It’s not like she’d ever asked her for her opinion, but Sloane found herself compelled to share it anyway.
“Trust your own instincts,” Sloane said quietly and hopefully out of earshot of the people exiting.
Arwyn looked up at her, her huge brown eyes giving away everything she thought and felt like they always did.
“What?”
Sloane rolled her eyes. “That Ralph douche has no idea what he’s doing. He’s way too aggressive in his questioning style and that’s coming from me,” she added with a flash of a smirk. “When you meet with your witness later, do it your way. This guy’s whole nine months of experience as a prosecutor isn’t worth shit,” she said before walking away, still disconcerted that someone with such little experience was supervising them.
As Sloane left the room, she felt lighter. She’d paid her back the kindness of the borrowed pantyhose. Now they were even, and she could stop finding a way to balance the scales again.
CHAPTER 16
THE MOMENT ARI’S earbuds died, she was annoyed. Sloane refused to use headphones, so now she was stuck listening to ABBA. Even if it was emanating quietly from Sloane’s cellphone, it was just loud enough to be un-ignore-able. Like the tiniest mosquito buzzing in her ear but evading capture.
By the third time Super Trooper came on, she’d reached her limit. There was no way she could concentrate on prepping for her first full trial with so much distraction.
Spinning around in her o ce chair, Ari turned toward the mini fridge they inherited from a neighbor
who’d gotten a new one. Maybe a little ca eine boost might help.
As soon as Ari noticed the can of warming soda sitting on top of the fridge, she flared her nostrils. Several options on how to handle the situation raced through Ari’s mind. She could go with passive aggressive, her default. But she’d been working on relying on that less. Direct confrontation was a possibility, but they’d established something of a détente. Ari wasn’t eager to rebuild their Berlin Wall or return to open hostilities.
“Is there a reason you took my drink out of the fridge?”
Ari tried her best to sound casual and breezy but heard her mother’s nag in the sharpness of her consonants and the pitch in her tone.
Sloane didn’t stop typing as she responded. “You had two in there. I needed the space for my lunch.”
Ari tightened her jaw. “If it didn’t fit, you could’ve put it in the normal-sized fridge in the kitchen.”
The storm of clicking keys stopped. “I could say the same thing about your multiple cans. It’s not like you have two mouths. Why don’t you put the extras in the kitchen if they don’t fit in there? Or just switch the extra in when you drink the cold one. Who cares?”
“First of all, I care. Obviously. Second, that communal fridge is a science experiment, and even if it wasn’t, I’ve had several sodas and a Greek yogurt stolen. A concerning thought considering where we work, but none of that is the point.” Ari was building up steam. The hiatus from bickering had built up a reserve of unvented irritation. “We should be able to share an appliance without you taking over like you always do.”
Sloane sco ed before turning around slowly like some deranged mega-villain. All she needed was the Persian cat in her lap for her dramatic petting pleasure. “Darling, I don’t think our marriage counselor would condone accusatory language. It’s not conducive to productive dialogue.”
Ari glared. “Who hurt you? Did the wolves who raised you not nuzzle you enough?”
The ringing of Sloane’s o ce line cut o whatever she was going to come back with. “Medina,” she answered after
picking up the call. “Oh, hey, O cer Perry. Thanks for calling me back.”
When Sloane turned around to refile through some papers as she talked to a witness in her case, Ari turned back to her warm soda. With a smirk, she switched her drink with Sloane’s lunch. Let’s see how much she liked unilateral decisions about her property.
Returning to her work, Ari found it easier to drown out the sound of Sloane’s voice than it was to ignore her music.
Minutes later, she was deep in research when a buzzing sound drew her attention to her pocket, but it wasn’t her cell that was ringing.
From the corner of her eye she glanced at Sloane, who didn’t miss a conversational beat while she shot o a text.
Impressive.
Second later, the cell rang again, this time buzzing loudly against the desk. Sloane snatched it, openly vexed by the continued calls.
“O cer Perry, I’m so sorry to do this to you, but can I call you back?” Sloane said when the phone rang yet again.
“Thanks. Yes, I know you just came o a double. I promise I won’t be long.”