June, 2006
Nadine looked at her watch for the fourth time in one minute, for lack of something better to do. She was tempted to go to the ladies’ to check that she looked presentable enough. A subdued laugh from a young man beside her made her glare at him.
“What’s so funny?”
“You look perfect.”
“Looking perfect will not get me a training contract with any law firm.”
“No … but I hear that Storm … you know, the modelling agency, they’re looking for perfect-looking new faces.”
“Thanks. ‘Sorry dad, I know I told you I wanted to be a lawyer, so I’ve made you spend all that money; but now I’ve changed my mind and decided that being a clothes hangar is a better way to earn a living’. How do you think that’s going to go down?”
“It will go down a storm.”
“Oh, you’re right there. Shit-storm. The kind that gets one disowned.”
“Relax. Tying yourself up in knots will not help.”
“Oh, shut up and stop being so smart, Stephen,” she said without malice.
Stephen, who was a final year Law student at Oxford Brookes University, opened his mouth to reply with an equally playful retort, but a secretary interrupted. “Mr. Drew, they’re ready for you.”
He stood up and smiled at Nadine.
“Knock ’em dead.”
He nodded and walked into the room in front of him while Nadine resisted the urge to sink a bit lower into her seat and bit her lip to prevent herself from groaning.
She could not believe just how far she had come. Four years ago, she had come to England to study. Since then, she had done a University Foundation Programme in Law, and taken French classes, before excelling at the Law National Admissions Test in order to make her dream of studying English and French Law at the University of Bristol, a reality. Her first two years at the university had been everything she could ever want – eye opening and challenging. She discovered that she had literally stepped into a world where anything was possible, and all her dreams were put within her reach. Now, she was on the verge of making a First Class grade, overall. Her social calendar was also full, as she had met and bonded with various kinds of people, expanding her horizon to accommodate even more than had been available to her at Bella Ray. She had one more year to go before she graduated from university. Best of all, she and Stella had remained good friends despite the fact that they attended different universities and had even shared a flat in their second year with two other girls, before Nadine went away to France to attend one of the universities there and Stella to Singapore for a work placement for the duration of their third year.
She had found studying in France, different. Another cultural shock … not that she had gotten used to England, but still. Her one-year sojourn at the Université de Poitiers had gone by quickly, and she had returned to England three weeks ago with a license to practise French law. She had, a week after her return, begun a three-week vacation placement with a prestigious law firm, Eldridge & Grey which she would be completing by the end of the working day, tomorrow. She was now waiting to be interviewed by three partners of the firm, as the final stage of the interview process for the mandatory two-year training contract – a training contract she desperately hoped she would get. Apart from the benefits the firm offered, throughout the vacation placement, she could actually see herself working here at Eldridge & Grey in the near future … being given a chance to stretch herself without losing her individuality and even in fitting in with the firm’s culture.
Having just turned 20, she knew she had come a lot further than she had thought she would, in four years … and she hoped it wasn’t all about to be taken away from her.
As she finally made her up mind to go to the ladies’ and stood up, the door opened and Stephen stepped out of the conference room. He broke into a weary smile, as he closed the door behind him and walked towards her. He had been in there for the better part of an hour.
Almost immediately, a secretary behind her came out with a distorted version of her surname, which made her flinch – she had still not gotten used to the new versions of her surname that were periodically foisted on her – whilst Stephen smiled even more broadly. She turned to the secretary who said, “They’re ready for you.”
“Good luck,” Stephen whispered.
“Thanks,” she muttered back.
“Don’t worry, it’ll be a piece of cake for you,” he assured her.
“You’ve obviously got a lot more faith in me than I do in myself,” she replied, before she opened the door to the conference room.