Falling for the Lawyer - By Anna Clifton Page 0,17
you come out looking like Carrie Bradshaw. How on earth do you know what to buy?”
“Okay Laura Ingalls,” Sophie declared. “When’s your lunch hour?”
“Twelve-thirty.”
“Meet me here at twelve-thirty then. You and I are going shopping.”
“Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“Are you kidding? I’ll be Trinny and Susannah. I can’t wait!”
But as Alex wandered through the office towards her desk just moments later she was wondering whether she should be concerned about the fact that the way she dressed suddenly mattered when it never had before? Yet in her heart she already knew the answer: it had something to do with the way JP had treated her the night before.
The bottom line was that she couldn’t forget his reaction when she’d shown him the legal documents she’d prepared. And as she’d lain in bed that morning she’d begun to wonder whether there might be other things she could do that she’d never dreamed herself capable of. Self-belief was bubbling up within her and for some reason it felt important that she looked and dressed like someone who believed in herself too.
As she approached her workstation she expected to see a pile of files, left there by JP from the night before as he’d promised. Strangely though, her desk was bare.
She stopped dead, confused. She wandered into JP’s empty office and checked his desk but no, nothing had been left there either.
Alex was puzzled. Had she misunderstood him about the work he would leave for her that morning? Weren’t there several matters needing her urgent attention? It just didn’t make sense.
“Looking for something?” A woman’s voice literally boomed at her from behind, making her jump and swing around.
“Vera! You’re back! We weren’t expecting you until tomorrow.”
“Evidently.” Vera Boyd’s cold, grey eyes were flashing and Alex was sure she could hear a snaky undercurrent to her tone.
Vera was a frightening woman. Alex had always been terrified of her—everyone was.
With David Griffen’s approval, his Senior PA had ruled his litigation department at Griffen Murphy Lawyers for years. Alex had even heard of staff members mysteriously shifted out of litigation if Vera took a dislike to them.
“How was your break?” Alex asked, trying to invest their meeting with some normal social niceties.
Vera’s grey haired bob bounced around her face as she replied, “The break was fine but perhaps I’ve been away too long.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Well it seems that in just one day you’ve managed to elevate yourself to Senior PA.”
Blood turned to ice in Alex’s veins as she absorbed Vera’s barely contained resentment. Alex wished she could face Vera with nerves of steel but the older woman was just too intimidating.
“Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about,” Vera snapped. “I saw the little love letters he left all over the files on your desk this morning. What kind of fool is he if he leaves that kind of responsibility to a sprat like you? He’ll soon learn the way this place works. As for you, you’ve got tickets on yourself, haven’t you? Who do you think you are, doing a lawyer’s work?”
“There was no one available to do it yesterday … it was all urgent.”
“I’m no fool, Alex,” Vera retorted. “We all know the rumour that the firm will only allow one PA per lawyer. If you think I’m going to sit back and let you flirt your way into Jonathan McKenzie’s good books and freeze me out, you can think again.”
Vera ran her eyes over her uncharacteristic but flattering outfit with obvious contempt and outrage rose within Alex as she’d never felt before. How dare Vera remove the work JP had left for her on her desk that morning? And how dare she hint that her dress choice and the work she’d done the day before had anything to do with freezing Vera out as a PA?
“I’ve never believed my job as Jonathan McKenzie’s PA is secure,” Alex grated out coldly. “But until I’m sacked or moved on I will do my job. That includes doing whatever he asks me to do.”
“That’s fine, Alex,” Vera replied, spitting her name as though it sizzled on her tongue. “But you should be aware I’m on to you. I know you think you can bat those big brown eyes and wiggle that cute little backside and the boss will be like putty in your hands but he’ll soon learn it takes more than a pretty face and a pert figure to run an office like this. He’ll soon learn I’ve been around