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and talented. 
    And Nichole was definitely brilliant, one of the smartest
and most talented people he’d ever met. During her first few days she was
already as competent as some lawyers he had hired with six years of education. 
He had great faith that she would go far in the business.
    He clicked onto his computer and started checking his email.
Bills, spam, advertisements; he filed and deleted.
    Until he saw one from his brother…
    …reminding him of his obligations that evening.
    “Oh crap.”
    He picked up the phone and rang the front desk.  “Meghan?”
    “Yes?”
    “Was this the day I was supposed to do that thing with my
brother?”
    “Yes, sir.  I added it to your schedule this morning.”
    He pulled out his phone and saw that it was true: six
o’clock that night, a four hour block with his brother’s name attached, along
with the word ‘clinic’.
    “I have to reschedule.”
    “You can’t.”
    “I’ll just tell him I have a doctor’s appointment.”
    “Sir…”
    “Or maybe that I have plans with Deborah. He can’t get mad
if I’m spending the evening with my wife.”
    “Sir!” Meghan said, her voice firm.  Richard was about to
speak again, to continue rambling, but her tone silenced him.  “You told me, in no uncertain terms, that I was not to allow you to reschedule this again.”
    “But that was months ago and—!”
    “ And you’ve already cancelled on him four times.
You’re doing this, sir.”
    Richard let out a long sigh.  “Fine.  I’ll go.”
    “Great!” Meghan said, her voice cheerful.  “Stacy is back
and I’ve got your coffee. I’m sending Nichole in.”
    “Alright,” he said, hanging up.  A few seconds later his
door opened.
    Nichole strode in, carrying an enormous cup of coffee in
both hands. She walked gingerly, as though the floor were made of egg shells.
    She had seemed shy and tentative during her first few days.
Very demure. But that was all an act until she got used to Richard and the rest
of the staff.
    Then she became a completely different person, passionate
and evocative, totally unafraid to express herself.  That was the side Richard
loved to draw out of her. The side that would one day make her an excellent
lawyer, and help him acquire a lot of new clients.
    “Here you go,” she said, handing him the cup.
    “Thank you,” he said, setting it on his desk.  “How are you
today?”
    “I’m good,” she said.
    “How is your mother?”
    “She is well,” Nichole said. 
    She bit her lip, the way she always did when an
uncomfortable topic was brought up. 
    It was a tic Richard had noticed not long after hiring Nichole,
and something he would need to train out of her when she was hired into his
practice. If she had that tic in a courtroom, any well trained opponent would
know right away that she was lying.
    But, her personal life was none of his business, and if she
wanted to lie to him about her mother that was her prerogative.
    “And how is your little brother doing? Tyler, right?”
    She smiled.  “Tyler is very well, thank you.  He loves
school and is having so much fun finger painting and drawing. He told me he
wants to be an artist when he grows up.”
    “As good a goal as any,” Richard said.  “I never was good at
finger painting. I hated getting the paint all over me. Which is odd, because
when I was in middle school I would put drops of glue on my palms, watch them
dry, and then peel the flakes off.”
    She laughed.  “Really?”
    “What can I say? I was an overachiever. Maybe a little strange
as well.”
    “Can’t say I ever did that.”
    “It was a different time.  You would have still been in
diapers, if you were born at all. This was back before texting and
insta-gramming and whatever else young people use today to entertain
themselves.”
    “Tumblr,” she offered.
    Richard waved his hand. “Before Tumblering, we had to
entertain ourselves with what we had. And glue is quite fascinating.”
    “I’m sure,”