“Hi,Max,how have your first couple of days been?”
Max swallowed the bite of the sandwich he’d been eating in the break room when Penny breezed in.She was the other trainee solicitor alongside Noah.He’d met her a few times before starting here.She rummaged in the fridge,found a pasta salad in a plastic tub,and sat at the table with him.
“It’s fine,”he said.“Busy!”
“You’re doing the work of two people,”she said.“Trust the partners not to want to spend the money to replace both Claire and Asha.”
“I knew it,”he said.“I said to Noah I’ll be doing the work of two people.”He shrugged.“Ah,well,I’ve done the work of two people at other jobs.Though some have suggested the two people in question were Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.”He grinned at her,and she chuckled.“Will Noah be joining us?”
“He was at the magistrates’court with Owen this morning.They’ll probably have lunch out.The senior partners went out at about eleven-thirty,of course.”
“Of course.A five spot says they won’t be back until two.”
“No bet.That’s every damn day.They’re old school.”
The two senior partners,Mr Pringle and Mr Bell,were of the three martini lunch types,mingling with other legal types in a nearby hotel bar.They loved that they could call it networking these days.They were always Mister.Owen had quickly invited Max to use his first name and called him Max.Pringle and Bell called him“Sagan.”Old school,all right.Max didn’t have good memories of school.Only having Noah around had made it bearable.
“I can’t believe they still get away with that kind of thing these days,”Max said.
“Hey,it’s the way it’s been done for a hundred years.Why change now?”She grimaced.“It’s the least of what they still get away with.”
“What does that mean?”
“Well…”She leaned close,glanced around.Mrs Barstow was still in the offices,after all.“There are rumours Asha left because Pringle put his hand on her once too often and her fiancécame round with her to…discuss matters.I happen to know that,after they’d all been in the office talking for a while,Mr Bell had Mrs Barstow draw up a company cheque for five thousand pounds and they left with it and Asha never came back.”
“So they paid her off not to take them to the tribunal?”
“Almost certainly.”She snorted.“Probably why Owen took on a man instead of a woman.You,at least,won’t have that problem.”
He frowned.“Do they bother you?”
She shrugged.“I’ve caught both of them looking down my blouse a few times.I don’t think they’d do any more.My dad happens to be partner with a firm ten times as big as this and pals with people in the Law Society.They’re not totally daft.”
“So why aren’t you training with your dad’s firm?I thought this profession was all cliquey.”
She munched on some pasta for a while,looking thoughtful.“That works for sons.Daughters not so much.Women already have to convince everyone they’re not getting ahead by shagging anybody.If I was in my dad’s firm,the assumption would be nepotism was the only reason I was there.”
“But doesn’t that apply to men,too?”
“Oh,no.When it’s the sons coming into the firm,it’s just the way things are done and a source of continuity and tradition.”
“Ah,right.”
“Double standards are alive and well,Max.Not saying I’ll never apply for a job there.But I wanted to train elsewhere.And at least training with Owen I don’t have to put up with his talking to my boobs.”
Max froze for an instant and pulled himself together.Did she mean…?He hoped so.He’d had a vibe from Owen.A look here and there.He pinged the gaydar.But he’d never done anything so crass as stare openly as Max’s ass.
“He’s,ah,a gentleman then?”he asked.
Penny looked at Max funny.“Yes,but mainly,you know,because he’s gay.”
Max sipped his cup of tea to hide his smirk.So it wasn’t wishful thinking.“Really?”he said,attempting nonchalance.“Noah never mentioned that.”
He’d never mentioned how gorgeous Owen was either,something Max had taken him roundly to task for when they went home that first day.Noah claimed he hadn’t noticed.
“No offence.I know you’re good friends.But Noah can be a tad oblivious to such things.”
Max wasn’t so sure.Noah had spotted Max was gay around the same time Max was figuring it out,too.But then they were sharing a bedroom at the time.
“If you’ve got any hopes about Owen,forget it,”Penny said.
Max’s face fell.“I suppose he’s spoken for.”
“Not so far as I know.He was in the middle of breaking up with some long-term guy when Noah and I started here.As far as I know,he’s still single.But you were right to call him a gentleman.Or maybe a professional is a better word.He’s not like the senior partners.He won’t lay a finger on you while you’re working here.”
That was a disappointment.But,on the other hand,with Max’s employment record,it probably wouldn’t be too long before he wasn’t working here anymore.