Page 10 of Not That Guy
Brenner
There was no reason to be nervous. I’d spoken to the senior partners at my firm, and though they were sad to see me go, they didn’t make a counteroffer. I hadn’t expected them to. It was hard to compete with the best. After that, it was easy.
At nine thirty I arrived at the offices of Walden, Booth, and Roth and was escorted to Daniel Roth’s office, where he greeted me with a handshake.
“Brenner. Good to see you. I can’t tell you how thrilled we all are that you’ve decided to join us.”
Highly doubtful, as Weston Lively’s name was still on the masthead, but I refrained from pettiness. “It’s great to be here. I’m looking forward to jumping in, feet first.”
“As soon as all the legalities are straightened out and the paperwork is signed, sealed, and delivered.” A tall man stopped at the doorway, and Roth’s eyes lit up. “Grady, come in, please. Have you met previously? Grady Allen, Brenner Fleming.”
Grady approached with an outstretched hand, and I stood to greet him. “No, I haven’t worked with you personally, Grady, but I’ve heard of you. I do some 18b cases. I see we’re going to be the newbies in the division.”
A surprisingly charming smile brightened Grady’s face. “Looking forward to working with you as well. There’s a good team in place here.” His gaze sharpened. “I hear you know another colleague, Weston Lively.”
“Law school classmates,” I responded dryly. “But we’ve been out of touch since we graduated.”
Except when he touched my dick last year.
Roth— Daniel —joined us at the door. “Let’s go say hi to Weston, and then I’ll introduce you to everyone else.”
Coming from a small, four-partner, twenty-person attorney firm, I’d expected to be a bit overwhelmed, but I passed more people in the one floor of the office here than I normally saw in a week at my old firm.
I’d have to adjust, but I’d deal with it.
The bump in my partnership draw and the prestige of working at the firm would make that easy.
Even with the prospect of working with Weston, I was feeling pretty good about all of it.
“West. It’s official,” Daniel announced. “Grady is a partner, and here’s Brenner Fleming. We’re about to sign off on his partnership, so it made sense to bring them on together.”
I braced myself, and with a grin on my face, stepped forward. “Hello, Weston. Good to see you again.”
“I’m glad to see you too.” His hand clasped mine, and it was as if we were back in that room at the Marriott.
My throat dried, and sweat broke out over my body.
But it wasn’t only me affected. I could see West’s green-gold eyes widen and his lips press tight.
He jerked away and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his slacks.
Daniel said, “Obviously Grady knows his way around, but he stopped by when I was talking to Brenner, so he’s tagging along for the unofficial meet and greet. I’m going to finish introducing Brenner, then show him his office and let him read through the mountain of material.”
“All the fun stuff,” Weston teased, but his face was strained.
I caught Grady’s odd look but chose to ignore it and nodded at Weston.
I followed Daniel to meet the other attorneys, then he brought me to an office two doors down from Weston’s.
Guess I couldn’t request to sit on the opposite side of the floor.
“Here it is. We’ve had our IT department prioritize you, so I don’t anticipate it should take longer than a week for you to be fully on board.
Your attorney has sent the partnership agreement for us to review.
We’ll get that done and have you part of the family.
” Daniel put a hand on my arm. “I’m serious when I say that we might be a large firm, but we’re not that big that we treat everyone like numbers, easily replaced.
Walden, Booth, and Roth works because we are collaborative.
Anyone in your division is available for you to bounce ideas off of should you need it.
Though it often seems that all we deal with is the wreckage of families, I chose family law because we have the ability to fit the broken pieces together.
I’ll leave you to get the lay of the land. ”
For someone who didn’t like change, this was all happening pretty damn fast. A bit overcome, I nodded, walked into the office, and sat behind the desk.
I had a nice view of midtown, and the space was painted in a soothing pale green.
The gleaming black conference table was surrounded by gray padded chairs.
Bookcases filled with the New York State CPLR as well as McKinney’s, and legal treatises lined the wall.
It was twice the size of my office at Roman and White, and I snapped a few pictures and sent them to Bill, with the tag “movin’ on up.
” A call from my attorney popped up on my phone.
“Laz? How the hell are you?”
“Not as good as you, I’m thinking.” He chuckled. “I cc’d you a copy of the partnership agreement I returned to them. Big shot.”
“Very funny. And you should talk. How’s your client, Madden Steele? I see he’s got another complex going up, this time in Long Island City.”
“He’s good, and I’m not involved with the company, only his personal business. Seriously, though, from the agreement, this looks like a great move for you.”
“Yeah. I think it could be. Still can’t believe it. It happened so fast.” I ran a hand over the clean, smooth surface of my desk, as if touching it made it more real. “Not too bad for a foster kid.”
“You did good. And you deserve good things.”
When I’d first been admitted to the bar, Laz and I had met handling 18b criminal court cases—assigned counsel for people who couldn’t afford a lawyer and for which Legal Aid representation would be a conflict.
I was intrigued by the attorney who came to court in jeans and sneakers, tattoos up and down his arms. I’d found myself involved in pro bono immigration cases involving separating children from their parents, and Laz and I had worked together and become friends. I admired his dedication and passion.
“Thanks, Laz. I’m not sure anyone deserves anything, but I’ll take it.”
“Heard Grady Allen is joining with you.”
The legal grapevine ran as hot and fast as any Hollywood gossip. “Yeah, my first time meeting him in person, but I’ve heard his reputation. I just met him for a hot second when Daniel was bringing me around.”
“He’s good people.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“You should,” Laz stated, and his insistence had me laughing.
“Someone’s got opinions.”
“Look, Brenner. We’ve known each other for close to fifteen years. You can lose yourself in a case, giving your all to your clients.”
“Someone has to look out for the kids. Too often the parents are more interested in hurting each other and using their children as pawns than doing what’s right. I have to make sure they’re taken care of.”
“You’ve got a soul, Brenner. You’re climbing higher on the ladder of success with clients who don’t have to worry about how to pay your fee, but I know you won’t lose track of the people who can’t.”
I winced, knowing that lately I’d neglected the pro bono side of the profession, and I vowed to become more active once I’d settled into the partnership.
After the call ended, I sat staring off into space, until fingers snapping in front of my face brought me around.
“Slacking off already, and you’re not even on board yet.” Weston’s laughing face drove away all my good vibes.
“What do you want?” I pushed his hand out of my line of vision.
“Is that any way to treat your new fellow partner?”
God, I wanted to smack that smug grin off his face. “Actually, I was thinking about how I need to start doing pro bono work again. I’m sure that’s high on your list, isn’t it? Helping the less fortunate?”
There was no time for him to answer, as Daniel passed by in the hallway, then backtracked and stopped. “Oh, good, just the two I wanted to see.” He joined us. “Saves me the trouble of calling a meeting.”
Puzzled, I glanced at Weston, who seemed as lost as I was. “Is something wrong?”
“Not at all. I’m having HR schedule you, Brenner, for all the usual workplace training. But our director of human resources reminded me that with the influx of new partners and hiring additional associates, now would be the perfect time for team-building exercises.”
To be expected, but I didn’t like where my thoughts were heading, and from Weston’s tight-lipped expression, I surmised he was thinking the same thing.
“Every two years we do a day of team building. The firm rents a hotel in the area solely for the partners. We hire a company to run the exercises during the day where you’re assigned partners, but you can sit with whomever you want for dinner.
” He chuckled. “Hopefully by that time, you won’t be sick of each other. ”
Weston grimaced, and Daniel frowned.
“Is there a problem, Weston?”
“No, not at all. Sounds like a great idea,” he rushed to assure Daniel, whose troubled face smoothed to an approving one.
“Good. You’ll both be expected to attend.”
“Great,” I said with a nod.
Daniel walked out, and Weston snorted. “ Great ,” he mimicked. “I’m sure you’re thrilled about these ridiculous scenarios they’ll put us through. You don’t have to suck up to Daniel.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” My temper, always on edge with Weston, flared hotter. “I’m being polite.”
A sneer tugged at a corner of his mouth. “I remember how eagerly you used to raise your hand in class, so anxious to show the professor how well you briefed the case and knew all the talking points.”
“Oh, give it a rest. You wouldn’t know hard work if it bit you in the ass.”
A thunderous expression darkened his face, and he leaned closer. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”