Page 10 of Objection
“I know. But trust me. It’s a good career move. One that could make things much better for me in the long run.”
“Whatever. The game is on. Grab the dishes, since I cooked and whatever.” Without so much as a second glance, he stalked off to the living room, plopping down on the couch to watch the game.
Maybe David was right. Maybe this would all blow up in my face. But the money was good, and I knew how to work with Mr. Wellington. I could handle it. Getting through the next two weeks with Mr. Farley, on the other hand, now that sounded brutal. Just thirteen more days.
* * *
The next twoweeks passed by in a flurry of exhausting activity that had me feeling depleted and enraged in equal measure. Mr. Farley had been true to his word, making sure I did everything he needed me to do before I left. He had hired a new paralegal on, but he was a pain in the ass. In the short time I had spent training him — or attempting to — he had proven to be more interested in the ongoings of his Facebook feed than the actual work that needed to be done. At the end of the day, it was not my problem anymore, but I hated that I was adding work to Sandra’s plate, to all the other paralegals’ plates. Mr. Farley should have hired a more competent employee, but again, that was not my problem anymore.
I had finished clearing out my desk and my things. It had been hard to just pile every item up in the old banker boxes, but at the same time there was a kind of catharsis to the process. Saying goodbye to Sandra had been ten times harder than I had planned. I had planned it. I waited til the end of the day, and made a beautiful speech to her. We hugged and cried. Of course, then she convinced me to go out for a drink, one last time. We would stay in touch, but there was something about grabbing a drink with a co-worker after work that just could not be replicated after parting ways.
So, we had made our way down the street to a little dive bar we had frequented often over the last five years. When I walked in and all of the other paralegals were there, along with several from other firms that I had gotten to know, I was floored. Tears had welled up in my eyes and I had hugged Sandra tighter than ever before. The time with them that night had been everything I needed to say goodbye to the job that had been my home for five years.
David was less impressed with my decision to be out late drinking at the bar with friends. I had pushed off his attitude and taken the time I needed for me. He wasn’t there when I had returned late that night, and it was for the better. He stayed at my house maybe half of the time, but tonight was definitely a night I wanted to myself. I had the weekend to myself to prepare for starting the new job on Monday and I was full of anticipation and nerves. It felt like a swarm of butterflies had invaded my stomach and it took every bit of relaxation technique I had to keep myself calm before Monday morning.
The morning would come far too early, and a new chapter of my life would begin.
5
Soren
I was not prepared.I had tried to be. I had meticulously thought out, listed, and planned everything I would need before Ms. Adams arrived. She had done her due diligence and had sent me a list of items she required to fulfill her duties to the best of her ability. I was more than pleased to see that she had not held back. Her list was even categorized into three categories: Basic necessities, preferred items, and items to add as growth occurred. She included links, as well, to the best places to purchase each item to keep things cost efficient.
Things like this were exactly why I wanted to bring on Ms. Adams. She was young and innovative and a hard worker. She was also punctual. I watched from the kitchen window as her car pulled into the driveway. A modest sedan in a dark blue color. Fifteen minutes prior to our scheduled meet time, I liked that. It showed forethought, effort, and respect. When she stepped out of the car; however, I had to school my thoughts. She was wearing a perfectly professional outfit. It just happened to be an outfit that was like kryptonite to me. Black pencil skirt, a white, long-sleeved blouse, black stockings, and modest heeled shoes. The bun perched atop her head completed the look and I was glad I had a moment to school my thoughts before she stepped foot into my home.
“Ms. Adams, welcome to my home and your new office,” I began. I took a breath as she walked past me. That was a bad idea. Whatever perfume she had chosen was intoxicating. Soft, subtle, with just a hint of sweetness that made me wonder wildly inappropriate things. I shook the thought from my head and showed her into my home. “This is the office we will be sharing; however, it is currently under renovation. It should be completed by the end of next week. For now, we will be working in my formal dining room. Right this way.”
She smiled and followed me into the dining room where I had set up two quasi stations for us to work at.
“I have the items you requested, however some of them will be better left to set up when the office is completed. If that does not work for you, please let me know.”
“That suits me just fine. Thank you. Where shall we begin?” She was anxious, in a good way it would seem.
“You’ll work from here until the office is complete. As of right now, the marketing for the business has been rolling for two full weeks and business is already flying in. I have supplies organized as best as I can for the time being. The current clients I’ve taken on in the last two weeks are on that shelf there, alphabetically. I’d like to maintain both a physical and an electronic file for all cases,” I began, pointing out each item as I explained.
“Of course. Better to mitigate possible issues like technical difficulties or lack of internet.” She was quick and I liked that. “I am assuming you have a better program than the one Mr. Farley operated from?”
The question took me off guard. She really was bright.
“No, actually. Currently I have a server set up for us with bank grade security; however, I have not purchased any programs or software like Jack’s. I had planned on it, as I had no issues with it, but now I’m curious to hear your thoughts.” I pointed at the chair by her station and sat in my own seat.
“Well, the system that Mr. Farley used was workable, at best, but more often than not, caused a huge headache for support staff.”
“How so?” I asked, intrigued.
“Well, for one, it’s not cloud based, so any files that we saved we had to manually save to the server as well. Additionally, it did not save emails to files automatically.” She was ticking off each item on her fingers as she went.
“Is that something that’s even possible?” I was honestly surprised. I hadn’t known there was software capable of such a thing.
“Oh yes! There are a few on the market that are capable, but one in particular is the way to go. It is more expensive up front but —”
“Price versus cost. Of course. And if it saves us time with each email we sent —”
“Plus, having the capability to email documents directly to clients with bank grade security, allow for electronic signatures, allow the client access to view their pleadings at any time… if you add all that up it saves us so much time and energy while giving the clients a feeling of additional securityandadditional hand holding without adding to our bottom line.” In a word, Ms. Adams was brilliant. Yes, the decision to bring her on was far and away the correct choice.
“I’m assuming you have a link,” I urged.
“Of course, I’ll send it to you directly once you allow me access to the computer,” she teased.
