Page 13 of This Moment

My father leaned back in his chair and grinned. Mom, on the other hand, folded her arms over her chest. “If the girl can’t get her work done on time, that is on her, not me.”

“Not if she is doing your work as well…Mother.”

A vein in her forehead jumped.

“Maybe you should think of hiring two assistants if you can’t seem to handle your own workload.”

“Where in the hell is this coming from?” my mother asked, standing and pointing to me. “I did not raise you to be disrespectful.”

Sitting down, I stared my mother down. “You’re right, Mom. You didn’t raise me, Sally did.”

“Kian,” my father warned.

I held up my hands. “I’m sorry, cheap shot.”

“If this is because of the settlement, you need to realize we are doing what is best for the families and more importantly, the firm.”

“You’re right, Mother. You always put the firm’s needs above all.”

She frowned, but I lifted my briefcase and opened it, and before she could say another word, I declared, “I’m tired.”

“Go home and sleep, son,” my father stated. “Why don’t you also take a few hours off tomorrow morning.”

I glanced up at him and smiled. I pulled out my resignation letter and handed one copy to him and the other to my mother.

“I already sent this to HR.”

They both read it and looked up at me.

“Is this some kind of joke?” my father asked.

Standing, I shook my head. “No. I’m tired of not having a life. I’m tired of burning both ends of the candle, and it’s time to make some changes.”

My mother looked at the letter then back to me. “If you need some time off, Kian, we can certainly work with you on that. Why don’t you take that trip to Scotland like you always wanted to? I heard you can stay for several months. Maybe you need to backpack through the Highlands or something a man your age would want to do.”

I laughed. “I don’t think you are understanding what I’m telling you. I never wanted to be a lawyer; I did it because it was what you and Dad wanted, just like Macy did. The only smart one was Mark.”

“Did she talk you into this?” my mother asked. I swore I almost saw steam coming from her ears.

“No, she had nothing to do with it. It was actually something a stranger said to me on the subway this morning.”

Letting out a gruff laugh, my father asked, “A stranger?”

I nodded. “Yes. He was a lawyer once upon a time, and what he said hit home.”

My father stood and made his way over to the bar cart. “Fine. You can go off and find yourself, son. We’ll need six months, and that should cover all your cases.”

It was my turn to stand. “Today is my last day…you have my letter of resignation.”

“What?” they both said in unison.

“Come on, all I do is look over cases, write briefs, and babysit.”

“That is not true at all. You have more billable hours than half the partners.”

Standing, I cleared my throat, picked up my briefcase, and said, “Jim Larson will be handling my caseload. He will assign what he can’t handle to a list of people I suggested for him.”

If I hadn’t known better, I would have sworn my mother looked like she was about to pass out.

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