PURE FICTION
Random Connections
Amid the grey chill of an ordinary day, Jamie pulled into the designated spot as she returned from a lunch meeting. Looking at her watch, she noted she had almost an hour before her next appointment with a new client.
At her age, Jamie felt 31 should be an exciting time. She had a very unique perspective of looking to the future in a mindset of retrospect. It had provided the ability to plan how much she weighed her legal education and the debt which accompanied it, to where she would land as an attorney in her future. Shakespeare had been an unsung hero to her at a young age, and in the wake of her father’s death, she found herself reaching the conclusion she absolutely must be an attorney. Thus began her lifelong outlook for futuristic retrospection.
Jami always took time for a mid-week luncheon, routinely scheduled to help keep balance in her life. She wasn’t in a relationship to any degree of commitment. It was challenging enough being a woman in the ranks of many professions, and Jamie was in a good place considering her choices. She had carefully calculated when it would be time for a family. For a while longer her career was her focus and society had no chance of defining or deciding her life.
Why, then, was she still sitting in the car? She glanced at her watch again and noted the passing of nearly 20 minutes and she couldn’t fathom what her mind had been doing.
Reflecting back on her luncheon, she recalled waiting for two of the other regulars to arrive. The four who had been seated ordered drinks and continued to wait. As she sipped on her wine, smiling in response to some of the stories of crazy moments in the past week being tossed among the group, Jamie felt her phone buzz.
She reached down into her handbag to check notifications for any urgency. There was a message from Jacob, one of the two they were waiting for. The second missing person, Ellie, would be with him.
Jamie tapped to open the message.
Jacob simply stated, “Tell everyone to fill their plates. We won’t be there today. Have to deal with Shakespeare.”
Jamie wasn’t sure what it meant. She, Jacob, and Ellie would often find themselves talking about Shakespeare. With all the comedy and tragedy reflected in his work, Jamie had no idea what to make of the message and shared his information with the group.
The older man in the group, a true gentleman by rights, laughed at Jamie when she shared the contents of the text, word for word.
“Those two! Let me tell you, they will use every possible element as if setting the stage for a dramatic close,” Will stated with a throaty chuckle.
Will Meyers, well-versed and positively enigmatic by nature, employed Chase Conners and Kimber “Burley” Ackerman, the other two individuals in the group. Will had wrestled his way in when he followed the two to their luncheon after an office dispute a couple of years ago, at the dawn of Meyers and Associates. It was just that measure of a man necessary to charm his way into a weekly luncheon and earn the esteemed title of mentor to the younger five law-loving “young ‘uns” he took on that day.
Jamie checked her watch again, pulled her thoughts together, and went into the office. For the rest of the day, she kept her mind attached to the needed demands which only required she meet with her 2 o’clock appointment, meet with the team for an afternoon update on their cases, and step into court to file some paperwork by the end of the day. Closing her office and locking it after tallying and checking the schedule for tomorrow to make sure she was on track she checked her phone for messages again.
On the drive home, Jamie couldn’t get the mystery of the text message out of her mind. It brought to mind, a framed playbill of the first time she had attended the theater, thrilled to see Shakespeare’s work.
The memory of that day had been pivotal in her life. Her father had purchased tickets to see Henry VI. He was as careful a planner as Jamie was, and also a fierce advocate for justice. There were many a meal where he was absent, and almost as many where dinner was an open discussion about modern-day laws’ troubles. As a police sergeant, Richard was lovingly called Dick by those closest to him. He wasn’t lost to the humor of the double-edged meaning of the nickname. In love, anger, or jest, the nickname stuck. While he wasn’t a fan of theatre, he knew how important it was to his daughter. Dick used that day to change her designs on her future plans to join the police force. After the play was over, and the playbill lovingly rested on her lap during the drive home, Dick introduced the topic of his frustration with the law and how much worth Jamie could provide to the system with her love for justice.
Years later, her father having been laid to rest almost two years before she began law school, Jamie found the playbill in one of her drawers while she was packing to leave. She later framed it to help her remember the debate that evening and how critical the context is. The image of the framed material lingered in her mind and she rerouted the car to head toward Jacob’s.
Standing on his doorstep nearly an hour later, Jamie noted the darkness of Jacob’s home and the empty driveway. Reaching out, she rang the doorbell. Jacob had a practice of keeping his car in the garage when he didn’t want to be disturbed. As the seconds ticked away, Jamie began mentally listing other reasons he may not be answering. He could be at Ellie’s. There was the possibility of Jacob and Ellie having left to go assist someone.
The context of the text message began to weigh on her. The problem with the message is that there was an absence of context and too many possibilities from the countless discussions the three friends had shared over Shakespeare. She tried to think of a particular play or passage that was more common than others. There simply wasn’t anything to draw from.
Jamie impatiently reached out again and rang the doorbell. She heard the chime ringing in the darkness of the home. A light went on, spreading a soft glow on the inside of the window. Jamie stood back and watched for a moment. Jacob was a smart-home technology wizard. She stepped back to the door and rang the doorbell yet again.
She felt her phone vibrate and reached into her jacket pocket. Checking the messages, she saw Jacob had noted her presence. She had a message from him.
“Go home. I’m not there.”
Choosing to make her point, she reached into her handbag and retrieved a pen and small notepad. Opening it, she scribbled a message, then held it up to the camera over her head.
“Call me. Then I’ll leave.”
Jacob replied in a text, “Go home and I’ll call you when I can.”
Jamie glared at the camera for several moments, hoping the icy expression would change his mind and urge him to call. After a moment, realizing he could have just as easily decided to ignore her, or possibly be waist-deep in events, she decided to save the look for another courtroom. She’d been told it was one of her winning expressions.
“Not winning enough,” she sighed herself, shaking her head as she returned to her vehicle. As she started her car and buckled in for the drive home, she realized she was still shaking her head.
“Jacob, save the drama for the courtroom,” she spoke into the darkness around her, her attention back on the road.
The following morning had her wide awake, as usual by 4:30 a.m. Having had such a solid routine left her without a need for an alarm clock. She threw on sweats and headed to the kitchen to make coffee. Her favorite taste was the rich dark black coffee her father would share with her on occasion. The bitterness had a subtle sweetness for those who took the time to appreciate it.
“No frills and foo-foo,” her dad used to tell her when they ran into each other in the early morning light of the kitchen.
While the coffee perked, Jamie did some routine stretches before spending some time on the treadmill, monitoring her heart rate and keeping adequate levels. When the program on the treadmill timed down, she slowed for a cool-down cycle and began to mentally review her schedule again. Finishing the last few cooling stretches, Jamie hit the shower and dressed. The balance and simplicity she kept in life afforded her to shine in the workplace without hours of attention to hair and makeup. She dressed and spun her hair up loosely in a knot with a scrunchie to let it dry with a relaxed natural curl. Surveying herself in the mirror, she went to the kitchen to enjoy a cup of coffee and a quick breakfast. Collecting her briefcase and purse, Jamie was fueled, fired up, and out the door to work exactly two hours after her eyes opened.
Normally on the drive to work, which took just under an hour, Jamie spent time thinking about issues she would find in her cases. On occasion, her thoughts might go to a current event or a law topic that was affecting another case inside the firm. Today, however, she found herself trying to quell the irritation building inside her. Being mindful of her mental health, she knew it shouldn’t wait. Finding the root would help address it.
Jake. And Ellie.
Without any effort, her thoughts found the source.
Deciding action is the only way to go, Jamie pulled over and sent a quick text to a group chat she maintained with her two cohorts. In the message, she made it clear that she knew something was up simply by the silence throughout the day, following the absence during the luncheon. She made sure to add an understanding of not sharing sensitive information, but attention to communication amongst friends. True to her nature, she ended the brief text by letting her friends know she expected some enlightening response from them by lunchtime.
Signaling for traffic, Jamie felt somewhat relieved and went on her way.
Arriving at work, Jamie was able to spend some time in the small law library checking and reading up on some cases to make notes for some pro bono work she was doing to help a group of individuals with research on the topic of child abuse. The time let her relax and develop a smooth transition to her workday. She preferred the early hours to hours after work.
Jamie paused and went into the break room to grab a bottle of water. Lost in thought, she leaned back against the counter in front of the sink. She reflected on the faces of her foodie comrades and their mid-week meetings. How had Wednesdays been decided? Who was the first among the group to begin this? How had they all met? Who was the ringleader or were they all knights of a round table continuing to pave the way for justice in this otherwise dark world?
Again, Jamie found herself imagining the playbill framed in her office beside her law degree. What on earth does Shakespeare have to do with anything, she wondered.
Memories of the evening with her father floated into her mind. She recalled her stolen glances, knowing that night at the theatre had been for her, and of no interest. Yet, each small peek in his direction showed he was giving the play his undivided attention. There was irony at the moment during Part II, act IV, Scene II, Line 73. The character in Shakespeare’s play, Dick the butcher was speaking.
The words echoed and she recalled her father’s arm reaching up to rest on the back of her seat, his fingertips reaching down to touch her shoulder.
“…first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.”
It was that line her father chose to discuss later that evening as they drove home. He used the debate to share that it was his job to help protect everyone, including the people who broke the law. During their discussion, he shared how difficult it was to stand for justice when you knew the scene you encountered offered none. They discussed law. Following the law. Creating the law. Fulfilling the law. The roles that each person played. The context of the play was never allowed to be forgotten as it was actually meant to speak highly of the attorneys who uphold the justice.
“Those attorneys exist on both sides of the courtroom, young lady.” Dick was insistent that she never forget the role she played, and that her superpower was the way she used her relentless opinions and facts to plead her cases at home. At the early age of 14, her father gifted her a journal on her birthday. Inscribed by his hand it read, “To a beautiful young lady who has argued her case on every occasion and made me a better man.”
The inscription was in reference to the fact that his every attempt at grounding her usually resulted in dismissing the case when she took the time to outline the facts of events unfolding for him. Though it wasn’t always the outcome she preferred, it provided opportunities for her parents to understand her more and they were a close family. Her father had passed when she was 16, and Jamie was left with her mother. There were challenges, but the presence of her father was always close.
Jamie left the break room and went to collect her phone. Her thoughts had turned to Will, and she sent him a text asking him to call her before he went into the office. Ruminating on her friends, she had developed a plan to have answers by the end of the day. Will, no doubt, knew something.
As expected, people began filtering into work and her watch vibrated as a reminder to close up and go to her office to begin her workday. She stood up, pulling the scrunchie from her hair and running her fingers through it to tame the waves. Cleaning up and restoring order in the moderate room, she was able to turn away and begin her agenda. Jamie knew, by some intuitive means, that Will wasn’t going to call, and she wasn’t going to hear from Jacob by lunchtime either. She had already concluded the events unfolding and some buried level of her mind began working on it.
Jamie was grateful when something cropped up that detoured normalcy in her day. Where most people in her profession appreciated the trust in their experience to process simple cases, have everything go smoothly, or at least not challenge their expertise, Jamie was the opposite. Of course, she was content with her skills and abilities, but she felt the most growth when actions filed seemed against her clients seemed counterintuitive. It provided her the opportunity to evaluate something from a different perspective.
Today provided twice the appreciation because it kept her engrossed in work and left the outer edges of her mind dealing with the personal elements of her missing friends.
The particular case with her attention today was also the reason she became involved with the Prevent Child Abuse Cohort. An acquaintance from another firm had contacted Jamie in regard to a family who was trying to bring attention to a parent’s misuse of the children’s financial profiles. While it was a clear case of fraud, there was a powerful element present with the mental health levels of the parent in question. The eldest of the children had just turned 18 and learned the mother had been using the information of her children to purchase things on credit which oddly enough, included a car. More than one, at that. When Jamie had agreed to meet the young lady, she was startled at the amount of documentation provided to support a claim against the mother, but she didn’t want to sue. Instead, sadly, this young lady years beyond her age was seeking to have her mother declared unsound of mind and put her own care, and also seeking to care for three smaller siblings. The case was unprecedented by any court in the nation. The senior partners were watching closely for that reason.
There were many cases where adult children had obtained guardianship of an aging parent. However, the concept of a child only legal enough to be called an adult, but still not old enough to purchase alcohol, yet to build a case allowing such a new adult to become the head of household and also care for younger siblings? And a parent the young lady was trying to prove incompetent and incapable of continuing the role of parent?
Part of the claim rested on a pile of documents, demonstrating bills and charges the mother had accrued over the span of two years. The daughter had obtained work and received help from her mother to open a bank account after getting her own job. It only took weeks before the daughter realized her mother was accessing everything deposited. The bank had explained to the young lady that a parent has the power to oversee the account of their minor child. While doing her own research, she learned her mother had purchased a vehicle using the daughter’s identifying information, not just once but on three separate occasions. Between the years of 16 and 18, the daughter had argued and fought repeatedly with the mother and sought legal advice on her own. Each time, she went home thinking of her younger siblings and what was at stake with them. At every turn, she was being advised to take legal action against her mother, and file charges.
The young girl had developed “enough wisdom” over the years, to learn to call creditors and lenders, as well as credit reporting agencies pretending to be her mother. Bordering on fraud itself, she was ashamed to file anything against her mother. It was based on guilt experienced from her own deception. However, she was able to secure and freeze information related to her younger siblings. The efforts lead to fights and the daughter found herself taking a beating at one point, no doubt to try to create fear and get her to back off. No charges or actions were ever filed for the incident, and bruises had been noticed by two friends but the young lady never explained them.
The mother, indignant about her daughter’s choices, evicted her daughter leaving her homeless and she found shelter with an uncle. Although he offered excellent support emotionally, he confessed to moments of his own weakness and some insight to the grandparents hoping to help his niece understand. It served to motivate the young lady even more, but the support stopped at the threshold of the home. Her uncle refused to help and threatened to damage the young lady’s efforts if she attempted to involve him. This led to the insistence that too much damage was already being done and she was supplying anything requested, being firm in her own desires for an outcome.
Today, Thursday, most of the day was derailed while Jamie made calls and inquiries to speak to her client and consult with the senior partners. She was put on the path to pursue specific documents and was assigned someone to focus their attention on researching cases to support the direction they were planning on taking.
The day came and went, as otherwise expected on the personal front. Jamie received no communication from Will, Jacob, or Ellie. She was certain at this point that Will was aware of something. Being the strength and inspiration in their little luncheon group, Jamie realized Will’s quick dismissal the day before was meant to put everyone at ease after getting Jamie to share the text in its entirety. Once that was done, Will knew to remain silent about any details. The fact that Jamie shared a special connection with Jacob and Ellie, Will imagined Jamie would determine some dramatic element was at play and hoped to keep her mind at ease. Jamie also imagined Will wasn’t returning her call since Jacob was remaining incommunicado for the day.
Jamie drove home that night with some ease at the distraction her current case was headed. It only slightly prevented her from detouring to visit Will for solid answers to the personal worries concerning her friends. There was one more day before the weekend when everyone should be practicing the mantra for “mindful mental health in the workplace.” She found herself supported and encouraged more than once with the camaraderie and bonds developed by their mid-week gatherings.
With the workday routine, came the comfort of operating by rote. As she did the day before, Jamie was up at 4:30 a.m. for the same schedule minus the moment of pulling over to send Jacob a text. By 9:30 a.m. she was clearing the office library, running her fingers to straighten her hair, and was at her desk when the workday commenced. Her client was coming in to meet with a group of people within the firm to review documentation. Jamie was still hoping to convince her client of the value attached to pursuing criminal action against the mother in this case. More than once, Jamie had worked with state social service workers and their supervisors; it was one of the early calls Jamie had made and consulted with them regarding the likelihood of state support for her young client. Guardianship of the children was a strong, almost guaranteed, possibility. The situation of the mother was tricky, and attempting to prove the mother unstable on financial claims alone would have to prove mental illness that affected parenting. Finances wouldn’t be a way to do that. The young lady was arriving today with pictures from the mother’s childhood, journals, newspaper articles, as well as other documents that included letters from other family members. She had gone to the home in the mother’s absence and her siblings had helped her locate the boxes they needed to comb through. Jamie felt something bigger was about to be uncovered and she felt certain it was going to shock everyone, including herself. Jamie smiled, thinking about how her father taught her to trust her gut.
The day did not disappoint, ending with information lining up to detail the life of a younger mother who found herself alone after the death of her husband in a car crash. There was a host of information to be collected but a strong likelihood that substance abuse was involved, and the possibility of a criminal case being reopened with charges against the mother. Jamie had consulted a trauma counselor to be present in the office before the day ended to meet with her client. Where the day began with gut feelings, it ended with a better understanding of the conditions at play in the client’s family dynamics.
As the office was closing, a couple of the secretaries stood in the break room rinsing their coffee cups. Approaching, she could hear them and she stood back as the conversation caught her attention. Three of them stood in the kitchenette sharing snippets of people’s lives who they knew had been affected by the absence of laws to protect children from financial abuse. In just under ten minutes, she heard them discussing everything from gaming and writing awards to forcing children to do yard work providing family income, and even anecdotes with definite parallels to that of her client.
Jamie put a smile on her face and stood up, pacing herself to appear as if she was just rushing in to rinse her own cup and grab a water.
“Good evening, ladies. We are the last ones here today it seems.” Jamie sounded almost jovial despite the fact the tone in the room before she rounded the corner was almost conspiratorial.
“I imagine you are all headed home?” She spoke with a smile, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge.
The three nodded to her, smiling back in return.
One of them spoke up.
“Do you think there’s room to get more attention to situations like this case you are going through? You know, it’s tough not to talk about it in the trenches. I didn’t realize how widespread the problem is.”
Jamie paused and gave the woman her sincere attention. All of these women were at least a decade her senior and Jamie was certain their collective experiences would merit any number of interesting notes on cases. She regarded them with respect and smiled.
“You’re all correct. Maybe our lives and experiences together will warrant the changes we hope to see for future generations. In the meantime, I’ll leave you to your afternoons and the families you have waiting for you. Thank you for the value you provide here and at home.” Jamie reached out and touched the arm of the woman closest to her as she gave them a smile and went on her way to tend to matters more personal. She sounded as sincere as she felt.
Instead of heading home, Jamie had her map set to take her to Ellie’s parents’ home. Two years ago, she and Ellie spent a week there on a vacation. The home was remote and several hours away, but she knew the silence from Jake and Ellie, the closest to her from her luncheon group, was going to be at the root of the concern.
Jamie spent the time on the drive focusing on the value of not being an attorney, and not letting her mind write the stories she feared. She knew from personal experience that her intuition often led her exactly where she needed to go. She identified with being concerned, and not worried so there was nothing to fear on this path.
The drive took her almost three hours before reaching the driveway just after midnight. The porch was lit up, and she saw Jacob and Ellie sitting below the light, watching as she pulled up.
She parked behind Jacob’s car and took a deep breath. She watched as he stood up, reaching out to rest his hand on Ellie’s shoulder before turning to take the steps down and greet Jamie.
She got out of the car and closed the door behind her, just in time to meet Jacob. Jacob wrapped his arms around Jamie and gave a soft grunt with the hug as he held onto her for a moment. Still holding her, he leaned his head back and almost groaned.
“Jamie, the point was to keep you focused on what’s happening with you, silly woman.”
Jamie pulled back and leaned against the car.
“Well, Jake. If that were the case, you should have provided more than Shakespeare’s name. Maybe provided a lead with a play and go so far as the scene and line and you know…yada yada.”
Jake let go and dug his hands in his pockets, causing his shoulders to lift as he looked down at his friend, his lips closed tightly. He thought about how fierce she was with justice, mental health, friendships, and balance, and realized the list would go on forever. He accepted she was here and move forward. He smiled down at her, his expression providing the tell for his thoughts. Jamie loved the fact that Jacob lacked a poker face.
“Okay. Give.” Jamie sounded relentless and resolute as Jacob turned, letting her wrap her arm around his waist as they marched up to greet Ellie.
As they walked toward her, Jacob began to fill Jamie in on family life, becoming closer to Ellie, and the two of them coming up for a surprise trip. As soon as they arrived, they encountered a scene and struggle between the two parents, completely uncharacteristic. Authorities were called, and things were messy for a moment. All of this in the span of six days. Jacob and Ellie had come up to talk to Ellie’s parents about getting married. Instead, they had been spending their time trying to unravel events with Ellie’s parents from the past year. As they reached Ellie, Jamie bent to give her a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek. Jacob continued with the story, sitting beside Ellie. Jamie stood back against the railing, facing her friends. She watched the worn expression on Ellie’s face as Jacob finished.
Jamie was silent to let the moment build. Her eyes never left Ellie’s.
Jamie spoke slowly. “So. Let me see if I have all of this.” She rolled her eyes up, seeming to try to review the conversation. “You are basically saying you came to right the world in your quiet family corner.”
She looked back at her friends, appearing offended.
“I can’t believe you would keep all of this from me.” Jamie squatted down in front of them, a hand on one knee of each of her friends.
Ellie spoke, sounding almost tired. “Jamie, we know what it’s like in the legal field. There’s a reason we all became fast friends.” Ellie sounded trite and remorseful.
Jamie chuckled, smiled again, and reached to clasp Ellie’s hand.
“Exactly, Ellie! All this craziness will always be here. That’s why relationships and trust are important. And in all of that?”
Jamie paused for effect again. Jacob and Ellie sat, not knowing what would come next.
“You are getting married!” Jamie almost squealed quietly, letting her face light up.
For the moment, the friends had something good to share. Jamie knew soon enough that conversations about Shakespeare would preclude discussions about her case and this family.
“Let’s focus on the good, and everything will wait. Tell me more.” Jamie led them skillfully, the way she led in courtrooms. In moments, they were pouring out their courtship, life forgotten behind them.
“These friends and this mentorship,” Jamie thought to herself, “are the lifeblood and backbone for being healthy in this industry. Yes, together we are stronger.”
Final Thoughts:
We spend so much time in our own mental health, or illness, that we are losing the ability to spend time in thought together. Whether it is a family concern, a friendship, or a personal problem at work, we can reach out to one another. Isolation, resulting from the fact that we hope to spare someone else our pain and sit buried in the weight of a problem, is how we are losing connections to relationships.
Few people take the time to think of the burdens and daily experiences in other jobs.
You doubt me? Consider the people in checkout lines berating cashiers while their own children are screaming and picking on each other. Think of the nicknames designed to label an offensive behavior?
You can choose to be part of a solution or part of a problem. Choose to work together and be present for one another and spend as much time sharing accomplishments as challenges.
Follow Pure Fiction for more fabulous stories and other outstanding writers.
Follow me for other random topics, which often delve into life lessons, mental health, parenting, relationships and so much more.