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Very doubtful.Very.I couldn’t even believe he was thinking I would partner with Magda on this case. She was barely fresh out of college, and although she’d won a few cases, she wasn’t ready for a case like this. There was no way that she could win it either unless I was missing something in the file. I was hoping that since I’d just skimmed it, there was something I could find to help.
I was really torn. On the one hand, I didn’t want us to lose, so I’d have to actively work on this in order for us to even have a chance. I liked winning, and though this was a tough one, it was no exception. On the other hand, I didn’t want her to be partner, mostly because she drove me crazy and I couldn’t imagine working closely with her, but for that, I’d have to let her lose, and the thought alone made me squirm.
“Why her?” I demanded to know since he’d dodged my question the first time. I needed to try to understand his motivations for choosing her for partner in the first place.
“She works hard and she is motivated. It’s also an added bonus that she is damned good. So, you have the perfect opportunity to decide for yourself if she’s got what it takes. I know where I stand, so it’s your call. But remember, this should be a merit call.”
I scoffed, but Webster just hummed and pushed a button on his desk phone. A tinny voice answered.
“Send Magda in,” he said, and I wanted to roll my eyes but restrained myself.
I could say no and either work on it myself or assign literally any other lawyer working for us, but I couldn’t deny that I was curious, and I kind of wanted to see Magda struggle with this one. I would show her what being partner was all about.
Magda came walking in the door an instant later, wearing a pair of red stilettos and a black A-line skirt with a white blouse. It fit her like a glove and I made sure I kept my eyes on her face.
She had her jaw set, looking more rigid than she had this morning when I saw her jogging.
I guess for some people, Magda was what might be perceived as beautiful, even if she had her head up her ass. Her face was nice enough to look at, if a little stony, always set in her resting bitch face. However, I couldn’t stand her personality. She was so egotistical that any good looks she might have could never make up for it.
“We’re giving you the Martinez case,” he told her, and she smiled widely. “You’ll be answering to Roarke on this.”
Her smile faded just as quickly as it had spread across her face.
“What? Why? I always answer to you,” she argued.
I looked from Magda to Richard, wondering why Richard allowed her to back-talk to him like that. He was a bit of a hard ass, but for some reason, Magda said whatever she wanted to him. She didn’t seem to worry about her job the way some of the rest of the staff did.
“If you want to make partner, Roarke’s the guy you’ll have to work with.”
Magda huffed out a breath. “So, what? He’s going to be testing me?” she asked, flipping through the file and probably coming to the same conclusion I had, it was an unwinnable case. Or maybe she was just cocky enough to think she could win this, and the satisfaction of watching her fail would be even sweeter.
“That’s exactly right,” I said, plastering on the most charming smile I could muster. If she was irritated about answering to me, wait until she learned we would be actively working together. I was looking forward to testing her and watching her struggle to make something out of this sinking ship. This should be fun. She was young, inexperienced, and overly cocky. I couldn’t wait to witness this train wreck.
MAGDA
This couldn’t be happeningto me.Anyonebut Roarke Brentwood. I would have trouble enough winning this case already. Or at least,tryto win this case. My boss had certainly given me a lot to do on this seemingly unwinnable case. I was sure that there was something else there, though, especially given how men sometimes talked about their ex-wives.
I bet that the husband was just trailing her name through the dirt and trying to avoid paying alimony, especially since he seemed to have quite a bit of money. The richer the men, the more they ended up being distant to their wives, at least as far as I had witnessed so far in my experience as a family lawyer. But I needed to prove that first.
And if the fact that this was a seemingly impossible task, I had to answer to Roarke freaking Brentwood. How frustrating!
I didn’t even know enough about Roarke Brentwood to hate him. I knew he and Richard had started Webster and Brentwood Law Firm and I knew of his reputation in the field. I hadn’t worked here very long, just a couple of years, but from what I knew of him, I could guess at how Roarke viewed me... and women in general.
As far as I’d seen so far, he wasn’t a misogynist. Just an egotistical and jaded man who most certainly didn’t seem to believe in love. Unlike me. And working as a divorce lawyer didn’t faze me when it came to believing in a soulmate. I knew that one day I’d find my true love. I’d never had a serious boyfriend. I wasn’t really focused on relationships in general, thinking more about my career since the time I was little. I still thought that maybe someone would come and sweep me off my feet, Cinderella-style. Maybe a love-at-first-sight kind of thing like in the movies.
I was waiting for that one man who made me get those butterflies in my stomach, that feeling that all the movies and television shows talked about, that all my friends in high school talked about.
I’d never felt that, and I worried if I ever would. because more than anything, one day, I wanted a family. Children. And I knew that nowadays a partner isn’t essential to having kids. There were a lot of single mothers who were doing an amazing job out there. But growing up watching the love between my mom and dad, I wanted that for myself.
I had time, though, and love and family were still some time away. For now, what was more important was that I wanted to make partner. I wanted to focus on my career and make the most of it so that, when the time came, I could enjoy motherhood to the fullest and not miss out on it or a career.
The law was my life and I loved it. I went to an Ivy League college, worked extra hard to finish summa cum laude, and passed the bar the first time I took the exam.
I knew that I was good at what I did, but I also knew I had to constantly prove myself, not just because I was a woman, but because my dad was also a lawyer. A great one at that. I wanted to prove myself to the world. To prove that I was my father’s daughter but I could do it without his help. And for that, I needed to work with people like Roarke Brentwood, who doubted me every step of the way. It only made me want to succeed that much more.
I thanked both of them and left the office with my head held high but fuming on the inside. Roarke followed me, holding a box of paperwork.
“Shall we get started on this?” he asked.
