disclaimer: y'all know i suck at finishing things. no guarantee this or anything i write will ever see the end of a tunnel.

Karma is Boss

Chapter 1

Her Life: Just Two Firm

Upon graduation, Amy Raudenfeld wasn't really one to look much into the corporate world for a fine place to land but that couldn't stop her step-sister, Lauren, from scoring her an interview with Ashcroft, Harvey, & Booker the most talked about firm in the state!

"You are not wearing that. No, no. You have to remember, Amy, you're not just representing yourself up there, you're representing me."

"God, it's not like I'm going to be in the courtroom today. Your friend Shane has been trying to get me to hang-out with him ever since you let him drive you home in his Jag that one time."

"Ew," Lauren said, biting her tongue more than she would like. "He is not my friend," she fought. "Just because I work with these people doesn't mean we have to be friends. I don't think I'm any of their friends. Except maybe Giana in the file room. She's the only one who understands my struggle. Plus, her skin is amazing. I need her secret."

"Right," Amy scoffed.

"And hey! Yeah, I know Shane's been preoccupied with the idea of becoming your friend. But that's just because you scream lesbo and he's lacking that in his life. Or at least, that's how he put it two days ago when I kindly proposed that he hire you."

"Lauren!" Amy yelled. Why the hell did Lauren think it was okay to just say these things. Amy thought to herself indignantly, what exactly about me screams lesbo?!

"Right," Lauren said, that hard bite of anger always just left of her spoken-word. "Need I remind you that there is a woman running this firm?" Lauren asked. "Forget Harvey. You need to appear professional if you want someone like Karma Ashcroft to take you seriously. She's insane."

"She's not some feminazi, is she?"

"Uck!" Lauren scoffed, put-off by her tactless step-sister who knew NOTHING. "Number 1: that term is disgusting and I am disappointed in you. Number 2: yes, she is feminine. But, Amy! No one is saying you have to wear a dress or become a new person! All I'm asking is that you wear clothing that at least fits you! But, believe me, I know how hard this is for you. That's why I took the liberty of picking you up a few things."

"What?"

"I gave your measurements to Pablo. It was nothing really. Just don't spill."

"What?"

"ON THE CLOTHES!" Lauren stressed. Dealing with her out-of-touch step-sister was always a tug-of-war she could never quite win. "God, sometimes I don't even know why I bother helping you."

"Yeah, well, I didn't ask you to," Amy mocked, annoyed by her.

"Yeah, well, you know your mother wants to see you employed."

"I am employed," Amy said, feeling over it already. She was working pro-bono with a few local lawyers on a strict volunteer basis just to learn the ropes. Occasionally, her bosses would take a small but important paying case and kick Amy back a few thou when they won (and mostly 'cause she was their wunderkind). It was actually a pretty great set-up for someone so green and it easily kept Amy clothed and fed without help.

Ruiz and Ward were professionals and they didn't stress. They also shied away from loading Amy up with busy work. She would just offer to help sometimes and get to sit in on all of the cases and meetings. Ruiz and Ward, those two were an odd pair and Amy liked that. It didn't hurt either that they both had taken a shine to her in their own private time. She was half convinced for a long time that she only got the job because Oliver liked her. Eventually though, she started to think that maybe she was wrong about all that and Ruiz was the one who wanted her in.

Ever since last Christmas, whenever Amy was alone with Ruiz she just felt flustered and confused.

After a hot holiday fling in the office, Amy was unsure of where to go with her life both personal and public. But when Ruiz kept things a secret from Ward Amy took that as her cue to just put it out of her mind and move on. There was nothing serious there and that was both good and bad. Reagan Ruiz opened Amy's eyes to new things. Amy hadn't known before that she could feel that way for a girl and now her life was sort of on a tilt. So to her, a change would be good. At least it would make her feel normal again, having a goal.

If they found out though? Amy was actually pretty worried about that. The way Reagan and Oliver talked about Harvey, Ashcroft, and Booker? It just wasn't good.

Somehow, Amy mostly staed out of the loop. She's not interested in knowing the details of every stupid case out there, and there's nothing to make her interested in that. And sure, she knows historic cases and stuff, game-changers, but she's too busy with life to be paying attention to all the things that don't affect her. Say, for instance, Harvey, Booker, and Ashcroft's last case where they paraded a llama around the courtroom floor and moved it to sing causing a blind witness to appear completely non-credible. The blind witness on the stand was sure that the singing had come from her neighbor, an old Italian woman who had apparently never done anything bad in her life according to Harvey, Ashcroft, and Booker. There was definitely good reason for all the jokes that Ruiz and Ward made about Amy's might-be employers. But did an entire courtroom really need to laugh at a blind woman for that case to be won?

Last Monday Amy overheard bits and pieces as Reagan and Oliver joked. But she didn't know that they were joking about the firm she was about to interview for.

"Hey gorgeous," Reagan had said, giving Amy her small head-nod and her addicting soft bedroom-eyes.

"What's so funny?" Amy had asked.

"Nothing much," Oliver said, beaming in her presence in his own close-mouthed way. "Just another ridiculous side-show brought to us all by Harvey, Ashcroft, and Booker." They got off on the spectacle. Everyone did.

"Oh God, not again," Amy had joked. At the time, Amy imagined that this was what all those cartoons by the water-coolers were about. You really were supposed to know strange things to fit in with your co-workers. It was strange and she tried not to laugh. She kept staring though at the water cooler in the corner until Reagan pushed her on the shoulder and asked her if she was okay.

That was the extent of her knowledge though. Little stories like that would just pop-up out of the blue. She'd catch a piece here or a bit there. But usually she'd miss the important stuff and zone out at crucial times. Plus there were many other things in her life to joke and talk about so it wasn't some monumental firm in her life. At least, not yet.

"Amy! Snap out of it!"

"Okay, okay, Jesus," Amy said. She had been standing still while Lauren held clothing up to her body and made faces in the mirror, sizing her up with mostly discontent. "What do you think they're gonna want me to say?" Amy asked, feeling nervous all of a sudden. Work wasn't fun. And she really didn't think it ever could be. That's honestly why she resolved to not try.

"Don't worry about that," Lauren said. "Shane owes me a favor."

"God, Lauren," Amy groaned. "So why am I even doing this?"

"It's just for show," Lauren said. "You've done it before."

"Yeah maybe," Amy grumbled. But not with the enemy, she thought. The guilt inside of her was already multiplying with every second.

"Shane just needs you to do this so that he can tell Karma and Liam that he checked you out and you're good at your job."

"And what even is my job?" Amy asked. Lauren seemed to have everything planned. Amy started to wonder why she even went to law school at all. Amy felt more like an assistant than a boss so none of it was really making any sense to her now. Lauren was exemplary and Amy was just... There.

The two of them were nothing alike.

At least, that's how Amy felt about it. She felt less than. She usually did.

"Funny." Lauren teased. "I'll wait for you in the car," Lauren said, turning away and leaving Amy alone to her jitters.

"Fine," Amy grumbled. Sometimes she thought she'd never grow up.

And what exactly was wrong with Ruiz and Ward?

The more Amy thought the more upset she became.

She dressed absent-mindedly and made her way out to the car like she was still some trapped little kid and not some 20-something adult with her own life and her own say.

Like it or not, she was starting again. And that was something that scared her very much.