The Wanted Girls

Chapter 5

Alex's POV

When I met Kate on my first day at Millar and Davis LLP, I knew she was the kind of girl I always wanted to meet. 

It wasn't just that I was struck by how beautiful she was. That was my initial reaction when I met her, of course, but nothing more than that at first. 

My supervising partner was leading a group of us articling students on a tour of our department, and stopped to introduce us to some of the legal administrative team. I immediately spotted the tall girl stooped near some filing cabinets near a window, and if I wasn't so focused on obsessing over every aspect of how I presented myself on my first day at the firm, my jaw would have dropped.

The first thing I noticed was just how damn long her legs were. The skirt she was wearing was not even that short, but the length of her legs made it seem scandalously mini, and the heeled ankle boots she was wearing only added to the illusion. It would have seemed almost s****l if she weren't wearing chunky, knitted leggings and a plaid, woolen pencil skirt topped with a simple black sweater. 

As she stood up straight, she swept aside long, wavy, tumbling dark hair and turned to look at our group.

When I saw her face, I swear I felt a shot through my heart. She was like a pre-Raphaelite painting. Fair Rosamund, I thought to myself as I took in her huge green eyes, more olive than emerald, and the sweet mix of her round pink cheeks with her otherwise angular features. 

With a stack of folders in her arms, she tucked her head down and approached our group with some of the other assistants, hovering near the back, shifting from foot to foot.

She's shy! I thought in amazement. This beautiful, captivating woman is shy!

Mr. Madsen, our supervising partner who was leading the tour, let one of the assistants do the introductions, and so I learned her name. 

"And this is Katherine, one of our co-op students," said the woman, gesturing to Kate. "I'm sure she'll be pleased to help you in any way she can."

"Hello," Kate said as she shifted her stack of folders from one arm to the other. "Lovely to meet you all. You can call me Kate."

Everyone in our groups murmured their introductions and pleasantries were exchanged and then we were on our way to visit another department, much too soon for my liking.

For the rest of the day I wracked my brain trying to think of a reason to stop by her work station and around lunch time, I had what I felt was a solid conversation starter.

I retraced my steps from earlier and quickly found myself in front of her work station, where she was sitting and looking at her computer screen, one hand propping up her chin, and the other scrolling with her mouse.

"Hi," I said, in my what I hoped was my confident lawyer voice. "I'm Alex."

She glanced up at me and smiled pleasantly. 

"Hello," she said in her low, musical voice. "We met earlier, didn't we?"

"Yes, I was with the group of articling students." I hoped I sounded natural, because I was thrilled she remembered me.

"Hi," she replied. "I'm Kate."

"Yes, I remember."

"Well, nice to properly meet you." She turned back to face the screen and I was disappointed for a split second before she clicked her mouse, obviously closing out whatever she was working on to turn her focus to me. "What can I help you with?"

"Oh, nothing." I almost started to stammer but then remembered what I planned to say. "So, when we had our tour earlier, they mentioned that you are a student?"

At this she coloured slightly and glanced down.

"Uh, yes, I am. I am here for a co-op placement. I'm doing a diploma in legal administration." She paused for a beat and nodded to herself. "There are some other students here, too, I'm just a bit older than most of them."

Bingo, I thought. I knew she had looked too sure of herself, too wordly to be fresh out of school for the first time.

"Me too!" I exclaimed.

She gave me a weird look and said, "I... I know. Mr. Madsen was touring a group of articling students and you were with them."

For a second I was confused. Did I look that much older than everyone else?

"No," I began. "What I meant is, well, yes, I'm a student, but also, a bit older than the rest of the group."

"Ah," she said, nodding. "Now I see what you mean. For a second I thought you were simple."

And then she looked so horrified with herself, I had to laugh out loud.

Her face reddened and she quickly began to try and explain herself. "Sorry, I... oh, jack rabbits, I always do this. Saying the wrong thing without thinking. Everyone says it's my least attractive quality."

She's so unguarded, I thought. She's trying so hard not to be.

"I'm sure you have a lot of attractive qualities," I said reassuringly.

From the way she looked at me I was sure I had crossed a line and come off too flirtatiously. 

"I guess?" Then she shrugged. "If I do, I'd like to know what they are."

"Isn't that what everyone wants?" 

Now I felt we were getting into, "Hot enough for ya?" territory. 

Thankfully, she pulled us away from small talk.

"So, Alex, what can I help you with? Or, I can find someone who will know what to help you with. I'm still learning the ropes."

"Nothing really, I just wanted to say 'hi', and say it's nice to see another older student. Makes me feel less out of place."

She nodded and smiled. "Glad to help out," she said.

"Cause, most of these kids - at least, they feel like kids to me - they went straight from undergrad to law school to articling. I took the scenic route. Worth it, but I feel ancient in comparison."

She nodded in agreement and said, "I know how you feel."

Our eyes met for a moment and lingered for a moment, and I felt that shot through my heart like I did earlier.

I am a hopeless romantic, I believe in silly things like love at first sight, and signs, and serendipity. Looking at Kate, my brain screamed, This is the woman I'm going to marry! Of course I made the right decision taking time before going to law school! So I could go to the school I went to and graduate when I did, and get this spot at this law firm, all so I could be here meeting this girl at this moment. I stopped short of beginning to imagine our children's names in alphabetical order.

Settle down, Alex, I chided myself.

Kate then turned to busy herself with something at her desk.

"So, Alex," she said, shuffling some papers around, "I was just about to take my lunch break when you stopped by." She paused and turned to gather her purse and cell phone. "If you do need anything... um, Maria, over there, she usually goes for lunch around one o'clock. We try to stagger our breaks here."

"Hey, I was just about to head out myself."

I waited as she came around the other side of her work station.

"Well, shall we go battle for some space on the elevators?" she said, the edges of her mouth curling in a little smile.

"Sounds like an adventure."

We walked down the hall together and I tried to think of something to keep the conversation going.

"Where do you normally eat out?" I asked, and then wanted to kick myself for my poor phrasing.

Still, I could see her smile a tiny smile to herself, but she didn't say anything, and so I pretended like I hadn't said anything that could have been a double entendre. 

"Hmm, well, normally I meet my friend Liz or my sister if she's free. Or sometimes the three of us get together. We like Avi, the vegetarian place."

"Oh, are you a vegetarian?"

"No," she said, looking thoughtful. "I just don't care much for meat, you know? I can take it or leave it, usually I leave it."

"So, are you a health nut?" I asked.

"Not really, I just don't eat much meat. Falafel salad excites me more than a steak, you know?"

No, I don't know, but okay,  I thought.

We had arrived at the bank of elevators, and stood waiting with a small crowd of people. A couple of packed elevators stopped and people squeezed on. When the next one arrived, I went to move, but Kate stayed me with a hand on my arm.

She gestured to the lights above an elevator that indicated where the cab was travelling from.

"That one will be almost empty," she said.

Sure enough, when the elevator stopped at our floor, there was no one on. 

"How did you know that?" I asked incredulously as we and others stepped into the elevator.

"It didn't stop on it's way back down from the top floor," she explained.

We rode down to the lobby in silence, and then joined the throng headed towards the food courts and shopping converse. 

"So, what do you say we go to this Avi place?" I suggested casually. "I could go for a falafel."

"I'd love to but I'm meeting my boyfriend for lunch," she said.

My heart sank. Of course you have a boyfriend, I thought. Why wouldn't you? Still, I felt buoyed by the fact that she had said "boyfriend" and not "fiancé" or "husband".

We made our way further into the lobby and then she stopped. "He's over there," she said, pointing to one of the luxurious leather armchairs that dotted the lobby. 

I turned my head towards where she was pointing, as she waved to someone who started to rise from his seat. As he walked towards us, all I could think was, Oh s**t.

He looked just like the sort of guy that girls like Kate marry. He could have been a model but he seemed too relaxed and unbothered by his looks, like they were merely a fact of life and nothing to be obsessed over.

I looked over at Kate as he approached, and I felt sick when I saw how her face was lit up with happiness.

"Hi, babe," the man said, reaching us. He kissed her swiftly on her cheek. "All set?"

Then he turned to face me, not a shred of jealousy crossing his face. "Hi," he said. "I'm Nate." And he held out his hand. 

Okay, I had to mentally scoff at that. Nate and Kate. No way. Even for a hopeless romantic, that was too cute.

"Alex," I said coolly, shaking his hand with lawyerly confidence.

"Alex is one of the new articling students," explained Kate.

"Oh, cool," Nate said. "How do you like it?"

"It's okay so far," I replied.

Nate nodded and then turned his attention to Kate.

"Shall we get going, Katie?" he asked.

She nodded and said, "See you later, Alex. Enjoy your lunch!"

And I watched as the couple moved away, smoothly linked their hands together, and were carried away by the swell of the crowd.