From Rockville to Stockton Chapter 9
By 6:30am Danny had been awake for about thirty minutes, he had already taken a bath and gotten ready for his first day of his internship. As he made his way down the stairs he smelled bacon frying, and his mind drifted back home to when his mother would cook what was in his opinion the best breakfast in the world. He quickly caught the lone tear that fell from his eye.
"No, I can't do this, I'm a grown man now," he said aloud, not even realizing he had until he heard a sweet voice reply to his comment.
"Darlin, anyone, whether they are young or old, has every right to cry sometimes."
Danny looked startled till he noticed Mrs. Weaver as he entered the kitchen.
"Thank you," he said, as he sat down at the table and wiped another tear from his eye.
"Mmm, is that country ham, I smell along with bacon?" His mouth was beginning to water now, he was getting hungry.
"Sure, is young man," she said grinning. "You, sure are familiar with country cooking, aren't you?" she teased him, then chuckled.
"Yes, ma'am, I am a country boy through and through."
"Well, that's good to hear, that a country boy aspires to be a lawyer." She smiled while looking in his direction. "I dare say you couldn't have picked a better lawyer or a more genuine man that Jarrod Barkley," she said, while starting to set the table as the other boarders made their way into the kitchen.
"I agree, I wasn't supposed to start my internship till tomorrow, but he asked me if I would want to start today, and I eagerly said yes." He said this with a big smile on his face.
"That's wonderful Danny, you don't even seem nervous… now that makes me happy."
As all the boarders gathered for breakfast, to eat and get acquainted with each other, Danny glanced over at Mrs. Weaver, and he couldn't help but notice a lone tear fall from her cheek. Danny was sitting next to her; he reached and placed his hand over hers and gave her hand a little squeeze. He then proceeded to finish his breakfast.
After breakfast, Danny went upstairs to gather a few things to put in his office, such as pictures from home, and a couple of books that he honestly didn't remember seeing in his new office. He realized this was partly because he was in awe of his surroundings, and because there was just so much in his not so tiny office that he just could not remember everything that he saw.
Just as he started out the door, he stopped then turned to where Mrs. Weaver was washing the morning dishes with help from one of the female boarders. "Mrs. Weaver," he said almost choking up.
She was drying off one of the dishes as she turned and looked at him.
"Are you alright boy?" she said looking at him.
"Yes, ma'am, I just wanted to say thank you for the breakfast and allowing me to stay here."
"Oh, go on with you now boy and have a wonderful day."
He turned toward the door and turned the knob, then walked out the door to begin the next chapter in his life.
At 9:25 Danny entered the law firm for the first time as an intern, not a visitor. He shut the door behind him turned and was greeted by the secretary.
"Hello, may I help you?"
"I'm Danny Matthews, I'm Mr. Barkley's new intern."
The secretary stood up to shake his hand, "Nice to meet you Mr. Matthews, my name is Robyn Keels"
"Thank you, Miss Keels, please call me Danny though?"
"Alright, if you'll call me Robyn instead of Miss Keels."
"Ok," he said, smiling back at her.
"Danny, go ahead and put your belongings in your office, and I'll Jarrod know you are here." She excused herself to let Jarrod know that Danny had arrived for his first day of work.
"Jarrod, Danny Matthews just arrived I told him to go ahead and put his belongings in his office."
"Alright, thank you Robyn, let him know I'll be in there in a few minutes."
"Yes, Jarrod." Robyn was almost out of the door when Jarrod spoke.
"Robyn, does he seem nervous?"
"Maybe a little, but I think he's just excited though."
"Fine, fine glad to hear that."
They smiled at each other, and Robyn went back to her desk, as Jarrod went to Danny's office
Jarrod walked into Danny's office to say hello to the young man. He didn't want to overwhelm Danny on his first day, so he began with "Good morning, Danny, did you get a good night's sleep?",
"I did, Jarrod thanks." Danny looked around his office and said, "I still can't believe I'm here, interning for you. Where do I start?"
"Well, I'm not sure how much time you've spent in a courtroom, so I'd like you to join me tomorrow on a case I'll be trying. Let me give you the basics of it."
For the next hour, or so, Jarrod outlined the specifics of the next day's trial. He was impressed by the questions Danny asked, and his comments about them. After about an hour, though, Jarrod noticed Danny looking a bit overwhelmed.
Danny are you alright?" he asked the young man, who was suddenly just staring at the desk in front of him.
Danny shook his head, then slowly said,"Yes, yes I'm alright, just the thought of getting to work a case so soon is exciting. And there's so much to remember!"
Danny then looked at Jarrod who had a big smile on his face."I'm glad to hear it. Many times, I try to just listen and remember what has been said. Then I realize that I am not as young as I used to be and there are many things I am prone not to remember that could in fact be crucial to the case. So, one piece of advice to get you on your way: Always take a notepad with you whenever you are - in court, talking to a client, or witness. You never know when you'll need to write something down."
Danny smiled, nodded his head and answered, "So that's why they is so much paper on my desk!"
"Absolutely," Jarrod said smiling. "Now, I'm going back to my desk and let you get settled in a bit here. I'm, going to leave my case notes, for you to further review. But you're going to take a break for now and get settled in. I didn't mean to spend so much time on the case just yet, you haven't even got settled in. Do that and once you've reviewed my notes, we can talk again."
"OK, boss, I'll do just that!"
