Sedona Law 6 by Dave Daren (best non fiction books of all time .TXT) 📗

“For sure,” I said. “We probably all feel that way.”

“Yeah,” he said. “We’re rewriting your part completely. AJ couldn’t write you. She said it was too weird, so she made your part totally opposite.”

I laughed. “That would be weird. What did she end up with?”

“The lawyer is this super funny airhead woman,” he said, “who falls ass backwards into evidence. Her parts are actually hilarious.”

“She’s got a good sense of humor,” I said. “That July Fourth play…”

“‘I’m a Redcoat and I know it’,” we both sang in unison.

The play’s iconic part included the British soldiers doing goofy synchronized dance to a parody of LMFAO’s song, “I’m Sexy and I Know It.”

“I think it’s a good first project for our new company,” he said. “You know, considering that’s how you moved here and all.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I guess we’ve all come full circle.”

“I know, and you’re getting married, dude,” he snorted. “I can’t believe that. You’re getting all old, sunset of your youth and shit.”

“Hey,” I laughed. “I’ve still got plenty of my youth left.”

He shrugged and sipped the beer bottle. I was getting used to seeing him as an adult, and him drinking, albeit underage, didn’t look so foreign anymore.

“You still in Landon’s RV?” I asked.

He nodded.

“How do you like it?” I asked.

“It’s a good place,” Phoenix sighed. “I’m not there much. You know, I’m out on my dirtbike filming a lot. Mainly just come home to edit.”

“You working anywhere?” I asked.

He shook his head. “I have the rest of the South America money, and now, we’ve got our own project.”

“That we do,” I said.

Vicki found me at this point, she came out of the house and laughed when saw me.

“Henry,” she said. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

I raised my eyebrow as her voice had tiniest slur. Phoenix snickered.

“Look at that,” he smirked. “L.A. Lady’s tipsy.”

I shot him a dirty look and he just smiled and looked away.

“Come on,” Vicki grabbed my arm. “It’s a dance party inside. Everybody’s having a good time. Come dance.”

Her eyes twinkled and her smile was bright. I smiled and rose from the garden bench and followed her.

“What were you two discussing?” she said as we made it through the throngs of people.

“We’re in business,” I said.

“Thank God,” Vicki rolled her eyes. “It took long enough.”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked.

“I saw it coming the moment he entered the film festival,” she said.

We were in the living room now, and there were people everywhere. The room was littered with guitars, amps and miles of cable, and probably a dozen musicians played someone’s original. It was a poppy guitar number, and along the sides of the room, people danced in throngs. Vicki and I were enmeshed in a crowd of people. There was my cousin Jeanie with dreadlocks, and her daughter, ten year old Maddie who busted out some questionably mature moves. Then, a lot of people I didn’t know. The music must have gone on for close to an hour, and Vicki and I goofed around.

I looked around at the crowd of people stuffed into my family’s house, music swirling from every direction. I thought about the deal I had just made with my brother to invest in a production studio.

I surveyed the scene and just laughed. Was it any wonder that I became an entertainment lawyer?

Chapter 10

Kelsi’s arraignment was set for ten in the morning, at the federal courthouse in Phoenix, Vicki and I drove the two hours out.

Most of our firm’s court appearances I’ve done alone, but with my new resolve to give Vicki more room, I wanted her there.

But, since this was also our firm’s first federal case with multiple moving angles, and one that I feared we would be working on for quite a while, I still wanted to keep my hands in the pot.

It had nothing to do with Vicki or my confidence in her. It had to do with keeping a handle on my own business. I hoped she understood that, I tried to communicate it to her.

She and I had a fairly good handle on being together and working together. But, since I had considerably more experience than her, and all of our firm’s startup costs came out of my pocket, I did take the senior role in our business.

That was a runaround way of saying, yeah, I was her boss. I tried hard not to let that dynamic get in our relationship, and it seemed to work pretty well so far. I felt like we had a pretty solid balance, actually.

But as her boss, I honestly felt guilty about the lack of real trial work we had coming in for her. As a junior partner in L.A., she would have been in court dozens of times by now.

This was overall, my big concern with the firm’s growth. But, I had to take into account that all law firms in this area would be the same experience. I wanted to find a way though to get her more of a case load.

We arrived at the federal courthouse in Phoenix. It was an intimidating building, a towering edifice of glass that took up nearly an entire block.

“Geez,” Vicki said. “They’re going to throw the book at her aren’t they?”

“Likely,” I said as we entered the courthouse.

Inside, the architecture had completely ditched the courthouse look, and went with almost an artistic design with towering glass walls, balcony overhangs and circular office blocks. Everwhere, figures in suits and heels rushed around us like ants, steps clicking against the linoleum while they talked in hurried tones.

Kelsi met up with us, a slender figure in a black pantsuit, and blonde hair in long curls, fastened on one side with