Chapter 1

 

"We're reassigning you."

Melony blinked. "You're what?"

Debra, the personnel manager, nodded with a frown. "You don't seem happy in the litigation department anymore." Reaching around, she shut her office door. "To be perfectly frank, I think it bothers them you're young and pretty, but smart. You defy the rule of blonds." She laughed, a forced, contrived sound.

Melony shook her head. "That's silly. Hair color has nothing to do with ability Besides, I've worked in litigation for six years. It's what I know best."

Debra gave her a sympathetic look. "I know. And the partners are in an uproar over this decision because you're the one they go to when they need a quick answer about a client's case. But I just can't keep you where your presence creates turmoil and hostility."

A lump formed in Melony's throat and she swallowed past it. She took a deep breath then said, "I don't understand. I haven't done anything to deserve this."

"I know. Your supervisor says the others see you as a know-it-all. And they think you're stuck up. Of course, it's hogwash. If an attorney or another paralegal asks you a question, it's your job to give them the information they seek. The problem is you seem to know just about everything off the top of your head, while the other ladies have to look up the answers. You make them feel less competent, even though they're not. As for the stuck up part, I think it's because you don't stand around gossiping or talking about your weekends."

Melony shifted in her seat. She didn't talk about her weekends for a reason. "Is my job in jeopardy?"

"No!" Debra held up a hand. "Not at all." She shuffled through papers in a file. "All of your year-end evaluations are outstanding. The attorneys value you. We don't want to lose you. So we're only moving you to a position where we hope you'll be more comfortable."

"I'm comfortable where I am." Please don't transfer me to collections or the foreclosure department. If that happened, she would seriously consider quitting.

Debra huffed and planted a hand on her desk, but she didn't lose control of her concerned expression. "But the rest of the department isn't. We've got to do what's best for everyone."

Though it hurt, Melony understood the manager's difficult position. Crossing her fingers behind her back, she showed mercy and asked, "So what do you have in mind?"

Debra's shoulders relaxed and she smiled. "We've hired a new associate attorney for litigation. He needs a secretary."

Aghast, Melony grimaced as her stomach lurched. "A secretary? You want me to be a secretary?"

Debra raised her hand again. "I know, I know. You deal with the partners' secretaries, who handle a lot of personal stuff for their bosses. But what if I promise you wouldn't have to deal with any of his personal business? You would strictly be a legal secretary with consulting responsibilities for the litigation department. That way, the partners can still come to you with their questions, you'd be removed from the ladies and their personal problems, and you get a raise right away with another after your yearly evaluation."

How could she argue with that? It made her nervous, though. To have an attorney asking her to take a letter? She didn't remember any of the shorthand she'd learned in high school. Making flight and hotel reservations for deposition trips? She fisted her hands at the very thought of him asking her to fetch coffee. "I don't know about this."

"Just try it. If it doesn't work, we'll figure out something else."

"What's his name?"

Debra gave her a blank look. "I'm sorry?"

"The attorney. What's his name?"

"Oh. Um... I have it here somewhere." The manager rifled through a stack of e-mails. "I can't seem to find it. Would you agree to take the position and I'll get it to you by the end of the day?"

Resigned, though glad she still had a job, Melony gave a single nod.

Debra issued a delighted clap and beamed a triumphant smile. "Excellent! Let me show you your new desk. Your attorney isn't due to start until Monday, so take these next two days to move your things and settle in, then enjoy your weekend."

Melony lacked the manager's enthusiasm. "Thanks."'

* * * *

Friday morning, Melony arrived at her new desk and stood, hands planted on her hips. What in the world would she do all day? She had moved her things yesterday, and the computer geeks had moved and hooked up her computer system before she arrived that morning.

Coffee. She needed coffee. Holding the handset of her phone, she punched Kathy's extension. The double beep let her know her friend was in the office and had turned off her voicemail. "Kathy. Pick up."

"Hey, woman! Likin' your new digs?" her friend's too-cheerful voice boomed.

"Not so loud," Melony said with a wince, wishing worry over her lack of job security hadn't kept her tossing and turning the night before.

"Got a hangover?" Kathy giggled.

"Yeah, right. You know I never have more than one glass of wine."

"Control freak." Her friend chuckled.

"Look who's talking. You're the one with a whip in the trunk of your car. Just in case."

"Shhh! What d'ya want, anyway?"

Melony smiled, enjoying her friend's discomfort. "Coffee. Come down to Pop's Kitchen with me."

"Ugh! You know I hate that restaurant. Those waitresses don't wash their hands."

"The coffee's self-serve. Besides, you know the deputies hang out there in the mornings. Maybe you'll meet a tall, muscular gun-toter to use your whip on." She grinned. Her friend couldn't refuse now.

"Those brown uniforms do turn me on."

"Meet you at the elevator."

She laughed when she found Kathy already waiting, holding open the elevator door. "I love you," she said. "That's the first laugh I've had since this whole thing started yesterday."

The door closed. Kathy leaned against the back wall and flicked a black curl over her shoulder. "Those stupid bitches. I ought to take my whip to them."

"It's not that bad." Melony thoroughly enjoyed the image of Kathy cracking the braided leather length over Loretta's cowering, quivering body. She sighed.

"Like hell! You're a stinkin' secretary thanks to them." Kathy's green eyes sparkled with anger despite the dim overhead light.

"You make it sound like I've been demoted. They're giving me a raise. I'll give you two lashes if you breathe a word about it. It's a much easier job, I think. And I don't have to work with those mushrooms anymore." She snapped her fingers.

Kathy screwed up her features. "Mushrooms?"

The doors opened and Melony led the way. "Yeah. Kept in the dark and fed a ration of shit every day."

Her friend barked a laugh and followed her into the first-floor restaurant. The place teemed with brown jackets. Sheriff's Dept. lettered their backs in yellow. Through the window, across the street, the federal court building and jail stood still and quiet. Kathy had plenty of time to fraternize.

Turning, Melony glimpsed her friend's look of pure joy. "Go to it, girl." She headed to the coffee counter.

Keeping an ear out to Kathy's flirts and wild invitations, she tamped down her giggles. Her friend would get in trouble if she propositioned the wrong deputy. Luckily, her overtures met with banter and chuckles. When it seemed Kathy wouldn't find a new playmate, Melony snapped a lid on her cup and gave a low whistle. She inclined her head toward the dispenser. "We've got to get back. Are you getting some?"

"I am so not getting some from these guys," She snatched a cup from a stack and filled it. She picked up a lid and joined Melony at the register. "This is on you, right?"

"Already paid for yours." Melony grinned, accepting coins from the cashier. On the way back, she said, "I wish my desk were next to yours. I'm going to be bored today."

"Too bad surfing the web's a firing offense. There's always the bathroom. Though your white blouse and linen skirt look like they'd wrinkle really bad." Kathy waggled her eyebrows and smirked.

"Aren't you funny." Melony rolled her eyes. "Is that new?" She admired her friend's purple, silk suit. It looked very expensive.

"Gift." Kathy waved a hand. "I earned it, if you ask me."

Melony chuckled. "Stanley?"

"Hell, yes. I swear, I think he likes the pain. I've had to get rough lately."

"He's not giving you any?"

"I have to make him bleed just to stir some life into his cock." Kathy shook her head. "I'm thinking about turning him loose. It's time for a change, anyway."

Melony studied her friend. "You've been with Stanley for two years. Do you ever think about getting married? Having kids?"

"No way!" Kathy spat, one corner of her mouth lifting in a sneer.

"You could give them a better life than you had. I know your dad-"

"No way. I wouldn't know what to do with kids. I've decided I'm one of those women who isn't meant to be a mother. Besides, I'm having too much fun."

Melony nodded. "Yeah, I'm happy, too. Thank for mentoring me into the society." Except she wasn't convinced. She couldn't shake a sense of loneliness.

She waved goodbye, made her way to her desk, and sank into her seat. She considered not turning on her computer, but if an attorney requested information, she would need the database at her fingertips. While her system booted, she took a sip of coffee and eyed the empty adjacent office.

Smiling, she wondered if the new attorney knew he would have no privacy behind the glass wall. Every attorney office in the building sported the see-through feature. She shook her head. Yeah, he was in for a treat.