Evie's Job

Epilogue 1: Evie, a year later

A year passed, and for Evie it was a good year. She was offered a position at Natalie’s firm, which she took without hesitation. She moved in with Natalie too, shifting all her things in just three trips of Natalie’s car. She began work, and concentrated on that, and quite quickly everything settled down. She was happy, and Natalie seemed happy too. Everything seemed to be going well, especially everything between her and Natalie.

At first, Evie suspected, Natalie had been a little worried about their working together. She had seemed uncertain how it would turn out. Evie wasn’t sure what all Natalie’s concerns were, and hadn’t wanted to ask too specifically in case she started fretting about them herself. Some she had managed to work out, though. She knew Natalie had worried Evie wouldn’t be able to fit in at the firm, that her weed and cigarettes and her urge to clever wit would be too much. Natalie hadn’t said anything, but Evie had guessed, just as she’d guessed that Natalie was worried the other first-year associates would be mean, or people would gossip, or Evie would react badly if Natalie ever had to tell her what to do. Natalie had worried, and anticipated all sorts of problems, but in the end, none had actually happened.

Instead, Evie had worked hard, and kept her clients happy, and tried to be discreet about her relationship with Natalie. As far as she knew, the firm’s partners were aware they lived together, and both Evie and Natalie’s assistants knew too, but beyond that, Evie had mostly avoided saying who her partner actually was and had left it to people to find out on their own. She assumed some would find out. She assumed there was some gossip, behind closed doors, so she tried not to listen too carefully. Gossip wasn’t unexpected, she thought. She’d known it was likely when she took the job with Natalie, and she might have gone elsewhere if Natalie’s firm hadn’t been the only major one that made her an offer. She’d expected some gossip and envy and resentment, but in the end there hadn’t been much. Everyone at the firm was ambitious and driven, she supposed, and that mattered more than who people’s families were.

In the end, it had been a good year. It had been a busy, exhausting year, but also the best year Evie could remember, because of work, and especially because of Natalie. It had been as perfect as Evie could ever have hoped for, and she was pleased everything seemed to be working out.

                                                            *

The first Evie knew the firm was in trouble was when Rachel, her assistant, followed her into her office one morning and said, “We’re safe, right?”

Evie took off her coat and hung it up. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Come on, Evie…”

“I really don’t,” Evie said, thinking about the day ahead.

“Natalie hasn’t said anything?”

“Um, what about?”

“There’s rumours,” Rachel said.

“Yeah, I gave up listening when they were all about me.”

“There’s rumours about redundancies.”

Evie stopped, and looked at Rachel. Perhaps this was something serious. She thought, then said, “I haven’t heard anything.”

Rachel kept looking at her, a little desperately.

“Rachel, I promise, I haven’t heard. Why are there going to be redundancies?”

“We’re going broke, I suppose.”

“We’re not,” Evie said. “We can’t be.”

“There’s less clients than there were a year ago.”

Evie shrugged, since she hadn’t been there to remember, which Rachel knew perfectly well.

“Well, you’re safe anyway,” Rachel said. “Obviously. You’ll be fine. I’d just hoped I would be too.”

“Why am I safe?”

“Because of Natalie.”

Evie suddenly felt angry. She sat down behind her desk. “I’d better not be only because of that.”

“You will be.”

Evie glared at her.

Rachel seemed worried. “I’ve got a mortgage, Evie…”

“I know you do.”

“I just bought a car.”

“Rachel, I know. You told me.”

“I’m just saying. I’m asking. If you hear anything, can you warn me? Please?”

“I will. But I haven’t heard. And you’ll probably hear before me.”

Rachel nodded and left the office, closing the door as she went. Evie sat there for a minute, trying to decide how seriously to take this, and what she ought to do. She switched on her computer, and opened a file, and tried to make herself read. She told herself it was only rumours, and nothing to worry about really. She told herself the firm couldn’t be in financial trouble or she would have noticed something at home. Natalie would have been more stressed, or worried, or something, and Evie would have had some clue. She told herself that, but then she thought about how busy she’d been, how busy they both were, and that perhaps she might not have noticed after all.

In the end she stood up, and left her office, and said to Rachel as she went past, “I’m just going upstairs.”

Upstairs, to the partner’s offices. Rachel understood. “Thank you,” she said, as Evie left, but Evie didn’t answer.

Evie went to Natalie’s office, and said, “Is she in?” to Natalie’s assistant.

“She’s in a meeting.”

“Okay. Tell her I was here.” Evie turned to go, then stopped and said, “Who’s she meeting with? I thought she was doing trial prep this week?”

Natalie’s assistant looked uncomfortable, and then said, quietly, “There’s a partner’s meeting.”

Evie stood there for a moment, and took a slow breath, and had to decide what to do. She had to decide right then whether she was going to be a first-year associate, or be Natalie’s girlfriend. Suddenly, she couldn’t be both at the same time.

“Okay,” Evie said, after a moment. “Could you tell her I was here, please?”

“Of course.”

“Ask her to call me?” Evie said, and went back downstairs.

She walked past Rachel without saying a word, despite Rachel’s anxious stare. She walked past Rachel, and sat down at her desk, and didn’t say a thing to anyone. She tried to work, but couldn’t concentrate. She didn’t know what to do. An unscheduled partners meeting was a bad sign. It was an awful sign. It seemed exactly the kind of thing that happened to get the final approval for something drastic.

Evie wanted to go and wait in Natalie’s office, but she knew it wouldn’t help. It wouldn’t change anything, and it wouldn’t make her look very good, either. Instead, she sat, and waited, even though she wasn’t doing anything useful. She sat at her desk, and lasted out an hour, hoping Natalie would phone. Natalie didn’t. The meeting must still been going on.

Evie waited, forcing herself to stay in her office, and as it happened, she waited enough.

The firings began before Natalie got back to her.