A Legal Trap Ch. 12

His joke was lost on me, I was thinking too hard about the numbers, "The Port of Seattle contract alone generates tens of millions annually I would bet... Expansion..."

Then it hit me. Crap! Martin is always traveling, speaking abroad at various colleges! Recruits a plenty, cherry pick newly minted college lawyer grads. The markets he's probably researched are likely all over the country and any city with port activities and a union...

"Wow... Show some success negotiating with the new city council - which you helped get elected through generous donations - to circumvent the new mayors want for a better contract with the union favoring the city. You'll pick up new union clients with ease."

"It's a game within a game Liz."

I was about to speak, but our server was setting down a plate in front of me, then placing one in front of Paul. The smell wafting from the beautiful steaks on our plates was intoxicating and being as hungry as I was it was hard not to switch my focus. We were asked if we wanted to refresh our drinks, we did.

"Let's eat, we've got plenty of time to talk business later - deal?" Paul asked.

I agreed. Little did he know the break in talking about the firm only gave me time to organize the things I knew to this point. So many questions.

March 13th, 9:37 PM

The walk from our table to the exit was nice. Paul had his hand at the small of my back the entire way and once out the door he took my hand as we made our way to the car. It felt unusual holding someone's hand, but also comforting. I was probably just feeling that second drink with dinner.

We decided to get a last drink at the hotel bar. I tallied up the number of drinks I had had on this trip and they were more than I had consumed in total the last two years combined. Partly because I was perpetually broke and just didn't have money to blow on alcohol. I did however enjoy feeling, the effects from the alcohol, the buzz, and feeling more relaxed. I just needed to keep my tongue from getting me in trouble.

Paul opened the car door for me and I had an urge to kiss him. I turned into him, put a hand on his chest, and leaned in. He wasted no time reciprocating and our tongues telegraphed the urges. Telegraph? Does that even exist anymore? Wait... Oh, God... I felt his arms wrap arms around me and I was melting, knees weakening.

He pulled away and was looking into my eyes, "Where'd that come from?"

"I don't... I..."

"It's okay," he kissed me briefly, "I wanted to do kiss you a few times during dinner..."

"Well, then you should have," I said bolder than I felt.

"Next time, I will."

March 13th, 9:56 PM

For a Saturday night there wasn't much of a crowd in the hotel bar, which is odd since the restaurant on site had a couple Michelin stars and was seating its last guests at 10 PM. No matter, we found a booth and caught the eye of the bartender who came over to take our drink order. Paul stuck with beer, I did the rum and Coke standard.

"Alright, I've had an awesome evening, but it's time to get back to some questions," I said playfully with a pouty faced smile.

"Oh, really? What do you want to know," Paul asked as playfully.

What did I want to know? "What have you been doing with all this cloud stuff? Oh, and no tech talk, please."

He chuckled, "Fine, ruin my whole answer. No, actually I've been gathering evidence of misconduct. Mostly emails between Martin and a couple of the players within the union."

"Evidence for what? Is Jacob filing a complaint with the state board, ethics violation?"

"Yeah, it's a 'Cover his ass' move. Between the campaign contributions and positioning Martin has made via emails with union representatives - Jacob feels there have been some ethics violations. Strike first, be transparent, hopefully save the union representation contract and any public backlash."

Whoa! That meant a disciplinary board would convene, review the information, and hand down a ruling. Martin could be made to attend judicial classes at the low end of the punishment scale all the way to being suspended or disbarred. Jacob's move kept the firm above board, but made Martin look a little dirty. Throw in any of the city council or union representative connections and this was a serious play to save his firm.

"So, he's not selling out. Did he make an offer to buy Janet and Martin out?"

"Exactly..."

What? What 'exactly'? "And?"

"He did that this morning, via courier. He basically rejected their offer and is offering them the same deal they offered him."

"Did he tell them about filing with the state board?"

Paul smiled, "He didn't have too - the pulling of all the data today - caught them off guard. Blass has since shut the network down, parts of it at least. He'll be let go tomorrow when Jacob gets back to Seattle. Jacob had me send an email request to the firm's offsite data repository company for some specific periods. Some of the Exchange email server data has gone missing. I'll be able to get back anything deleted. Oh, and Landon sent an email to Jacob offering assistance with the states Attorney General, pretty sure everyone knows there's a fight coming."

"Janet?"

"She choose her side, she'll be facing the same disciplinary board charges as Martin - though her work with the union is minimal, the city council contributions don't shine the best light on her."

"Do I still... The firm will continue to function then, I just go to work Monday and pick up where I left off?"

"Pretty sure that's what Jacob expects from you. Look, nothing is gonna change overnight. The big dogs have all postured up. Janet and Martin might not even show up for a few days while they try to figure out their next moves. My money is on Jacob. Pretty much think they are on their way out though... The firm has plenty of clients and work going on, that can't just stop."

Of course, Paul was right, the business couldn't just shut its doors without hosing hundreds of clients and jeopardizing cases in progress, but... Oh shit! I sipped my rum and Coke, "Where does that leave you?"

"Well, guess you get to see a little more of me than you might like."

"Huh? You, you taking over for Blass?"

He smiled, "Temporarily, but I'll be heading up a search for a new CIO. There are a couple guys there who work as network admins and do basic support so I won't be alone trying to keep the lid on the firm's network."

"But, you, you're cluster phobic. How are you going to make it up to the office?" Why the heck did I bring that up? I shook my head. No more alcohol for me!

He reached across the table and squeezed my hand, "Guess you'll have to help me with that."

March 13th, 11:21 PM

The walk back to my room was nice, no hand holding, but there was a calming connected feeling I had about being with Paul. At my door, he said he had to get back to work. His kiss goodnight and the firm grasp on my ass during that kiss said he wished he could stay. I had to be up in four hours, so while it might have been fun to do a 'Netflix and chill' kind of end to the night - I was good with how it ended. Alone in a quiet room with just the AC humming away I did feel a little empty.

Time to get my face ready for bed, one last check to make sure everything was set for tomorrow, teeth brushed, two alarms set, and t-shirt only sleeping attire.

My mind was spinning from all that had happened today. I hoped I could get to sleep before the alarms went off. Phone on charger, 'click' the light out, very alone in here, very...

March 14th, 12:55 PM

My apartment was cold, more to the fact of it - the general Seattle area was cold. I'd been up since 4 AM and pretty much to this point the day had gone exactly as expected. The surprise of the day, not getting any additional screening at the airport full body scan machine.

Granted my jeans were maybe a little too tight and being tucked in tight jeans, while not comfortable, must have been enough to fool whomever was behind the screen looking at my naked form. Little boobs and all, I smiled thinking that was pretty cool. Thank God for penile discomfort!

Here and now though it was quiet in the apartment complex and like a tomb in my unit. I'd picked up my mail, mostly junk, unpacked, changed into a tattered pair of sweat pants and a 'Pink!' branded sweat shirt, and was about to call Paul. I texted him when I had landed. He said he missed me. Something as simple as that really was a boost. I pulled up his number and hit 'Dial'.

On the third ring I heard, "Hey! You all settled?"

It was nice to hear his voice and the cheer in his voice. "Yup, I look like a slob and I really don't care. Probably take a nap after this, I'm wasted. Think that's the most booze I've drank in a very long time. My body isn't used to the poisoning. I can feel it coming out of my skin." I heard him chuckle.

"I have a beer every couple days, takes the edge off."

"Well, back to the real world for me and no disposable cash for that stuff."

"Seriously, real world, I'm ready to get out of here and back to some norm."

Did your norm include me? I hoped things hadn't changed in the past twelve hours.

"You done at the Carson's'?"

"Mmhuh, 'little' icy while I was there. Didn't see Amber but once as she went to the kitchen for something. Stephanie was a ghost, didn't see her at all. The boys must have spent the night at a friend's, and Gary - he looked pissed. I got what I needed done, explained it, and got out of there."

"I'm sorry... Honestly, gonna be a while before that family see's eye to eye. I hope they get the help they need and Amber gives up her porn star ambitions."

We talked for about ten minutes more. I learned Jacob was probably just now getting to Seattle, so the Blass issue should be taken care of shortly. Paul said he would likely be in the office tomorrow late afternoon and hoped he'd see me. I was disappointed he didn't ask about maybe having dinner, but as he talked about all he needed to do and it sounded like he was going to busy into the late evening. He asked if I was running later. I said I was taking the day off. And after that the conversation seemed to peter out. I knew he was busy, but I missed him. Did he know that?

"Okay, well I gotta go finish up some things before Jacob cans Blass. Not the same around her without you Liz..."

"Yeah, well, I wish we were hanging out. With less drama swirling around us of course..."

"Me too, see you tomorrow."

"Yup... Call me if you have elevator troubles..."

"Will do. Bye..."

"Goodbye..."

March 15th, 9:07 AM

I'd gone to bed early last night, having forgone the nap I thought I was going to take due to vegging on the couch and zoning out in front of the TV. Now I felt sluggish, like I'd slept too much. I should have gone for a run last night instead of wasting my evening away. I would be running tonight for sure.

The bus commute to the office was as it always was, long yet uneventful. I wasn't sure what to expect when walking in office, so it was comforting to see everything appeared to be 'business as usual'. I went to my office, got my coat off, put my purse in my desk drawer, and jiggled the mouse to wake up my PC.

I entered my credentials and was presented with my desktop. Guess our systems are still up. I started the Outlook mail client program and was greeted by a handful of emails in my inbox. Their titles all leading me to believe they were work related. Well, back to reality...

March 15th, 10:26 AM

I saw plenty of people walking past my office, got a few head nods and waves. I thought about stopping by Lisa's office, but I knew we'd be doing coffee about now...

"Hey...," I said when she poked her head in my door.

"Where's the tan?"

"No time. I got out for a run every day though. The weather was amazing."

"You see my email?"

"Mmhuh, not until Friday night though and I knew you wouldn't see a reply until today. Thought I'd save the internet."

She interrupted me, "You hear Bill was let go yesterday?"

"Bill?" I knew who she was talking about, but I wanted to make it look like I didn't know much of anything.

"Bill Blass, IT Director, server God," she rattled off.

"Oh, they say why that happened?"

"No, but it probably has something to do with the partners fighting. I saw Jacob earlier, but no Janet or Martin yet."

"Sure seems like a lot of drama has been going on since I left."

"We getting coffee or what? Pretty sure Bryant's been missing me," she said with a wolfish smile.

"Let's go," I chuckled.

March 15th, 11:06 AM

It was good to see Bryant; I guess I missed their bantering. They were sort of cute together, but I didn't think they had the chemistry to last if it ever progressed beyond the espresso stand. While we stood at a table in the atrium drinking our lattes, Lisa grilled me about what I was doing in Phoenix.

I told her I was helping Jacob with a case he was consulting with that involved a potential extradition of someone from Canada. I had to cut her off from asking any more questions with the, "The case is confidential; I probably shouldn't have said what I said about it. Promise me you won't say anything to anyone."

She agreed.

The rest of our break was pretty tame, some talk about the partners, but nothing I didn't already know or hadn't heard from her at least once already. When I got back to my desk there was a meeting request in my email: All-hands Support Staff - Cascade Conference Room - First Floor - 2:00 PM. Here we go.

I checked the participants list, no attorneys, but Jacob would be attending. I had gotten a text from Paul when he got to the airport in Phoenix. It was likely he would be here for this meeting.

I was excited and I hoped how I was dressed caught his attention. Lisa had mentioned I looked nice, and then asked if I had an interview. Haha! We both got a good giggle outta that. She didn't bring up her 'Get laid' comment from her email telling me about Janet and Martin - glad she didn't bring that up. Not sure I could have lied very well about Paul.

March 15th, 1:54 PM

Lisa and I rode down the elevator to the first floor together and not knowing where the Cascade Conference Room was we just followed the herd. Couple times Lisa would have brief conversations with others in the office as we walked along. I pretty much smiled a lot and stuck to her hip.

Inside the theater sized auditorium like conference room we were able to get seats near the middle of the crowd of others attending, maybe forty-five or so of the support staff were gathered. I looked around for Paul, but didn't see him - I did see Jacob, Gillian the office manager, and a few of the supervisors.

"Oh my," Lisa leaned over and said in my ear, "Stage left. Guy in the suit. Yum..."

I looked to the left and saw Paul. My pulse rate increased a bit and a little nervous energy began to flow. He was looking around the room and when he saw me, he smiled. I felt flush, like a spot light had been turned on me from the stage area.

"Now that's a good looking guy. Little older than I care for, but I might make an exception," Lisa said.

I bristled a little, "Really? You think he looks old?"

"Mmm, maybe mid-thirties. I think five years either side of my age is the right spread."

"Really? Why do you think that," I asked.

"Five years and you're dealing with someone who can't name a song you used to jam to in your high school years, hasn't seen a movie you love, and just is not in the same headspace, know what I mean..."

She said all that with so much matter-of-fact confidence I wondered if I should be worried about the age gap between Paul and I. Paul was thirteen years older than I was, was he really in a different 'headspace'? What did that even mean?

"What do you think," Lisa asked breaking my train of thought.

"I, I don't know. I really haven't given it a lot of thought. What if he was really nice and supportive?" I replied.

"Look, the man is certainly good looking. He's probably married, or gay. No, married for sure," she said confidently.

Lisa was annoying me pretty good right now, did she have no filter? Was this 'girl talk'?

"I think he's cute...," I finally replied to see if that might shut her up.

"Okay, when this is over I'm introducing you."

"No... No, that's fine; I can do my own introductions. Thank you...," I said nervously. I didn't want some awkward moment with Paul in front of Lisa or others. Grrr!!!

Jacob was climbing up the stairs near where Paul was standing and walked to the center of the stage. The room's volume went from loud to nearly silent.

"Good afternoon. I wanted to have a quick meeting with everyone to set things straight you may have heard floating around the office this past week. The firm is going to be transitioning over the next couple of months. Janet Larson and Martin Brandt have decided to pursue opportunities outside of the firm."

There were murmurs throughout the conference theater.

"I want to assure you nothing we are doing today - be that the clients we represent or the day to day operations is going to change much. There will be a few new partners brought on board to take Janet and Martin's places and likely some other staff additions," Jacob paused and the tension felt less suffocating.

"Everyone will be gainfully employed for as long as you continue to perform at the levels you've exhibited since you've joined the firm. No one is being let go and no reductions in staff are expect for the Seattle or Bellevue offices."

You could feel the room finally take a much needed breath before Jacob continued.

"We did let Bill Blass go, but that was part of a management change needed to move forward. His position as IT Director will be temporarily held by Paul Kline," Jacob waved a hand toward Paul, who raised his hand for everyone to see.

"If you have questions or concerns please start by requesting a meeting from your supervisor or Gillian. Thank you for your continued support."

The hush in the theater went on for a good twenty seconds before the first groups of people stood to exit the conference room and head back to work.

Lisa was looking at me, "I wonder how sudden Janet and Martin's exit really was?"

I just shrugged and made my way with Lisa in tow to the aisle, then joined the line of people exiting. At the exit Jacob, Gillian, and Paul had gathered - Jacob occasionally shaking someone's hand, offering a smile or head nod as a greeting of some type.

Paul was watching me and when I was just about to him I felt Lisa brush past me, and posting up in front of him, "Mr. Kline," she said with an embarrassing amount of cheer, "I'm Lisa Scott and this is Elizabeth Gallagher. We wanted to welcome you."

I know my mouth dropped and if there was a rock nearby I would have made an attempt to get under it.

Paul was all smiles, "The Elizabeth Gallagher?" He stuck out his hand towards me and instinctively I reached for it to shake it. "I've heard a lot about you from Jacob. I look forward to working with you, even if it's just temporary."

I was flush, could feel my body temperature rising, an air void in my throat making it hard to engage any sound. I couldn't speak so I just smiled. Paul let my hand loose after a longer than comfortable handshake and Lisa and I made our way out of the conference room theater towards the elevators.

"What was that," Lisa asked.

I shrugged, still not sure I could speak. I was smiling broadly, I couldn't help it.

"Oh my God... You know him! You..."

::: --- :::

Previously with this story, this is where I left it. You the read got to decide what happened. Reading it over after a couple years still originally posting I had the itch to add to it, maybe close up a few storylines. Looking like 4 - 5 chapters should do it. Want to end here - that'll work. Wanna see a bit more into the firms shift and Elizabeth / Paul? Keep reading.