Chapter 1: Her New Client

(A little more than two years earlier)

(Jenna POV)

“Jenna Maxwell, I want you to meet Alexander McMahon,” my boss said as he walked into the conference room.

I stood up and politely offered my hand. 

Instead of accepting the handshake, the 50-something Mr. McMahon turned my hand and kissed it gently.  He then very obviously scanned me from head to toe, his eyes pausing briefly on my breasts.

“Gary, I didn’t know your law firm employed such beauties as paralegals,” he said with a smile.  “Had I known, I would have gotten myself into legal trouble a lot earlier.” 

Gary laughed.  I frowned.

“She’s more than just a paralegal,” Gary replied after a beat.

Mr. McMahon’s eyes lit up.  “Oh, really?” 

Mr. McMahon walked around me as though he was going to sit down at the conference table.  But instead, he used it as an opportunity to check out my a&&.

“Oh, Gary.  You are right. Blond, big boobs, tight body, and classy. She is soooooo much more than a paralegal.  She is a walking wet dream.” 

Gary laughed again, the way that males often do when they are talking to their locker room buddies.

I, meanwhile, had already had enough.  I had agreed to this potential client meeting purely as a favor.  I had better things to do than put up with this chauvinistic a&&hole.

I angrily began packing up my notepad, laptop, pen, and papers.  That seemed to shake Gary out of his bachelor-party-stupor.  He reached out a hand to try to stop me from leaving.

“Wait, wait, wait.  Don’t go, Jenna,” he pleaded, the apology obvious in his eyes.

“Oh, let her go, Gary.  I could use a coffee anyway.  Black with two sugars, Sugar.  I’ll save you a seat for when you get back,” Mr. McMahon offered with a smile as he gestured towards his lap.

I scowled at Gary.  “You need better friends.  I’m leaving.”

Gary turned to Mr. McMahon, frustration evident on his face. 

“Jenna is not a paralegal, Alex.  She is the lawyer that I told you about.”

Mr. McMahon’s face dropped.

“Her?”

“Her.”

“But she is so… young.”

“I am 24,” I responded, even though the comment was not directed at me.  “Not that it matters.”

“You are just a baby,” Mr. McMahon protested.

“Do you make a habit of staring at the breasts and a&& of all babies you encounter, Mr. McMahon?” I fired back.

Mr. McMahon’s face now flashed red with anger.  Before he could say anything else –and before I could also accuse him of being a pedophile-- Gary intervened again.

“Alex, Jenna is a bit of a legal prodigy.  I dare say that she is the best sexual harassment and discrimination defense attorney in this state… not to mention the only one we have at this firm.”

“How can she possibly be qualified at 24? I have business suits older than she is.”

I rolled my eyes. 

“I assure you that, despite my age, I am highly trained, and I have plenty of experience.  I took steps to accelerate my schooling when I was younger, which was already on a fast track. 

“I graduated at the top of my law school class, so I’m smart.  But my biggest strength is that my opponents tend to underestimate me until it is too late. Just like you have today.”

Mr. McMahon’s face was still red with anger, but he didn’t try to say anything else, and Willow was in my head urging me to stay, so I decided to continue.

“Let’s get our cards on the table, Mr. McMahon.  I don’t know why you are here exactly, but I know it’s not good.  My guess is that you need me much more than I need you. 

“I am here as a favor to Gary.  But being Gary’s friend only gets you so far.  He may be my boss, but he’s also smart enough to appreciate the revenue I bring into this firm and the constant stream of clients asking for me to take them on.  He won’t make me do something I don’t want to do.

“You want to become one of my clients and get my help?  Fine.  But you are going to treat me with respect, keep your dick in your pants, and do what I tell you to do.  Don’t like that?  That’s fine, too.  You can leave.  Don’t let the door hit you on your way out.”

Mr. McMahon looked at me horrified.   He was clearly not used to anyone –especially a young female like me— talking to him like that. 

After a couple of moments, his eyes darted to Gary.  He was clearly expecting Gary to put me back in my place.  When Gary didn’t --choosing to instead let my ultimatum hang in the air-- Mr. McMahon mumbled something about this being “utter bullsh&t” and left in a huff.

After Mr. McMahon was gone, Gary turned to me.

“Well, that went well,” he said with half-sarcasm, half-amusement.

I glared at him.  “I don’t care that you are technically my boss.  I’m not doing you any favors ever again, if that’s what your friends are all like.”

Gary shook his head dismissively.  “Don’t let him get to you, Jenna.  Alex is all bark, no bite.  You caught him on an off day.  He’s normally a decent guy.”

“Said like a typical male’s male.”

“You’ll see I’m right when he comes back.”

I wrinkled my eyebrows.  “Why would he come back?  I wasn’t exactly nice to him.”

“Eh, he’ll get over it.  Especially when he realizes that no other firm is going to help him.”

That caught my attention.

“Why not?”

“He is being sued by a former female employee for 25 million dollars.  The complaint was filed three weeks ago, and we are already the fourth firm he has gone to.  He’s running out of time to secure representation.”

“What happened with the other firms?”

“They all told him to pull out his checkbook and pray for a quick settlement, because he was dead to rights.”

“Did he sleep with the employee who is suing him?”

“No.  But he did sleep with her sister.”

“Did her sister work for him?”

“No, but there are pictures.”

“Well, that’s obviously not great, but it shouldn’t matter that much.”

“Alex says the sister was his employee’s identical twin.  The employee says she doesn’t have one.”

“Oh goddess.”

“Yeah.”

“But you believe him?”

“Yeah, I actually do.”

“F&&k.”

****

Mr. McMahon came back four days later.

He had been rejected by another three law firms.  I was literally his last hope.

Against my better judgment …and despite my initial disgust for the man… I decided to take on the case. 

I liked a challenge.

I liked doing something other attorneys had said was impossible.

And, most importantly, Willow kept insisting that I should.  She didn’t explain why she wanted us to work on the case exactly …just that she had a gut feeling… but I trusted her.

Little did I know the can of worms that single decision was about to unleash on my life.