The Cost of Happiness: A Contemporary Romance Read Online Free Page B

Four…
    “Hey, have I told you where Chris is going next month? Russia. Some mathematics convention.”
    “Yeah, Dad, that’s great.”
    Another few minutes of the how-awesome-Chris-is show before Dan managed to get off the phone. The irony was, he could call Chris, who’d be thrilled by Dan’s news. Only it was Father’s Day, and Dan wanted his dad to be proud of him.
    Dan couldn’t help it—he kept seeking approval from the one person who wouldn’t give it.

Chapter Three
     
    Meghan only needed a single meeting to be shown her new place in the firm.
    The Complex Litigation Group met every Monday morning at ten-thirty, right after the litigation lawyers’ meeting. The first Monday, Meghan got to the conference room before everyone else and sat far from the door, two seats up from the end of the table. The lawyers trickled in slowly, summer associates being the promptest, then junior associates, senior associates, and junior partners. Last of all, the senior partner rushed in, still tapping away on a BlackBerry.
    Meghan had her pad out, her notes on the cases in a folder, a pen in her hand and her head down. She could tell, though, that she was causing some consternation. She glanced up to see one of the mid-level associates frowning at her. They stared at each other before Meghan got it—she was in his seat. Then Meghan noticed the empty seat diagonally opposite hers. Near the hall and…ah, yes, that was the point. It was closest to the phone on the credenza. That was where the lowly paralegal should sit, ready to fetch something or answer the phone so none of the lawyers needed to.
    Got it. Won’t make that mistake again.
    At the second meeting, Meghan again arrived first. She sat in the correct seat and was completely ignored. When Georgia Moran announced she was leaving the Complex Litigation Group and pointedly told Vicky Womack to coordinate with Meghan to help the new guy settle in, Meghan thought she detected a slight sneer on Vicky’s perfectly groomed lips. Otherwise, Vicky gave no indication she knew or cared who Meghan was.
    Meghan ducked her head so no one could see her smile. It was like there was an ironclad rule—ignore the phony paralegal. The lawyers noticed her only when there was work for her to do. The other paralegals ignored her because she wasn’t a proper paralegal. The secretaries ignored her because she was neither a paralegal nor a lawyer.
    Welcome to Fergusson & Leith, Philly’s number two law firm. Where a quasi-paralegal was better than a mailroom clerk, but not by much.
     

     
    Dan Howard got in to his new office early to unpack the banker’s box filled with his executive toys. Each one reminded him of home, of the house in Portland, Maine where he and his sisters grew up in middle-class comfort. Except for a couple of years when he’d needed to be elsewhere at Christmas, the whole family congregated at his parents’ house, helped decorate the huge tree, snuck around wrapping packages and fluffing tissue paper in gift bags, then ate a huge breakfast with everyone in their robes and slippers before settling down to open presents. Every toy had been a gift from his sisters, given with love and admiration for their brother, the hotshot federal prosecutor. Even if Dad hadn’t been proud of him, “the girls” had been.
    He wondered if he’d made a mistake quitting the Justice Department just because Blackjack looked like he’d grow old as the US Attorney. Then he unwrapped another tavern puzzle and a magnetic building block set. He smiled. His desk as a partner at Fergusson & Leith was a lot bigger than the one he had on Sixth Street. His toys could spread out.
    Dan placed his prized possession, a miniature Lady Justice sitting on a throne, in the center of the toys. She held a sword in one hand and a set of scales in the other. People always remarked on the sword. That was the general impression of Justice—she held scales. Fairness. That assumption amused Dan, who felt