Supernatural Law (Derek Hale)

Pilot (pt.2)

Madeleine smoothed down the front of her blazer. 8:46. 

"Shit," she said to herself. Her first day at the law firm and she was cutting it way too close. Madeleine had been in the new apartment for almost a week, and she timed the walk to the firm at six minutes in sneakers, nine minutes in heels. Her new boss, an attorney named Michael Whittemore, was expecting her at 9:00 AM sharp. 

She rushed into the kitchen, quickly poured coffee into her travel mug, and grabbed her briefcase from the table. Truth be told, she had no idea what she'd need to bring other than her laptop, so the briefcase wasn't all that necessary. She just enjoyed the power move of carrying one. 

Madeleine's heels didn't slow her down as much as anticipated, and she arrived at the firm with three minutes to spare. The firm was a nice, modern-looking office, with an opalescent glass door. Michael Whittemore & Associates. 

Madeleine was greeted by a friendly receptionist with blonde hair and a maroon blouse, presumably in her late 30s to early 40s. "So nice to meet you dear," she said, and introduced herself as Gwyneth Johnson. Gwyneth showed her to Michael's office and knocked on the door. 

"Madeleine, so nice to see you again." Michael showed her into his office and motioned to the chair facing his desk. "It feels like only yesterday you were two years old playing in our backyard." He chuckled. 

Madeleine's father and Michael were close friends; they had gone to law school together at USC quite a few years ago. They used to be associates until Madeleine and her father had moved to San Diego when her mom got a job as a professor at UCSD. That was when Madeleine was seven, right before the accident. A time she didn't particularly like to remember. 

"I'm very excited to be here, especially working with someone my father speaks so highly of." A little sucking up could never hurt. 

"I could say the same about you, Madeleine. Your father tells me you excelled at Stanford."

"Top of my class," Madeleine shrugged. 

"Very impressive," Michael raised his eyebrows. "Well, I am ecstatic for you to be here. My firm has been growing in the past few years and there's plenty of opportunity for you to grow here. I'm going to start you out training with Joan, she's one of our general corporate lawyers, but once you get a feel for things around here, we can find your best fit."

"Can't wait."

-

Her first day at work had been exciting, but rather overwhelming with all the new information Madeleine had to quickly learn. She got home and collapsed on her couch, watched a few episodes of West Wing, and decided to go for a run. Madeleine wasn't much of a runner other than for leisure, but she had picked up the habit during her undergrad and enjoyed going for a jog after a long day of working. 

She had looked on her phone and found a nice-looking trailhead at the Beacon Hills Reserve, so Madeleine took her car and drove over; it was only about ten minutes away. That was one of the beauties of being in small town, it never took long to get where she was going. 

Madeleine parked next to the blue Jeep that was also parked at the Reserve, admiring its color. Her car was a silver Prius but she had always wanted a fun color; she thought the baby blue of the Jeep was so cute. 

Madeleine took off through the woods, grateful she had brought her head lamp, as it was almost pitch black outside. She hadn't realized just how much West Wing she had watched; it was already 9 PM. The Reserve didn't have much of a trail but Madeleine liked how woodsy it was. It reminded her of the woods near her house in North Carolina, where she lived for a brief few years after the accident. It was never quite this foggy in North Carolina, she noticed, as a thick fog began to set in around the trees. Madeleine considered going back to her car but she decided against it, a little fog couldn't hurt.