The Domino Effect

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“Oh my gawd!” Gina Norris said, plopping herself down into the break room chair, right next to her best friend, Angela Banks. The two had been inseperable since grade school and were now working together as interns at the law offices of Dunder, Dunder, Bender and Franks.

“What’s up with you?” Angela asked, recognizing the conspiratorial expression on her friends face.

“I just caught Old Man Dunder in a compromising position with Fern Stanton.”

”No!”

“Yes!”

“Gina, you must be imagining things. Even Fern’s not that desperate.”

“You mean trashy and I know what I saw. I was in the research room, looking up an old case for Allen Franks and I caught them locking lips behind one of the bookshelves.”

“Okay, let me get this straight,” Angela said, wrinkling up her nose. “You’re talking about Dunder Sr.? Larry S. Dunder? The Senior attorney of the law firm?”

“Yup.” Gina confirmed, nodding her head. “He had his tongue shoved all the way down Fern’s throat.”

“Gina! Ewww! He’s what, about seventy years old? And Gina’s our age!”

“She’s twenty-one and you know she’s always been ambitious. She probably doesn’t plan on being an intern for too long. And let’s face it, she doesn’t have the brains to move up based on merit.”

“Oh gross!”

“I know. When I came around the corner he was all over her. He had one hand under her blouse and the other…”

“Please! You don’t need to paint me a picture. What did they say?”

“Nothing. They didn’t see me.”

“I’m so disgusted.” Angela said, pushing her food away. “That’s just sick. Isn’t his wife in the hospital?”

“Mmhmm.” Gina said. “She’s in intensive care. She had a stroke and may not make it.”

“That poor woman.” Angela said, outraged. “It doesn’t sound as though he’s too choked up about it.”

“No, it doesn’t. Here, take a look at this,” Gina said, handing Angela her cell phone.

“Oh no you didn’t! Girl, you took pictures!”

“Just a few.” Gina said innocently, leaning back in her chair, a sly look on her face.

“Just a few what?” A familiar voice asked. It was Brad Anders from the mail room. Angela had gone out with him a few times, so, looking at Gina, who just shrugged her shoulders, Angel shoved the phone towards Brad.

“Woe!” Brad said, his eyes popping out of his head. “Way to go Larry.”

“Way to go!?” Angela sputtered. “He’s married! And old!”

“Hey, old people need it too.” Brad said, “or so I’ve been told.”

“It’s disgusting!” Angela said, taking the camera and handing it back to Gina.”

“So why did you take the pictures?” Brad asked.

“Well,” Gina said, “I figure if Fern is going to move up in this company, I might as well too. And I’m smart enough to do it without lying on my back.”

“Blackmail?” Angela asked, looking around nervously.

“Why not. That old geezer deserves it. And I’m sure he wouldn’t want these pictures to get out.”

“I don’t know.” Angela said. “I mean, you could get in trouble.”

“How? It’s not like he’s going to tell, he’s not going to want these to get out. And I’ll cut you two in on the deal. What could possibly go wrong?”

THE NEXT DAY….

“This is Linda Raven reporting outside the law offices of Dunder, Dunder, Bender and Frank’s where the body of senior attorney, Larry S. Dunder has been found inside of his office. His death, according to an inside source who wishes to remain anonymous, appears to be from a heart attack. He was found in his chair, compromising pictures of him on the computer screen, apparently an attempt at blackmail. Police have arrested an intern in the office, one Gina Norris, who they say is a person of interest.”


ONE WEEK LATER…

“This is Linda Raven, reporting outside the courthouse, where a grand jury has just returned an indictment against Gina Norris for attempting to blackmail Larry Dunder with pictures she had taken of him and Fern Stanton, a young intern at the law firm. An interesting note, Fern has filed a sexual harassment law suit against the firm, stating that Larry Dunder had used his authority in the firm to force her into a relationship. These pictures are a key piece of evidence in her million dollar lawsuit.


Angela Bank’s hit the remote control, shutting off the television and the news report. She grinned, realizing she had just gotten away with murder. Too bad she had to send her best friend up the creek to get away with it. But it couldn’t be helped. She had been furious when she saw those pictures of Larry and Fern. It hadn’t been hard to act disgusted. After all, she thought she was the only one Larry was cheating on his wife with. How could he have two timed her with Fern of all people? And now Fern was going to be getting money from a lawsuit. It just didn’t seem fair. But at least she wasn’t going to be going to jail. It did appear as though he had had a heart attack, thanks to a drug she had stolen from her dad’s pharmacy. And she had warned Gina that blackmail could get you in trouble. And there was that offer from the movie studio that had just called, asking her for information about Gina and Frank. Maybe if she played her cards right, she could still get a good deal out of all this.