The pin dropped.

“HOW _COULD_ YOU?!” Her arms flew in the air, slamming the door behind them as she took menacing steps toward him across the tiled floor.

“I didn’t know!” Hands held in surrender as he hid his face from her glare.

“How could you not know!” She seethed under her breath, suddenly remembering they weren’t the only ones in the building.

Her eyes held a fire he had only ever seen in the courtroom, right before she drove her opponent into the ground. He wasn’t keen on what they held in store for _him_.

“I thought you already told everyone…” he recalled their last conversation and came to the sudden realization…

”You made me THINK you told everyone! You LIED TO ME!” He cried, hurt that she hadn’t trusted him to know.

“I didn’t lie!” she interjected, shushing him under the fluorescent hanglights. “You misinterpreted my words.”

“And _you_ didn’t correct me!”

She scoffed. “Because it’s none of your business.” Her eyes narrowed at his. “You blabbered to the WHOLE DEPARTMENT! And you wonder why I didn’t tell you the truth. You’re just a rookie sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong. You should go back to your desk. Or better yet, pack what little is on it and go home.” She sneered, dipping her words with malice. From the look on his face, she could tell she hit the mark. She smirked, though no amount of pain she inflicted on him would make up for the embarrassment he had caused her.

“I’m sorry okay?” He pleaded, looking genuinely remorseful. “But how was I supposed to know I was even keeping a secret if you wouldn’t tell me?!

“You’re supposed to know, you idiot!”

“IM SUPPOSED TO KNOW?!”

“YEAH BY USING YOUR FUCKING BRAIN!”

His face hardened as he met her head on for the first time. “You can blame me for many things, but I won’t be your scapegoat on this. And being an actual lawyer doesn’t mean you get to treat me like _garbage_! I clock more hours than you on any given day!“

“Doesn’t change the fact that you’re a paralegal,” she hissed.

“Yeah,” he concedes before glaring at her. “And you, a _bitch_.”

_Slap!_