Though it was commonly known you could never get a second shot at making a first impression, Priya had woke up Monday morning with just that goal in mind, as candidates were expected to arrive for eight-thirty, she walked through MNS' doors a whole half-hour early.

She wasn't the only one who'd thought to show up well ahead of schedule.

"Morning, Tiger. Don't you clean up well?"

Priya set down her satchel at her empty workstation. In the rows of cubicles, they were the only two. Hadrian's desk was four feet to the left from the one assigned to her and he sat cocked back in his chair, polished Prada shoes pitched on the edge.

Hadrian toasted her with his Starbucks coffee. "Love the suit."

She'd elected to start her first week in the candidate pool dressed in her pricey two-thousand-dollar suit—a deepest blue with fitted trousers cropped at her ankles. Paired with an ivory blouse, black pumps, hair coiled in a chignon and the barest of accessories, Priya felt she exuded capable, confident sophistication.

Where she'd dressed simple and safe, Hadrian had gone for something bolder in a soft-shouldered, quarter-lined summer jacket that appeared both comfortable but still structured. The blue green fabric had a discreet tonal grid pattern in slightly lighter shades for visual richness, complimenting his vibrant paisley dress shirt and simple lavender tie.

A look that could easily transition from the boardroom to a night out at a trendy bar. If Caitriona were here, she wouldn't know whether to jump him or raid his closet.

"Are you mocking me?" she demanded, annoyed that in the span of thirty seconds he'd shattered her confidence and now had her questioning if what she'd considered 'put together' would be interpreted as 'trying too hard'?

"Did it come out as mockery? Sorry, didn't mean to offend you. Must be the London accent. Makes everything I say sound frustratingly arrogant." He dropped his feet to the floor and pushed out his seat as Priya slid into hers, swiveling her chair around to give him her back as she slotted in her company issued laptop to its docking station and logged in.

Given they had at least twenty minutes before the morning meeting with Ms. Nagao was set to take place, she wanted to get a head on emails and any correspondence that might've popped up since she'd last checked her account at seven fifteen.

"You know," Hadrian spoke, weaving around from his desk over towards hers, "it's customary to follow someone's compliment with one of your own."

"Very well," Priya sighed, and swung a glance at him over her shoulder, "my hair looks wonderful this morning."

"Say that again?"

Rolling away from her desk, Priya rose to face him and mirrored his pose—one hand braced to the cubicle paneling and hip-shot. "You complimented my suit; I complimented my hair—as per your suggestion of 'following up with one of my own'."

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

Priya raised a bemused shoulder, her lips itching to curve into a grin. "We're lawyers. Specificity is essential in our line of work. Next time you'll know to be more precise."

Smiling, Hadrian slid his tongue along the edge of his teeth and a lick of heat flashed low in her belly. "Indeed."

"Ah, there you are!" Heather appeared from around the corner, hands on her his and hellfire in her eyes. "You're late. Both of you."

Priya's heart dropped. What? No! No, no, no, no, no! "I...but—?"

"Save it." Heather flashed her palm then swung her hand impatiently. "Everyone gathered in the board room ten minutes ago. We've been waiting on you. Move."

"I don't understand," Priya panted as she jogged at Heather's heels. "I was told eight-thirty not—"

"An email went out early this morning advising everyone to be here for seven forty-five."

Heat bled from Priya's cheeks. "When? How? I checked," she stammered. Dazed, she'd almost slammed straight into Heather's back as she stopped outside the boardroom doors.

Heather pierced her coolly over her shoulder. "The details of your incompetence are not my problem. If you can't be bothered to be on time, don't expect to get this job. Fair warning, Ms. Nagao does not tolerate tardiness."

"Easy, Tiger," Hadrian whispered, his hand set to the small of her back as Heather rushed forward to push open the massive double doors. "What's done is done. Shake it off."

Heads whipped around as they stood there, the last kids to find their desks on the first day of school. Priya's gaze skipped across the boardroom table, from the eighteen faces—expressions ranging from amused to predatory—straight down the length of stoic senior partners to a severely unimpressed Marai Nagao standing at the head of the table.

Two empty seats remained, one on either side of the table. Hadrian quietly claimed the farthest one, as if sensing that Priya's legs wouldn't be able to make it that far without buckling. She slid in between a stocky Asian guy with mottled skin and a mousey girl with thick glasses and greasy hair and folded her hands on her lap. Everyone else had brought their phones and notepads in with them.

Only Priya and Hadrian were otherwise unprepared. She'd left her satchel at her desk while in a mad dash. She hadn't even thought to snatch her phone.

She closed her eyes. Scheisse.

"Now that we are all in attendance," Marai said, uncrossing her arms at the head of the table, "let's get back to the order of business. As I was just saying, today we are going to run through depositions in front of the senior partners. Scores will be placed according to your performances that will help determine a ranking system."

"Who are we deposing?"

As Marai's head snapped around, for a single, horrified moment, Priya thought she might have actually voiced the question aloud when she realized it was Ms. Mouse to her left whom had spoken up.

"Each other."

A collective murmur broke out around the table, masking her gasp of surprise.

"In order to ascertain who should work for MNS, for those on the stand it's up to you to prove why you're a good fit for this firm, and for those cross-examining, it's your job to disprove them. As you can see on the screen behind me, we've broken you into four teams of five. You will be given one hour to prepare your respective strategies and to prepare yourselves for any member in the team directly opposing yours. A versus B, C versus D. Any questions?"

One hour to compose an examination strategy on five people? Her head was spinning at the insanity of it all. After several bracing breaths, Priya raised her hand. "How will the depositions be structured? Are we going to proceed alphabetically by team? Or at random?" And prayed for the former. Alphabetical meant, as Team D, she'd have more time to prepare, to gain her bearings.

"Team selection will be at random. Two teams will act as plaintiffs and two teams will act as cross examiners. The point of this exercise is to show us your resumes in practice," Marai said, setting her palms to the table. "Sometimes in litigation, we're pushed to move quickly and way ahead of schedule, with minimal time to prep or prepare and a settlement worth tens of millions of dollars on the line. You all talked a good game in your interviews, or else you wouldn't be here. Now I want to see what you're made of. How well you can think on your feet and take control of a situation. I want to see your skills and instincts in real life application."

Straightening, she dusted her hands and stepped to the side so the screen was clear and unobstructed. "I suggest you make note of the list in its entirety, then get straight to work. We convene with all senior partners in the library at nine fifteen sharp.

As there was no way Priya was going to be able to memorize a list of twenty with only thirty seconds she diverted her focus to Team C:

Jessica Borlack

Calvin Chang

Anastasia Siriboe

Mark Bell

Michael Winschitz

Five names. She could remember five, measly names, right?

**AN**

But I've never been one to ask for anyone to make a fuss over me. Aside from Christmas, Thanksgiving and birthday's, I think showing love and appreciation for mothers/fathers/significant other's shouldn't be left to one particular day of the year. My kiddies made me the cutest handmade cards and finger paintings which I'll def hold on to for a while.

Scary how fast time flies.

I feel like I blinked and seven years vanished before my eyes. I still sometimes feel like a 22 year old kid moving out and meeting with real estate agents to buy my first house. Which I still live in and never plan to move from. I never grew up in 'one home' like some of my friends, and always envied those perfect, nuclear families.

I guess we all want what we don't have, right?