This had started out to be one of the worst days of my life. It was one of those typical 'if there's anything that can go wrong, it will' days. It was Monday and I forgot to turn on my alarm so of course I overslept. Then, of course, after I got in the shower, I discovered the empty shampoo bottle and the new one was still on the counter, out of reach.
In my frantic rush to get dressed, my blasted nails ruined two pairs of black stockings before I was able to successfully pull a pair on run-free. I cursed my boss and his old-fashioned dress code. Then of course, my decision to skip making my coffee at home came back to bite me in the form of a stain on my shirt. And it was disgusting drive-thru coffee, so it wasn't even worth the stain. At least once at work, I could button my rose-pink jacket over my pale shirt so you couldn't see the stain.
One thing I didn't notice, was that the garter belt I chose for the day showed its outline through my matching, rose, tightly-fitted skirt. I hate pantyhose, so stockings with garters were my little private compromise. At least they had the benefit of making me feel sexy for having to wear them. Thanks to my rush of getting dressed, I didn't pay attention to the frills on the garter and now everyone at work was going to know my secret, even though I wasn't aware of my blunder.
My jacket was short, only coming to the waist of my skirt. I thought it was a cute, chic outfit that showed off my legs. I even wore my three-inch, pencil heels to make myself feel better about the day. I finally had a moment to breathe in the elevator ride to the eighth floor and I took a moment to check myself in the mirrored wall.
I'd pulled my shoulder length, dark-blond hair into a pony tail to save time and only had one loose tendril of hair hanging out. As I tucked it behind my ear, I noticed smudged lipstick on my full, pink lips. A quick fix there, a swipe at the flake of mascara under my green eyes and I felt I was ready for the day. Finally.
When the door to the elevator opened, I hurried across the hall to the my office. Pushing open the door, I threw a smile at the receptionist. "Good morning Glenda. Are the guys in yet?"
"Hey, Melanie. Only Steve and Todd are in so far. Jack and Jacob are in court already."
"Did Jacob get the brief I typed up?"
"Sure did. Although, I believe Jack left you something to work up for him."
"Thanks. Let me know if Mr. Collins calls, I have the information he needs."
Glenda gave me a quick nod and I headed for the room that I worked in. Amazingly, I was the only paralegal that had arrived and had the place to myself. I'd worked for the lawyers Garmon, Garmon, Peterson and Thacket for three years. I'd outlasted every other paralegal hired and now had the senior position.
Three of the lawyers were incredible asses, but Todd was okay. In truth, he was probably the only reason why I was still there. He was the only one able to give a kind, encouraging word instead of harsh criticism. He was also the youngest and rather cute- even if he did have a bad habit of marrying utter bitches that divorced him after only a few months.
On my desk was a big pile of instructions from Jack. In typical lawyer fashion, he had abominable handwriting. The paralegals were expected to decipher it and follow the instructions to the letter. It took several minutes of squinting at the notes before I figured them out. Gathering up my notepad and pens, I headed for the law library.
My high heels clicked on the tile floor as I hurried down the hallway. The law library was quite a large room, ringed completely with shelves of books. There was an unknown system set in place long before I arrived as to the way the books were grouped on the shelves. Only time allowed a person to figure it out (somewhat) and luckily I had done that fairly well already.
It took only a short look before I found what I needed on a bottom shelf. As I was bending down to get it, I heard footsteps come into the room and stop abruptly. Looking over my shoulder I saw Todd standing in the doorway. The book I wanted was wedged in tight and it took a bit of a struggle to pull it out.
I didn't notice that Todd stood staring at my rounded ass and the outline of my garter under my rose skirt. I also didn't realize that he held his briefcase in front of him to hide the boner he got from taking in the view. Once I had the book free from the shelf, I turned to face him giving him a booby shot down the front of my shirt as well. "Hi there. Need something?" I asked innocently.
Todd blushed. I was totally blown away. What had I said to cause that? "Uh, I need the Anderson files. We go to court this afternoon."
"Oh sure. I have it ready." I set the book down on the table and headed for the door to go back to my desk to get the file. Todd still stood in the doorway and didn't move. We stood awkwardly for a minute before I mumbled an 'excuse me.'
Todd blushed again and hurriedly stepped back. He followed me to my desk and waited while I picked the files out of a holder on my desk. I slid them together into a larger file case and handed it to him.
"Thank you." He stood staring at me. "You look very nice today," he finally managed to say.
"Oh. Thank you. I was running late this morning and was afraid of not meeting Mr. Garmon's standards." I pulled at my jacket a bit. Todd had never seemed to pay much attention to me before, so this was very unusual.
"No, you look really good." He smiled at me before turning and leaving my office.
At his smile, my stomach gave a flutter. That was really new. His compliment and my reaction to it were unexpected. Frowning, I was afraid that this was a bad thing. He was one of my bosses and having feelings for him was simply not allowed.
Shrugging it off, I went back to work. The other paralegals made it in and we all worked steadily. Monica was a friendly, plump brunette and Sharon was a gray- haired grandma that threatened to quit at least once a day, making Monica and I wish she'd just do it already. Monica and I got along just fine and we both disliked Sharon, so it all worked out.
I felt like I'd put in a full day before lunch time finally rolled around. Even though Monica and I headed out at the same time, somehow I ended up in the elevator alone with Todd. He leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed over his rather nice chest and stared at me.