Maggie wasn’t sure why she hadn’t mentioned to Michael that she was meeting the other new hires for drinks at Doc Watson’s. She supposed she didn’t want him to wonder if she was talking about him. Nate had texted her shortly after five to say that he and the others were heading out. She’d replied that she planned to keep working until she was finished and to let her know if they left the bar. She’d also texted Ben to see if he’d meet her there. His new office was only a few blocks away.
As she reached the black awning in front of the pub she heard someone calling her name. “Hey Flynn, wait up!” Ben grinned as he strode up to her and gave her a peck on the cheek. “So how’s tricks?” he asked her.
“Not too shabby, how about you?” she asked as they made their way inside.
He grimaced, running a hand through his thick brown waves. “Well I made it through the first day without any major fuck-ups. I hope I’m not bored to tears by real estate law.”
Inside, Maggie spotted Nate and the others on the far side of the room. They’d pushed together a pair of high-top tables and he motioned for her and Ben to join them.
“Hey there!” Maggie greeted the group. “This is my friend from law school, Ben Kauffman. Today was his first day too, working in real estate law at Johnson, Biddle.”
Nate shook hands with Ben and introduced him and Maggie to everyone. “Maggie, Ben, this is Brenda Mejia, Jason Foster, Tony Pronti, Liz Abernathy, and Felix Vasquez. Everybody, Maggie and Ben.” They pulled up two more stools and Maggie ordered a round of Guinness for the table.
“So you’re the one on the mysterious 50th floor,” said Jason as all eyes turned to Maggie.
She stalled by sipping her pint. Try to remember first names because there’s no way you’re going to remember everyone, she thought. “Yeah, that’s me,” she admitted.
“You were hand-picked by Michael Rannigan? What I wouldn’t give to be picked by that man,” Liz commented. Brenda nodded in agreement.
“What are you going to be doing up there? I heard that 50 has all the famous clients,” Nate said.
Maggie shrugged. “I didn’t see any clients today. And they have me doing lots of grunt work. You know, filing, shelving books, that kind of thing. It’s not that special.”
“At least we all have each other,” Jason said motioning to everyone. “Do you know the people in the other cubicles?”
The park view from her office window popped into Maggie’s mind and she felt guilty. “I met some of the associates who work on 50. They seem nice,” she hedged. Thankfully the conversation drifted to the tasks the others had undertaken on their first day.
Ben leaned to speak into her ear. “Somebody’s not telling the whole truth, girlfriend. I can always tell.”
“I’ll tell you about it later,” Maggie answered.
The gathering broke up around 8:15. Maggie and Ben walked out into the warm summer night. “We’re celebrating,” she told him. “I’m springing for a cab. After all, I’m gainfully employed.”
“Perfect,” Ben agreed. “And now you can tell me what you didn’t tell everyone else. I’m always up for juicy gossip. Especially if it involves the divine Mr. Rannigan.”
Seated in the back of the cab and on their way back to the Village, Maggie filled him in on her day, describing her private office and then telling him about her run-in with Standifer. “Oh my God! You have your own office?” Ben asked.
“You see why I didn’t want to say that in front of everybody?” Maggie said.
“And sweetie, you’d better just bitch-slap that cunt, nobody talks to Maggie Flynn like that,” Ben quipped, mischief sparkling in his clear blue eyes.
She slapped his arm playfully. “Stop!” she laughed.
In front of Maggie’s brownstone they said their good nights. “Thanks for coming,” she said. “I was glad to have a friendly face there.” She hugged him tightly.
“They seem nice,” he answered. “But you have to leave the nest and go out on your own eventually, you know. Especially if you ever want to get laid.” She hit his arm again. “How long until you bag Rannigan?” he laughed.
“Stop it! I work for him, end of story,” she insisted.
He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right.” He waved and headed down the street toward his own apartment.
Maggie called after him. “Hug Alex for me.” He waved again and was out of sight.
She arrived about half an hour early the next morning having procured coffee and pastries from a bakery a few blocks from the office. There were bagels in five varieties, danishes, and coffee cakes, in addition to espresso and dark roast with hazelnut creamer. She was arranging pastries on plastic platters when Michael entered the conference room.
“Morning, Mags.”
“Hi Michael,” she smiled genuinely, handing him the cup she’d just poured. “Have some coffee. This is from Two Little Red Hens on 2nd. Tell me this doesn’t beat the shit...crap...out of Starbucks.”
“I’m not the one you have to convince, Norma Rae,” Michael quipped.
Maggie stuck out her tongue at him. The others began to file into the room. Standifer was one of the last to come in. “What the fuck it this?” she whined. “Where is my soy mocha latte?”
“Alright, people, let’s get started this morning,” Michael began. Everyone settled into chairs around the conference table. “We’ve got the Lisa Donovan case today. Standifer and Hodges will be going with me. What else are we working on?”
The others chimed in with their current cases and their next steps. Finally, Michael said, “Maggie Flynn joined us yesterday. She’ll be taking lunch orders until further notice. She picks the restaurant. If you don’t like it, order for yourself. Everybody keep me up to date on what you’re doing. Any other concerns?”
The meeting ended quickly. Maggie hurried off to begin her other tasks. Michael caught up with her at the door to her office. “Coffee was great today, by the way,” he said.
Maggie flashed him a satisfied smile. “Glad you liked it,” she answered. “I told you.”
He looked amused. “Yes, you did. I’m heading to court now. I probably won’t be back all day. Text me if there’s anything important.”
“Will do,” Maggie nodded.
Maggie found her rhythm over those first few weeks. She’d arrive a little early each morning bearing bags of pastries and cartons of coffee from various local bakeries, some better received than others and she kept track, returning only to those everyone liked. She kept the library organized and when she’d approached Michael with her ideas for making the system more efficient, he’d been pleased. She managed to get lunch delivered everyday by noon and as with the bakeries, she tried to use a variety of restaurants on a rotating basis.
The only ones not pleased with her performance were Standifer and Hemphill and Maggie avoided them as much as possible. It was easy on the days Michael was in court because they usually went with him. She surmised that their dislike of her stemmed from her first interview when she’d inadvertently exposed their sloppy work.
The problem was that when Michael was in court all day Maggie missed him. When he was in the office she saw him when she delivered his lunch or when he stopped by to ask her something. Once in a while they might share an elevator at quitting time. On days he was in court she always found an excuse to text him, even if it was something minor. He invariably replied, sometimes even telling her when he was finished for the day and on his way home. But she was happier when he was in the office.