3. Chapter 3
Jasmine
Penny shuffles into my kitchen, almost completely hidden behind the large cardboard box she carries. “I can’t believe you’re moving,” she says with a sniffle, using a black marker to write the word bathroom across the box she sets on the counter.
Skyla walks in from the other side of my apartment and joins us with another box in her arms. “I can’t believe you’re blonde.”
“And I can’t believe it’s happening so fast,” I admit.
After accepting the position with Jorgensen & Munson and visiting the salon where I turned my dark brown locks into a shade rivaling that of an ice princess, I hopped on the plane home and immediately started packing.
I was supposed to start my new job in exactly one week, which didn’t leave me much time to transition from Kentucky to Nevada.
Fortunately, the condo I’ll be moving into is fully furnished, so I won’t have to haul the heavy items across the country.
Unfortunately, all the furniture in my current apartment will end up back at my parents’ home or in storage.
I look around at my comfortable living room furniture.
Penny and I had so much fun sprawling out on every showroom display in four different stores before finally deciding on the comfortable and practical beige set. I’m really going to miss her.
As though she can read my thoughts, Penny flings her arms around me. “Oh, I’m going to miss you so much! Everyone seems to be moving on, and then I’m stuck in this little old town.”
I breathe in the honeysuckle scent of my best friend and silently agree.
Our lives have all changed suddenly, with me moving to Vegas and Anna putting in her notice at her current job.
She’s excited to move from the city to a small town and work for what I’ve read is the fastest-growing cybersecurity company in the nation.
I imagine her parents are dreading her not being under their watchful, judgmental eyes, but I’m so happy she will be getting away from her creep of a boss.
Our small town is on the other side of the state, so Anna couldn’t be here to help me pack up my life and say goodbye. I’ll have to call her later so we can both moan and groan over the woes of packing and moving but also celebrate the excitement of fresh starts.
“Why don’t you come with me?” Skyla asks Pen. “I have to stop back home and see my mother, but then I think I’m going to spend a few weeks in Maine.”
Penny shakes her head and offers a small smile. “That sounds amazing, Sky, but school is in session, and I don’t think my principal would care for me taking off a few weeks so early into the school year. Not to mention, I only get three personal days to do with what I want.”
Skyla and I both scrunch our noses. Teaching sounds terrible. “But,” Penny says with an optimistic tone I’m not sure how she musters, “I get to hear about your adventures, and that’s equally exciting.”
“It’s really not,” Skyla says, “but I know you love those babies and you’re great at what you do.”
“I am going to miss the both of you so much,” I say with more emotion than usual.
“Be sure to call and keep me posted on everything going on. I need you to check in and tell me if Anna’s new boss turns out to be as big of a creep as her current one.
” We all shudder at thoughts of Daniel Brenner, dickwad extraordinaire.
Skyla smiles smugly. “If so, maybe that new husband of hers can take care of him.”
“Don’t bring that up again,” I say with a roll of my eyes.
We’ve been back and forth all morning discussing the drama that has come to my sweet friend’s life.
Skyla is determined that things will work out between Anna and the man she drunkenly married.
Penny and I agree an annulment is in order, and she should forget the night ever existed.
I suppose it doesn’t matter what we think, though.
Anna is a grown woman and will decide for herself.
Penny tapes up the box she’s been working on and smiles at me. “I think this is the last one. I’ll get with your parents, and whatever they don’t take to their place, I’ll have Cody help me get it to the storage center.”
“I appreciate it, Pen.” I pull my best friends into a group hug and blink back the tears desperately wanting to fall, but refuse to give in. I haven’t cried since the eighth grade when Gary Mitchell pushed me down the stairs, resulting in a broken arm.
When Skyla and Penny leave my house, I turn out the lights and lie down one last time on my couch. In the dark, I take one final look at the apartment I rented right out of law school, then close my eyes and dream of new adventures.
“And this is your new office,” Tracy, a sweet lady who has been escorting me around Jorgensen & Munson, says with a flourish.
I suppose this is the end of the tour, which is fine with me since she graciously showed me the most essential piece of the office: the coffee pot.
I enter the small space and place my second cup of the day on the desk—my desk—and turn to where she lingers in the doorway.
“Thank you so much for showing me around.”
Tracy smiles. “If you need anything at all, you let me know. I’m the paralegal for you and the two other attorneys on this wing, but I can also be easily bribed to sneak out for coffee. There’s a cute little shop around the corner.”
“I may have to take you up on that.” I give her a genuine smile, and she takes her cue to leave me to bask in the glory of my new workspace. Taking a deep breath, I catch the whiff of apples from my perfume and, ah, yes, paperwork.
Two large filing cabinets stand in one corner, and I walk over, opening up the drawer labeled “A-D.” My fingers walk across the tops of the files, taking in the names, but then a rather large folder catches my eye.
The folder takes up a third of the drawer and is only for one client, so clearly I’ll be working with them frequently.
Pulling it out, I place the hefty file on my desk and dive in.
I’m very curious to see what Caruso Enterprises needs from their newest attorney.
A knock on my office door startles me from the paperwork I’ve been scouring.
I look up to see Todd Delaney smiling at me, like a car salesman ready to give me a steal of a deal on a hunk of junk.
“Miss Baker, I’m not sure what things were like at your old office, but here we actually do allow our employees to take a break for lunch. ”
I glance at the time on my computer monitor and realize I’ve been buried deep in this file all morning. My stomach grumbles at the realization I should have eaten something over an hour ago. “Right,” I say as I close the file. “I guess I got carried away trying to take everything in.”
Todd steps into my office. “Why don’t you let me take you out for lunch? My treat, since this is your first day and all.”
“Oh, that’s okay. I’ll grab one of the granola bars from the break room. I really want to go through these files and get a feel for my clients.”
I rifle through the folders I pulled from my file cabinet, and when I look up, Todd has perched himself on the edge of my desk.
He cuts his eyes at me, and I realize I can’t make out the color of them.
They aren’t exactly blue, but they aren’t green either.
His hair is cut close to his scalp and matches the red of his neatly trimmed beard.
It isn’t that the man is unattractive, but there’s a severity to him that doesn’t exactly make him approachable.
He slides his hand across my desk, coming closer to where my hand rests on the Caruso file.
He doesn’t touch me, but his fingers hover over mine.
“One thing you will need to learn quickly here at Jorgensen and Munson, Miss Baker—” His voice is low and almost threatening.
“Is that when we ask you to do something, you do it. So if I ask you to join me for lunch and allow me the privilege of paying your way, you say yes.”
Todd pulls his hand back away from mine and stands, straightening his tie. I gulp down the unease that built up in my throat.
“Are you ready to go?”
I nod and stand. It looks like I’ll be joining my boss for lunch, whether I want to or not.