“Bria, how’s it going with the Baxter account? Do you want me to show you how to organize those records for the presentation?”

Jamie Hearn was a weasel of a man. The sound of his voice was like nails on a chalk board.

“It’s fine, Jamie, I got it.” He never took the hint.

Fresh out of law school, Jamie was the sort that couldn’t help but be annoying. Ever since the partners brought him on at the end of last year, he couldn’t keep himself away from me. He operated under the pretense that since I didn’t take the bar yet, I must be in awe of someone like himself.

Jamie passed on the first try and made sure to remind me of the fact every chance he got. No matter how many times I’d told him I wanted some on-the-job experience before I got my license, he took it upon himself to believe that I simply didn’t have it in me. What he failed to consider is that I graduated at the top of my class, and did so at a far more prestigious school than the clown college he went to.

“Are you sure? I don’t mind helping. I mean, I shouldn’t spend my time down here in the records room. Lord knows my time is better spent doing things other than receptionist work. But, I have to admit, your personality is so magnetic I just have to keep up on what you’re doing.”

“Uh, thanks,” I muttered, without looking.

I didn’t need to look up to know he was wearing that same blue power suit with the striped tie.

“What do you say we go get a latte after you finish up in here? My treat!”

“No thanks Jamie, that’s not the best idea. Besides, I still have a lot of work to do down here.”

“I just don’t understand why you won’t go out with me, Bria. What could be so scary about that? We’re both single, and I know you’re not the kind of girl who’s scared to take a walk on the wild side.”

The way he talked made me equal parts frustrated and creeped out.

“No, Jamie. I’m not afraid of your wild side, I’m afraid of entering into anything other than a professional relationship with someone at work. Have you ever heard of fraternization? The partners don’t look too fondly on that,” I said.

“Pshh,” he made his lips smack each other in a way that grated on my last nerve. “Those rules don’t apply. It’s cute that you think that, though.”

“What are you talking about?” I shot him a look that I hoped would bore straight through him. He didn’t even seem to notice.

Instead, he plowed ahead with his nonsense. “You’re just a paralegal. Those rules are in place so there is no conflict of interest between two professionals on the same level. You’re more like an assistant, and half the partners are dating, married, or having an affair with their secretaries. Besides, I just asked you if you wanted to grab a coffee. It’s not like I want to marry you.”

“Can you let me finish my work please?” I asked. There had been so many times when I wanted to tell him exactly what I thought of him. It would probably feel incredible to tell him about his stupid suit and his fake smile… how I wanted to choke him with that pathetic tie and what he could do with his condescending attitude. But I couldn’t. He was a lawyer, and technically that meant he had some authority over me. As the senior paralegal I reported directly to Jones, but it wouldn’t look good if I caused a rift. Anyway, I’d heard through the grapevine that Jamie was someone’s nephew… The kind of spoiled asshole with important connections that could get a girl fired. That’s why I hadn’t reported him for harassment. Yet.

“Fine,” he said. I could feel him undressing me with his eyes. “If you want to live your life down here in the basement, so be it. There’s a million girls out there just dying to be in your position, though. Don’t forget that.”

Before I could answer, he turned on the heel of his expensive Italian shoe and strolled up the stairs. It was probably a good thing he didn’t stick around long enough to hear what I muttered under my breath.

I took a quick glance at the clock. It was almost five thirty and the sun would be going down soon. I wanted to get out and do some grocery shopping before the weekend but the day had been a disaster.

First thing in the morning I’d been practically attacked by the girls at the front desk. They all wanted to know if I was okay. When I called, I had only mentioned that I’d had a small incident the night before, but Kaitlyn had posted up the whole story on her facebook and at this point it felt like the whole damn world knew what happened to me.

I didn’t know whether to be flattered or embarrassed by how everyone had acted toward my absence. The fact that my co-workers had all assumed I was dead when I hadn’t shown up to work my typical half-hour early made me think that Kaitlyn really was right. Maybe I was becoming a workaholic.

From there it was a mess of work. Someone in accounting had screwed up the receivables and I was tasked with sorting through the client records. It took me all morning to go through the stacks of depositions and meeting minutes. I had to account for every second the firm spent consulting with a local small business over some property dispute they were having. It was excruciatingly boring work to say the least, and all because some ditz upstairs couldn’t keep her numbers straight.

After that, I’d spent the rest of the afternoon going through and noting city ordinances in preparation for a hearing next week. It wasn’t exactly the exciting life I imagined when I first made the decision to get into law.

My lower back ached from moving boxes of records. I wanted to be anywhere else. And worst of all, I couldn’t get that guy from last night off my mind. After Kaitlyn finally went home this morning, I’d taken a few minutes to do some research.

Luke Greer was twenty-eight years old and from South East Texas. That explained the sexy depths of his voice… He’d won some sort of major martial arts tournament when he was a kid and that sprung him toward the national spotlight. After that, he started a career that led him around the world. He’d had fights in Thailand, Germany, the Netherlands, and countless matches right here at home.

Wow. I sounded like an obsessed fan. Why had I been so dismissive? I clearly liked this guy.

There was a little voice in the back of my head that kept telling me to go see him. Up until now, I had done well to shut it out. Maybe it was the stress of the long day or that I was just beginning to realize that everyone in my life thought of me as the same old boring Bria, with nothing going on other than her job, but I decided then and there to go see him.

It wouldn’t be hard. I could just go to thank him again. There’s nothing weird about that. And if he didn’t seem as interested as he was last night, no big deal. I’d say my goodbye and be on my way.

I dropped the file box I was holding on the table and made my feet move toward the stairs before I lost my nerve. The doubt started to creep in almost immediately. The excuses weren’t far behind.

You have too much work to do.

You can’t go chase after some fighter. He could have any girl he wanted, anyway.

He was probably just being nice, nothing more.

But I forced myself to keep walking. I went up the stairs without even putting anything away. I was going to have to force myself to do this. As I was walking down the hall, one of the junior partners called out to me. It was something about a fax he was waiting on. I kept walking like didn’t hear him.

I made it to the parking lot, but not before three other people asked me to do something for them. If I’d learned nothing else, I’d found out that I could be a little more assertive at work. Everybody seemed to think I was the firm’s servant, but I had to take the blame for that. Since I’d started, I tried to do anything and everything to help other people out, even if they asked too much. It was clearly apparent now that it had become expected of me.

When I hopped in my car I felt happy. It was invigorating to take a little bit of control of my life. I started the car and headed off toward Luke’s gym.