Catalyst Read Online Free Page B

said.
    "Maybe, if I'm ever given a chance to try."
    "So the old bastards rule the roost where you work,
too," Courtney added.
    "Not really. The old bastard, as you call it, is a
woman in her thirties who succeeds in making everyone around her
feel inferior but damned if I'm going to grovel."
    "Good for you, Renee," Lem said. "Somehow, I can't
imagine anyone getting the better of you."
    "No." She sighed. "But it isn't easy, you know."
    ****
    It was ten to five when Annette Usborne placed the
twenty-page document on Renee's desk and fixed her steely eyes on
her. "The layout of this will for Mrs. Stein is incorrect. You know
we indent paragraphs."
    Renee swore under her breath and glowered at the
junior partner. "It is the legal standard layout of wills," she
explained. "Modern procedures do not indent paragraphs but
double-space them instead."
    "That may very well be but in our firm…" Annette
continued.
    "Then get Lois or one of the secretaries to do it,"
retorted Renee. "I'm busy at the moment." This was a small matter
but the constant pinpricking over the last six months was getting
to her.
    "She's gone home," hissed the other woman. "I agreed
to take the will for Mrs. Stein to sign this evening. She is one of
our most valued clients, you know."
    Normally, Renee would have grimaced, taken the
document and redone it. This time she stopped and turned to the
immaculately dressed woman standing by her desk. "Then do it
yourself, Annette."
    "Why of all the..." Usborne began.
    "I am not a secretary or typist," Renee replied in a
controlled voice. "I am a qualified lawyer. If you are so concerned
about changing modern layout, I feel sorry for you."
    Annette Usborne's face turned white with anger and
her jutting chin shook when William Usborne Senior walked into the
open office. Annette's father was in his mid-sixties, prim and of
the old school. He was, though, scrupulously fair and in Renee's
eyes, far more genuine than either his daughter or son, William
Junior. Unfortunately, the rumors were that the elder William would
retire at the end of the year.
    "Trouble?" he asked and raised his bushy gray
eyebrows.
    "Look at this, Dad," Annette retorted and handed the
will to her father.
    William Senior took the document and turned to Renee.
"Do you mind?"
    "Not at all."
    The elderly man sat in the seat for Renee's clients
and took reading glasses from his top suit pocket. He read every
word of the document, while his daughter glowered and Renee sat
tight-lipped in anticipation.
    "You did well," he said when he reached the end. "Old
Clara was adamant her eldest daughter would receive nothing in her
estate. How did you talk her around, Renee?"
    "I told her if she cut Gloria out, the will could be
contested in family court and there was a high chance the action
would be successful. I had to show her the findings of several
court actions to convince her."
    "But, Daddy..."
    "Oh hush up, Annette."
    "But the layout."
    The old man glanced back at the sheets. "It's
different than our usual format, I must admit," he said. "But I
like it. I'm sure old Clara will be able to follow it with ease."
He looked at Renee. "I like the terminology you use, Renee. Much
superior to the flowery language we usually put up with, isn't it?"
He chuckled, stood and turned to Annette. "Now what was the
disagreement?"
    "Nothing."
    "Problems from your side?" he continued as he turned
to Renee.
    "Not really," she said in a low voice. "Annette
didn't agree with the layout, that's all."
    "Didn't she?" William Senior replied. He frowned at
his daughter and walked out.
    The junior partner stood, red-faced and grim and
waited for Renee to speak. Instead the younger woman looked up. "If
you're really that concerned, I'll redo it before I go home,
Annette. It's all on memory so will take only a few moments to
alter."
    Silence reigned while she watched Annette and waited
for a first reaction.
    "No, it doesn't matter," Annette replied in a
whisper. "As Dad said, I'm sure Mrs.