Evie's Job

1: Natalie

By the early afternoon, Natalie had decided that the conference was a waste of her time. She was there because a senior partner needed to attend. To make an appearance, to shake hands, and be seen. She was there being seen, doing her bit for the firm, but actually sitting through the sessions was simply frustrating.

The conference was about tax law, about recent changes to fringe benefit tax legislation, and Natalie already knew what those changes were because she’d read the Select Committee submissions as the bill made its way through parliament. She had a fairly good idea of the changes already, and she didn’t need this conference to find out exactly which recommendations had been implemented, and as well, the firm had a junior associate attending in addition to Natalie. The associate would write a brief on what was relevant, which Natalie could read along with everyone else. Reading was quicker than listening, so sitting in the sessions, and doing nothing, that was a waste of Natalie’s time.

Wasted time made Natalie impatient. Time to relax, she enjoyed. Time on her own, to unwind, that was important. But here, sitting in a room full of her colleagues, pretending to listen, that wasn’t time which was being spent productively, and Natalie resented the imposition. She resented it as she shook hands and smiled and asked how people were. She resented it whenever she thought about lost billable hours, and working late tomorrow to catch up for today, and the meetings she needed to be preparing for next week.

She was resentful, but she was worried, too. She was worried about running into Meredith.

Meredith was in court today, which Natalie knew because she’d had her assistant check. Natalie still kept track of Meredith. She put more effort into avoiding Meredith than was sensible, even after two whole years apart.

Two years ago, Meredith had broken Natalie’s heart and Natalie had never forgiven her. Natalie had never forgiven, and never stopped hurting either. Natalie and Meredith had been together for fifteen years, until Meredith had left, utterly unexpectedly. Now Natalie spent a lot of time avoiding places she thought she might run into Meredith.

She tried to avoid such places, but it didn’t usually work.

They saw each other frequently, almost inevitably. They saw each other because they were both partners in big law firms, and because years together had left their private lives hopelessly entangled too. They shared friends and interests and careers, so hiding from Meredith was never actually going to be possible, but Natalie tried to all the same. It had become almost a habit. It was leaving her lonely, and probably harming her career, and was definitely starting to isolate her from friends, but she hid anyway, avoiding Meredith, like she was hoping to today.

She was hoping not to see Meredith at the conference. Hoping, probably in vain, because Meredith, like Natalie, would be expected to attend, and because they would both need to stay until the drinks at the end of the day. Meredith would probably appear after court had finished for the day, so the best Natalie could hope for was that Meredith would be late, and in a hurry, and that Natalie could lose herself in the crowd and avoid an encounter. She was hoping for that, but unsure how likely it was.

It was going to be an unpleasant afternoon.

Natalie sat through the first talk after lunch, impatient and worried, and then decided she’d had enough.

She had sat at the back of the conference room, deliberately near the doors, with all the juniors who were likely to be called away. She’d sat, and noticed a few of them noticing her, the ambitious ones who kept track of partners. When she stood up, they noticed, but she assumed they wouldn’t suspect anything as mundane as boredom. They’d be imagining crises and boardroom bloodshed and other terrible events. Natalie stood up, and smiled apologetically at the speaker, and slipped out the nearest door.