Page 117 of Keep My Heart
‘That’s not happening. You know that. Why didn’t you tell her that?’
‘I did, but she won’t listen to me. She said I’m too young to know what I’m talking about. She wants you to handle it.’
Doug is fresh out of law school. My boss assigned him to work with me since he’s new and doesn’t have much experience yet.
‘I’ll deal with her on Monday.’
‘It can’t wait. Nick, she’s hysterical. You should’ve heard her. You have to talk to her.’
‘Fine. I’ll call her right now.’
‘Thanks. I’ll see you Monday.’
I end the call and scroll through my client list until I find Iris. I go outside to the front of the hotel and call her.
‘Nick! Finally! You wouldn’t believe what Don has done now! He’s with that whore at the beach house in the Hamptons!’
‘Yes, I heard. I got your message.’
‘What are you going to do? He can’t be there! It’s mine!’
‘Not yet. Not until we’ve made everything final. Iris, we’ve been over this.’
‘He can’t stay there! God only knows what they’re doing in there! I’ll have to destroy all the furniture!’
‘There’s nothing you can do. It technically still belongs to both of you.’
‘Nick, please. I can’t allow this. You have to do something!’
‘I can’t. I’m out of town right now. I’ll see what I can do when I get back on Monday.’
‘Monday? I’m paying you a fortune! I demand that you get back here right now and do something!’
This is one of those times I hate my job. Clients like Iris calling me on a Saturday night, demanding I deal with their drama.
I try to remain calm as I think of how to respond to her.
‘Iris, I wish I could be there, but I can’t. You’ll just have to wait.’
‘Don’t you care about me and what I’m going through?’ she says, pretending to cry. She does this all the time. She fake cries, hoping it’ll make me do what she wants or talk to her for hours. She thinks I’m her therapist and is willing to pay the firm’s huge hourly fees just to have someone listen to her. She can easily afford the bills, but I’m not a counselor and shouldn’t have to pretend to be one. I’m only going along with it because my boss told me I had to so we can keep billing her. It feels unethical, and is another reason I’m unhappy with my job.
‘Of course I care about you,’ I tell her. ‘But I can’t be with you right now. We’ll talk when I get back to New York.’
‘Can we meet in person?’ she asks, sounding desperate. ‘I don’t want to talk on the phone. It’s so impersonal and I need to get out of the house.’
I sigh, not wanting to do this but knowing my boss will make me. ‘I’ll see if we can meet for dinner next week, but I might have someone coming into town. I’ll let you know if I can get away.’
‘Oh, Nick, thank you! I’m so relieved. When I kept gettingthat boy, Doug, on the phone, I thought it meant our relationship was ending and I just couldn’t accept it,’ she says dramatically.
‘Our relationship is not ending,’ I assure her. ‘I just had somewhere to be this weekend. But when I’m back, we’ll resume where we left off. Iris, I know you think I’m not giving you all that you expect from me, but I’m doing my best. And I can’t be with you all the time.’
‘I know that, Nick, and I’m sorry to be so demanding,’ she says, her angry tone turning sweeter now that I’ve agreed to have dinner with her. ‘You’re a good young man. I’m so fortunate to be working with you. So where is it you are right now? Doug didn’t say.’
‘I’m home, visiting my family,’ I tell her, not wanting her to know too much about my personal life. I like to keep my personal and work life separate.
‘You’re up rather late for a Saturday night. Are you out with a girl?’
‘I’m not with a girl,’ I lie, knowing she’d ask me more questions if I told her the truth. ‘I’m at my parents’ house. Iris, I really need to go. I promise we’ll talk when I get back.’
