Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 46792 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46792 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
“I appreciate it, but Jeannie is basically nursing around the clock. She’ll have to be pumping or nursing literally all day today so I can feed the babies while she gets a block of sleep tonight.”
I finish pouring my own mug of coffee and then give him a sympathetic smile. “I’m telling you, two months. It gets better when they turn two months old. Just hang in there and survive.”
“Thanks.”
He’s gulping down the scalding hot coffee as I leave the break room to go back to my office. I’m in my fourth month as a paralegal at McGill, Harcourt and Weiss, and I love it. The firm mostly handles employment law cases, and I enjoy the research and writing work I get to do.
“Cam, there you are.”
Kathy Weiss is a partner at the firm, and so far, most of the work I’ve done has been for her. She’s in her mid-forties and is a married mom of three. It’s life-changing to work for someone who understands what it means to be a working mom. When I was a waitress, bartender and part-time student, I couldn’t have kept my jobs without Tess helping me with the boys. When my kids were sick, my bosses would tell me I could either show up for work on time or never show up again.
“Pete Sanderson just renewed their contract with us,” Kathy says, beaming. “We did it.”
I breathe out a sigh of relief as I set my cup of coffee on my desk. “That’s amazing. I was just thinking about the last brief I wrote for their copyright infringement case when I woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep last night.”
She chuckles. “That would put a lot of people to sleep immediately.”
“I know, I’m a weirdo.”
“We’re both weirdos then because we didn’t just get a renewal; we got a three-year renewal. Pete stipulated in the contract that you and I need to be the leads on all their work.”
I gape at her, stunned. “Me? I didn’t think he even knew my name.”
“Are you kidding? Everyone at Sundrift knows you and loves you.” She glances at her cell phone screen. “Anyway, I have to run, but wanted to give you the good news and tell you there’ll be a well-deserved bonus in your next check.” She turns to go but then stops, looking back at me. “Will you be able to finish the Wingate response by end of day?”
“Already done. It’s in your inbox.”
“What did I do before you worked here?” She shakes her head. “Oh, that’s right, I cried in my office a lot and told Hunter to have a martini waiting for me when I got home every night.”
I laugh as she leaves the room, too excited to sit down once I’m all alone.
My first bonus. I was told during my interview that the firm offers annual performance bonuses and that the partners also award bonuses throughout the year. When Kathy told me two months ago that Pete, the owner of a tech company that’s growing quickly, had given notice to the firm that he was ending his contract with us, she looked almost sick.
An associate attorney she’d assigned some Sundrift work to had done a terrible job, and Kathy admitted that she’d dropped the ball by not checking his work. It created problems for Sundrift, which is why Pete didn’t want to renew with the firm. Kathy asked him to allow her to try to retain his business.
Kathy and I spent every working hour for nearly three weeks digging into case law for a copyright infringement case against Sundrift, and last week, she got a ruling overturned that we knew was an uphill battle.
I had no idea how much this job would affect my self-worth. After ten-plus years of busting my butt, washing dishes, pouring drinks and waiting on people, of course I realized putting on pretty clothes and working in an office would make me happier. I also knew after struggling to keep food on the table that earning enough money to provide for my sons and take them on the occasional vacation would improve how I felt about myself, but it’s ended up being so much more than that.
I’m good at this work. Really good at it. I come through for my bosses and coworkers. I’m part of a team that kicks ass and takes names in employment and intellectual property law.
My office only has one small window, but it overlooks a pretty little park. I watch a woman bundled in a puffy coat pushing a stroller with a bundled-up toddler through the park, still smiling.
This bonus will mean I can build my savings account. Maybe start planning a trip for the boys and me to Disney World. It’s a dream come true.
When I finally calm down enough to sit back down, I text Tess to tell her the good news.