Everything

XXIV

After three days of sinful overindulgence, it was time to head back to work.

Spencer, the borderline nymphomaniac I'd come to realize he was, had barely let me out of bed all weekend. The amount of stamina he had was shocking to say the least, but a girl could hardly complain. I'd been spoilt.

This morning, he'd tried to coax me out of my work clothes and back into bed with his talented mouth and frankly magical fingers, but despite the six-foot blond temptation trying every which way to persuade me to stay home, I'd insisted on going in for my first day as senior partner.

It was hard to believe, and in the time that Spencer had deigned to give me out of his arms, I'd checked the contract in my bag several times to make sure my mind hadn't conjured the whole thing up.

But it was still there in black and white, and as I stepped out of the elevator onto the executive floor of my building, I was confronted with it in large silver lettering:

Boone Webster Rodriguez.

Much to my surprise, the whole sign had been re-lettered. I was expecting my name to simply be added in below. But it was clear they considered me on an equal footing. And for that, I could never express the extent of my gratitude.

Many lawyers of my age were just getting their foot in the door. Being able to work for any leading law firm, let alone names like Boone and Webster or Alonso was nigh on impossible, something I would've found far more difficult to achieve without my internship. And making senior partner before you hit thirty was practically unheard of, except pretty much in the case of Cherri Alonso, who'd been born and bred to be a lawyer.

I'd made it to the top. I just hoped to God I could stay here.

It was very difficult to reconcile myself to the fact I was now extremely well-off. Of course, working at a firm of this level, I'd always been far from poor. But the benefits which came with being senior partner couldn't be denied. And it would take some getting used to.

Nonetheless, I had my best friend Alicia to joke with me and reassure me that I could spend on whatever I wanted. She'd come over to the apartment along with my brother and a group of our mutual friends from over the years, and we'd had ourselves a little party. Good music, good food, good company. The perfect way to celebrate my partnership. We'd drank far too much, and danced far too hard, but that was the way we'd always liked it. But my heart tugged at the thought of having to once again lie to her, stating that the red Ferrari sitting in the underground car park was a present to myself, rather than a gift from my over-generous and attentive secret boyfriend. It had been especially difficult when Spencer, in the middle of all the chaos and hubbub of the party, had pulled me into another room for a quick love-making session against a locked door, before we had to act like nothing was going on between us.

Pushing thoughts of deception to the back of my brain, I stepped through the office door and nearly jumped out of my skin.

"SURPRISE! CONGRATULATIONS!"

As I was quickly covered in silly string from the party poppers that had just gone off, my eyes quickly scanned the packed room to note that practically the whole firm had gathered this early in the morning to give me their best wishes.

Eric and Simon stood grinning at the front of the crowd, slightly off to the right, but they were soon by my side, with a cold glass of champagne and a large bunch of my favourite flowers pressed into my hands, as the firm continued to cheer. Jared Alexander was notably absent.

"SPEECH! SPEECH!"

I giggled in disbelief, trying to find the confidence to raise my voice above the throng, "Well, it's a bit early for champagne, isn't it?"