“Been a while since you’ve been in that state.” Max rubbed his beard. “You passed on your mantle?”
I knew my smile was grim. “Seems that way. When’s the new partner starting?” I had no idea why that had occurred to me. She’d been due to start two weeks ago, but there had been some delay which had left me short-staffed. My department was now one of the busiest in the company and new files were coming in at a rate that meant my sleep was a precious commodity. We’d taken on a couple of trainees and three fee earners, solicitors who were a few years experienced but not partner level. But they all needed more supervision, and given my caseload was heavier than a weight training elephant, we’d decided to bring in a salaried partner.
I hadn’t met her. Max and Jackson had done the interviews when I’d been in court in Manchester, which had pissed me off as I’d wanted to have some say in who I ended up working closely with.
“Monday.” Max gave a slight nod. “She’s had to sort some family stuff out this week.”
I shrugged. I’d read her application and heard my brothers wasting words about what an asset she’d be to the commercial litigation department, but I hadn’t paid too much attention, knowing that if I started to analyse her strengths and weaknesses, I’d end up worrying about how good she’d actually be and what additional work she was going to create for me.
“She’ll be good, Seph. She was a partner for Eversley Harrop and she won on the James-Higford case last year.”
I stifled a yawn and didn’t say anything. I’d heard all this before. She was leaving another top law firm to come to us, after a win that had been huge – a really technical case that had made the gazette and altered precedent.
“I’m sure she will. I just hope she’s ready to get stuck in – we were instructed by Cabotts today. It’s going to be a big one.” That was probably an understatement. Cabotts were a huge company involved in the export and import of goods, and my initial understanding of what they were claiming was that it was complex and involved a lot of cash. Even if I hadn’t decided to immerse myself in work for the next few months, the chances of having any form of social life during this were going to be pretty much zero, unless my new colleague was that good.
“She will be. You sure you don’t want a lift?”
I shook my head. The fresh air would do me good.
Probably.
Chapter Two
Seph
“One very hot, double shot coffee with extra frothed milk.”
The mug it was presented in was different to what every other customer in the café had. It was taller with a smiling dog face on one side and a slogan that told me not to have a ‘ruff day’ on it.
This was my morning routine. Wake up, head to the gym where I’d train for an hour, head to Amelie’s café for breakfast and then walk into the office, all before eight am and usually before seven-thirty.
That routine was going to have to change.
“Happy Friday, Sugar.” Amelie sat down opposite me, her hair the most normal colour I’d ever seen it.
Usually it was blonde with purple or pink woven through it, but today it was all blonde, the colour of summer fields. She’d been our neighbour when we were growing up, the same age as Jackson, or just a bit younger and I’d crushed on her hard when I was nine and thought she was a princess.
If she’d known about my crush, she’d never said, but as I’d gotten older, I’d known about hers and that wasn’t something I was going to share with anyone.
“Happy Friday. How’re the plans going?” I tried to stick some enthusiasm in my tone.
“Good. A few more weeks and I’ll be there permanently. By the sea.”
She looked blissed out already.
“I’ll come visit as soon as I can.” Anglesey wasn’t that far, just a few hours’ drive, and if I took a Friday or a Monday off it would give me a decent break. Amelie was leaving her café-bistro to be run by a manager she’d appointed and taking over a pub in a small seaside village.
Hence my routine would have to change.
“I know you will, Sugar. I’m hoping to see most of you over summer. Just because I’m leaving London doesn’t mean I’m leaving you.” She smiled brilliantly, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
I knew Amelie had been in love with Maxwell for years. When I was about fifteen and I’d figured she wasn’t ever going to be interested in me, but I still liked to look. That's how I saw her watching Max, and noticed how she didn’t take her eyes away but then dodged his gaze if he looked at her.
I asked him once if he was going to ask Amelie out and he’d laughed, embarrassed, telling me that she was a friend and that it was possible for a male and female to be just that.
I’d never been sure he was right.
She’d never looked at him like he was a friend and when he’d started dating Victoria, I’d seen her face, the understanding that Max had met someone who was it for him. And it wasn’t her.
“I wish you weren’t going.”
She shrugged. “I need a change, Seph. I want a different pace and different scenery, and I always fancied living by the sea. You’ll still get your coffee from here. Daniel’s going to do a fab job.”
I picked up the coffee and sipped at it, the heat numbing my mouth. “It just won’t the same without you here.”
This time her smile was sweeter. “You know, change is good for you sometimes.”
“You and the whole of my family like telling me that.” It was true; I was reminded at least weekly that change was as good as a rest or something equally turgid. It wasn’t that I didn’t like change, I didn’t tend to analyse how I reacted when things went a bit different. But in the last year or so, there had been a lot of change, most of it good, some of it excellent. Just everything seemed to have changed but me.
Amelie retied her hair and glanced at the door to the café as it opened, a woman entering with dark red hair that fell almost to the small of her back. She was striking rather than pretty, with a face and a figure that most men would have trouble forgetting.
“I’d best serve some customers and help with that queue.” Amelie got up to her feet and patted my shoulder, just like she’d been doing since I was about six.
I stared at my phone, an email notification flashing up on the screen, and tried not to stare at the redhead. I didn’t have time to focus on anything but work: I needed to prove that I was more than the youngest brother who relied on his siblings to sort his life out.
Jackson was already in the office when I got there, his tie not yet done and his hair still damp. His expression suggested that his day had already been at least two hours too long. The weight of the world after it had eaten a five-course meal at an all-you-can-eat buffet was permanently on Jackson’s shoulders when he was in the office. Before Vanessa, that weight had been carried to whichever building he’d been in, unless it was at the gym, when he lifted it instead. Since he’d met Vanessa, his axis had shifted slightly. At work he was still grumpy, busy, cross with other’s disorganisation, but as soon as he saw a photo of Teddy or heard Van’s voice or even spoke about them, he thrived as if they were a miraculous life-giving drink.