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Twenty minutes later we all sat in the living room eating and watching the final minutes of the game. I was happy to see Trey bond with Ian. No matter how Trey felt about Gina, I knew that he’d work to overcome it because of Ian.
When the evening ended, Trey and I stood at the front door of our apartment and said ‘goodnight’ to them. I felt like part of a couple for the first time. I knew that we were going back to reality tomorrow, and the reality was that we would be living and working together, an exciting and uncharted territory for us.
CHAPTER 45
It seemed as if I'd just drifted off to sleep when I felt Trey waking up. I sat up in the bed, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
“It’s 6:30 Tylar, do you want me to set the alarm so that you can sleep longer?” he asked.
“No, I want to get up now. I have to fold that last load of laundry in the dryer and then get ready. Trey, I’m not sure how to get to your office from here.” It had finally dawned on me to ask.
“No worries,” he replied, smiling down at me, “the office is less than 10 minutes from here. I’ve arranged for a cab to pick you up in the mornings and take you home in the afternoons until you're comfortable making the drive. Traffic can be a real hassle at the time you go in.”
I shrugged. The arrangement was fine with me. Realizing I was still naked from the night before, I stayed under the sheets.
“Your cab arrives at 8:45; the doorman will ring you, okay?”
“Okay, and I just ask for Janice Landrick when I get there, right?”
“Yep,” he said, kissing me, “have a good day, Tylar.”
“You too, Mr. Sinclair,” I replied in a very businesslike tone.
“Oh, and keep your phone with you in case I need to touch base with you,” he instructed over his shoulder as he shut the door.
As soon as he left I jumped out of bed, excited to start my day. An hour later I was fully showered, dressed, and accessorized for my first day of work at the law firm of Pierce, Harmon, Richardson & Sinclair. I wore a black pencil skirt that fell above my knees. My top was a classic white shirt, with a sharp collar and long sleeves with wide cuffs. I left the top two buttons undone. I wore a black double-breasted vest that matched the skirt. The open white shirt collar splayed across the shoulders on the vest. Gina had insisted I wear smoky grey tights with my three-inch plain black pumps. My hair was pulled back tightly into a high, skinny ponytail. I wore small silver hoop earrings and a delicate silver chain around my neck. I'd applied some light grey eye shadow, with dark charcoal eyeliner, and a bit of lip gloss and took a final assessment. I decided I was presentable for my first day of work.
Déjà vu swept over me when I stepped out of the elevator and onto the familiar marble floor that led to the receptionist’s station. A fleeting look of recognition crossed Debbie’s face as I approached her.
“Good morning, Debbie,” I greeted her, “Tylar Preston to see Janice Landrick, and yes she is expecting me.”
“One moment, please,” she replied, pushing a button then talking into her headset. “Yes, Ms. Landrick, there is a Tylar Preston in reception to see you. Very well, thank you.”
“Have a seat please, Ms. Preston. Ms. Landrick will be with you momentarily.”
Janice Landrick greeted me warmly upon her arrival at reception. She escorted me to her office, which was just around the corner. She closed the door, inviting me to take a seat across from her. “We have some standard paperwork for you to fill out, Tylar,” she said, handing me an envelope with my name on it. “You don’t have to fill it all out right now, but if you could have it completed and returned to me tomorrow when you come in that will be fine. Your hours will be 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with the exception of Wednesday when your hours are 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. You have an hour for lunch every day except Wednesday. Your total hours are 28 per week. Anything beyond that will need to have approval by myself or one of the partners, okay?”
“That’s no problem, Ms. Landrick,” I replied.
“Call me Janice. We’re not overly formal here, thankfully.”
“Okay Janice,” I smiled warmly.
“Tylar, what you'll be doing here at the firm is a little bit of everything. You're what we call a ‘floater.’ You'll spend time in Central Filing where the cases are filed and retrieved as required for the attorneys and paralegals. You'll help with meeting preparations and conference scheduling, mostly clerical and administrative stuff. There may be occasions where a particular attorney’s administrative assistant requires your assistance in mailings or making copies, so you'd assist in those tasks too.”
“It sounds very interesting,” I replied.
“You'll be busy, so at least you won’t be bored,” she assured me. “Today you'll be working with Leah, Mr. Harmon’s personal assistant. There is a settlement conference at 11 a.m. that will likely run until 3 or 4 p.m. Leah can fill you in on the details.” She led me down the marble hallway, past Debbie again, and down several more hallways until we reached Mr. Harmon’s suite. Janice introduced me to Leah, wished me luck, and left.
Leah was probably in her forties, friendly, and I liked her immediately. She said that she'd been with the firm for 15 years, always working for Mr. Harmon, who she described as a “doll” to work for. She showed me where to stow my things, then toured me around Mr. Harmon’s wing. She pointed out the restroom, the filing area, and the kitchen. She explained that a lot of the lawyers and paralegals had occasion to work long hours and some weekends, so the firm tried to make things as comfortable as possible.
Leah showed me to the copy room, which doubled as the mail center for this wing. I didn’t spot Trey’s name on any of the mail trays. His office was apparently in a different wing; the law firm occupied the entire top floor. Leah jovially introduced me to employees as she gave her tour. Thankfully, everyone wore nametags, which she explained were programmed to allow access to certain locked areas based each employee’s security clearance. When we circled back to her office area, Leah settled me into an empty desk in the corner. She spent time showing me how to use the firm’s complicated phone system, and then she set me up opening and date-stamping the mail. When she saw that I was a quick learn, she excused herself for a few minutes to go to Central Filing (wherever that was). She told me that Mr. Harmon was over in Mr. Richardson’s office and to pick up any calls that came in.
That reminded me to check my cell; I smiled as I read a text from Trey:
“I hope things are going well on your first day at this very prestigious law firm, Ms. Preston. I forgot to tell you this morning: I love you.”
My heart did a flip-flop when I read Trey’s text message. I realized that I'd forgotten to tell him the same thing. I hit reply.
