Page 45 of Legal Attraction

Rand waited until long past the lunch hour to hear from Coral. By around three in the afternoon, he knew she had to have returned but every time he made an excuse to walk by her office, it was empty. She wasn’t in any of the other partner offices. And she had not attended the quick new associate orientation check in he had scheduled. No one was talking about why she was missing, except for the other new hires. They all speculated and worried out loud over her job, like he was silently. But the fact that none of the partners seemed concerned made him think something more was going on. Had they heard of her visit to Muskanza? Of course they would have. Had they joined her? Was she already fired? He knew his worries were spiraling into the ridiculous but after the week they’d had and all the stresses, he couldn’t stop the circling thoughts.

Mel and Jaden were about all he could handle. They were perfectly helpful, exceptionally intelligent and overly curious about him and his life. They asked normal questions about the firm and then personal questions about him and his place in it. He supposed it was because they were trying to see themselves working there. He knew he shouldn’t even be bothered. But he was. And he didn’t want to talk about personal things at work. Particularly because his lack of a steady romance was the topic of every performance review.

He exited to find Mr. Goldstein and, on the way, stopped at the receptionist desk. “Gladys, hello.” He brightened his smile larger than usual. “Is that a new blouse? Yellow looks cheery on you.”

“Why, aren’t you darling this afternoon? Thank you. I was feeling bright today.”

“It suits you and it’s nice to have a warm welcome when we come in.”

She nodded and then lifted her lashes, waiting. “What can I do for you?”

“Any messages? I’m looking for something that might have showed up during lunch.”

She shuffled through her papers and pulled up a screen on her laptop. “No. Nothing here. All I have during the lunch hour is Ms. Anastas’ return.”

“So, not a busy day.”

“Not at all. But that’s grand because I can catch up on the invitations Mr. Goldstein asked me to create.”

“Oh? We throwing a party?”

“Client appreciation and team building. He wants to host it here in the building.” She studied her nails. “And I’m sure he’s going to want me to decorate the place.”

“It’s great the way it is, certainly. It has that charm.”

She nodded and then lifted an eyebrow. “You trying to give your new hires some space?”

He leaned over the counter. “Between you and me, yes.”

She laughed. “Well, I could fill you in on the tea.”

“The tea?”

“The gossip around here, the harmless stuff. It will take a good ten minutes at least.”

“Then yes, please do tell. Gladys, I find I must know the tea.”

She kept stuffing envelopes and spoke quieter. “Mr. Halstrom still has not returned from lunch which wouldn’t be newsworthy at all except that Ms. Sanchez hasn’t either.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Is there something going on there?” He could never picture the two of them doing anything but work, but it was noteworthy that they could possibly be doing something work related. He considered their clients.

“I’m not here to interpret the tea. I’m just sharing it.”

“Fair enough.” He nodded. “What else you got?”

“Your friend Coral?”

He smiled. “Is she my friend Coral?”

“That’s what it looks like to anyone with eyes.” She looked at him with some sort of meaning which he found curious and had no ability to interpret.

“Well, what about her?”

“She showed up late from lunch herself.” She pointed. “And went straight into that office.”

“Oh?” He glanced at the door.

“And she hasn’t come out.”

---