Claim Me

Chapter Two: Ivy

There's always a certain kind of silence in law offices like these. One that doesn't just silence you but also swallows your identity. You walk in and become useful, efficient, controlled, and, even worse, invisible.

My badge buzzed at the glass entry gate. Paralegal access approved. A man whom I assumed was Lexi Grant's assistant was waiting for me. He had high cheekbones that seemed sharp enough to cut paper. He greeted me with a nod and led me to a conference space filled with case binders, wall-sized monitors, and the room had the faintest scent of leather and ink. "This will be your work station." He said, "Lexi wants the Fawley deposition memos sorted and tagged for relevance by noon." He added as he stared at me and raised one of his perfectly sculpted eyebrows. "Got it," I replied. He then turned on his heel and left the room, the door shutting behind him.

By ten-thirty, my eyes burned, and my fingertips were raw from sticky notes. I was only halfway through organizing the binders when the temperature in the room changed. Not long after, the door opened and a woman walked in. The woman I could only guess was Lexi Grant. She was wearing black stilettos and a blazer sharp enough to draw blood. I listened as she cut through the space like she was made of ice.

"Ivy Bennet." She said, making a face like she was tasting something bitter. I sighed. "That's me." I said without looking up. "Just a Paralegal now." I then looked up, Lexi's mouth twitched, but she didn't smile. "I've read your file and your articles." She said. I shrugged in response and went back to work. "You argued Mandian v. Task with precision I never saw before, then you burned your entire reputation over a simple piece of evidence. Poor judgement or just your pride?" I slowly looked up and met her gaze. "Neither, but I wont be telling you all the dirty details anyway." Lexi stared at me for a long moment, then she looked away and murmured, "That's worse."

Lexi circled the table and scanned the documents I tagged, she pulled out one and flipped it open. "This deposition was flagged as irrelevant by prior counsel, yet you marked it as key. Why?" I looked back over at her. "It contradicts three of the expert's earlier statements. It's buried in the subset, but it's there." I replied. She looked me over for a minute. "He chose you, you know." She stated as she flipped through the papers. I froze and felt my stomach knot up. "What?" I asked. "Damian." She said. Saying his name alone felt like tons of weight. "He could have let you to hang, but instead he called me and personally told me you would be starting here, that he wanted you here." I swallowed hard, feeling my pulse quicken. "He said that?" I asked. Lexi smiled coldly, "He doesn't say things lightly." I wasn't exactly sure how to respond to that, so I stayed quiet. After a minute,, Lexi turned to leave but froze at the door. "You want to survive here?" she said. "Then you should not only do your job, but also be obedient." Then she left, the door shutting behind her.

The rest of the day went slowly, filing out emails, edits, and drinking coffee I will never get to finish. Nevertheless, I buried myself in tasks. At five-fifteen, I noticed an email in my inbox.

Subject: After-hours debrief

From: Damian Blackwell

Time: 5:14 PM

Message: Conference room eleven, don't be late.

I felt my hands shake, I wanted to ignore it, I wanted to get up and leave. But I remembered how I felt when he gazed at me while I was clearly being defiant, the way his eyes held mine. So I quickly gathered my things and left to go to the conference room.

Conference room eleven was at the far end of the top floor, tucked behind smoked glass and silence. As I walked closer, I noticed the door was ajar. I slowly walked in and found Damian facing away from the door. he didn't have his suit jacket on, and his shirtsleeves were rolled back. He didn't look at me when I walked in, but he looked like he was trying to decide which city to own next.

"Paralegals don't get debriefs by their managing partners," I said quietly. "They don't." He agreed. Damian turned, his eyes showing almost completely silver, reflective, cold. I looked away and crossed my arms. "You're not like them." He stated that he brought the cup he was holding up to his lips and took a small sip. "Right, something different." I snickered. "A challenge." He replied.

Damian walked toward me slowly, not threatening, but not fully safe either. "You impressed Lexi." He stated. "I wasn't trying to," I replied, voice low. "Did she bother you?" He asked with a smirk. I decided not to reply. "He stepped closer. "You want to know why you're here, Ivy?" He asked, his voice low, "Because you're broken, and I know how to put broken things back together." I pressed my lips together, then responded quietly. "At what cost?" He leaned in closer, and I instantly smelled his cologne, expensive, dark, and addictive. My breath caught, and when he replied, my gaze fell into his. "Everything." He replied. "But I promise after I'm done, you won't even miss what you lost." A long pause stretched between us. "Why me?" I asked. He smiled darkly. "Because you're the kind of challenge that I live for."