Legally Addicted by Lena Dowling

mean for me to join you as well?’ She hadn’t meant to say it with quite so much ‘tone’, but the two couples’ heads lurched together in unison like spectators at a tennis match, first towards her and then at Brad, waiting for his reaction.
    ‘Of course, Georgia. You are one of the partners after all.’
    ‘Good, because I wouldn’t want to be excluded from any more decisions.’
    ‘I can assure you no decisions have been made without all of the partners present, including you.’
    ‘Then what were you talking about before out there?’
    She jerked her hand, palm upwards in the direction of the veranda.
    ‘The usual things men talk about around a barbeque: sport, cars, the state of the share market, but so far we haven’t discussed anything to do with the long-term future of the partnership.’
    His response was cool yet pleasant. Something about Brad’s unfailing manners in the face of conflict always managed to annoy the hell out of her.
    ‘I’m pleased to hear it.’
    There was an awkward silence. Roger cleared his throat as if he was about to say something and then thought better of it. The others looked down at the table.
    ‘Good, so that’s decided then, Georgia will be joining us on the veranda,’ Brad said finally. ‘I must apologise in advance though, Georgia, because while the cigars are optional, the aged single malt and the mosquitoes are compulsory, and with all of us out there, Vera and Beverley will get to eat all the chocolate.’
    ‘Oh we don’t mind at all, do we Vera? It will give us more time to catch up,’ Beverley said, smoothing things over further.
    Relieved smiles broke out around the table. It was a good save and she should have been grateful, but social humiliation of any kind cut too close to the bone. She clenched her napkin into a ball and forced a smile.
    ‘ Petit-fours , ladies?’ The caterer was at the table proffering a large mixed box of truffles and mini-chocolates. It gave her the perfect opportunity to escape.
    Out on the veranda she sat in a director’s chair, one of several set out around a large teak outdoor table.
    Brad took up a chair beside her, while Roger and John lingered inside, twittering with their wives; still gossiping, no doubt, about the exchange they had just witnessed.
    Well, let them gossip. Dayton and Llewellyn had brought Brad into this partnership without consulting her, and she had every right to be tetchy.
    ‘Are you okay, Georgia?’
    Brad took up a chair beside her and patted her arm. She hadn’t expected his touch to be comforting, but it had the effect of releasing the tension that had built up inside her and she didn’t try to shrug him off.
    ‘Yes, sorry. I don’t like being excluded from things, that’s all.’
    ‘So I noticed. Whisky?’ Not waiting for a response he handed her a glass, pouring a good inch of the tawny liquid in the bottom.
    ‘I do get what it feels like to be left out. Not excluded and whispered about in the way you would have experienced, of course, but ignored, yes, I get that.’
    Georgia had never told anyone how much the sniggers and comments whispered from behind raised hands at the exclusive high school she attended, at law school, and even now to some extent around court or at formal bar dinners, hurt her. But Brad somehow understood that was how it had been for her. She wanted to ask him what he meant about him being ignored too, but before she had a chance, Roger and John came outside, pulling up chairs opposite.
    Roger began spraying his arms and legs with insect repellent that he had brought with him, while John produced a briefcase and handed around papers setting out an order of business. The agenda listed all of the partner’s names — including hers. She shrank back into the fabric of the oversized chair and sipped the whisky; heat scalding her throat, mirroring the social burn she had just inflicted on herself.
    The others had intended to include her all along.
    Brad smacked at an