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The next day, Camilla was surprised as Patrick called her up. She wasn't sure where he had got her number from, considering she had changed her network provider after finishing university, and she knew for sure that they no longer had any mutual friends since that point in their lives. All the clues added up to his encounter with her mother. Nonetheless, it was rather nice to interact with somebody from her past – even if it was but a brief encounter.
He had always been a good friend of hers during her studies, but they had later on parted ways as their lives got busy. "How are you doing?" she asked finally, when the shock subsided from his abrupt call. He sounded just as confident as he had always been when she had answered, but his arrogance wasn't as overpowering as she remembered. He'd done something right at least.
"Good," he replied. "I'm actually calling about something in particular. This is a business call of some sort. We've had a solicitor drop out of a case and because it's such short notice, with the court day approaching, we needed someone fast. When I saw your mum the other day, it reminded me of what a perfect job you would do,"
Camilla paused for a moment, unsure of what to reply with. This was after all what she had hoped for – a job opportunity. It was only one case, but she knew from experience that just one case had the potential to make a huge difference. "When's the court day?"
There was a silence.
She understood why when he cautiously said, "Monday,"
Camilla mentally counted it down. That was next week, which meant he really hadn't been exaggerating when he had said it was short notice. "Patr-"
"We really need you, Camilla. Look, all of the resources are here, witness statements, information and so on. All you need to do is read up on it, form an argument, meet the client and then there's court. It's simple." She rolled her eyes and sighed. Patrick did have a point that the information itself was the main component of her job, but applying that in an argument was also a significant part of it. Especially when she had no idea what they might throw at her in court.
"You make it sound very easy," she retorted. "And we both know that if it was that easy, you wouldn't be on the phone with me right now ... but, I am up for the challenge. When do you want me to come down?"
*
Camilla dressed to impress. It was ironic she thought, that she would much prefer going all out for work, but not for Storm. But there was a definite difference in that – she didn't feel the need to impress him, he'd been more than upfront about his attraction to her. Whereas, work was a completely different matter – she had always had to prove herself. Just because she was a woman.
Regardless of there being legislation and policies put in place, she had been made to feel degraded because she was a woman. Or at least she had at the start. She had proved herself, more than proved herself as she worked and since, she had learnt to embrace her confidence to get what she wanted.
