“How’s the merger going?” he asked.
“Moving forward,” Sandra reported. “We have a current draft of the contract if you want to look it over.”
Jake took his copy and flipped through it. I could tell, he didn’t seem to really care about the contract. He put it aside and then pushed it away with his hand.
“Okay, let’s cut the crap,” he finally said. “You both know why I’m up here.”
Sandra stole a guilty glance my way. She didn’t have much of a poker face. I, on the other hand, scrunched up my face in curiosity. “Whatever do you mean, Jake?”
“You’re gonna make me say it?” he said mildly threateningly.
“I’m not sure what you’re—” I began.
“You take one of the associates, a beautiful, young female associate, out to your house in the Hamptons, and you expect me to believe you’re just making contracts out here? Do you think we’re fucking stupid, Jack?!”
That was Jake. He’d go from zero to sixty in a blink of an eye. It could be very intimidating. It didn’t surprise me how tough he was. He had been a District Attorney for a few years.
“Jake, Jack was just—”
“Don’t you defend him, Sandra,” ordered Jake putting a finger in the air. “Don’t you dare defend this poon hound! Do you have any idea how many women he’s seduced over the years? His reputation? He fucked a girl in a storage closet when he was an intern!”
I looked away. That was true, but I didn’t think anyone had found out about it.
“Didn’t think I knew about that one, did you, Jack?” Jake growled. “You two are supposed to be working on a merger worth billions, not making the beast with two backs! If our clients found out what you were doing on their dime, do you know what kind of shit storm that would bring?! Do you?!”
“Jake, listen—”
“No, you listen, Jack! How many more? After what happened with the last one? She could’ve sued the firm! Sandra could sue the firm right now and set herself up for life! And I’m inclined to pay her out!” Jake snapped.
“I’m not going to do that, cousin,” Sandra said quietly. “I’m not like that.”
“No, I forgot. You’re a total professional,” Jake said sarcastically. “You just spread your legs for the handsome lawyer you’re supposed to be working with! Your client, Sandra! You’re supposed to look out for your client! Not fuck the coworkers!”
There was a long uncomfortable silence.
“Fortunately, for both of you, this hasn’t gone beyond the usual office gossip. With the pandemic, no one’s paying attention to anything other than whether or not they have a cough, so lucky you,” he snapped. “Now, do you have anything to say for yourselves?”
I then threw something out there. I wasn’t quite sure why I said it. Maybe it was because I knew it would outmaneuver Jake or that I wanted it to be true.
“We’re engaged, Jake,” I said. “This has been going on since before the pandemic. We didn’t want to say anything because we didn’t want to make the relationship official yet.”
“What? Seriously?” asked Jake looking at Sandra.
“It’s true,” Sandra added, surprisingly convincing. “I was worried you’d think what you just said, so I insisted we keep our relationship a secret. We just thought that the pandemic was a perfect way for us to spend some time together. I’m sorry. We should’ve told you.”
“Huh,” said Jake reconsidering. He scratched at his beard. “This does complicate things, but in another way, it makes them simple. I hope you two aren’t fucking with me. Because if I found out you only did this to shut me up—”
“It’s real,” I assured him. “We haven’t set a date yet, and obviously now, well, who knows when large gatherings will be allowed again.”
“Indeed,” agreed Jake. “And it will be a big wedding. You two apparently are the real merger. Well, then.” He stood up and put on his jacket.
“Don’t you want to go over the contract?” asked Sandra.
“I have access to the firm’s network,” Jake revealed. “I’ve already been tracking your progress. Good work, by the way. You two better keep doing good work and keep a lid on this relationship thing of yours for now. No PDA. Not that you can go anywhere. Oh, and stay out of the city. It’s a Goddamned mess.”
I walked Jake to the door. He turned around just before he left.
“Congrats, by the way. The two of you,” he said.
Jake eyed me warily as he shook my hand. I think, deep down, he knew some of this was real, and some of this was fake. He just wasn’t prepared to sort the two out right now. He always knew when to cut his losses.
“Thank, Jake,” I replied. “You’re going to be at the top of the list of our wedding invites.”
“I’d better be. See you soon.”