Page 104 of My Office Rival

“Jason. What’s up? How are you?”

“Great, thanks.”

It was the truth. It had been a year since the H Brands deal had blown up. A glorious year with my amazing girlfriend, even though I’d taken enough flights to get the highest level of status on at least one airline. On Christmas Eve, when she’d been on call for work, I’d flown and then driven ten hours to be with her. That had beenrough, but the look on her face when I’d showed up had been worth it.

Even without the money from the H Brands origination credit, I was ready to quit the firm. Cynthia had some savings too, and she’d talked me into quitting “early.”Knowing you, you’ll never have enough money. Just do it.She’d been right.

“I’m actually giving notice.”

Mitchell jerked back in his chair. “Notice? I thought you wanted to make partner.”

I stilled. “Really? Was that ever in the cards?”

“Of course it was. You’re one of our best. Why do you think Nisha and I staff you on all the hardest clients?” Law firm logic at its finest—we like you, so we torture you.

I tried not to let my shock show on my face. “But I never really connected with any of you. I thought I needed to be better at marketing myself, internally and externally, to make partner?” Suddenly, I really cared about his answer. If I couldn’t market myself to clients, my firm would fail.

“That’s not true.” He frowned. “You don’t need to be a back-slapping, good ol’ boy to succeed. I mean, look at me, look at Nisha. Neither of us golfs. Both of us paid our own way through law school. You would have found your place here.” He sighed heavily. “I’m sorry to see you go. I assume you’re going to another firm? As counsel, maybe? Or partner?”

“I’m actually opening my own shop. With a lawyer who recently left TJR. A corporate boutique.”

“Oh.” He sat back, looking surprised. “Wow. Good for you. I think you’ll be good at that.”

“Thanks, Mitchell.”

I got up to leave, but he stopped me.

“If you ever want to talk about running a firm, or if you ever need advice, I’m here. And your name will be at the top of my list when I need to refer a smaller client out.”

My chest swelled. “Thank you. That means a lot. I’ll take you up on that.”

I left, my steps lighter and my head clearer than it had been in a long time.

“What if your friends hate me?”Cynthia sipped her drink nervously. We were in the back of one of my favorite bars uptown, waiting for Jonah and Miles, and Cynthia’s friends Margo and Andrew.

“They won’t hate you,” I repeated for the third time. She looked lovely today, dressed in black jeans and a soft cashmere sweater, fresh from a day of apartment showings. She’d just moved back to New York and was selling her apartment downtown. I couldn’t wait to have her in my bed every night, across the coffee bar every morning, even though she already spent most nights with me.

“Okay, well, I’m really nervous. Oh, there’s Margo!” She leaped up and waved. A stunning, dark-haired woman and a green-eyed man wended their way toward us. Cynthia hugged Margo, gave Andrew a cool nod, and introduced me.

“Meeting the Closer in person.” Margo raised a brow. “You’re taller than I expected.”

“The Closer?” I questioned.

“Oh god,” Cynthia said. “He doesn’t know about the nickname.”

Margo laughed. “Want to explain?”

“Not really,” Cynthia grumbled and sighed. “So back before you and I were dating, Margo and I used to talk about you. Andrew, close your ears for this one.”

Andrew rolled his eyes. “I’m well aware of your sexual harassment of this poor guy. I have ears. And you’re not very quiet on the phone.” Margo reddened.

Sexual harassment?I grinned. This would be good.

“So obviously, you’re really good at what you do, and so we called you the Closer.” Cynthia’s cheeks were pink and Margo raised both brows. Cynthia sighed. “Well, because of that, and because we joked you could close the deal with us anytime. Until I guess, I, uh, did.”

I burst out laughing.

“Who’s closing deals with whom?” Miles asked. He and Jonah joined our little group.

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