The next morning everyone at the office knew I’d gone around Greg. I could feel it in the air. The way Sarah didn’t ask me to go to lunch. The way people seemed to go silent when I entered the room. The way my to-do list shrank.
I tried to focus on the screen, but the memory of the last meeting replayed in my head. The client, Jennifer, was cornered, she needed an exit. It was another trap I could spring her out of. I’d thought I could fix things. But I had crossed a line, and lines seemed to be sacred here.
At ten sharp, Greg called me. His voice was neutral.
“Courtney, can you step into James’s office?”
I grabbed my notepad, though I knew I wouldn’t need it. The senior partner’s door was open. James sat behind his desk like a judge about to pass a sentence. Greg stood by the window,
