Page 62 of Opposites (Never) Attract
But there were always more fires.
I pulled out my phone and thumbed in my passcode.
Jared Evanstone:We need to talk. Call me immediately.
If I had an ounce of whimsy, I would have put his name in my contacts as Jared Asshole Partner, but I was always too petrified he might see it.
“I have to take this,” I told my mom, pushing back my chair and leaving the kitchen.
It had always been ingrained into us as kids, that we didn’t take phone calls at the kitchen table. The kitchen table was for family time. So I left the room and wandered into the living room across the hall before hitting Jared’s contact number.
“Kaitlyn,” he answered, on the second ring.
“Yes, Jared.”
“When are you returning to New York?”
“That’s unknown at this point. There are still things to settle regarding the estate.”
“Not good enough,” he said, in his normal clipped tone. Like I had already failed him and he was exasperated by having to deal with me. “You’ve seen how tumultuous the markets have been. Our Singaporean friend is getting worried.”
“Really? He hasn’t been calling me.”
“Because I called him.”
I gasped, outraged. Contacting one of my clients was unbelievably unprofessional, and if he wasn’t a partner, might get him fired, considering how much money my client was bringing in and how his bullshit might have put it in jeopardy.
“Tell me you’re making a terrible joke.”
“You’ve been gone for days!” he said, fully trying to justify his idiocy. “The partners were worried-”
“Then the partners should have come to me,” I said, slow and steady, practically breathing fire. “You had no right.”
“I had every right,” he said. “As a partner in this firm.”
There was no way I could convince him what he’d done was wrong. He was entirely that guy. He’d deny starting a fire while holding a lighter and a can of gasoline. How he got partner over me was an absolute mystery.
Actually, not really. He had a dick. That put him at the head of every line.
I pinched the bridge of my nose and tried to deep breathe away the headache blooming behind my eye.
“I will talk tomy client,” I said. “I will handle any questions they have about the volatility in the markets, and I will be home as soon as I am able.”
“That might not be good enough, Kaitlyn,” he snapped. “You said you wanted to make partner, so you need to wrap up your business at home and get back to work.”
He ended the call and I scowled at the phone.
That mother-fucker. He must have seriously fucked up.
The firm always believed that the market wastumultuous.That was the fucking nature of the market. There was never a lull or a down time. If it was up, we wereworking to get the most bang for our buck. If it was down, we were working for the best bargain prices.
The bold truth was, time was running out on the lure of a partnership.
Berkley, through Jared, had been dangling that particular carrot in front of me for two years now. It was always there as both a lure and a threat.
If you’re serious about making partner…
You know we’re considering you for partner…
