Lisa sashayed out of the bar, obviously annoyed that I had gotten distracted by another woman. I signaled to the waiter, who brought over a glass of brandy for me.
Four
Amber
I was delighted when Anthony summoned us to Nicholas’s office for a meeting. The other paralegals weren’t as enthusiastic, but they had no choice. My heart skipped a beat when we walked into Nicholas’s office. I was in a trance as I observed the glass door and the walls, which you wouldn’t see unless you were close to the door. His chair was black, and there was a glass desk and several awards lying on a crystal partition of the wall. His office was magnificent, spacious, and quite relaxing.
He didn’t look up when we walked in, “Good morning, sir.”
“Paralegals,” Nicholas called out to us. He said the word in a way that almost seemed derogatory because of the way his lips curled upward.
The others seemed tense while I felt a nerve twitch in my cheek.
Nicholas’s eyes fell on Lily, who was shivering. “Why are you shivering like a leaf?”
She lowered her head.
“Look at me when I’m talking to you.”
“Yes, sir,” she mumbled.
I could feel her nervousness as she snapped her eyes to him. She seemed so afraid that she was panting.
Nicholas turned his attention to the rest of us. “I called all of you here for a meeting because we have a new client. Does the name Hector Montgomery ring a bell?”
I lifted my hand, but he ignored me and pointed at Alexander.
“Sir,” Alexander said, adjusting his glasses, “um …”
“Is he an actor?” Charlotte blurted out.
“Are you all airheads?” He pointed at Charlotte, and she took a step closer to him. “What do you do for fun?”
“I love to watch movies,” Charlotte replied.
“It’s obvious,” Nicholas replied. “The world would be a great place if we could all sit on our asses and watched movies.”
Jake, lifted his hand. “I think I know who Hector Montgomery is.”
Nicholas waved his hand. “It’s either you know who he is or you don’t. Hector Montgomery is a business mogul who owns a banking investment firm. He’s currently in the process of acquisitioning another bank. This isn’t small work, so expect a lot of pressure and workload in the upcoming months. You’ll be expected to work overtime and on several occasions. Sometimes, you might not see sunlight for days because you are required to be at your desk or at the library, working on what you have been assigned to.”
He kept silent, but his gaze flickered across our faces. The silent humming of the air conditioner suddenly seemed deafening. The office was so quiet that the drop of a pin would have been heard.
Nicholas strode over to us. “Your hard work won’t go unnoticed.”
Then, he clapped his hands twice. We didn’t know what that meant until Anthony signaled for us to leave. As soon as we were out of earshot, Anthony drew me aside.
“It’s your turn to make a coffee run,” Anthony said.
I must have blinked twice or more in surprise. “What?” I scoffed.
“Each one of you is expected to make a coffee run once a week,” he explained.
“But … I thought … I would be given some meaningful work to do.”
Anthony shook his head as he folded his arms across his chest. “How can you expect Nicholas to trust you with legal work if you can’t get his coffee right?” he pointed out. “Every good paralegal must know how to get good coffee and also be able to deliver the other legal tasks assigned to him or her.” He pushed a few bucks in my hands. “Off you go. Don’t be late. Boss man detests it when he’s kept waiting.”
“How does he like his … coffee?” I started to ask.
Anthony handed me a paper and hurried off into his office. He poked out his head, pointed to a board on the wall, and closed his door. The associates and partners had indicated their choice of coffee on the board. I quickly wrote down the orders. Lily gave me a sympathetic look as I walked out of the office.
The coffee shop was just opposite the building. Fortunately, there were only three people in the queue. I handed off my long list to the attendant, and my cell phone went off. I noticed the number was from Anthony’s office line.
“Hello?”
“Amber,” Anthony said in a cheerful tone, “make sure Nicholas’s coffee is black with half a tablespoon of cinnamon.”
I repeated the order out loud and said, “Got it. Thank you.”
Minutes later, I was handed several holders with coffee in it, but I had to wait for Nicholas’s coffee. When I felt a tap on my shoulder, I turned around, and I was met by a beautiful platinum-blonde with a charming smile.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hi.”
“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but are you getting Nicholas’s coffee order?” she asked.
I was stunned, but I managed to meekly nod my head.
She beamed at me in a friendly way. “I used to work for him, and trust me, you don’t want to get his order wrong. Don’t forget to put creamer in his coffee. Lots of creamer.”
I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. The last thing I wanted to do was get his order wrong.
“Oh, thank you,” I replied, taking a moment to process. “How did you …”
She winked at me and walked out of the shop.
I instructed the attendant to add creamer to his coffee and hastily made my way back to the office. I didn’t know who the pretty lady was, but she had been super friendly and seemed to want to help. I felt so grateful for her.
I handed everyone their coffee amid a chorus of thanks. They all were so grateful. Then, I took Nicholas’s coffee to his office and tapped on the door. He signaled for me to enter, and I handed him the coffee, which changed his expression.
“You got my order completely wrong. I don’t like creamer in my coffee.”
“I’m sorry, sir.” I had this sinking feeling in my stomach. “I met a woman in the shop who told me not to forget to add creamer to your coffee.”
His jaw clenched, and he squeezed the coffee cup, spilling it. “I guess you met my ex. Isn’t she lovely? I see she’s still up to her old tricks, blowing smoke up people’s asses. Tell me something, Amber, are you always this incompetent? You can’t even get a simple coffee order right. How do you expect to work on cases?”
My body started trembling. It was only my second day, and I was already messing things up. “I’m so sorry.”
“Oh, it’d better not happen again, or I will have you out on your ass, understand?”
“Yes, sir,” I said softly, holding my head down in shame.
I felt a series of emotions as I padded my way toward the door with so many thoughts running through my head. Nicholas’s ex-girlfriend was the woman who helped me? I looked like a raggedy doll next to her. And she used to fetch his coffee? Every morning?
I couldn’t believe I’d disappointed the boss.
It was going to be a long day.
Five
Amber