Page 4 of Pride & Precedents

I surprised Gabe and Rory with a family trip to Puerto Rico a few years back, all without dipping into my savings.

He's incredibly smart.

Everyone knows he graduated from Yale Law with a 3.9 GPA and was the fastest to complete the partner track in the history of BBS (now BBS&P).

He is professional and respectful.

He never yells at me, or tries to make me look or feel stupid in front of a client.

And he's incredibly easy on the eyes.

The man looks like Keanu Reeves, if Keanu wore impeccable suits 24/7, had sexy horn-rimmed glasses, and spent all his spare time in the gym to get muscles like Brad Pitt in "Fight Club". I've never seen said muscles, but Jennifer in Estate Planning shared an elevator with one of his lady friends and heard the woman mention it while rudely using her cell phone on speaker. Thank God that witch is out of the picture. In addition to being tacky, she often treated me like Henry's personal assistant, instead of a valued member of the legal team.

In truth, there aremorethan a few things I like about Henry Park, Jr. I may even be harboring thetiniestcrush on the man. It's practically a foregone conclusion with no sexual outlets and a nonexistent social life.

But he'ssouptight! I wouldn't be surprised if he slept in those fancy suits. And he's obsessed with rules. There's no way someone so rigid could handle a woman with this muchsabor. And heneverstops working, not even when he's got a date with one of his many admirers. More than once, I've had to call security on angry women who got past reception and didn't care for being stood up for a date the night before. And worst of all, allof his "lady friends" have been a very specifictype:tall,painfully sexyhigh-power attorneys, just like him. I bet there's a directory of these women where he can just order one like an Uber.

Henry has a rule against interoffice dating,—of coursehe does—but even if he didn't, I doubt a short Rubenesque paralegal with no Ivy League degree or house in Stamford would fit the bill.His loss!I want to live life to the fullest, try everything, and go back for seconds. Hell, maybe eventhirds. "Brown eyes, thick thighs, and unwilling to compromise" has been my mantra to get over harsh words from terribly unoriginal mean girls in high school and later disgusting taunts from wannabe players in college. I cancertainlyhandle a little unrequited crush at work.

Cici clears her throat and gestures to the double doors behind her.

"Mr. Bannister will see you now."

I collect myself and stride purposefully into the founding partner's office, trying not to be intimidated by decor that clearly costs more than a beach house in Nantucket. Mr. Bannister is seated behind his mahogany desk and looking a lot like "Mr. Fantastic", complete with the distinguished gray streaks at his temples. Plenty of the firm's female employees hold a candle for him, hoping to be the next "Mrs. Bannister".

"Good evening, Ms. Sanchez," he says, closing a brief thicker than my tort law textbook. "What brings you by?"

"Hen—I meanMr. Parkmentioned you would have names of some potential VIP petitioners? He said you spoke about them at lunch."

Mr. Bannister picks up a manila envelope from his desk and brings it to where I'm standing.

"Their names are Naomi Watanabe and Tanner Moore. You may know Tanner from his fitness empire, TanFit." I take the envelope from Mr. Bannister and peek inside.

"Yes. Mr. Park mentioned he was preparing for an IPO?" Mr. Bannister nods somberly.

"Which means if we get this case, we'll be working in both Eastern and Pacific hours with Mr. Moore's attorney." I use all my willpower to keep from rolling my eyes. Of course the big case when I need to focus on school means evenlongerhours. I paste a professional smile on my face to hide the rage within.

"Thanks, Mr. Bannister. I'm off to put together the client dossiers. Mr. Park is eager to learn about these prospective clients." Mr. Bannister turns back to his desk but stops short.

"Actually, Ms. Sanchez, Mr. Park may know the female petitioner." That gets my attention. I look up to see a ghost of a smile pass across Mr. Bannister's face.

"Really?"

"They were the same year at Yale Law. Hopefully that gives us an edge when it's time to sign the retainer."

"I'm sure it will. Thank you, sir." Mr. Bannister retakes his seat and opens another mammoth brief.Is it a requirement that all partners dismiss people by just picking back up their work?I close my legal pad and see myself out. Hopefully Henry knows this Watanabe woman and we get some inside info. If this case means more work, hopefully it also means a fat bonus as my graduation present.

Chapter four

Camila

August 10th, 2018

"You're never going to beat him in the office, so don't even try," Vanessa warns, pulling my attention away from her dismal filing system and back to the handoff session she's been half-assing for the last forty-five minutes.

Nothing is ready. Files for active cases are mixed in with files for closed cases. She doesn't have any client numbers saved into her office phone. Her password to the firm intranet—along with all the confidential client files digitally stored there—is on a Post-It note under her keyboard. And her desk has so many knick knacks, there's barely room for the interoffice bin and a single,completely blanklegal pad. How on earth someone so clearly incompetent earned a spot with apartneris beyond me. I can already tell I'll have to re-learn everything from scratch once she's out.

"Sub Zero gets here before 8:00am most days, but as long as I'm in before 8:15am, he doesn't fuss."Of courseshe doesn't even follow the firm's designated hours. If she can get away withit, kudos for her. Meanwhile, I have to elbow my way onto a subway car at 6:30am to get here on time.

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