What's a Girl to Do?

Chapter Eight: Every Breath You Take

Somehow I managed to drag myself out of bed the following day to get to work; I felt as if I'd gone numb, just going through the motions of getting ready before I left my apartment and went downtown towards the firm. Even though Hugo and Allie had returned to the office now, I knew they would be cutting down their work severely in order to spend as much time with Charlotte as possible. I knew they were beginning a new round of treatment and were hopeful, but Allie had told me it was their third time around doing said treatment, and although they were putting her through an experimental trial, there were no guarantees.

I arrived at the firm in plenty of time, greeting Rachel as I always did; we didn't chit-chat that morning; she just handed over my messages and said good morning to me, which was nice. It seemed to be engraved in her code of honor to know what I wanted, whenever I wanted it, and it was pleasant to know that she suspected I wasn't in a talkative mood at the moment. I went down the hallway and into my office, scanning through my messages and ignoring the ones from my adoptive mother; she had been trying to contact me for over a week now, and I didn't have anything to say to her, so I kept regulating them to the bottom of the pile. I knew I could tell Rachel to tell her that I never wanted to talk to her again, but such a thing seemed so final. After all those years of her rejection of me, a part of me hated myself for still wanting her approval, and I'd do anything not to think in those terms.

Judge Whitmore had postponed his verdict until the following Monday, as the opposing side had managed to drudge up more witnesses, and far be it from us as a firm to forbid them from having a fair trial, no matter how despicable they were. I had a meeting scheduled with Hugo, Allie, and Nicholas for ten-thirty that morning, to discuss the future of the firm, and a later one at two-thirty, to discuss strategy for the case. I didn't have anything to prepare for that first meeting, so I decided to go through my notes and come up with further questions for the witnesses I was permitted to question on the stand.

Ten-thirty arrived and I went with Allie to the big conference room, where we were due to meet Hugo and Nicholas. I was pleased to have both Allie and Hugo there to act as a buffer, because no matter how much Nicholas disliked me, he would do everything he could to act accordingly in front of his parents. As we stepped into the conference room, Nicholas greeted his mother warmly, and I knew this would be considered a prime example of an adoption success story if I ever saw one. As I slipped into my seat beside Nicholas, I shuffled my trivial notes and pulled them towards me, raising my eyes to Hugo and Allie, and waiting for either of them to begin our meeting for the future of the firm.

"As I'm sure you both know, Tim has decided that his retirement will be effective by the end of next month," Hugo began. "With Tim retiring, Allie and I have decided to create a dual position for his successor."

"A dual position, Dad?" Nicholas asked, straightening in his seat. "I don't understand. What does that mean?"

"It was a suggestion made by me, that I think will be the most beneficial to the firm," Allie said, placing her hand atop Hugo's. "While your father and I believe that you've put in some good work, we feel that Scarlett has as well."

"What are you saying right now, guys?" Nicholas asks, his eyes flying to me as I lower them to my notes. "Her?! Are you insane?!"

"Watch it, Nicholas," Hugo said, cutting across his son. "Your behavior towards Scarlett has been abhorrent of late—in fact, ever since you came to work for us on a regular basis. I'm ashamed that we weren't here to see it, and that Teddy had to get involved. He had such high hopes for you, son, but Scarlett has proved just as efficient, if not better, in her junior position, so a change must be made."

"And what will that entail?" I asked, not looking up.

"A significant salary increase, plus your own office," Hugo began.