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Maintaining my composure, I made sure not to seem too excited, but if Mr. St. James was coming to me for something specific, it must mean I was doing something right.
“I would love to help. What do you need me to do?”
“Do you know the mayor?”
My eyes widened. The mayor of Minneapolis, Nadine Evans, was a beautiful woman in her early forties, who was one of the few female mayors the city had ever nominated. She’d gone to Harvard Law and returned to Minnesota once she graduated. She had been married to her husband, Corey Evans, for fifteen years, and they had two children together. I liked her views on things, and if I’d lived in Minneapolis instead of a close suburb, I would have voted for her.
“Not personally,” I answered. “But I knowofher.”
“The mayor wants to put together a Women in Law program that goes around to schools in the metro area to talk to young girls about what it’s like to be a lawyer.”
I swallowed hard. “And you want me to be a part of this?”
“Yes.”
But I didn’t want to. I didn’t care for children that much. I was perfectly fine with never having one of my own. And now, I had to willingly spend time away from my career to go to schools and talk to them.
Mr. St. James must have sensed my hesitation because he added, “It will look good to the board at our next meeting about partnerships.” He smiled. “Besides, if I didn’t think you could handle this in addition to your workload, I wouldn’t have asked you.”
Somehow, I doubted that since the second thing he’d mentioned when he walked in was that I had finished my case early.
“When does this start?”
The name partner actually had the smarts to look sheepish. “This afternoon.”
“This afternoon?”Is he nuts?
No, he was pressed for time, and that was why he had picked me. So much for actually being noticed for the work I did.
“Yes, and I apologize. Things have been…hectic at home, and I was only reminded of this when the mayor emailed me this morning.”
I gritted my teeth. I had heard through office gossip that Mr. St. James had gotten a divorce and shared joint custody of his son, Paxton, with his ex-wife. His mother had moved in to help with Paxton, but she had left with her new boyfriend to Cabo or somewhere like that.
His mom had come from money and married Preston St. James Jr. right out of college, ensuring she never had to work a day in her life. Apparently, caring for a toddler was too much for her.
I was surprised Mr. St. James hadn’t simply hired a nanny, like his parents had done for him and his siblings, but it was none of my business. And again, most of it was hearsay and office gossip. I had no idea how much of it was true.
And now, I was going to have to suffer the consequences of Mr. St. James’s personal life because we both knew I wasn’t going to say no.
“Okay, give me the details, and I will be there.”
Mr. St. James smiled at me, and I was struck by how handsome he looked. For a moment, I had no doubts about why his ex-wife had fallen for him.
* * *
As I made my way up to the mayor’s office at City Hall, I tried to convince myself this wasn’t the worst thing in the world.
Mr. St. James had forwarded me all the information, and to my relief, this was only going to be a temporary thing. The mayor was working on bringing female-identified lawyers in to talk to students for the current school year. If it went well, she was going to bring in fresh faces the next year.
Thank God because I wasn’t going to waste time doing this for the rest of my career when I could actually be spending time in a courtroom or sitting across a conference table instead of convincing children to go to law school and to flood the market even more than it already was.
When I entered the suite where the mayor kept her office, I was directed to a conference room, where another woman was sitting.
As I walked in, she put her phone down and smiled at me. “Are you here for the Women in Law thing too?” she asked.
“Yes. I’m Vivian Stern,” I said, holding out my arm.
“Rayne Thompson.” She stood and shook my hand.
