I had been working at a law firm as an intern since I started law school. Between the errands the Associates made me run and research for them, and school, I had no real life. It seemed the harder I worked to accomplish the work load being placed on me, the more work they seemed to find for me. I was mostly busy late into the night. I did this for almost two years trying to make a good impression.
It had gotten to be almost Christmas of the second year. School work had dropped off to nothing and we had mostly all gone home or whatever for the Holidays. I was sitting at the Law Office actually finishing the last injunction form for the trial coming up in January. It was still early afternoon and I was hungry.
On the way out, I saw what I thought was another intern sitting at her desk typing on a keyboard. She was quite obviously enjoying whatever she was doing. I came to the door and tapped lightly on the glass. She looked up and smiled. She waved me in and went back to the keyboard.
I walked in and went behind the desk. I caught a pink screen with lots of really cute little pictures before the browser closed and could see nothing but the company desktop.
I introduced myself, “Hello, I’m Melissa. I just got done with what I was doing and was going to get something to eat. Would you like to come?”
She said in a bright and cheery voice, “My name is Vickie. I’m starving and going to eat is the best idea I’ve heard all day.”
I said, “There’s a great Deli just around the corner. They make the best sandwiches in the world.”
She giggles sweetly and says, “I know the place. Eat there all the time.”
She turned off her computer and put a stack of papers in the safe. We grabbed our coats and were off to get something to eat. The walk to the Deli was short, but the driving wet snow and wind made it seem like a very long way. By the time we arrived, we both were frozen.
We ordered and had taken a seat at one of the tables to wait for the sandwiches. Vicki had ordered some wine and asked if I wanted some to help warm up. I thought a nice glass of wine would be great. As we slowly sipped at our glasses and thawed out, we got to know each other. We chatted about whatever came to mind. She was easy to like. She was cheery and bubbly.
She told me she had noticed me for a year now and that I was probably the hardest worker at the firm. She asked if I liked working there. I told her I did, but I would like a little less work. I had no life because of the work load. She said she’ll see about that.
Vickie turned out to be the youngest partner at the firm. Her daddy also owned it. She had just been accepted as a full partner and was all excited. She said she had to at least put in a token appearance at the office every once in a while to keep everybody happy. But she would make sure I had more time for myself from now on. I was glad of that.
She was older than me. I do remember her being one of the members who had just won a big case. The other partners were discussing it several weeks back and were very impressed.
