AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Sushi’s good.”
Mindy sighed. “Well, I would’ve preferred a salad, but I guess I can take out the rice. I’ll go order.”
She left the meeting room, and Chris asked Roger, “She’s going to take the rice out of sushi?”
Roger shrugged and leaned closer. He smoked too much and covered it with constantly sucking on Tic Tacs. “Don’t let anyone take a free ride on your hard work. I don’t care if the rest of the team has been here longer—you’re going places, and people like Mindy are going to keep ordering our lunch. If you want a promotion, then start acting like you deserve one. Understand?”
Chris nodded, knowing Roger was right. Almost everyone who worked here had come from better schools than him, but he needed to start acting worthy, or he would never move ahead. “I understand, sir.”
Roger snorted. “Calling me sir now? Fuck you. I’m—” His phone rang. He checked who was calling and said, “It's from the 36thfloor. I feel important.” He got up to take the call outside. Through the glass wall, Chris could tell Roger didn’t like what he was hearing. His face shifted from confusion to surprise to anger.
“Why the hell are you doing this to me in the middle of a case?” The shout had no problem passing through the wall.
Someone’s in trouble.
Chris hoped it was Mindy.
He arranged the scattered documents on the table while Roger kept arguing outside. They would likely spend the rest of the week in this meeting room since the court date was getting closer. Roger would be the main speaker in front of the judge, yet Chris was counting on getting a bit of time in the spotlight. He loved court appearances, but his line of business rarely required that. He still remembered the first time he handled a case in a real courtroom. Melissa had been pregnant at the time, but she still came to watch, alongside Ethan, Anthony, and Jay. Unfortunately for them, they ended up sitting for an hour listening to the most boring case imaginable, but it still warmed his heart seeing them there.
Chris’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He checked and saw a voice message from Melissa. When he put it to his ear, he wasn’t surprised to hear the twins fighting over who would get to leave him a message, with Melissa in the background saying, “You can both speak in turns!”
Chris chuckled and put the phone back in his pocket.
Roger returned and closed the door behind him, his face flushed and angry.
“What’s up?” Chris asked.
Roger’s anger swiftly turned to pity. “You’re off the case, Roberts.”
Chris blinked. Separated, those words made sense, together—they did not.
“What do you mean, off the case?”
Roger sat down. “I don’t know whose feathers you’ve rattled, but I was told to remove you from the case. It came from higher up.”
Chris felt himself becoming numb, like his brain and body were shutting down.
“Chris?”
He found his voice. “Do you know who asked for this?”
“No, but I thinkyoudo. Take a day or two to calm down and solve this mess. I need you.”
Calm down? He felt alarmingly calm, maybe because he’d been expecting this storm to hit. “Will they fire me?”
“I don’t think so. It would be the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Okay.” Chris looked for his briefcase until he realized it was right next to him. He leaned down to pick it up but hit it with his leg, sending documents sliding on the floor. “Sorry,” he mumbled and hurried to push everything back inside, getting a paper cut in the process. He finally picked up his briefcase and left.
*
“It can’t be a coincidence,” Anthony said with panic. “Three clients canceling on me on the same day? Just yesterday, they loved everything I did!”
Chris sat at his desk, feeling sick and claustrophobic in his small office, still struggling to process that he was off the case. And now this.
“Chris, are you there?”
He shook his head. “Yeah, I’m here.”
