Chapter Four

My chair squeaked as I leaned forward to look at the pictures coming up on my laptop screen. Technically, it was Alexa's chair but since she wasn't using it, I had claimed it and her office as my own for the evening. If I was forced to stay late to do her job, I might as well be comfortable in her office doing it. I had my laptop set up with notepad and pen as I searched for information on the individuals involved in the Preston case.

The case centered around a workplace accident and the plaintiff was suing our client for millions. He had been injured by company machinery and was suing Preston Corp for enough money to buy a small island. Alexa had done the crappiest job ever looking up the backgrounds of both parties. She had copied the Preston Corp information from Wikipedia and then barely checked the plaintiff's myFace page, let alone looked through his pictures or even found his blog. As I added pages upon pages of missed information to the file, I had to wonder just how the hell Alexa had ever gotten hired.

I clicked on one of the plaintiff's friends and starting going through his pictures. What I found made me sit straight up in the squeaky chair. My stomach grumbled, but I didn't pay it any attention. I'd have that granola bar soon enough, but I wasn't interested in eating at the moment. It was very possible that I had just found something that would give our firm the slam-dunk on the Preston case.

Staring at me from the computer screen was the plaintiff hanging upside down from a piece of machinery. He wasn't tagged, but the picture was set to public. Anyone could view it. I clicked on the next picture to see him jumping off the roof of one of the fork lifts. The date on the picture matched the plaintiff's injury date.

Grinning, I started printing and saving the pictures as fast as I could. The key to the entire case had been under Alexa's nose the entire time. It had taken a little digging, but she should have found this. Millions of dollars and lots of bad publicity was on the line for our client and I had just found the evidence that would save them from all of it.

“See if Alexa blocks my raise this time,” I said smugly to myself. I couldn't wait to see Calvin's face when I handed him this.

“So, you won your big case, did you?” Darcie asked, stepping through the open door of the office. I had left it propped open this time, hoping a little that maybe Aiden would find a reason to come back. Darcie wasn't Aiden, but she was a decent alternative.

I didn't look up from the computer as I clicked, saved, and printed the pictures. “Yup. I totally did.” I was busted. She knew I had no big cases to win.

“And which case was that?” Darcie leaned against the door frame, false innocence coming off her in waves.

“The big one, obviously.”

I could feel her roll her eyes at me. “You have so many big cases, I'm not sure which one you mean.”

I stopped typing and looked up at her. “The one where an incredibly hot guy asked why I was going out to celebrate, and I didn't have the guts to tell him that I was supposed to go have dinner to celebrate the raise I didn't get.” I shrugged to try and brush away the hurt. “Winning a case just sounded better.”

“You didn't get the raise?” Righteous indignation filled her voice and it made me feel just a little bit better to know I wasn't the only one upset by it. “But you earned it! You put in more hours here than some of the attorneys!”

“I know.” I smiled bitterly. “Remind me to thank Alexa later.”

“Alexa gave you a bad review?” Darcie stomped over to the desk. I was slightly afraid she was going to pick up Alexa's stapler and throw it. “After all you've done for her?”

I plastered the biggest, most sarcastic grin I could muster and gave her two big thumbs up. “I have the greatest boss ever!” I didn't hold the smile long. “At least Louisa was still able to use the reservations. She went with her boyfriend instead.”

“How is your sister?” Darcie asked, clearing a small corner of the desk and perching on the edge.

“She's good,” I told her, turning back to the computer to finish my task. “She's loving college and being away from mom and dad. It's good for her. I'm super bummed I missed dinner with her. We've been planning this for a month. She drove up here just for this.”

Darcie's mouth twisted in commiseration. “That sucks. What about-”

“Do you know where I can find Lena the Lawyer's office?” a young man interrupted. He stood in the doorway holding two big brown bags and looking completely lost. “Guy said it should be around here.”

“I'm Lena,” I said. “But I'm not a law-”

“Good enough for me,” the delivery guy said before I could finish. He dropped the two bags on the desk, nearly knocking Darcie off in the process.

“I didn't order anything,” I told him, frowning at the bags. “I don't have any money to pay you.”

The delivery guy shrugged. “Guy who ordered it already paid. Tip and everything.”

I reached for one of the bags, hoping to find a receipt. There had to be some sort of mistake. The food was probably for the lawyers upstairs. I looked up to ask the delivery guy for more information, but he was already gone.

“He left...” I said, staring at the empty door and then at the bags.

“Well, open it.” Darcie grabbed one of the bags, pulled it open, and started pulling out containers of food. I did the same to the other bag until all the food was laid out on the desk.

“Wow. I hope you're hungry,” Darcie murmured. There was meatloaf with mashed potatoes, salmon with some sort of rice, roasted chicken on a bed of noodles, a big bowl of amazing looking salad with three different kinds of dressing on the side, and a huge plate of decadent-looking brownies. It was enough food to feed an army.

“It must be for upstairs...” It smelled so good. My mouth watered and I hated the idea of giving it away and eating a crusty granola bar.

“Well, here's a note...” Darcie informed me, pulling a card out from her food bag. She cleared her throat and began reading. “Dear Lena, congratulations on your case. I hope this is better than pizza. Aiden.”

“Aiden?” I grabbed the note from her hand. The note was typed and very clear. “He sent me dinner. He sent me dinner?”

“Someone's got an admirer,” Darcie sang. I fully expected her to start into “Lena and Aiden sitting in a tree...”

“How hungry did he think I am?” I asked her, looking at all the food. I was having trouble comprehending just how nice it was to have someone send me dinner. He was basically a stranger, but he had listened and cared enough to send me exactly what I needed. I thought I might cry.

“Beef, chicken, fish, and vegetarian,” Darcie explained, pointing to each dish. “He was just making sure you got something you liked. I hope you got his number.”

I flipped the card over. Other than the fourteen words congratulating me, it was empty. “Nope. I didn't even get his last name. I think he was a client's assistant or something.”

“Well, he can assist me anytime he wants,” Darcie said with a wink. “If he fed me this well, I don't think Greg would even mind.”

I snickered. Greg, Darcie's husband and love of her life, would most certainly mind. Unless Aiden fed him too. Then he might go along with it.

“There's no way I'm going to be able to eat all of this. You want some?” I motioned to all the food.

“I thought you'd never ask,” she replied, handing me a plastic fork. “Polite or our usual?”

“Do you even have to ask?” I stabbed my fork into the salmon that was open in front of her. It exploded in my mouth with lemony goodness. She reached over my arm and took a heaping fork-full of mashed potatoes and stuck them in her mouth.

“You have to try these. I'm pretty sure they're made of heaven,” Darcie moaned. I loaded up my own fork and tasted them. They were creamy and delicious with a buttery goodness and just a hint of garlic.

“Probably the best potatoes I've ever had. Even better than Mom's,” I gushed, reaching for another bite. She knocked my fork away with hers to defend the potatoes from me, but I got a fork in anyway.

“You need to marry this guy,” Darcie informed me as she stuffed another bite into her mouth. “Anyone who sends something this delicious has to be a keeper.”

“I'll work on that,” I said dryly. I didn't even have his last name, let alone a way to marry him. I left the potatoes alone this time and took another bite of the salmon. This was the best meal I'd had in weeks.

“Um, how do I get out of here?” A voice asked, disrupting my salmon and potato bliss. I looked up to see the delivery guy standing in the doorway. The attitude from earlier was replaced with a bashful blush.

I looked over at Darcie as she furiously stuffed potatoes into her mouth. There was no way she was going to leave those potatoes. “Don't eat all of it, okay? I need to drop some stuff off with Calvin, so I'll show him out as I go.”

“I make no promises,” she managed to say around her mouthful of food.

I laughed as I grabbed the pictures off the printer and put them and the USB drive with all my findings in a folder. With a little bit of luck, I would have these to Calvin and be back to my food in no time.

“This way,” I told the delivery guy. Since he wasn't offering to carry my books, I was showing him out first. “They really need to put up a sign down here or something. People keep getting lost down here. This is the third time today.”

He followed me silently until he could see the elevators at which point he took off without even saying goodbye.

“Have a great evening!” I called out after him. I wasn't surprised or terribly disappointed when he didn't say anything. Most people around here didn't. Sometimes I wondered if I was invisible or if people really were just that rude.

I groaned as I reached Calvin's office. The light was off. I knocked, and checked the door, but it was locked. Of course, he got to go home while I stayed here working. I hit his number on my phone.

“Hey, Calvin,” I said when his voice-mail picked up without even ringing. “I finished that discovery file you wanted, but you're not here. I'll try Alexa.”

As much as I didn't want to call her, I knew I would get in trouble later if I didn't at least try. Alexa's phone rang twice before switching to voice-mail. I did my best to keep my irritation under control. Instead I went for passive aggressive. “Hi, Alexa. Calvin had me work on that discovery file for the Preston case you were supposed to do. I have it done. I guess they'll just wait until morning.”

I clicked the end-call button and then banged my hand against Calvin's locked door. This was a huge case and I knew the partners would be furious if they found out the two of them had left work undone on it. I had stayed late and missed my dinner reservations for them, yet neither one of them could be bothered to even pick up their phones.

I thought about just sliding the file under his door and going back to my delicious mashed potatoes. Or what was left of them. I even started to lean over to set it on the floor before I thought better of it. If I left the file here, Calvin and Alexa would just take full credit for it in the morning. The pictures were going to keep this lawsuit from trial and save our client millions. I deserved at least a pat on the back for finding them.

I checked the case file header. The partner running the case was Kathryn McDonald. I would just have to bring it up to her office and slide it under her door. That's where it would end up eventually, I was just skipping the step where Calvin got the credit instead of me.

I skipped the elevator and took the stairs up the one floor. Since I didn't have an armload of books, the stairs were faster. The cement was cold on my feet and I regretted my decision almost immediately. But, by taking the stairs I could pretend that my elevated heart rate was from exercise and not from the idea of what was going to happen to me when Calvin found out I had gone over his head.

The light was on in Kathryn's office and the door was open. I wasn't expecting that. I had thoroughly planned on just sliding the file under the door and scurrying away. My name was on the files, but I certainly wasn't ready to go in front of one of the nation's leading lawyers. The woman sitting at that desk was one of my personal heroes. I was terrified that she would find my work wanting.

I stood for a moment of indecision until I remembered Aiden saying he didn't think I'd be a lower level employee for long. I had gold-plated information. I had everything to gain from giving it to her and nothing to lose. If a stranger who had known me for five minutes thought I could be something, then I had no reason not to at least hand the file to her.

I knocked on the open door, buoyed by Aiden's words before I could talk myself out of it. “Ms. McDonald?”

An imposing woman looked up from her desk. Her blonde hair was graying, but instead of making her look old, it made her look distinguished. She had her glasses perched on the tip of her nose as she read over a document in her hand. She was exactly what I thought a lawyer should look like and everything I wanted to become.

“Yes?” Kathryn McDonald responded, sounding slightly annoyed at the intrusion. A hot sweat spread out on my stomach and the palms of my hands. Maybe I should have just left the file for Calvin.

“Ms. McDonald, I'm Lena Masterson- a paralegal downstairs...” I fumbled with my words. I had no idea what I was doing up here, let alone talking to the head partner of the firm.

“And?” Ms. McDonald blinked slowly at me, waiting for me to stop talking gibberish.

“I'm sorry to bother you- I just came across, I mean I found...” I stopped and took a deep breath, trying to center myself. Aiden had thought I could do this. I began again. “I found some information that will win you the Preston case.”

“A bold claim,” Ms. McDonald said as she set her reading down. I had her complete attention now and I started to shake. “Let me see it.”

I nearly tripped as I hurried over to her desk to hand her the file. “I printed the relevant pictures, but the original screen shots are on the USB as well as the-”

“Where did you find these?” Ms. McDonald cut me off.

“On the myFace pages of the plaintiff's friends. He was smart enough to un-tag himself so they didn't show up on his personal page, but several of his friends have all their pictures set to public view. I recognized him as soon as I saw them.” I swallowed hard. I had been expecting her to smile, but so far she was just watching me with a perfect, unemotional lawyer mask.

“Why didn't the attorney I had assigned to this find these?” she asked, holding up a file from her desk. I recognized it as the file I had delivered to Calvin earlier in the day from Alexa.

“I'm not sure, ma'am,” I said quietly. Ms. McDonald's sharp green eyes flashed up at me. She didn't believe me. She tossed Alexa's thin file down on her desk and picked mine up again, evaluating the contents.

“Why didn't you bring this to Calvin? I don't usually have paralegals bringing me their findings directly.” She turned a page and looked it over. I really hoped I hadn't missed any spelling errors.

“He isn't here and he didn't answer his phone,” I said carefully. I didn't want to get him in trouble, but Kathryn McDonald deserved to know the truth. Her eyebrows raised slightly and displeasure flickered across her green eyes. Calvin was going to have a bad day tomorrow. “I thought the discovery was important enough that it should get to you tonight. Before you meet with the clients in the morning.”

“You're LTM5?” she asked, pointing to my initials at the bottom of the page. The computer automatically printed the user's initials on everything. It made figuring out who had done what research more effective and the billing department could then bill appropriately.

“Yes, ma'am.” I nodded, doing my best not to nervously fidget. I realized I was bare foot in her office.

“I see your initials on most of my cases. I thought for sure you were an attorney.” Ms. McDonald set my file down on the desk in front of her and smiled at me. She went from scary intimidating to attractive when she smiled. “Thank you, Lena. This is excellent work. You were right to bring it to me.”

I let out a nervous breath I hadn't realized I was holding. “Thank you, ma'am.”

Ms. McDonald looked up at me and gave a short nod before turning back to her original reading. I stood there for a moment before I realized that I had been dismissed. As quickly as I could without tripping over my feet, I hurried out of the office.

My heart was fluttering as I stepped into the elevator and pressed the button to go down. Once the doors closed, I started to laugh. It was more of just a release of nerves than actually finding the situation funny, but it still felt good. I leaned against the wall, giggling as I tried to figure out if today had been good or bad. I didn't get my raise and I had to stay late and miss dinner with my sister, but in exchange, the big boss had complimented me and I had gotten a handsome man to carry my books and buy me dinner. Just thinking about him made me smile.

Good day I decided, stepping into the spot I had stood earlier in with Aiden. Aiden had made it a very good day.