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“The strip club?” I asked. It was located off the highway, in the next town over, and I’d gone there with my friends once we’d all turned eighteen. We’d thought we were big shit.
Nodding, Dominic cleared his throat, eyes averted. “From the little bit of information I’ve gleaned, it sounds like she’s dealing with a hostile work environment. Said she and her coworkers all signed a petition for certain accommodations, and the owner ripped it up.”
Taylor took the Post-it from him. “I can handle it.”
“You can, though I have a feeling that once you find out more information, it might be a little bit bigger than what you’re expecting.” Dominic nodded between the two of us. “I’d like you both to work on it.”
“Both of us?” I repeated, and he stood up.
“You have more litigation experience,” he told me then raised his hand to Taylor when she started to argue, “but you have handled more harassment cases. Plus, I think the workers might feel more comfortable if you take the lead.”
I lifted my clammy palms from my pockets to surreptitiously run them down my pant legs. First, we had to work together on this, and now, I was being relegated to taking the back seat after he’d gone on and on about being a team? What the fuck?
“If my instincts are correct,” Dominic said before I could interrupt, “this will be going to trial. It would garner a lot of attention for the firm, for both of you.”
I felt Taylor turn her hard eyes on me, and I slanted my head to meet her gaze, both of us realizing this was the test even before he said, “Yearly evaluations are coming up in a few months, and we can talk about promotions then, after we see what direction this is going in.”
Taylor and I both faced our boss again. With Reed moving on, there was one title for the taking, junior partner, and the only other office besides Dominic’s with a door. The rest of us associates were relegated to desks in the open workspace.
The title, that office, was mine.
“It won’t be a problem,” I said at the same time Taylor took one step closer to his desk, saying, “I’m looking forward to it.”
“Good.” Dominic smiled, gesturing to his door to dismiss us. “Keep me updated after you speak to Ariel. You two are on point, but I’m at your disposal.”
“Thank you,” I said and waited for Taylor to walk out in front of me, but she didn’t, obviously wanting to be the last to leave the office, just as I did.
“Appreciate you,” Taylor told our boss, andneedingto get the last word in, I lifted my hand to him.
“We’ll take care of it.”
Taylor grumbled in my direction, though she didn’t make a move toward the door. And as if a silent starter pistol sounded, suddenly we were fighting to fit through the doorframe at the same time. Dominic’s baritone laugh echoed behind us as we stumbled out into the main office space.
In silent mutual agreement to take this argument out of hearing distance, we stalked toward the break room, which was really more of a big closet, enough to fit a small table with two chairs, a microwave perched on top of a mini refrigerator, and a Keurig on the tiny counter, next to the even tinier sink.
“You’re the worst,” she started, once her heels clacked on the linoleum floor.
“He madeyouthe lead, and somehow you’re pissed atmeabout it?” I stole the last chocolate chip Chewy bar from the wicker basket when she reached for it. I knew they were her favorite.
“Oh my god,” she groused, “you’re a goddamn baby.”
I tipped my chin to where she stomped her foot like a child. “You’re the one having a temper tantrum right now.”
Stepping up close to me, close enough that I observed the golden-red flecks in her brown irises, which I could only assume were a characteristic of the devil, she leveled me with a glare. “I can already see myself in that office. My framed diplomas will look nice on that wall.”
“Myoffice,” I corrected, nose to nose. “Mywall.”
“We’ll see about that.” Then she spun away, allowing me enough room to finally take a deep breath. I could never when she was so close. I didn’t dare inhale that sweet scent of her perfume, which was a terrible mix of warm cinnamon and flowers, like a winter day in front of the fire, wrapped up in a blanket.
I couldn’t stand it.
I bit into the Chewy bar as she popped a pod into the Keurig to brew and found her coffee mug in the small pile drying on the rack. Her mug was black with a white interior, but as soon as she poured warm liquid into it, the outside changed to display a picture of her and the person I now knew to be her sister.
With her back to me, she said, “I think it would be best if I called Ariel back first to find out more about what’s going on before I bring you in.”
Since I was mid-chew, I mumbled my answer. No matter how much I hated that she was the “lead” on the case, it would most likely be easier for Ariel to speak to Taylor. If these women were already experiencing intolerable working conditions, the last thing they’d want would be to speak to a man about it.
“Agree?” she growled, eyeing me over her shoulder.
