Welcome to The Dragon," she greeted them in a soft, pleasant voice. "My name is Lin and I will be your server this afternoon. What can I get started for you today?"

“We will get started with the amazing miso soup. And I will have the hot green tea.” Damien requests.

Annika looks up at the waitress, “And I will have a hot green tea as well, with honey please.”

“Very well, I will have the chefs to get started on that for you right away,” the waitress says. Damian looks at Annika with a slight smile on his face “You know, when my friend suggested you, I didn't think that you would be this young. You seem to have climbed the career ladder rather quickly. But I've heard great things about you. So you must be really good at your job.”

“Well, I work really hard and I take care of my clients and have always had a great outcome. I do my best to make sure the right thing is done by my clients.” Annika replies.

The waitress returns moments later and places their bowls of miso and tea cups in front of them and in the middle of the table. She places a teapot in the middle of the table filled with green tea and a small white glass cup of honey next to Annika’s cup. “Would you like to put in an order for an entree?” she asks.

Annika looks to Damien “Any suggestions? I’m willing to try anything and I’ve never been here before.”

Damien smiles as he looks to the waitress, “Can we get the Dragon roll, Rainbow Roll, and the Gunkan Maki with eel sauce.”

“Yes sir, I will be right back with that order for you.” The waitress says as she quickly walks away.

“Wow, you didn’t even need to look at a menu. Those all sound like great choices.” Annika says.

Damien replies “I’m a quick study and I’ve come here a few times. Those have been the best ones I’ve had here so far.” He takes a sip of his miso and picks up the teapot. He pours the tea into Annika’s cup before pouring into his and places the teapot back in the middle of the table.

Annika spoons the honey into her tea and takes a sip. “I’m glad to see you are more comfortable now. So, tell me about your case. What can I do for you?”

Damien lightly chuckles, “Ah, right to it I see. Well, I work for a company of high status and my ex-boyfriend used to work with me. I’m afraid he is not taking the breakup very well and he was just fired. I’m worried he may try to get me fired, too.”

Annika nods as she listens intently as Damien continues.

“He was very possessive and always accused me of flirting and cheating with co-workers and supervisors. If he tells my boss that I’ve been having office relationships with supervisors, I could get fired for that. He’s a bit of a loose cannon, so there is no telling what else he may try to make up to make me look bad and get me fired.”

Annika begins, “Okay so it seems like what we are dealing with is a classic case of workplace sabotage with malicious misrepresentation. It should be easy to combat given the recent breakup and we can argue that he’s lying to hurt you through your job. Was he fired before or after the breakup?”

Damien replies “After the breakup, he was showing up to work drunk, looking a mess, misplacing important paperwork and then eventually cussed out our boss and made a big scene.”

“Wow, I know that must have been difficult for you to witness him in such a state.” Annika replies and she places her hand on his. She can feel Damien’s heartbreak for his ex. It was deep and saddening. She could feel that he really cared for him. But something didn’t quite seem right. There was something about his feelings that made it seem like he was the one that was broken up with. Like he was the one that felt that way.

Damien pulls his hand back gently, “I was used to it behind closed doors, but seeing him like that in public was a bit unnerving to say the least.”

The waitress returns to the table with plates in hand and places them in the center of the table. “Is there anything else I can get for you?” she smiles.

Damien looks to Annika to see if she wanted anything else and she lightly shakes her head.

“No, we’re good now, thank you.” He replies. “Enjoy.” The waitress says as she walks away.

Annika and Damien both look down at the delicious variety of sushi. “I apologize in advance, I’m a bit of a dog when it comes to sushi.” Damien says.

A look of confusion appears on Annika’s face, “What do you mean?”

“I can’t just bite into it, I shove the whole thing in my mouth.” Damien replies.

They both start laughing as they pick their sushi and transfer them to their own plates and begin to eat.

With Kai still waiting outside, he decides to use this time to set up his phone to gain access to his contacts from his previous phone by logging into all his accounts.

His contact list is finally synced and wants to call Annika, but he knows Damien will find out with him sitting so close to her. He just has to be patient and wait for them to come out.

While enjoying their meal, Annika is rushed with a sudden feeling of unease. She looks at the time and notices that it’s about time to start heading back to the office. Annika looks to Damien who has already finished his plate, “I guess it’s time to head back and get back to work.” She says.

“Oh wow, yeah.” Damien replies.

Lin walks over with the check when she sees Annika get her bag and searches for her wallet. “Was everything to your liking this afternoon?” She asks.

Annika takes out her wallet and hands her the company debit card, “We enjoyed every bit of it, thank you so much.”

Lin walks away with the card and check.

“So, if you would like, I can get a file started on your case and I can contact you as soon as tomorrow afternoon.” Annika says to Damien.

Lin comes back with the card and a receipt. “Have a great rest of your day and we hope to see you again soon.” She says with a smile as she turns and walks away.

“That sounds great actually. Just give me a call at this number,” he says as he hands her a business card, “if you have any other questions.”

She takes the card and places it in her purse as they walk out the front door.

Annika pulled out her phone to order a ride back to the office, she paused. "So, Damien, what's your ex's name again? I need to know for the motion."

"His name is Kai, Kai Arrow," Damien replied, his phone ringing suddenly. He checked the caller ID. "I’m so sorry, I need to take this. It was great meeting you and thank you for lunch. I look forward to your call tomorrow. I'm just going to walk back to the office. Have a good day." Kai quickly walks off as he answers his phone.

As Annika watched him leave, a sinking feeling settling in her stomach. Could this be the same Kai she knew? It couldn't be. There must be another Kai somewhere in this big city. Surely, it was just a coincidence, right?

A wave of disbelief washed over her. "Oh my God," she muttered to herself. "I never even asked for his last name. I slept with him without knowing who he really was! I trusted him blindly! What is wrong with me?" Tears begin to well up in her eyes.

She starts taking deep breaths as she closes her eyes to calm herself.

Kai emerges from the side of the building and walks up behind her. He places his hand softly on her shoulder. “Annika, are you okay?”

She quickly jerks away and wipes the tears from her face. “What are you doing here?! Are following me?!”

A look of confusion washes over his face. “I couldn’t get a hold of you, and I followed your scent here. Look it’s a long story. There isn’t much I can tell you but I need to warn you about..”

Annika quickly cut him off “The only thing I need to really be worried about here is you!”

Kai took a step back, “Whoa, what are you talking about?”

Annika stepped towards the waiting car, glancing back at Kai one last time. "I just met your ex-boyfriend," she remarked, her voice spiked with a hint of bitterness. "Guess I'm just a pawn in your little game, Mr. Arrow." With that, she slammed the car door shut behind her.

As the car pulled away, Annika couldn't shake the unsettling feeling she'd experienced earlier. Could it have been Kai's presence that had made her uneasy? Damien had seemed so genuine and kind, so why had she felt such a strange connection to his ex?

After a five-minute ride, the car comes to a stop and she’s back at her work building. She goes inside and up to her office. Annika drops into her chair. She remembered Damien had given her his business card. Fishing it out of her purse, she examined it closely. His name, phone number, email address, all of the usual details. Then, turns it over to see the other side. Her eyes fell upon the company logo, Titian Industries. Her heart starts pounding, her breath becomes labored, as a wave of realization washed over her. A sudden knock at her door startled her.

"Annika, are you alright?" Evelyn asked, her voice filled with concern.

Annika tries to speak between breaths, “I think….they sent….a spy..” she says.

Evelyn seeming confused asks “Who? Who sent a spy?”

Annika hands her Damien’s business card. She takes a look at it and a look of relief draws on her face. “Annika? I need you to take slow, deep breaths with me okay.” Evelyn takes a deep breath to lead Annika. As they breath together slowly, their eyes meet and Annika begins to calm down.

“I’m so sorry Evelyn. I should’ve been more careful.” She says with disappointment.

Evelyn lifts Annika by the chin and looks her in the eyes with a grin, “You have nothing to be sorry about. This shows me that they are scared. Now use this. What do we do when we want information in discovery?”

“We submit it in the discovery requests or subpoena the information.” Annika replies as she begins to calm down.

“Now,” Evelyn begins, “I want you to continue visiting with Damien. Mislead him. Send him on a wild goose chase if you can. I want to see them squirm.”

“Yes ma’am.” Annika replies.

“Okay. Since you’re feeling better, I want both the subpoena and the request for discovery drawn up and on my desk. Once you are done with that, you can go home. Understood?” She demands.

Annika’s eyes light up with relief and ready to get back to work. “Understood.” She replies.

Annika cleans the tears from her face and fires up her computer and gets to typing. Her focus locked in and determined.

After spending a few hours double checking and editing each document, she’s finally perfected them and they are ready to print.

After gathering everything from the printer, she divides them into separate folders, labels them, and heads toward Evelyn’s office to drop them off.

As she approaches Evelyn’s office door, she can hear that she’s having a conversation on the phone.

As she listens intently, she hears Evelyn say, “We need to get her prepared. She’s getting stronger, I can feel it. They’ve already sent that blood thirsty runt after her. They’re getting desperate. Make sure you have someone looking out for her. We can’t afford a loss right now. We are so close to taking them down.”

Annika lightly knocks on the door. “Let me call you back in just a bit.” Evelyn tells the person on the phone and hangs up.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt you call. I have those documents drawn up, printed, and labeled for you.” Annika walks further toward her and places them on her desk.

Evelyn picks up and opens the folders, quickly flipping through and skimming each page. “Everything looks good here. I will call you if I need anything else or have any questions. Consider yourself on call for the rest of the day. Now go home and relax.”

“Yes ma’am. I’ll make sure to have my phone close by. Thank you for helping me calm down earlier. That was really embarrassing and extremely unprofessional. I apologize.” Annika says as she folds her hands in front of her.

“Don’t worry about it. We all can get like that in the beginning. Especially when you’re faced with something like this for the first time. You’ll learn to get use to it on these big cases. They’re always trying to find ways to scare you. Now go! Before I change my mind.” Evelyn says.

“Alright. I’m gone then. Enjoy the rest of your day.” Annika replies as she turns to leave heading through the lobby and to the elevator.

As she gets on the elevator and rides down, she can’t help but wonder if maybe she overreacted with Kai. But then again, she was blindsided with information that she doesn’t even know is true or false. She doesn’t even know Kai.

She gets to the ground floor and exits the elevator and out of the building walking toward her apartment. She checks her phone, and she has ten missed calls and five back to back texts from Kai’s new number. She rolls her eyes and puts her phone back into her bag.

As she approaches her apartment, she sees Kai sitting and waiting for her on her doorstep. He stood up as she drew closer. His voice filled with apology and desperation, "Annika, I know you're upset, and I don't blame you. But please, hear me out. I need to explain. There's a lot more going on than you realize. If you would just give me a moment and listen to me. Please.”

Annika’s eyes narrowed with skepticism, “Okay, fine. But if you try anything, I will not hesitate to go full wolf on your ass. Got it?” Her voice was low with a serious undertone.

Annika opened the door and stepped inside, turning back to Kai who was still standing in place. "You coming or what?" she asked, a hint of impatience in her voice.

Kai, surprised by her willingness to hear him out, hesitated for a moment before following her into the apartment.

They both go inside, and the door closes behind them.