Chapter 4 Carrie 004
With one swift move, I picked up the notepad from the table, tore out the page he had written on and crumpled up the paper.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Leslie exclaimed.
“I’m not keeping that.” I threw the paper ball in her direction. “Here, you can have it.”
“Thanks, I will,” Leslie said, smiling as she uncrumpled the paper and stashed it into her purse.
It was time to call it a day. My drink was almost empty and, if I didn’t get started on my paper, I'd be a nervous wreck by the end of the weekend. That was never a good way to start the workweek.
Despite objections from Krissy, I bid my friends goodbye and headed for the street to hail a cab.
After giving the cabbie directions to my apartment building, I let my thoughts go where they wanted. I couldn’t get the exhilarating incident out of my mind. I wished that Gavin had somehow said goodbye before he left. But maybe that had been difficult for him because his boss was with him. No matter what, there had been something mysterious and exciting about Gavin that was hard to pinpoint.
I sank down deeper in my seat and imagined his breathtaking eyes staring right at me. Had it been foolish of me to give Leslie his number? How would I know if he was interested unless I took a risk? I was willing to bet that Leslie would take that risk, though with her looks and curves, it wasn’t much of a risk. Guys never turned her down, even guys as gorgeous as Gavin.
New York was a big city with over eight million people. Even if we both lived here for the rest of our lives, it would be unlikely for us to ever run across each other’s path again. Unless, of course, we both one day happened to be back at Huggins Bar and Grill for yet another happy hour. I made a mental note to come back next Friday. Just in case.
As long as I could remember, I’d wanted to be an attorney of law and, finally, at age twenty-four, I was close to my goal. For almost a year now I had been working as a paralegal in the Law Office of Webster and Steinberg while finishing up my last year in law school. I needed the income to help pay for the tuition. Unlike many of my fellow students, I wasn’t born with a silver spoon, and scholarships only went so far. Now that I was close to graduating – hopefully by the end of the semester – it also likely meant I’d be saying goodbye to the firm, unless they decided to offer me a position.
I’d enjoyed working at Webster and Steinberg. The office had old-world charm with oak panels, dark colors and a scent of musk and leather that filled the offices and hallways. My boss, Mimi Styles, was a brilliant divorce lawyer, and I was assigned as her personal file clerk and paralegal. I liked my job, even though it was mostly repetitious secretary work such as sorting case files, but once in a while I was asked to help with case research. Despite the fact that working as a paralegal was nowhere as exciting as what was seen in popular TV shows, it did give me the opportunity to study and experience the job as an attorney in real life, instead of just learning theory from the books. Maybe the added experience would put me at the front of the line when it was time to approach a firm to apply for a position as an attorney.
“Carrie, where are the notes for the Howard Weiss case?” Mimi stood in front of my desk looking completely desperate.
“They’re almost ready, Ms. Styles.”
“Well, please hurry. The meeting starts in less than an hour and I want to go over the case once more before it starts.”
“Absolutely. I’ll bring them to your office in ten minutes,” I said, trying to hide my panic at being behind schedule.
I knew that the meeting was very important to Mimi, as it was the introductory meeting with a new and very powerful client, Howard Weiss. He was a true real estate mogul, but not just any real estate mogul. In fact, he owned some of the biggest office buildings in Manhattan, and had a net worth in the billions. He was also about to become single. The reason he was coming here today was to discuss his upcoming divorce. If Mimi got this case, it would be huge for the firm.
This morning had not started out well at all, much too hectic for my liking. First, I’d overslept. I had worked on my college paper until three in the morning, and then my alarm hadn’t gone off. A short power shutdown in the building had reset the clock sitting on the bedside table next to my bed, and of course, I hadn’t used my phone, even though I’d constantly told myself that it was smarter to have two alarms rather than just one. So instead of my usual eight-thirty arrival at the office, I had run in to work all flustered, ninety minutes late, which was not at all like me. I prided myself on always being very punctual, almost to a point where my coworkers could set their watches after my arrival.
I was able to finish the notes, collect all the research and organize it rather quickly. There were definitely some benefits to being organized, and I was smiling as I walked into Mimi’s office and handed her the file.
“Thanks, Carrie,” Mimi said with a sigh of relief. “Listen, I need you in the meeting taking notes, so don’t go too far, okay?”
“No problem. Actually, I’ll go get the conference room ready now,” I replied, eager to make up for being late.
