Page 2 of His Boss for Christmas
Peter sneered. “Do people actually believe that bullshit?”
“You know they do,” Justin said with another yawn, rubbing his face like a sleepy kitten.
Peter narrowed his eyes, wondering if he really should go a little easier on the kid. It wouldn’t look good if his personal associate fell asleep during a meeting with a client—or in court.
“It’s actually pretty fascinating,” Justin said. “The spell apparently makes the person feel extremely antsy, urging them to reunite with their other half, and they can sense the general distance and direction their soulmate is. That’s why people are so excited. They want to go look for their soulmates before the spell wears off. It’s not every day you basically get a free soulmate spell cast on you. Granted, this spell doesn’t seem as precise as the tailor-made soulmate spells, but it still directs you to the general vicinity of your soulmate. And it’s free. Do you know how expensive those spells normally are?”
“Only idiots pay for them,” Peter said. The notion of soulmates had always seemed like juvenile nonsense to him. Witches insisted that they were real, that every person had their other half, someone who supposedly completed them. And never mind that millions of people lived perfectly happy lives without ever meeting their soulmates. But of course witches had an answer for that too: they claimed that the soulmate connection wasn’t necessarily romantic in nature, that it was possible to be happily married to someone else but the person would always be missing out on the connection that would make them “complete.” What utter nonsense. It was beyond belief that there were idiots who paid fortunes for those spells.
Justin shrugged with a wry smile. “Rich people have a lot of money to burn. Didn’t you spend half a million on a car last month?”
“Don’t compare my car to a parlor trick.” Peter hummed thoughtfully, drumming his fingers over the armrest. “The North American coven must be pissed that the Eastern European coven encroached into their territory and ruined a very profitable side of their business. Arrange a meeting with the coven. We might get some nice billables thanks to this mess if they want to sue.”
“Only you,” Justin said with a laugh. “Can you even practice international magical law?”
Of course he could. He wasn’t one of the best lawyers in the country for nothing. “As my associate, you should know the answer to that question.”
Justin rolled his eyes. “Anyway, people are excited. HR probably isn’t though.” He smiled. “Some people actually tried to butter me up to convince you to let them take a leave of absence. Isn’t it amusing that people think I can make you do something?”
Peter wasn’t amused in the slightest. Leave was something unheard of in a high-profile law firm like theirs. He couldn’t even remember the last time he was on vacation. Possibly five years ago. “Leave? Have they lost their minds?”
Justin smiled again, blinking at him sleepily. “I told them you’d say that. But I think some of them were hoping you’d feel the urge to look for your soulmate too and would be more understanding.” Justin yawned again. “They don’t know you like I do. As if you’d ever allow some silly nonsense like that to control your actions.”
“Exactly. Now get back to work. Contact the North American coven and offer them legal counsel. Tell them that wecan offer them the services of any lawyer except for me. I’m obviously too busy for them.”
“And what if they don’t fall for it and request another lawyer?”
Peter raised his eyebrows. “They won’t. A complex, international case like that would require the best. I’m the best.”
“The most arrogant for sure.”
“It’s not arrogance if it’s true. Don’t forget that we have a meeting with Sabatini in fifteen minutes.”
“Unless he went searching for his soulmate too.”
“I doubt it. Billionaires don’t have souls.”
Justin chuckled, getting to his feet. “Neither do millionaire lawyers, apparently.”
“You’re hilarious.”
“I know.”
Chapter 2
Three days later, Peter had to admit that he had really underestimated how much the soulmate nonsense would affect their firm. Most of their employees had requested leave, and when they had been denied, some of them had quit and quite a few threatened to. HR had been working hard, trying to appease the unhappy employees. To Peter’s distaste, in the end they were forced to compromise. They gave everyone some time off but staggered it, to make sure the firm ran smoothly—as smoothly as possible when people had lost their fucking minds. Everyone seemed distracted either by the urge to find their soulmates or the elation at having found them. It was utterly disgusting.
Peter felt like the only sane person in the building. Well, with a few rare exceptions. He was somewhat surprised that Justin didn’t seem affected by the craze, either. Normally his associate had a soft, bleeding heart, and the soulmate nonsense seemed right up his alley. But to Peter’s surprise and pleasure, Justin remained as efficient and useful as ever. Not that Peter ever let Justin know that he considered him useful. Associates needed a firm hand to toughen them up, not praise to stroke their fragile egos.
Though, truth be told, Justin probably deserved some praise—and a nice bonus. Not only did he not let this nonsense affect his work, but he was also more dedicated to his job than ever, working in Peter’s office all night long to pick up the slack of other associates. Strictly speaking, Justin shouldn’t be workingin Peter’s office—or sleeping on his couch, for that matter—when he had a perfectly functional cubicle next to the other associates, but Peter decided to take pity on him. He wouldn’t have been able to bear being around those idiots 24/7, either. Besides, Peter had a study in his penthouse in the same building as the offices of Hayes and Turner, so he had no need for his office at night. Justin could sleep in it.
“When will this goddamn spell wear off?” Peter said, glowering at yet another leave request on his desk. A request from aseniorpartner. He’d had a higher opinion of his partners’ intelligence before this debacle. Only Turner seemed as uninterested in the soulmates bullshit as he was.
Justin looked up from the paperwork he was proofing on Peter’s couch, a yellow marker in his hand. “The North American coven estimates that the spell will last at least another week. Which you would have known about if you didn’t foist the case on me. If only those poor people knew that they’re paying for your ridiculously high billable hours when they should be paying my much lower rates.”
“You’re my associate. You’re here to do the boring work that’s beneath me. I’ll take over the case once we’re at the negotiation table. Until then, you do the grunt work. Your work is mine, because you’re mine.”
Justin stared at him. “I don’t think that’s how it works,” he said faintly, clearing his throat. His face was a little red.