Page 22 of Passionate Defense

“I called him a son of a bitch.”

“What did he do?”

“He laughed. So I went to Mr. Williams, who defended his right to assign cases to junior associates as he saw fit. He was so condescending; he may as well have patted me on the head, given me a lollipop, and sent me off to play. The old goat! From there, I went to Mr. Wolfe and demanded the PD cases be evenly dispersed among the other junior associates or I’d resign on the spot.”

“And?” Beth asked as she paused.

“Uh, hello?” She reached into the box on the bench beside her and pulled out the nameplate she’d swiped from her door. Holding it up, she gazed pointedly at Beth.

“Yeah, I got that.” She frowned. “What happened there at the end?”

“Ole Walt thought he could get some action in exchange for severance. Ew! As if. The sheer nerve of that asshole astounds me.”

“What will you do now, honey? Does Ethan know? Will he be pissed?”

“I haven’t told him yet. He’s still in class. But he’s been pissed ever since the last time the pig grabbed my ass. He brushed it off as an accident, claiming he was going for a pat on the back, but that ticked Ethan off more. It was all I could do to keep him from coming to the office and separating Walt’s head from his shoulders. Short of that, he wanted me to file charges or quit. That was three months ago, so it’s still fresh. He won’t have a problem with my leaving.”

The waitress came with Beth’s Reuben and Lanie’s roast beef club and a refill of their drinks. When she left, Lanie picked up where she’d left off.

“Ethan has been pushing for me to start my own practice. He’s said he’d back me financially, although he suggested I find a partner. It’s not a financial issue. He doesn’t want the community to know he’s involved, that it would undermine my position by casting a shadow over my success, at least initially.”

“That’s smart. You wouldn’t want to be known as Ethan Fischer’s wife, the attorney. Would he be a silent partner?”

“No, he only wants to be an investor. If I ask, he’ll advise, and I’d need to rely on his expertise to get it up and running, but he won’t interfere at the office or in court.” Lanie took a bite of the huge, crunchy dill pickle the Midtown Deli was known for. “Oh, pissah...am I going to miss this place—especially these pickles.”

Beth giggled.

“I didn’t use that right, did I?”

“Close, but it’s more like a cuss than a sigh. If you said, ‘Oh,pissah! Some idiot putmustidon my three-way,’ then you’d be a true Baystater.”

Not a native of Boston like Beth, even after living in the city for ten years, Lanie still had a hard time with the lingo. “Remind me what a three-way is again, excluding the obvious, of course.”

“Roast beef with cheese, sauce, and mayo. Or just ask for an all-around. Same difference.”

Meeting Beth was the best thing about working at WW&S. Lanie reached out and squeezed her friend’s hand. “I’m going to miss you, too.”

Returning the gesture with a sheen of tears misting her eyes, she burst out, “How much of a buy-in?”

“What?”

“The partnership.” It came outpahtnahship, but Lanie was too stunned to tease her about it.

“Five hundred thousand. Why? Are you thinking of... Oh, Beth, opening our own practice together would be amazing! I was hoping to find another woman and have an all-female law firm with women representing women.” She continued in an exuberant rush, barely taking a breath. “It’s a huge investment though. Not to mention a risk. I thought Ethan’s figure was high. We can scale back if it’s a problem.”

She waved off her concern. “Steven’s loaded. I just need to ask him.”

“He is?”

“Yeah. He’s been published a dozen times over. Mostly self-help books and he co-authored two psychology textbooks. Besides that, he came from old Boston money.”

“I had no idea.”

“He doesn’t make a big deal of it, which I love. Tell me the plan.”

“Ethan said to start with a bang. Impressive offices with a legal secretary, advertising, memberships, and wicked cool branding... He’s had it all plotted out for months in case I pulled the plug on WW&S.”

She stopped gushing when she noticed Beth’s smile.

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