I did once suggest to Leonard that I worked from home two or three days a week but he made his feelings clear on that idea.
‘When you’re working, you need to be focused on your work and nothing else,’ he said. ‘At home it will be too easy to be distracted, no matter what your best intentions are. Not only that, but if something urgent comes up, I want you here, in the office, at the coal face.’
Even when I had protested that I could be at the end of the phone or email, he wouldn’t budge. In fact, he had been even more demonstrative, his years in the courtroom coming into play. He had questioned my ability to work with him and whether I would make a suitable partner after all. It wasn’t often I was on the receiving end of his sharp tongue, but I definitely came away licking my wounds that day.
I’m still brooding over leaving the girls when I arrive at work. I hurry down to my office, smiling and greeting the receptionist but not breaking my stride. I’m not in the mood for light chit-chat with anyone.
‘Hi, Sandy, all okay?’
‘Morning, Clare, Yes, everything’s fine.’
‘I’m going to be working on the McMillan case notes,’ I say. ‘I need a good couple of hours without any disturbances, so if you could just take messages and I’ll deal with everything this afternoon.’ I smile at her as I breeze through.
I close the door to my office behind me, knowing this is an unspoken sign to Tom and Leonard not to disturb me. I splay out the files to the McMillan case on my desk and study the papers in front of me.
It’s a tough case and Leonard has put me forward to deal with it, saying it would do me good to have some more experience with company law. McMillan is also a drinking pal of Leonard’s and I have a feeling Leonard put me forward to show off in the same way that parents show off their children by getting them to perform a song, a dance or count to ten in French. I’m performing for him so he can bask in the glory of having nurtured my career and so people can pat him on the back and say how well he’s done.
Internally, I had baulked at the prospect of representing one of Leonard’s acquaintances, especially in company law, which is Tom’s forte more than it is mine. Externally, I knew better than to let the enormity of the task show on my face.
McMillan is a well-known local businessman who has political ambition, so any blemish on his character he wants removed by litigation laser treatment. In other words, I’m to make sure not only does he win the case of unlawful dismissal brought about by a former barman at the club he owns, but I’m also to ensure he comes out of it with not a speck of dust or dirt on or around him.
‘Don’t even think about saying no,’ Leonard had said as he had passed over the files. ‘You’re perfectly capable of dealing with this. The right outcome will do the firm the power of good.’
‘No pressure, then?’ I had joked with half-hearted enthusiasm.
Leonard had looked me dead in the eye. ‘There’s every pressure, Clare. Every pressure, so make sure you win.’ He had paused in the doorway and turned to me. ‘Unless, of course, you don’t think you’re up to it.’
I hadn’t faltered. ‘Of course I’m up to it,’ I had said. I could read the sub-text. If I wasn’t up to the case, then I wasn’t up to the job and, therefore, by default I wasn’t up to being a partner in the firm.
I work steadily on the case for the next two hours when, despite my instructions that I wasn’t to be disturbed, there’s a knock on the door and Leonard appears in the doorway.
‘Just wanted to make sure you’re still alive,’ he says coming in and closing the door behind him. ‘Sandy said you’re working on the McMillan case. How’s it going?’ He nods towards the papers and law books spread out in front of me.
I sit back in my chair, dropping my pencil onto the desk. ‘Not too bad. Difficult, as we expected. It doesn’t help that the other party have come up with a witness now.’
‘Well, then, we need to come up with a witness too.’
‘There isn’t one. McMillan isn’t the most popular of bosses, as it turns out.’
‘Find one.’
‘I’ll do my best,’ I say, aware that there is little conviction in my voice, and instantly regret letting that show. It’s not the sort of trait that makes one a convincing lawyer in court.
Leonard hasn’t missed it either. ‘Don’t give me any banal platitudes,’ he says. ‘Find a witness. I don’t need to spell it out to you, do I?
‘Of course not.’ I rearrange the papers on my desk to avoid eye contact with him. It’s no wonder he is one of the best lawyers in town, known for his ruthless streak in the courtroom. It can be intimidating just being in the same office as him and that’s when he’s on your side.