She studied her face in the mirror. Her porcelain skin was flawless. It was the first day of her new job and not a blemish in sight. Normally, her nerves would have gotten the best of her and she would have seen the stress on her face. Today, there was nothing. She was excited to start this new adventure in her already illustrious career. She hoped the day went just as smoothly as the interview process. She finished getting ready. Her black pinstriped pencil skirt paired perfectly with her white three-quarter sleeve button up blouse and matching jacket. She accented the entire outfit with her red pumps, ruby earrings and the ruby solitaire necklace her mother gave to her when she landed her first job as a lawyer. The slight punch of color made for a perfect ensemble. She checked herself over in the full-length mirror one last time before grabbing her briefcase and heading out the door. She didn't want to be late her first day on the job.

She drove to her new office. She parked her car in her newly designated spot in the parking garage. Checking in with security, she made her way to her new office. The elevator ride to the fifty second floor seemed to take forever. There were intermittent stops along the way for extra passengers getting on and off. No one spoke to her. Everyone seemed to be in a hurry to get their office and start their day. She relished the quite as the doors finally opened up to her floor. She was greeted by the same woman who she saw before her interview. Her warm, friendly smile lit up the room.

“Good morning, Ms. Herring.”

“Good morning.”

“Welcome to our firm. Please let me show you to your office.”

“Thank you.”

“Follow me,” she said rising from her seat. They walked down the hall to the back corner office. It was small, but it would suit her needs just fine. The oak desk sat at the center of the room. There were books shelves on both sides lined with law books. She sat her briefcase down on her desk as she walked around to sit in her chair. She turned her computer on as her phone began ringing.

“Good morning, Melissa Herring’s office. How may I help you?”

“Good morning, Ms. Herring.”

“Good morning.”

“This is Mr. Holland. Can I see you in my office for a moment? We need to consult on a case.”

“Sure, I will be right there,” she said standing up from her seat. She could see a man across the office watching her. He waved at her. “I am going to guess that is you waving at me?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Okay, I will be right there,” she said hanging up the phone and grabbing her legal pad and pen. Making her way across the office, she noticed his striking features. His piercing blue eyes were the first thing that grabbed her attention as she entered his large office.

His cherry wood desk was accompanied by a high back chocolate brown office chair. He motioned her to sit across from him in one of the matching chocolate brown leather chairs in front of his desk. She sat down, tentatively. He waited for her to look up at him before speaking. Her hazel eyes shone with specs of green and light brown as her gaze met his.

“Mrs. Herring,” he started.

“It’s Ms. Herring,” she said, not quite sure why she felt the need to correct him.

“Okay, Ms. Herring, welcome to our office.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. How much experience do you have in criminal law?”

“I am very experienced. I worked as a paralegal for five years before going for my PhD. I continued to work as a paralegal while pursuing my degree. I never missed a beat when it came to my cases or my classes. I graduated top of the class.”

“That is all great but tells me nothing. I asked how much experience you had not what you did in school. Have you ever tried a case or assisted in trying a case?”

“I was second chair on most of my former boss’s cases. He wanted me to get the courtroom experience.”

“Good, so you are familiar with the courtroom.”

“Yes.”

“Good, that is less I will have to teach you. You worked at Farmer and Gold, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Why did you leave?” he asked. She knew this question was going to come. She was just hoping it wasn’t today. She didn’t want to reveal her past to anyone just yet.

“I had an issue with one of the other lawyers,” she mustered. Issue wasn’t the word for it. Mr. Farmer’s son was an obsessive asshole that wouldn’t leave her alone. He wanted her to date him and she refused. Telling him no wasn’t going to fly with him. He kept harassing her. It would start as soon as she walked into the office in the morning. He would corner her and tell her all the things he wanted to do to her and what he wanted her to do to him. He called her on her cellphone at night. She even changed her number, but that bastard got a hold of it and kept it up. She even went to Mr. Farmer about it. She thought he would do something about it. She was wrong. Even though, he had been the one to hire her and take her on all of his cases, he still favored his son. Finally, she couldn’t take it. She searched for another job. She didn’t want to leave the one she had, but she was no longer comfortable there. She found this one and came in for an interview. Thankfully, they saw her record and hired on the spot without too many questions.

“An issue?”

“Yes,” she said, a little embarrassed. She knew what he was assuming about her, but it was far from the truth. Should she let him think what he wanted or explain the situation to him?

She began to fidget with the hem of her dark blue suit jacket. He saw her getting nervous. If she was going to work with him, he needed to know what had taken place.

"Do you want to discuss what happened at your last job," he asked. She shifted in her chair. She wasn't ready, but knew she was going to have to tell him eventually. Today, might as well be that day. She took a deep breath, steadying herself before answering him.

"I really don't care to discuss it, but I know I will need to tell you if we are going to work together and end up on a case against my old firm."

"Yes, I don't want you to be discredited in court by the opposing firm."

"I worked for them for quite a long time. My boss really liked me. He liked me enough to take me under his wing and teach me almost everything he knew. He told me it was possible I would end up becoming one of their top lawyers and a junior partner before I knew it. I was elated. The problem happened when his son asked me on a date and I refused. He started making rude comments to me as soon as I came into work. He would tell me all the the things he wanted to do to me and what he wanted me to do to him. He began calling my house late at night. When I disconnected that phone, he got my cellphone number and started calling it. I would let every call go to voice mail and kept all of them as evidence. When I finally got enough nerve to approach his father about it, I played him the messages. He called his son into the office and asked him about it. His son told him that it was all a joke we played with each other. I had changed my phone number that morning. After I left the office, I received a phone call from him. He had somehow learned my new number. He threatened my life. That is when I went looking for a new job and came across this one."

"Do you think he would actually hurt you?"

"I don't know. I left before I could find out. What I do know is that he is sick and I couldn't take that chance."

"Do you still have those messages? More importantly the threatening one?" he asked, his voice laced with concern. She nodded her head, pulling out her phone. She slid it across the table to him. He slid it open, accessing her voicemail and listening to the threatening message. He closed his eyes as the voicemail ended. With his jaw clenched, he slid the phone back across the desk to her. He sat there just staring at her. He didn't know what to say. What he heard on that voicemail angered him. He didn't know Missy, but he damn sure wasn't going to let anything happen to her.