Some hours later, Kenna woke with a page of the criminal procedure book stuck to her face. She had fallen asleep face first into the book and then drooled, making the page stick to her cheek. Too tired to walk across the room, she stripped and climbed under the covers in nothing but her panties. With a sigh, she fell asleep almost instantly.
* * *
Kenna stood in front of the courthouse and straightened the knee-length, black pencil skirt and matching fitted black jacket. She wore an ivory satin shell underneath and had almost killed herself getting into her pantyhose this morning. She wore simple black pumps and her long auburn hair was in a French twist. A car honked and she ignored it until it honked again. Thinking it was probably some idiot, she turned to give the driver the finger. She caught herself just in time from flipping off Pam Gilbert.
"Good Luck, McKenna!" Pam shouted as she drove by and they exchanged waves. That was a first, Kenna thought.
She turned back to the courthouse, walked up the steps, and pulled open the heavy front doors. She found the building directory and took the stairs to the second floor district attorney office, consisting of three rooms and the Keeneston Law Library. She entered a room that was a mix of old school attorney with a hint of criminal. The leather seats in the waiting room were bolted down, and a chest-high desk separated the secretary from the waiting room. Overall, the room looked warm, but not so warm that the people swearing out warrants wanted to hang out. A woman who looked no-nonsense in khakis and a light-blue sweater sat with a pinched face, probably from the tight bun she had pulled her hair back in. Her age could have been anywhere from twenty-five to fifty-five.
She looked up from the computer. "Can I help you?" she snapped at Kenna.
"Yes, I'm McKenna Mason. I have an appointment with Mr. Burns," Kenna answered with a slight smile on her face. She was pretty sure if she used charm, this woman would toss her out on her ass before she could even interview. The lady held up a finger to indicate she should wait, but didn't invite her to sit down. So McKenna stood waiting while the lady picked up the phone and told the person on the other end of the line that “A Miss Mason is here for her appointment.”
Kenna must've passed the first round because when the happy greeter looked up after putting the phone down, she pointed to a door behind the desk, "Go on in," and went back to her typing.
McKenna pushed through the swinging half-door attached to the desk and walked to the back office. She knocked on the door and took one final deep breath to calm herself. She heard a gruff voice call for her to come in. She opened the door and walked in to meet her potential boss.
Very old school, Kenna thought, as she took a quick glance on her way across the room. She made her way to a set of leather chairs in front of an old massive legal desk. Mr. Burns was a man in his early fifties and had thinning brown hair turning gray. As he stood to greet her, Kenna realized he was actually much shorter than she thought. He probably stood at only five feet eight inches, and it looked as if he had worked hard on the potbelly that hung out over his belt. He had huge round glasses, a neatly trimmed gray mustache and looked to be friendly enough now, but Kenna could definitely tell he'd be a monster in the courtroom. Between him and his secretary, it was no wonder they had the lowest deadbeat-parent standing in the state. Everyone paid because no one wanted to face Miss Sunshine in the office, or go up against an aggressive Mr. Magoo in the courtroom.
"Miss Mason, it's nice to meet you. I'm Tom Burns," he said as he held out his hand over his desk. Kenna shook it and they both sat in their respective corners. He eyed her over his massive desk, and she sat as tall as possible in the old chair.
"It's nice to meet you, too. I've been looking forward to this since I received your email setting the date for our interview," Kenna smiled. She knew better than to use her fake happy smile. She figured both Miss Sunshine and Mr. Magoo saw enough bullshit to know when to spot it.
"I'll cut right to the point. You have an impressive résumé. Top 25 percent of your class from Syracuse University. An elite job at one of the biggest firms in New York City. An impressive amount of wins and large settlements during your time there. But, here is what bothers me. There are two things. First, why you stated in your letter that I couldn't call and check your résumé with your boss at GTH? And the second, why I should give you a job whose focus is on criminal law when your main area of practice has been in civil litigation and public relations?"
Boy, Mr. Magoo really could cut to the chase, she thought. She took a deep breath and answered, focusing on half-truths to make the answer believable. "To address your first question, I don't know how things are done in smaller firms, and I don't know how they are done in Kentucky, but GTH was very much a good ol’ boys' system. Women did not advance past associate. I was the first woman to make it to junior partner and that was only after bringing in a $5 million settlement fee in a class action. It was made very clear to me that I'd never be part of the club and that I'd never advance any higher. I had a hard time accepting that sort of sexual discrimination and decided to start looking for a different avenue where my day wouldn't just repeat itself.