The Rivals

By Christiane France

Rod Levins’ future as a newly qualified lawyer is anything but certain. After graduating with an above ninety-five-percent average, he’s in line for a job with the town’s number one law firm.

But so are three others, including the man Rod’s fantasized about for many months.

Jinks Jessop gives the impression he’s just as interested in Rod, but each time Rod makes a move, Jinks backs off. Is Jinks gay, straight, or simply one of his rivals for the job, amusing himself at Rod’s expense?

When it comes to both his career and his personal life, Rod knows that “wanting” and “getting” are not synonymous. But he can hope...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christiane France
• Release date: Sep 12, 2016
• ISBN: 9781536559491

Book preview

The Rivals

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I joined the other new lawyers waiting outside the boardroom for our meeting with the senior partner and wondered how I’d be feeling an hour from now. Would I be in? Or would I be out?

Hey, Rod, my man, how ya doing? Scott Grayling gave me a smile I knew to be as phony as his jovial greeting. A few minutes earlier, I’d had the dubious pleasure of witnessing the poor bastard’s hands shaking so badly he’d almost dropped his cell phone in the men’s room sink while making a call.

Hanging in there. You?

Truth? I just wish they’d hurry up and put me out of my misery. The suspense is killing me and my stomach, Scott muttered.

That goes double for me, David Murphy put in.

Dave looked pale and shaky, and I knew most if not all of us felt the same way. This was the day we’d all been waiting for. The day we were to find out which of us were to be accepted as temporary associates at McDain, Jessop & Partners, the most prestigious law firm in town, and which of us were to be cut loose to seek our fortunes elsewhere.

The six of us had all worked here together during our ten-month articling period, and we’d become friends. Or so I’d thought until a few days ago when we were admitted to the Ontario Bar as duly qualified lawyers and everything changed. Overnight, anything even approaching friendship vanished and we all began eyeing one another like a bunch of hungry junkyard dogs prepared to fight to the death over a single bone.

And that, whether I wanted to admit it or not, pretty much summed up the situation we were in—six of us vying for four temporary positions, which would eventually result in one of us being given a permanent job. Back in the good old days, any articling student who made it through with a ninety-five percent average was offered a position with McDain. In these tough economic times, the only thing anyone with the requisite marks was offered now was an invitation to what was known as the weeding out party and everyone knew what happened there.

The four with the highest marks would each get a temporary reprieve and the opportunity to prove to the partners they were worthy of becoming the chosen one. The others would be thanked for their services to the firm and told to pick up their termination packages on the way out.

I desperately wanted to be the one, but had I done enough to get the job? I’d worked my ass off, and I’d achieved the required minimum of ninety-five percent or I wouldn’t be here. But, even though six of us had made the grade, I had yet to find out if I was in the top four. And the suspense didn’t stop there. The tiny five percent spread between ninety-five and one hundred—and making a hundred was almost unheard of—was small enough to add another twist. In the event there were no clear cut winners, for example if all six of us had the exact same score, then the firm would go ahead and pick the four men they wanted.

If it came down to a tie, would I be one of those selected? Over the past ten months I’d asked a lot of questions in an attempt to figure out my chances of permanent employment, but I was still no wiser. There were two gay lawyers already on board and since I’d never bothered to hide the fact I was gay, I figured I had nothing to worry about on that score. My father had a number of valuable connections in the business and political worlds, and I knew a few people in Toronto and Ottawa. If there was anything for me to worry about, it was too late now. Whatever the partners’ decision, it was made.

I checked my watch. The invitation to the meeting had specified five o’clock. There was still one minute to go. I waited, watching as the second hand swept around the dial. It reached full circuit and the boardroom door was thrown open. I pulled back my shoulders, straightened my tie and followed my fellow competitors inside.

Forrester McDain and several of the other partners were already there, seated at the long, polished table. They waited until we were all inside and the door closed, then McDain got to his feet and rapped on the polished boardroom table for our attention.

First, gentlemen, may I congratulate each of you on passing your exams and being admitted to the bar. He glanced at each one of us in turn. Now for the bad news. He sighed and ran a beautifully manicured hand over his salon-styled but thinning silver hair. "From its inception almost a century ago, this firm has had a policy of hiring any articling student who achieved a ninety-five percent average. But, as we say today, that was then and this is now. The sad fact is times have changed, and we here at McDain, Jessop & Partners must change with them. Things are tough for everyone everywhere, including those of us here in the legal community. Competition is verging on cutthroat, billings are down, and for many of our clients, loyalty has become something they can no longer afford.

In other words, gentlemen, instead of hiring all of you as we would have done as recently as five years ago, I regret we can only hire one new lawyer this year. As to which of you it will be... He paused, presumably for effect. "After discussing the matter with my partners, what we are prepared to do, subject to your acceptance, of course, is to give the four of you with the highest marks another three months with us in which to prove yourselves. At the end of that time, we’ll meet again and give you our decision. If there’s any one of you here who prefers not to be included in this final selection process, please raise your hand