Maggie smiled again. “That sounds great, thanks!”
After Rance left, she blinked back tears and stood looking around, unsure of where to start. By the time Rance’s assistant Mildred brought her some case files, Maggie had repositioned the desk at an angle in the corner, placing two chairs opposite the desk for clients. She thanked Mildred, genuinely grateful for the diversion afforded by the files.
As the week progressed, she immersed herself in the cases Rance sent her way. She knew that by her second week, she’d be ready to accompany him to court.
* * *
When Michael returned to the office on Monday morning, it was business as usual. He ran the morning meeting brusquely and efficiently with no banter or joking. The faces around the conference table were curious but no one had the audacity to bring up the events of Friday afternoon or to inquire about Maggie. After the meeting, Michael closed himself in his office with instructions to Karen that he was not to be disturbed.
The morning meeting was much harder than he’d anticipated. Maggie’s absence was utterly palpable. It was as though there was an empty hole yawning before him at the table. He soon realized that it wasn’t simply the conference table that was emptier. The atmosphere in general on the 50th floor seemed to be missing an element, like there was less air or something.
There were cases to work on but no court dates were scheduled for the week. And that was a good thing, really. There were some decisions that needed to be made. He needed to decide who would be replacing Maggie as his second.
Amy seems the logical choice, he considered. She’s smart and efficient. Not quite the personality of Mags, but she’ll get the job done. He supposed he should move her into Maggie’s office. The idea gave him an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Michael didn’t open his door all morning, Karen noted. He had even turned down his lunch, muttering something about having brought something from home, which Karen highly doubted. In all the years she’d worked for Michael, she’d never known him to brown bag it. At 2:00 Michael left his office for the first time since the morning meeting. She eyed him curiously. He didn’t say a word, never even looked her way. Instead he let himself into Maggie’s office and closed the door behind him.
Alone in Maggie’s office, Michael stood helplessly in the middle of the room. He recalled the day he’s presented her with the freshly renovated office, how she’d been furious with him at first until she realized what he’d done for her. He could picture her behind the antique French desk, looking up at him to say something smart-ass when he came in to ask her one thing or another. He crossed the room and sank into her chair behind the desk, looking out over the room that felt as empty as it looked.
How did this happen? Everything was going along fine. And then it wasn’t.
Michael went through the entire week like that, staying holed up in his office for most of the morning, then at some point wandering into Maggie’s office to sit in the half-light filtering in from outside. Karen had stacks of phone messages that he hadn’t returned.
On Friday, she watched as he left his office for Maggie’s and decided she needed to do something. She opened Maggie’s door and found Michael sitting behind the desk. Closing the door behind her, she took a few steps toward the desk and stopped, crossing her arms.
Michael glanced up at her. “What?” he asked flatly.
“How long are you going to do this?” she asked him softly.
“Do what?” he responded.
Karen gestured around the room. “This. Hide in your office all morning and brood in Maggie’s office all afternoon. There are tons of people you need to get back to, you’ve missed two lunch appointments, you never bothered to show up at Doc Watson’s. The staff wonders what happened to their leader. How long until you get yourself together?”
“Get myself together? Somebody thinks I’m not together?” he asked hotly.
“Come on, Michael. What’s going on? Why did Maggie really leave?”
“She left because she got an offer from the DA’s office. Why is that so hard to understand?” he spat.
Karen took a step back, raising her hands in defense. “Whoa, whoa, I’m just saying to you what the others are saying behind your back. You can’t honestly think you can mope around here like some kind of tragic Shakespearean character and people won’t speculate.”
“People should mind their own goddamn business.”
She walked to the desk. “You slept with her, didn’t you?”
Michael stood abruptly, sending the chair crashing back into the credenza. “What the fuck kind of conclusion is that?” he demanded. “Who around here is wasting firm time gossiping about my private life? Who I fuck or don’t fuck is none of anybody’s concern except mine.”
His voice grew louder. “You have overstepped your boundaries one time too many. You are not my wife, you are not my mother. You are a fucking secretary. Stay the hell out of my life!” By the end of his tirade he was shouting.
Karen stood blinking against the onslaught of angry words. For a moment the room was silent. Then she turned and walked to the door. In the open doorway she stopped and spoke quietly. “Never mind a two week notice. I quit.” She left him alone in Maggie’s office.
“Shit!” he swore to himself. Michael followed Karen out into the reception area. She was gathering her purse and a few personal items. “Karen, I’m sorry, just... Come to my office, we’ll talk about it.” Karen never looked up at him. Personal belongings in hand, she crossed to the elevator and wordlessly left the 50th floor.
Michael stood nodding at the closed elevators doors for a moment. “Alright,” he said to himself. “Fine.”
He marched down the hall and threw open Amy’s door, much to her surprise. “Amy, you have a new office,” he said. “Come with me.” Bewildered, Amy followed Michael to Maggie’s office. He threw open the door and flipped the light switch. “Welcome to your new office.” He watched her slowly walk around the room.
“Are you serious?” she asked.
“You’re my new second,” he told her. “It’s a big responsibility and I believe you’re up to the challenge. This is the office that goes with that job.”
He glanced around, his eyes falling on the two framed photos of Florence. He strode purposefully to the wall. “These are Maggie’s. She forgot them. You can put up your own art,” he said as he removed the prints from the wall.
* * *
Maggie relaxed in her living room on first Friday evening working for Rance. She briefly thought of Michael and the gang meeting at Doc’s and felt a pang of regret. She was surprised when her door buzzed.
“Delivery for Maggie Flynn,” the voice said.
“I’ll be right down,” Maggie replied, puzzled.
When she opened the front door, a messenger was standing on the stoop. “Maggie Flynn?” he asked, and she nodded. “Just sign here,” he said, handing her a clipboard. Maggie signed and he handed her a large flat square parcel. “It’s a little heavy,” he warned.
She held out a few dollars to tip him. He shook his head. “No, thank you, ma’am. The gratuity was covered by the sender.”
Back in her living room, she placed the parcel on the kitchen table and looked at it curiously. There were no markings on the brown paper other than her name and address. Carefully she tore it open to find the framed Florence photos from her office at Murphy, Rannigan.
A business card was stuck in the corner of one frame. It was Michael’s, of course. On the back of the card she recognized his scrawl. These belong to you. Enjoy your new office. Best of luck, M.
Chapter 4
On Saturday morning, Maggie’s phone rang. Cautiously, she looked at the screen. Karen. She frowned a bit. “Hello?”
“Hi, doll, how are you?” Karen said cheerfully. “Meet me for coffee.”
Half an hour later, she entered the coffee shop Karen had indicated. The two women hugged each other and Maggie slipped onto a seat across from her old friend,
who smiled winningly. “So how was your first week in your new place?” Karen asked.
Maggie thought of her new office with its lackluster beige everything. She smiled deliberately. “Oh, you know, it’s an adjustment, but it’s going well. How are things...” she trailed off.
Karen looked down for a moment. “Well, Michael’s a mess.”
Maggie frowned. “What do you mean, a mess?”
“I mean, he pretty much locked himself in his office all week.” Karen looked at her intently, lowering her voice. “And when he wasn’t in his office, he was in yours.”
“What?” Maggie shook her head. “What was he doing?”
Karen shrugged. “When I went in there, he was just sitting at your desk staring into space. It’s like he’s lost.” Maggie didn’t know what to say so she didn’t say anything. “And something else I should tell you,” Karen continued, “I quit.”
“What? Karen! Why did you do such a thing?”
“I’d been considering it for a while, truthfully.” She looked at Maggie. “Don retired last year and we’d like to do some traveling. I just felt loyal to Michael, I didn’t want to leave him in the lurch, especially with you gone.” Karen paused for a moment. “But yesterday I followed him into your office. I asked him point blank if you two had slept together.”
“Jesus, Karen, seriously!” Maggie exclaimed, blushing.
“Maggie, he went off on me. Shouting and waving his arms. Said I was always overstepping, forgetting my place. I quit, right then and there. Just walked out.”
Maggie breathed out. “Listen, Karen, please don’t blame Michael for my leaving. It was time. That last case kicked my ass. I don’t want to do that kind of law anymore.” She sighed. “Talk to Michael. Get your job back. He’ll understand, really he will.”
Karen smiled and shook her head. “No, I’m happy I quit. I know I should have done it months ago. Don and I are making all kinds of plans. We’re booked on a cruise to Venice in a few months.” She laughed. “I feel so light and free.”
Later that evening as she enjoyed the dinner party at Rance and Jason’s apartment, Maggie replayed the conversation with Karen. “I asked him point blank if you two had slept together.”
She blushed again at the memory. I wonder what he said. And she says he’s a mess. Maggie sighed. She thought about the framed Florence photos he’d sent. She wasn’t sure whether to try to hang them in her new office or to keep them at home. Just then Rance asked her a question and she abandoned her private thoughts.
* * *
Following the dinner party at Rance and Jason’s, Maggie felt a bit more comfortable in the new office. At least she knew a few people to speak with, some to go out to lunch with, and those few introduced to her more. She dived in to the cases that came her way and before she realized it, she’d been with the DA’s office for six months.
Suddenly she was making plans for Christmas. The usual cast of characters was invited along with a few new orphans and misfits from work. Rance and Jason promised to stop by on their way to Jason’s mother’s house in Connecticut.
Maggie wondered about Michael. Since that first year, he’s arranged his vacation so that he could at least put in an appearance at Maggie’s before jetting off to some exotic locale for the rest of the Christmas holiday.
Should I formally invite him? Surely he knows... His status as an orphan and misfit hasn’t changed.
But as Christmas day wore on, as guests arrived and dinner was prepared and consumed, gifts were exchanged and hugs were shared, Maggie kept an eye on her phone, her ear tuned toward the door buzzer.
By the time the last of her guests hugged her good night and headed out into the twilight of early Christmas night, there was still no sign of Michael. She glanced at the lone gift still waiting under her tree, the bottle of Parker’s Heritage “Golden Anniversary” bourbon she’d snagged for Michael at the liquor store where the manager always called her around the beginning of December to tell her about the rare bottle he’d put away for her annual purchase.
She considered the gifts he’d given her over the years. He always found something unique and beautiful like the moonstone bracelet which she adored and had tried to give back. There had been interesting art pieces, a hand-made necklace, and once, tickets to a Broadway show.
She shook her head, feeling foolish at having assumed he would come. I should have invited him. It’s not like me to be so passive-aggressive. I’m an idiot. She turned away from the Christmas tree, figuring she’d have the gift delivered to the office sometime after the New Year.
Her phone blipped indicating a message. She swiped at the screen to see a Snapchat notification. Pulling up the app, she saw that the message was from Michael and her heart pounded.
“Hi, Mags,” Michael smiled into the camera from the couch in his living room. “Merry Christmas. I was thinking about you and the other orphans and misfits. I hope you had a nice holiday.” Maggie smiled sheepishly. He had been waiting for an invitation. She considered not replying then thought better of it.
“Merry Christmas, Michael. We missed you today. When you didn’t come I figured you were already out of town. I hope you had a good holiday.” She pressed Send before she could change her mind.
He replied a few minutes later. “I leave tomorrow,” he grinned, looking away from the camera. “I wasn’t sure I was still invited. I had a peaceful day, no hassle or stress. It was nice.”
Wasn’t sure he was invited. Maggie sighed. She decided to play it off with humor. “You are an orphan and a misfit, Michael. You qualify on both counts,” she laughed. She looked directly into the camera. “You’re always invited,” she said softly.
Michael smiled into the camera, his eyes crinkling in that singular Michael Rannigan way. “I’m glad to hear it.” He paused a moment. “A messenger will be arriving at your door any time now. I’m sending your gift.”
Instinctively Maggie looked out the window. “Michael, you didn’t need to get me a gift. Seriously, it’s not necessary, I just...” She broke off as the buzzer sounded. “That must be he.” She sent the message and buzzed the front door.
A knock at her door told her the messenger had made it upstairs. She opened the door to find a tall young man holding a small parcel. “Maggie Flynn?” he asked.
Maggie smiled. “That’s me,” she said, taking the parcel. She signed for it, then, “Listen, can you take a parcel to the man who sent this?”
The young man grinned. “He said you’d probably ask me that.”
Michael always thinks he knows me, she thought irritably. She went to the Christmas tree to retrieve Michael’s gift. “It’s fragile,” she told him. “What do I owe you for delivering this?”
He shook his head. “Mr. Rannigan already paid me,” he said.
Maggie nodded. “Of course he did,” she muttered. “Thank you again, and Merry Christmas,” she wished him as he turned to leave.
She took the box to the living room and sat on the couch in front of the tree. She gazed at the gift for a moment. He’s probably waiting to hear if I like it, she thought, carefully removing the wrapping.
Inside the brown paper was a pale blue box tied with white ribbon, Tiffany & Co. stamped in silver on the lid. She removed the lid and gasped. There was a pair of dangling silver filigree earrings set with moonstone cabochons. They had to be the matching earrings to the bracelet.
Maggie crossed to a mirror on the wall and held up an earring to her ear. They were absolutely exquisite. She put them on and held up her phone. “Michael, I don’t know what to say. These are amazingly beautiful.” She tilted her head from side to side to show them off. “They go perfectly with the bracelet. You shouldn’t have, really.”
Michael smiled into the camera again. “I’m glad you like them. I knew you would when I saw them.” A serious look crossed his face. “You should have beautiful things.”
There it was, that classic Michael Rannigan mixed message that had kept her bound to him for so lon
g. Maybe it’s just that he has no idea what he really wants. Which is why I can’t wait around for him anymore.
Maggie shook the ambivalence out of her head. “I love them, Michael, I really do. Thank you!” She grinned at him. “As you predicted, your messenger is on his way back to you. I thought I was going to have to send your gift to the office when you got back. Instead, you can have it now.”
He replied to her fifteen minutes later. “Holy shit, Mags, you did it again.” He held up the bottle of bourbon. “I don’t know how you always manage to find a different rare bottle every year. This is really something else!” He looked directly at the camera. “Now I have to find someone to share it with who will appreciate such a fine bourbon.”
Maggie rolled her eyes. I’m not biting, Michael. “I’m so glad you like it. How I find great bourbon is my little secret,” she winked. “And I have no doubt in your ability to find someone to share it with you. No worries.” She smiled and sent the video.
Michael felt unsettled as he watched her last message. That’s it. She’s over me. She’s not mad, she still likes me. But she’s not in love with me anymore. The thought unnerved him more than he would have thought. He keyed up Snapchat once more. “Well, thanks again, Mags. I love it. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!”
She replied one last time. “Merry Christmas, Michael. Have a great trip. Happy New Year!”
Chapter 5
The New Year took off quickly with Michael’s caseload piling up. Which, I suppose, is better than the alternative, he thought. Amy made for an efficient second. She was thorough and attentive to detail. But she was also about as much fun to talk to as a bowl of lukewarm oatmeal. Plus, she was married, hurried home to the hubby every evening. She was no Maggie.
Rannigan's Redemption: Complete Collection Page 22