The Undefeated Lawyer: Vince

Close To The Truth

“Can I get an upfront of my pay?” Vince’s eye shoot up as he stared blankly at the man, the man shrugged his shoulder and gave him a bold look “I am doing this in exchange for money, aren’t I?”

Vince bit his lower lip in frustration, he adjusted the mask he had on his face. The interview was going terribly worse than he expected. He picked up the bottle water in front of him and downed some of its content. He wasn’t in the mood to act the poshness he had just been bestowed upon.

“Escort him out.”

Vince’s thunderous voice roared and two bodyguards hastened towards the man who immediately rushed towards the door at the sight of their hefty muscular bodies. Vince threw back his head in frustration. Probably he was being too picky but what he was looking for was actually close to a needle search in a forest.

“Sire, should we invite in the last person?”

Vince nodded his head nonchalantly. This was the third scheduled interview since his search and all the candidates were turning out unfit for the job.

“Come in.” One of the bodyguards said and held the door open.

Vince’s eyes shoot up immediately he walked. The aura around him seemed magnificent against his humble tattered appearance. He had a calm demeanor and he bowed slightly when he stood in front of Vince.

“Introduce yourself.”

“My name is Jake Darius.”

“Why are you here?”

The man stared at Vince for sometime, his eyes roamed leisurely over his expensive shoes. He swallowed before returning his gaze to his face.

“Do you mind answering my question Mr Darius, I don’t have all day.”

“I want to have a taste of what it feels like to be wealthy, just as actors do.”

Vince laughed, even though he hadn't tasted much of what it feels like to be wealthy, he had lived an average standard of living before his prison sentence. Craving to live his dream wasn’t a bad intention.

“Why?”

“May I ask to tell you…alone.” He hesitated before emphasizing on the last word.

Vince sighed and requested that the bodyguards excused them. The head of security hesitated as Kate, Vince’s grandmother had strictly instructed that they look after him and ensure he doesn’t end up in a bad situation.

The security men watched on from outside the door, they kept peeping through the transparent glass windows but they couldn’t hear anything of their conversations. The room had a strong soundproof system in place, making it impossible for outsiders to eavesdrop.

Suddenly they noticed the man walking towards the door. The bodyguard sighed inwardly, they were definitely going for another round of interview

.

The unsuccessful third attempt just ended. He didn’t wait for the man to get to the door when he opened it.

“You are hired.”

Both the bodyguard and Jake turned towards Vince who had a smile on his face. Jake rushed forward with excitement on his face. A streak of tears fell from his face. Vince didn’t really know what his story was but he was certain he had it really hard.

“We will reach out to you soon Mr Darius.”

Vince got up on his feet, the bodyguards followed him closely behind, they walked out of the building and made for the Rolls Royce when Jake Darius rushed up to him. His expression had changed, he seemed to have comforted himself in a short while.

“I was too overwhelmed earlier to ask what company you own.”

Vince smiled at his curiosity, but he knew revealing that was risky, so he took a shorter route.

“Mr Darius, it is a law firm.”

“Law firm! Which one?”

“You will find out soon enough, Mr Darius….when you sign the contract.”

With that, Vince entered the car.

***

A knock sounded at the office door and Vince stood up immediately. He hadn’t expected Bernard to show up in his office that morning. He held his breath, preventing his yawning, which could be offensive to his boss, who already found him overbearing.

Vince had spent half of his night on the computer doing proper research about his chosen candidate, Jack. He didn’t want any surprises in the long run as it took him literally decades to convince Kate, his grandmother, that he was doing the right thing,

Not just for his revenge tactics, but a broader restructuring of the law firm whose integrity was threatened. Too many compromises had been made by the previous administration when his father was ill. Kate only agreed because of the threat to his life which might be included.

“How dare you! Don’t you know you have no place to voice your opinion here? I only allowed the company to bring you back to avoid you starving to death, because no other firm will ever want someone with a criminal record.”

Vince balled his fist behind him. He imagined punching Bernard in the face, but he knew that would ruin everything he was working towards. He eased the anger and resentment in his face. He humbly faced Bernard to plead his naivety.

“I have no idea what you are referring to, Mr Harris.”

“Like you didn’t write about your useless sentiments about our client’s integrity.” It dawned on Vince, the source of his anger.

“If it hadn’t passed through my review, I would have submitted it to my superior without noting the…flaw.”

“Flaw! Mr Harris, it was important that I put in my personal opinion according to the documentation requirement as a lawyer that reviewed it.”

“What! A lawyer that reviewed it?” Bernard scoffed. “Don’t make me laugh Vince Finn, you know that Amber was supposed to review it as an attorney, don’t you?”

“What?”

“Exactly as you heard it, she only dumped it on you to keep you relevant at least.”

“I am sorry, Mr Harris.”

Bernard sat at his table, his neatly ironed shirt tucked under a designer jacket. His threatening glare pierced through Vince’s neutral expression. He had unrolled his clenched fist and dropped his hand by his side. All this further gave Bernard unending joy to further trample on Vince.

He had always been the stumbling block from the onset. Bernard had been crushing on Amber since the first day she had shown up at the interview, but when he found out that they were a couple, his hope was shattered until ... . Vince made a mistake.

The door opened suddenly and one of the other staff rushed in. He was in a state of panic which distracted Bernard from his anger.

“What is the problem?”

“She is here.” The lanky man responded sharply.

“Who?” Bernard questioned anxiously.

“The Fox of Peak Law Firm.”

Bernard’s expression softened, and he rushed out of the room, forgetting his scolding of Vince. The lanky man turned toward Vince, who wore a confused expression wondering who the said fox could be.

“Make sure you fake a good first impression, Mr Finn. The Fox is merciless.”

“Who is the fox?” Vince questioned innocently.

“You have been gone for way too long so you might never know her.” He moved closer to Vince and whispered in his ears, “the founding mother, Kate Finn.”

Realization dawned on Vince, his grandmother had a more scary reputation than he knew.

“And I heard someone escorting her,” he added desperately.

“Who?”

“I heard it was…….”