Falling for the Lawyer - By Anna Clifton Page 0,10
her new boss. Fate had toyed with her enough that day when it decided to shower her in mud. There was no way it would throw her knight back at her in the safe confines of her own workplace!
Rising slowly to her feet Alex strained to catch a glimpse of the owner of the voice. Other members of staff were also rising from their chairs to approach and greet the new partner and a slight shift in the crowd finally offered Alex a clear view.
She’d doubted her ears but her eyes couldn’t lie.
For there he was. Her knight in shining armour and the man she’d spilled her guts to about the Grim Reaper arriving at Griffen Murphy that day was at that moment wandering through the office and about to take up his position as senior litigation partner.
Alex sunk down into her chair and fought for breath as a cold sweat broke out all over her body.
He was moving along the corridors. Every now and then he stopped to be introduced to members of his staff but he was inexorably edging towards her like the tide washing in. And although she’d known that day would be difficult she’d never dreamed it would turn out to be the worst day of her life.
That voice again. It was asking every staff member in litigation to join him in the conference room. She’d had a reprieve for a few minutes and could breathe again, for now.
When most of the staff had filed in behind JP, Alex followed. She was reluctant to face him but there was no way she was going to miss what he would have to say to his new staff after the morning spent with his new PA and her bad case of verbal incontinence.
Alex sidled in behind the crowd of gathering staff. The conference room was packed with bodies and she was able to take up a position behind two of the tallest male lawyers in the section, declining their invitation to move in front so that she could see the man of the hour.
The atmosphere was electric as voices became hushed. Then that self-assured, sonorous voice with its dulcet Glaswegian tones cascaded into Alex’s ears again.
“Good morning everyone,” he began, “thanks for this impromptu meeting. I won’t keep you long. I’d like to have a formal meeting with you all at a later stage to discuss planning for the office and I’ll get around in the next couple of days to meet you all individually. I just want to say I understand this is a challenging day for all of you. I know many of you worked with David for a long time and it’s difficult to change track. I ah …” JP paused momentarily, “I’ve been told many of you regard my arrival here as bringing gloom and doom. I must say I’m extremely sorry to hear that. That’s why I’ve called this meeting—to try and set the record straight.”
Alex tried to make herself tinier behind the bodies shielding her from the man she now knew was JP McKenzie. For she, Alex Farrer, Assistant PA and all-round office minnow, was undoubtedly the source of the senior litigation partner’s information about his own self-confessed unpopularity. It had to be a bad dream yet unlike a bad dream she didn’t seem to be waking up at the worst part. But perhaps the worst part was still to come!
“In fact …” JP began again, “I understand I’m affectionately known around here as ‘The Grim Reaper’.”
A guilty titter passed through the room. Meanwhile, Alex thought her head would implode with the pressure crushing her temples.
“Anyway, labels are neither here nor there. The fact is I’m here to do a job and do it well. I’m not going to mince words with you: this section is under-performing compared to other parts of the firm and litigation sections in other firms. I know we have a quality client base because I’ve looked at it. I’ll also be bringing a very large client base to add to this. Having said that, I’m confident I’ve got good staff here and I intend to use what I’ve got. Rest assured though, there’ll be changes made. Those who have capacity will have to take on additional tasks or leave. I’ll be making these changes quickly as I’ve spent a lot of time looking at the staff and the work here. I already know most of you better than you think.”
The hair at the back of Alex’s neck