The Dancer

3. The Suit

"Goddammit! Paulie, I told you, we are doing this pro-bono," Malcolm yells.

His office is, of course, soundproofed but his actions make it clear to Charlotte that no one is to enter his office for the day. Malcolm's blood boils with anger as his colleague tries to explain his mistake and justify it rather than admit his fault, this was Malcolm's biggest pet peeve and the reason why he had quit the DA's office back nearly twenty years ago.

"It makes no sense to not charge them, we are looking at a huge payoff if we win," Paulie barks at Malcolm with wide hang gestures.

"Quinn made it clear, this is a pro-bono case because the payoff is the press. We take down a company like Harper and we will be seen as heroes, taking down a villain. We take money from this client, we are seen as one villain taking down another," Malcolm explains.

"It would be even bigger if we went with a class action."

"There is no class action! Dammit, Paulie, do you not read these files? They are the only ones with proof, if we take this with a class action then they will pick and choose their battles. Settle out for nothing and the victims get even less."

"Now they're victims?" Paulie says confused and argumentatively.

Malcolm takes in a deep breath. The dumbass had not even read the file, he probably assumed, since it was a big company that would mean a big paycheck and that idea alone made Malcolm's skin crawl.

"Get out of my office, and don't come back until you know everything about this case. You obviously need to read the files; the ones Charlotte gave you a week ago."

Paulie takes this as a defeat and leaves the office with an angry expression.

Malcolm stands over his desk, his eyes glancing over the files.

Harper was a drug company that had been in trouble with the FDA for years, but they were still one of the most successful and wealthiest companies on the west coast. They had ties to various illegal drug groups and their prescription drugs were made with illegal, cheap, alternatives. Malcolm's client, or better yet his firm's client, was a 50-year-old man whose daughter died from heart failure because the drug she was using was a cheap alternative that didn't work.

Malcolm took his cases seriously but this case had his stomach in knots. He hated rich people, that's why he started out in the DA's office, however, the workload and the constant excuses made him even angrier.

When Malcolm started working for Carter and Devino Law, he expected to defend horrible rich people, but instead, he sued the rich and gave to the poor. Malcolm was first viewed as an ambulance chaser, but now as a partner of the firm, he was viewed as a headstrong attorney who took down villains.

Now that his career had thrived and gotten to the point where he'd wanted it, he had decided to take on fewer cases and take on more personal time. He was far too young to retire, but he could retire early if he felt the need to. Quinn Devino, his boss, had suggested it only because he had taken on the biggest winning cases for this firm and really helped make a name for it. However, many cases Malcolm won, he still felt at a loss. He had spent his life a bachelor, one with the fancy penthouse in the city, with various female friends who visited him often at the drop of a hat, and had was sitting on a pile of cash with an impressive stock portfolio. Now, he felt at a loss for it.

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She had fallen onto the ground with a harsh thump. Her hands caught her fall and after a short grunt she is back on her feet. Pieces of her hair fall around her face, sweat drips down her forehead, her body aches immensely from all the work.