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"Daddy, why are we at your work?"
"Well Daddy has a lot to do but that's why I made sure you had all your toys and coloring books, okay."
"Okeee Daddy." She said, smiling up at me. This was the first long week that I was going to have her to myself and to say I was nervous was an understatement. I couldn't have been more grateful when Martha suggested it. To me it was a sign of trust.
I placed Paige by the couch in my office with cartoons playing on a tablet and her coloring book with crayons. She was keeping busy as I was trying not to drown in work.
It being the end of the year should mean that work would slow down. That statement is incredibly false when you're trying to make a Name Partner at Haufman & Levine Law Firm. The file that Mr. Haufman left me on the new client for us to represent has to be sorted before the start of the new year. The client won't become an official member of this firm's family until the onboarding process is complete.
My current Senior Partner status allowed me to delegate work to my associates and paralegal. Though since I was actively avoiding Jackie I was down a paralegal.
Instead of trying to figure out how to get the details of the file without having to interact with her (Believe me I tried). I took a breath and stood making my way to Paige. Lightly lifting her headphones I said, "Hey Princess, Daddy will be right back okay. If you need anything just ask Gabe." She gave me a wide smile before going back to her coloring.
When I exited the office, Gabe was just hanging up the phone and writing on a sticky note. "Hey Gabe, I'll be right back. Just keep a look out for Paige please."
"Yea no problem."
~~~~~~
The glass front of her office was coming up as I made my way down the hall. Taking a breath I knocked and walked through the door.
She looked up from her computer and gave me a blank stare, "May I help you Mr. Carso?"
Mr. Carso
I would think that statement was innocent if it wasn't for the look in her eyes. I cleared my throat, "I'm here for the file Mr. Haufman gave you in my absence. The new client."
"Oh." She said and started flipping through the folders sitting in the wired mesh paper tray on her desk till she got the right one. "Here it is." Jackie leaned forward as she held the folder out for me to take.
I moved to grab it when she slyly snatched it back, "Just one thing."
I raised my brows expectantly.
"Mr. Haufman assigned me as the paralegal on this case. If that's a problem, I'm sure we can find another Senior partner looking to get his name on the door."
Of course
"Fine, whatever." I take the file and open it revealing its contents.
A few words stick out to me:
Precision Fixes & Tires
Mateo Moralez
A Franchise located all over the country, finishing the last few expansions.
Company in process of naming a successor to take over in the next 5 years.
I continued to read as I turned to leave, "Okay, I'll look this over."
"I already started," She stated, making me stop in my tracks, "Did my due diligence, had the help of an associate or two. We can have a meeting and go over the details when you're ready." She said going back to typing on her computer.
The last thing I was doing when it came to such a big client was fighting with her, "I'll have my assistant set it up."
~~~~~~
The conference room was filled with four of us. Jackie, two associates and myself. "When is their deadline again?" I asked no one in particular.
The ruffle of papers filled my ears as I jotted down some notes. "They're expecting expansion to the last location to happen on the 12th of next month." Kevin, a fourth year associate, answered.
"Their previous lawyers didn't do a bad job with the negotiations. Though they could have done better. We'll make sure this final location in the states gets a better deal." I declared.
Once I saw Precision Fixes & Tires I knew this would be a client that was able to provide the firm not only with even better reputation but more business.
"What about the documents that need negotiating and signatures to officially name the successor to the company?" In my opinion Mr. Moralez was in great shape to earn a lot with these deals of expansion. I couldn't imagine why he would want to name a successor so soon. I also had my suspicions about new developments wanting to back out of their deals because a new face would be presenting themselves.
"Okay let's get our standard contracts put together to give Mr. Moralez a template. Company's have their own way of working so we want to make sure they see that our system can be adjusted to fit their needs while also fitting ours."
Jackie spoke up, "Also we are going to need copies of everything, for the filing system."
A knock came to the door, I glanced up only slightly and had to do a double take when I saw Mr. Haufman standing there. "Jonathan."
"Hello, sir." His eyes scanned the mountains of paperwork, "This all for Precision Fixes & Tires?"
I nodded, "Good, I have a meeting scheduled with Mateo Moralez, their CEO and founder in a few hours. I want everything that you have and then I want you to join me in the meeting."
"Sir?" Did I hear that correctly?
"I think he ought to meet the lawyer representing his company's best interest, don't you?" With a small smirk he left me dumb founded.
When you are given a client this is the usual process. Though with high profile ones Mr. Haufman has always been the face. The one they saw as the person spearheading the operation. He was giving me a high profile client in every way and this was a huge deal.
"Oh my God, this is huge." I heard Jackie say next to me. "Alright we only have a few hours so Kevin go make copies of everything in this bin. Ashley go fetch the coffee we still have a lot to get through."
Pressure... a lot of pressure. That's all I was feeling in my chest as I started to think. I got up and immediately walked out. I need to go to my office... Wait, Paige is there.
The door to one of the staircases came into view and I took my opportunity, the air was different in the stairwell, almost breathable. My hands gripped the metal railing tight as I tried to gather my thoughts.
"You alright?" I jumped at the sound of her voice.
I didn't even hear her open the door
"Jonathan, breathe. You need to breathe." She said, cautiously approaching like I was a wild animal. When she got close enough to put her hands on my shoulders she said, "This is a good thing." Her soft hands rubbing up the sides of my neck back down to my biceps.
I kept taking deep breaths, refusing to look at her. "This is what you wanted, you are moving in the right direction. Imagine what this could mean for you. Handling a high profile case, proving that you can handle yourself. Isn't this what you've been waiting for?"
She was right, this was an opportunity to stay in Haufman's sights. If I handled the client well and made them happy while keeping their best interest. It would show what I had to offer.
I felt Jackie's hand go from my neck down my chest as she whispered sweet nothings to calm me down. I grabbed hold of her wrist once I was able to breathe again. Slowly opening my eyes I saw her staring back at me. There was longing and I hated it.
The low pained whisper was unrecognizable as I spoke, "The first person I wanted to tell when I realized what opportunity had landed in my lap was my wife." The strength in Jackie's arms gave out as I held them and I saw an equal amount of dread come over her, "I can't even do that."
"Jona-"
"S-Stop. Okay, just stop." I instantly cut her off not wanting the soft tones she was trying to portray.
"I'm just trying to be there for y-"
"I get that but I need you to stop," I quickly shoved her arms back, "Just get back to work."
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A/N🚨: Here is my brand new Instagram for my writing, I see some of you already found it. 🥰Just made this, first post was posted when this chapter was released.👏🏼 Don't forget to go give it a follow to see more!🤗
Also small Rebranding for my author name and Book Title, nothing major:
Book Title is now Everything & More✨
Profile picture and name has been slightly altered
And last but not least I wanted to give a shout out to people that I have noticed Binge reading, Voting, Commenting, and Following:
theother_ariel, omstafford, Harley0328, joannestokley, maroct95, kimJL375, rachelalderetePinson, Shalaya02, RosieHerrera9, DeborahMoore358, Aliferret, Deonsterling7,Angelakhalil7, THvthj7, AyeshaSiddiqua285,LenieGubat5,
Thank you again for your support!💖