The Love Cube

Chapter 23 : The Deal

Days had passed since Grace's disastrous friend date and the headline that greeted everyone one fine morning was " Altercation between Father and Son," and the attached image was none other than Ben's and his father clearly after they had a fight.

Heather debated between calling Ben herself, but she didn't want to to seem nosy, especially with her position in his life. She had been instructed to frame him and from the last time they had been in court, Derrick must have been pursuing the same angle.

The short time both her and Ben had spent together had made Heather believe he was innocent and with her conclusion that his father was indeed guilty, as Ben believed, she felt like it was unfair for everyone to gang up on him.

She needed to know if the fight was a recent occurrence or not and there was only one other person who could truly confirm it for her.

Derrick.

Scrolling past all her cousin's missed calls and messages she finally retrieved Derrick's contact.

Need to talk about the case.

No pleasantries were needed,she did not want to give him ideas.

Your place?

The answer quickly came.

In her office,it would be impossible, especially with Grace,she did not want to go to Derrick's turf or her home so she picked a restaurant that was a middle ground for both.

Meet me at 7 at Quizines.

Derrick thought that maybe she finally wanted to cross check details about the case with him or had finally heard her cousin out. Maybe the date had not been as disastrous as he had thought. Grace had texted asking about the weird tension between him and Heather but he had not responded that had no idea. She had probed if something had happened at the hearing as well, she seemed to not know anything about them.

His work days were spent going through the case files. He felt like he had memorized them at that point. The news in the tabloids had been a blessing in disguise.. Someone was feeding him evidence unknowingly, the picture being from a different one altogether. He had contacted the news site hoping to find out who took the picture and investigate more. They could probably exchange information. He was not beyond playing dirty, everyone did.

The drive to the restaurant took him a short time, keeping time as he remembered how time-conscious Heather always was. At the beginning, when they were seeing each other, he was always late, but overtime he stopped after his friends had scolded him. Heather would never have complained. To her he was the best thing that had happened to her, faultless. She had worshiped him and maybe in the beginning he had basked in that adoration.

As expected, she had already arrived, sitting at the last table, already drinking something. She caught his eyes and the sparkle that used to be there was absent but he smiled and made his way towards her.

"Hey, I hope I am not late?'' he said while sitting opposite her.

''Just in time,'' she replied, glancing at her watch. It was six fifty five.

Heather had expected he would have been late like he had always been. She internally scoffed when she remembered how she would wait for him even for hours, at times. She had been content with the scraps he had given her at the beginning of their relationship.

Resentment towards Derrick was something she had realised had emerged after they had broken up. It had begun from the fact that he had left her and grew as she moved to analyzing some aspects of their relationship. He was not perfect, but he had been perfect for her at one point.

A waiter had already come to their table wanting to know what they would be having. Derrick ordered but Heather preferred to continue nursing her glass of wine. She had no intention of staying for so long.

" You are not eating?'' Derrick asked, feeling strange that he would be the only person eating.

If he had known she was not, he would not have ordered anything.

" I won't be here for long to necessitate a meal,'' Heather answered.

" To cut the chase. I want to know if the news released about Ben Carter and his father are part of the evidence you submitted in court?'' she asked. She had never seen the clips because she had preferred not to speak with Derrick at any point.

Derrick felt a bit disappointed, as his expectations had been they would be discussing them but their current topic would do.

" No. It's new,'' he replied just in time as the waiter brought his food.

" Is that your angle in court?'' she asked.

He hummed in agreement as he cut through his stake.

" I want you to drop it,'' she replied, and that was enough for Derrick to bring his cutlery down.

"Why? Do I need to know something?'' he asked.He had expected a lot when he had prepared to meet her but that being her request was not part of it.

Heather looked at Derrick as he waited for her answer as to why she wanted him to drop Ben as a person of interest. She could not tell him she knew that his father had murdered his mother and all she needed was to prove it. She had a bleeding heart too. She was slowly seeing the bigger picture of the case that entailed Ben being framed for something he had not done. If her and Derrick pursued him, it was guaranteed he would be going behind bars and lose most of his money in the process. If she could be his lawyer she would have offered herself up but at the moment her pay check was being signed by his father something she had little power over.

" After seeing today's headlines I realized he is just easy bait. He is innocent,'' she replied.

Derrick wanted an even more elaborate explanation but he knew he would not get one. Heather's request was a way of testing how serious he was about making things right between them.

" So let's say I agree, which will be bringing so much trouble for myself, what do I get out of this?'' he asked.He did not necessarily think she would agree to anything but he wanted to test the waters.

" What do you want?'' Heather asked. She had not expected it would be that easy for her. She would be lucky if he did not ask for something outrageous. She had been banking on his desperation to get back in her life and willingness to impress her. She had no plan B at the moment to help Ben but she would find one incase Derrick failed her.

" I want five dinner dates with you. We don't talk about work. All in places of my choosing,'' Derrick replied.

His request was manageable, she thought. She could pull through, it would be for a greater good.

" Fine. Agreed,'' she replied.

Derrick could not believe how easy that had been. Was there something that was going on between her and Ben?

" Are you seeing him or something?'' Derrick couldn't help but ask. All this selflessness for a man she had just met seemed suspicious.

" Contrary to what people say about me.This time around you are wrong. I am not seeing or sleeping with him. Just doing what I feel is right,'' Heather replied while getting up. Derrick had somehow forgotten she always had a sense of justice in her and now was judging her like everyone else did and it offended her.

" Text me the details of the first date,'' were her last words to him as she got up and left , settling the bill on her way out.