Praxis

"Theft over $5000 and you're this cheeky about it?" Kai bit off, annoyed.

"Why are you so bothered anyway about babies getting fed after their mothers escaped violence?" she asked. "You know damn well that if those tins were about to expire in a month, the stores would sooner pour bleach on them in a dumpster than donate them."

"That's not the point!" Kai was unsure about the source of his frustration.

"You're right; it's not," Gaelle replied. "Let me tell you what the point is. When I was in college, I worked the register at the biggest chain pharmacy in the country. The man who trained me got a respiratory infection one flu season and was out for a good month. The store made a big deal about how we were all 'family' and shit but then I overheard my managers talking about replacing him a few days later.

"I recognise it was a practical discussion, but they were talking about him like he was a broken light switch. That's when it hit me we're just things to them. A few days later, a young mother came in with a sick baby and she couldn't afford both the medications they needed. She asked me to put one back but I slipped it in her bag when no one was looking." She stared Kai right in the eye as he leaned back against his car.

"I'd do it again," she said, her face stoic and defiant. "This continent had a formula shortage and none of those fuckers saw any punishment from the law you so highly value. But when we're out here trying to survive off scraps that they're not even going to miss, suddenly we're the bad guys?"

"Argh, I don't know how to explain this to you, Gaelle!" Kai was unsure how to justify it to himself at this point but he still made the attempt. "Theft is still theft. It doesn't matter if you steal a dollar or $500 million!"

"It sure as fuck doesn't, apparently," she agreed. "But only if you're rich. They're fighting to show an extra $500 million on their quarterly report." She gestured to her mom's front door. "We're fighting to stay afloat while housing battered mothers."

"What about getting better jobs to affo--" Kai stopped when Gaelle loudly snorted.

"First of all, every woman living with us is employed. The days of being able to manage a household on a single income were over in the '90s." She put her hands on her hips, defiant. "Secondly, we have a proverb in Haiti--'if work were good for you, the rich would leave none for the poor.' I refuse to believe CEOs are working 3000 times harder than factory employees because they make 3000 times more."

"Why don't you at least make this official then and get government funding?" Kai tried.

"Do you have the slightest clue how much red tape there is to that?" Gaelle asked him, incredulous. "We cannot have our name out there on anything more than a whisper network. So far, no male partners have found the women we've helped or their kids, and we're going to keep it that way.

"I brought you here at great risk but I recognise you still have to do your job." She stuck out her lithe arms with her wrists together and fixated her eyes on his yet again. "Do what you have to do."

After a full 30 seconds of gazing at her face and trying to make sense of her nervy recklessness, Kai growled in frustration and yanked open his passenger's side door.

"Get in," he commanded.

"What... what are we going to do now?" she asked as she slid into her seat, not sure if she'd won.

"I'm going to drop you back at your car and we're going to pretend we never met."

Gaelle wasn't sure how to feel about that, no matter how hard she tried to figure it out on the drive back to the daycare. She'd called Kai's bluff and won, correctly betting on what he valued most. But that last sentence he'd uttered made it feel like a hollow victory.

Still, if this was the last time she'd be seeing him, she reasoned she might as well make it count.

"I was right about you," she quietly said after he parked and reached into his backseat to give her back her documents. Kai simply lifted his eyes to look at her, his arm still behind her seat. "You're more about justice than the law, aren't you?" she asked. "What's ethical versus what's legal?

"I just want to say that I greatly respect that. And I thank you."

"Let's get one thing straight," Kai responded. "This isn't some flaming glory for me. I'm deeply conflicted right now, and I need you out of my sight before I change my mind." Gaelle's fingers were already on her seatbelt buckle, pressing down as hard as she could.

"I wish I could oblige but..." she looked up at him and shrugged while still jiggling it.

"Geez... damn thing always sticks," he muttered, reaching over and attempting to pull it apart with both hands. Kai's breath on her bare arm and his thick fingers brushing against her thigh beneath the fabric of her wrap skirt sent a little thrill up her spine. He glanced over at her again, his nose just a few centimeters away from hers.

Gaelle didn't want to let this moment pass her by. She jutted her face forward by just a couple of inches and lightly pushed her lips against his, her fingers on his stubbled neck. Kai involuntarily leaned forward, putting more weight than he meant to on the belt buckle. When it snapped open, Gaelle gave him another soft kiss before pulling back.

"I apologise," she said, her voice a touch above a whisper. "You've already granted me so much today and I shouldn't have taken more." For once in his life, Kai didn't have a comeback.

He simply watched as the most captivating thief he'd ever met left his car, glided over to hers, and gave him a little wave as she drove off in the dusky evening light.

***********

There are other women, mate, there are other women out there, Kai reminded himself any time he wasn't conveniently distracted by work over the next few weeks. Several times, he considered caving and just parking by the daycare at 5 p.m. on any given day to catch a glimpse of Gaelle.

Yeah, no, we arrest people for stalking, he reconsidered.

But she was off-limits even if she was interested in him, irrespective of the fact that he was unable to stop thinking about her. Kai knew he couldn't in good conscience date a woman who not only fancied herself a modern-day Robin Hood, but also flaunted it with full knowledge he wouldn't turn her in.

She's probably stolen a lot more than formula, he reminded himself in an attempt to stop his attention from drifting back to Gaelle's dark oak eyes and mahogany skin. Or the curve of her hips in that wrap skirt. Or her plush lips ever-so-gently sucking on his.

Luckily, he was seated in his office with the door closed when he slapped himself on the forehead, this time with both hands. After the incident with Gary his first week, he noticed his colleagues were... cautious around him. Not unfriendly; just careful and cordial.

Why is it that he was the asshole first, then I just imitated him and suddenly I'm a pariah? he rued. Whoever's been telling and re-telling that story must have left out the part when he was borderline committing sexual misconduct against another lawyer.

Regardless, he pondered as he walked back to bail court for the afternoon session, he was likely undateable when it came to anyone at work. Not just with other lawyers, but also not with court officers or clerks and reporters who'd heard about how the new guy was a loose cannon. Kai was about to pull open his courtroom's doors when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Te'kao, can I open court?" his fellow Crown Alexis Tucker asked. "I have a guy in custody for two agg assaults and an attempted. Just have to put it over while he lawyers up." Kai nodded and parked himself in a side seat at the front. Once the justice of the peace entered court, Alexis stood up and took the floor.

"Good afternoon, Your Worship," she said. "In the prisoner's box before you is Lars Pilsen. He's charged with two counts of aggravated assault and one of attempted murder. Not all the details are clear yet. He's charged with breaking into a women's shelter two days ago in search of his wife and daughter, but it's not an official shelter--it's actually a private residence."

Kai slowly turned toward Alexis but she was oblivious to his staring as she addressed the court from the lectern. When he made eye contact, he reached out his arm and Alexis handed him the file with a questioning glance, but didn't miss a beat as she spoke to the JP.

All he had done was open the folder when he saw the crime scene photos taken at 394 Fox Avenue. With a boulder in his stomach, he listened to Alexis tell the court about how Pilsen and a friend who'd gotten away had tracked down his wife after she escaped their home. When he knew for sure she'd gone to Evelyne's house, he'd broken down the front door and attacked her in the hallway.

Caught in the crossfire was Evelyne, who'd stepped between Pilsen and the woman, and was now in the ICU.

Fucking hell, Kai tried to keep a straight face upon seeing the extent of the two women's injuries. He'd apparently failed at containing his emotions, which he realised when Alexis raised her eyebrow at him as she reached over to take the file back. It was hard to look neutral when all he wanted to do was walk across the room and dropkick the fucker right there in the box.

He did his best to get through the rest of his case list as expeditiously as he could, keeping an eye on the clock. Bail court sometimes went past 5 p.m., but he was going to make damn sure today wasn't one of those days. At 4:30, he was racing to the FreshMart.

"Is Gaelle here?" he asked at the office as soon as he burst into the daycare.

"Um, no, may I know who you are?" a 40-ish woman replied to him while shooing one child into the playroom and holding a baby tighter against her hip.

"I'm... I'm sorry," he said, chagrined that he'd forgotten again about his imposing stature. He walked backward until he was right up against the door. "My name's Kai and we're, ah--we met about four weeks ago and I met her mother." A knowing look came over the woman's face.

"I know her mum's not well and I need to know if Gaelle is okay," he finished, feeling like a fool for thinking her co-workers would release her phone number or whereabouts to some man they'd never met. "Can I leave her a note or my business ca--"

That's when the playroom door fully opened and Gaelle peeked out, her eyes red and her face stormy. When she started toward him, her composure crumbling, Kai didn't hesitate to bound across the foyer and scoop her up in his arms. Her co-worker quietly slipped out of the area while Gaelle sobbed against his suit lapels.

"I'm so sorry," he murmured into the tiny kinks in her hair.

"She tried to talk to him," Gaelle whispered into Kai's neck. "She tried to talk him down and he just threw her to the opposite wall like a rag doll. I was on the stairs coming down from being with the babies." Kai realised she was emptying her mind out loud, and she'd probably been doing the same internally on a loop for the last 48 hours.

"When I got there, he was choking his wife hard enough to suffocate her. I grabbed the cast-iron pan and..." Gaelle trailed off as Kai felt her wince.

"It's okay," he told her, his tone hushed. "I'm here as your friend, not a prosecutor." Gaelle remained silent and Kai wasn't going to push her. He was about to suggest taking her for a coffee when her grip around his torso tightened.

"I was trying to kill him, Kai," she said softly. "I swung that pan as hard as I could but all it did was knock him out long enough for me to tie him up with a clothesline." He smiled and stroked her back.

"You not only did the right thing; you saved that woman's life." He led her to the bench beside the front door and sat with her. "And you put him in the hospital for a day while they treated him for a mild concussion.

"How do you know that?" Gaelle wiped her face with the back of her hand.

"I saw him in court today." Kai went to the receptionist's desk and retrieved a box of tissues. "Don't worry, he's not going to get bail, and these charges are too serious for him to plead out. He'll be held in custody for at least a year before his lawyer is done with a discovery, a pre-lim, and a trial.

"If he doesn't win his trial, he'll never see his daughter again. And he is not going to win his trial unless his lawyer is a miracle-worker." Kai gingerly reached out to hold Gaelle's hand, hoping she wouldn't pull back. She didn't.

"But the reason I came to see you is to ask where you've been staying the last two days. Your house is a crime scene and my understanding is all your, uh, guests, have had to leave." Gaelle sighed hard.

"That's the worst part. I don't even know where everyone is or how to help them now," she said, oblivious to Kai's intent gaze as she looked blankly toward the playroom door.

All this with her mum in the hospital, and she's still worried about strangers, he thought, floored by her selflessness. She finally turned back to meet his stare.

"Oh, right, you lawyers are all about answering the question," she muttered. "I'm at a motel. I took whatever cash we had hidden in the house and gave it to the families so they could spend a couple of nights at a motel too but..."

"We'll find them later," Kai promised. "What you might not know is that Pilsen had an accomplice. Another man was driving the car for him, and he sped off as soon as he saw the first cop car roll down the street." Gaelle froze.

"They didn't catch him," Kai continued. "They have his plates and they're trying to find him although he abandoned the car. Which is why you're going to stay with me until they do."

"Kai--"

"No."

"Kai--"

"I said no."

"You don't even know what I was going to say!" Gaelle's frustration bubbled through, although verbally sparring with him again somehow brought her a profound sense of comfort. "I was going to ask if you live alone."

"Oh," he said sheepishly. "I thought you were going to turn me down. Yes, I do live alone. My family's back in Aotearoa and, uh, I'm not seeing anyone."

An awkward silence fell over them as Gaelle wondered why in the world she even asked that question. Because you'll need him to hold you like he just did, and that wouldn't be fair to a girlfriend, her brain answered.

"Are you off now?" he asked, rising to his feet. "Let's get your stuff from the motel. If there's anything else you need to pick up from your house, we'll be able to take it to my place between both our cars."

Gaelle was thankful the weather had cooled off significantly from the scorching July they'd just experienced, to where they were having more pleasant evenings. Because this particular evening, she and Kai did a lot of physical labour moving her into his attached townhouse in Caledon, about 30 minutes north of her mother's home.

Where do the roads even lead when they go this far up? she thought as she followed his car north on Hurontario Street until they were surrounded by farmland left, right, and ahead. Just as she was wondering where one could live out there, Kai pulled into a developing neighbourhood. The lawns were still rubble and only half the driveways were actually paved.

Over the next two hours, they moved her in and had a quick dinner. As Kai watched rugby highlights from that day's games, he could hear Gaelle on the phone upstairs.

What more does she have to give? he wondered, lingering outside the guest room door and listening to her side of the conversations she was having with the battered women she'd housed. When he heard her loudly sigh and toss her phone onto the bed, he poked his head in.

"You need to take a break," he gently told her. "You're going to give yourself a panic attack if you take everyone's lives onto your shoulders."

"You and I are chatting from the comfort of an air-conditioned room in a house that's not even six months old. I feel like these families are my responsibility, Kai." Gaelle sat down on the bed and her wrap skirt fell open past her toned thigh. Kai focused on her face like his life depended on it.

"But you're right, I can't do any more. I transferred each of them some money and it seems like they're going to be fine until they can move out to live with extended family."

"Do you need more?"

"No," she quickly declined. "You've already done so much for me when we barely know each other and I... didn't exactly impress you with my character when we first met." She gave him a sheepish smile as he thought about how she couldn't be more wrong.

"The worst part was having to be alone, and you've already taken care of that," Gaelle stood up. "Let me call the hospital and see if there's any change with my mother. Meanwhile," she walked over to him and squeezed his fingers, "I want you to put on the stupidest movie you've ever seen, and I'll join you in a minute."

The sombre look on Gaelle's face as she came down the stairs told Kai Evelyne hadn't yet woken up. When he suggested they visit her the next day at Brampton Civic, Gaelle seemed like she could better focus on the TV. When they went into their separate bedrooms much later, Kai kicked himself when he absentmindedly mused what her warm body would feel like in his bed.

Her world just fell apart and her mum's in a coma, you fucking imbecile, he scolded himself. And all you can think about is your crotch.

The cool, late-August night worked in his favour as he drifted off to sleep after an expected half-hour of restlessness. Kai's dreams were vivid that night and filled with images of Gaelle, to the point he could actually feel her in his arms. When he briefly lifted his eyelids at 2 a.m., he jumped to see it hadn't been entirely in his head. Gaelle yelped and almost fell out of his bed at the sudden shift in the mattress.

"What are you doing here?!" Kai slurred, not sure what he was complaining about.

"I'm not used to sleeping alone," she loudly whispered. Already disoriented, Kai couldn't figure that one out. "My mother and I shared a bed for years to maximize how many people could stay with us," she explained, "and I got used to having another person beside me at night. I'm sorry I didn't ask but I tried to sleep by myself first. Then you were out cold and I didn't want to--"

"It's okay," Kai said hoarsely, hoping in the back of his mind his tiredness was greater than his horniness. Luckily, those were all the words he could manage before his head hit the pillow again in exhaustion.

When he awoke at dawn, he was grateful that he'd subconsciously avoided wrapping his arms around Gaelle again. Turned away from her, he looked over his shoulder to see that she was still asleep. But then he saw more.

Kai found himself suppressing a painful groan upon discovering the strap of her tank top had slipped and was fully exposing her perfect, bare left breast. His morning wood was now verging on excruciating but he simply couldn't tear his eyes away from her dark nipple, stiff in the cool morning air.

If I pull the blanket up, she might wake up, he calculated. But then if I don't, she'll wake up eventually and know I saw--fuck, I need a shower. He slowly got up and limped toward the bathroom, his erection leading the way. For more than one reason.

Although Kai took longer in the bathroom than he usually did, he was relieved that Gaelle was still asleep and had rolled over onto her chest in the meantime.

She was on her side when she finally stirred awake and saw Kai's huge form on the other side of the room. The morning sunlight fell against his strong legs as he stood there in his boxer-briefs, pulling on a shirt. Facing away from her and idling just inside the walk-in closet, he yanked up his jeans before she could rub her eyes and get a good look.