"Hello, I'm here to talk to Mr. Jurist." A young woman greeted.
"Do you have an appointment with him?" The receptionist asked.
"Yes, I might be a little early, though."
"What's your name?"
"Joanna de la Vega." She introduced.
"Okay, let me call him and see if I can get you in yet."
The receptionist picked up the phone and dialed the supervisor, getting connected instantly. Joanna watched her, listening to her side of the conversation. She looked around the lobby, watching lawyers and clients walking in and out of the building.
"He'll see you now. He's on the 5th floor, straight forward from the elevators."
"Thank you."
"Your welcome."
Joanna smiled at her and walked into the elevator, listening to the boring lyricless music as she stood by three other lawyers. The first one needed the third floor, the second joined her on the fifth, and the last was going up to the 12th. On the second stop, Joanna left the elevator with the other lawyer. Just like the receptionist said, Jurist's office was straight out from the elevator. She walked out to his office, knocking on the door and waited from him to answer. He opened his door, pulling his pants back over his small gut. He smiled at her, and showed her in.
"Ms. de la Vega, welcome! How are you doing this morning?"
"Great, but I would really like to meet you prodigy."
"Ms. Lance? Yes, she's just coming back from her break." He informed her, slicking back his thick white hair with his hand. "Would you like anything to drink?"
"No thank you."
"Okay. I promise you, you will not be disappointed. Ms. Lance is absolutely amazing. She's very sharp and dedicated to her work. She's also excited to start a new project soon. I think that she'll really enjoy this opportunity."
"I hope so. Everyone's been trying for her. I heard that even Spencer called you up. You really have a star on your hand."
"Yes, she is absolutely amazing, and should be here soon." He assured his guest.
"Hi, Mr. Jurist, you wanted me?" Laurel asked, peeking her head into the door.
"Yes, come in, come in. A representative from Weathersby & Stone has come by to recruit you."
"Hi, Ms. Lance." Joanna greeted shaking her hand. "My name is Joanna de la Vega, but most people just call me Joanna. I work for Weathersby & Stone."
"It's nice to meet you Joanna. So you're here to tell me why I should join your team."
"Yes. So, our firm has a great reputation with high-profile people, so there's never a boring case, and we work all over the state mainly working for corporations as our main priority."
"Do you help people? Like, at-risk youth?"
"Not really, we specialize in the wealthy class."
"If you expand your firm to that then I'll think about joining, but I really don't want to work for self-righteous rich people. I'd rather try to make a difference, help those in need."
"If you join, we can have you specialize in that area, maybe let you expand in future if it proves to be a success."
"I'll think about it."
"Here," Joanna said, handing Laurel her business card, "call me if you decide to join."
"Of course, thank you Joanna." Laurel nodded placing the card in her wallet.
"It was nice meeting you, Laurel, I hope to hear from you again."
"Honestly, you probably will."
"Well then, see you around."
Laurel watched Joanna walk out to the elevator and turned to her boss.
"You should accept, Laurel. If it doesn't have what you want, you can always move to a different firm, but you need to buff up your resume before you can do what you want."
"Okay. It does seem better than being an assistant to Spencer, working for pop culture idols, or not having a job at all. Yeah, I'll call her up tomorrow, gotta leave a buffer so it seems like I took a lot of time to think about it." Laurel planned out. "I'll get back to work."
"Yeah, when does you case come to trial?"
"Tomorrow, so I'm calling up Sanchez soon to go over some notes so there aren't any surprises."
"Good. That's why you're the best."
"Mmm… I'm just good, not the best."
"You will be then."
"Thank you Henry."
Nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets and walked behind his desk, pushing some folders around on his desk. Laurel left his office to escape back to work. She instantly pulled out her phone, calling up Thea.
"Hey, you okay? You need another sandwich?"
"No, not yet. I got an offer to another firm. I like this one more than the other three. I think I'll take this one."
"Awesome! I'm so excited for you. So have you called yet?"
"Not yet, tomorrow. I plan to call tomorrow."
"Well, I wish you the best of luck, see you tomorrow?"
"No I can't, I have the trial tomorrow for the politician."
"What about Thursday, then?"
"Hopefully. I'll tell you if depending on the case. If tomorrow, then it'll probably be later in the day, so a dinner not lunch."
"Okay."
"So, how did it go in court?" Thea asked.
"Good." Laurel answered, putting her phone up to her ear. "I'm guessing that it will be over by tomorrow."
"So they haven't come to a consensus?"
"No, we're waiting for them to deliberate, so while my client is taking a break, so I'm just checking up on you."
"Well, thank you."
"Oh, do you want to go out?"
"Yea, sure, what time?"
"At this point probably 5:30?"
"Okay, how does Mirabelle sound?"
"Great. See you then."
"Bye, Laurel."
Laurel ended the call, sighing as she glanced at the clock across the room. She shuffled around in her purse, pulling out her wallet and taking out Joanna's card.
"I should call her before I forget." She sighed almost inaudibly. She dialed up the number, hearing it replay as she was connected.
"Hello, Joanna de la Vega speaking."
"Joanna, it's Laurel Lance. I just wanted to let you know that I am interested in your offer."
"Great, we can't wait to get you on board. When can you start?"
"Probably next week."
"Great. Well, when you join, we're going to need to meet up at headquarters in South Carolina."
"Oh wow."
"Don't worry, we'll pay for your room."
"So what will you have me do when we're down there?"
"Well, if you want to expand your horizons, you can always suggest it to Mr. Weathersby."
"Really?"
"Yeah. He's really excited to have you join. You're just doing do well so early. We hope to help you buff up your resume and get you bigger cases, make you a household name."
"Thank you, Joanna."
"No problem, call me tomorrow and I'll have everything set up for you and we can get you the details."
"Okay, talk to you later."
Laurel waited for Joanna to end the call, taking a moment to put everything away as her client walked back into view. She stood up as he neared her, and smiled.
"How are you feeling?" She asked.
"Good, I hope we win. I just want her to get what she deserves for damaging my property."
"Great. Hide the confidence, you don't want the press to make you out as an overconfident elitist. We'll have to continue to wait, but I can get someone to get us some food."
"No thank you, I'm not really hungry right now."
"Okay. Well, for now you're free until we're called back in."
"Thank you, Ms. Lance, I'm glad I can trust you."
"I'm glad you can trust me. I'm also glad that you're such an easy and flexible client."
"Anything to get this out of public eye, honestly."
"Between us, why did she do it? Was it really because she didn't agree with you on your policies?"
"Yes. I didn't even know her until now. Not the best introduction."
"Most definitely not."
Laurel climbed out of the cab and walked up to the nice restaurant. Thea was already sitting at a table outside with against the the glass wall. Laurel quickly joined her, sitting across from her still wearing her court clothes while her counterpart wore a short maroon a-line dress. She kissed Thea's hand and smiled up at her.
"Hey, you look beautiful."
"Thank you. You look very professional." Thea joked. "How did it go?"
"Very well. After 4 hours, the jury finally came to a conclusion which you can read in the paper."
"So, what was her penalty?"
"2 months in jail, fine for $100, and she'll have to do 3 months of community service. Sanchez really wanted to make sure that she learned her lesson while not ruining her life, so after much fighting and compromisation, that's what we all agreed on."
"That's good."
"How was your day?"
"Well, I still don't have a job, but I have been helping Ollie with a few business ventures, so that's fun. Oh, you talked about that job offer. What happened?"
"The Weathersby one?"
"Yeah." Thea nodded, thanking their waiter as he set down their wine.
"What's this?"
"House special, Château Margaux, Pavillon Rouge." She smirked with her perfect french accent. "Always a safe bet."
"Sounds great. Umm, but yeah, with the firm, I got accepted, but I'll have to go down to their HQ in South Carolina with one of their employees, Joanna de la Vega."
"Oh wow. Why?"
"I just have to talk to James Weathersby and Mathias Stone to prove that I'm what they want, and to see if I can specialize in a new branch for them."
"Oh wow, that's amazing, Laurel! How do you feel about it?"
"Honestly amazing. I think this is the best day of my life. I won my case, I got a new job where I am more than wanted, and I get to end it with an absolutely beautiful woman."
Once their waiter returned, the two ladies ordered their meals, Thea getting a simple sandwich and Laurel getting their Soupe du Jour. After he left, Laurel turned back to Thea, a question on the tip of her tongue as her face created it's familiar slight twists when she cocked her head to the side.
"Last time we met, you basically said you loved me."
"Yeah, and you kissed me when you left."
"Yeah." Laurel nodded, looking at her drink. "What do you want to do about this?"
"I mean, I would really like to be with you. To be completely honest, while I've been around, I've never really been in a relationship, so I really don't know how to do this."
"We'll figure it out as we go."
"Okay." Thea smiled, blushing a bit as she was stared at by those intense hazel blue eyes. "Oh, so while you're away, do you want me to watch over BuckBeak?"
"Yes, please. You still have the key to my apartment right?"
"Yup. I'll drop by twice a day to feed him."
"Thank you, Thea."
"So how has Sara been? Usually when I see her it's on accident and in Ollie's office."
Laurel shook her head with a grin. "She's great. I think that being with Oliver gives her someone to be with while she's young, I just wish that she'd just find someone she really wants to be with."
"I hope that same with Oliver. For a 28 year old, he's so immature. Well, in his personal life he's very immature."
"Same for Sara." Laurel laughed. "So what are doing for Oliver? You talked about how you were doing some work for him."
"Oh yeah. He asked if I would like to help him by becoming an unofficial ambassador."
"Cool, so what provoked him to need an ambassador?"
"He's been expanding the business a bit, hoping to possibly merge one of our sub companies with Wayne Enterprises, so he's going to have to schedule a meeting soon with Bruce Wayne. He was talking briefly about having me meet with either Helix Dynamics or Palmer Tech. Oliver's trying to decide what path is most helpful for work, so once he's decided, it'll be quickly finalized and he'll send me to the headquarters of whichever he decides is most beneficial for us.
"That's great. I mean, you really are a great hostess and an amicable person."
"Thank you, Laurel." Thea smiled, reaching over to hold her hand.
"You know, this reminds me of when I first met you. You were about 7 I think. I was working on a project with Oliver and Fiona when you came in and decided to hang out with us. You starred in our video." She chuckled.
"Oh my god, I really don't want to think about that. I must have been so annoying back then."
"Back then? Just kidding, you were so adorable and I thought that it was great you were willing to star in it because you really didn't care about anything, just as long as you had fun."
"Yeah, do you still have that?"
"I think so, but if anyone has it, it's probably Ollie, we used his camera."
"Really?"
"Yeah, so be careful, he might use it as blackmail one day." She winked.
"He really would." Thea laughed as their waiter arrived with their meals.
"So, you have everything?" Thea asked.
"Yup, three days, for four shirts, pants, socks, underwear, and bras. Two business suits, and a pair of heels, I've brought my portfolio, and a just a few emergency objects."
"Great." Thea held onto Laurel's hands and leant into her, tentatively pressing her lips against hers. "Text me when you land."
"I'll do you one better, I'll call you, okay?" Laurel smirked, pecking her cheek.
"That'll work, too." She smiled.
Laurel zipped up the suitcase and pushed it to the end of the bed. She sat down, pulling Thea over to sit next to her. "She says that it'll be easy, but I don't know." She shrugged and glanced at Thea. "I just don't want to fuck it up."
"You'll do great, I know you will. You're an amazing hard worker and a great person in general. I know they'll accept you."
Laurel nodded and pulled Thea into a quick kiss. "Thank you, T."
"No problem."
"So, has she called yet?" Sin asked over the phone.
"Not yet." Thea asked tapping the a small amount of food into the betta's fish tank.
"How are you feeling?"
"I mean, worried because I want her to get that job. I just don't know how I feel about going with-"
"Joanna?"
She sighed and set down the food, watching the shimmering grey-blue fish swim around the top of the square tank. "Yes, no. I don't know, I'm just jealous I think."
"Okay, well I know the Lances, neither would do something like that, Thea. Don't worry she's more loyal than a puppy."
"Okay, thank you."
"Hey no problem, see you on friday right?"
"Yup."
Thea ended the call, shoving it back in her pocket as she looked at BuckBeak. She sighed and grabbed her purse, turning around to leave. She felt her phone ring again in her pocket. Grabbing it, Thea glanced at the caller id before answering.
"Oliver, hey. How's it going?"
"So I'm really spread thin, can you go to Palmer Tech?"
"Yeah, when?"
"Tomorrow. You're meeting the next day at his annual Gala to the Future. I'll tell you what you need to do and say, but be prepared to leave for South Carolina soon."
"Yeah, okay. Text me everything, okay?"
"Okay, see you later."
"Tells Sara I said hi."
"Call her yourself." He laughed.
"What? She's not with you?"
"Nope."
"Okay then."
"Bye,Thea."
"Goodbye." Thea smirked and called up Sara, waiting for her to pick up as she left Laurel's apartment. "Hey Sara."
"Thea, how are you doing?"
"Really great. And you?"
"Fairly well. You just checkin' up on me?"
"That, and to also ask you a favor."
"What can I help you with?"
"Can you feed BuckBeak while I'm gone?"
"Laurel's fish? Or is it now your fish?"
"It's still Laurel's, I'm not a U-Haul Lesbian." Thea chuckled.
"Okay, yeah, I'll feed him." She laughed. "Why can't you, if I may ask."
"Oh, Ollie's having me go to South Carolina."
"Wait, where Laurel is?"
"Yeah."
"I can give you her details if you wanna surprise her, have Ollie book you guys on the same floor."
"Same hotel is fine with me, I'll just surprise her."
"Okay, okay." Sara confirmed. "But I'll make sure to feed him."
"Thank you."
"No problem, T. Talk to you later."
"Okay, bye."
Laurel stretched as the plane landed. She looked at Joanna, who was reading something on her Kindle. They gathered up their belongings as they were herded off of the plane like cattle. Laurel hated this part of flying, s well as boarding and before boarding, basically everything about this felt like a waste of time. Once off the plane, Laurel pulled out her cell phone, calling up Thea.
"Hey babe, just wanted to let you know I landed, safe and sound. Tell Buckbeak I said hi." She ended with a smirk before putting her phone away.
"Were you calling your boyfriend."
Laurel smiled and shrugged. "I mean… nevermind I'm not even gonna bother worrying about lying to you. I was calling my girlfriend, she just wanted to make sure I got here safe and sound."
"That's sweet." Joanna smiled. "To be honest, I don't mind at all. West coast attitude." She shrugged. "How long have you two been together?"
"About a week, but we've known each other for a long time."
"Dating your friends is the best way to go."
"Yeah. What about you, you have anyone waiting for you at home?" Laurel asked walking to the luggage claim.
"Just my roommates and their belgian malinois mix."
"Aw, what's the dog's name?"
"Bear." She smirked. "He's so cute and such a nice dog. A bit stubborn, but a sweetheart."
"There's my bag." Laurel pointed out.
Joanna watched her walk to the belt and pick up the indigo metal cased bag. She spotted her maroon bag and joined her there.
"So the hotel's about fifteen minutes away. After we settle in, I know a bar not too far away from here that's pretty nice and cheap." Joanna suggested.
"Yeah, sounds great."
"Awesome." Joanna smiled opening the door for Laurel.
They made light conversation, waiting briefly for the taxi and heading to the nice business hotel. Their driver was a very young man probably no younger than Laurel. According to him, he was just trying to pay for college by driving for his dad. Laurel continued to converse with him while Joanna texted her bosses. Making great time, they two women were quickly dropped off at their hotel and the driver even helped them take their bags to the lobby before getting his pay, and tip, from Joanna. The two of them went to the elevator, taking it up to their room, and placed everything out on their sides of the room. Laurel stretched out on the armchair, covering her face as she took a cat nap.
"So, when do you want to leave?" She asked Joanna.
"In 15."
"Okay, I can see that."
As they agreed 15 silent minutes went by as they rested from the trip. Laurel only thought it lucky that they didn't have to deal with different time zones. She really just hated the travelling part of travelling in general. Joanna on the other hand really enjoyed exploring all facets of places, new and old. She was excited to get a new person on her team, and even more so with Laurel. They kept their casual clothes that they travelled in and walked down three blocks to a bar. It was nice on the outside, very well kempt and inviting for a bar. It was loud and very lively with tourists and locals alike, dancing and drinking. Laurel sat down next to Joanna, grabbing a bottle of beer from the bar and taking a quick swig.
"So, how do you like it here?"
"It's really nice. I would've never expected it to be so modern here. I guess I thought it'd be more southern here, you know country bars, rodeos, howdowns, the usual."
"I know what you mean. Coming from the west coast, I was surprised at this city, but to be honest obviously they don't live in the 1800s."
"I know right?"
"Yeah."
Laurel chuckled and looked around the room again, turning to her partner and rolled her eyes. "So how long have you worked for them?"
"Almost three years now. They brought me in as a consult at first and then later full time."
"Hopefully I'll get to be working with you soon."
"I hope so, too."
