Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Smoke

Iwalk into my law office feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders. The Hellfire Hounds are still nipping at our heels. Their club president is furious with us because Siege caught his grandson trying to rob our bar in town and leveraged him into working off the damages, rather than being arrested. I know Siege probably got a kick out of the situation, but it’s clear that King is humiliated by his grandson working for the Savage Legion.

The second I walk through the door, Marge harangues me, “You’re late, Mr. Drake. And late is no way to start the day.”

I glance up and count to ten before responding. “I’m in no mood for a reprimand today, Marge.” Seriously, sometimes I think Marge forgets who works for whom. You’d think from her brazen rebuke that I work for her, rather than the other way around.

“I’m your office administrator,” she states sternly. “It’s my job to keep you on schedule. I can’t do that if you don’t show up to work on time.”

Glancing down at my watch, my annoyance builds. “I don’t think being twelve minutes late is going to put a gigantic dent in our day.”

“Lucky for you, your first appointment isn’t booked until ten this morning.”

“Thank God. Please tell me we have some coffee around here.”

“Of course, we do.” She smooths back her hair with one hand and adds, “I make a fresh pot every morning. You know that Mr. Drake.”

I try not to roll my eyes, because she’s not wrong about that. She has the office running like clockwork.

Marge comes off as the motherly version of a drill sergeant. She’s also a perfectionist. I can tell by the way she presents herself. Her all-seeing green eyes are a close match for mine. And those eyes don’t miss a thing. I can’t imagine what kind of skin care regimen she’s devised but it’s given her the wrinkle free complexion of a much younger woman. It makes it hard to nail her age. Her hair is a darker brown than mine, but the grey roots are noticeable if you’re up close, it’s the singular thing that betrays her as being older than she looks. I guess she must be in her late fifties or early sixties. I realize that after working with the woman for coming up to five years, I don’t know anything about her personal life. I don’t even know if she’s got a husband or kids, she’s never mentioned them, but she’s the type who keeps work and private life separate. Truth be told, as irritating as she sometimes is, I’m lucky to have her.

Still, sometimes I look at her delicate facial features and wonder what the mother I never knew looked like. Of course, I think that about lots of brunettes of a certain age with clear green eyes. My father used to tell me that looking for my dead mother in every woman with green eyes was morbid. Rigs called it complicated grieving from never knowing the woman who gave birth to me, she died when I was a baby, so I was too young to have any memories of her. I shake myself from my thoughts and respond to my office administrator.

“Of course, you make coffee every morning,” I acknowledge dryly. “You even use those fancy imported fresh roasted coffee beans. I don’t know how I forgot about that.” We both know I didn’t forget. Saying I hope there’s coffee, is just one of those things I say to communicate how desperate I am for caffeine in the mornings. It’s kind of sad that my strongest relationship with a woman is the one I have with my older office administrator. I’m not sure how I feel about that.

I walk into my office and put my briefcase on the desk, before coming back out to the coffee bar we’ve set up in our waiting area and pouring myself a cup. I add eight packs of sugar, not because I have an especially sweet tooth, but because I really need that morning caffeine and sugar rush.

The first sip is heavenly. I head back to my office and start getting organized for the day. I’m halfway through reading my emails, when there’s a commotion in the front office. I can hear Marge’s angry voice.

“No, no, no, no. Not you again. If you don’t have an appointment, you’re not getting seen today.”

Siege responds gruffly, “I’m getting tired of you barking at me like an angry chihuahua every time I walk through the door. We’ve been through this so many times. You know the rules that apply to regular folk, don’t apply to Savage Legion club members.”

“Well, they should,” Marge flings back indignantly. “You’re a nuisance, the lot of you.”

I step out of my office to try to calm down my one and only employee. I see Marge standing between Siege and my office with her arms crossed over her chest.

“What’s going on out here Marge? I thought you liked Siege.”

Marge does an about face and walks back behind her desk. “I do like Mr. Sommers. He’s a nice man with a nice family. I would just like him to call ahead to get an appointment. I don’t understand what’s so hard about that.”

Siege looks over at her, clearly bewildered. “You’re always upset about impromptu visits. What I want to know is why that’s so important to you.”

Siege and I both pause the conversation and wait for her to answer. She’s easily irritated in general, but totally off the chain when it comes to members of the Savage Legion showing up without an appointment, I know it isn’t because she’s got a beef with bikers as I’m a patched in member, so I figure it’s her need for order rearing its head.

She drops down into her chair with a shrug of her shoulders. “My job is to keep your appointment book. If people keep coming in and out of the office without bothering to make appointments, what real use am I?”

A short silence spins out between the three of us before she adds, “Your club brothers are working really hard at making me redundant, and I don’t appreciate it. I have been working at this desk for years before you came along. I’m not going to allow your club brothers to cause you to devalue me to the point that I lose my job.”

Her behavior makes a little more sense after her explanation. Siege and I shoot each other a knowing look. Marge just wants to feel that she has some job security. It breaks my heart that she’s worried about losing her job. I have a large amount of empathy for this woman. No one likes to feel like they’re expendable.

I walk over, squat down beside her and look her in the eye. “You’re not just a receptionist, Marge. You’re an office administrator, an invaluable member of my team. Keeping my appointment book is only a very small percentage of your overall job responsibilities.”

“All I know is if I lose my job, no one in this town is going to hire me at my age.”

I reach out, put my hand on her shoulder and give it a little squeeze. “What are you talking about, woman? You don’t look a day over thirty.”

A smile spreads over her face. “You’ve always been good to me, Mr. Drake. You’ve treated me better than any employer I’ve ever had. I don’t want you to wake up one day and decide you don’t need me anymore.”

“Nonsense. I’m lucky to have you as my office administrator. Without you I’d be a hot mess and you know it.”

Suddenly, Siege speaks up and I don’t like the tone of his voice. I recognize it all too well because he’s using his sly tone, the one he reserves for buttering people up. “You know what would ensure good job security for you, Marge?”

Her head turns to look at my club president. I can tell she’s all ears. “What’s that Mr. Sommers?”

“What you really need is a second attorney in this office. Imagine if you had two schedules to keep? You would be a very busy lady.”

“You’re right,” she says gleefully. “With two attorneys I likely wouldn’t have a moment to spare during the day.”

I shoot Siege a dirty look for even suggesting such a thing. Truth be told, I am pretty much swamped in work and a lot of it involves Savage Legion related matters, but I really don’t want another attorney dealing with club business. If I were to hire anyone, it would be someone who understands our world. “I don’t think that’s necessary, Marge and I have a good working relationship. I don’t want to share her with another attorney. Besides this is a small office there’s no room for another person.”

“You can make room, Siege insists.

“We’ve only got one office,” I shoot back firmly, hoping he’ll stop trying to help.

Unfortunately, I might as well have been talking to the wall. Marge’s face lights up like the fourth of July as she gazes at Siege. Reaching over without looking at me she pats me on the arm. “Now, let’s not be too hasty. We have a spare room in the back, and also the records room. We could easily move our file cabinets into the spare room to free up office space for a new partner.”

Coming to her feet she rounds the desk to stand in front of Siege. “Any ideas on how we could recruit another attorney Mr. Sommers?”

Siege takes her arm, links it through his own and literally walks off with my employee. Suddenly, they’re best friends it seems. They stand in front of the glass door and look outside toward the street. “Funny you should ask. I brought you someone to interview. I think you’ll really like her. Don’t you think it’s about time this office had a female attorney?”

Marge perks up even more. “Absolutely. That’s a wonderful idea.”

I raise my voice slightly, “Now hold on, you two. I never agreed to take on a partner.”

Siege reaches out to push the front door open and I can hear a pair of high heels clicking against the sidewalk. I don’t think I’ve ever been more pissed in my entire life. I don’t know why my club president is trying to ruin my business.

And here I am, still squatting beside Marge’s desk like a damn fool. I come to my feet, intending to have it out with Siege for getting Marge all riled up and dragging her into this hairbrained scheme of his. Another attorney indeed.

I open my mouth to let him have it but stop dead in my tracks when the most beautiful sight I’ve seen in a very long time steps through my door. My visitor is wearing a well-tailored business suit, and her dark hair is pulled back at the nape of her neck in a tight swirl. Her gold earrings are bold and sophisticated. I recognize her immediately and almost trip over my own feet as I rush over to greet her.

“Miss Serena, it’s good to see you again. How long has it been?”

She smiles at me, and my heart explodes into a thousand pieces.