Legally Addicted - By Lena Dowling Page 0,25
then thought better of it. The others looked down at the table.
‘Good, so that’s decided then, Georgia will be joining us on the veranda,’ Brad said finally. ‘I must apologise in advance though, Georgia, because while the cigars are optional, the aged single malt and the mosquitoes are compulsory, and with all of us out there, Vera and Beverley will get to eat all the chocolate.’
‘Oh we don’t mind at all, do we Vera? It will give us more time to catch up,’ Beverley said, smoothing things over further.
Relieved smiles broke out around the table. It was a good save and she should have been grateful, but social humiliation of any kind cut too close to the bone. She clenched her napkin into a ball and forced a smile.
‘Petit-fours, ladies?’ The caterer was at the table proffering a large mixed box of truffles and mini-chocolates. It gave her the perfect opportunity to escape.
Out on the veranda she sat in a director’s chair, one of several set out around a large teak outdoor table.
Brad took up a chair beside her, while Roger and John lingered inside, twittering with their wives; still gossiping, no doubt, about the exchange they had just witnessed.
Well, let them gossip. Dayton and Llewellyn had brought Brad into this partnership without consulting her, and she had every right to be tetchy.
‘Are you okay, Georgia?’
Brad took up a chair beside her and patted her arm. She hadn’t expected his touch to be comforting, but it had the effect of releasing the tension that had built up inside her and she didn’t try to shrug him off.
‘Yes, sorry. I don’t like being excluded from things, that’s all.’
‘So I noticed. Whisky?’ Not waiting for a response he handed her a glass, pouring a good inch of the tawny liquid in the bottom.
‘I do get what it feels like to be left out. Not excluded and whispered about in the way you would have experienced, of course, but ignored, yes, I get that.’
Georgia had never told anyone how much the sniggers and comments whispered from behind raised hands at the exclusive high school she attended, at law school, and even now to some extent around court or at formal bar dinners, hurt her. But Brad somehow understood that was how it had been for her. She wanted to ask him what he meant about him being ignored too, but before she had a chance, Roger and John came outside, pulling up chairs opposite.
Roger began spraying his arms and legs with insect repellent that he had brought with him, while John produced a briefcase and handed around papers setting out an order of business. The agenda listed all of the partner’s names — including hers. She shrank back into the fabric of the oversized chair and sipped the whisky; heat scalding her throat, mirroring the social burn she had just inflicted on herself.
The others had intended to include her all along.
Brad smacked at an imaginary mosquito against his head.
What an idiot.
Georgia was withdrawn now, slumped back into her chair, speaking only when spoken to, but not actively taking part in the discussions.
He should have made it clear that it was always his intention the cigars and scotch session would include her. It was meant as a convenient way to break off from Dayton and Llewellyn’s gossipy wives, though it was a damn shame they had to endure the outdoors, even on an unseasonably balmy autumn night, complete with biting insects, to make their escape complete.
He passed Georgia the insect repellent, and she sprayed it on absently.
He tried to concentrate as Dayton and Llewellyn gave a summary of the financial position of the practice, going into unnecessary detail about the partnership’s overheads, liabilities and the current state of cash flow, but his attention kept straying back to Georgia.
She looked stunning. Her black dress, tied up around her neck, set off her delicate shoulders, the dim outside lighting bounced off her honey coloured hair and her eyes simmered deep in thought.
He wished Dayton and Llewellyn would push off to bed, but they were still only halfway through the agenda and both ageing men seemed to have plenty of life left in them yet.
‘Now, starting with the priorities for the family law team,’ John said, introducing the first item of any weight on the agenda. ‘Roger and I have talked, and we both feel that Bradley joining the practice is good timing. We would like to see a repositioning of our emphasis to target the high-value