ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟙𝟘
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"Did you hear about Georgia's mini promo?"
Dannah whispers. Dannah Jones- A tall smart paralegal who helped me out here and there. Aside from being the only person I could actually tolerate in this firm, she was black, one of the very few black women in the firm. Which was also another reason I liked her.
We've been stuck in this all-hands meeting since 7:00 AM, and now it's 11:25. Ted and his assistant, Josh, (who I've always had a bad feeling about, but of course Ted would never listen to me.) have been rambling on about new work expectations and how we present ourselves as a firm.
I shake my head, already cringing at the thought of Georgia. "No, I haven't heard about my replacement."
Dannah snickers at my comment, to which Josh gives her a look. "Don't be like that. You're still my best criminal defense lawyer."
"Thanks Dan," I whisper, offering a slight smile. "Hey, I think Josh is glaring at us."
Dannah furrows her brows only to look up and see Josh indeed hawking over her. He clears his throat before interrupting Ted's speech.
"Excuse me- Ted, but I think Mrs. Jones has something to add."
Everyone turns their heads to the back- where Dannah and I stay. Lawyers were basically professionally trained to mind everybody else's business.
Dannah immediately glances up, straightening her back before putting her hands in her lap. "I don't. You can continue."
"Very well." Ted nods. "Ah, Josh, what was I talking about again-"
"No, I really think she has something to say. She's been nothing but disruptive ever since we started this meeting."
I sneak a glance at Dannah, who I can tell is trying to keep her composure. That's what women like us do- suck it up, don't make a scene and be polite.
Josh stands near Ted with his hands clasped in front of him, his posture is straight and he's looking straight at Dannah with a shady smirk slapped on his face. Ted clears his throat awkwardly.
"Well," he says, trying to chuckle the tension away. "I'm sure it wasn't anything serious."
"No," Josh says smoothly. "Of course not. I just think if we're going to maintain professionalism in meetings, everyone should respect everyone else's time."
Dannah's jaw tightens slightly. I know that look- it's the same one I use in court when I'm two seconds away from verbally dismembering someone. But of course, I keep it cool.
"I said I apologize," Dannah says calmly, folding her hands together tighter. "It won't happen again."
"It's not just about apologizing," Josh continues.
For pete sake, this man genuinely does not know when to stop talking. At this rate, we might've just been done with the meeting.
"It's also about accountability."
I stare at him dumbfounded .Accountability? For whispering?
Around the room, people are avoiding eye contact. Lawyers are funny people, everybody wants justice until it becomes uncomfortable.
"Josh," Ted says quietly, shifting awkwardly around the projector screen. "It's alright. Let's just continue."
Josh is enjoying this now- I could tell. You know how some people get off from their weird kinks? Josh gets off on public embarrassment.
"No, Ted. Let me," He says, looking directly at Dannah now, "if certain employees spent less time chatting in meetings and more time focusing on their work, maybe we'd maintain a higher standard around here."
I raise my eyebrows in pure shock. Then, I turn my head to Dannah. Her fingers are gripping each other so tightly, her knuckles turn white.
Nobody says anything. Silence is easier when you're not the target, and that's what gives fuel for Josh to keep going.
"Honestly, this kind of behavior reflects poorly on the firm. Especially from staff members expected to support high-performing attorneys."
Dannah finally looks up at him fully.
"With all due respect," she says quietly, "I whispered one sentence."
Josh shrugs. "One sentence too many."
Ted rubs the sweat off his forehead. "Okay," he says quickly. "Let's move on from this."
Dannah exhales again, standing slowly. "I apologize, everyone, I think I'm just going to step out for a moment."
My chest tightens immediately. Now this was being taken too far.
Dannah gathers her notebook carefully, refusing to look at anybody as she walks toward the door. The door closes behind her quietly. Ted immediately exhales like he's relieved the awkwardness is over.
"Alright," he says, clapping his hands together once. "Now, back to the quarterly expectations-"
My chair scrapes loudly against the floor. A wave of faces turn to me.
"Are you serious?" I ask.
Ted blinks. In return, I stare at him in disbelief.
"No, seriously," I continue, my voice rising higher. "Are we all pretending that wasn't insanely inappropriate?"
Josh straightens slightly. "Mrs. West-"
"Oh, don't 'Mrs. West' me right now," I snap at him.
"Dixie, let's calm down—"
"No," I cut him off sharply. "Apparently everybody in this room is comfortable watching your assistant publicly humiliate our employee over innocent whispering."
Josh's face tightens. "I was maintaining professionalism."
"Professionalism?" I repeat. "That's what we're calling this?"
"Dixie please-" Ted sighs heavily.
"No, Ted!" I yell. "You stood there and let him keep going. Over and over."
Ted looks frustrated now. "You're making this bigger than it is."
"He singled her out in front of an entire room of people because she whispered during a FOUR-HOUR meeting."
"She was being disruptive." Josh folds his arms.
"And you were degrading," I stick my finger at him.
"You know you embarrassed her intentionally," I continue. "And every single person in here watched it happen like it was normal."
I sweep my gaze around the room, nobody looks at me directly. What cowards.
"You're all attorneys," I say sharply. "You build careers arguing ethics and fairness and justice, but suddenly nobody can recognize weird behavior when it's sitting directly in front of them?"
"That's enough." Ted says harshly, but his words bounce off of me.
"No," I say. "Actually, I don't think it is."
"You know what's funny?" I ask. "If Dannah had reacted emotionally, you all would've called her aggressive. So instead, she stayed composed, apologized, and quietly left the room after being embarrassed and humiliated."
"Dixie," he says tiredly. "Please sit down."
I grab my notebook instead. "No."
"Where are you going?"
I glare at him. "To check on the only sane person in this building."
I make my way towards the exit before turning back one more time.
"And the rest of you are weird."
The moment I step outside the room, I can practically feel the anger slip off of me, then I find Dannah in the lounge room. I shut the door behind me.
At first, I think she's okay, maybe a little hurt. But when I get closer, I realize she's crying. Tears just keep slipping down her face while she tries to breathe normally through it. My chest aches- I know exactly how that feels.
For one awful second, my brain flashes somewhere else entirely.
Jordyn. Those tiny little hands on my tear-soaked face.
Mama, do you need a hug?
I swallow hard. The memory hits sudden and unwanted so I dismiss it quickly. Dannah quickly wipes under her eyes when she notices me approaching.
"Sorry," she says immediately, voice tight with embarrassment. "I'm okay."
Universal sentence for I am absolutely not okay. I lean against the wall beside her quietly. "No, you're not."
She laughs weakly through her tears.
"Darn," she mutters. "Was it that obvious?"
"Yes."
"Gosh," she says again. "This is so embarrassing."
"Dannah, no. It's not embarrassing."
"It kind of is."
"What's embarrassing is a grown man publicly humiliating someone over whispering during the world's longest meeting."
That gets a tiny smile out of her.
"I'm sorry I didn't say something sooner." I sigh.
Dannah immediately shakes her head, wiping her tears away.
"No. No, Dixie, don't do that. You did way more than anybody else in there."
"Still."
I stare down the hallway. "I should've cut him off earlier."
She wipes her face again roughly.
"It wouldn't have mattered," she says quietly. "Josh has been like this."
"What do you mean?" I look over at her hasty.
She hesitates. I can see the moment she debates whether or not to say anything.
She exhales shakily."He's... weird with me."
"Weird how?"
She laughs softly, bitterly. "I'm going to sound so dramatic."
That's basically what I was made to do. Listening was my speciality. "Try a real lawyer."
Dannah leans back against the wall beside me, staring at the ceiling now.
"Josh and I go way back."
I tilt my head.
"We're exes." She glances at me before moving on, letting me take on the information
"Woah." I can't help but say. Josh did not seem like the boyfriend-y type.
"Yeah, I know," she smiles, like she can't believe it herself. "Broke up 'cause I constantly felt choked up with him. He was always on me about something."
"Years later, we met again at this firm, and he was way nicer. I decided to give him a second chance because well, everyone deserves second chances, and things moved too fast, and... we ended up sleeping...together."
"He started to revert back to his old ways, and I felt choked up again. It was like some days he loved me, some days he didn't. I'm sure he used me for my body, though."
"When we first broke up, I thought it was just personality stuff," she continues. "You know? Like, people have rough edges. He was intense, but I told myself that meant he cared."
"He would get irritated over small things," she says. "Like if I talked too much, or if I didn't respond fast enough, or if I was too tired after work. But then the next day he'd be sweet again. Like nothing happened."
"Even when I was doing well at work, it was like he found ways to make me feel like I was still behind."
"And I kept thinking, maybe I just need to try harder. Maybe I need to be more patient. More understanding. "
"More convenient for him."