Mr. Corporate Law

2.6: L&W Rules - Use your Networks Wisely

"Hamish!" I chased after the man after I finally caught a sight of him on his way out of the building. I needed to talk to him and clarify if we were okay, and despite the things I've already heard in the office, I was hopeful he didn't feel indifferent towards me.

"Listen, Annie, now's not the right-"

"-Hamish," I silenced him and grabbed both his hands to forcefully turn him my way, even with a bit of struggle on my part as he was clearly stronger than me. "At least give me five minutes of your time. I deserve that, don't I?" I pleaded for him to spare just even a second.

Hamish sighed and rolled his eyes in defeat. "Alright," He sounded uninterested and lacked enthusiasm.

I let him go and clung onto the straps of my bag, my view shifted briefly to the concrete floor and back up to his blue eyes. They were sad, they were clearly in a fight to tell me something.

"What is it, Annie?"

"What's happening between us? Are we okay?"

Hamish rubbed the tips of his fingers along his forehead, his skin wrinkled a bit as he stared up to the clear blue sky and began to explain; "I know I've been acting weird. Erika called me out the other day about it, she said that you're worried so I need to tell you that I'm fine. We're fine. I've just been a bit busier than usual, seems like everyone wants me."

"So, you're not going to help me with the case then?"

He shook his head. "Unfortunately not, since meeting Nathaniel the other day, he's assigned me to do errands with the junior associates instead of being a consultant. I also had to collect all these clients for our firm," He still continued on, which showed that he was still a lot more open than I expected, and I was glad.

"One more question-" I mumbled shyly. "Are you free to catch up for dinner? I really need to talk to you."

"Yes, Erika already shoved me into it." He smiled. "I'll see you tonight, Annie," He added with a wink and lazily wrapped an arm around me to give me a weak embrace, and I couldn't resist to hug him back.

"Anyway, I have to go," I said against the side of his shirt before I parted from our short hug.

"Oh, one more thing-" He grabbed me by my arm and made sure I wouldn't wander off without him finishing, similar but a bit gentle compared to how I stopped him earlier. "-I asked a friend of mine to help you, but I'm not going to say who. Please be a bit nicer, yeah?"

"Okay, but give me a hint?"

Hamish pressed his finger against his lips and winked. "I won't say a word. He'll help you big time," He teased.

"You suck."

"Yes, I know," He only chuckled and patted the top of my head before he walked away. I watched the back of his head leave again, like how he left me and Erika when he volunteered to meet Nathaniel, but at least this time, he looked over his shoulder and gave me a wave goodbye and he was gone.

I only sighed and went back up to work.

Around noon, the rare appearance of Judge Cole in the firm made all the employees frantic. Apparently, other than the senior associates, the partners and bosses, everyone else were more scared of the judge than they were of Nathaniel and my Father. I watched them clean their desk space, straighten themselves and make sure they were as presentable as they were the first day they started working for Lawler & Walsh. I've heard and been told that Judge Cole was an important network for my law career, especially in the corporate world where we needed to play dirty once and a while, and for Judge Cole, it became his sideline job - a hobby more like it.