Norah's First Deposition

Norah sat in Paul’s office trying to figure out why he had called them in. They were waiting for Evan, who was still on the phone with a client. She knew that Paul, Jim, Kurt, and the other partners were aware of her problems with Evan, but she thought that she had successfully kept her disagreements with her coworker to a minimum. Now, she guessed, Paul wanted to give them further counseling on how to get along with each other.

Norah was the newest in the firm, the only female attorney, in this high profile group. It was the oldest law firm in town, with clientele from all over the world. She had a hard time of it at first; she knew that Paul had gone all out to get the other partners to agree to hire her, and she felt that she owed him personally for his efforts. She always did whatever he asked, usually staying late and working weekends on endless briefs and covering other mundane details in order to prove her dedication and her worth to the firm. Although she never complained about any job thrown her way, and even though she usually accomplished things in a thorough and efficient manner, she still felt that the senior partners, Jim and Kurt, didn’t respect her. They were traditional thinkers, old fashioned and conservative, and they openly teased Paul as being a radical weirdo for wanting to “save the world” by hiring first Evan, and then Norah.

Evan Anderson was Paul’s other “good deed”; he had been hired five years ago, right out of law school, like Norah. Also, he was a first for the firm, the first African American attorney. It had taken the senior partners a while to get used to Evan’s presence, but after five years, he was one of the guys.

Norah had tried to befriend Evan in the beginning. She’d thought he was dapper and attractive, with his dark good looks. He had a tall, muscular physique and he was charming and witty with the other women; but whenever he dealt with her alone, she found him to be arrogant and snobbish. She had assumed that he’d come from a disadvantaged background, and Evan was immediately offended by her assumption. She found out from Paul that Evan had had a privileged upbringing, even more so than Norah, and Paul had chosen him, like Norah, for his law school performance and his drive and determination.

Since then, Evan had been frosty towards her. They avoided each other whenever they could, but of course, since they worked for the same firm, they were bound to share work sometimes. On these occasions, they usually spent most of their time arguing and sniping at each other. Evan was always suspicious of Norah, and Norah complained that he condescended to her. Norah was a very prideful woman, and she never let him get away with treating her like an idiot without putting up a fight.

“Evan says he’ll only be a few minutes more,” Sandy, the receptionist, popped her head in. She gave Norah her usual raised eyebrow as she left the room.

Norah was aware that a number of her coworkers assumed that she was hired for her looks. She was an attractive woman, but for most of her life, she’d tried to downplay the fact. She never wore anything provocative or revealing; she usually dressed in dark or muted colors, and she wore pantsuits or the occasional knee-length skirt to work. She always wore her shoulder length black hair pinned up, and she hid her intense blue eyes behind dark rimmed glasses. She was always professional and aloof at work, not wanting to give anyone an excuse to accuse her of sleeping her way to the top. She didn’t really care about what the others thought, but she was smart enough to know that sometimes a nasty rumor could be dangerous enough to ruin a career.

“Sorry I’m late,” Evan finally walked in, stepping between Norah and Paul, almost tripping over Norah’s high-heeled feet. He gave her a dirty look as he sat down.

“It’s okay,” Paul folded his hands.

Norah could feel worry building up. Whenever Paul folded his hands, bad news was coming.

“Let me get right to the point…”

It must be about our latest argument, Norah thought.

“Harold Mayer’s getting divorced, and he wants us to handle things for him.’

Harold Mayer was an eccentric millionaire, who had just married a woman young enough to be his granddaughter, two years before. He owned many properties in different states, including a ranch in Arizona, fifty miles outside of Phoenix. Paul told them that Harold’s young wife had filed a restraining order against him, so he was staying in a hotel in Phoenix. Norah and Evan were to fly there the next day to take a deposition. As he gave them further instructions, Norah’s worry grew tenfold.

“I don’t understand,” Evan spoke up. “We have to go together? Why?”

“Well,” Paul explained, “Kurt’s on vacation, Jim’s working on the Mitchell case, and I have three different cases that I’m running behind on. I know that you two already have loads of work, but Jim or I can take care of all that until you get back.”

“How long do you think this is going to take?” Norah asked.

“It shouldn’t take more than a few days.”

“A few days!” Norah cried.

“Harold’s a bit strange; he takes patience and care, something that you two seem to have an infinite amount of with other people, but you don’t have any of when it comes to dealing with each other.”

“Then why are you sending us together?” Evan asked. “I should be able to polish the old man off in a few hours.”

“I want you to go together. It will be a good experience for Norah.”

Norah started to grind her teeth at this comment. Paul made it sound as if Evan would have the upper hand. She looked at Evan, wondering if he would dare to complain. He was just as eager to prove himself as she was; he didn’t seem to be budging.

“So, you’ll fly tomorrow,” Paul said. “Sandy’s made all the arrangements.”

Norah had almost tuned him out, imagining the headache of spending a long flight sitting next to Evan. She looked at him again, but he was careful to keep his face neutral. She stood up as soon as Paul finished talking, rushing back to her office to try to finish up her work, or at least leave her notes in an understandable format in case Paul or one of the others had to look through her files while she was gone.

---

Norah had to trot to keep up with Evan. He had rushed ahead of her, as soon as they’d deplaned. He didn’t seem to be walking fast, but he was a lot taller than she was, and she had worn heels, so she kept up a breathless pace as he strolled through the airport. She also had more baggage than he did, and true to form, he’d made a sarcastic comment about her garment bag, purse, briefcase and overnight bag when they’d met at the airport back home. He had only brought a garment bag and his laptop bag, and he didn’t offer to carry any of her things for her, so she kept losing step with him, stopping to adjust the weight of her luggage from time to time.

He drove the rental car, pulling off before she even closed her door completely. Norah’s temper had about boiled over at this point, but she knew that they had a long drive before they reached their hotel, so she decided to avoid having a war with him in the car. He spent most of the drive gabbing on his cell phone, openly making snarky comments about having to be stuck with her for this trip. She stared at the passing scenery, counting the minutes until they would be able to go back home.

They arrived at the hotel to discover that a tech industry convention was being held in town. The hotel lobby was bustling, and Evan dealt with the clerk while Norah went to the restroom to freshen up from the heat. It was one hundred plus degrees outdoors, and even though they’d driven with the air conditioning running on high, they could still feel the sun blaring down on the car. Norah emerged from the restroom to find Evan talking to the hotel manager. She quickly approached him, to see what was wrong.

“I can’t believe this. What do you mean, ‘The place is full’?” Evan glared down at the shorter man.

The manager looked tentatively at Norah, but she looked to Evan, with a question on her face.

“I’m sorry, Sir,” the manager said. “The situation just can’t be helped. We’ve experienced a plumbing emergency, as well as problems with the A/C, and the rooms you have reserved are both in a section of the hotel where the system has broken down.”

Evan rolled his eyes and turned away from the man. “Well, since you can’t honor our reservation, I want to know if you can get us rooms somewhere else.”

“Certainly, Sir. We’ll see to it right away.”

Evan clenched his jaw, turning away from Norah and pulling out his cell phone. She decided to have a seat while they waited.

After half an hour, Evan approached her, waving a sheet of paper in her face.

“Come on, here are the directions to our new accommodations.”

Norah gathered her things for the next workout, half-running after Evan to reach the car.

At the next hotel, they were dismayed to discover that the clerk who’d gotten the room for them had made a mistake. It was a single room, with one bed, instead of two separate rooms, or even one room, with two beds. Instead of standing aside, this time Norah complained along with Evan, to no avail.

“I’m sorry,” the clerk apologized, “but it’s the only room we have left. The convention has us all booked up. And I’ve heard from several guests that all the other hotels are booked up as well.”

Evan cursed under his breath and turned away, taking the key from the girl. He looked at Norah briefly as if to ask her something, but only cleared his throat.

“I don’t think we’re going to get anything better,” she told him, “unless we sleep in the car.”

“I could kill Paul for this,” Evan sounded exasperated.

“It’s only for a day or two,” Norah tried to sound optimistic, blowing a lock of hair out of her face.

They went up to the room, which was a small one.

“There’s not even a couch in here,” Evan complained.

Norah stood in the doorway, in disbelief, staring at the double bed. She almost offered to sleep in the car, but she knew that that would never really work.

“I’ll sleep in the chair; I’m a light sleeper anyway. I can never get any real rest away from home,” she offered nervously.

He rolled his eyes at her. “You don’t have to give me any faux chivalry; I’ll sleep on the floor. Just see if there are some extra linens in that closet.”

“You know,” Norah’s temper was rising again. “I’m tired of you talking to me like I’m your servant.”

He looked her up and down, with a slight scowl on his face. “What time is it?”

“It’s almost eight.”

“Damn, too late to call on the old geezer today. It’ll have to wait until tomorrow,” he paused. “I need a drink.”

“You mind if I use the car?” she asked.

“No, go right ahead.” he tossed her the keys as he loosened his necktie.

---

After she had changed into something cooler, Norah set out to explore the town. She bought a map and studied it over dinner, then drove around for awhile, wishing the time would go by faster. She was reluctant to go back to the hotel; she tried to stay out late enough for Evan to be asleep when she returned. This was akin to her worst nightmare; she couldn’t have imagined a more cruel punishment. Having to spend all this time in close quarters with Evan was going to be difficult.

Norah couldn’t understand why he was still so evil to her, even after she had apologized for any misunderstanding or any insult that she had cast upon him. Sometimes, she thought it was a shame that they didn’t get along better. She had seen that he could be charming; he often charmed female witnesses and judges, with his handsome smile. She had to admit that he was good looking. He had intense dark brown eyes, a devilish smile with perfect teeth, and a strong, squared jaw line. He was very tall, taller than all the other men in the firm, and you noticed him whenever he walked into a room. And he was dark; Norah had tried to come up with a different descriptor in her head for his color, but chocolate was always the first thing that came to her mind. He usually wore expensively tailored suits, and Norah could tell that he had a chiseled physique underneath. He was decidedly debonair; Norah often thought that if they didn’t work together, and if he wasn’t so sour and arrogant, that she might like to date him.

She hadn’t had a date in a long time, six months, to be exact. Norah was always busy with work, and she didn’t feel that it would be fair to subject anyone to her relentless work schedule. She was usually too exhausted to do much socializing, anyway; she just resigned herself to the fact that an active social life would have to wait a few more years.

Norah trudged up to the room, finally tired, worn down by the heat from earlier in the day, and from the long restless flight in. It was almost midnight; she wasn’t sure if Evan was a night owl or not, but she hoped that he was either asleep, or still out at the bar. Outside the door, she could hear voices. He’s watching TV, she thought, sliding the key card into the door.

Inside, the room was dark. She slipped in quietly, in spite of the noise, just in case he was asleep. She peered through the darkness, noticing that the TV wasn’t on, and that the noises were coming from the bed. Her eyes widened in disbelief, as she quickly realized that Evan had brought a woman back to the room, and that they were having hot and heavy sex on the bed. The woman was practically screaming, and as Norah’s eyes adjusted to the dark, she saw that Evan was on top of the woman, pumping her pretty deeply, judging by the creaking of the mattress. The woman was clawing at his chiseled back and gripping his taut, firm ass cheeks, moaning and cooing with each of his thrusts. Evan was grunting slightly; he kept up a slow rhythm, grinding into the woman, as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

Norah, embarrassed to the core, closed herself into the bathroom. She lowered the lid on the toilet, and sat there for a while, hoping that they would finish up so that she could at least get a little sleep in the chair. Unfortunately for her, they kept at it, for a long time. Norah kept a tally, yawning her way through the second hour of their fervent activity. She tried not to squirm, feeling herself becoming slightly aroused by the sounds of their copulation, with the woman constantly moaning about Evan’s “big cock”, and how deeply he was plowing into her.

Norah eventually fell asleep on the toilet, finally waking up to find Evan coming in. She blinked her eyes, momentarily forgetting where she was. As she realized the awkward situation she was in, she got a close up view of Evan’s pecs as her eyes hurriedly moved up to focus on his face. She had caught a glimpse of the rest of his body, but in her embarrassment, she looked away. Even in her confusion, she knew that it wouldn’t be prudent to be caught staring at his crotch, so she’d immediately looked up toward his face. He stood in the door, groggy, staring at her for a moment. It seemed that he had forgotten where he was as well, also not realizing that he was naked.

“Excuse me,” he stepped into the small bathroom as she stood up.

Norah was afraid to stay because he was about to use the toilet, but she was also afraid to leave because she didn’t know if the woman was still in the bed or not. She stepped out of the bathroom, relieved to find that the woman had left. The sheets were crumpled, and Evan’s clothes had been tossed on the chair that she had intended to sleep in. Norah could smell sex in the air, and she looked at the mess, along with the used condoms in the wastebasket, feeling the hair on her neck stand on end. She shook her head, trying to erase the image of his dark, sculptured body from her mind.

“You’re such an animal!” she spit at Evan as he emerged from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist.

“I didn’t think you were coming back… I figured that maybe you’d gotten lucky, too.”

“Why couldn’t you have gone to her room?”

“She doesn’t have one; she’s the bartender.”

Norah shook her head in disgust, tossing his clothes onto the bed. Suddenly, she changed her mind about trying to finish the night in the chair. She picked up her key card, moving toward the door.

“Where are you going?” Evan asked.

“Downstairs.”

---

Norah and Evan stood in the lobby of Harold Mayer’s hotel waiting for him to join them for their breakfast meeting. They were to conduct a short interview before the actual deposition; that would happen after they’d procured the services of a stenographer. She was still angry with Evan, and standing in the same room with him was starting to make her skin crawl. He was just as smug as ever, trying to hide his obvious hangover from her. She made sure to talk loudly and to make as much noise as possible, continuously slamming doors as she had showered and dressed. She had originally thought of kicking him out of the room, but she’d decided that torturing him would make her feel better.

She threatened to report him to the partners for sexual misconduct, for exposing himself to her, but he immediately ridiculed her idea, saying that no one would take her seriously.

“Oh, come on. You act as if you’d never seen a naked man before.”

“I never asked to see you naked.”

“It was a mistake. I didn’t know you were there.”

“You didn’t know that I was there the whole time you were plowing into that tramp, did you?”

“Why did you stay, then? You knew what was going on when you came in, and you stayed? What kind of freakiness is that?”

“Don’t turn this around on me…”

“I’m just trying to show you how ridiculous your claim sounds. I didn’t purposefully expose myself to you. You’re none the worse for it…”

“You need to learn to keep it in your pants…”

“Oh, lighten up. You just need to let someone get up that skirt of yours every now and then.”

Norah was shocked by this last comment.

“How dare you?” she glared at him. “I have half a mind to…”

“Good morning,” a middle-aged woman approached them. “Are you here to see Mr. Mayer?”

“Yes,” Evan spoke up.

“I’m Ms. Penney, Mr. Mayer’s secretary. Come this way, please.”

They followed Ms. Penney into the hotel restaurant. Norah watched as Evan hesitated, shading his eyes; the dining room was brightly lit by a cluster of skylights. She made sure to clop her heels on the terracotta floor more firmly so that she could make as much noise as possible.

“Could you walk a little softer?” he immediately complained. “You sound like a damned race horse.”

When they finally met Mr. Mayer, Norah could see why Paul had labeled the man “eccentric”. Harold Mayer was dressed in a period piece 1930’s pinstriped suit, with a very obvious synthetic looking toupee hanging off center over his face. He looked like he was dressed to go to a costume party, playing the role of a gangster.

Evan introduced them. “Mr. Mayer? Evan Anderson, and Norah West.”

Harold stared at Norah for so long, that she began to blush. When she extended her hand for him to shake, he took it and pressed his lips onto it instead. His lips were small and wet, and Norah fought the impulse to wipe her hand on the back of her skirt.

“Sit down, sit down,” the old man directed them. “Let’s have breakfast first, and then we’ll get down to business. I’m sure that Miss North will take better notes after she’s had a decent breakfast.”

Norah blinked her eyes. “West,” she corrected him.

“What’s that?” the old man was concentrating on sipping his bloody mary.

“Ms. West. That’s my name.”

Evan cut his eyes at her. She knew that he wanted to tell her that this was no time for her to play the feminist, but she didn’t care how much money the old man had.

After a short breakfast, Evan began the interview. Everything that Paul had said was proving to be true; the old man was spacey and long winded. They had to keep reminding him to stick to the facts, and to answer the questions simply and honestly. He kept telling inappropriate jokes and private stories about his dalliances with and without his young wife. Norah got the shock of her life as she felt the icy metal tip of the old man’s cane slowly pushing her skirt up her thigh, but when she started to jump out of her seat, Evan put a hand on her arm to subdue her.