Page 3 of The Allure of Ruins

“Are we talking about Melinda?” Koji Yamada, a second year like Natalie, slipped in line in front of Libby and filled his plate with mini quiches. “And don’t look at me like that,” he warned Natalie. “This is for all of us at the pool table.”

Natalie put her hands up, wanting no beef with him.

“Daisy said Melinda flunked her HR training,” I told him. He too worked in litigation at the moment. They moved around until they became fourth years, when they picked where they wanted to be, as long as they’d put in time in pro bono. “How?” All the questions had appeared so straightforward.

“I think Melinda put way too much thought into that training. She was telling me, after she took the test, that she thought some of the examples they gave were okay.”

Daisy chuckled. “Spoiler alert: all the examples are bad.”

I nodded. “Yeah. Always err on the side of caution. Besides, most are subjective anyway. They just want to know you’re thinking about how something could look. That’s the point of all of it.”

“Yes, exactly,” Daisy agreed.

“Even more egregious than the flunking of the HR training is that Melinda screwed up Pilar’s schedule, so she missed pitching to be the new external council to handle the civil cases for Putnam Browning,” Koji explained.

“The shipping company?” I asked.

“The huge international shipping company, yeah.”

“Oh, that does not sound good.”

He shook his head. “As a result, Pilar’s looking for someone new. Even if Melinda passes the HR training, there’s no way Pilar is keeping her.”

It was interesting how all of them used the first names of the partners. Until I had permission to do so, I always used their last names. But then, the associates did move all around, whereas the assistants stuck to one attorney.

“Why doesn’t Ruby keep her schedule?” I asked, because Ruby was Ms. Mata’s first assistant.

“She does. All the second assistant has to do is put in any changes Ruby gives her and publish them to Pilar’s desktop and phone.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it,” Koji confirmed.

“This is sounding worse and worse.”

“That’s because it is,” he affirmed. “Now listen, the person who would get along with Ruby like peas and carrots would be you, buddy.”

“I—”

“You should totally apply. You’d love working with Ruby. She’s the best.”

“She is,” Natalie seconded. “And this way, you can move up and get some of that good litigation profit flowing through your bank account.”

“This is true,” Koji replied. “You’d actually be seen up on the top floor.”

If he knew me better, he’d know I had no desire to be seen at all. Working in the dungeon was absolutely to my liking.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” Daisy began, leaning forward, lowering her voice. “I have news.”

We all leaned closer as well. It probably looked really funny from across the room.

“Drummond Burgess is starting at the firm.”

“No,” Koji groaned. “He finished law school?”

I had no idea Mr. Burgess had a son or nephew. But then again, the extent of our interaction was my going to the firm’s holiday party at his home. The rest of the time I stayed in the basement, where it was safe and nothing surprised me.

Daisy nodded. “Last fall. Harvard. Melinda accidentally looked at his transcripts when she printed them for Ruby—I guess he’s attached to litigation—and he barely graduated.”