Free Big Law by Lindsay Cameron Page A

deals. I don’t have time to answer your God-damned questions.” He inhaled deeply through his nose and pointed his finger at me again. “NEVER … YOU … NEVER AGAIN!” And then he was gone.
    Thirty seconds later, I heard him slam his office door so hard that the walls shook all the way down the hall. I had never witnessed that kind of unmitigated rage, and it was directed at ME. Thankful that I had the office to myself, I closed the door and held onto the handle to steady myself as I tried not to hyperventilate. Keep it together, Mackenzie. Keep it together, Mackenzie , I repeated to myself.I blinked back tears. Okay, what do I do now? I let out a long breath, sat back down, and picked up the phone. With my hands shaking, I dialed Sarah’s extension.

    “Oh, Mackenzie—I was wondering when I’d hear from you. I couldn’t make the conference call with Saul earlier because I was at a meeting out of the office. I figured you’d just touch base with me after. What’d I miss?” she asked disinterestedly. I could hear her clicking away at her keys over the speakerphone.
    I was stunned. There was a still, beating silence before I found my voice. “Uh, Sarah …” I cleared my throat. “I didn’t even know you were on the deal, so I didn’t know I was supposed to contact you.” I could feel my anger rising.
    “Well, didn’t you ASK Saul who was on the deal team?” she asked condescendingly. “I mean, you’re not new here anymore. You should really know the proper questions to ask by now. You shouldn’t need your mentor to help you with that!” She gave a brief snort of laughter.
    “Sarah.” I pressed my fingers into my brow bone. I’ve never considered myself a violent person, but what I wanted to say to her was, “the mere sound of your voice nearly sends me into a murderous rage and I am this close to coming down to your office, leaping across your desk, and poking your eyes out with your bobby pins.” No! Be above it, Mackenzie! You’re a bigger person than that! Taking a deep breath, I forged ahead. “I need some details of the proposed transaction to draft the documents that Saul requested. He just informed me I should be addressing my questions to you.” I tried to sound professional and calm as my heart rate returned to normal. I’d plot her death later. Right now, there was work to do.
    “I just heard him seriously unloading on someone. That was you?” She was still enjoying toying with me. Then, in a sickeningly innocent tone, she added, “Didn’t you read the email I sent you earlier?”
    I quickly scanned my inbox. Every email was opened and reviewed. There was no way I could have missed an email from Sarah. I balled up my fists, digging my nails into my palms in frustration. “I never received an email from you, Sarah,” I said tightly. “You didn’t send it.”
    “Huh … I could have sworn I sent it to you. Strange. Anyway, our client Doberman Partners wants to buy Falcon Mobility Inc. and take it private. I just re-sent the email to you, so review what I sent and prepare the documents Saul requested. You should have enough information now. Let me know if you have any questions,” she added breezily. “Oh, and make sure you send them to me for review before they go to Saul. We don’t want another blow-up.”
    Click.
    My blood was boiling when I opened her email. There, below Sarah’s infuriating “see below,” was Saul’s email to Sarah instructing her to send me the documents and bring me up to speed. At bottom of the email, in bold, all caps Saul had written CLIENT WANTS CHINESE WALL STANDARDS IN PLACE. BUYER = ALPHA, SELLER = OMEGA, TRANSACTION = PROJECT MONTAUK ON ALL DOCUMENTS AND COMMUNICATION.
    “You have got to be freaking kidding me.” I blew out a long breath.
    And the fun was only just beginning.

7
    T HE DRIVER DEPOSITED ME outside of my building. I signed the voucher and made my way inside. It was midnight, the earliest I’d returned home since I’d