Office Hours |h.s|

ninety five

Maude

2.5 years later

"As our commencement ceremony comes to a close today, I'd like to take this time to thank each and every person who has come to celebrate this year's graduating class. Every one of you have helped our graduates get to where they are today. And on behalf of the faculty, staff, and administration here at Harvard Law School, I'd like to say congratulations to the graduates. We are all so very proud of you and cannot wait to see where the future leads you. We wish you all the best of luck."

The crowd erupts into cheers as the ceremony ends. It's official. After three grueling years of law school we've reached the end. Now it's time to put our degrees to good use and start practicing.

Safe to say that law school wasn't a walk in the park. There were moments that I wanted to give up for sure, but I kept reminding myself that I was doing this for me. Not for my father, not to keep up the Sterling reputation. I needed to prove to myself that I could do this on my own. And I did.

Despite my rocky start at the university, I ended up graduating top of my class. Everyone doubted me, some even claim that my connections to the school meant my success was handed to me on a silver platter. But I worked hard to get here. Not once did I ever use my name to get ahead, and in a lot of places it hindered more than it helped. Still, I persevered.

It helped that I had the best support system on the planet. Cassidy and Will were really the only two that stuck around. Ben and Kayla ended up breaking up in the middle of our second year. I still keep in touch with Kayla of course, but she found herself a nice little group in some niche form of law. Violet stopped hanging out with us once Charlie got kicked out of school since she had no reason to stick around.

I'm really happy looking back at my time at the university, though. I made so many amazing memories with my friends and really feel as though I made the most of my time. The university offered up so many opportunities for me throughout the last few years, and I'll forever be grateful for it.

Besides spending a lot of time with Noah, Cassidy, Will, and his girlfriend Ivy, I found some time to start dating again. It took me a few months to get back on the horse, but overall I was glad that I did. I met some nice guys, and even dated one guy for a good year. We broke up when he graduated last year though, which was to be expected honestly since he had plans to move back to California. He was sweet though, nothing like the men I had dated in the past.

My family really liked him too, surprisingly. I think after my falling out with Lance, my dad tried his best to at least throw money at the problem. Over the years we've had some open conversations about our family and how things have gotten so out of control. Dad has made it clear that he wants me to be the one to take over the law firm when he's ready to give it up, but I'm still not too sure I want it.

I try to keep my distance from Lance, especially after he threatened to kill me. While he didn't exactly get cut off, he was forced to take a smaller position at the firm. He's an injury attorney now, and is not allowed to get anywhere near criminal law. He ended up marrying Reagan, and even though he cheats on her regularly still, she's pregnant with his baby. I don't really keep up with him much, just whatever Spencer tells me.

But the most important thing to happen in the last year? Cassidy and Noah finally got engaged. It was perfect, and I helped Noah with the planning. Of course Cass said yes, and they're looking forward to having the wedding in the next year and a half. Thankfully they're staying in Massachusetts, not too far from the Harvard area where I'm planning on setting up shop for a few years at least.

I start working for a non-profit in a few weeks, working on legal cases pro-bono. It was a hard job to come by since most lawyers tend to work for profit, but I am in a position where money isn't an issue. Non-profit work is so important to me, and I want to at least have a few years of giving back before taking over Sterling & Sterling if I so choose.