Page 5
“Thanks for the apology, Matt, and I’m really looking forward to working for you. ”
He gives me a smile, and his two dimples pop out. “Yeah, me too. ”
When he walks out and the door closes behind him, I let my forehead thunk down on my desk and groan.
It’s so weird that I know what my boss looks like naked.
“Personally, I suggest you keep your lips sealed and let me do the talking,” Lorraine growls at me as we walk toward Matt’s office. She still hasn’t forgiven me for asking about my missed paychecks, convinced I’m trying to sabotage her.
Perhaps the greatest thing about this new employment with Connover and Crown is that Lorraine is no longer the boss of me. I mean… sure, she has supervisory authority over me on some of the cases, but Matt is my boss, and she can no longer threaten to fire me every other day. It makes me want to just stop in my tracks, put my thumbs in my ears, stick my tongue out while waggling my fingers at her, and say, “Neener, neener, neener”.
Childish, I know, which is why that particular fantasy will just reside in my head. Along with all my hot fantasies of my night with my boss, Number 134.
Matt quickly waves us into his office and motions us over to a large worktable that takes up one corner of his office. We take a seat and wait for him to finish his phone call. I busy myself flipping through a few files but when I take a peek up every now and then, I catch Lorraine staring hungrily at Matt.
I wish I could tell her about my night with him and mock her with my “neener, neener, neener” move. That would knock that lustful gaze right off her face.
Oh well.
When Matt hangs up and stands up from his desk, Lorraine’s head snaps down to a file in front of her, and she hastily opens it up. I mentally roll my eyes over her pathetic attempt to cover up the fact she was checking him out. Matt seems oblivious though, as he walks over and takes a seat between the two of us.
“Okay, so I want to go through your entire case list, figure out if you’re comfortable handling them on your own, or if you need help, and sort of set a review schedule so I can stay in the loop with things. ”
I nod at Matt in understanding, but Lorraine just can’t help herself. She does that little maneuver where she reaches out to touch his arm and says, “I have a good handle on my cases, Matt. I don’t think you need to waste your time with them. I mean… I’ve been practicing for twelve years now. ”
Nope… I can’t help the smug satisfaction I get when he pulls his arm away from her touch.
I could have told her that Matt is definitely all business when he’s inside this building. It’s equally as satisfying when Lorraine’s face goes red when he says, “I appreciate that, Lorraine, but I have my fingers in all the cases in this firm. I like to know what’s going on and ensure the cases are being worked well. And while you’ll be reporting to Bill, I want to use today for me to get familiar with what you have. ”
With that, Matt starts having Lorraine go through each case where she gives him a summary, he gives a few recommendations if necessary, and they move on to the next case. Lorraine’s mouth is set into a grim line by the time they are finished, although she does get a tiny bit cheerful when he points out the cases that I’m to work on underneath her. It’s apparently a happy day for her that she will still have a little bit of control over me.
“Lorraine… you can go ahead and get back to work while I talk to McKayla about her brain injury case. ”
Lorraine opens her mouth to say something, but she can tell by the look on Matt’s face that her time in his presence today is at an end. She grabs her files and leaves.
Matt pinches the bridge of his nose with a sigh. “Is she always like that?”
“Yeah,” I say with a heavy heart.
“Well, if you have any problems with her, just let me know. ”
“Not going to happen,” I tell him assuredly.
His eyebrows raise, and his lips quirk at me. “Excuse me?”
“I can handle Lorraine on my own. I won’t be running to you if I have an issue. ”
Matt opens his mouth to argue, I can just tell, but I stare at him with a look that says the subject isn’t open for discussion. His mouth snaps shut, and he shrugs his shoulders. “Suit yourself. ”
He then proceeds to grill me about my case, but I know it forward and backward. I can’t tell if he’s impressed or not when I tell him about how I proved the headlights were on. He merely grunts and nods his head, but I imagine compliments don’t come often from someone like Matt.
After I finish, he says, “You know this case is a major uphill battle. ”
“Yeah… I sort of figured that out when seven other law firms turned it down. ”
“Then why did you take it?”
I hate to admit this, especially to a high-powered lawyer like Matt, but no sense in hiding it. “I just really liked Miranda and Larry Jackson. I felt sorry for them, and they remind me of my parents. Strong, hardworking… they didn’t deserve this, and their life has been ruined because of it. I know those are stupid reasons to take a case. ”
Matt stares at me for a moment, his face unreadable. He’d make a great poker player. But I also remember him that night we were together and all of the emotions I read across his face. Desire, passion, lust. He wasn’t masking anything then.
Finally, he says, “Those are stupid reasons to take a case. For you to even have a chance, you’ll have to hire a really good accident reconstructionist, and you’ll need to have expert medical witnesses, plus a biomechanical engineer. This case will probably cost a good fifty grand just to get it in the courtroom. ”
A biomechanical engineer? An accident reconstructionist? I have no clue what he’s talking about, and I’m so out of my league here.
My heart sinks, because I doubt there’s any way in hell that Matt will agree to front that type of money on what is probably a loser case. Yet I don’t know what I’ll do if he tries to make me get rid of it. I suppose I could leave, and go out on my own… get a loan or something to fund the case.
Matt interrupts my thoughts. “Those reasons may be stupid, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t the right reasons. Sometimes you take stupid risks in this business, just because you happen to really like the client. ”
“So we can keep the case?” I ask, hope coursing through me.
Matt can hear it in my voice, and he can’t help but to smile fully at me. “Yeah. I’ll fund this case. But it’s going to be a monster. You’re going to need me to help you with it. ”
“Absolutely,” I say with excitement, having to restrain myself from running around the room in a victory lap.
I’m even betting now that I have the Great Litigator God, Matt Connover, on this case, the insurance company will start quaking in their boots. I can’t wait to tell Larry and Miranda, although sadly, Larry will just forget.
Matt goes over a few more things that I need to do to get the ball rolling on the expert witnesses we’ll need, and then he sends me packing so he can take another call.
It’s Saturday, and just because I had a change in my employer and work address, it didn’t equal a change in my work habits. I work every Saturday, come rain or shine. Lorraine demanded it of me when I first went to work for her after I passed the Bar, and I hated the hours. Then, when Pete dumped me, I immersed myself in work so I could forget the pain of my heartbreak. Work became like a drug for me—I needed it to survive.
Now that I’m starting to move past the pain of Pete and emerge back into the real world, I’m here working on a Saturday mainly out of habit, because I have nothing better to do. I’ve been here for almost seven hours already, but I have another three in me I bet.
Matt’s agreement to help me on the Jackson case has renewed my love of the law. After I finish getting some urgent things handled for Lorraine—because everything is always urgent with her, and yet I don’t see her in
here working on a Saturday—I tear the Jackson file apart and re-organize it. Putting it in binders, I create a perfect organizational layout of my one and only case. I fill my bookshelf with those binders, then sit back in my chair and admire my work for a moment, feeling empowered and hopeful that I can really make something of this case.
After that, I scour the internet for information on biomechanical engineering, because Matt said I’d need one for the Jackson case, and I have no clue what a biomechanical engineer does. It sounds immensely technical and overly dry, and I’m dreading what I might find. The internet does indeed cough up a wealth of information for me.
I am nose deep in an article that has words like “velocity” and “deceleration” and my eyes are practically rolling into the back of my head, when the hair rises up on my arms. Looking up into the doorway, I yelp in fright to find Matt standing there quietly watching me.
Placing my hand on my chest, I give a nervous laugh. “Geez… you about gave me a heart attack. ”
Giving me an apologetic smile, he walks into my office and sits down across from my desk. “Sorry. I was walking by and saw you… thought I’d say hello. ”
I shoot him a jaunty wave. “Hello. ”
His eyes crinkle, and he rewards me with a dimpled smile. “So… how are you settling in?”
“Good. Everyone’s been really nice and helpful. ” I hold up the article I’m reading. “I decided to figure out what the hell a biomechanical engineer is… a little light Saturday reading. ”
Amusement is all over his face when he nods at me. “I have some good articles for you to read. I’ll email them over to you. ”
“Great,” I say enthusiastically, but the thought of reading more about it makes my stomach hurt. I suck at this sort of stuff.
“How long have you been here?”
Glancing at my watch, I tell him, “Oh… only a little over seven hours. How about you?”
“A few hours. I have depositions next week in Chicago in a complex litigation case I have to get ready for. ”
I sigh… because I wish I were the type of lawyer that could have cases where I had to prep for depositions. Instead, I fall under Lorraine’s whip to do her shit work and spend the remainder of my time pondering the merits of the Jackson case, without having the slightest idea of how to even make said case meritorious.
“What’s with the long-suffering sigh?” Matt asks.
“Nothing,” I say, my voice slightly gloomy as I fiddle with the papers on my desk. “I just can’t wait for the day when I can be a real litigator and handle depositions, go to court hearings, and make arguments to a jury. ”
“That takes time,” Matt says with a serious voice. “But… how about you sit in on these depositions with me next week, watch how they’re handled, and I’ll have you handle some smaller ones for me after that?”
My head snaps up. “Really? I mean, you don’t even know what type of lawyer I am. ”
“True enough,” he says. “But there’s only one way to find out. ”
I’m giddy with excitement as I lean forward in my chair. “Thank you, Mr. Connover… I mean, Matt. Or Mr. Connover if that works for you. But just… thank you!”
Matt stands from his chair, walks to the door, and grimaces at me. “It’s just Matt, okay? God knows I know you well enough for us to be on a first-name basis. ”
I go still all over because this is the first mention of our intimate knowledge of each other… since Matt made it clear the other day that it was something we should forget. I know I haven’t forgotten. In fact, those images in my mind of all the carnal things we did to each other, have kept me warm company during the nights.
Matt nods at me stiffly and quickly changes the subject. “Have you hired an accident reconstructionist on the speed issue in the Jackson case?”