The Arcane Trilogy: Better Call Paul - Book 1

Chapter 8: A Pinkie in the Pond

The next two months were even more relaxed than Paul could have ever dreamed of. All the clients from Brickstone House got their respective payments, with Harold Rosby enjoying plenty of fine luxuries to help spruce up his home. Paul helped out due to being able to afford considerably more downtime courtesy of the pay-out he received from Karth. This allowed him to contribute more funding to the renovation of his soon to be office, speeding up the process through increased staffing. As the office was nearing its later stages of renovation, he had a surprising conversation with Josy. She thanked him profusely and expressed her admiration of how Paul handled the situation. She specifically thanked Paul for securing Harold Rosby's future should any unfortunate illness ail him, which was likely due to his older age. The conversation led to the point where Josy asked to work for Paul in some regard. She was aware of her lack of experience as a lawyer, but she expressed the desire to help Paul in any way. Paul then decided that he would need an assistant of sorts to help in managing clients and the paperwork that is synonymous with his line of work.

Sooner rather than later, the office was complete. Josy and Paul helped the crew move in the furniture that would decorate the office. The front room would act as a waiting room with benches lined up on opposing walls, with Josy's desk placed in one of the corners opposite the front door that was flanked by two windows. Harold had also been kind enough to donate several pieces of his past work to decorate the walls. Just off to the right of Josy's desk was the door into Paul's office. His desk was of a similar make to Josy's but behind him was a painting that Harold had specifically made just for him. Paul's personalised sigil for house Goodbrook. A golden set of scales on a blue field with a yellow border. In the corner of the office next to the door sat a small but very comfortable sofa, with a coffee table just in front. He also took this time to go shopping for some new colourful but varied suits for himself, as well as taking some requests from Josy that he insisted that she come up with. After months of imagining what it would look like, it finally became a reality for Paul. He finally had his own law firm.

A few days after the firm was open for business, Paul strode through the front door with an extra spring in his step, nodding to Josy as he walked to his office.

"Good morning, Miss Rosby and I must say we are looking lovely today." He said with a smile.

"Likewise, Mr Goodbrook." She responded with an equally large smile

Paul walked into his office and slumped back into his chair, simply enjoying the feeling of sitting in his office. An office he was the owner of. It felt good.

Paul let himself enjoy that feeling for a few moments before examining the light and button that sat in a small compartment on his side of the desk. Apparently, if Josy pressed a button on her desk, it would light the button on his, to let him know that he had someone waiting to speak with him. Conversely, he had a similar system on his end. When he was finished with a client and was ready to speak to the next one, he pressed his button to let Josy know.

Just as he was about to test the system, the light on his side flicked on, to which Paul broke a smile and pressed the button on his end.

The door opened and a blonde middle-aged woman walked through the door with a very young girl clutching onto her hand. The girl looked no older than five, which would explain why she practically hid behind her mother as her eyes darted all around the office.

"Hello there ladies, how are we today?" Greeted Paul with a warm smile as he stood up from behind his desk, extending a hand to the mother. The mother walked up and shook his hand, only being capable of returning a weak smile. Sensing that something serious must have happened to bring them to him, he simply gestures to the two seats on the other side of the desk. However, he noticed that the young girl was very slow to move away from her mother, so Paul quickly began rummaging around his desk drawers for something. This drew a pair of curious looks from the pair as Paul placed some paper and crayons from his desk onto the wooden surface. "So, who do I have the pleasure of speaking to today?" Asked Paul as he sat back down.