Jacqueline
"Cheers!" The lawyers of Stone, Carvall, and Winters say in unison.
"To Jacqueline!" The chiming voices ring out with the clinking of our glasses.
That’s right, they say to me.
"Hey Jacqueline," my paralegal Tonya says, handing me a cocktail napkin. "Good job."
I smile at her. "Thank you."
A big group of the lawyers that I work with come over and start taking a big group selfie with me. "Great job Jacqueline! You earned it," Nielson in Accounting says, walking by with two flutes of champagne that I realize are both for him. I laugh when I see him do a little tipsy giggle.
"Thanks so much you guys. It means the world to me!" I say to the full room whose attention is on me.
I'm at the end of a meeting with the senior partners of the law firm where I work, and I couldn't be more pleased.
I've worked hard for this, and now it's finally happening. If they made me partner then they must really see the value of my work and think I’m worthy of representing the firm and taking on bigger cases.
We’re the biggest, most powerful law firm in the nation…and I’m a partner. It all seems surreal at this point.
"Toast, toast, toast!" the crowd demands.
Who am I to disagree? I’m happy to oblige because this is my night. They broke out several ten thousand-dollar bottles of champagne just for us to celebrate that I made partner. A toast is owed for that, don’t you think?
I raise my champagne flute. "Thank you so much, thank you all so much, I couldn't have done it without all of your support."
With that, we all drink…but before long I return to my old office to pack up a few things, despite my assistant willing to do it for me. I just kinda wanted to be able to do it myself.
Finally, the work day is over and it's been one of the best days of my life. The sun is setting and looking out upon the city from my office. I feel so treasured at my job and I know that I already said this, but my dream has finally come true!
I made partner and I feel validated. After all my hard work, I’ve been rewarded. Of course, it's with more hard work, but that’s fine by me. I love being a lawyer and I've definitely worked my way up from the bottom. It's taken years to achieve this and finally, I have. In my office, I say goodbye to the old walls and the semi-small room because the bosses have upgraded me to a corner office that's just stunning. I pack up my things into a box.
"Good bye office," I say as I shut off the light. "Thanks for being there through all the long nights."
It feels good to close that chapter and get ready for a new one. I've spent many a long night in there, trying to work my way to the top and trying to get to where I am right now.
I walk the corridor to my new spacious, upgraded office and it's so exciting. It's like getting a new house or something. After all, I do log the longest hours here at Stone, Carvall, and Winters. I work so much that I feel more at home in my office than at my own house, so I'm excited to settle in as soon as possible and that’s why I just couldn’t resist dropping out of the party to come here. Well, for a second…I do have some other plans tonight too, but first I want to do just a teensy bit of “moving" in.
I place my belongings down and take a minute to see my new view. The view of the city from here is going to be great to look out at between legal briefs. Compared to my former office, I can see more of the city line and I have a clear view of the clouds. So pretty with all the oranges and purples in the sky. I look at all the people down below and wonder what they're doing and what they're up to tonight ... I want to cherish this moment and just breathe it in.
But after spending a few moments in quiet contemplation, allowing myself to honor all I've accomplished in such a short amount of time, I decide that I really should celebrate like I’d started to think about when I snuck off to this office.
Almost everyone has already filed out of the office. It's late and everyone is fighting for Ubers and I’m already sobered up enough to drive. I didn’t really hit the champagne hard enough because I had a chance I was pre-gaming for a wild night of celebrating with a man.
I make my way down to my car and head home because I’m dressed for the office, and I want to put something really stunning on. I pick the perfect black dress and some barely there La Perla that some lucky fucker is going to peel off my toned body tonight. So after the quick change into something sexier than my pencil skirt into this slinky, barely there dress, I determine it's my night to be happy and I want to go to one of my favorite haunts for picking up men that are high-intensity to be worth a few hours of fucking.
I head to the Ritz Carlton. I love the bar and lounge there. It's so chic and it's practically my second home, aside from work. I love to have a glass of wine or two and unwind and find some six-pack stud who needs his slacks peeled off and his face between my thighs. The Ritz is always full of eligible bachelors and I can usually spot something hot for the night. I pull my car up to the valet, Thomas, who knows me by name. Not just because I tip well. I may or may not have ran my hand down that poor boy’s slacks a few times…since he’s only in his early twenties, he isn’t really my type, but one night I guess I just went there.
"Hey Jacqueline, you're back!" he gives me a little wink. Ya gotta know I made that boy’s night.
"Yes!" I say with an exasperated little sigh from all the excitement bubbling within me. "I just made partner at work and I'm here to celebrate."
"Hey good job, that's awesome." He grins widely. Thomas is a sweet kid, really.
I give him a hearty tip and smile. "Thank you!"
I saunter into the bar, scanning the room for some fresh meat closer to my age and not high school.
And then I see someone I'm always glad to see . . . his name is Jason Carvall. That’s right, Carvall. His father used to be the senior partner at our firm, but when his father died, they moved him right up in the true spirit of nepotism. He also happens to be one of hardest working lawyers at our firm and one of the partners who helped get me promoted. I owe a lot to him, but I know he did it based on the premise of all my hard work.
I smile widely at him from across the room and I know that I’m being almost cheesy at this point, but I just realized something so fucking great, ladies.
Guess who isn’t off limits anymore?
Jason is so handsome. He's tall and he works out a lot so I know the body under those incredible suits is yummy. I've never considered him an option until now because he was technically my boss and I get around, but not to the HR department if you know what I mean. But, right now the playing field is even and I have nothing to lose and everything to gain by being with him. I wonder if he's wanted to hook up with me too? I could definitely see it being a match made in sexy heaven.