Page 2 of Hula Girl

Mr. Miller and I both looked up to find Manfred Kahn, the sole remaining living partner in the firm, rushing toward us. I had released my hold on Mr. Miller, but we were now both on our knees, our bodies close, and I could feel the energy in the room change. It was so tense that it was almost hard to breathe. Mr. Miller stiffened, and I knew without having to examine this reaction that he was horrified that Kahn was seeing him this way.

“I’m fine,” he said, though with a catch in his voice. He was still shaken by what had happened.

“Candace has called 911,” Kahn said.

“I don’t need paramedics,” he replied gruffly. He looked like he wanted to say more but struggled to get the words out.

It pained me to see him so vulnerable, so mortified by this moment.

“It was silly,” I blurted out and all eyes turned to me. “I tripped over my own two feet when I got up to shake Mr. Miller’s hand.” I forced a laugh. “Andbam, I went flying right into the desk and knocked everything over. Can you believe that? Just my nerves, I’m sure. Anyway, Mr. Miller was kind enough to help me clean up the mess I made. That’s all.”

“Is that right, Randall?” Kahn asked. “Because Candace was pretty sure you …fainted.” Kahn’s expression wasn’t exactly the picture of concern. There was something much more likehopein his eyes. That kind of attempt to prey upon someone’s weakness always makes my stomach turn.

Again, without thinking, I burst out into laughter. “Oh goodness, no,” I said. “Mr. Miller was just being far too kind to me. I’m sure I’ve lost all chance at the position here now. I’m so sorry about all this fuss.” I stood and before I could reach out to offer Mr. Miller my hand, he grabbed the edge of his desk and pulled himself to his feet with only a barely audible grunt.

“It’s no problem, Miss Ruiz,” he said, meeting my eyes. “Thank you for coming in today.”

I saw genuine gratitude in his gaze. But then he looked away, addressing his secretary.

“Candace, why don’t you tidy this up? I have a match at the club in half an hour. I have to get going.”

I’m usually good at keeping my emotions under wraps, but I don’t think I did a good job at hiding my disappointment at that moment.

“You’re sure everything is okay?” Kahn asked a little too eagerly.

“Perfectly fine,” Mr. Miller replied with finality.

I nodded to myself, gathered my attaché case and purse and said quick, polite goodbyes to everyone before showing myself out.

Two days later, I got an offer from human resources. Agoodoffer. I was dumbfounded, but not dumb enough to turn it down. It was three months of twelve to fourteen-hour days, six days a week of working at the firm before I had occasion to see Mr. Miller again. It was at one of the semi-regular office happy hours on a Friday evening. They were always casual affairs, designed mostly to throw the grunts like me a bone for working so tirelessly. The upper-level staff rarely attended. Partnersneverattended.

That is until Mr. Miller showed up. I watched him make perfunctory greetings to some of the other newbies before he reached me.

“Miss Ruiz,” he began, “a pleasure to see you again.”

“And you, Mr. Miller. How have you been?”

He hesitated, his intelligent gray eyes examining me for a moment. “Just fine.”

I understood in that response that we were not to acknowledge his incident. That was perfectly fine with me. It had been awkward and stressful enough when it happened. If he was ready to act like I’d never witnessed his moment of weakness, then so be it.

“Glad to hear it,” I said.

“Listen, I understand you speak Spanish. Is that right?”

That was a curveball I wasn’t expecting. “Yes, I do.”

“Perfect. I’m assembling a team for a case. We’re meeting tomorrow morning at nine. I’d like you to join us.”

“M-me?” I stammered. Like an idiot. But really, how was I to react when the senior partner of the law firm I had only barely started working for recruited me for his case team? This was less expected than that curveball. This was a knuckleball (yes, I’m a baseball fan).

“See you tomorrow, Miss Ruiz,” he replied, clearly amused.

“Yes, sir. See you then.”

“Girl, you have just landed the golden ticket,” Tyler murmured, having sidled up to me. Like me, he was a first-year associate. We started the same week and almost immediately bonded over late-night takeout eaten at our desks as we commiserated over our lack of a love life, both of us longing for a boyfriend to go home to. In our fantasies, these boyfriends of ours would be waiting for us with a home-cooked meal and ready to rub our temples.

“Do you think?” I asked.

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