by Leigh James
“Hi, honey," she said, squeezing me to her tightly. She pulled back and I noticed that she looked pale underneath her tan. “I’m so glad to see you. I was starting to worry — it’s been a little while since we talked." She looked up at Walker and her face stayed tense. "Mr. Walker," she said, and they nodded at each other.
"There're a few notes on your desk," she said, motioning for us to follow her into the office. "You might want to take these old time sheets with you when you go. You're behind and I've been getting nasty emails from the Office Manager about updating your time."
"I'm sorry, Tammy!" I said. I was one of the few lawyers in the office who religiously turned in their time early. When associates failed to turn their time in, their assistants bore the brunt of nastiness from Emily, our Office Manager, who loved to issue threats. "I've been so wrapped up in this case, I totally forgot."
“It’s my fault, Tammy,” Walker said apologetically. Tammy looked over at him and he gave her a sheepish smile. "I'll stay on top of her from now on," he said, and even though she looked pale and a little tense, Tammy burst out laughing.
I blushed furiously and looked at her, horrified.
"Oh, honey, I’m sorry," she said, looking at me and clucking her tongue. "We all know what a good girl you are. It's just hard to not get a visual, with him so good-looking and all," she said, motioning at Walker.
She looked at me and sighed again. Not only did she look pale, but her face looked drawn, like she’d been binging on caffeinated diet soda and hadn’t been sleeping. “There’s been a lot going on here. A lot of the partners have been checking in — they want to know when you're coming back to the office, when you're going to be able to work on their files."
"David said I'm off-limits until this trial is over," I said.
"I know," Tammy said, gently. "But I just think that people are worried about you. You practically lived here before this case. Now your office is always dark. People just miss you, is all. And they don’t like change. They fear it.”
I nodded at her. "Thanks, Tammy."
"I left that bronzer for you," she said. "Make sure you take it. You look a little pale. But you need to get going now — David’s waiting for you. And Norris Phaland will be, too, as soon as he figures out you're here." She tapped a makeup bag on top of my files and then came over and hugged me again. "Don't forget that compact. But don't get it now," she whispered quickly.
"I'm going to run some errands," she announced in a louder voice, nodding at Walker. "Always nice to see you, Mr. Walker."
"I know," he said, and they both started laughing again.
"Laugh it up," I said to Walker. “Because now we get to go see David. We'll see how long your sense of humor lasts."
"Let's get this over with," Walker said. "And, Nicole, I'm going to let you do the talking. For now. You seem to know what you’re doing.”
I have no idea what the fuck I’m doing, I thought. But I smiled at him. “Works for me," I said, feeling shaky.
We walked quickly down the hallway; everyone nodded and said ‘hello’ but the stares continued. Maybe it was our appearance: Walker in his cargo shorts and tee-shirt, his muscles rippling; me with my hair down, long and wild, in my clingy dress. We must have been quite a sight.
I stuck my head into Mandy’s office on the way. She looked up from the file she was squinting at and jumped up. She smiled blearily at me. “Nicole! You look so pretty,” she said, and it was obvious that she’d pulled an all-nighter. She had mascara stuck in the dark circles under her eyes and her silky hair looked like it was conducting a fair amount of static electricity. “How’s it going? I have a bunch of docs to send to you guys today. I’m assigned to screen everything so you only have to review the important stuff…”
“Please send me everything,” I said quietly, cutting her off. “It’s all important.” She looked at me and then just nodded. That’s one thing I always liked about Mandy. She knew when to keep her mouth shut.
"We'll be back in just a minute if you want to pull some files for us now," Walker said.
"Of course, Mr. Walker," she said, and I could see a blush creep up her neck. Poor girl. If only she knew what it was like to work with him twenty-four hours a day, to have a full-time hot flash.
“David’s waiting," Walker said as we headed down the hall.
I looked over at him and squared my shoulders, getting ready for Linda, David's snotty secretary.
"Well, hello," she said to us, looking up primly from her desk a moment later. She beamed at Walker. His appeal really knew no limits. Linda didn’t even bother to glance at me.
Walker gave her a wolfish smile. “We’re here to see David,” he said, smoothly.
“Of course, Mr. Walker. He’s just on the phone," she said. She quickly tapped a text out to him to let him know we were here.
"Linda, would you mind terribly if I asked you for some coffee? We were just at a meeting and the coffee was terrible. So was the assistant, unfortunately. I asked for coffee and she practically spit at me.”
“She probably just spit in your coffee. Or maybe just mine,” I said, looking at Linda. Linda continued to completely ignore me and instead, looked at Walker like he was a wounded puppy that she wanted to swaddle, cuddle, and coo over.
"People don't know how lucky they are to have their jobs," she said, clucking her tongue and vaguely looking in my direction with disapproval. “I'd be happy to get you some coffee, Mr. Walker. It’s my pleasure.” She clicked off down the hallway in an immaculate pencil skirt.
"I'd like some, too,” I called, lamely, and received no response.
"Check her computer," he said suddenly, still looking down the hall. Linda was only fifty feet away, her back turned towards us.
"Are you out of your fucking mind?" I hissed back, as quietly as I could muster.
"You have three seconds," he said. "Take a look."
I stood over her monitor and looked at the open files. Michaels Acquisition, Zero Tire Cross-Purchase, Wolfowitz Merger. There was nothing about Walker.
“Nothing,” I said, looking up nervously.
“Check the trash,” he said. I watched as Linda put the cup on a saucer and straighten her back. I clicked anyway.
Advent Portfolio was all I read before I closed the folder and stepped away. I looked up and Walker was standing in front of me, his hands in his pockets, watching Linda as she came towards us.
“Here you go, Mr. Walker,” she said and smiled.
Just then David poked his head through the door. I startled and jumped. Linda staggered a little with the coffee but managed to right herself. She gave me a scathing look.
“Seriously, Nicole?” David asked. He was chomping on a toothpick. He must have desperately wished he had a cigarette. “Am I that scary?”
“Sometimes,” I said, trying to sound casual and failing miserably. “You just surprised me. I thought you were on the phone.” I didn’t look at Walker; I could feel him next to me, wondering if it was just David that had me spooked all of a sudden — David and the dead pizza guy, Lester Max, Norris Phaland and the various individuals who were following us.
Advent. That’s what had me spooked. That was the name of the file that Lester Max had asked his secretary for, right before we went into his office. That was the name of the file in Evil Linda’s electronic trash.
My brain clicked along, and I tried desperately to keep up.
“Well, come on in,” David said.
Walker took his coffee from Linda. “Many thanks,” he said, giving her another appraising smile. I could practically see her knees knocking in excitement. If I hadn’t been positive that he was only flattering her for his own purposes, I would have been totally pissed.
“I just got off the phone with Lester Max,” David said, shutting the door and motioning for us to have a seat. “He wasn’t very happy with you two.”
“He’s part of a larger trend,” Walker said, putting his coffee cup squarely in the middle of David’
s desk and then taking a seat. He hadn’t touched it.
“A trend of being unhappy?” David asked, raising his eyebrows and sitting down. He picked up the saucer and cup, looking slightly annoyed, and moved it to the side. “With you two? I can’t imagine such a thing.”
He sounded as though he could very easily imagine it. Somehow, that corner office and fat partnership bonus seemed further and further away, every second.
Good thing my almost-boyfriend was a billionaire.
“How far along is Mandy with the next group of documents?” I asked, inserting myself into the conversation.
“She’ll have them to you tomorrow morning.”
“Great,” I said. I paused for a beat. “In other breaking news, Lester Max is refusing to cooperate with my discovery prep. He told me he wouldn’t talk to me without his lawyer.”
“You don’t say.” David sounded noncommittal. He chomped on his toothpick.
“No, it’s true,” I said, keeping my voice neutral. “He refused to elaborate on some questions we had for him. Questions about a subsidiary corporation he set up in Miami. I originally thought it was some sort of tax shelter, but when I dug a little deeper, it appeared to be some sort of shell-corporation that processes salaries. Salaries to a select few individuals.”
“And Lester Max was one of the individuals?” David asked. I nodded. He turned to Walker. “Did you know about this?”
“I knew the company existed. I thought it was strictly for tax purposes,” Walker said. “I didn’t know that Lester was receiving additional funds from it. Not until right now,” he said, looking at me. “I’m disappointed, but I can’t say that I’m really surprised. Lester made a ton of money from me, but he has a lot of expenses. He had beautiful girlfriends that he couldn’t afford, vindictive ex-wives that he couldn’t afford, and a bunch of kids that need boarding schools and sailing lessons.”
I cleared my throat. “Lester Max wasn’t the only recipient of funds from the Miami corporation,” I said, quietly.
Walker and David just looked at me.
“Who else?” Walker asked.
“Proctor & Buchanan,” I said, watching David.
David didn’t say a word. His face was a mask, hiding any thought that might be going on inside, any semblance of recognition.
“What the fuck?” Walker asked.
“I’m pretty sure you know this stuff…” I said, still watching David, “actually I know you know it, because you’re very familiar with the solvency of any company we take as a client. I know you would have reviewed the company’s financial records before we took on Walker, because Proctor & Buchanan does not accept clients who aren’t solvent.”
“Of course we knew Blue was solvent,” David scoffed. “That doesn’t mean we were getting paid illegally from one of its sub-corporations. I know nothing about this. I swear, Nicole. This is the first I’m hearing of it.”
“You might not know,” Walker said. “But someone here knows.” David flinched visibly; Walker was all tendons and anger bubbling right below the surface.
“You’re not making sense,” David said, weakly. “I think you’re under too much pressure. I think this case is taking a mental toll on you, on both of you…”
“THE FUCK IT IS!” roared Walker, and I’m pretty sure I stopped breathing. I could see the cords standing out on Walker’s neck. In a different setting, this would be quite attractive, and I would want to run my hands down his taut throat, but right now I just wanted to pee my pants because I was so afraid of him. And afraid of what he was saying.
There was a knock on the door. Linda peeked her head in. “Norris is here to see you,” she said, her eyes never leaving David’s face.
“That’s fucking perfect,” David said, leaning back in his chair. “Send him in.”
“Walker?” I asked, as Norris slithered in, glaring at me. “I think it’s time to get going!”
“I agree,” Walker said, moving past Norris and bumping into him on purpose. Norris adjusted his glasses and took a quick look at Walker; I was pretty sure he wasn’t used to encountering someone as scary as himself, but Walker definitely qualified at the moment.
“Excuse me,” Walker said to him, not meaning it.
“No worries,” Norris said, not meaning it, either.
“You’re right. No worries. Not anymore,” Walker said, flashing a brilliant, angry smile at them. “You are fired. Nicole is the only one I want representing me now. Will you continue to represent me?” he asked, his eyes searching my face. I gave him a brief, confused look. And then I found my big-girl panties, even though I was afraid to wear them.
“Of course I will,” I said, my voice shaking. I made myself stand up.
“So, gentlemen, considering these recent developments, please accept my resignation. I’m no longer an associate at Proctor.” I could hear my bank account weeping somewhere out in the distance but I ignored it, concentrating instead on David’s face, which was watching mine closely. “I’m going to represent Walker on my own. You need to forward all of his files to me, immediately.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Norris Phaland asked, in his cold, haughty voice.
“No, I am not fucking kidding you, Norris,” I said. “You want to talk about this in the ladies’ room?”
“Not particularly,” he said, and began inspecting his nails. “I don’t like to be surrounded by a bunch of cunts.”
“Are you fucking KIDDING me?” I shrieked. “What is it with you misogynists and that word? Is that really the best you can do?”
He looked up at me idly and shrugged, but I could tell he was in full-on crocodile mode, taking his time, plotting a way to get his ugly jaws around me. So that he could snap me in half at his leisure.
I looked back at him defiantly. “Anyway. I’m resigning. You just lost your billion-dollar account. File your Withdrawal with the Court.”
“Why are you doing this?” David asked, now looking at Walker.
“Because based on this information, I don’t trust you, now,” he said. “I trust her.” He jerked a thumb at me. “I don’t trust Lester Max now, and I never trusted your buddy Norris, here. So I’m done.”
“This is a mistake,” David said. “At least let me look into it.”
“You can feel free to look into it,” I said, my chin jutting out at him. “But Walker and I have to move forward with his defense. We have to convince the court that he’s innocent. Because he is. And all of this is just a sideshow to what’s really going on.” A dangerous sideshow, I thought.
“Gentlemen, this conversation is over. We’re done,” Walker said, and he grabbed my hand. My heart thudded in my chest. Norris and David just stared at us, jaws open, at this latest, most unbelievable development.
“You’re going to get disbarred, young lady, and I’m going to enjoy every second of that hearing,” Norris said, but when Walker turned to face him, he shut his mouth.
I pulled on Walker, trying to get him to stop moving towards Norris. “He’s just protecting me,” I said to Norris, lamely. “We’ve sort of been through a lot.”
Walker looked at Norris fiercely. “Don’t say a word about her to anyone,” he said, ferociously. “Or I will make sure that you regret ever seeing my face. Getting disbarred will look like a fucking cakewalk compared to what I’ll do to you.”
“So now you’re threatening me,” Norris said, assessing him. “You’re clearly in violation of your detention. You’re out of your house, you’re holding hands with your lawyer, and you’re criminally threatening an upstanding member of the bar. Who, up until about a minute ago, was one of your Counsels of Record.
“I don’t think he’s mentally stable right now,” Phaland said, turning to David. “I think we need to call his detention officer and have him brought in for an assessment.”
“I don’t think you want to do that,” Walker said. His voice was lethal.
“I don’t like threats, Mr. Walker,” Norris said, raising his heavy head
and making full-on eye contact with Walker for the first time.
“Well, I don’t like threatening you, because then I have to think about you, which I don’t particularly enjoy,” Walker said.
Norris sighed and turned to David. “This is ridiculous. I don’t know what they’re talking about, and it sounds like they don’t, either,” he said. “And you’re going to let our client go, in this sort of state, a few weeks before his trial? This is insane.”
“Let them go,” David said, and waved his hand vaguely in the direction of the door.
Norris gave him a disgusted look and headed towards the door. “I’ll be back later, David,” he said. “I’m going to go get some actual work done for clients who appreciate my integrity. Not an over-built gym rat masquerading as a CEO and his slutty lawyer friend.” Walker reached out to grab his shoulder — to yank him back and do God only knows what to him — but I reached out and stopped him.
“Let him go,” I said. “I don’t want to look at him anymore.”
Walker released him, and Norris shot me one last filthy look before he was gone.
David looked up at us. “Nicole, I’m going to need to speak with you alone for a minute. You’re going to have to sign some forms and I’m going to need to get your identification and your keys. You’ll have to meet with HR briefly.”
Walker stepped towards the desk. “She’s not meeting with you alone, David,” Walker said.
“I’m not gonna hurt her,” David said. He exhaled and looked at Walker pleadingly. “You can stand outside with Linda. It’ll take five minutes. I’ll leave the door open. But I need to speak with her without any outside influence. I’m sure you can understand — as the partner who assigned her to this case, I feel I have some personal responsibility in all of this.”
Walker looked at me. “I’m fine,” I said. He frowned at me but nodded, and went out the door.
“You’re also going to have to turn in your laptop,” David said. He grabbed a pack of cigarettes out of his desk and held one, nervously jiggling it between his between his fingers.
“You’re not actually going to smoke that, right?” I asked, looking nervously over my shoulder at the open door. I couldn’t handle any more rules being broken right now. Walker holding my hand in front of two managing partners and firing my law firm all in the course of a few minutes were already more than I could handle. I wanted some normalcy. Not a dead delivery man, a client who insisted on holding my hand in public and my former boss smoking in his office. All before ten-thirty in the morning.