“That’s fine,” Javier said. “Anything is better than working here or for that lawyer who only wants to pay me twenty-five dollars an hour.”
“It’s $50,000 a year, plus benefits,” Ethan advised.
“I’ll take it! Oh, food’s up. Be right back,” Javier said, excitedly jumping to his feet to get our food.
“I can’t believe you just offered him a job, and we didn’t even vote on it,” Coco seethed.
“Ethan and I agree we should hire Javier, so there we outvoted you. You don’t want to work with him, because you’re still pissed off that he dumped you before third year finals and wouldn’t share his summaries with you,” I admonished.
“I didn’t need them anyway. I graduated ahead of him remember!” Coco said, raising her voice.
Javier returned to our table with steaming hot food. Coco slumped down in her seat pouting and refusing to eat her meal.
“Jav, when can you start?” Ethan asked.
“Is now too soon? You have no idea what this means to me,” Javier exclaimed with tears in his eyes, grabbing Ethan and me for a bear hug. “Don’t be late for your appointment. Lunch is on me.”
“Ok, we’ll call you later with all of the details,” I said. I looked down at my watch and noted that we had ten minutes to make it to the appointment. I quickly wrapped up my burrito and, since she was still sulking, threw Coco’s tacos into some napkins before we ran out to the car.
“I still can’t believe that you guys hired him,” Coco complained, munching on her taco as Ethan drove. “I thought all hiring decisions were supposed to be made unanimously!”
“Coco, let it go,” I said with a mouthful of burrito. Ethan was driving fifteen miles per hour over the speed limit so we wouldn’t be late.
“Where the hell else were we going to find a first year so cheap?” Ethan asked, his words garbled in a full mouth.
“Fine. But we are never making him a partner!” Coco stated firmly, chomping into her taco.
We managed to park the car with five minutes to spare. I grabbed my bag and pulled out my iPhone. I hadn’t checked it since I had left the house that morning. I had missed three messages, one of which was from the LA county court clerk advising me that a hearing was set for two weeks’ time, and the other two were from Esty asking for an update on her case.
Stepping off of the elevator, we noticed that the walls were newly painted and that the floors were hardwood. So far the building looked promising.
“You must be the new tenants,” the landlord said overconfidently, as we met Ethan’s broker outside of the door.
“Let’s not be too hasty. Maybe we should see the office space first,” I replied, toning down the words with a smile.
Upon walking through the front door, the most breathtaking natural light blinded our collective vision. The offices were equally proportioned, the common spaces bright and airy, and the furniture was decent. Normally we would never have been able to afford such a great space, but the landlord had paid for renovations before the recession and had been forced to reduce the rent since.
“Would you mind giving us a minute?” I asked the landlord as I ushered Coco and Ethan into the filing room at the back of the office.
“So, what do you guys think?” I asked.
“I think it’s perfect,” Ethan offered. “Where else are we going to find a place that is turnkey ready?”
“Even I can’t find fault with it,” Coco said.
“Joely, you and I could pick up the supplies we need tomorrow, and we could be operational as early as two days from now,” Ethan said, shifting his weight side to side in excitement.
“That would be perfect considering that if I have to have another meeting with Esty by the pool, we’ll lose our client, because my mother will have convinced her to pursue music and not bother with this case,” I said.
“So we’re all agreed then? We are going to take this place?” Coco asked.
“Yup,” I said.
We thanked the landlord and asked him to send the lease agreement to our broker before returning to the car. We piled into Ethan’s car and I took the opportunity to text Esty to inform her of the hearing and to ask her to meet me at our new office in two days. We dropped Coco off at her apartment so she could take Lucky to his vet appointment, for which he was already an hour late. After we dropped off Coco, I told Ethan to take me to my house so I could get my car.
“I’ll call Javier and tell him to meet me here tomorrow to help with coordinating deliveries,” Ethan advised. “I thought we could start our supply shopping.”
“I changed my mind,” I said. “Since I now have to prepare for a meeting with Esty in two days, I need to get home.”
“I can help you,” Ethan offered.
“I work best on my own,” I replied, sensing Ethan’s clinginess.
“Then what do you need partners for?” Ethan asked, looking dejected. “I mean, if you are paying for everything and the first big client is not being shared, why are Coco and I here?”
“Don’t take it personally. Esty is our client and I don’t mean to hoard her case, but it’s just that I have a history with Chip and I know this area of law,” I said defensively.
I knew that I couldn’t have Ethan come over and help me prepare for the case, since the materials I was going to review included documents from my secret file I had taken with me from Mavis, McLeish, Meinsdorf and Mooring LLP, and were not in the materials filed by Chip. If Ethan saw my notes and the copies of documents, he would fully object to my handling the case.
“I just think that you are hiding something, and I don’t know what it is yet,” Ethan said, looking over me suspiciously.
“I am not hiding anything from anyone. Once we have our space set up, Coco, you and I will sit down, and I will go over the entire file with you both,” I said as we pulled into my mother’s driveway. “For right now, you need to trust me.”
“Whatever you say, but if you change your mind, just text me,” Ethan offered as he leaned in to kiss me goodbye on the cheek.
“Ok, great then. Thanks for finding the space. You’re taking care of Jav. Good, alright then, I will speak to you later,” I interrupted quickly jumping out of the car before I let anything slip.
“Bye,” Ethan shouted after me.
CHAPTER 12
Welcome to the Carnival
Before I had even met with Esty at our new offices, Sylvia swept in with her decorator du jour and, unbeknownst to me, tastefully redecorated the space. Happy not to dip into our capital fund further, I accepted the changes.
Surprisingly, many clients from each of Coco’s and Ethan’s former practices decided to migrate to our new firm. Coco even gave up on suing her former firm as she was simply too busy. With Coco busy dealing with her clients and acting as Lucky’s guardian, Ethan and Javier took over the matter of protecting Armand from himself. Javier, eager to please, became my right hand and was almost entirely devoted to being my junior on the Chalmers file. He was keen, hard working and quite adept at navigating Westlaw. We could not have been more pleased with his lawyering skills, including Coco, despite her best efforts to openly haze him by forcing him to walk Lucky. With Javier at my side doing my legal research, both Ethan and Coco were less interested in how the Chalmers case was going.
A similar but less-successful version of my mother, our new law clerk, Janice Strauss, surprised us all by showing up early on her first day of work.
“You must be Joely,” Janice squealed as she shook my hand. “You are the spitting image of Sylvia!”
“And you are?” I asked.
“I’m Janice Strauss. Descendant of Levi, not the tribe honey, just the jean-making machine,” she stated. “I’m your new tough-talking, straight-walking, sharp-as-a-tack law clerk.”
“Pleased to meet you,” I replied. “Coco, Ethan, come out and meet Janice.”
Ethan and Coco emerged from their offices to behold a larger-than-life cartoon character ready for her cl
ose-up. Dressed in a 1940s perfectly tailored suit with matching pumps that looked lifted from the set of George Cukor’s The Women, she had fire-engine red hair styled into a beehive, with black Elvis Costello eyeglasses to frame her face. Her long, acrylic, French manicured nails were bedazzled with rhinestones to match her gargantuan ten-carat diamond cocktail ring.
“Hi there, handsome!” Janice said in a breathy voice. “You must be Ethan. Sylvia told me all about you!”
“Hi,” Ethan said, blushing.
“And you must be Miss Cocolicious,” she said. “You match the description Sylvia gave me, minus the fleabag.”
“Uh, yeah,” Coco said, looking down at Lucky. “Well, I have work to do.” Coco shot me a mixed look of panic and horror.
“Well, tell me where to park it and then let’s fly on the files,” Janice said.
“You will be sitting back here,” I said pointing to the common area with two desks. We had presumed that we would eventually hire another clerk, so the extra desk would remain empty for a while. “Why don’t you put your purse down and meet Ethan and me in the boardroom? It’s just to the left.”
“Sure thing, sweet cheeks,” she said. Janice turned the corner to check out her new digs as Ethan and I walked into the boardroom.
“Are you crazy?” Ethan whispered as soon as Janice was out of earshot. “We’ll never be taken seriously with her!”
“Be nice,” I warned.
“How did someone like her ever become a law clerk?” he asked. “No, wait, how did anyone ever hire her as a law clerk?”
“Sylvia told me that she was not a very good actress. Always forgot her lines, so, even though her family is loaded, she got her paralegal license to supplement her shopping habit when acting didn’t pan out. Listen, I realize that she’s a little flamboyant, but my mother said that she is a crackerjack law clerk. You saw her references. On paper, she’s a gem!”
“I don’t care if she’s the Hope Diamond! We’ll never get a client past her unfiltered craziness,” Ethan exclaimed.
“Shhh, she’ll hear you. For now, she’s all we’ve got, and she’s practically working for pennies, so not one more word about her,” I ordered.
“I’m sure Coco will have a few words for you when she comes out of her green bunker,” Ethan snickered.
“For your information, it’s chartreuse. Coco can repaint it once my mother stops coming by the office,” I said exasperated.
“Um, Yoely,” Javier interrupted.
“Hey, Jav, what’s up?” I said.
“Who is Yessica Rabbit in the kitchen?” he asked as Ethan laughed.
“It’s our new clerk. Why?” I asked, nervous.
“Well, she thought I was the office boy, so she told me to get her a muffin, one that was as cute as my, and, I quote, ‘breakfast rolls,’ as she pinched my ass,” Javier informed us.
“Did I miss a hoot of joke?” Janice asked.
“Uh, no, it’s nothing,” I said. “Why don’t we chat about …”
“About this Chalmers file,” Janice said, waving the file in my face. “I found it along with a work list on my desk. Honey child, I hope you are more organized with your court dates than the state of this humdinger of a file. You have unopened correspondence from opposing counsel sitting here, and you have a hearing in less than two weeks.”
“How did you know that?” I swiped the unopened couriered letter from Mavis, McLeish, Meinsdorf and Mooring LLP away from her.
“I took a look at the file,” she said. “Have you scheduled your depositions for this Rita woman? I see that Esty is coming in later on this morning, do you want me to sit in on the meeting?”
“Since you seem able to deftly jump into the deep end without a life preserver, why don’t you and Javier, our first year associate whom you’ve already met, sit down and make a list of deponents for us to subpoena,” I instructed.
“You betcha,” Janice said. “Come with me, you hot tamale, and I’ll get you a muffin!” Janice grabbed Javier’s hand and led him into the boardroom. Javier looked back, pleading with his eyes for salvation. Ethan, unable to control himself, burst out into laughter again. Annoyed, I retreated to my office to get ready for my meeting with Esty.
“I need to discuss your dad with you,” Ethan said as he entered my office. “I got all of your emails from him continually asking you to redo his power of attorney. I’ve emailed him, telling him that you’ve asked me to look after him, and he thinks that I am going to draft all of his film contracts. Actually, Antonia called me this morning and left me a voice mail message with a list of demands for her contract and for the power of attorney.”
“Obviously you are not redrafting anything. Out of curiosity what are the demands?” I asked.
“She wants access to not only the production bank account, but to his personal accounts too. Including the one holding his allowance from your mom,” Ethan divulged.
“She’s one devious bitch. When’s his competency hearing?” I asked.
“It hasn’t been scheduled yet. Dr. Soundtree offered to come out here to do the assessment himself, and, since he cannot get out here for another week, we can’t set a hearing date,” Ethan advised.
“Shit. You’re just going to have to stall Armand,” I said. “Tell him that you have to be out of the country on business for a week and then schedule a meeting with him and Dr. Soundtree as soon as the doctor can get out here.”
“And what about Antonia?” he asked.
“Tell Armand that she cannot attend the meeting because if she does, it will call into question the validity of his naming her as his attorney for property,” I said.
“If she’s so conniving, you really think she’ll listen?” Ethan leaned into my desk worriedly.
“Oh yeah. Especially if you emphasize that in order for the power of attorney to be kosher beyond reproach, Armand has to be deemed to have been acting according to his own free and uninfluenced will,” I said.
“Not bad. So you think she’ll back off,” he said.
“For sure. There’s no way that she wants anyone to be able to undermine her efforts to unduly influence Armand. This way, he’ll come alone and Dr. Soundtree will be able to assess him without Antonia’s interference,” I said.
“How do you know he’ll comply?” Ethan kept on pressing — something I liked about him.
“Just play to his ego. Armand would get down on all fours and bark like a dog if he thought it would get his movie made,” I advised.
“Ok. Will do,” Ethan said. “Listen, do you want to have dinner with me tomorrow night? It’s been a while since we hung out, just the two of us.”
“Sounds good. You pick the place,” I replied. “Listen, I need to quickly review some emails before Esty gets here, so if you don’t mind …”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m leaving,” Ethan said, turning to the door.
Checking my email messages, I felt optimistic that we would win the Chalmers case, especially with Chip at the helm of Mandy’s sinking ship. Scanning through the list of senders, my bubble burst quickly when I saw that there was a message waiting for me from Blake.
Dear Joey,
When I didn’t hear from you before leaving New York, I tried to write you at your office email, but I got a notice from Mavis, McLeish, Meinsdorf and Mooring LLP stating that you were no longer in their employ. The only other email address I have for you is this one, so, hopefully, you still check it. I am back in LA, and, by the time you are reading this, you will be, too. I would love to have dinner. We need to talk. I am going to be living in LA permanently now, as you know that I have taken a tenured position at UCLA Law as the head of the Estates and Trusts course area. Please just give me a chance to make things right with you, even if we just remain friends. You can reach me at (310) 656-6565. I have a great little house in the Venice canals and would love to show it to you. Hope to hear from you soon.
With great affection,
Blake
Craptastic, I thought. With
Blake moving to LA and his undeterred desire to win me back, I now would have to run interference between Blake, Coco and Ethan. Both Coco and Ethan hated Blake for how he treated me, but more so for how pathetic and needy they said I became when he was around. Hoping to quell his burning love fire, I hit the reply button, without the slightest clue of how I would respond. Thoughts of “you’re a douchebag who broke my heart and ruined my love life” raced through my mind, yet somehow my fingers replied by way of my guiding heart instead of my rational mind.
Dear Blake,
Dinner sounds good. It will be good to get closure.
Joely
I clicked on the send button before I came to my senses and realized that my email intimated that I still had unresolved feelings for him. Double shit! Janice knocked at my door before I could recall the message. I prayed that my message would go to spam and Blake would never see it. Fixing this newest snafu would have to wait until after I met with Esty.
“Joely, you in there?” she asked as she opened the door before waiting for a response. “Oh good, you’re here. So is Esty.”
“Thanks,” I said. “Can you please show her into the boardroom and get her a coffee or something?”
“No problemo,” she replied. “But FYI, honey, I’m not a receptionist. So while I am happy to oblige, I’m hoping you will be hiring a gopher soon.”
I didn’t mind her sass.
“Good morning. How are you?” I asked Esty as I walked into the boardroom. Janice followed behind me and sat down to take notes.
“I’m great,” she replied as she stood up and gave me a hug. “I just made it to the quarter-finals of the show!”
“That is fantastic! By the way, you’ve already met Janice, our new law clerk. She’ll be sitting in on the meeting to take notes. Silently,” I explained, giving Janice a sharp look.
“Have you been watching?” she asked tentatively.
“Watching what?” I asked.
“My show!” she exclaimed.
“Sorry, I’ve been so busy with your case and setting up our office space that I don’t even remember what a TV looks like,” I admitted.
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