I strut through the glass doors of Jackson, Tucker & Wilson. The last place I want to be is at our rival's law firm but my mother insisted I come in her place. She claims this is apart of my training as her protégé since one day I'll be taking over as her law firms partner.
Lawyers buzz throughout the lobby, holding papers and conversations. A group of defense attorneys know as the modern day "dream team" stop when they see me. I see other attorneys pause to stare at me, they must recognize me because I'm from their rival law firm, Hudson & Dupree.
Hudson & Dupree and Jackson, Tucker & Wilson have a long and strenous history. The short version of this history all boils down to that Jeremiah Tucker is a misogynistic, racist, bitch who constantly tries to ruin my mother's career. But Valerie Hudson isn't one to be fucked with. Everything he does to her, she one ups him. Our firms will probably never coexist peacefully.
I wouldn't even choose to be here if I didn't have to be. My mother would be here herself, but when she and Jeremiah Tucker are in the same room all hell breaks loose. Instead she sent me to talk to Mr. Tucker because I have more patience than her. Especially since today I have to be here for a sensitive matter. One of Tucker's employees has been harassing one of our lawyers. If our lawyer had responded to the harassment in a...legal way I wouldn't be here. Instead I'd be with my mom getting a case together to sue the pants off of Tucker's employee.
I make my way to the elevator and press the up button. My elevator arrives and I take it up to third floor. As soon as I step foot on the floor I get confused looks from everyone. I stride past them as if I don't even notice and I get to Mr. Tucker's office.
His assistant greets me and leads me into Mr.Tucker's office. I walk in his office confident, channelling my inner Valerie Hudson so I can dominate this meeting.
"Hello, Mrs. Hudson." A nice, deep southern drawl invites me into the office instead of the harsh backwoods accent Mr. Tucker has.
I look at the young man at Mr. Tucker's desk and it is definitely not Mr.Tucker. This man has dark brown hair and eyes unlike Mr. Tucker's greying blond hair. They're around the same height but this man a little taller and a lot more handsome than Mr. Tucker.
The man looks up from the paper he was reading. "You're not Mrs. Hudson." He observes. He looks me up and down, for a little bit too long. He smiles and sits on the edge of his desk. "What can I do for you?"
"I'm here to talk to Mr. Tucker, I thought this was his office. " This office was listed as his on the directory next to the elevator.
"Mr. Tucker is in a meeting, so I'm here in his place. I'm Dean Tucker." Dean Tucker? Probably one of Mr. Tucker's sons. Dean holds out his hand for me to shake. I walk across the room and shake his hand.
"Claire Hudson." I introduce myself. Dean smiles. "Claire Hudson... I've heard a lot about you." He lets go of my hand.
"Oh really? I haven't heard a thing about you." I smirk slightly. Dean's eyes get a little darker.
"Can I help you with anything..." Dean glances down at my left hand. "Miss Hudson?" He continues.
"Yes, I need to discuss the behavior between your father's employee and mother's employee."
"Oh?" He raises his left eyebrow.
"Yes. Mrs. Brooklyn Wes has been harassing a lawyer at our firm, Brenden Hayes. But I prefer to discuss this matter with your father."
"Ah yes, Mr. Hayes. Brooklyn said that Mr. Hayes called her and stated that he would be representing a client of hers instead. Which was very unethical, wouldn't you think Claire?"
"Miss Hudson." I quickly correct him. "The client felt that it would be best to switch to our firm for her case. However, continually emailing Mr. Hayes concerning the client, and slandering him for the switch would surely be considered unprofessional, correct?" I tilt my head slightly to the side and look up at him.
Dean stands up, he towers over me by a foot. He steps closer to me and I get a whiff of his cologne. He smells great...like white privilege
"Well it is known that it is deemed disrespectful to take another lawyer's client. Is that what your mother's staff are made of? Incompetent lawyers who steal clients from rival firms even though it's unethical to do so?" He smirks. I bite the inside of my cheek and bite back the smart insult that almost escaped my lips.
"I'm unsure. Is your father's staff made up of childish, uncultured individuals who whine and slander others when they don't get their way?" I smirk and watch his begin to fade. Checkmate. "Now seeing that your employee can not act as an adult, I've been sent to settle this today. If not, we are willing to take legal action..."
Dean narrows his eyes and opens his mouth to respond, but is soon interrupted by the door opening. Mr. Tucker walks in and Dean takes a big step away from me. The room feels even more tense as soon as he takes his first step in the room.
"Father..." Dean nods towards his father, however Mr. Tucker is too busy wondering why I am standing in the middle of his office. He narrows his eyes slightly as he looks over me and I can't help but feel uneasy. Mr. Tucker looks me up and down, barely disguising his disgust with me. "Miss Hudson, It's a pleasure to meet with you again." Mr. Tucker comes over to me and shakes my hand, he gives me an uncomfortable smile when he touches my hand.
"The pleasure is mine..." I say through gritted teeth. I hate being polite to this inbred piece of shit. "I came to talk to you about your employee, Brooklyn Wes. Wes was caught harassing-"
"Brooklyn claimed she was the one being harassed."
"There is proof that Brooklyn was being the harasser. These are photos from the security cameras outside of Brendon Hayes's home. They clearly show your employee, Brooklyn outside his house at three a.m trying to get into his house." I say confidently. I go over to Tucker's desk, where he's sitting and hand him the photos.
"Well, you know what I think about your proof?" Mr Tucker rips the photos in half. "I think it's bullshit just like these allegations against Miss Wes."
"... Okay," I remain calm because of course those photos are just copies and I have more. But he's dead wrong if he thinks he can disrespect me. I take out my phone. If he isn't going to deal with me he damn sure is going to deal with Valerie Hudson.
"What are you doing?" He comes from behind his desk while my phone rings. "Who are you calling?" He tries to peek over at my phone screen. He's visibly nervous.
My mom picks up the phone "Hi Mrs. Hudson," I start off the call like that so my mom knows I'm talking about a professional matter. "I am having some issues with Mr. Tucker. Mhm, he ripped up the photo evidence I presented to him and said our evidence was and I quote 'bullshit'.You want to talk to him?" I smirk and hold out my phone to Mr Tucker "Mrs. Hudson would like to speak with you."
Mr. Tucker slowly takes my phone and I smile happily knowing that my mother is putting the fear of god into his soul. Valerie Hudson doesn't play. By the time I get my phone back from Mr Tucker his face has a slight look of terror but he quickly tries to mask it up.
"You won't be having anymore issues with Mr. Tucker." My mom says.
"Thanks mommy." I whisper before ending the call. I look back at Mr. Tucker with a smug little smile on my face. The rest of the meeting goes without a hitch.
