Page 88 of Partner Pursuit
Finally, Colette lifted her chin and looked him in the eyes. “You’re right. I should have found those missing months and been relentless in getting those documents pulled. I won’t make that mistake again.”
“I appreciate your acceptance of your mistake, but I am perturbed that your first response was to blame Audrey. Especially when Audrey avoided placing any censure on you and bent over backwards to note that this stuff happens in discovery.” Hunter was now being relentless. Colette was sitting up straighter, but two spots of pink dotted her cheeks. Audrey shifted in her chair, almost wishing she had not been invited to this meeting. Hunter then gentled his tone. “Mistakes like this, however, do tend to be better learning experiences than constant success. They sear themselves into memory and so I’m sure that you will be a better lawyer as a result of this.” That was Hunter’s generosity, thought Audrey—accepting Colette’s apology and giving hera wayout.
But Colette interpreted it as an opening for a rebuttal and said, “My only defense is that I’ve been incredibly busy on this Stromen case, and I did think that the production wascomplete.”
Hunter’s reaction was swift. “Audrey has a trial in three weeks and she worked until midnight on this, so that’s no excuse. If you can’t balance both, maybe I need to talk toStromen.”
“I can handle both,” Colette said quickly. “There’s no need for you to talk to Stromen. As I said before, it won’t happen again—ever. I immediately reviewed the entire document production log to make sure that there were no other gaps. There were not. And I reviewed my Stromen case productiontoo.”
“Also, Colette, being a member of the partnership is being a part of a team.” Hunter leaned forward. “I’ve said this to you before, but I expect to see you working together with Audrey. This is not azero-sumgame.”
“Audrey and I do work together, don’t we Audrey?” Colette turnedto Audrey.
“We could work together better,” Audrey said. She was not going to let Colette pretend a strong working relationship.
Colette shot her a dagger look. “But we do workwell.”
That look wasn’t encouraging. Her headthrobbed.
“Enough said. Let’s discuss our strategic approach now productively so we can present it to the client tomorrow,” Hunter said. He pulled a legal pad towardshim.
Chapter Forty-Four
As Colette and Audrey walked out of the office, Colette said, “So all that stuff about being nice and let’s support each other as women was just aruse?”
“No. Definitely not. Mrs. Rothman asked me to confirm before I told anyone. I just did my best not to throw you under the bus,” Audrey said. “You should have found this document. As you’ve told me before, defensive discovery is your jurisdiction,”
Looking annoyed, Colette turnedaway.
“But I absolutely believe we should try working together,” Audrey said to Colette’sback.
Colette faced Audrey. “Please. I’m not falling for that again.”
“Did you fall for it? Because I haven’t seen you acting like you’re supporting me. Didn’t you notice last week that Hunter praised your analysis to the client saying it was ‘insightful’—exactly what I’d written him? It was practically like a magic trick.”
“You probably told him todothat.”
“I didn’t. And it’s not like I’m making this stuff up. I’ve sent you theresearch.”
“You don’t need my support now. You have Hunter wrapped around your little pinkie.”
“Please. As you know from the fact that we’re sharing strategy, Hunter is his own man.”Hmm, but it would be good if Colette thinks I have Hunter wrapped around my finger. I shouldn’t refute that.“Hunter and I have worked together for years. He’s not giving me special treatment. If he’s in my corner, it’s because I’ve earned his support as a team player. He’ll support you as well, but not if your approach is toone-upme. You’re the one who asked to be on this case. Hunter told me last night.Why?”
“You’re my competition. I wanted to know what I was up against,” Colette said. They reached Colette’s office door, and Colette leaned against it. “And I thought you were a bit wimpy.”
Audrey stepped back and turned away from Colette.I don’t have to dealwiththis.
“But not anymore,” Colette said. “You’ve more of the killer instinct than I thought. I misjudged you. And I’ve learned from you—you totally subsumed your ego for that deposition, for example, letting that guy walk all over you, but you got some great admissions.”
Audrey faced Colette. “I tried my best not to damage you with that email.”
“Yes, my mother thought your email was quite fair, all things considered. Of course, she works in Washington, D.C. She thinks I should befriendyou.”
“I don’t see the downside. If you think about it, our strengths are complementary,” Audrey said. “If it doesn’t work, we can revert to being colleagues who don’t quite trust each other—or know not to trust each other.”
“I’ll think about it,” Colette said, entering her office and closingherdoor.
That was so Colette. She has to get the last word in, and she won’t actually promiseanything.
