In Or Out

S1E5.

❝In: A Nutshell❞
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❝A few injustices can be deeper than the denial of an opportunity to strive or even to hope.❞

Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Greenwell Springs Road, Fulcrum Law Firm

The moment Harlowe stepped through the double doors of Fulcrum Law Firm, the beaming grin that was stuck on her face dropped when her eyes landed on the building's receptionist.

Both of Bebe's Airpods were in her ears and her eyes were cast down to her iPhone's screen. She casually sipped from a Starbucks cup topped with whip cream and an excessive amount of caramel drizzle, paying no heed to Harlowe as she approached the slick, mahogany desk the younger girl sat behind.

The twenty-two-year-old's eyelashes fluttered up and her lips squirmed to the corner of her face when she met eyes with Harlowe, her caramel frappuccino and the Facebook live broadcast she was watching instantly set aside.

"Good Afternoon, Ms. Morris—"

"Cut the shit, Bebe. If Wes catches you out here sipping on Starbucks and chilling, you're going right back to Mayfair. Take that shit out of your ear and do your damn job," she spat, watching with an unmoved gaze as Bebe's phony facade melted away, and that familiar grouch face she sported took its place.

"You'on gotta' talk to me like that!"

"Yes, I do. Especially since it's the only way you'll shape up. Do. Your damn. Job."

Without waiting for a response, Harlowe shook her head and pushed past the front desk reception as she entered Fulcrum's main office. She wasted no time fidgeting with her padfolio to grab some of the files from the Luster case, and she strided over to the records and archives department to hand them over.

"Log these in under Luster for me, Yvonne. It's missing the police officers' statement forms but I'll bring those back to you in a bit; got to go over them again," she assured, watching with amused eyes as Yvonne, the clerical assistant on duty, adjusted her glasses on her face and scanned over the case files. Dismissed with a thumbs-up and Yvonne turning away to face her desktop computer, Harlowe smirked and headed towards her office.

Fulcrum Law Firm always had a serene atmosphere that made Harlowe grateful she could come into work and not be annoyed by the fast pace of a regular office environment. Despite every attorney indulging in their own practice, and having four different departments all located on one floor in the building, everything always remained reposeful.

Waving as she passed by a few offices occupied with colleagues, Harlowe spotted Teague on her right. Teague was a somewhat "new" paralegal to the firm that assisted her with Milton Luster's case. Harlowe assumed the young woman was drinking some of the coffee the interns made in the breakroom as she jabbered on without a care in the world to another paralegal.

Teague glanced in Harlowe's direction as the thirty-one-year-old approached the two paralegals with a blank face, and she immediately perked up. "Hey Harlowe," Teague glanced down at the dark roast coffee in her hand, and tilted it towards the criminal defense attorney, "I can get you a cup if you want—"

Without a word, Harlowe went back in her padfolio for the police officers' statements and shoved the papers into the paralegal's chest, resting her left hand on her rounded hip afterwards. "No, I don't want coffee. What I want... is for you to go over these statement forms, again and see what we missed."

"When that's done, give them back to Yvonne and give me whatever you have on Elliot's case before I leave today. Please and thank you," Harlowe rushed out, already walking away from the young girl as she started towards her office again. She stopped when Teague's voice floated from behind her.