Griffen to consider doing that, but it had never happened, probably because she’d always been verging on the invisible when it came to David
“All right then. I’ll get a senior associate onto it tomorrow.”
Alex twisted in her chair to look up at him. His features were rigid in concentration as he continued to scan the documents before him.
“You’re kidding!” she challenged.
“No I’m not kidding. They’re a valuable resource and as you say, a guide for the younger lawyers. At the end of the day everything has to be signed off by a partner but these will be a great time saver.”
JP straightened then and moved across to the window. He was evidently deep in thought, his back to Alex as she shut down his computer. She drained the last of her wine from her glass and unsure what she was supposed to do next rose to her feet. She began to move towards the door but JP swung around.
“Where are you going?” he snapped.
“I thought that was it for tonight.”
“But I need you to talk me through current matters.”
“Now?”
“No, no, of course not. You go home,” he shot back irritably with a wave of his hand towards the door. “There’s probably a negligence claim on my desk that’s about to explode but we won’t let that stand in the way of clock-watching!”
“I don’t call going home at seven-thirty clock-watching but perhaps they do things differently in the UK. Perhaps PAs don’t go home at all!”
JP looked at her in bafflement as though trying to register where he was before dropping his eyes to his watch. “Of course, sorry. It’s late. I must be operating on UK time. You go home, yeah?” he ordered with his usual ending for emphasis, changing tack to one that was conciliatory again.
“Aren’t you going now too?” she asked more mildly, feeling guilty about ticking off her new boss when he was clearly as strung out as she was. “Despite what I just said I actually can stay if you need me.”
“No need.” Striding back to his desk he began to sort through files. “I’ll check now for any bombs that might go off tomorrow.”
“I can show you those straight away,” Alex offered as she approached the desk and picked up a file. “By far the most urgent matter is this one. It’s a passing-off and Trade Practices matter. The client phoned today. He’s given instructions to brief counsel to commence injunction proceedings as David advised last week. I’ve prepared a brief …”
“You’ve prepared a brief?” JP gaped at her in open astonishment. “Why didn’t you have one of the lawyers do it?”
“I asked but none of them could get to it before tomorrow. We’ve all been very busy in here over the last few weeks with David going. This is just a … start ….” She handed the brief to JP and he began leafing through it as she perched on the side of the desk.
“This is more than just a start—this is nearly there,” he murmured when he’d spent the better part of five minutes reading through it. He raised his eyes from the file to meet hers with a penetrating look, his lips pursed and his eyebrows drawing together thoughtfully. “You’ve even prepared the Observations—my first impressions are they’re first rate.”
“They’re just in draft …” she began but trailed off. Despite the fact he seemed happy with her work, perhaps she’d overstepped the mark. Perhaps she should have left the brief for the lawyers. But then another day would have passed before the brief was ready and the client’s chances of winning the injunction could have been undermined by the delay.
“Okay what else?” he asked as he turned back to the files on his desk.
Alex gave him a potted version of each matter in descending order of priority until he held up his hand.
“All right. That’s enough for me to be going on with tonight. I’ll leave work on your desk for tomorrow. I’m stuck in a meeting all morning from eight so it will be good to know you’re getting on with things.”
He ran his hand back through the dark blonde cowlick of hair that fell forward across his forehead. He then sighed out loud and even though she’d only just met him Alex could read the acute tension about his eyes.
“I’m going to need a lot of support from you over the next few weeks, Alex,” he began in serious appeal. “My partners are going to line me up in endless