Nicole barely looked up. “Morning,” she muttered and kept reviewing the documents.
Were those actual dark circles under Nicole’s eyes? Impossible. It must be the lighting.
To kill time, Kate pulled out her cell phone, hesitating a moment before she activated it as she had every five minutes this past weekend. Checking to see if she’d missed a call, maybe a text or even an email from Dominic. But like it had been the last few days, the phone was absent any such notification.
Kate was more than a little startled to look up and find Tim seated at the head of the table and staring at her oddly. She hadn’t even noticed him arrive.
“You all right?”
“Yes. Certainly.” She slid the phone back into her pocket and straightened. No time for daydreaming.
“I think we can all agree that last week’s depositions were a resounding success. You were phenomenal, Kate. And Nicole, thank you as well for all the behind-the-scenes support you gave Kate. I don’t think there’s even really much to discuss this morning, since I know you’ll all agree that a motion for summary judgment is the next logical step.” Tim looked positively gleeful as he looked around the table. “Nicole, would you mind preparing a summary of the case that we can present to our client, explaining our strategy? I think Kate’s going to be a little busy for the next week or so getting the motion drafted, isn’t that right?”
Kate looked at the envelope still in her hand. She would wait until she had a moment in private to confront Tim about it. She owed him at least that. In the meantime, she nodded. “I started the draft last Friday.”
“Yes, I have no doubt you did. Nicole? I think you have enough to get started on that memo. I’m hoping to deliver it to the client by tomorrow.”
“No problem.”
“Good. I’ll look forward to reading it. But I have some other news I wanted to discuss with Kate. You wouldn’t mind excusing us, would you, Nicole?”
Nicole kept her face averted, and Kate had no idea what might be running through her head as she left. Truth be told, the woman seemed almost as distracted as Kate. And probably for good reason. Kate felt a twinge of pity for the woman she’d loathed and hated for the past few months. Sure, she was stuck-up and unfriendly—and everything Kate always wanted to be. But she knew what it was like to feel someone slipping away and feel helpless to stop it. It really sucked.
“I meant what I said, Kate,” Tim said when the door closed behind Nicole. “You really came through, despite the little surprise that came in last week. You affirmed for me and all the partners what a strong asset you are for this firm. Which is why I wanted to share this news with you now.”
He was really making it hard for her to get a word in, and she stared down at the package in front of her as Tim warmed to his topic.
“This morning during the usual weekly meeting, we had a rather unorthodox conversation. Unorthodox in that we usually don’t discuss these matters until the quarterly meeting, but I couldn’t help but share with them all how you came through for our client. What I’m saying, in a surprisingly long-winded fashion, is that we had a little impromptu and informal vote, and I can say with authority that you have more than your performance to celebrate. You have your promotion to junior partnership, a fact that will be announced formally on Friday after the official vote. Congratulations, Kate, Strauss and Fletcher’s newest junior partner.” Tim even cracked a bit of a smile as he added this last bit.
It had been the last thing she’d expected to hear today, and she blinked a few times, trying to process this surprising news.
She was going to be a partner. It was as good as hers.
And instead of the overwhelming giddiness and excitement she thought she’d be feeling, Kate still felt, oddly enough…nothing. Okay, maybe not nothing. Maybe more like a thick rope was being tied around her neck and slowly beginning to tighten.
Now was her moment. The moment she should ask him about the DVD. What he knew about it, and now that they had it, what they were going to do with it.
But for some reason, she couldn’t quite do it. It would be suicide to her job and her career, and she knew it. Instead, she reached out her hand out and accepted his proffered hand. “Thank you, Tim,” she managed to say. “For your encouragement over the years and your belief in me.”
And a few minutes later she was back in her office, not even remembering how she’d gotten there. She looked around her office again, at the diplomas on her walls. The small expensive treasures she’d picked up at each milestone along the way to where she was. And instead of feeling victorious, she still had that hollow feeling. As if she was still missing something.
And if she buried this evidence, just as she knew Tim would want and expect her to, she’d risk losing something else. Herself. Her values. Her moral integrity.
Now, more than anything, Kate wished she had someone she could talk about this with, someone who might understand her dilemma and what she was going through. Someone who could share in her worry, her excitement, her uncertainty.
Okay. Not just someone.
She wanted Dominic.
…
Dominic stood in front of Kate’s refrigerator for a couple minutes first thing Friday morning. Trying to ignore the feeling that his heart had been smashed by a sledgehammer.
It was there. A check for the rest of the work he’d done. Sure, he was owed it, he knew that. But for some reason, seeing the payment clipped to the fridge like she would the water bill or the electric bill made everything they’d been to each other over the past months feel…worthless. Like it was all just another job. Like he was just a contractor and nothing more.
What had he expected? After what he’d seen last week, he’d bet that Kate and Michael had already made up and were going to paint the town red after she heard the word about her promotion. Because they’d be idiots if they didn’t give it to her.
Only it made him sick to his stomach to think of Michael walking through this house that had come to almost feel like home. To place his hands on the woman Dominic had also come to think of as home.