Falling For The Lawyer (4 page)

“Okay. Okay. I’ll stop.” But Sophie wasn’t half trying to conceal her look of concern as she regarded Alex. “Anyway, when do you think Jonathan McKenzie’s going to arrive? You could cut the air with a knife in here this morning.”

Alex looked around the litigation section of Griffen Murphy. There was a general buzz as people mooched around and chatted. No one could concentrate and few lawyers or PAs had started any work for the day.

Everyone in litigation had been on tenterhooks for weeks as news of the new partner had spread like wildfire through the office. Yet the day of his arrival was upon them. Just last Friday night they’d celebrated David Griffen’s retirement as litigation partner and with a slightly sore head Alex had come in the day after to spring-clean the office in readiness for his replacement—Jonathan McKenzie, aka ‘The Grim Reaper’.

“Who knows when he’ll be here,” Alex replied. “And we really shouldn’t be so negative about him. He might not be the ogre everyone says he is.”

“I’d love to share your optimism but where there’s smoke there’s fire. I told you my friend Megan has a cousin who worked for him when she was in London a few years ago. He won’t hesitate to get rid of staff. If lawyers don’t bill their hours they’re gone. If they don’t market the firm and bring work in they’re gone. And as for PAs …”

“Yes I know. No more than one PA per lawyer and that includes partners,” Alex recounted the gossip as it had been spread around litigation.

It made her sick with dread because Jonathan McKenzie’s arrival simply had to be the sounding of the death knell for her position at Griffen Murphy. Then when her job was gone Simon and her parents would swoop. Not that he and her parents didn’t want the best for her—they did. But they would look on a break in her employment as a great opportunity to navigate her towards marriage and family life. And without a rebellious bone in her body, Alex knew she would be the last person to rise up against a three year escalation of family hope and expectation. The fact that all she wanted was an opportunity to stop loving her job as much as she did before giving it up for her life with Simon was irrelevant.

“You never know, the new boss might make you the exception and keep you on,” Sophie offered soothingly. But given that Sophie was Acting Head of HR, if she’d had any information to suggest Alex was not about to be sacked she would have thrown her that life line of hope already.

Alex shook her head in a gesture of rebuttal. “With Vera Boyd as senior PA to David Griffen these last twenty years do you really think the new partner’s going to throw her over for some twenty-four year old junior PA? Face it Sophie, I’m toast.”

“Don’t be such a Gloom Hilda. No one knows for sure what his plans are. You’re a smart cookie—you might land on your feet. And with any luck he’ll soon see you can run rings around Vera.”

Alex didn’t share Sophie’s confidence about that. For a start Vera Boyd treated Alex like the village idiot in front of the partners at every opportunity. More importantly, Vera was an experienced and impressive PA. She’d been running David Griffen’s practice forever. If Jonathan McKenzie sacked her five minutes after David Griffen’s retirement there would be a stampede of clients from the firm. There was no way he would risk that.

Alex settled in at her desk and brought up the precedent files on her computer. She continued her ongoing work on the formatting but it was impossible to concentrate. Friends and colleagues were wandering past and wishing her luck for the day, yet their good wishes only served to make her more agitated.

Finally a ripple of excitement passed through the office. A rumour was circulating that the new partner was on his way down the corridor. The whole office became artificially quiet as everyone feigned industriousness.

“Good morning!” A male voice boomed across the office space. “Where are you all hiding?”

Alex’s heart reared up in her chest and took off at a wild gallop, for that husky mellifluous voice was breathtakingly similar to the one still ringing in her ears from earlier that morning. But she immediately dismissed the notion that her knight to the rescue was now walking into her office in the form of her new boss. Fate had toyed with her enough that day when it decided to shower her in mud. There was no way it would throw her knight back at her in the safe confines of her own workplace!

Rising slowly to her feet Alex strained to catch a glimpse of the owner of the voice. Other members of staff were also rising from their chairs to approach and greet the new partner and a slight shift in the crowd finally offered Alex a clear view.

She’d doubted her ears but her eyes couldn’t lie.

For there he was. Her knight in shining armour and the man she’d spilled her guts to about the Grim Reaper arriving at Griffen Murphy that day was at that moment wandering through the office and about to take up his position as senior litigation partner.

Alex sunk down into her chair and fought for breath as a cold sweat broke out all over her body.

He was moving along the corridors. Every now and then he stopped to be introduced to members of his staff but he was inexorably edging towards her like the tide washing in. And although she’d known that day would be difficult she’d never dreamed it would turn out to be the worst day of her life.

That voice again. It was asking every staff member in litigation to join him in the conference room. She’d had a reprieve for a few minutes and could breathe again, for now.

When most of the staff had filed in behind JP, Alex followed. She was reluctant to face him but there was no way she was going to miss what he would have to say to his new staff after the morning spent with his new PA and her bad case of verbal incontinence.

Alex sidled in behind the crowd of gathering staff. The conference room was packed with bodies and she was able to take up a position behind two of the tallest male lawyers in the section, declining their invitation to move in front so that she could see the man of the hour.

The atmosphere was electric as voices became hushed. Then that self-assured, sonorous voice with its dulcet Glaswegian tones cascaded into Alex’s ears again.

“Good morning everyone,” he began, “thanks for this impromptu meeting. I won’t keep you long. I’d like to have a formal meeting with you all at a later stage to discuss planning for the office and I’ll get around in the next couple of days to meet you all individually. I just want to say I understand this is a challenging day for all of you. I know many of you worked with David for a long time and it’s difficult to change track. I ah …” JP paused momentarily, “I’ve been told many of you regard my arrival here as bringing gloom and doom. I must say I’m extremely sorry to hear that. That’s why I’ve called this meeting—to try and set the record straight.”

Alex tried to make herself tinier behind the bodies shielding her from the man she now knew was JP McKenzie. For she, Alex Farrer, Assistant PA and all-round office minnow, was undoubtedly the source of the senior litigation partner’s information about his own self-confessed unpopularity. It had to be a bad dream yet unlike a bad dream she didn’t seem to be waking up at the worst part. But perhaps the worst part was still to come!

“In fact …” JP began again, “I understand I’m affectionately known around here as ‘The Grim Reaper’.”

A guilty titter passed through the room. Meanwhile, Alex thought her head would implode with the pressure crushing her temples.

“Anyway, labels are neither here nor there. The fact is I’m here to do a job and do it well. I’m not going to mince words with you: this section is under-performing compared to other parts of the firm and litigation sections in other firms. I know we have a quality client base because I’ve looked at it. I’ll also be bringing a very large client base to add to this. Having said that, I’m confident I’ve got good staff here and I intend to use what I’ve got. Rest assured though, there’ll be changes made. Those who have capacity will have to take on additional tasks or leave. I’ll be making these changes quickly as I’ve spent a lot of time looking at the staff and the work here. I already know most of you better than you think.”

The hair at the back of Alex’s neck stood on end as she wondered what he already knew about her, apart from the fact she was the most indiscreet employee of the firm.

At that point a young lawyer up the front of the room asked a question.

“I’ve been asked what the criteria will be for deciding who will lose their job,” JP began again. “I should say I haven’t made any decisions about anyone losing their job but I’ve found in firms of this size there are always a few who are determined to continue to do things their own way and not mine. Those people may as well start to look for alternative employment. What I’m looking for is dedication, loyalty and teamwork. I’m looking for people who believe in me and what I’m going to do here. If you’re all those things you’ll have nothing to fear but be warned, I can pick those who are not on my team at a thousand paces.”

Alex was dizzy. Lowering herself into a nearby chair she wondered whether she should just shuffle out of her office and the building right then and there. What kind of future could she possibly have at Griffen Murphy? If her conversation with JP that morning was not evidence of a lack of dedication, loyalty and teamwork then nothing was. She probably wouldn’t even last the day once he caught sight of her.

“Anyway,” JP continued, “I hope you leave this room with the view that my arrival here is a great opportunity for the development of your professional careers. I’m sorry I’ve had to start my role here on this negative note but I was disturbed by the information I received this morning about your perceptions of me. I’ve been accused of many things in my time but I don’t think anyone has ever accused me of being unfair. However I’m going to have to leave things there for now as I was due in a meeting five minutes ago.”

JP was swallowed up by a crowd of people as he made his way out of the conference room.

Alex wished she could be swallowed up too, preferably never to be seen again. Her new boss had felt compelled to call a meeting with the whole of his litigation team and all because she’d blabbed her head off to a perfect stranger an hour ago. She’d undermined his first day and his expectations of their loyalty to him. He wasn’t sure who he could trust and it was all because of her.

Alex sat motionless as her colleagues milled about her. They were chatting in hushed tones about JP’s first meeting and the portent of his words. ‘The jury’s still out,’ they murmured amongst themselves. ‘No one can be sure whether jobs are at risk or not. He doesn’t seem to be suggesting indiscriminate sackings of staff, only those not pulling their weight, or those who are not team players. That doesn’t seem unfair but can he be relied upon to stick to it?’

As the conversations died away and people moved out of the room Alex rose reluctantly to her feet. She wandered out to her desk where she sat down heavily in her chair and threw her head down on her folded arms and groaned.

Was it actually possible her day could get any worse?

But then Alex sensed she wasn’t alone in her workstation. A quiver rippled down her spine. She lifted her head a little to see a strong male hand resting on the desk next to her arm. She could feel breath in her hair and smell the fresh scent of male deodorant. It was disturbingly familiar.

Alex turned her head ever so slightly to try and confirm her fears were not being realised but before she could take her companion in with her eyes, her ears were already confirming the worst.

“Nice outfit, Alex Farrer.”

Alex stopped breathing. By the time she’d started again JP McKenzie had vanished.

“Come on, Alex,” Sophie ordered. “Let’s go and have a glass of wine. We’ve definitely earned it today.”

Alex was typing furiously, so immersed in the task before her that she gaped at her friend for a few seconds before she was able to gather her thoughts and respond.

“Is it time to go?” Alex asked in disbelief.

“’Fraid so,” Sophie nodded in mock irony. “I know it’s a wrench to leave this place but you’ve simply got to go home sometime.”

Alex was staggered. Somehow she’d managed to get through the day after all, and although the spectre of JP McKenzie’s return had haunted her continuously she’d refused to stew on her predicament. Instead she’d put her head down and worked hard on David Griffen’s remaining current matters. JP would need to turn his mind to them in the next twenty-four hours and with all the lawyers in the office so busy she’d decided to do as much of the legwork as possible to bring them up to date.

“I can’t leave yet. I’ve got to get these memos finished.”

But Alex was fibbing. The file she was working on could certainly wait until the next day. The real reason she wanted to stay behind was because she’d resolved to have things out with JP McKenzie.

No matter what lay in store for her she refused to wait for the guillotine to fall on her job at Griffen Murphy. She’d stand up to him and demand to know what his intentions for her were, even if that meant staying back for hours until he returned—if he returned at all.

“Have you anyone else you can go with, Soph?”

“Yes but I wanted you to come too,” Sophie explained, pulling a face of exaggerated disappointment.

“How about some time later in the week instead?”

“Okay, but is that a promise?”

“It’s a promise,” Alex assured her and watched on distractedly as Sophie disappeared across the office.

She sighed then, apprehensive about how long she would have to wait for JP to return. Well, she didn’t care. If she had to wait all night and catch him the second he walked through the door in the morning then that was what she would do.

She finished the work she was doing and then did some more filing as the office began to empty. By six o’clock every last person had left for the evening—even the lawyers. Alex was beginning to think she may very well have to wait until morning to see JP after all. But then the sound of loud, chirpy whistling greeted her ears. She froze where she stood at the filing cabinet, waiting to see whether her hunch that her new boss was heading back to his office was right. It was.