Animalistic Galley Fin Read Free

position as a senior paralegal as an insult. Sabrina expected her to quit, but her plan backfired. Arielle swallowed her pride and took her demotion in stride because she needed the money to pay her mother’s astronomical medical bills and while she had applied for other work, nothing had come through yet.
    That was six months ago.
    Ever since that day, it seemed Sabrina had made it her mission to make Arielle’s life as miserable as she could. And Arielle had vowed she would annoy Sabrina by staying at the firm for as long as she could manage. Why would she leave the firm so she could give Sabrina a victory? She planned on staying for the foreseeable future. Once she paid off the medical debts, though, she’d look for a new position somewhere else.
    Sabrina followed Arielle into her office. She pointed out a stack of documents on Arielle’s desk. “Check out the first folder. It contains a summons for Frank Darbo, the owner of the After Dark club. We need you to deliver it to him.”
    “Why me? Don’t we have a process server available?”
    “We do and he tried and failed. Darbo always seemed to sniff them out, so none of the process servers have panned out.”
    “What about the PI? Don’t we have that in-house investigator you just hired?”
    “It’s just our luck that Jessica is already on assignment in Vermont. She won’t be back until Friday. In the meantime, the summons must be delivered by tomorrow evening. Don’t screw up this job.”
    “Now, you just wait a minute. I’m a paralegal. This isn’t part of my job description.”
    Sabrina crossed her arms over her chest, looking triumphant. “Arielle, you do what I tell you to do. If you no longer want to follow my instructions, then feel free to look for another source of employment.” With that, she turned on her heels and exited Arielle’s office with the flounce of a peacock.
    Arielle deflated instantly.
    That bitch!
    Someone rapped on the door. Arielle looked up and saw her on and off and on again boyfriend, Chris Rolland, by the door. He was also an attorney at the firm and worked under Sabrina. They had been going out since their sophomore year in high school, but she had known him for a lot longer than that; they had been childhood friends since kindergarten.
    As a former star quarterback, Chris was tall, well-built, and reasonably good looking. Arielle had been crazy about him since the first time Chris asked her out. Chris said she was his first love. They had a bumpy ride over the years, yet had somehow managed to stay together.
    But over the last few months, they had drifted apart. Arielle suspected Chris had been cheating on her, but she didn’t have any proof. With her mother’s passing, losing her associate’s position, and the mounting medical bills she needed to pay, she didn’t have time to dwell on her suspicions. She had enough on her plate already.
    “Have you seen Sabrina?” Chris asked.
    “I’m fine, but thank you for asking,” she answered sarcastically. She looked like shit, her hair was messy, her clothes dirty, and the broken attaché sat on her desk, yet he remained oblivious. A sympathetic, “Hey, are you okay?” would be nice. After all, he was her boyfriend, right? She remained faithful all these years. Her eyes never even strayed to any other man. Arielle had been pretty when she was younger, but she knew she had kind of let herself go the last couple of years because of stress. Food was her refuge. Sweets were her anxiety release. Still, despite gaining that weight, she was still cute. Guys still looked at her. In fact, an insanely hot and gorgeous guy asked for her number earlier. She didn’t oblige him because she wasn’t single. Wouldn’t that, at least, merit her a brownie point of loyalty? Was a simple “Are you okay?” too much to ask?
    Chris’s expression darkened. “I wasn’t asking because I don’t want to get into an argument. I guess I can’t win, can I?”
    In Chris’ language, that