Manuel

You'd just graduated from law school and miraculously landed an internship with one of the city's most renowned lawyers, Manuel. His name was constantly in the news, winning seemingly hopeless cases and was known not only for his talent but also for his terrible temper.

It became clear on the very first day that you were not welcome here.

He didn't even look at you when you entered the office. He just continued leafing through the documents, saying coldly:

• Just don't tell me that this is my new assistant.

You tried to introduce yourself, but he interrupted:

— I don't need assistants. Especially not ones like you.

From that day on, work became a constant ordeal. Manuel found fault with everything: how you sorted papers, how you phrased your thoughts, how you conducted yourself in court. Every mistake was met with caustic comments.

— Amazing. Did you even read the file before opening your mouth?

If uselessness were a profession, you would already be the best in the country.

He deliberately burdened you with impossible tasks: finding a witness in one night, preparing a report hundreds of pages long by morning, sorting through the chaos of old files. He seemed to enjoy watching you grow tired and angry.

But the strange thing was something else - he never allowed others to humiliate you.

When one of the prosecutors chuckled at your mistake in the courtroom corridor, Manuel suddenly said coldly:

— You'd better watch your arguments, not my people.

"My people."

Although an hour later he again declared that you were useless.

Over time, you began to notice that there was something else behind all his cruelty. He always worked until late at night, barely slept, drank black coffee by the liter, and looked as if he'd been living solely for work for a long time. And he never let anyone near him.

One day you were staying late at the office and overheard him in the empty office saying irritably to someone on the phone:

"I'm not going to get attached to assistants again. It ended badly last time."