"I hate him," Elizabeth declared, throwing herself onto the sofa so hard that it made an audible noise. She saw Jane, her sister, and Charlotte, her best friend, exchange looks. "What? Andrew is an idiot. I cannot fathom how he managed to pass the bar exam."

"Lizzie," Jane said in a soothing voice, "you know he's not very experienced. Not everyone is a natural like you."

"Jane. I'm not a 'natural'. What I am is a law student. And even I know that his mistakes are egregious. Ugh. If only we were born rich enough to not need jobs to support our life choices." Elizabeth always marvelled at how her sister tried to see the good in everyone, including Elizabeth's idiot boss. This wasn't the first time Elizabeth wondered if her boss had faked his own credentials. Depleted savings and student loans meant that Elizabeth had taken on this job part-time on the days she didn't have classes to give her some amount of income, disposable or otherwise. Even at the interview, Andrew had seemed like an idiot, but she hadn't been prepared for this level of incompetence. It had been almost a year since she took on this job, and her capacity to be shocked by his ignorance had not diminished.

Growing up in a little town in the middle of nowhere, Elizabeth had despaired of ever making it to the city. When she was not yet in her teens, her mother had divorced her father and moved away, taking Elizabeth's two youngest sisters with her. Mrs. Bennet was now married to a man young enough to be her son, though, inexplicably, she had kept her first husband's name. Elizabeth had almost no communication with her, but Jane kept in touch with their mother on a regular basis. Their youngest sisters Katherine and Lydia were in university, though Elizabeth had some doubt as to whether either of them would actually graduate. Growing up with their mother, both girls had nothing in their minds except for pretty clothes and having a good time.

Jane, Elizabeth, and their sister Mary had stayed with their father, a quiet high-school teacher. Charlotte had been her best friend and neighbour for as long as Elizabeth could remember. Jane, a devoted ballerina since she was a young girl, had left home first to move to the city to pursue her career as a dancer. Charlotte, and then Elizabeth had soon followed her, to attend university.

For the longest time, Elizabeth had grave doubts about actually being able to afford law school, a childhood dream of hers. Now, working through university, scrimping and saving, and student loans had meant that she was actually close to finishing her first year. Throughout all of it, her loudest cheerleaders had been Jane and Charlotte. Elizabeth could not imagine having made it this far without either of them. The three of them were sharing an old Victorian home, complete with a small garden at the back, and it occured to Elizabeth that she should perhaps complain a little less about her crappy boss to her most devoted supporters.

"Lizzie, you are incredibly smart. Everyone knows this. I think part of your frustration is simply because you're much smarter than your boss," Jane said, handing her a small salad bowl.

"Ooooh, healthy dinner! Love it!"

"And I brought dessert," Charlotte added with a smile.

"Seriously? That's more than a little awesome," Elizabeth said, grinning. "I'm so sorry, I haven't even asked you how your day was. You've completed…what? Your second month at one of the most exclusive boutique law firms in the city. How does it feel?"

"Well, I don't think you'll find my stories too interesting, Eliza. After all, I'm just a mere HR assistant." Nevertheless, Charlotte sat down next to her, clearly eager to talk. Jane made up the trio, seating herself on the other side of Charlotte. "It's…still a bit overwhelming sometimes. They just switched the art in the reception, which means swapping out one $60,000 painting for a $75,000 photograph. I get that they cater to a particular clientele but…the opulence and extravagance takes a bit of getting used to."

"Well, million-dollar divorces, dividing up Florida condos and yachts…the firm has to look the part," Jane mused.

Charlotte and Elizabeth both smiled. Recently promoted to first soloist at the ballet company, Jane had had more opportunity than either of them to mingle with the 1%.

"In any event…I have a proposition which might allow you Eliza to offer your own opinion on the firm," Charlotte said, and Jane had a knowing smile.

"You two talked about this before I got here, didn't you?"

"Oh Elizabeth, I'm sorry but I was so excited that I couldn't help myself!"

"The suspense is killing me – tell!"

"Okay…so you know that the firm is run by Angela Stewart, but the senior partner is the famous Edward Gardiner."

"Yup, trailblazer in family law. Didn't he help write the reforms to the statute ten years ago?"

"I think so. He's back from vacation next week, and needs a legal assistant."

Elizabeth looked at Charlotte with narrowed eyes. "What happened to the one he had?"

Charlotte sighed. "She refuses to work with him. In fact…they all refuse to work with him. Thus, the hunt for a new assistant."

"I don't get it…the guy's supposed to be brilliant. Why is his whole office refusing to work for him?"

"Well. He's notoriously difficult. Type A personality, perfectionist, will tolerate nothing other than the best. Plus, he's apparently increasingly taking on pro boo work, which is not what anyone joins the firm to do. Last but not the least, and this is confidential, he's stepped outside of family law to start working on a class action. Trying to sue Morley Pharmaceuticals for a prenatal drug that's left hundreds of babies disabled."

"Wow…isn't that something to be admired?" Personality aside, Elizabeth thought that the class action sounded like a laudable exercise.

Charlotte shrugged. "It's pro bono work until you win, and way outside the firm's expertise. It's way outside Edward's own expertise. He's the senior partner, so no one tells him anything, but his projects and he himself are becoming highly unpopular within the firm. The level of perfection he requires means none of the admin staff wants to work for him. Eliza, you don't have any classes during the summer; if you'll work for him full-time during the summer, we can switch to part-time once your classes start. The money is good, you'll definitely learn more from him than you will in all your years at law school, and if anyone can handle him, it's you. I've met him, and he is not nearly as scary as the others make him out to be. I know that you'll be perfect for this job."

"Charlotte…you just got there, you can't be giving away jobs to all your friends and family."

"Not all," Charlotte replied, smiling. "Just one."

"And you are so smart, and more than capable!" Jane exclaimed. "You so hate working for Andrew, Lizzie. The job Charlotte is offering is a step in the right direction."

Elizabeth looked from Jane to Charlotte. Jane was right; she loathed working for her incompetent boss, but as someone with no connections in the industry, it had been impossible to find a decent job. Even though she had moved to the city soon after Jane and Charlotte, she had not made the sort of friends that would aid one in finding appropriate jobs in her chosen field.

"Eliza, I have to warn you though; working for Edward is hard, but what you will learn is totally worth it. That knowledge, and the money you earn, will be all you will like at Gardiner Stewart. The lawyers are almost all snotty little princesses, and the admin staff will probably not make too much effort with you once they learn that you're a law student. I'm not going to lie to you…I think you'll dislike most of the crowd there."

Elizabeth smiled. "Charlotte, I love that there is nothing but the truth from you. Let me interview for the job and see – perhaps I won't even get it. And if I do, I dare say snotty superiors are infinitely preferable to incompetent ones like Andrew! Besides which, you will be there."

Charlotte beamed, and Jane gave her mini-hug.

"I'm so glad we had this chat before I had to leave," Jane said. "You deserve so much more than being stuck where you are."

"Oh right, I forgot, you're going out tonight. And how is the mysterious Charles doing?"

"Jane's blind date!" Charlotte exclaimed good-naturedly. "Jane, tell us something before you leave. After all, the likes of us only get to live vicariously through you!"

Jane blushed. "Guys, come on. He's hardly mysterious…I've been seeing Charles for six weeks now."

Elizabeth grinned. "How exact! What an excellent blind date this is turning out to be."

"Honestly, I didn't expect to end up liking Charles so much," Jane confided. "I'm so glad that Amanda set us up. He is everything a man ought to be. Charming and courteous and smart and friendly...I'm embarrassed that I like him so much!"

"Jane! It's good to like someone. Don't be embarrassed."

"Especially with him," Charlotte added for good measure. "A man likes to know that he's liked."

"I'm sure he knows, Charlotte," Jane said. "I'm afraid that I'm not always good at hiding my feelings."

Elizabeth and Charlotte exchanged a look; if anything, that was Jane's best skill. She was so good at appearing calm and serene that it was often difficult for someone to tell when Jane's feelings had been engaged. Nevertheless, both Elizabeth and Charlotte refrained from pointing this out.

"Isn't Charles a lawyer?" Elizabeth deflected.

"He is! He works at Kleinman Fitzwilliam. It's a –"

"Union-side labour law and class action firm," Elizabeth said.

Jane smiled. "Of course you would know. His younger sister is also a lawyer, though I'm not sure where. I didn't ask too many questions, because I didn't want to seem as if I was fishing for a leg-up for you."

"Worry not," Elizabeth said. "Now go, get dressed, you don't want to be late for your date."