"A GUILTY VERDICT IN FOURTEEN MINUTES!" Freddie shouted down the hallway as Lisa trailed behind him. "Did you hear that, Chris? Lisa crushed your old record by almost ten minutes!"
Lisa only half wished he'd stop. The other half of her was overcome with relief that the victim wouldn't have to worry about her estranged husband. She'd already set her up with services to help her get divorced and moved out of state before he finished serving his sentence.
As people congratulated her in a flurry of high-fives and backslaps, Lisa beamed. For the first time in a long time, she felt like a real star. The brilliant example for others to follow, or at the very least, the person to beat. The sensation was electric and, as much as she hated to admit, addictive.
When they stopped in her doorway, Lisa took the files he'd been carrying for her. "Thanks for your help," she said. The adrenaline rush leaving her body left her ready to collapse in her chair and kick off her heels. At least she'd worn pants and didn't have pantyhose to contend with.
"You definitely didn't need my help," he replied, leaning against the doorway.
Roseanne spun around in her chair to face them. "I don't even know what you're talking about, but I'm certain it's true."
"She—" Freddie started, but Lisa knew Roseanne too well to let him continue.
"She's messing with you," Lisa said, dropping a stack of papers on her desk. "She knows I won."
Freddie smiled as if in on some joke. Roseanne crossed one leg over the other, her face so severe, she looked ready to entertain a timeshare pitch.
"Well, then she should know that we go celebrate the first one!" He grinned while rubbing his hands together like a small rodent. "Happy hour. First round is on me."
Roseanne cocked her head to one side. "And who's invited to the festivities?"
Freddie's smile didn't falter, but his skin took on a new grayish tone. "Everyone. At the very least, we'll celebrate with everyone in the division. D1 out on the town!"
His rising energy didn't match the circumstances, and Lisa wondered if he was really this bad at reading a room. When Roseanne's eyes narrowed, Lisa's pulse jumped. Couldn't she ever just be polite?
"I have trial in two days. Dongwook and Seulgi just finished theirs and have like twenty new cases. I'm not sure about Peter, but this seems like very short notice for a Monday night outing."
Under Roseanne's unwavering scrutiny, Freddie shifted his weight between his feet. "There's no way of knowing how it will go, right? Although with how prepared Lisa was, there really wasn't a doubt." His gaze flickered toward Lisa as he smiled. "So, will you join us?"
"I'm pretty sure Lalisa hasn't accepted the offer yet, but in any case, no. I can't," she said before swinging back toward her computer.
Lisa was still stuck on the way her name sounded in Roseanne's husky voice and didn't notice that Freddie had continued talking. "What?"
"Are you in? I'll get the others and we can meet at that British pub at five. They extended their happy hour until seven," he said in a way that made it clear he was repeating himself.
"Yeah, of course," she relented, too brain dead to come up with an excuse. Plus, a celebratory drink with colleagues sounded like a perfect end to her day.
"I hope you change your mind, Roseanne," Freddie said, hitting the doorway with his knuckle before waving goodbye.
In the distance, Lisa heard him spreading the word about the happy hour. She didn't waste another second in peeling off her jacket and exchanging her tight heels for soft flats. After savoring the relief rushing over her previously tense muscles, Lisa slumped in her chair and looked at Roseanne.
As if sensing the weight of her gaze, Roseanne spoke without looking at her. "He likes you, you know."
"What?" Lisa scoffed. "What the hell makes you say that?" she asked instead of inquiring about what she really wanted to know: why do you care?
Roseanne stopped typing and spun her chair towards her. Lisa sat up and straightened her blouse.
"Homeboy legitimately fawns all over you," she replied in a tone that made clear she thought Lisa was the dumbest person alive.
Lisa rolled her eyes. "It's legit his job to mentor us."
"And you think inviting you out is part of MLS' mentoring plan?" Roseanne leaned forward, resting her head on her palm as if sitting on the edge of her seat while awaiting her response.
You're so dramatic.
"I'm pretty sure it's a normal part of the practice of law. Didn't the lawyers in New York take you out when you were a summer associate? It builds camaraderie," she continued without expecting an answer.
Roseanne shrugged. "If that's what you want to believe, go for it. But I guarantee his interest is more than professional. If you want to be naive and think people you work with are your friends, who am I to burst your cotton candy bubble." Something unreadable flashed in her eyes. "Don't come crying to me when you realize he's using you for something he wants. That's what people do to each other," she added with unwarranted anger before she seemed to catch herself and relaxed her shoulders.
Lisa was taken aback by her overreaction. There was no way she was still talking about a simple invitation to a drink with a supervisor after a first win in court. Lisa didn't know how to respond, so she brought it back to the point with the most obvious question. "Then why did he invite you and everybody else?"
"You mean after I called him out on it?" She laughed. "Covering his tracks. Listen, I don't care. I just don't want you to be surprised when he makes a move," she paused as if looking at the situation anew, "but here I am making the assumption you're not interested."
Heat roared over Lisa's face. "Are you implying that I'm romantically attracted to . . . Freddie?" The notion was as offensive as it was ridiculous.
"Considering you just sounded like a cat coughing up a hairball when you said his name, I guess not." Roseanne stifled a laugh. "You do you. If you go to this happy hour, that's definitely a pretext to get you alone and under the influence. I wouldn't leave my beverage unattended."
"Oh my God! How can you even say that?! That's not funny." Lisa was horrified she'd make light of something so serious.
Roseanne's jaw tightened. "I wasn't kidding. He really does give me the creeps, Lalisa. Just pay attention is all I'm saying," she added before returning to her work.
Focusing for the couple of hours remaining in the day was nearly impossible. Between Roseanne's unnerving warnings about Freddie, who she had absolutely no interest in and who had never acted unprofessionally, and her accumulated sleep deprivation, time was crawling.
When Lisa picked up and left for the day, Roseanne was still working. She didn't breathe another word about happy hour and neither did Lisa, though she couldn't stop thinking how strangely she reacted to such a normal part of their working environment.
Roseanne's interest didn't appear malicious, and yet experience told her that Roseanne only did things that benefited her. Maybe she was just jealous that she was getting more recognition than her, or that she couldn't charm people in this office like she'd fooled everybody in law school.
Shaking off the second-hand negativity Roseanne dumped on her, Lisa freshened up her makeup before starting out for the bar. She'd get there a few minutes early and snag some space outside. After all, she'd worked so hard. She deserved to let loose a little.
