Chapter 363

Arriving at the courthouse was a bit more of a production than at work - not because you or the others had any special duties to perform, but just because it was halfway across town from the office so you had to take completely different buses. There was a stressful moment where you thought you’d missed one bus that didn’t have another run for an hour, only for it to show up five minutes late.

You met up with Gemma outside the courthouse. She was wearing one of her pantsuit outfits that highlighted her figure without showing it off, and she’d gone for a slightly higher pair of heels than she usually wore in the office.

“Morning, love,” you said with a grin as you stepped up and slid your arm around her waist, leaning down to give her a peck.

“Good morning,” she said with a smile and a sparkle in her eye. She handed you one of the drinks from the tray she was holding. “I got coffee for us and Eric.”

“That was nice of you,” you said.

“I figured even half a week out of the office is a reason to celebrate,” she smirked. Then she frowned and patted at her cheek. You felt a drop of cool wetness on your neck next, and you both looked up at the thinly overcast sky, then looked at each other and headed into the vestibule area of the courthouse. Two minutes later it was pouring rain.

“I really hope Sabrina has an umbrella,” you said as you looked out the door.

“Let me text her,” Gemma said, and you held the drink tray and quickly texted, then sighed. “She doesn’t.”

“Alright, hold on,” you said, handing Gemma back the drink tray.

“Where are you going?”

“To get her one. And us, if this lasts all day.” You gave Gemma another little kiss and then pushed back out the door and into the rain. You’d seen a convenience store across the street and a little way down from the courthouse, so you jogged there and your hair was dripping wet once you stepped inside, even if your own suit jacket wasn’t completely soaked. The black man behind the counter looked up from his morning paper and snorted a chuckle at the sight of you, then pointed without a word at a wooden box of collapsible umbrellas. You picked one up, decided that red might be a little too eye-catching, swapped it out for a black one, and paid up. Your walk back to the bus stop was a lot drier, and you noticed multiple people giving you some annoyed side eye as they rushed past with newspapers held over their heads and doing a poor job of blocking the rain.

When Sabrina stepped off the next bus, she broke into a big grin and walked right into your arms to kiss you fully. “Thank you, baby,” she said. “But why are you all wet if you had an umbrella?”

“I had to fight off a wild bear,” you said, keeping your face straight. “It was just walking down the sidewalk, attacking people, so I went at it with the umbrella and drove it off. It’s probably somewhere in midtown by now.”