Chapter 1: black coffee

Serena woke up from bed as she always does in the early morning. She brushed her teeth, did her 10 step Korean skincare routine, and took her time to give the nourishment she needs for her svelte, 120-pound frame. She took really good care of herself, she had to as she knows a perfectly manicured look is how women like her could attain power and influence. She learnt that lesson early on in her life in high school. Always the queen bee, always the sports captain and never the loser.

She then took an additional 30 minutes to blow-dry her auburn hair, apply additional serums and massaged it into her dry ends. She was meticulous in her method. A type A-personality if you will. She would have this professional yet blend into the environment kind of look in the office. Stand out too much, she'll get ire from her colleagues, but by blending in, she'd be a chameleon in any situations. In doing so she'd wear a flattering yet modest makeup. For her daily look, she'd only wear a neutral brick red eyeshadow to highlight her olive eyes in order to bring out its beauty. Eyebrows never done so thick, always naturally. Neutral shade of lipstick, never smeared, applied gently, and dabbed off any excess. Of course, keeping her skincare in check, she'd just wear concealer to hide her blemishes. Her natural sharp features became softer and much more pleasing to the eye.

Serena worked her way up from being a lawyer's assistant to a paralegal at Coelho, Colbert, and Chet, or "triple C" as they call it in the Downtown Bay. A premier legal firm for almost a decade cementing itself as a reputable business and the go to law firm for many civil suits and legal defences. It still stands as one of the most prestigious firms to work in, and it still is, more so than ever now. The East Coast had a massive surge of Covid 19 cases, that unfortunately the town had to do a total lockdown. Businesses are beginning to shut down as more and more months went by without any incentives from the local government to help them generate income. The Omega variant took a lot of lives.

"Whoever is playing "Disease Ltd" up in the sky should stop." Serena thought as she had to wear another protective layer of mask and sprayed sanitizer all over the hands before she goes out from her apartment. Triple C is no less a business, a legal business that is. When clients suddenly died or dropped their cases because they can't pay the legal fees, eventually the business suffers. They can only survive now as they had savings and are careful with their investments. Making sure the stakeholders wouldn’t suddenly withdraw their support. Efficiency and competency are ramped up even more so now.

As Serena walks towards her office, she heard murmurs from her co-workers in the pantry. People were starting to gather up in the pantry to talk about the latest development in the firm.
"I heard that they're going to downsize our department."
"Yeah, I heard that too, with businesses closing down I'd doubt Mergers & Acquisition could even survive."
"Damn, this has been a tough year."
"I don't know how much I can take this; do you know how many cases briefs I had to do yesterday? 25! Then when I was finally done, Serena gave me-"
"Dude, shush, here she comes."
She passed by to get some coffee to her desk. The others quietly shifted away and went on to their cubicles to work. Serena's reputation as one of the senior staff in the office, even longer than the secretary aroused a level of precaution lest they want to be called to the HR. As a paralegal all she had to do was help the associates with research. Ongoing cases and tasks she's doing now are at the least 90% completed long before they need to be presented to the court. She didn’t need to worry about being let go, as she had been in the firm since it's very foundation. She never went on to take the bar exam, so instead she assisted an old friend in Harvard to get to where she is now. But in return of her lofty position, she had to make sure everyone was in line. Even if it meant pushing the workers a lot, which she has no trouble doing so.

"This is like high school all over again, get to work you fuckers. It’s a dog-eat-dog world, deal with it." Serena thought to herself.

Serena finally relaxed and sat back in her office. She started firing up her Pacbook and sent emails to her supervisors regarding the progress of Nelson’s defamation suit. She relaxed for a bit and enjoyed the sip of her black coffee and savoured the bitter, yet slightly acidic taste of the roasted coffee beans imported from Madagascar. The coffee had a vanilla aroma to it, her favourite flavour.

Suddenly, there was a knock on her office door.