“You can still answer,” Carina answered. “Simple yes or no.”
“No!” She leaned forward. “But I wished for it.”
“Oh my gosh, I don’t remember the last time you said that. Wait, yes, I do. It was in our dorm in college, junior year.”
“Honeybun Ben.” Reciting the memory at the same time pitched them into a fit of giggles that felt like old times too.
“He was so sweet,” Whitney said. “I wonder how he’s doing?”
“You should look him up,” Carina said. “Maybe he won’t be too busy studying to play with you now.” When Carina got tickled, her Puerto Rican roots sparked up; her eyes got this fiery look to them, and her accent became instantly thicker.
“Or he’ll be too busy working, just like us.” Besides, her thoughts weren’t on Honeybun Ben anymore. Her thoughts were anchored to the long-haired artist with the green eyes and sexiest mouth she’d never kissed… yet.A girl can dream.
Olivia knocked on the door and entered, carrying a pile of folders in her arms. “What do you two have your heads together on this morning?”
“More importantly,” Whitney used her ace conversation pivoting skills to redirect, “what is all of that?”
“It’s progress.”
Carina and Whitney both turned their full attention to Olivia.
“Progress is always good,” Carina said.
“It is. You are welcome.” She handed them each a booklet. “This is available as a PDF we can email to prospective clients, or I’ve got fifty made up and ready to hand out to the lookie-loos in our lobby. I didn’t want to make too many in case we had updates to it.”
Carina flipped through the pages, nodding.
Whitney was impressed with how professional it looked, and it had everything they needed to start a case, including some of the homework about property and financials, which would definitely weed out the people not there for the right reasons.
“How did you pull this together so quickly? This is great.” Whitney tapped her finger on the cover. “Honestly, I don’t know why we didn’t think of it sooner, just to help our clients with expectations and all the homework. This will save us time, and we can sink the extra cost into the retainer fee. No problem there. We’ll still make the same money and work smarter.”
“We better work smarter,” Olivia said. “You two are booked solid for the next three weeks, and for the ones who don’t seem legit, I’ve got them peppered out through September right now. I told them, though, if they got the booklet completed, I’d move up their appointment if someone else canceled. I figure the fakers will cancel before, since there’s a cost attached.”
“What are these people even thinking?” Carina asked. “They must be doing something right to be able to afford our legal fees over the cost of a dating site!” She looked at Whitney. “A dating app couldn’t possibly cost a month what we charge for an hour.”
“Why are you looking at me?” Whitney couldn’t believe Carina might even think she had. “I haven’t swiped left or right ever, and I don’t plan to.” Whitney cast her glance to Olivia.
“Fine.” Olivia pulled her hands to her hips. “Y’all know I’m online dating. The prices vary, but I can promise you I’ve never paid your hourly rate to find a date.”
“Well, good. At least that will keep the waiting room from crowding. Maybe we put the rates right up front. Not like it’s a secret anyway.” Carina tapped on the cover of the booklet. “This number in the top corner of each page. What is that?”
“Ah, well, I know how you are about data, so we made each booklet and PDF export carry a custom number. That way we can track the source and if they ever respond back. It’ll allow us to prioritize real clients and possibly figure out some common denominators between the fakers to help us weed them out quicker.”
“This better not be a long-term problem,” Whitney said with a groan. “I can’t believe it’s happening in the first place.”
“Olivia, I hope my little Chloe has your smarts when she grows up,” Carina said.
“She’ll have yours,” Olivia said. “And William’s. I’m pretty sure she’ll be fine.”
“My niece is going to be brilliant. We do not need to worry about that. Right now, let’s concentrate on the immediate issues. Olivia, how is the search for another paralegal going? Any good resumes?”
“Yes.” Olivia clapped her hands. “A few really good ones.”
“Everything is going to settle back down even better than before. We have to trust that.” Whitney’s phone danced on her desk. She pressed her hand over it and pulled it into her lap.
“Are you okay, Whitney? You suddenly look a little pale. You’re not getting sick, are you?” Olivia’s expression filled with concern. “Two of our part-timers called in sick with the flu today.”
“I’m fine. They’ve probably just got Friday Flu. It’s such a pretty day outside,” Whitney said.
