Page 36 of Partner Pursuit
“No distractions.”
“Are you easily distracted?”
He smiled warmly. “Not easily.” Her gaze met his and held. Her stomachfluttered.
“She Works Hard for the Money!” sang her phone’sringtone.
She picked up the phone. He turned offthe music.
“Hi Lawrence, yes, excuse me, okay, not in front of me, no, yes…” She grabbed a pad and started writing.
Malaburn was speaking fast. She scribbled down notes. Jake took the dishes to the kitchen. Out of sight. She hung up the phone. She stared at the legal pad, tears welling. She hated Malaburn with a visceral intensity right now. She took a deep breath, blinking back the tears and wiping them away before Jakecouldsee.
She joined him in the kitchen and wrung her hands. “I’m sorry—that was this partner, Malaburn. He has changes to this client memo, and he also asked for more research. I have to go into the office to put the changes throughnow.”
“You’re serious? Now? On a Saturday night?”
“Yes, well, unfortunately, Malaburn has criticized me for not having what it takes to make partner. This memo is due Monday to the client. I can edit it and give the changes to the overnight secretarial staff, but I also have to research some additional points now, and I’m not sure how long it will take me. I’m sorry. I was really having fun. So maybe a raincheck on the ice cream?” She looked beseechingly at Jake.I’m not your dad. I have to prove Malaburn wrong.
“Raincheck it is. Come on, Biscuit, let’s head home and go for your walk.” He didn’t look at her, and he said it in a tone as if he’d expected this to happen. He zipped down the spiral staircase, Biscuit behindhim.
She locked the door behind him and watched him cross the garden, stoop to go through the hole in the fence with Biscuit, and disappear. He didn’t look back. Her stomachsank.
Picking up her bag, she left to hail a taxi to take her to the office. She didn’t have a choice.Eyes on the prize. Don’t let doubtsdeteryou.
But what if this was the wrong prize?
Chapter Thirteen
Audrey finished the client memo late on Sunday and emailed it to Malaburn for final approval. The whirring of a vacuum cleaner interrupted the evening office silence as the cleaning staff neatened the vacant offices, emptying out bins of paper and small wastebaskets of Diet Coke cans, coffee cups, food wrappers—the discards of small bursts of energy used to power the lawyers through the day. She slumped down in her chair and looked out her office window at the bright twinkling lights of a New York City night.
She bit her lip. She’d probably ruined it with Jake. He’d said “And I met you.” She’d caught her breath when he’d said that.Why did I leave so abruptly?She should’ve gone for the ice cream and then left for the office. She chastised herself for her almost Pavlovian response to report to work. It had been going so well too. This could have been her chance for a romancewithJake.
She needed to be able to balance both her job as a lawyer and a life outside her job. She shouldn’t check her phone all the time. If she was in the middle of a date, she shouldn’t pick up a work call. If she had not answered the phone, they couldn’t blame her. She could have been at a movie or asleep. Then again, she had needed all that time to make the changes to the brief. From a work perspective, it had been the right call. She sighed.
All right, she vowed, she was going to be better at creating boundaries between her life and work and balancing both. She wasn’t going to put work first automatically. Then again, maybe she should start this resolution after the partnership decision. But she sensed that Jake would be long gone bythen.
No, she could do it. She had to be able to have a life and a career. Partners had families. They managed to do it all. Then again, how often did they see their families—definitely on weekends. Hunter sometimes went home for dinner and then worked after dinner from home. It was doable. She just had to be more flexible in her approach and mindful—taking time to consider how to do both—like going for the ice cream and then leaving for the office.
Now, she had to salvage her sudden departure on Saturday. Maybe she couldre-starttheir flirtation with a different gift—with a play on “brief.”
DearJake,
Thank you for the fairytale coloring book. Here’s my effort at coloring in Sleeping Beauty. You can see why I became a lawyer and notan artist.
I really enjoyed dinner. I’m sorry I left early to work on a brief.
It was unfortunately not a “brief” assignment. I’d “brief” you on the assignment, but that would be boring. However, this pair of “briefs” might be a more “masculine” gift for you. I hope you like surfboard design. They’re made by a company called “Brief Insanity.” Which, unfortunately, is my life asa lawyer.
Best,
Audrey
She couldn’t decide if she should send it. Maybe it looked like she wasn’t taking her sudden departure seriously enough—for a son disappointed by a workaholic father. But a sense of humor about it was good. And if any relationship was to emerge of this, they would need to be able to laugh about it. And what could she promise? She was a workaholic, but she definitely would try todo better.
Chapter Fourteen
Audrey smoothed down her skirt, took a sip of water, and then rolled her neck to ease the tension building there. As she picked up her notes, she chided herself for being nervous. It was just a meeting with Hunter—and Colette. She and Hunter had worked together comfortably for many years, starting from her first year at the firm. Usually, she considered this Monday morning meeting a pleasant start to her week—Hunter and she discussed the status of the case, what work she was giving to which associates, what they expected to get done during the week, any issues—and caught up on each other’s lives and any firm gossip.
