Saturday, September 20, 2014

Her First Day (Part 3)

She began to fidget with the hem of her dark blue suit jacket. He saw her getting nervous. If she was going to work with him, he needed to know what had taken place.
"Do you want to discuss what happened at your last job," he asked. She shifted in her chair. She wasn't ready, but knew she was going to have to tell him eventually. Today, might as well be that day. She took a deep breath, steadying herself before answering him.
"I really don't care to discuss it, but I know I will need to tell you if we are going to work together and end up on a case against my old firm."
"Yes, I don't want you to be discredited in court by the opposing firm."
"I worked for them for quite a long time. My boss really liked me. He liked me enough to take me under his wing and teach me almost everything he knew. He told me it was possible I would end up becoming one of their top lawyers and a junior partner before I knew it. I was elated. The problem happened when his son asked me on a date and I refused. He started making rude comments to me as soon as I came into work. He would tell me all the the things he wanted to do to me and what he wanted me to do to him. He began calling my house late at night. When I disconnected that phone, he got my cellphone number and started calling it. I would let every call go to voice mail and kept all of them as evidence. When I finally got enough nerve to approach his father about it, I played him the messages. He called his son into the office and asked him about it. His son told him that it was all a joke we played with each other. I had changed my phone number that morning. After I left the office, I received a phone call from him. He had somehow learned my new number. He threatened my life. That is when I went looking for a new job and came across this one."
"Do you think he would actually hurt you?"
" I don't know. I left before I could find out. What I do know is that he is sick and I couldn't take that chance."
"Do you still have those messages? More importantly the thrreatening one?" he asked, his voice laced with concern. She nodded her head, pulling out her phone. She slid it across the table to him. He slid it open, accessing her voicemail and listening to the threatening message. He closed his eyes as the voicemail ended. With his jaw clenched, he slid the phone back across the desk to her. He sat there just staring at her. He didn't know what to say. What he heard on that voicemail angered him. He didn't know Missy, but he damn sure wasn't going to let anything happen to her.

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Her First Day (Part 2)

His cherry wood desk was accompanied by a high back chocolate brown office chair. He motioned her to sit across from him in one of the matching chocolate brown leather chairs in front of his desk. She sat down, tentatively. He waited for her to look up at him before speaking. Her hazel eyes shone with specs of green and light brown as her gaze met his.
“Mrs. Herring,” he started.
“It’s Ms. Herring,” she said, not quite sure why she felt the need to correct him.
“Okay, Ms. Herring, welcome to our office.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. How much experience do you have in criminal law?”
“I am very experienced. I worked as a paralegal for five years before going for my PhD. I continued to work as a paralegal while pursuing my degree. I never missed a beat when it came to my cases or my classes. I graduated top of the class.”
“That is all great, but tells me nothing. I asked how much experience you had not what you did in school. Have you ever tried a case or assisted in trying a case?”
“I was second chair on most of my former boss’s cases. He wanted me to get the courtroom experience.”
“Good, so you are familiar with the courtroom.”
“Yes.”
“Good, that is less I will have to teach you. You worked at Farmer and Gold, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you leave?” he asked. She knew this question was going to come. She was just hoping it wasn’t today. She didn’t want to reveal her past to anyone just yet.
“I had an issue with one of the other lawyers,” she mustered. Issue wasn’t the word for it. Mr. Farmer’s son was an obsessive asshole that wouldn’t leave her alone. He wanted her to date him and she refused. Telling him no wasn’t going to fly with him. He kept harassing her. It would start as soon as she walked into the office in the morning. He would corner her and tell her all the things he wanted to do to her and what he wanted her to do to him. He called her on her cellphone at night. She even changed her number, but that bastard got a hold of it and kept it up. She even went to Mr. Farmer about it. She thought he would do something about it. She was wrong. Even though, he had been the one to hire her and take her on all of his cases, he still favored his son. Finally, she couldn’t take it. She searched for another job. She didn’t want to leave the one she had, but she was no longer comfortable there. She found this one and came in for an interview. Thankfully, they saw her record and hired on the spot without too many questions.
“An issue?”

“Yes,” she said, a little embarrassed. She knew what he was assuming about her, but it was far from the truth. Should she let him think what he wanted or explain the situation to him?

To be continued.......