A Legal Trap Ch. 18

March 25th 1:52 PM

"Hey..."

I looked up to see Paul standing in my office doorway and just stared at him. I had went looking for him when Gina and returned to the office, but he was interviewing a candidate for the firms CIO position. Then it was lunch time and Lisa wanted to know how the ethics case panned out - so we got lunch and talked more about Paul and me than the case. Go figure! Then, I got busy after lunch and hadn't gone looking for him - but I had questions.

When I didn't immediately say anything he came in and shut the door, walking to the corner of my desk and sat.

"Look, I couldn't say anything about this morning. I told Tim you'd confronted Janet and then 'by chance' some idiot tried kicking your door down later that night. He asked me not to say anything. It was killing me... Here's what I know - they dug and found a possible link to Janet and from what I understand Vincent Jones couldn't speak fast enough to avoid legal troubles. Oh, and I didn't even know this was for sure coming until yesterday before I left. So it's not like I've been hiding information from you for very long... I'm sorry."

I wasn't sure I liked that excuse, but I was a realist and I got it. He was trying to protect me and...

He reached out a hand, "Still friends?"

I studied his face, "Is that all we are?"

His hand dropped and a hurt look overtook his face, "No... Jesus, no!" He looked behind him towards the glass wall that enclosed my office, then back at me, "Weren't you that amazing, sexy woman in my bed last night?"

I smiled and his hand popped back up, the hurt gone from his face and eyes. I took it, we shook, and he kissed it.

"Much better... I heard the ethics case was screwed from the beginning anyway with whom they assigned to mediate."

"Yeah, Gina sort of knew that going in I guess. I'm not a fan of being kept in the dark..."

"I gotcha... After today - if I know something, you'll know it. I promise. I feel bad for you both; you poured a lot of effort into that. I'm sure people noticed."

"Yeah, I'd liked Gina to have been given a fair shot at screwing Janet. The Tim thing was a pretty nice ending too though," I said smiling. "He give any indication where it might lead?"

"Full disclosure?"

I snapped his knee and be barked a complaint, acting as those I'd injured him, but was smiling the whole time.

"Kind of depends whether they can make any connection stick. She could certainly say she doesn't know WTF they are talking about, say the money was for hockey tickets or whatever. Jones admitted to a crypto transfer of the money to Lafleur. Oh and he's got an alibi for his time they think Lafleur was murdered. Tim said the trail runs cold there, but the Canadians are looking into an organized crime link for the possible sex trafficking of Amber. Wonder where that idea came from," he said smiling.

I'm sure I was blushing a little. Then thought about Janet, "She was so calculating..."

"I think, maybe she wanted to be removed from the dirty details, and just didn't remember the terrorism thing giving her involvement away. She should have done a crypto payment to either Jones or directly with Lafleur. They'd never have been able to make a connection even with Jones singing. What they have is probably thin... Time will tell though."

I studied him for a few seconds. I didn't want to think about Janet or Amber or anyone else for that matter...

"You find your replacement," I asked, half dreading the answer.

"Actually, I did," he said happily. "Guy has a ton of experience and is all about transparency, protecting the firm, clients, and sensitive information. I think Jacob likes him. Finding someone with skill was my assignment. They are going to make an offer to him tomorrow, pending a background check..."

I made a face, "As long as I'm not the one being checked out..."

"I wouldn't mind checking you out, if you're up to it later," he chuckled.

"Might be worth...," I caught the time and panicked, "Crap, I'm supposed to be in a meeting with Gina in three minutes!"

I stood, grabbed my usual bundle of supplies, the ethics folder - which I assumed this meeting was going to be about, maybe a shut down or lessons learned kind of thing. I wanted to give Paul a kiss, but settled for a quick squeeze of his leg and getting a knowing smile in return. He had a 'look' on his face though. I'd have stayed to question him, but I didn't do LATE!

March 25th 1:59 PM

I was later than I'd intended for my meeting with Gina. When I rounded the corner to where her office was I could see her door was open. I hoped she wasn't in there, maybe a bathroom break before we dove into whatever it was we were going to be doing? Then she'd come back, I'd be there, appearing to be early.

Wishful thinking! As I got closer to her office I could see she wasn't alone, Jacob was talking to her and stopped speaking as she waved me in. I hadn't seen Jacob, let alone spoken to him, since Paul had spilled a G-rated version of my past life to him. I was instantly on edge. Augh...

"Hello Elizabeth. I was just going over the ethics case with Gina. Sounds like your team produced some excellent supporting data," Jacob said politely.

He wasn't looking at me any differently than all the other times we'd spoken - that meant something, right?

"Thank you Mr. Wentz... It would have been nice to get a fair shot at presenting our case this morning," I replied trying to keep the nerves from showing through.

"That's our Bar Association for you," he chuckled, and then looked towards Gina, "I think her being confronted by the FBI was a nice ending to that farce of a hearing."

Gina was smiling back at him. I hoped her mood held when it came to whatever I was doing in here.

"I'll leave it to you to get things implemented," he said to her, "Thank you, thank you both for all your efforts with that." He saw himself out, closing the door behind him.

Gina waved me to a chair and jumped right in after I was seated, had pen and paper ready to go.

"Let's discuss that 'pin in it' I'd mentioned in the elevator as we were leaving court."

I knew what 'pin' she was talking about, I just wasn't sure what it had to do with my statement about her being a strong woman. I nodded and she continued.

"I've worked for Jacob going on seventeen years. He's not only a competent litigator, but someone I trust completely. Unlike his former partners Janet or Martin..." She let that sink in a moment and could see I'd caught the inference - 'former partners'.

"As of thirty minutes ago both former partners agreed verbally to the purchase of their interests in the firm. Last week Jacob asked if I would be interested in becoming a partner and I agreed." She thought a moment, "This of course is sensitive information still and not for dissemination beyond this office."

"I understand Mrs. Barnes... Congratulations, I'm excited for you, for the firm's future."

My mind was absolutely reeling though. I was happy to be rid Janet and Martin, and oddly excited for Gina. She was...

"I didn't get to where I am today by taking 'No' for an answer or letting someone detour me from my intended career path. My priorities are my family, this firm, and those clients I represent. It would have been much easier to rollover and take the easy way out over the years. Men, society, and workplaces tend to like that - women who fall in line. I'm wired differently and it's rubbed people wrong over the years. I always knew what I wanted; I had the drive, and the passion to succeed through whatever was thrown at me. Those I work with, that I want to work with, tend to have that same drive."

I nodded I understood.

"You mentioned in the elevator I'm tough and have high expectations. You're correct. I know my reputation for chewing through para's and junior lawyers within the firm. And I'm going to tell you that anyone who works for me either raises their game, or cries foul and runs for the exit. That's their choice, I'm not their mother or babysitter, and my end goal or beliefs in what I do or can accomplish won't be denied or slowed by those that can't pull their weight. I will not apologize for what I do and do well for this firm to anyone - including Jacob, though we'd talk through my being difficult civilly and have several times over the years."

Fuck! Where is this going? Is she about to let me go because I didn't measure up?! The last thing Jacob said was to get 'things implemented'. Had I screwed something up, not kept up with her wants? Had they, the new managing partners, considered my past as being a problem moving forward for the firm?

"Is there a question," she asked seeing I was trying to keep up.

Huh? Question? Yeah! Like a hundred of them! Okay, get a fucking grip! Push back!

"Ah... I'm just trying to understand the direction of this meeting Mrs. Barnes..." I could feel my hands going numb, cold, could she tell?

"Excellent question Elizabeth. Let's 'pin' that for one moment. I'd like to ask you a question first. Do you believe you are, as you described me, a strong and tough woman?"

What the hell?! Was I now an issue for the firm because I was a Trans Woman? Where was she going with this crap? What do I say? Why is this so fucking confusing?!

"Mrs. Barnes... I... I realize you might not know that much about someone being...," I stopped speaking because she'd raised her hand.

"It's a simple question, please don't over think it," she stated almost as if she was challenging me think past being Trans.

I felt a pulse of anger, followed by fear, and tried to shake it off as best I could before stating, "Yes... Yes I believe I'm a woman."

"Not the question I asked. I think you're most definitely a woman, but I want to know if you're hardened in your belief that you belong here, you're strong, and tough. That you can do any job thrown at you and manage expectations that may not seem realistic in the scope of an assignment with the same energy you put into the ethics case we just wrapped up..."

The fuck!? Was that a partial compliment?! A kick of adrenaline shot through me and I sat up a little straighter, looked her square in the eyes, and said, "There is no job or task you could give me that I won't complete... And yes, I'm a strong and tough woman, but I'm still learning my way."

And for the first time since entering her office, hell - since being assigned to work with her on the ethics case - I felt like I'd exuded enough confidence to match hers.

"That's what I was hoping you would say. All pins and cards on the table - three of the staff members working for Martin on the Port of Seattle Union representation team will be let go as of the end of business today," she paused to see if I had any reaction, which I didn't, so she continued.

"I'll be taking on the roll of legal representation for them and that spans everything from contract negations to Labor and Industry claims to a whole host of legal minutia that's not relevant at this moment. Six of the firm's lawyers will be solely focused on that arm of our business. And as I get my head around where we're at to keep this contract - there's a lot of work we need to do, a few messes to clean up, and we're going to busy, very busy over the next couple months heading into the contract negations."

"I understand Mrs. Barnes, how is it I can help?"

"Good, again what I was hoping to hear," she said smiling as if seeing my head finally got seated in what this meeting was. "After talking with Jacob and laying out my vision for how I want my team to function, I asked that you be assigned to me. I've spoken to Alicia and she's already begun reassigning your work load - though those taking on some of those assignments may have questions or need guidance."

I was in a state of shock and could only nod that I understood.

"What we're offering you is a bit more than just joining my team. What I would like is for you to lead the team of support staff for the Port of Seattle Union representation. It would entail ultimately five para's including yourself. As it stands you currently have a staff of three. I won't tell you how to fill those two additional positions, but I might suggest cherry picking from the pool of talent or we can try to hire from outside. That's your call, I'll support your decision."

Okay, had I heard her correctly?! She wanted me to work for her, offering me a job overseeing the support team! I couldn't help but smile, "I appreciate yours and Jacob's faith in me Mrs. Barnes..."

"We've got high hopes for your continued growth here. This position comes with a number of responsibilities, which we'll outline in a moment. I discussed what I feel is an appropriate salary increase with Jacob and we've approved a new base salary of $72,350..."

Again, I wasn't sure I'd heard her correctly! I was getting a raise? I didn't know what to say and muttered, "Thank you..."

"The last part of this new position I negotiated on your behalf. We, the firm, will pay for continuing education up to a maximum of $10,000 per year. You be working heavily in contract law and I need you proficient in dealing with the cities legal team as these negotiation progress. I'd like you registered for the summer session at the UW Law School as soon as possible. I think that's about it. Do you have any questions or anything you would like to discuss?"

March 25th 2:06 PM

I tried my best to not rush out of Gina's office, but it was almost impossible to not look as though I was in a hurry to get someplace and quickly. She'd dumped a twenty-point list of things I needed to get organized by next Wednesday - six days from now if I worked the weekend. Shit! But my mind was somewhere else, on someone else...

I needed to see Paul, to share the news, to be with him. As I approached his office he was just hanging up the phone, smiling at my approach. I headed straight towards him; tears began to flow, my face contorted and hanging low, visibly aching from the heart outwards. I dumped the crap I'd been carrying on his desk unceremoniously, a folder went sliding over the edge and hit the floor as I was reaching out to gather him in my arms.

When he returned my hug, wrapped his arms tightly around me, I began full on sobbing. He just held me silently like that for a couple minutes while I cried. I didn't care if people walked by his office and saw us... I needed to release, to soak up that I was wanted by Gina and Jacob, and... My body racked uncontrollably as I thought about him leaving, about not seeing him daily, us possibly growing apart.

"I'm so happy for you Liz...," he whispered.

I smashed my face into his chest even harder, hugging him tighter and cried even more deeply, freely.

"That's the last of it, no more secrets. Told you after today you get whatever I know when I know it..." he cooed soothingly.

I croaked into his shoulder, "You... You knew..."

"Yeah... I don't think you realize what the right people think about you."

That brought on another short sobbing fit he just let me get through in my own time, holding me, kissing the side of my head, nuzzling close. I did my best to recover and pushed back from him slightly.

"Thank you... Thank you for being there for me, understanding...," I barely got that out without losing it again.

He was looking at me oddly. I raised my hands to wipe my eyes and he let me go to open a desk drawer, pulling out a box of tissues. I took a couple and tried to dab carefully, though I knew my face was a mess.

"I'm happy you let me in Liz... I wouldn't want to be anywhere else," he said softly.

"My... You know what a mess my life has been..."

"None of that crap maters..."

"Why?"

"Because...," he paused to focus on my face, my eyes, "I'm in love with you Liz..."

::--| FIN |--::

::--| THE END |--::

Thank you... Thank you for reading this story I dreamed up a couple years ago, got it out of my head, pushed it to a couple sites, and then felt like I needed to fix it so the ending left things with Liz in a more defined state. You still get to decide whether she's got a "Happily Ever After" ending - but I give you a good shove in that direction. The version of this story posted on this site contains six additional chapters. I'm not much for "short, sweet, and to the point". Hope you enjoyed it. Appreciate you sticking with it.

Rachel M. Moore