Sycamore Row - John Grisham

“Eight thirty to five, thirty minutes for lunch.”
“What about Lucien?” she asked.
“What about him?”
“He’s down here. I kinda like it up there, on the second floor, where it’s safe.”
“Has he bothered you?”
“Not yet. Look, Jake, I like Lucien and we work well together, but I sometimes get the
feeling he would like to get a little closer, know what I mean?”
“I think so.”
“If he touches me, I’ll slap his ass across the room.”
Jake laughed at the visual, and there was no doubt whatsoever Portia could take care
of herself. He said, “I need to have a chat with Lucien. Let me handle it. I’ll warn him.”
Portia took a deep breath and looked around the office. She nodded, smiled, said, “But
I’m not a secretary, Jake. I’m going to be a lawyer, just like you.”
“And I’ll help you in every way possible.”
“Thank you.”
“I want an answer. Now. On the spot.”
“But I don’t want to miss the trial. If I’m stuck at this desk, I’ll miss the trial, right?”
“Let’s worry about that later. Right now I need you down here.”
“Okay.”
“So we have a deal?”
“No. A thousand a month is too low for a secretary, receptionist, and paralegal all
rolled into one.”
Jake threw up his hands and knew he was beaten. “Well, then, what do you have in
mind?”
“Two thousand is more in line with the market.”
“What in hell do you know about the market?”
“Not much, but I know a thousand a month is too cheap.”
“Okay. Fifteen hundred a month for the first two months, then we’ll take a look.”
She lunged forward, gave him a quick and proper hug, and said, “Thanks, Jake.”
An hour later, Jake dealt with the second office personnel crisis of the morning.
Lucien barged in with hardly a knock and fell into a chair. “Jake, son,” he began in a
tone that meant trouble, “I’ve made a decision. For months, even years now I’ve been
wrestling with the decision about whether to begin the reinstatement process, sort of
start my comeback, you know?”
Jake, who was hard at work drafting a response to a motion filed by Stillman Rush,
slowly put down his pen and managed to look thoughtfully at Lucien. The word
“comeback” had not been used until that point, but in the past three months Lucien had
managed to drop every other possible hint that he wanted to become a lawyer again.
Though he feared it was coming, this news still put Jake on a tightrope. He didn’t want
Lucien around, especially Lucien as a lawyer because Lucien as an untitled and unpaid