Page 43 of A Lesson for Laurel

Easton coughed on his bite of pizza and then picked up his beer. “Did he buy that bullshit?”

She smirked at him. “He did.”

“And that should have been your first sign.”

“That might have been sign number six or seven. Not sure what I was thinking. I guess I just wanted to be someone else for a while and realized in the end, you have to be who you are with those you’re closest to.”

“Yeah,” he said.

“You got all quiet. I think it’s time you tell me some of your past. You said you’d talk about your condo or something. How about your ex too?”

He didn’t want to talk about Rachelle, but he’d be fair about it. When he was ready.

“I live in a condo,” he said. “You know I grew up here. Went to college at UConn. Got hired right out of law school for a firm in Manhattan. Spent a few years there trying to be someone I wasn’t.”

“Ahhh,” she said. “Guess we’ve got that in common. Mine was only a year though.”

“I won’t say I’m not confident in myself.”

“You reek of confidence,” she said. “Never doubt that.”

“Thanks,” he said. “I don’t doubt it. But I didn’t have the most traditional upbringing. I worked in the family business with my uncle and Abe. I never wanted it to be my life, though I believe he would have given me a share of it.”

“You wouldn’t have taken it from your cousin because you would have felt that isn’t fair. That you weren’t their biological child.”

He nodded. Funny how she understood that.

“I didn’t see myself doing it for my career anyway. I wanted something better, but I couldn’t imagine myself in a courtroom or chasing ambulances.”

“Someone has to keep all those pesky business dealings in line,” she said.

“More than you realize. The big city was nice and exciting. I went into the office daily, and slept very little. It was a life many dreamed of, but it was wearing me down.”

“And then people started to work from home more,” she said.

“Yes. My tiny little apartment had a desk in the corner with a crappy view. I can practice law in several states. It didn’t matter where my office was. I’ve got clients all over the world. Our firmhas branches all over the world too. Many in other cities were already working remotely and not going into an office.”

“So it was an easy transition.”

“Yes,” he said. “I started to look around and I loved that area when I was in college. It was still an easy commute to get into the office and I was doing it a few times a month.”

“Did you need to do it?” she asked.

“I went for team meetings when many others didn’t. I believe that helped get me promoted to partner because I was still working hard and showing up when others weren’t.”

Many probably slacked off when they weren’t being watched, but that wasn’t his problem. His team held their own and that was all he focused on.

“You feel more comfortable in Stamford,” she said.

“I do. Rachelle, she didn’t. That is my ex. She liked the life in New York City. Mind you, we had only dated about six months or so when I moved.”

“So she lives in New York City or that area?”

“She did. She moved in with me after a year of dating. Her job was remote too at the time. She could live anywhere. She said she liked the area more than she thought she would. It was more affordable. Then she switched jobs and had to go into the office half the time.”

Which was how he lost her.

She met someone she worked with. Not someone she just talked to but was actually face to face. They got close and the guy infringed where he shouldn’t have.

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