frowns at me over the rimless edge of his half-glasses. “Ms. DiNunzio, you represent Harbison’s in this matter?”
I nod yes. I feel like the devil in disguise.
“That’s quite a story I just heard. I’m sure the jury will be as impressed with it as I am.”
I clear my throat as if I know what I’m going to say, but I have no idea. “Your Honor, I just got this case today. We’re new counsel.”
Einstein frowns again. This frown says, You are making excuses, and that is reprehensible.
What’s a girl to do? I parrot back what I read in the file on the way over. “As you know, Your Honor, there are two sides to every story. Harbison’s denies that it made such statements to plaintiff and that it demoted plaintiff on account of his age. Harbison’s position is that it demoted plaintiff because his management style was abrasive and, in particular, he was verbally abusive to company employees.”
“That’s a lie and you know it!” Hank shouts, and leaps to his feet.
An appalled Einstein clamps a firm hand on Hank’s arm. “Sit down.”
Hank eases back into his chair. “I’m sorry, Your Honor.”
Einstein snatches off his reading glasses and tosses them onto the file in front of him. The judge plays by the rules, which don’t provide for name-calling in chambers. He can barely look up, he’s so offended. “It’s not me you owe the apology to, young man,” he says finally.
“That’s all right, Your Honor,” I break in. “I’d be upset too, if it were my father.” I mean this sincerely, but it sounds condescending. Unwittingly, I’ve exploited the only weakness in Hank’s case—that he is his father’s son.
The point, however inadvertent, is not lost on Einstein. The tables turn that fast. The judge replaces his glasses and, without looking at Hank, asks coldly, “Henry, is your father interested in settling this matter?”
“Yes, Your Honor.”
“Ms. DiNunzio, is Harbison’s interested in settling this matter?”
“No, Your Honor.”
Einstein snaps open his black Month-at-a-Glance and thumbs rapidly through the pages. “The deadline for discovery is two months from today. You go to trial July thirteenth. I’ll send you both my Scheduling Order. Exchange exhibits and expert reports in a timely manner. I Ho not expect to hear from either of you regarding extensions of time. That’s it, counsel.”
We leave Einstein’s chambers. Hank flees ahead of me to the elevator bank. As he forces his way into an elevator, I see that he’s in tears.
“Hank, wait!” I call out, running to the elevator. But the stainless steel doors close as I reach it, and I’m left staring at the ribbon of black crepe between them. I press the DOWN button.
I hear the voice. It sounds harsher now, less like Mike. What goes around comes around. You made an angel weep, now you’re getting it back. A phone call greets you at the door. An anonymous note shows up in your mail. And a dark car is tracking your every move.
Pong! The elevator bell rings out, silencing the voice.
The doors rattle open. The only person in the elevator is a steroid freak in a muscle shirt and mirrored sunglasses. Acne dots his shoulders and his hips jut forward suggestively as he leans against the side of the elevator. “Come on in, honey,” he drawls. “The water’s fine.”
“Uh, no. I’m going up.”
“Maybe next time, sugar.”
As soon as the doors close, I punch the DOWN button again. I slip thankfully into the next elevator, packed with honest citizens wearing yellow JUROR buttons. I grab a cab back to the office and spend most of the ride as I did before, looking out the windows, peering anxiously at every dark sedan on Market Street. When I get back to the office, Brent’s desk is empty. He has his opera lesson tonight; he says there’s more to life than short-hand.
I go into my office to empty my briefcase.
There, sitting at my desk, bent over my papers, is Ned Waters.
Ned’s green eyes flash with alarm as he looks up. The big clock glows faintly behind him. “Mary. I was just leaving you a note.”
“A note?” My throat catches. Did Ned send the note I got this morning? Does he drive a dark car?
“I thought you left for the day. Your secretary was gone, so I couldn’t leave a message.”
“He studies opera singing.”
“Opera, huh?” Ned rises awkwardly. He replaces one of my ballpoints in their mug and snatches a piece of paper from my desk.
“Is that the note?” I set my briefcase on the file cabinet.
“Yeah.” He crumples it up and stuffs it into his jacket pocket. “But you won’t need it now. I can tell you what it says. I thought you might like to grab some dinner.”
“Dinner?” I don’t know what else to say, so I stare at him open-mouthed, like a trout.
“I heard you won an important motion. We could celebrate.”
“You want to celebrate my winning a motion?”
“Sure. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Maybe because we’re competing with each other. You know, for partnership.”
He looks stung. “I didn’t even think of that, Mary.”
I sigh, suddenly exhausted by the intrigue, the guessing, the strangeness of my life of late. “I don’t get it, Ned. The last time we had dinner was in law school.”
He looks down for a minute, studying his wingtips. When he meets my eye, his gaze is almost feline in its directness. “I wanted to call you back, but by the time I got my courage up, you were practically engaged.”
It sounds genuine. I feel flattered and wary at the same time. I don’t know what to say, so I don’t say anything. I try not to look like a trout, however.
“Isn’t that right?”
“Not exactly. I met Mike after you and I went out. And I didn’t get engaged all that fast.”
“No? You looked to me like you fell pretty hard. I remember seeing you doing research in the library, you looked like you were on cloud nine. Unless it was the sheer joy of working for Bitterman.”
“Not likely.”
“How could you stand that guy? I know he’s supposed to be a legal genius, but what a jerk. I heard from Malone he was a tyrant in the courtroom.”
“And out of it. He threw a fit when I wouldn’t do the research for his second article. Reamed me out in his chambers.”
“Why?”
“The law should be my first love, he said.”
“But it wasn’t.”
I think of Mike.
Ned clears his throat. “Anyway, you looked like a woman in love, even to somebody as dense as me. I figured I didn’t have a prayer, so I settled for being friends. What a guy, huh?”
“What a guy.”
His hands shift inside the pockets of his bumpy seersucker jacket. “So. Please don’t make this any harder than it is. Let me take you to dinner.”
“I don’t really go out, Ned. I mean, I don’t know if you’re talking about going out, but I—”
“Why do we have to label it anything? Let’s just have dinner together. We’re old friends,