how much work I do, how many compliments I get, how many successful leases I hammer out, I still have the nagging feeling my lawyer persona is a mere façade. After all, if I’m really all that good at being a lawyer, why did my job at Stone & Sommers bomb so badly? And if I’m so charming that I can woo clients, how come I can’t open up on personal a level? I’m performing a masquerade. My costume is a knee-length tailored black cocktail dress.
David’s parties do have me financially flourishing though. He isn’t hurting from doing business with me either. Sophisticated Clothing sent me their friend. I was to help them get a lease from a proposed landlord who’d turned hostile. When my negotiations broke down, I sent them to David to find a new landlord. He wound up leasing them premium space in a strip mall, making out nicely on the deal. Of course, I got to bill the client too for their lease with the strip mall, and that isn’t going to hurt in terms of establishing my year-end bonus. Maybe Jordan is right. Maybe I really am off and running.
There are, however, still speed bumps along my path to success. I share my new secretary, Cathy, with Leila and a guy named Jack. Cathy is nice, certainly more accommodating than Amber, but starting to complain she can’t handle the volume of work I give her. Opting for a passive-aggressive solution, she slows down her turn-around time. Unfortunately, her tactic works. I’ve tried placating her by leaving cups of coffee from Java Lava on her desk. I bring her cookies from the downstairs break-room anytime I can grab them. Apparently, the way to her heart isn’t through her stomach.
I need to do something different to address the situation. Once again, I go downstairs to see Jordan. “I already know,” he says. “The staff gripes your work takes up too much of their time. And they don’t like your office being such a mess—they don’t want to file for you anymore.”
“In a way, they’re right,” I say through clenched teeth. “I need more filing cabinets. I need a secretary who can be dedicated to my workload so they’re not overwhelmed. I need—”
“Bigger office space. I know.”
“You know?” My eyebrows shoot up to my hairline.
“Yeah. Just how unobservant do you think I am?”
“Uhhh . . .”
“Right,” he says, barely hiding his exasperation as he spits out his words. “After the first of the year you’re getting your own secretary, although that person may also do some overflow work for somebody else. You’ll also get a bigger office, but we’re not sure where yet. Space is always tight, and I’m trying to keep you somewhere close to this wing. We’ll work it out.”
Just then a swirl of long blonde hair breezes in. “Of course it can be worked out, Jordan can work out anything.”
“Why hello, Melba,” Jordan says with the broadest smile. “You’re early.”
“I know. I hope you don’t mind,” she purrs.
“Seeing you is always a pleasure.”
With that, I excuse myself and go back upstairs where I belong.
Allen asking me to join the gang at the pub that night is a relief. Being surrounded by people will force me out of my bad mood. But I show up to see only one person there—Allen.
“Where is everybody?” I shout over the bar’s blaring television sets.
“I wanted to get to know you better,” he shouts back. “So I told everyone we were all meeting half an hour from now. Besides, when they walk in they’ll see us together. That means I’m still the guy who brought the pretty one.”
Despite my dropped jaw, I’m able to laugh. “A little competitive, aren’t you?”
“Competitive? You bet. I can fight for a woman, too. Now, tell me who my competition is. Let the battle—Oh, hi guys,” he says to the gang of first and second year associates coming over to join us. “Shit,” he curses under his breath.
“Hey!” Leila yells over to Allen. “I thought you weren’t going to be here for another
David’s parties do have me financially flourishing though. He isn’t hurting from doing business with me either. Sophisticated Clothing sent me their friend. I was to help them get a lease from a proposed landlord who’d turned hostile. When my negotiations broke down, I sent them to David to find a new landlord. He wound up leasing them premium space in a strip mall, making out nicely on the deal. Of course, I got to bill the client too for their lease with the strip mall, and that isn’t going to hurt in terms of establishing my year-end bonus. Maybe Jordan is right. Maybe I really am off and running.
There are, however, still speed bumps along my path to success. I share my new secretary, Cathy, with Leila and a guy named Jack. Cathy is nice, certainly more accommodating than Amber, but starting to complain she can’t handle the volume of work I give her. Opting for a passive-aggressive solution, she slows down her turn-around time. Unfortunately, her tactic works. I’ve tried placating her by leaving cups of coffee from Java Lava on her desk. I bring her cookies from the downstairs break-room anytime I can grab them. Apparently, the way to her heart isn’t through her stomach.
I need to do something different to address the situation. Once again, I go downstairs to see Jordan. “I already know,” he says. “The staff gripes your work takes up too much of their time. And they don’t like your office being such a mess—they don’t want to file for you anymore.”
“In a way, they’re right,” I say through clenched teeth. “I need more filing cabinets. I need a secretary who can be dedicated to my workload so they’re not overwhelmed. I need—”
“Bigger office space. I know.”
“You know?” My eyebrows shoot up to my hairline.
“Yeah. Just how unobservant do you think I am?”
“Uhhh . . .”
“Right,” he says, barely hiding his exasperation as he spits out his words. “After the first of the year you’re getting your own secretary, although that person may also do some overflow work for somebody else. You’ll also get a bigger office, but we’re not sure where yet. Space is always tight, and I’m trying to keep you somewhere close to this wing. We’ll work it out.”
Just then a swirl of long blonde hair breezes in. “Of course it can be worked out, Jordan can work out anything.”
“Why hello, Melba,” Jordan says with the broadest smile. “You’re early.”
“I know. I hope you don’t mind,” she purrs.
“Seeing you is always a pleasure.”
With that, I excuse myself and go back upstairs where I belong.
Allen asking me to join the gang at the pub that night is a relief. Being surrounded by people will force me out of my bad mood. But I show up to see only one person there—Allen.
“Where is everybody?” I shout over the bar’s blaring television sets.
“I wanted to get to know you better,” he shouts back. “So I told everyone we were all meeting half an hour from now. Besides, when they walk in they’ll see us together. That means I’m still the guy who brought the pretty one.”
Despite my dropped jaw, I’m able to laugh. “A little competitive, aren’t you?”
“Competitive? You bet. I can fight for a woman, too. Now, tell me who my competition is. Let the battle—Oh, hi guys,” he says to the gang of first and second year associates coming over to join us. “Shit,” he curses under his breath.
“Hey!” Leila yells over to Allen. “I thought you weren’t going to be here for another
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