Charlie Owens walked past the reception desk in the lobby of Tyler, Dallas and Harrison, trying to look as nonchalant as he could. If the fair-haired twenty-one year old was lucky, anyone would assume he was just back from a coffee break, and not coming in two hours late. He had just about made it when Brenda Peters, the law firm's receptionist, looked up from the papers she had been reading and called out his name.
"Shit, I am so busted," the clerk thought as he came to a sudden stop.
Turning to face the middle aged woman, Charlie had to admit that he had no one to blame but himself. No one had forced him to stay out so late on a Wednesday night, and then fall into a dead sleep that a dozen alarm clocks wouldn't have roused him from.
Going out to see the new gangster film starring Marlon Brando hadn't been in his plans when he'd sat down to dinner last night, but a call from Mark Willis, one of his best friends since grade school, had changed all that. Recently back from a tour in Vietnam, Mark was one of the few people he couldn't say no to.
Then, after the film, which both of them agreed has been great, especially that new actor that had played the Godfather's son, Mark had suggested they stop at Clancy's on the way home and have a drink. Unfortunately, once the old time veterans who frequented the bar heard that Mark was recently back from the 'Nam, they insisted on buying him round after round. Thankfully they hadn't been as generous as far as Charlie was concerned and he managed to stretch out his drinks, while Mark got totally ripped. Mark, however, didn't need to get up for work in the morning.
"Oh, hi, Brenda," Charlie said, trying to sound innocent while he put on the best smile he could manage.
"Late start today?" the buxom woman said with an equally wide smile.
His first reaction was to laugh and say he'd been in for hours, but then he thought better of it. Brenda had been with the firm since before he'd hit puberty and it was generally known that she was better than a time clock in keeping track of everyone's comings and goings.
"Oh, don't worry, honey, I'm not going to turn you in," she said with a soft laugh, pausing just long enough to watch the look of concern on his face to turn into one of relief. "Late night?" she asked.
Charlie didn't answer, but the look on his face said it had been.
"I hope she was worth it," Brenda offered.
"Thanks, Brenda, I really owe you," Charlie said, his gratitude genuine as he remembered how angry his boss had been the last time he was late.
"You know, one of these days, Chuck," Brenda said with a grin that could only be described as mischievous, "I might have a mind to call you on that, and you never know what I might want in return."
Charlie smiled again, wondering not for the first time if Brenda was actually serious or just jerking his chain. Despite being old enough to be his mother, she always referring to him with terms of affection, as well as making remarks that could be considered inappropriate. He never really thought about it much at first, but noticed over time that he was the only one in the office she acted that way with. Deciding that now was not the time to really try and figure it out, he turned to head in the direction of his desk, but was again stopped by Brenda as she explained why she had called out to him in the first place.
"Mr. Harrison asked me to watch out for you this morning and to make sure that you got the message that he wanted to see you after his eleven o'clock meeting," she said, glancing up at the wall clock and noting that the aforementioned meeting had started a few minutes before.
"No problem, I'll just head over to Steve's desk now and wait for him to come back," Charlie said, still relieved that the day wasn't turning out as bad as he originally thought it would.
"I'm not talking about Steve," Brenda said, clarifying her statement. "I'm referring to Mr. Harrison, senior, and he wants to see you in his office."
"What?" Charlie said in surprise. "Are you sure he meant me?" he added, a sense of worry now back in his voice.
"He meant you, Chuckie boy. I asked him that same question," Brenda replied, "and since his eleven o'clock is only supposed to be a fifteen minute meeting, I suggest you take that cute little ass of yours over there mighty quick."
Now actually worried about what was going on, Charlie didn't even notice that comment about his ass. All he could think of as he rushed down the corridor towards partners' row was, what had he done wrong?
Brendon Harrison was the uncle of Steve Harrison, whom Charlie had met in college and had helped him get his job. One of the founders of the firm and the only name partner still practicing, Charlie had only met the man three or four times, of which two had been short introductions by his nephew. In fact, if they passed in the hall, Charlie would've bet his paycheck that the senior lawyer wouldn't have known him from the kid they usually sent out for coffee.
"I was told that Mr. Harrison wanted to see me," Charlie said as he stepped up to the desk of the partner's personal secretary, trying hard not to show his anxiety.
"And you are?" Paula Madison, who was about ten years older than Charlie, said with a look of annoyance.
"Charlie Owens," he said.
"I don't see anything on his schedule," the light-skinned black woman said after checking the appointment book.
"I was given the message by Brenda out at reception," Charlie added, as if using her name gave it more authenticity. "She said he wanted to see me at eleven fifteen."
At that, the expression on the well dressed woman turned from irritation to disapproval. In her mind, showing up at the last minute before a summons, and at his level it really shouldn't be considered anything other than that, from a man of Mr. Harrison's stature, could only be interpreted as a lack of respect.
"Why don't you have a seat, and I'll let you know when he's ready for you," Paula said coldly, instantly dismissing him as she returned her attention to the papers in front of her.
Not more than a minute later, the door to the right of Paula opened and two of the firm's other partners stepped out of Harrison's office. Neither of them took any notice of Charlie sitting there; and simply went on their way, sharing a quiet but animated discussion as they did. From what Charlie could see of their expressions, neither of them looked any too happy.
