Priya needed something new.
The young attorney had just finished her sixth deposition in two days. She used to relish making opposing witnesses squirm. Priya didn't make excuses - she practiced law for the power.
But this case didn't hit many thrill buttons. It centered around complicated environmental law, and the government attorneys seemed just as bored as Priya was. Her partner usually handled environmental cases.
It was 10:45 and the next deposition started at 1. Sitting at the desk in her corner office, the slim attorney decided she needed something fun to distract herself with.
Priya took a long, dark manicured finger and pressed down on her desk's speaker button.
"Maxine, send Matthew into my office."
Her secretary whimpered an affirmative.
Priya crossed and uncrossed her legs as she waited. An email from the attorney she had gone out with a week earlier flashed on her screen. He'd sent her a picture of his chiseled chest in a bathroom mirror.
Priya deleted the email. She wished men would understand when she was finished with them.
A timid knock came on the door.
"Come in, Matthew."
A tall, blond man shuffled into the room, barely making eye contact with Priya. He couldn't have been younger than 25 but looked straight out of college.
Priya stared at Matthew until he looked back at her. She gestured to the chair in front of her desk and he slumped into it.
"It took you long enough," Priya said. "My office really isn't far from yours."
Matthew furrowed his brow.
"Sorry, Ms. Shanka, I was helping Peter with-"
"Don't make excuses, Matthew. Just be quicker next time." Priya curled her lip in a half-smile.
Matthew relaxed in his seat. Priya decided the intern probably cut a nice figure underneath his too-large suit. Perhaps he would be worth it.
"I brought you in here for a few reasons, Matthew. Do you go by Matthew or Matt?" Priya asked.
Matthew swallowed, spoke.
"Matt, actually."
Priya picked up a pen from her desk and twirled it in her right hand.
"That's too bad," she said. "Matthew is a much better name."
Matthew gave a small chuckle. Priya looked from her pen to him and he fell silent.
Priya let a few moments of silence lapse. Matthew cleared his throat and looked around the office. Awards and degrees lined the walls. Pictures of the young female attorney with politicians. One of Priya with the president of Fiji, her home country.
"How are you enjoying your time here, Matthew?"
The intern leaned forward in his seat, clearly eager to break the silence.
"Oh, it's great. Lot of really talented people here. I'm learning a ton."
Priya flashed another half-smile, set the pen down on her desk. She leaned back in her seat and crossed her bare legs. She noticed Matthew glancing briefly at her gray pencil skirt.
"We're glad to have you. Your research is impeccable and it's helped us in some ..." She dropped a hand to her skirt, beckoned the intern to keep his eyes on her face.
"Tight spots," Priya finished.
Matthew shot his eyes to the floor.
"I'm happy to help," he mumbled.
Priya sighed. Men were so spineless. This boy seemed like every other attorney she'd ever met: cocky until things got real. Priya couldn't count the number of times she'd brought a brash man back to her apartment only for him to disappoint her.
"That brings me to my second point, Matthew. Look at me when I'm talking to you."
Matthew brought his eyes to Priya's.
"You need to be bolder," she explained. "You'll never make it as an attorney unless you have balls of steel."
Matthew smiled. Priya kept a straight face.
"Thanks," he said. "I know you're right, it's just –"
Priya cut in.
"Do you have a girlfriend, Matthew?"
Matthew's eyes shifted from left to right. He looked down before speaking.
"No," he said. "We broke up after I started working here."
Priya smiled for real. She knew how it was – attorney's work was long, hard and unrewarding. Most significant others couldn't handle it.
"I'm sorry to hear that," she said. "I remember when my last relationship broke down. He couldn't handle my work, either. I suspect I intimidated him."
Matthew cocked an eyebrow. Priya let silence settle again.
She rolled forward in her chair. Matthew watch her get animated for the first time since he walked into the room.
"It's like this, Matthew. I'm sure when you first fucked your girlfriend, she loved it, right?" Priya asked.
Matthew's eyes bulged. He shifted in his seat.
Priya decided to continue without him.
"Don't look so shocked, Matthew. I'm sure she did. You're a good-looking man and I'm sure this office isn't the only place you work hard."
The intern raised his eyebrows and smiled. Priya knew she had him. It was always so easy.
"But..." She started, now twisting a pen in both hands over her desk calendar. "After a while, it just wasn't the same." She looked up at him with big brown eyes. "Right?"