When I arrived at Parker & Johnson Attorneys, the first thing that struck me was how big the building was. It was massive, even for Chicago. Not to mention the tall, slick structure that screamed professional. I glanced at the directory: Pro Bono Legal Services and Criminal Defense - 8th floor. As I made a beeline to the elevator, the sound of my heels clicking echoed throughout the first floor.
I wasn't used to dressing like this. Hell, the last time I'd worn heels was to the senior prom. But unlike the small law firm where I had my internship, Parker & Johnson was strictly business formal and I knew I had to make a good impression. Even if my white blouse blocked all circulation to my upper arms.
The elevator dinged, signalling my arrival to the eighth floor. Even the sound of the elevator seemed to tell me I didn't belong here. And frankly, I agreed. Despite passing the bar on my first try, I didn't have much of a resume. I attended my state college and had gotten a mediocre score on my LSATs. The fact that I was even hired by a private firm was a dream come true, even if it was for pro bono consultancy.
As I stepped out of the elevator, I was immediately greeted by a young man with a friendly smile. His dimples were so pronounced I couldn't help but smile back despite my nerves.
"Wow, you're even prettier in person," he said, his eyes widening. I felt the heat rising in my face. I'm also gay, I wanted to add. But that was a conversation for another time.
"Thanks," I said shyly. "I'm Sadie by the way. Sadie Brooks."
"Nice to meet you Sadie," he said, gesturing to the glass walls around him. "I'm Cody, and welcome to Parker & Johnson. Pretty spectacular, huh?"
"Definitely," I agreed. Also terrifying. At least his friendliness had succeeded in alleviating some of my stress.
"Follow me," he offered. "I'll show you to your nook."
As we walked through the long hallway, I tried to exude confidence. It wasn't entirely my strong suit, but the formal attire helped a little bit. "It's good to have another blonde in here," Cody said jokingly. "I'm getting pretty tired of all the blonde jokes." Great, thought I was passed that.
Cody directed me to a glass door. On the other side was a huge office divided by glass barriers. It seemed like everything here was made out of glass. "Wow, it's so luxurious," I observed out loud.
Cody chuckled. "Just wait, it gets old pretty quick." As we walked through the office, the sound of phones, keyboards, and quiet chatter filled my ears. After years of determination and perseverance, I was finally here.
"Here you are," Cody stated, pointing to the smallest desk space in the entire office. I mean, what did I expect? "Yikes, I'm sorry," Cody added apologetically.
"It's fine," I replied. It really was. A tiny desk was a small price to pay for working at one of the most exclusive law firms in the entire city.
"So if you have any questions or want like a tour or whatever, I'm one call away," he promised, imitating a phone with his hand. "My extension is 420," he added. He winked, and was promptly out of sight.
"He specifically asked for that extension number, you know?" came a soft voice behind me, making me jump slightly in my seat. "Jesus, someone's a Nervous Nelly." I turned to be face-to-face with a tall woman with olive skin standing next to me. Her brown hair was up in a perfect bun. And when I say perfect, I mean absolutely freaking perfect, no flyaways whatsoever. Her arms were crossed as she leaned against the wall of my nook. She gave me a quick once-over, and rolled her eyes.
"Hey, I'm Sadie," I got out, standing up to shake her hand.
She ignored me. "Like I care," she stated. Her dark brown eyes bore into mine, and I felt like I would crumble under her harsh gaze. "Listen to me," she spat out. "I know your type. You flirt your way up to the top. You are used to getting what you want. You pretend to be all innocent about it, but you're actually just another conniving little bitch." I stared at her in shock. "I worked my ass off to get here," she continued. "There's no way in hell you're taking it away from me."
"I think you've got the wrong impression of me," I countered. My voice was strangely confident.
"We'll see," she muttered, turning to go. She looked back at me. "Also Sadie, you can sleep with Cody as many times as you want. It won't help you, he's just a human resources rep." The woman disappeared as quickly as she had come.
I could feel my heartbeat loudly in my chest as I sat down in my surprisingly comfortable chair. I had encountered girls like her before. The popular, manipulative kind that always had to be the ones in control. The ones that used their social aptness to constantly put down others. I really didn't like those people. As a girl who had never been popular in high school, I would never trade a few close friends for a high social status. But I'd thought I would escape girls like her once I started working professionally. I guess I was wrong.
A young man with curly brown hair appeared in front of me. Not another one, I thought to myself. But he seemed nice, just like Cody. Maybe "Rude Girl" was the only mean one in this place. I sure hoped so.
"Boy was that intense," he said in amazement. "Are you okay?"
"Totally fine," I stated truthfully. I could handle a mean girl. She didn't scare me at all.
"Well Cody and I are on a breakfast break, and he's wondering if you'd like to join us."
"A breakfast break?" I stated, confused.
"Okay, not really," he whispered, leaning in close to me. "It's just an excuse we make to get out of working at 9:00 am. So, you in?"
"Sure," I said. Honestly, I'd rather get back to work. But this was the perfect opportunity to get to know my colleagues, and it seemed dumb to pass it up.
As we walked towards the break room, he started humming softly. "So do you work in HR like Cody?" I asked.
"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. How rude of me!" he exclaimed. "I'm Marcus. I'm actually a paralegal."
"Cool," I said. "I'm Sadie."
Marcus smiled at me. "We all know that. Honestly, we're pretty excited to have you here. It's not often that we get fresh blood."
"Oh?"
"Gary, the person before you, actually just retired," Marcus explained. "We assumed he retired at least, the guy was ancient. But Cody has a theory that Margot killed him in his sleep."
"Margot?"
"Yep, the girl that was talking to you before. More like screaming, actually," Marcus corrected. "Her desk is a couple of feet from yours, so good luck with that." My expression soured. "Oh, don't be sad, you have us," Marcus assured me as we arrived at the break room. Cody had beaten us, and was currently trying to fit his hand into the vending machine.
"I'm having some difficulty here. Sadie can you help me?" he asked.
"Is that legal?" I asked.
"We're in a law firm!" Cody exclaimed. "Now get your tiny hands in there!" Marcus and I laughed as I successfully grabbed the worst food item there was in the vending machine. "Triscuits? Seriously Sadie?"
"Stop complaining. I almost broke a fingernail trying to get those," I retorted. "Besides, don't you have any money?"
"Sure, but why waste it," Cody responded thoughtfully. "When you can get snacks for free!"
I laughed. "You're an idiot," Marcus stated.
"I second that notion," I said.
Suddenly, footsteps interrupted our laughter. All three of us looked up in unison to see Margot staring at us angrily. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded. "The girl just got here and you're already setting her up to fail. Cody, Marcus, you should know better than this! I'm reporting you all to our boss." She stormed off without another word.
"What does that mean?" I asked with genuine worry.
"Don't sweat it," Marcus reassured me. "Margot's done it a thousand times before. Never works though. The boss can't stay mad at me, I'm just too charming."
"Sure," I answered sarcastically. "Actually, maybe I should meet with him soon since this is my first day working here."
"Her," Cody corrected. "And I don't think that's necessary. People aren't allowed to speak with boss unless she summons you first."
"Summons? This woman seems hard core," I observed.
"No, just busy," Marcus stated. "Although, she does make one exception: Margot."
"Why?" I asked, surprised. If anything, Margot seemed like the person you would least want in your office.
"Margot may seem all hot-headed and angry on the surface, but she's actually a snake and super manipulative on the inside, which is kind of worse," Cody added. "She is a professional kiss-ass, and all of us know it except Mrs. Boss Pants."
"Mrs. who?" a silky voice came from the door of the break room. I looked up to see a African American woman with more poise than any person I'd ever witnessed before in my life. "I got an interesting tip from a coworker that you two were up to some mischief," she stated sternly.
"No mischief here, Miss," Cody squeaked out.
"I left that at home, along with my laptop," Marcus added. He clearly lacked Margot's ability to suck up to authority.
Despite that, a small smile appeared on the woman's face. "Go to your desks you morons." How could someone say the word "moron" and sound so professional?
I got up to join them, but the boss shook her head. "First, I want to meet you Ms. Brooks," she said with surprising kindness. "I'm Cynthia Darnell, more commonly known as Mrs. Boss Pants, but you can call me Cynthia. Although those two knuckleheads have clearly lost their first name privileges." I laughed as she rolled her eyes in exasperation. "I was actually curious as to what you were doing hanging out with those hooligans. You do not strike me as a troublemaker."
"I'm usually not," I replied honestly. "I was just trying to make friends at work." That was clearly a stupid thing to say. At work you make colleagues, not friends.
But Cynthia just nodded. "I understand. By the way, we'll be having a conference room meeting at 10:30," she smirked at me. "Don't be late."
~~~
Sitting in the large conference room at 10:25-you can never be too early-the soft tap of Marcus' foot on the ground filled my ears.
"Jesus Martin, cut that out," Margot's angry voice scolded him.
"Keep trying," Marcus bantered. "One day you'll get it right." Margot scoffed in response and stared up at the ceiling.
When Cynthia entered, the room got deathly quiet. "Good morning to you all," she said pleasantly.
"Good morning," we said in unison.
"First, I'd like to welcome Ms. Brooks, our newest addition to the team." The sound of clapping filled the room, making me blush slightly. "Now, the reason I called you in here is because we've just gotten a lead on a new case, a big one." The room got quiet again as we sat on the edge of our seats in anticipation. "The murder of Earl Wilson." A faint gasp disturbed the silence. Of course I had no idea who Earl Wilson was.
"This case was made pro bono because Earl didn't have any family that we know of," she continued. "Now I'm fully aware this case is in high demand because people just love violence for a reason that eludes me. But I need to make sure it ends up in good, worthy hands," she glanced ever so slightly in Margot's direction. Cody coughed beside me.
"Is something wrong Mr. Chase?" Cynthia asked.
"Nope," he replied, slumping in his seat.
"So today I will focus on giving the general details, and if this is mildly of interest, you can apply for a position tomorrow," the screen behind her lit up. "Earl Wilson had a history of domestic violence and abuse. His long-time girlfriend, Megan Jones, was admitted to the hospital on multiple occasions claiming she had an 'accident,' but the bruises on her face and neck clearly point to intentional bodily harm."
A faint noise across from me caught my attention. Margot had grown unnaturally pale as she clutched the sides of the chair so hard, her knuckles turned white. Margot was looking at the screen with a strange expression on her face that I couldn't quite decipher. She stood up suddenly.
"Uh ma'am, I uh have to go," she stumbled over her words.
Cynthia gave her a puzzled look. "Sure Ms. Lopez. Make it quick." Margot rushed out of the room, leaving the door open behind her. "Okay then, I think this is a good stopping point," Cynthia stated after a moment. "Keep working hard. We will discuss this tomorrow."
As we all filed out of the room, Cynthia stood in my path. What did I do this time?
"Am I in trouble?" I asked nervously.
"No Sadie, you're not," she said. "I want you on the case."
________
I've always wanted to write a story about two lawyers, so here goes it. This story will be covering darker topics such as domestic abuse, and I'll try my best to portray them in the most accurate way possible. I'm 17 and have never experience this myself, but I will do my best.
National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1−800−799−7233