Liam left with his cousins as scheduled, and Lana coped with the vacuum created by his absence by drowning herself completely in her new office establishment. She already had appointed a secretary and was now going through interviews for paralegal applicants that day.

  "Vilma, how many more?" Lana asked on the telephone.

  "Only one male applicant remaining, ma'am," her secretary informed.

  "Alright, let him in." she instructed through the telephone.

  Lana sighed while she once again scanned the bio data of previous applicants. None of the applicants met her desired requirements yet, or maybe she was just too picky because the paralegal would be her sidekick, so she wanted someone who was dedicated and up to whatever challenges came their way.

  Her hiring method was not too formal, unlike big companies. She even accepted walk-ins as long as they would submit the papers she required.

  She heard coughs, so Lana said, "Please sit down."

  She closed the files before tilting up her head to look at the last applicant.

  Her eyebrows creased at the familiar man before him. "We meet again, ma'am."

  "Oh, you're that guy from the hotel!" Lana burst at the man smiling brightly at her.

  "Yes, at your service…" the man answered and handed her his bio-data.

  "I passed by and saw the sign posted outside yesterday. I just moved to this area recently and I'm still looking for a job. I guess I'm lucky to walk past the area yesterday and saw you were looking for a paralegal…" the man explained.

  Lana nodded and looked at his credentials. "Oh, you already have a lot of experience and mostly under the Department of Justice…" Lana muttered. She was quite impressed with his portfolio.

  "If you don't mind me asking, why did you leave your current job, Kyle?" Lana asked.

  "It's because of family problems. The pay was not that much as well…" Kyle said.

  Lana narrowed her eyes and said, "Hmm, how can you be so sure that my pay will be more than what you used to get before?"

  Kyle chuckled and bluntly said, "Ma'am can I ask how much will be the pay?"

  Lana then told him about the scale of the starting pay. She wanted a candid paralegal who had no inhibitions, so it was a plus point for her already.

  "That's already better than what I get." Kyle uttered with a smile.

  Lana asked a lot more questions before she went into the last part… "Can you fight well? You see, I may take up a lot of crime cases so I may need someone who can defend themselves well if the need arises."

  Kyle had a wide smile on his face as he proudly said, "I built my muscles for nothing, ma'am. Do you want to see a sample?"

  Lana unconsciously laughed but nodded and stood up from her chair.

  "Come here…" she said as she positioned herself in an open space.

  "You mean I will fight with you?" Kyle asked. Hesitation was written all over his face as he looked at Lana from head to toe.

  "I hope you know that we will at times pursue or have to fight bad women as well, so think of me as one such woman now who is trying to hurt and kill you." Lana explained and without warning she moved to attack Kyle.

  The man was quick in defending himself. He mostly protected himself from Lana's attack. Lana knew he was intentionally avoiding to hurt her.

  "Hmm, that would be enough…" Lana uttered, so Kyle removed his hand from a defense mode, but Lana did an unexpected attack. She was surprised that Kyle still managed to block her as if he was expecting that unexpected punch.

  "Oh, impressive…" Lana commented with raised eyebrows.

  Kyle smiled at her and said, "I learnt to be always at guard ma'am at all times since you never know when the enemy?will attack or even if they are sincere in surrendering or just bluffing."

  Lana nodded and went back to her seat.

  "I will have my secretary call you if you pass or not. Expect the call in two days. You can go now, Kyle. Thank you…"

  Kyle nodded and bid Lana his farewell.

  Lana, once again, went over Kyle's profile. Out of all applicants, he was the only one who piqued her interest. All his answers were precise, and she liked how straightforward and aggressive he was. He would be the perfect choice as her paralegal.

  She grabbed her mobile phone and dialed Drey's number.

  "I have a favor, please? Can you do a background check of a person for me? An applicant as my paralegal. Yeah… You know Liam. He told me to get a background check on all the people I hire if they are not recommended by closest friends and family. Yup, a walk-in applicant. Thanks, Drey."

  After the call, Lana stretched her arms and moved her neck to relax herself from her seat.

  She then went out to meet Xander at his office for signing their contract as his official legal advisor.

  "Wow, our newly licensed lawyer! Who would have thought! Just before I was laughing at you and the rest for entering the military to follow Keira and leaving the military so soon as well to follow Keira again……" Xander teased as soon as Lana entered.

  Lana twitched her face and sat on the chair in front of him.

  "Well, you know the motto… All for one and one for all…" she said with her usual serious tone.

  Xander laughed and murmured, "Let's see how good your legal performance can be. I heard I am going to be your first client."

  "As if handling your family cases will be that difficult," Lana scoffed. She and Xander were also close since the doctor was Keira's closest cousin and more like her only brother from her mother's side.

  "Anyway, here are the documents… Don't worry, I will make sure that you won't regret it. I will be the best lawyer you could ever have…" she boasted with a grin as she handed him the contract.

  Xander shook his head with his ever charming smile and said, "I bet you will be Miss topnotcher, else I will shut you down and hire Liam Sy!."

  Lana: "……"

  *************

  Author Eustoma's Note:

  Xander Yang has his own love story/book. Follow that bubbly and loveable doctor in "THE DOCTOR WHO LOVES ME". Search the title in your library page and add his book now to your library and follow his love journey. *wink*