Page 101 of Partner Pursuit
Chapter Fifty-Three
Audrey bounced into the office the next day. She probably should have taken the day off, but they weren’t leaving until tomorrow, and she wanted to tie up the last loose ends on this case so absolutely nothing was hanging over her while they were on their trip. She planned to do as little work as possible while on vacation. Gertrude handed her a message from Philip, a senior partner she had worked with several years ago on abigcase.
“He’d like to see you in his office as soon as you can—after you’ve settled in,” Gertrude said. “Congratulations! I heard all about thehugewin!”
That was nice of Philip to want to congratulate her in person. He showed a bit of a mentoring interest periodically. She dropped her bag by her desk, changed into heels, and walked down the hall towards his office.
His assistant was on the phone, but waved that Audrey should proceed on in.
“Congratulations on your win! It’s quite the talk of the firm,” Philipsaid.
“Thankyou.”
“And you’ll be thrilled to hear as well that your former British client requested you. They absolutely must have you on this new litigation. I’ve already flagged this for the other partners here with regard to your partnership bid, not that you need more commendations, of course, but every bit helps.”
“That is flattering. I enjoyed working with them and with you on that lastcase.”
“Yes, you’ll need to leave for London tomorrow; they’re lining up witness interviews and pulling the documents, but they want to get your thoughts on overall strategy first. Here’s the complaint.”
A buzzing filled her ears.Had he said Londontomorrow?
“I’m sorry, did you say Londontomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“I can’t, I’m on vacation. I’m flying to Costa Rica with my boyfriend…”
He cut her off. “You’ll need tore-schedule.”
“Are you sure it can’t wait until nextweek?”
“Audrey, are you serious? The client requested you. They’ve just been hit with a lawsuit. You can’t tell them to wait a week while you fly down to Costa Rica to be with your boyfriend! Just go to Costa Rica next week—or during Christmas. We’ll pick up any cancellation fees. You’re up for partnership now, and as far as I can tell, you’ve got it in the bag, but don’t get cocky and assume that. Not being there for this client would be one sure way to jeopardize yourchances.”
Her eyes widened. He was staring at her. She knew what she had to say. She just had to say it.Out loud.“You can count on me. I’ll make the necessary arrangements to go to Londontomorrow.”
Chapter Fifty-Four
No, No, No. What am I going to do?
She had to go to London—they had made that clear.Why? Just when it finally looks like I might have it all—partnership and this amazing guy—it’s all going to fall apart. How can I tell him? More importantly, how is he going to react?He hadn’t wanted to date a lawyer because lawyers always had to work and prioritized work above everything. Maybe she could promise Christmas and another weekend—like Jazz Fest in New Orleans—that was several months away. Promise would not be a good word to use since she couldn’t, apparently—she had promised this week that she would be free. And she’d thought she would be—she should have been. The case was done. This was like some sort of final partnership test—willing to put career aboveallelse.
The phone rang. It was Jake. Oh no. Maybe she shouldn’t pick up.
She answered the phone and said softly: “Jake.” Tears welled up inhereyes.
“Audrey! Are you packed? I just got off the phone with one of my friends down there, and he’ll pick us up and take us to this treetop restaurant. How’s that for a romantic start to ourgetaway?”
“Jake,” her voice was like a croak, she felt like her throat had been stuffed with cotton, “Ican’t go.”
“What!?”
“I have to fly to London for another case tomorrow night,” she whispered. There was dead quiet onthe phone.
“Are you joking? Because I’m not finding this funny.”
“No, I wish, the senior partner called me into his office and said that I needed to go to London to figure out the strategy and do some witness interviews. The client requested me. It’s a client I worked for about two years ago. They just got hit with alawsuit.”
“Really? You’re like an indentured servant, and you can’t say you already have plans? Or just pushitback?”
