The day before I had had a meeting in Human Resources of one of the best firms on NY to be the temporary assistant of one of the best lawyers there. Needless to say I was absolutely freaking out for the whole thing. I had chosen my more professional clothes and I had pick all my usually loose hair in a bun. I had redone my make-up at least three times before living my apartment. But the truth was that I wasn't feeling neither confident or comfortable at all. I had arrived to my desk an hour before the firm actually opened and I had been waiting for finally meeting who was going to be my boss for the time being. I had been careful enough to look him up over the Internet, so by the time I saw him arriving to his office I was already up and waiting for him.

He was lively talking with a younger man who owned beautiful blue eyes. My boss was wearing a really expensive navy blue suit which worth probably more that what I could earned in six months, he seemed relatively serious but after I approached to him and handled him a bunch of notes telling him:

- You calls, sir - well, that was a whole new grade of seriousness.

- And you are? - he asked, not even taking the notes.

- Shayleen Costa, sir. Your temporary assistant - I explained, he just looked at me, for a second I thought he could read straightly through my soul. Then, he took the notes and walked into his office.

- Don't take it into consideration - the young man told me after seeing his reaction -. He's still mourning about your predecessor.

- How long she had been here?

- She had been working with him for seven years.

- Oh - was all I said.

- Yeah - he said -, and now if you excuse me, I don't want to bother him anymore.

- Mike! - he shout.

- Sorry - he said before walking in quickly.

I returned to my computer, I had been trying to understand how worked the system the previous assistant had used, however, everything seemed too farfetched, too personal to be able to understand it with the proper help. So I did the only thing I could do. I called the source. I hadn't luck, the answered machine jump in, I didn't really like to speak to a machine but I didn't have much choice in the matter.

- Miss Paulsen. I'm Shayleen Costa, Mr. Specter temporary assistant. I'm calling you on behalf of the system you have created. I would be very thankful if you agreed to...

- What do you want? - an upset female voice suddenly asked startling me.

- I would like to see you and drink a coffee. I'd be great if you had time at lunch.

- Of course, because you think that now that I'm unemployed I don't have anything better to do that... - she started to rant. I knew that I had to stop her or I would lose her before achieving my goal.

- Ms. Paulsen, I just like to see you and talk to you, I promise I won't take much of you time and I'd be eternally thanked for it.

- Ten thirty at Tasty - she said after a couple of seconds, then she hung up.

- That went well - I said to myself.

When the agreeing time was getting close, I walked to my boss's office and knocked in the door.

- Mr. Specter, I'm going to take my break for lunch, would you like something from the cafeteria? - I asked politely.

- No, thanks - he answered without even bothering to raise his head.

- Okay - I whispered. If this get like this for long, maybe I worked for just a month, but it was going to feel like a century.

- Why did you call me? - the pretty redhead woman before me asked.

- Well - I started to explain -, as I told you over the phone, I'm the new temp assistant of Mr. Specter, I had been trying all morning to understand how works your system, and being obvious that you'll be coming back before a month I just thought that...

- Hold on, what did you just said? - she asked, interrupting me.

- That I thought that... - I begun again.

- No that, what you said before - she stopped me one more time.

- That you'll be going back? - I asked this time hesitantly.

- You said obviously, why obviously? - she asked.

- Well, because it is obvious - I told her -. You have been away for two whole weeks and it hasn't been a replacement 'til now, and I wasn't hired from him, but for HR, and I suppose that for someone in his position, he should be the one in hiring a replacement for you and that without counting the fact that I'm just a temp. And, if all that wasn't proof enough, when he saw me this morning he seemed about to rip my head off and Mr. Ross excused him telling me that he was still mourning over my predecessor, you. Look, Ms Paulsen, this is my first real job, all I want is to learn and have a good experience and, if I'm only gonna last a month before you'll be back, why bothered in rearrange your system when you'll have to re-rearranged it later? - I questioned, that was actually the whole point of the conversation, why make both of us do more job than we needed to?

- Okay, Shayleen, I like you, so I'm gonna help you. With two conditions.

- Tell them - at that point, I was even willing to give her my first child if that was what she wanted.

- First of all, no one can ever knows that I'm helping you, okay? I'm still pissed at Harvey and I don't want him to know that I keep helping him indirectly.

- Done, and the other?

- Don't call Mike Mr. Ross, please, it's just too hilarious - she laughed.

An hour later, I put the coffee over the napkin being careful to not stain anything in the way. Mr. Specter lifted his face and saw it and then he looked at me.

- I thought I told I didn't want anything.

- Yes, you did, sir. But I thought that you'll need something to keep you working after all these hours of hard work. If you still don't want it, you can just throw it - I said and, after that, I left the office and took my place. Donna had advised me to do it, and when I saw him tasting it and then make a face that for me meant 'not that bad', I knew I had done the right thing.

I spent the whole afternoon talking with Donna by phone, the enterprise phone. It was easier that way because I could put her on hold anytime and keep asking her thinks lately. Her first tip was simple and clear.

- Your job as assistant, not just Harvey's assistant, but as anyone's assistant can be resumed in this. You have to know what they need before the need it.

- And how can I do that?

- In Harvey's case it's simple; he wants to have everything in hand. He's a man who wants to be always one step up everybody, that's what makes him such a good lawyer, and in order to be a good assistant for him you need to be also like him. And that's the easy part.

- The easy part? - I repeated almost choking, if that was the easy part, what would be the hard one?

- Your second job it's to always know what it's going on around the firm. He's too busy with his cases and locked at his office to care about what it's going on outside that bubble, and that's why you're out there. You need to know what paralegal is having problems with what associate or if the guy in accounts went last night on a date with the girl in the mail room. That's what they didn't teach you. That's the job you have to do, and the work you must do.

I kept listening her and absorbing every drop of wisdom that came out of her mouth. She really was a professional woman, and despite the obvious upset she had toward Harvey, she was still loyal to him. Finally, that same afternoon, after all my week had begun on Friday, I met with Donna at dinner time.

- So tell me, how was your first day? - she asked me, getting comfortable in the couch of my living room. She had asked me to meet in my house, I didn't know why but it didn't really bother me. At least in my apartment I had the possibility to take off those damn clothes.

- It ended way better than it started it - I admitted smiling -. Thanks to you, so thank you, Donna. Really.

- You owe me one - she smiled.

- I'm gonna owe you a lot - I corrected her.

- So Harvey drank the coffee you brought him?

- Yes.

- Good. Now, the second part of the work. First of all I want to ask you something. Do you dress like this usually? - I looked downed at me.

- No, not really – I admitted.

- I knew it, and that is why I ask you to meet at your place. If you're not comfortable in your shoes, literally and figuratively speaking, it's gonna to reflect on you.

- But I chose this clothes because it was the more professional I had.

- And what about the bun?

- I thought it made me look more professional.

- Well, it did make you look more uncomfortable. You can wear your hair loose, darling, and about your clothes, show me your wardrobe.