Today was a great day, as was evidenced by the large smile on Joanne's face. She practically danced back into her office building. The greater part of her day had been spent in court, and it had been a triumphant day down at the Municipal Hall. Four cases had gone before the judge today and all four cases had been settled in favor of Joanne and her clients. Her excitement was palpable as she rode the elevator to the seventeenth floor. It had been so long since she'd had a court date this successful. A major boost to her confidence had been made, and Joanne was on such a high that she walked right into her secretary.
Reeling back with a short laugh, she stared curiously at Jennifer, who held a large box full of trinkets and office supplies in her hand. Seeing her curious expression, the other woman only shook her head and smiled.
"Ask Steve." Jennifer said as she stepped around Joanne and out into the hallway. The lawyer watched her young friend step onto the elevator before shrugging her shoulders and sauntering into her office. Whatever Steve had Jennifer doing had provided her secretary entertainment for the day, so Joanne couldn't really complain that he'd commandeered her for the day.
Her briefcase was placed gently on the floor just inside the door and she began to pull off the light raincoat she wore so that it could be hung on a hook inside a small closet. She walked absentmindedly over to her desk and sat down in the cold leather chair. Today had been too good a day to just go back to the paperwork, but Joanne knew that it had to be done. Thus, with a sigh and a moment of wishful thinking she opened a drawer on the file cabinet behind her desk and pulled out the appropriate folders.
The next few hours passed in a quiet easy manner with just the occasional interruption from a coworker asking for information or a phone call from a client. After a long day in the courtroom, it was a rather nice way to end out the day and Joanne was rather happy about that as days like these did not happen rather often. Unfortunately, it was not to remain quite so simple as she stepped out of her office in search of her secretary.
Jennifer wasn't at her desk, which wasn't exactly unusual but Joanne realized as she glanced around the small lobby area that she hadn't seen the woman all day since crashing into her just inside the office doors. At that moment, one of her coworkers came in and noticed her confused stare.
"Hey Joanne. If you're looking for Jennifer she's over in Steve's office. She's been helping him with something all day." Joanne smiled.
"Thanks, Ellen. Did you need something?" Her coworkers typically only came into her office area to get a file or some piece of paperwork, or to ask some question. To be such a successful firm, they weren't really a close knit group and operated in a more isolated fashion. At least, that was the way they all interacted with her.
"Oh yeah, that's why I came over here. I know you finished the Merjei case about a few months ago, but it's really similar to a case I've going on now, and I was wondering if I could get the decision from you to see how the judge explained his ruling. I'm actually trying to avoid a dismissal on this one." Joanne nodded in response.
"Yeah, that's not exactly helpful when you're the suing party and not the one getting sued like Merjei was." She said laughingly as she walked back into her office. The file was easy enough to find as it was constantly being pulled for references. Holding the pages Ellen had requested, Joanne headed back out into the outer office and handed it to her with a smile. "I hope it helps."
"You and me both. Thanks!" Ellen walked out chuckling and Joanne followed. Steve's office was just down the hall from hers and wouldn't take long to get to. Not that she had to go very far because as soon as she stepped outside her office door, her secretary walked up with a very worn out look on her face.
"Steve needs to see you in his office." The girl said tiredly. Joanne nodded, and looked down the hall towards Steve's open door.
"Jennifer, why don't you take a load off in my office? We can close up shop together when I get back." Jennifer responded with a soft chuckle and head into the office, leaving Joanne to make her way to Steve. When she walked into his office, she found him sitting behind his desk threading his hands through his short black hair. He didn't seem to notice her soft tap on his door, so she sat down on his desk and watched him glare angrily at a sheet of paper.
"Steve." She said with a laugh. It was rare to catch the other man looking so grim, especially when it came to work. Steve Trudeau was the only attorney in the firm that could claim having worked longer hours than Joanne. Most of the long hours the two lawyers worked were spent together, tossing ideas and complaints between them looking for new and better ways to win. Joanne considered him a friend among coworkers, which is why she hadn't been upset that he'd commandeered her secretary for the day. He looked up at the sound of his name, and jumped back in surprise.
"Jeff, you can't come in here in that sneaky way of yours without saying something. Almost gave me a heart attack." He said with the lopsided grin that was reserved for the only daughter of his extremely demanding boss. Joanne smirked.
"Well, Steve, I knocked on the door but you were so caught up in glaring at that paper you missed my fabulous entrance." She leaned down and looked at the paper. "What is this anyway?"
"My secretary's letter of resignation." He snorted. The frustration in his tone made Joanne look up at him.
"Explain." Steve immediately went into a short tale about his secretary, a young man who's name Joanne had never known, was being forced to return home to Arizona to care for a younger sibling who had fallen gravely ill. Both of his parents were dead, and he had no other living relatives. The young man hadn't known how long he would be in Arizona and so had resigned his position instead.
"So now I'm stuck trying to run this damn office, when I'm not even here half the time." Steve described in irritation. "Thank God for Jennifer or else I'd have been completely screwed today. By the way, that girl is a goddess. I might be out of job without her help today." At that, Joanne laughed.
"Steve, you bring in the most clients and money to the firm. I highly doubt Boss Dad would fire you for something so unexpected." He laughed in response.
"Maybe not today, but by then end of the week I will be. There's no way I can keep my clientele in one piece without a secretary." To that, Joanne had nothing to say.
So the day went on just as it had begun, and the only difference was the thought now tormenting her mind. Joanne had known, the moment Steve had explained his troubles to her, exactly who to call. It was an easy way to kill two birds with one stone, and the thought positively frightened her. It had been a couple weeks since she and Maureen had spent that evening at the Life. She wasn't even sure the other woman would be receptive to the idea. For all she knew, Maureen had found a job by then. Still, the thought kept nagging at her all night until finally she picked up the phone and dialed a number she hadn't dialed in eight months.
"Hello?" came Maureen's sleep-filled voice. Joanne sighed audibly before answering.
"Sorry to wake you, Maureen." She could hear Maureen moving around as the diva became alert.
"Joanne? Is that you?" Surprise laced itself into the fatigue.
"Yeah it's me, Mo." She said quietly, not really certain she understood why she'd called in the first place.
"What's wrong?" Trust Maureen to always know when Joanne was up to something, or feeling a little conflicted about her own thoughts. They knew each other way to well.
"Nothing is wrong. Something came up at the firm, and I thought about you." Another sigh.
"I'm great. Still jobless, but great." She could hear the sardonic smile in her voice.
"Can you come by the firm tomorrow around 8? I know that's like dawn for you." Maureen chuckled, and Joanne noticed that she was absently twirling the cord of the phone around her fingers. She stopped.
"I'll see you at 745, Miss Jefferson." The reply was curt, and Joanne grimaced, wondering at whatever mistake she'd made already.
"Okay, well, I don't want to keep you up any longer so I'll get off the phone now."
"It's never too late for you to call, Joanne. I'll see you in the morning." Those simple words calmed every doubt that had forced its way into her mind. They whispered their goodbyes, and then Joanne hung up the phone, rolling over into the plush blankets that covered her bed.
Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.
AN: I apologize profusely for how … long the wait has been. I'll endeavor to improve on timing. RL and muses, they hate me. Thanks for sticking around.