by K. M. Morgan
Brooke had grown used to the high life that Max’s salary provided her. She was a housewife that spent her days getting Brazilian blowouts and spa facials while trying her best to max out her husband’s credit cards on shoes and new outfits.
She was very particular about her couture as well. Brand names weren’t enough for her. Everything needed to be top of the line. Her style was unmistakable. From her heels to her hats, she was always decked out in wall to wall pink. She insisted pink was ‘her color.’ Pink with gray. Pink with black. Pink with pink. That made her easy to pick out in a crowd. That day was no different.
Just because her days were free from work didn’t mean they were without stress however. Max had a legendary wandering eye that had led to many fights in the past. Her husband also had a penchant for working long hours at the office, or so he said.
A recent discovery in their laundry room at home made Brooke question just what Max was doing during those late hours he was supposed to be at the office.
Brooke had a fire in her eyes as she stormed into her husband’s office that morning. She was ready to take no prisoners.
Max wasn’t exactly a pushover himself however. He was the alpha in the office. Always the top dog. A man that demanded respect.
It was primed to be a battle royale. The saying was true—hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Brooke was a bull in a China shop that morning. She threw one of her husband’s dress shirts back in his face.
“How dare you?” Brooke barked. “That’s not my color. I wear pink!”
Max looked at the deep red lipstick stain on the collar of the shirt, the incriminating evidence of his infidelity that he’d foolishly left in the laundry for their house maid to find.
Max’s ego didn’t allow for contrition, even faced with indisputable guilt. He was a defense lawyer after all. His favored tactic in the courtroom was to tell his clients to deny everything. That morning, he took his own advice.
Max responded with outrage. “No, how dare you come into Max Cash’s office and talk to him that way. You may have forgotten what it’s like to work for a living, but I have a job to do here. So let me do it.”
Max loved referring to himself in the third person. It was one of his favorite past times—right up there with gouging clients and cheating on his wife.
Brooke narrowed her eyes. “So who is the hussy? Which one of the short skirts in this office is going to cost you half of everything?”
Max’s eyes opened wide. “What did you just say to me?”
“I’ll bet it is Amber. I knew she was nothing but trouble ever since I saw her fake boobs. I hope she was worth losing your shirt over. The way I see it, she’s about to cost you a cool four million.”
Max pounded on the desk. His eyes were shooting daggers at his wife. “No one comes into Max Cash’s office and threatens him.”
“It’s not a threat. It’s just the truth. I’ve put up with your cheating for years. I’m done! I’m going to run you over the coals in divorce court.”
Max shook his head in disbelief. “You can’t do this to me.”
“Watch me.”
“Do you really think I’m going to let you divorce me?”
“Not only that, but I’m going to take you to the cleaners. You might as well kiss your riches goodbye. They’ll all be mine soon.”
“Over my dead body. Don’t you know who I am? I’m Max Cash. I never lose.”
“I can remember at least one time you lost.”
“I told you to never bring up that case again,” Max warned.
Brooke smirked. “Still sore about it, aren’t you? You’ve always been an awful loser. If you think the Franklin case still burns, wait until I’m done with you. Mark my words, you’re going to rue the day you cheated on me.”
“Do you really think I’m going to let you take my money?”
“Your money? It’s our money, and I’m going to get my half.”
“No, it’s all mine, and I intend on keeping it. It’s taken me years to build the Max Cash Empire. I’m not about to let it crumble to the ground. I’m warning you, this is going to be a fight to the death.”
“It’s also going to be a fight you’ll lose. I’m going to make you pay,” Brooke hissed.
Max scoffed. “You have no idea what you’re getting into. You’re a housewife. You haven’t worked in over twenty years. I’ve provided for you all that time. Who do you think the courts will side with?”
Brooke looked like she wanted to go berserk. “You’re lucky I don’t want to break a nail.”
“See you in court, sweetie,” Max replied, sarcastically.
Brooke wasn’t about to leave the office without one final parting shot. She took off her wedding ring and threw it at him. It turned out she had a good arm. The ring hit Max in the forehead.
“You’ll be hearing from my lawyer,” Brooke barked.
She then stormed out of Max’s corner office.
As Brooke made her way back to the front desk, she gave the receptionist Amber a death stare.
“Hussy,” Brooke muttered, under her breath.
Brooke then stormed out of the office as Amber glared right back at her.
Daisy meanwhile looked up from her papers in the waiting room and couldn’t believe the scene that was unfolding in front of her.
Max then approached the front desk wiping his forehead. “If my wife ever sets foot in here again, don’t let her back in my office. Do you understand?”
Amber was still hot and bothered. “Gladly. You won’t believe what she just called me.”
“It can’t be any worse than what she just said to me,” Max muttered.
“I’m serious. I don’t get paid enough to be called a hussy,” Amber argued.
Max groaned. “Don’t push me with that talk about getting a raise again. Either be happy with the twelve dollars an hour I’m giving you, or I’ll find someone else who will.”
“No wait. Boss, I need this job.”
“Then act like it.” Max then noticed Daisy sitting in the waiting room. “You must be the interior decorator.”
Daisy got up from her chair. “Daisy McDare. Pleasure to meet you.”
“Why don’t we go talk in my office?” Max suggested.
Amber interjected. “Wait, boss. Roland Smith keeps calling about his bill.”
“Just tell him to pay it,” Max said.
“It’s not that easy. He says he’s very angry and that he’s coming over here to talk to you about it personally,” Amber explained.
Max gulped. “Tell him I have meetings all day.”
The door to the main office then swung open, revealing the rippling, tattooed biceps of Roland Smith. Roland was wearing a wife beater tank top, sweatpants, and a snarl. He had a shaved head, the build of a weight lifter, and a short temper.
Roland immediately set his sights on Max.
“I gotta talk to you about this bill,” Roland snapped.
Max tried to talk his way out of things as he always did. “Roland, you really didn’t need to come down here.”
“Yeah I did. Your secretary keeps transferring me to your voicemail. This bill you sent me ain’t fair. It ain’t right to be charging me this much!”
“Really? Would you rather be in jail? Because that’s where you’d be without me. The way I see it, my bill is nothing compared to living in an eight by eight foot cell for the next ten to fifteen years. Don’t you think so?” Max asked.
Roland glared at Max, then groaned.
“Come on, you cut me a break here!” Roland shouted.
“Hey, it costs what it costs to do the job right, and you can’t argue with my results,” Max said.
“There are other lawyers,” Roland sputtered.
“Not as good as me,” Max argued.
“I’m going to have to sell my brand new pickup truck to settle this bill,” Roland whined.
“A small price for your freedom I’d say. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting right n
ow,” Max said firmly.
Max then led Daisy back to his office as Roland stared daggers into the back of Max’s head.
Chapter Four
Daisy was beside herself at that point. She had no idea what would happen next. Of all the interior decorating jobs she’d ever gone on, this was by far the most unprofessional, and she hadn’t even started working yet. Between a surly receptionist, a scorned wife, and a disgruntled client, drama seemed to reign supreme at this law office. Daisy was used to a saner environment.
Max Cash didn’t seem thrown off by the chaos in the slightest. He actually seemed to feed off of it. He looked pumped up as sat Daisy down across the desk from him.
“You want some coffee?” Max asked.
“No thanks,” Daisy replied.
Max paged his assistant on his phone. “Chloe, one cup of coffee on the double.”
“Coming right up,” Chloe replied, over the speaker phone.
Max then turned his attention back to Daisy.
“I don’t know what I’d do without caffeine. Coffee is my lifeblood,” Max said.
“We all do what we need to do to get through the day,” Daisy replied.
“And the evening too. A lot of late nights at this office,” Max said.
His assistant Chloe Donaldson then entered the office carrying a cup of coffee.
Chloe set the cup down on Max’s desk and flashed him a big smile. She was in her mid-twenties with jet black hair tied back into a ponytail, crystal blue eyes, and a hip-hugging dress that showed off her curves.
In a lot of ways, she was the antithesis to Amber. While Amber was lean and trim, Chloe was voluptuous. Amber was snarky and disgruntled. Chloe meanwhile couldn’t have been more perky and warm-natured. It was ironic that Amber was running the front desk, because Chloe had a temperament suited for customer service.
Max clearly had more on his mind than his clients however. The whole time Chloe was in his office, he didn’t take his eyes off of her. Daisy didn’t have to be good at reading situations to see that something was going on between Chloe and Max.
“Thank you Chloe,” Max smiled.
“Is there anything else I can do for you boss?” Chloe asked.
“Not right now,” Max said.
“Ok. Just let me know if you need anything.”
“I will.”
Chloe then left the office, taking Max’s wandering eyes with her.
Max’s eyes lingered on the doorway while Daisy sat waiting awkwardly. Finally Daisy got tired of sitting in silence. She cleared her throat.
“Oh—right. Sorry to keep you waiting so long. It has been an eventful morning,” Max said.
“That’s an understatement,” Daisy replied.
“The life of a lawyer is never boring.”
“I’m glad I’m not a lawyer. I don’t think I could handle this kind of excitement every day.”
“To each their own.” He then took a sip of his coffee. “Are you sure you don’t want some coffee? Chloe makes the best cup I’ve ever tasted.”
“No really. I think we should get down to business,” Daisy said.
“Alright. In that case, what do you think of the place?” Max asked.
“I can see why you called me. This place is in desperate need of redecorating.”
Max clearly wasn’t expecting so candid of an answer. He looked like he was ready to spit his coffee out. “Don’t be shy now. Tell me how you really feel.”
“I just did.”
Max laughed.
“What’s so funny?” Daisy asked.
“You sound like Chloe,” Max revealed.
“She’s a smart woman then.”
“It was actually her idea to call you in. I’m not too sure about this whole redecorating business, but she told me instead of focusing on how much redecorating costs, I should think about how much it could earn in new business.”
“Listen to Chloe. This place is a mess. The good news is I can fix it right up. When I’m done, you won’t even recognize the place.”
“Really? What do you have in mind?”
“I’d start out by junking everything in the waiting room, especially the wall paper.”
“What’s wrong with the wallpaper?” he asked.
“Everything. Look, you may be a great defense lawyer, but décor and aesthetic clearly aren’t your thing,” she replied politely.
“Is that so?”
Daisy nodded. When it came to work, she was never shy about her feelings. She was confident in her abilities and knew when her instincts were right. Given that, she had no problem letting her mouth run a little wild sometimes. The opposite was true in her romantic life however.
“This whole place has a back alley dentist office feel to it. You should be projecting a sense of success. You want to inspire confidence in your abilities, not make your clients feel like you picked up everything in this office from a thrift store,” Daisy said.
“Alright, alright. You aren’t shy about telling me what you think is wrong with the place. What would you do to fix it?”
Daisy pulled out her portfolio and showed him a couple of pages with examples of office interiors. “I think something like this would really work well in this office.”
Max leaned back in his chair, folded his hands, and took a deep breath. “How much would that cost?”
Uh oh. The moment Daisy had been dreading. She could practically feel his wallet clamping shut.
She had to stick to her guns. She’d taken discount projects in the past—maybe sometimes too often. But those were for clients that were friends of hers or who she knew were strapped for cash.
That wasn’t the case with Max. He was neither a friend nor light in the wallet. He could afford a top end redecorating job with money to spare. At the same time, she didn’t want to price herself out of a job—especially one she needed. The town of Cozy Creek was hardly flush with redecorating clients. The key was to strike the right balance.
Daisy wrote a quote down on a piece of paper and handed it to him.
Max took a deep breath as he looked at the number. “That isn’t cheap.”
“Hey, it costs what it costs to do the job right, and you can’t argue with my results,” Daisy said.
Max stared into her eyes, then smiled at her. “Who knew my words could come back to bite me?”
“To be fair, my rates are very reasonable. You’re getting a really good deal. You’re getting big city quality at a small town price,” Daisy insisted.
She could see him wavering. The urge to keep a tight grip on every last penny was strong with him. If Daisy didn’t already know he was one of the wealthiest men in town, she’d think she was trying to shake him down for his last cent. She couldn’t imagine being that big of a penny pincher. What was the point of having money anyway if you couldn’t enjoy it?
Finally, Max made his decision. “Alright, we have a deal.”
Daisy smiled. “Great.”
***
With the deal struck, Max and Daisy left his office to get a check cut for the redecorating job.
Before they had a chance to make it to the bookkeeper’s desk, Max stopped at the desk of his paralegal Jennifer Webster.
“Have you made a break in the Stanton case yet?” he asked.
Jennifer was a mousy woman in her early thirties. She looked like a high school librarian with her unflattering glasses and long, loose-fitting dress. Compared to the other women in the office, Jennifer looked more homely than ever.
A half full yogurt container sat at the corner of her desk which was clearly left over from breakfast, as well as what appeared to be the world’s largest coffee travel mug. Jennifer was the kind of woman that spent most of her day at her desk, whether by choice or by job design.
There were stacks of papers and a pile of law books all around her. Daisy felt so bad for her. Jennifer had the kind of job that no one envied. High stress, low on the totem pole, with no appreciation. It looked like she was doing the work of
three people.
“I haven’t gotten to that yet. I’m still busy working on the Bosley case,” Jennifer replied.
“You have to pick up the pace. I really need to make headway on the Stanton case,” Max insisted.
Jennifer gave him a reluctant nod.
Max then started walking away.
Daisy meanwhile caught Jennifer muttering under her breath.
“Jerk,” Jennifer grumbled, to herself.
***
Finally Max and Daisy reached Jackson Madsen’s desk. Like so many of the other employees at the law office, Jackson looked burnt out. He was the onsite bookkeeper. It was very much a ‘jack of all trades’ kind of office with each employee wearing a number of hats. For Jackson, that meant handling accounts payable, accounts receiving, payroll, and general bookkeeping.
He was around Daisy’s age, but looked much older because of the stress lines on his face. He looked like he was ready to pull his hair out.
Jackson had short sandy brown hair, light blue eyes, and a body that could only be attained through frequent trips to the gym. Unfortunately, the only thing Daisy saw when she looked at him was a bundle of stress. She even saw a bit of graying around the temples in his hair.
Some people had a way of staying cool under pressure. They could keep a level head about them even when things were getting hot around the collar. Jackson was just the opposite. He wore his emotions on his sleeve for everyone to see, and they weren’t pretty.
Daisy felt bad for him. It was clearly a pressure cooker of an environment to work in. Jackson had a large stack of papers in front of him. He looked ready to crack at any moment.
Max meanwhile was as cool as could be.
“Jackson, I need a check cut for Miss McDare,” Max said.
When Jackson looked up from the papers he was rummaging through, he had the most peevish look on his face. As if the thought of doing one more thing on top of everything else he had on his plate would send him over the edge.
Daisy had seen disgruntled employees at other workplaces before, but they usually tried to hide their unhappiness better. Here the employees let their bitterness simmer just under the surface.
