As a bonus for my my Facebook followers, here is the first chapter of Chasing Lyndsay: Chapter 1 “I had a flat; Triple A just got done with me. Anything going on?” asked Lyndsay Creighton. “You got the staff meeting in thirty minutes, and Harper is on the warpath,” said Lyndsay’s assistant, Marcia, her voice filling the compartment of the BMW 7 Series via the hands-free phone. “Shit, I forgot. I’ve had the morning from hell. Stall him if you can; traffic is murder right now.” “Sure thing. Bye now.” Lyndsay was a senior associate at the law firm of Harper and Dale, one of the largest in Texas. She had been there since graduating law school from The University of Texas seven years ago. They had hired 20 new associates that year. Lindsey was one of the three that were left. Life in a big law firm wasn’t for the weak of heart. The hundred-hour weeks separated the wheat from the chaff in a hurry. She had persevered. Now she was on the brink of a partnership. She really didn’t need to be making herself visible in a bad light, like being late for a staff meeting. Houston traffic normally was a nuisance, but she really didn’t need to be fighting it today. *** “Ms. Creighton, only twenty minutes late I see,” said the Managing Partner Randall Harper, sitting at the head of a conference table that could have doubled as an aircraft carrier. “I apologize, sir. Car troubles.” “So we’ve heard. Take your seat, Ms. Creighton.” Lyndsay dumped her briefcase next to her chair and sat. Every eye was on her. She was somewhat of an oddity to start with, being the only woman in the room, and now she was drawing even more attention to herself. “Yes, well, as I was saying. We have a new client, Volution Industries, and they carry the potential of adding twenty million a year to our revenue. Now, we will have several teams working on different aspects of this business so that we can get up to speed. Ms. Creighton?” “Yes sir.” “You will need to meet with Mr. Pierce and start going over the various contracts that Volution has.” What? Pierce? Could this day get any worse? “Yes sir,” she replied. Lyndsay looked across the table at Ben Pierce and saw that little smirk on his face. Pierce was one of the three associates from her hiring class that had made it. That made him a threat to her partnership. That wasn’t the only reason she hated him. He always walked around the office like he was just it, with his wavy black hair, piercing blue eyes, and that swimmer’s body. The problem, really, was that guys like him never gave girls like her a second look. You always see them with the petite cheerleader type. They didn’t want to have anything to do with a 5-foot-4-inch size 14. Their loss. She was concentrating on her career anyway. “…I will expect those preliminary reports on my desk no later than next Friday,” said Harper, wrapping up the meeting. “Mr. Harper, a word please,” said Lyndsay, trying to catch up. “It’ll have to be quick, Ms. Creighton. I’m late for another meeting. Walk with me.” “Sir, I appreciate you putting me on this project. I’d like to request someone else to work with.” “Do you have a problem with Mr. Pierce?” asked Harper, stopping and facing her. “Our personalities just have never meshed. I might have a problem working with him.” “You’ll just have to figure it out, Ms. Creighton. The teams are set.” Shit, shit, shit. “Yes, sir, we’ll make it work.” “Good. Next Friday, Ms. Creighton.” “What?” “Your preliminary, next Friday.” “Yes, sir, no problem,” said Lyndsay to Harper’s back as he was walking away. *** The walk back to her office felt like a million miles. She was ready for a drink and it wasn’t even noon yet. What was it that Alan Jackson had sung about? It’s five o’clock somewhere? “Jeez boss, you look like you just lost your best friend,” said Marcia. “Worse. Harper teamed me up with Ben Pierce for a project with a deadline. Lots of late nights and take-out.” “Ben Pierce? Oh my, he has the cutest little ass on him.” “Marcia, stop it.” “It could be worse; he could’ve teamed you with Ed Levski from contracts. Short, fat, bald, and B.O. that would rival a toxic waste dump…blech!” “Seriously, Marcia,” said Lyndsay, now laughing. “What do I have the rest of the day?” “Nothing, Mr. Harper reassigned all your work.” “What?” Lyndsay walked around Marcia’s desk. Everything on her Outlook calendar was cleared for the next week and in its place was written “Volution” in every space. Oh, joy. “Don’t look now, but here comes Mr. Cute Ass,” whispered Marcia. “Lyndsay, I’m glad we could be on this project together. We’ve never had much of a chance to get to know each other,” said Ben, in a ridiculously rich baritone voice. “Yeah, uh, me too. When did you want to get started?” “No time like the present. My office in ten minutes?” “Sure, why not. I’ll call records and have the files sent there.” Watching him walk away, she could see Marcia’s point.
Posted on: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 14:21:15 +0000
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