I swing my purse back and forth when the elevator door opens, inside were John and Blake two of the accountants and behind them was Winston. A smile appears on his face as our eyes meet.
"Hi, Maria" Blake smiles at me, his brown eyes crinkling at the corners.
"Hey, you guys good?" I look at the two of them stepping inside the elevator.
"Yeah, how big boss man doing?" John flashes me a cheeky grin.
"Oh, you know the same as always" I shrug moving behind them.
"His usual dick head self you mean?" Blake says and we all laugh.
"Yeah basically," I say standing next to Winston.
"Hi", He says in a warm tone.
"Hey, happy first day"
"Good to see a familiar face" Winston flashes a toothy grin at me showing off his perfect Harry Styles dipples.
"Do you not drive here?" Winston asks referring to why I got on the elevator from the first floor instead of the basement which was the parking lot.
"Oh I live 10 minutes from here so I walk"
"In the freezing cold?"
I shrug, "I enjoy it"
Winston smiles as the elevator opens and Blake and John step out onto their floor, "any idea which floor I'm supposed to be on?"
"Yeah the same one as me, we cleaned out an office for you yesterday" I say as we arrive at the 6th floor aka our floor.
We stop at my desk, I set my bag down and take off my coat, "Can you hold on a minute while I give this to Mr. Nayel, and then I'll show you to your office?" I ask.
"No worries" Winston smiles taking a sip of his own coffee.
I knock on Nayel's office and step inside after hearing a come-in.
Nayel looked up from his computer, his brown eyes piercing into mine, "Good morning sir, your coffee" I smile at him, I see the corner of his lips purse like he was about to smile but fights it.
"Thank you Mar-Mar, don't you look lovely in black today" Nayel smirks at me, his eyes quickly roaming up and down my jumpsuit-covered body.
I roll my eyes, over the last year he has come up with several nicknames for me some of them including short bizarre versions of my name. I've tried to fight him on it but he loves pushing my buttons and the more aggravated I get the more pleasure he seeks out of it so I decide not to fight him on it today.
"If that's all, I'm going to show Mr. Winston to his office," I say.
Nayel nods pressing his lips together, "Yes brief him in on all the regulations as well," He averts his gaze back to his laptop.
I close the door walking out of his office and smile at Winston.
"So as you know Mr. Nayel's office" I point at his door, "My desk" I point to my desk and he stares at me in amusement.
I start walking down the hall, "This is the photocopy room and that's the kitchen" I show them the areas.
"This is Gerald Armstrong's office" I look back at Winston, "He's also a senior attorney here, he's really nice." Winston's smile never leaving his face.
"That is Mindy Rodgers office, another senior attorney here, she's also very welcoming and delightful" I point further walking down the hall, "This one is a lounge office for the part-time attorneys who work on certain cases with us," I point to one of the rooms and Winston nods.
"And this" I turn around and smile, switching my tone to mimic one of a tv host "is your office Mr. Winston Scott" I point towards the name tag on his door.
"This is really nice" Winston looks around setting his things on his desk.
"Between you and me" I cock my head to the side, "you got the best office on the floor aside from Mr. Nayel of course" I smile at him.
"The view is spectacular," Winston says archly looking out of the window. It really was breathtaking.
"Don't you just love New York City?" I ask looking out dreamily and Winston turns around and flashes me a smile.
"I'm mostly Mr. Nayel's assistant but I also help out the other senior attorney with their cases or paperwork so I'm just around the corner if you need anything," I offer nobly trying to be polite.
"Thank you, Maria" Winston looks at me with twinkling eyes and I nod stepping out of his office and back to my desk.
....
It was 1:15, I was sitting at the table in the kitchen just scrolling through my phone munching on an apple during my lunch break when Winston walked in.
"Hey I was looking for you" He smiles sitting down next to me.
I look up from my phone and furrow my eyebrows, "Me?"
"Yeah you're my only friend here, I can't handle eating lunch by myself" He shrugs unwrapping his sub. Winston had taken off his coat, the sleeves of his shirt were rolled up, he looked like someone who worked out, he has muscular built. Winston was almost as tall as Nayel from what I could tell, maybe he was 6'1?
"You're nice to someone once and suddenly they think you're friends" I joke causing him to chuckle.
"Ouch that really hurt" Winston pouts
"Well, you better get used to it, especially if we're going to be friends," I tilt my head and raise my eyebrows causing Winston to smile. I don't think I've ever met someone who smiles as much as he does, aside from me. Some would say I smile excessively but I just like being cordial especially at work. You never know what a smile can do for a person's day.
"So fill me in, what's it like working here?" Winston takes a bite of his sub.
"Well, most of the people are pleasant and kind. We tend to take several cases some on Probono as well as some some super high profile cases and clients so it gets chaotic here but I think everyone here thrives off that part of lawyer stuff so It's good." I say letting my head fall to my side admiring Winston's broad grin.
"What about Mr. Nayel?"
I laugh rather brayly, "Look he's such an impressive guy, he truly is a mastermind, he's a phenomenal lawyer"
"I'm sensing there is a but coming?" Winston looks at me rather amused.
"He's just not the most imperturbable guy to work for" I sigh drly.
"Really?" Winston looks genuinely shocked, "From our few interactions he seems like a down to earth chill person"
"Trust me I thought the same thing during my first interactions with him and then suddenly the first day of the job came around and boom full 180," I say.
I remember my first day at Jefferson Legal so vividly. I walked into the building at 8:45 early trying to make a good impression. I sat outside Mr. Nayel's office waiting for him to drop in. He came in around 9 and I stood up and smiled at him.
He looked me up and down with an unreadable strange expression plastered on his face and he rolled his eyes, "You're early" He states in a rather cold icy tone walking into his office. Suddenly, I felt extremely self-conscious, was it something I was wearing? I look down at my grey dress, I thought it was cute why did he look at me like that?
I stood there confused as he didn't give me any instructions, he came back out. He sighed heavily, "Obviously this is your desk as it's right outside my office," His tone laced with annoyance. I quickly put my things on the desk.
"Get me a french vanilla hot coffee with almond milk from Dunkin Donuts" He pulled out his wallet and handed me a card, "This a company card for expenses use it. I need this coffee on my desk every day before 9, clear?" he says slowly as if he was talking to a child.
"Yes sir" I smiled at him warmly.
"Go on then" He snaps waving his hand in the air and I grab my bag and head downstairs, what happened to the nice guy I met last week. He's was so intentionally mean and grumpy.
I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, I thought he was having an off morning and would be nicer later, he wasn't. Maybe he was having an off day he'd be better tomorrow, he wasn't. Maybe he's having a stressful week and will be better but needless to say he never got better. I just realized he was a dick who was putting on an act so I accept the job.
"He's just discourteous for no reason at all, especially towards me. He despises me for some reason" I shrug, "At this point the feeling is mutual"
"I'm sorry," Winston's voice laced with concern.
"Oh no don't be, I've gotten used to it. Plus no job is perfect so I have a pretty great deal going here can't expect to have the perfect boss either" I shrug raising my eyebrows lazily.
Winston opens his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Nayel walking into the kitchen, "Winston, hope your first day is going well" Nayel nods at him and without letting him speak looks to me, "Maria, your break ended 5 minutes ago I need you to fax the paperwork to Clarks' accountant right now" He barks.
I get up and throw my apple in the bin, "I did that an hour ago sir" I say casually.
"I still don't pay you to take prolonged breaks whenever you feel like" He snaps.
I sigh not wanting to give him the time of day, I smile at Winston, "I'll see you later" I say walking out of the kitchen with Nayel behind me.
"Making friends I see" He mumbles, his tone grumpy as always.
"Something you don't know how to do clearly" I flash him a fake smile.
"Watch it" He narrows his eyes at me.
"Or what?" I furrow my eyebrows challenging him.
Nayel just shakes his head and walks back into his office, closing the door rather loudly. He's a fucking child.