Page 105 of Partner Pursuit
“Details.” Audrey finished up the soup and took the bowl tohersink.
“I’ll leave you. Get some more rest. I left another pint of soup in your fridge.”
“You’rethebest.”
Still achy and feverish, Audrey called in sick on Tuesday too. She talked to Max but when she sent him a picture of what she looked like, he agreed any seduction had to be put on hold—although he texted that it would be a true love test. She spent the day sleeping in bed—and missingJake.
Just before dusk, she opened her door to the backyard—not to see if Jake was there, of course, but for some fresh air. Who was she kidding? She did wonder if he was home, even though she didn’t want to see him when she looked like this. The light was dimming in the backyard. She admired the preening cardinal sitting in the tree, bright red against the dark branches, but she had a niggling suspicion that something was different about her yard. She looked around again, but her head was too heavy to keep upright. She closed the door and sank backintobed.
When she finally left her apartment to pick up some food supplies, she glimpsed the back of Jake through the window of a bar around the corner. He had said the bar was a real neighborhood find, with such a great atmosphere and playlist. Even though she had lived in the neighborhood for years, she’d never been there. Jake, his back towards her, was talking to adark-hairedguy holding a beer. He had on that worn, soft blue shirt that she loved on him. She felt a pang in her chest. Her breath caught. She walked on quickly so he didn’t turn around and see her.At least he hadn’t moved. She couldn’t help hoping that, once she was better and they saw each other again, he’dcomeback.
When she arrived home, she walked into the yard to figure out what had changed. The fence. Yes, the gap—the gap which they’d used to visit each other—in the wooden fence was boarded up. Three new plywood boards had been nailed in and dirt had been put in the hole dug by Biscuit. Her heart dropped. She hoped there might be a chance of reconciliation, but seeing the new plywood firmly nailed into place, she doubted it. The boards did not fit perfectly. You could see that there had been a gap, as if showing a scar of pain, but now it was a fortress, fortified,battle-hardened—ready to fulfill its mission of setting boundaries and keeping theotherout.
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Still sick but not feverish, Audrey went back into the office. She would’ve liked to stay in bed, but she couldn’t take another day off. In three days, the partnership decision would be announced. She could barely sleep at night and the office was tense. Conversations ceased as she walked by. Whispering assistants darted glances at her. Winnie was nervous forher.
As she sat and booted on her computer, her phonerang.
“Audrey, this is EleanorRothman.”
“How was France?” Audrey asked.
“I solved the mystery.” Mrs. Rothman’s voice over the line radiated satisfaction. “I tracked down Laila and met her in the south of France. It was awkward at first, but then we saw two other women chatting, and I said they looked like us when we were younger. Then it was like old times. Laila said that she’d asked Pierre for a divorce at the beginning of the year. That was a shock, but less so because of those magazine pictures you showed me. Laila suspected that Pierre had filed the lawsuit to alienate her from me and her best friends as revenge, but she’s not sure. She doesn’t discuss investments with him, so she has no way of knowing. All her energy is being consumed by theirstill-privatedivorce battle, so she didn’t want to get involved in this too. And she’d been embarrassed to reach out to me because of Pierre’s despicablebehavior.”
“I thought there had to be another reason, but I’m not sure I expected to be right,” Audreysaid.
Mrs. Rothman laughed. “Trust your instincts. Both John and I felt it couldn’t be the stock trade. John feels much better about it all now, except he feels bad that his friendship wasn’t worth more. But as I told him, Pierre’s right that we would take Laila’sside.”
“And is your friendshipnowokay?”
“Yes, we won’t let Pierre succeed in tearing us apart,” Mrs. Rothman said. “We wanted to thank you again. John wrote a letter expressing his gratitude for your work to Howard, Parker & Smith. He understands that you’re up for partner. We just wanted to do our part to help. I’ll tell his assistant to send you acopy.”
“Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Also, this call. Thank you for telling me what you foundout.”
“It was you who found the first clue. And you validated our sense that it couldn’t be about the money. You know, cancer has taught me that you can never be sure how much time you have. You helped me set right an important friendship and avoid regrets. Thankyou.”
After a few more minutes, they hung up. Audrey felt vindicated. She was happy that Laila and Mrs. Rothman had also managed to rekindle their friendship. It gave her hope that she and Jake could reignite their relationship. But she’d wait until after the partnership decision to call him, because if their talk didn’t go well, she could take only so much bad news at a time. She turned back to researching a new angle in the Britishcase.
At 5 p.m., just as she was packing up to leave early, Malaburn called. As she saw his name flash up, her headthrobbed.
“Audrey, I’ve got another case I’d like you to work on,” Malaburn said, outliningthecase.
She couldn’t believe he was giving her an assignment right before the partnership decision meeting. Should she take that as a good sign—that he expected her to still be here on Monday morning after the decision? Or maybe she couldn’t read anything into it. They could offer a counsel position and not a partnership position and expect her to be here on Monday. Most people seemed to accept that, hoping that they could make partner in another year. She didn’t want to be continually trying for partner, though. And she’d be embarrassed that she’d been passed over. But she wasn’t going to do another case withMalaburn.
“No,” Audreysaid.
“Excuse me?”
“I said no. I’m not free to work on another casewithyou.”
“You just finished your trial.”
“Yes, but I’m on another case already. And it’s very busy and needs my full attention. Plus, I have the Global Capital litigation.”
“The partnership decision istomorrow.”
“So it is,” Audrey said, her voice clipped.I could say yes and then say no after the partnership meeting.
