Hello, people!
Happy Saturday!

Usual housekeeping:
- I still don't own any of it.
- Team Momo wouldn't exist without Midnight Cougar and Alice's White Rabbit with their red pens, or without AGoodWitch, Maplestyle, Mel, and Eternally Addicted who pre-read and tell me if I'm off my rocker or not.
- thank you for all the reviews and alerts! I'm humbled and grateful and treasure each of them.

Reminder that the nominations for the Golden Onion Awards are STILL underway and will be open until July 31. So this is the LAST weekend to submit your nominations. All the pertinent info and the link to the nomination and awards website is in their FB group, The Golden Onion Awards (type in the search bar to find it). Don't forget to go and show your favorites some love with the nominations :)

Now, it looks like we are all invested in seeing through the "waste disposal" program. On with the show, today with LawyerWard!


Chapter 42 – EPOV

The next morning after waking up in each other's arms, and a few attempts at delicious procrastination in bed, Bella and I abandoned our plans to be lazy for the week.

My idea of easing back into work after the end of my academic sabbatical and Bella's planned post-graduation vacation fell by the wayside very quickly after the all-hands-on-deck meeting we'd had the day before.

We dragged our cranky and sexually frustrated selves to the office since we both had a few tasks to accomplish in the firm's plan to terminate Rebecca's employment as soon and as smoothly as possible.

Bella and Jasper would game out the firm's media strategy, preparing draft press releases and taking a stab at updated marketing materials that made no mention of Rebecca.

James, my dad, and I would spend the morning doing a dry run of our impending meeting with Rebecca.

After a hasty breakfast, Bella and I drove to the office and parted ways in the reception area. She darted to her office, intent on finding Jasper before anyone else could waylay her, while I climbed the two remaining floors to my office.

Only the place wasn't as I left it—dark, gloomy, and desolate. Someone had been there, turned on the lights, pulled the blinds, decluttered my desk, and stacked the waiting mail in neat piles. A steaming mug of coffee also sat close to my desk phone.

"Good morning, sir."

"Alice, how many times do I need to tell you? It's Edward."

Of course, she'd been there. Now, the real mystery was how had she figured out I'd be there today? Bella and I hadn't said a word about it to anyone. The firm's "waste management" activities for the day were too sensitive. Alistair had insisted on compartmentalizing that information as much as we could. Need-to-know was the name of the game.

"Sorry, Edward. It still sounds a bit foreign to me, you know?"

"Thank you for making my unannounced return easier. How did you …?"

Alice—all five foot nothing of her despite the sky-high, stylish heels she wore—raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow at me. "I work for your father, Edward. Do the math."

I slapped my forehead. "Rookie mistake. Apologies."

"Speaking of which, I know you're dealing with … well, what shall we call it …" She trailed off.

I didn't want to give away any corporate secrets, but Alice had always been reliable. I mimicked her previous gesture, raising an eyebrow and motioning for her to continue.

"Waste management? Unrecyclable goods?"

She knew. I'd guessed based on her earlier comment.

My dad, ever the old school lawyer, had probably asked her to print materials or reply to emails related to the Rebecca situation. No doubt, Alice had access to his email and calendar, which meant she'd see any correspondence or meetings he had planned down to the last detail. She'd know an extraordinary meeting of the Executive Committee had been scheduled for this afternoon, and that it would include Rebecca's performance review.

"Precisely. What about it?"

She closed the door, then approached my desk. "I happen to have pertinent information. May I share that with you? I'd hate for the removal not to be successful just because you didn't have all the facts."

I pondered her words for a second, then dialed Alistair's extension and left the call on speaker. While I waited for him to pick up, I beckoned Alice to come closer and take a seat.

"Edward, hi. How can I help you?"

"Morning. Alice is here with me and has new information on waste disposal."

Alistair snickered. "Duh. Assistants always know the best shit. Come down to my office, the lot of you. I'm assuming you only want to tell this story once, Alice. Am I right?"

Alice cleared her throat. "Yes, sir."

"Well, come over to the dark side. The more the merrier."

Alice and I exchanged a look, then nodded. More cloak and dagger shit.

&&&StN&&&

Alice and I descended the two floors between my office and Alistair's in stony silence. Too many people passed by in the hallways, too many people who could eavesdrop on things they weren't supposed to know.

When we entered Alistair's office, we found Bella and Jasper there with him. While the office door was open, silence blanketed the room until after it closed behind us. They scooted their chairs to make room for us; Alice and I took our seats, then finally Alistair spoke.

"First of all, Alice, thank you for being willing to speak up and provide information. I'm not going to ask why or how you guessed what's afoot."

Alice lowered her gaze, and her whole demeanor seemed more subdued than her usual. "Well, I … With Carlisle's schedule …" She normally wasn't at a loss for words, and it pained me that she'd think she'd broken any rules.

"You haven't gone blabbing to anyone, Alice. You did nothing wrong here. Managing my father's schedule is squarely in your job description," I stated firmly.

This behavior wasn't so typical for me either. Six months ago, it wouldn't have occurred to me to comfort an employee.

Alistair raised an eyebrow at me. "Someone came back from sabbatical and stole Rosalie's job," he quipped. When I started to protest, he stopped me. "Not another word. We're not here to put anyone on trial. Well, except for one person. Alice, the floor is yours."

She steepled her hands after propping her elbows on her knees, threw a sidelong glance at Bella and Jasper, who sat to our left, then cleared her throat. "I went to lunch with a few friends from other firms yesterday. Some interesting stories popped up. About Rebecca."

Alistair nodded. "Go on."

"I've worked in this industry for years; I've built a network like everyone else," Alice explained. "I know people—"

"Who know people, who know people," Bella interjected. "We all know how it goes. Was it the usual gang, Ali?" Bella's voice took on a soothing but knowing tone. This wasn't all news to her.

"Yeah. Usual crowd. I have friends scattered here and there, and when I mentioned Rebecca's name, the table went as silent as the grave. Their expressions were—I can't describe them. Somewhere between outraged and disgusted. Then the stories started pouring in."

"Oh, boy," Jasper said. "Doesn't sound good."

Alice's expression soured. "She's done this before."

"Define 'this,' Alice. We need specifics," I countered.

"There were problems with her at every law firm where she worked. At Fallin & Fallin, she sent out a draft memo to the adverse party in a dispute. It was old, incorrect info, but it still risked uncovering the firm's entire trial strategy. She was confronted and agreed to leave if the firm dropped any actions against her."

Alistair frowned. "How do we know this is fact?"

"One of my Pilates friends is the assistant to the managing partner there. But there's more."

Alistair removed his glasses and rubbed at his eyes dejectedly. "Pattern of behavior. Let's hear it, Miss Brandon."

"Next, Rebecca got a job at Davis & Main. They let her go within a year."

"How so?" Bella asked.

Alice shrugged. "Official reason is that she didn't hit performance review markers."

"But unofficially?"

"Nobody fucking liked her." Then she realized her faux pas. "Oops, sorry. She gets on my nerves," she admitted.

"Get in line," Jasper grumbled.

Alistair leaned back in his chair, still frowning. "Let's get back on track. Anything else?"

"She bounced around a lot based on my information. A year here, two years there. Until she landed a job at Lockhart & Gardner."

Al and I exchanged a look. Our shrewd CEO had picked up on that name—Lockhart & Gardner was the biggest law firm in town. They weren't just our competitors; they were our nemesis.

"You know people at L&G?"

At Alistair's probing question, Alice nodded. "It's a small world. It's not like I can avoid everyone or ask for their W-2s before talking to them."

"Fair enough. What happened at L&G?"

"I hope I'm getting the details right. She hired outside contractors for a specific case—an investigator, a translator, that sort of thing. These people did work for the firm, delivered it, billed for it, but were never paid. Rebecca trashed their invoices. She was the senior associate on the case and oversaw billing for the entire project. The partner in charge only rubber-stamped what she did. It was all fine and dandy until the vendors started hammering on Lockhart & Gardner's doors to be paid. We're talking tens of thousands of dollars the firm had failed to account for, bill to the client, and recoup. It was a massive hole, and that entire fiasco came to light eighteen months after the fact. Too late to go back to the client and say 'hey, we forgot to bill you fifty thousand bucks in expenses, fancy paying for that now?'"

"Jesus fucking Christ," I grumbled.

"Exactly," Alice replied. "I don't know what kind of legal recourse a firm would have against that."

"It's a financial nightmare," I began. "But I'm afraid it'd be in 'awful but lawful' territory. She may have violated internal policies and procedures, which would be grounds for dismissal, but apart from that—"

Alistair interrupted me. "The firm would be liable for non-payments to vendors, not her. She was acting on behalf of the firm. I don't know whether there's any room for complaints or charges there. Disciplinary proceedings with the Bar, maybe?"

"How hasn't this … person been disbarred yet?" Jasper spat. His disdain for Rebecca shone through in the way he'd struggled to find a word to define her, then settled on "person."

Bella shook her head. "Law firms are risk-averse. Any negative chatter about lawyers behaving badly flies under the radar or is swept under the rug. We've been there ourselves before, haven't we? How was Bamford not charged? We used the threat of prosecution as a bargaining chip. It's always 'go quietly and shit won't get any worse for you.' Infuriating but practical from a reputation standpoint."

"And that, my young Padawan, is the reason why she's the marketing manager and you're her minion," Alistair noted to Jasper, not without humor.

"There's another noteworthy aspect in all these stories Alice shared," I added. "Whatever pickles those firms found themselves in because of Rebecca's atrocious work ethic, their leadership wasn't blameless. Clients could have argued that breakdowns in their chain of command and duty of care caused or facilitated Rebecca's stunts. And the one thing a law firm will avoid more strenuously than bad publicity is a malpractice lawsuit, Jasper. That kind of scandal can bury a firm."

Seething, Alice added her two cents. "Plus, her father is a federal judge. What law firm in their right mind would step on the toes of a guy who's been sitting on the federal bench for decades? So time and again, she pulls her crap, gets fired for it, and she moves on to the next mark. And I doubt we're going to do anything differently. She'll land on her feet. Privileged people like her always do."

"How devastatingly true," Alistair commented. "Thank you, Alice. This was immensely helpful. You may return to your office. Jasper, you, too. I need a minute with these two."

Alice rose from her seat and walked to the door with Jasper on her heels. Before leaving, she threw one last salvo over her shoulder. "Don't say anything interesting after I leave!"

"As if you ain't gonna hear about it later!"

We could always count on Alistair for some much-needed levity.


Someone mentioned in a review that "admins know the best shit", and this is further proof of that fact! Alice for the win!
Also ... little Easter egg in here. I dropped a few names of fictional law firms from tv shows in this chapter. Can you identify all of them?

The re-read of Business Class Girl for its 13th anniversary is still ongoing in my FB group. Just type "LaMomo's Lair" in the search bar to find it and join the shenanigans.

More waste disposal will land on a screen near you on Wednesday!