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“About what, exactly?” I frown. “This wasn’t on my calendar.”
“Because I just decided we needed to have it,” Damien says. I catch Luc’s eye and shake my head slightly. Our older brother is always pulling rank like this. “We need to talk about recruitment and client development. I’d also like to discuss some potential new clients that Sophia’s found.”
“Recruitment, like hiring more staff?” I ask. “I thought that we’re good on that front.”
“We are,” Damien nods. “I mean recruiting more clients. Now that we’re diversifying our client base, a lot of different avenues have opened up for us. I’d like to discuss different areas that we think we’re best equipped to focus on and where our weak spots are.”
“This sounds like fun,” Luc says sarcastically.
“If you’d like to keep getting paid, I suggest you think of it as the most fun you’ll have all week,” Damien says dryly.
“No, the most fun I had all week was with this acrobatic chick I met last weekend,” Luc says eagerly. “The things she could do with her legs…”
“Spare us,” I say, rolling my eyes. “Otherwise we’ll be here all night.”
As it is, we spend the rest of the afternoon talking about various potential clients and different practice areas that the firm might want to explore. It’s a lot of work just sorting through it all and, although I won’t admit it to Damien, I’m glad that my brothers and I are talking about this.
Damien might have started the firm, but Luc and I take its success just as seriously as Damien does. I’ve devoted a lot of hours, and almost any semblance of a social life, to ensuring that our firm thrives. The more we talk about its future, the more charged up and excited I feel – even though it will take a lot of work to pull off everything we’ve discussed. But my brothers and I are nothing if not ambitious.
But Luc is growing restless. “Guys, we’ve been at this for hours,” he says, standing up and walking to the large windows. “The sun’s going down.”
Damien stands up, too. “I guess we should take a break,” he says, idly twisting his wedding ring around his finger.
“With alcohol?” Luc asks hopefully. “We could grab a table at the bar downstairs. Maybe get some food, too.”
“That sounds good,” I agree, and Damien nods.
We continue our conversation in the elevator. “Do you think we have the staff to handle this kind of new direction?” Luc asks as we reach the bottom floor.
“Yes,” Damien says, the doors sliding open.
“But our image doesn’t exactly jibe with what we’re talking about,” Luc says. We cross the lobby and I pull open the door to the bar.
“That’s why we hire people like Emma,” I say to my brothers. “She’s good for the image.”
Then I turn around, and see Emma sitting at a table barely six feet away. I freeze, shocked to see her here. I don’t know why – she just seems so quiet and reserved. I wouldn’t have expected her to join other people from the firm for happy hour, although I know they’re down here often.
Luc nudges me. “Speak of the devil,” he grins.
“Go over and say hi,” Damien suggests, also smiling.
“I think we all have to go over now,” I say, tearing my eyes from Emma to look at my brothers. “It’ll look rude if I’m the only one.”
So we do, and our staffers shift around to make room for three extra chairs. “Another round, on me,” Damien says when the waiter comes over, which earns a number of smiles and a few cheers.
But the table, which had been abuzz with chatter and laughter when we entered, is now much quieter. “So, what’s up?” Luc asks the table at large.
“Just unwinding,” Janice, the receptionist that always has her hair up in a severe bun, says in a friendly tone. I notice that Emma’s sitting across from Janice.
“Yeah?” Luc grins. “Your bosses making your day hell?”
There’s a chorus of stilted laughter, and then the waiter comes over with all of the drinks. Once he leaves, the awkward silence descends over us again.
I glance at Damien, trying to telegraph with my eyes that we should leave. This is the problem with being one of the bosses – no matter how hard we try to be casual and friendly, we’re still the ones with the power to hire and fire people. No one can forget that, even though we pride ourselves on our low rate of turnover.
“Darts!” Damien says suddenly. “Anyone want to play darts?”
“Sure,” the guy across from Damien says. Lucy, the paralegal sitting next to Emma, nods in agreement and stands up.
