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The Law of Attraction

Gianna didn’t believe in the law of attraction.

Her life had been too hard-wrought for her to leave anything up to the universe or the fates. Abandoned at the age of two by a drug-addled mother who had simply walked out the front door one rainy afternoon, she had been found by a neighbour late that evening when he walked past and found the door wide open and a hungry, cold Gianna wailing loudly.

She’d been handed over to Child Protective Services and her life had become one long foster care-laden drama until the age of 18. At the stroke of midnight, she’d walked out the door without a second look and made her way to the local women’s shelter where she stayed nights until she landed a job as a receptionist at the local law firm. She had no qualifications and had barely scraped through high school but something in her tone and air convinced Mr. Paige of Leslie&Paige that she deserved a chance.

Why did Mr. Paige, the founder of the firm, interview her for a lowly receptionist position? Gianna never found out. And it’s where she worked for the next eight years, slowly building herself up into a person of note, the kind of woman who turned heads when she walked into a room not just because she was beautiful but because she commanded the room.

It was her confidence.

So, no. She didn’t believe in the law of attraction. When her colleagues discussed it over lunch or the topic came up during a friendly debate, she politely excused herself. She had built herself from scratch, learning everything from relationship skills to social skills to common etiquette.

What is the law of attraction in such a woman’s life? It holds little meaning.

Did that mean she would never believe though?

No.

Because eight years later, something happened that turned everything upside down.

Gianna finally found out why Mr. Paige was the one who had interviewed her all those years ago.

*****

The last foster home that Gianna had stayed at had actually been decent. She arrived there at 16. The couple was friendly, even over-eager to please her, and made sure she was well-cared for. They knew she would leave when she turned 18, not least because she announced her intention the instant she walked through their doors. And she repeated it every chance she got, over the next two years. She never did learn to trust them completely.

It turned out that Mrs. Wells had found her journal in her room, a few months before she left. She’d left it open on the bed in a hurry to get to school. And Mrs. Wells glimpsed the words scribbled on the pages:

Do you think I could ever be a lawyer? So that I can save little kids and nobody will ever have to go through what I did?

I can certainly dream.

Mr. Paige and Mrs. Wells had gone to college together. Knowing Gianna’s pride, Mr. Paige arranged for his assistant to “bump” into Gianna at the local market, get to chatting and casually mention the receptionist position.

And that’s how Gianna ended up at Leslie&Paige.

Law of attraction?

Well. Law of something.

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