35 Nicole
Nicole
Nicole is getting coffee for her and Eli.
Eli is the head of the pro bono department, and with Ellen’s help, Nicole has been reporting to him for the week, just to see if she likes it—though Ellen says she won’t.
But Nicole thinks maybe she could. It’s a lot of work—maybe more than she had before—but it reminds her of a version of herself she used to be.
A version she maybe liked a lot more. They’re working on lawsuits against an oil company for illegal dumping and a discrimination suit against a modeling agency and a brutality suit against the NYPD and fourteen other cases.
Nicole doesn’t know how Eli handles it all.
He looks so tired all the time, she was happy to grab him a coffee, too.
“Hi there,” Sam says as Nicole gets to the counter. “I like the suit.”
“Thanks,” Nicole says. It’s a good suit.
Royal purple. She’s only ever worn it for graduation from law school and one interview with a firm, where the interviewer told her she clearly had a lot of “personality.” But she doesn’t mind that now.
She has Ellen in a corner—her corner—so she can get away with being a little more eccentric at work. And she wanted to look good today.
“Usual?” Sam asks.
“Yes, and a tall black with three shots of espresso. New boss looks tired.”
Sam laughs. “Well, hopefully you can keep them on their toes. Was that stuff you texted me about helpful?”
“Yeah,” Nicole says as Sam starts making the coffees. “It really helped a lot. Sorry I didn’t respond; there was a lot of work.”
“I figured.”
“But I definitely owe you a thank-you.”
“Yeah?” Sam asks, glancing up with a smile.
“Maybe dinner?” Nicole asks. “If you want, I mean.”
Sam leans forward and hands her one of the coffees. “That sounds nice. I’m free Friday.”
Nicole takes out her phone and looks at her schedule. “This weekend is bad. I have to review a bunch of new briefs.”
“Next weekend?”
“Maybe…” Nicole says, looking at the calendar. “It depends if this judge takes our motion; otherwise that’s going to be an insane cramming weekend.”
Sam hands her another coffee and smiles wider. “Well, you have my number. Text me when you’re free.”
Nicole puts her phone away and looks up at Sam. “I will. I’ll definitely text you.” She takes the coffees and walks back to work, smiling. She has a date! As soon as there’s time.