As the elevator pings open on the tenth floor, I rush out, taking in a deep breath.
“Have a good day, ladies,” the deep voice calls after us.
Sophie and Amy swoon and respond, but I’m halfway down the aisle, sprinting to my desk.
“What do you think of the first proper week?” Amy asks me in a hushed tone when Sophie excuses herself to take a call.
I check if Sophie is close enough to hear us. “I’m finding the financial services cases a bit boring. Particularly the documents I need to review. Four years of debt, twenty different student flatmates, three infestations of mice, and gallons of bad cider. Sometimes you wonder if it’s worth it.”
She shrugs. “Apparently ninety percent of law is admin. Even the most exciting cases require you to read the same document five times. I think we’ll have to get used to it.”
“I know, and I sound ungrateful when it’s been my dream to get a position here. I’m just so cranky after no sleep.”
She claps her hands together. “Oh, there are drinks tonight! That’ll wake you up. I can’t wait to see the bar upstairs.”
“Are the drinks in the building?” I ask, surprised. “There’s a bar here?”
She looks at me like a moron. “Top floor.”
“It’s just the trainees, right?” I ask cautiously. Any possibility of Tristan Kane in the vicinity makes my anxiety levels hit the roof.
“Apparently the HR team will be there to babysit us. To make sure that the new grads don’t go buck mad and wreck the place.” She laughs. “Or buck one another, I guess.”
I nod. “Makes sense.”
Sophie comes back into earshot.
“Sophie, none of the partners will be at the drinks tonight, right?” I ask. “Any chance of Rebecca
Milford and…eh…Tristan Kane joining?”
She snorts. “No chance. You probably won’t talk to them for the next two years except nods in hallways. Your induction talk was an exception. You can have fun at the drinks without worrying about behaving yourself in front of management.”
Good. I can relax now. There’s no reason why Tristan Kane and I would cross paths. I can take the stairs from now on, it’s only ten floors.
11
Elly
At 5. 30 that afternoon, Jeremy from HR rounds us up and herds us into the elevators, destined for the top floor. He doesn’t look thrilled to be babysitting.
“Why are you going, Soph?” I ask as six of us squash into the next available elevator.
“They request some of the qualified lawyers and HR mingle with the new trainees. So we can tell you more about Madison,” she explains. I nod.
“Really it’s so you behave yourselves and don’t wreck the bar,” she adds cynically.
“Lucky you.” I smirk. My ears pop as we ascend to the twentieth floor. We get off the elevator into a lounge area with panoramic windows overlooking the London skyline.
“Whoa,” I roar without an ounce of composure.
“I told you!” Amy squeals.
Sophie grins. “That’s the typical reaction. Nice, isn’t it? The Lexington Group architected it.
Friends of Tristan Kane apparently.”
The hot guy, Jack, from the pictures all over the internet.
“Champagne, girls?” she asks, laughing at the shock on our faces. “It’s a free bar.”
“No,” I say firmly. “I’ll have a beer. Champagne gives me a hangover and brings out the fear in me.” The last time I had champagne was in his hotel. I can’t look at a champagne flute now without feeling tricked.
“I thought the Welsh could drink as well as the Irish.” Amy grins.
“I’m a lightweight.” I gawk around as we make our way to the bar. Waiters flit between groups of thrilled trainees, serving food and drinks. It’s more decadent than the last wedding I was at.
“Canape?” a waiter asks, holding out the tray to us.
“What are they?” Amy asks suspiciously as Sophie orders our drinks. “I’m a pescetarian.” He points to the first dish. “This is smoked eel, golden beet, and elderflower jelly.” “Can pescatarians eat eels?” I ask, confused.
She wrinkles her nose. “I don’t think so. Although it’s not something I’ve been offered before.” “This one…” the waiter points to the next dish “…is the cured salmon caviar with violet flower. Finally, we have the French Laundry Salmon Tartare Cornets.” I give him a blank stare.
“It’s a running joke.” Sophie laughs and hands me a beer. “Tristan Kane has very exquisite eating habits. He controls the restaurant and bar menus, to the annoyance of the chefs.”
“Sounds like a psycho.” Amy stares at the tray as the waiter waits patiently. “And he chose eel?”
“I’ll have all three.” I hold out my plate and take the bizarre little canapes. “It’s my right as a new trainee to accept all free food and drink.” Even if it does flare up my Crohn’s. Just like Amy I’ve never needed to research the effects of eel on a dodgy bowel.
“Brave,” Amy says. They watch me put the elderflower jellied eel in my mouth.
It’s surprisingly refreshing.
“Gross.” Sophie screws up her face and changes the subject. “Did you hear we are taking on the Maria Garcia case? It’s all over the news. Have you been following it?”
I nod, picking apart the violet flower. I’m not sure if it’s edible. “The Garcias were a bit of a celebrity couple in South America.”
“It’ll be an interesting case,” Sophie says.
More interesting than the cases I’m working on in the Financial Services sector, but I can’t say that out loud or I’ll sound ungrateful. Helping banks with regulatory demands and public policy wasn’t the thing that I imagined myself doing four years in university for. But my foot is in the door…even if I can’t stay at Madison Legal for longer than the trainee term.
“Oh my God.” Sophie gasps, flapping her hand and nearly flipping my plate. “I can’t believe he’s here.”
My heart stops for a beat as I absorb her words. I already know who he is because there’s only one person in the company who makes everyone’s voice go up a notch.
He’s by himself. Spines throughout the room gain a few inches as everyone attempts to be noticed by him.
My hand curls tightly around the beer glass.