Chapter One: Protection

    “Hey babe,” Max call through the house.

I am in the kitchen closing the oven when he comes over to kiss me.

“Hello, yourself,” I say between kisses.

“I’ve got some news,” he exclaims, as he pulls away from me.

“What’s the news?” I ask, pulling open the fridge, grabbing the iced tea pitcher.

“Tomorrow is ‘bring your wife to work day’ at the office.”

I close the fridge, biting my lip.

“You’re quite,” he mumbles.

“Yes, I am, but I’m just thinking about my plans for tomorrow.”

Max’s eyes look me over, worried.

“You… you have other plans don’t you?” he asks as I take a sip of my tea.

“No, it’s just that I know that people at your office don’t like me and I wouldn’t want you to be the acclaimed attention seeker in the boardroom,” I say, a slight fear of my rambling.

“Christist Levi Strickland,” he begins, hand on my shoulders. “You shouldn’t care what other people think, especially people that I work with.”

I open my mouth to protest, but no words come out. Instead, I sigh in defeat.

“Fine,” I mutter as he kisses my cheek.

                    ---The Next Day---

I now do an over check of myself in the mirror. I wear a fitted black dress that comes up about six inches from my knees and black five inch heels. My hair is in a simple, but elegant bun.

“Wow,” I hear as Max enters, fidgeting with his tie.

“Wow yourself,” I say as I walk toward him, smiling. My hands reach the crooked tie and adjust it for him.

“Don’t you have an important business meeting today?” I ask, patting his black tie.

“I do actually.” I giggle. “I want to get this case settled.”

I nod, understanding.

“So, I could be your good luck charm?” i ask as he pulls me close,

“Well, Mrs. Strickland, you did help me win poker a few nights back,” he says thoughtfully, “and I got a reward.” He winks at me.

//

    I walk into the building, clinging to Max. I get men looking me up and down. I hear a whistle and max tightens his grip around me. We soon reach his penthouse office.

    “Your wife is hot!” the man says as Max gets coffee later that day.

    Max looks back at me with wide eyes and smiles.

    “It kinda sucks that she’s a gold digger though.”

    Max stops stirring his coffee and turns his full attention to the man.

    “Let me tell you one thing,” Max says with a voice he’s never used directly at me.

    I stop him by touching his hand softly.

    “Max-,” I say, but he cuts me off.

    “My wife is not a fucking gold digger. She’s not some slut or whore. She’s not some obscenity of the media.”

The man steps back, defeated by the looks of it.

“Max,” I try again as he grasps my hand; coffee long forgotten.

//

“Max, please talk to me,” I beg.

We have been sitting for at least 10 minutes with no noise except the pen gliding across the contracts. He ignores me, refusing to stop writing. I stand and snap at him, slamming my hands down on the desk.

“Max please!” I yell, causing him to look up, finally dropping his pen. It rolls onto the floor. I immediately feel guilty. “I- Max please just talk to me. I’m sorry that I yelled at you.”

“I just hate how I can’t protect you from all of this. I’ve been protecting you time and time again, but I can’t control what people’s opinions of you are. Christi, it kills me.”

“You think I don’t know that?” I begin. “Max, you are the protector in my life and believe me, I know what you do for me and I love you for everything.”

I walk toward him and hug him as he puts his hands on my waist. I look into his eyes and smile at him.

“You’re perfect.”

I blush and lean in for a kiss.

“Sir,” a voice says from the phone on his desk. “Mr. Johnson is ready for you.”

I jump back and see Max smile.

“Thanks Monica.”

I recover and Max chuckles.

“You ready to make a deal?”

//

    “The defendant is under cardiac arrest. He experienced a tremendous beating from the victim who is now deceased,” Max says. “The victim was stabbed 36 times, shot 12 times in the torso area, and suffocated by the grip of the throat with a plastic bag. The victim was then raped repeatedly after passing.”

    I sit on his lap as he reads this report, causing me to cringe.

    And he wants this case?

    “The victim was then posed at the dinner table. The killer has videotaped a meal that was timed almost 5 hours after the body was drained of blood. We are dealing with a demented person,” says a man across from Max.

//

    After hours of debating information, statistics, and the defense, Max is finally granted to be the head lawyer.

    “Mr. Strickland, you will be receiving double pay for the duration of this case. This will involve extra hours and more paperwork. I will warn you,” Mr. Johnson says, “Mrs. Strickland here may not be seeing her husband in bed very often.”

I breathe a chuckle and nod, but inside I’m upset. The last time Max got sleepless nights from the stresses of work, we ended up sleeping in separate rooms and it was hell.

//

“I’m so proud of you,” I mumble as I slide into Max’s lap now. He drapes his hands across my leg and smiles at me. I look around and see that his whole office is looking through the windows.

“Do I get my reward now?” Max smirks.

I smile. “Not yet.”

///                 Max’s Point of View    

    The next day, I walk into my office and feel stares all around me.

    “Mr. Strickland, your wife is on the line for you,” Monica’s voice travels through the air.

    “Thanks.”

//

    “Hey baby,” Christist’s cheery voice fills the penthouse office as I look out into the L.A sky.

    “Hey honey.”

    She pauses. “Um… what’s wrong? Is it something I did last night?” There she goes with her little insecurities. “I just thought that i did something  because you didn’t wake me up when you left this morning. So, whatever I did I’m sorry.”

    I can practically hear her biting her lip. I smile as she draws in a breath.

    “No, baby. You didn’t do anything wrong last night. last night was perfect, like it always is,” I say and sit in my office chair. She sighs in relief.

    “Oh,” she says in a low voice. She giggles

    God, I love her giggle.

    “I love you,” she says and I automatically say it back.

///                Christist’s Point of View

    I crank the music up and I dance around the kitchen wearing Max’s sweatshirt and leggings. I turn around quickly to see Max stumble through the door.

    “Max!” I yell running over to him, catching him just before he collapses into my arms.