Page 65 of Finding You
“Ugh.” CTM was my nemesis. She even insisted on going by her three initials, like she was Ruth Bader Ginsburg or something.
I laughed to myself. It was nice to know I wasn’t the only person I knew with a nemesis. It was yet another thing Declan and I had in common. Something about my personality made it easy to make enemies. I should probably explore that in therapy someday.
I tried to hide the rage in my voice. Donna did not deserve my anger because she was assigned to work for the devil. That bitch had been competing with me for years—undermining me in front of partners, stabbing me in the back every chance she got, and generally being a horrific pain in my ass. One time, I think she tried to run me over in the parking garage. When I confronted her about it she said she had lost a contact. Bullshit. So it was not surprising she stole my secretary the minute I left the building. She probably thought she could get ahead with Donna by her side. The joke was on her. Donna would always be loyal to me. We’d been together for years and were like family. Donna had protected me and supported me every chance she got, and I’d done the same. Charlotte Tobin-Meyer couldn’t even imagine what that kind of loyalty looked like.
“Thank you for the lovely holiday gift basket, Astrid dear. Paul loved the fancy pears.” Paul was Donna’s husband who had struggled with some health problems last year. I usually sent them all kinds of goodies during the holidays, but this year she asked me to keep it healthy.
“I’m glad he liked the fancy fruit.” They were good people and deserved all the good things. So I felt bad asking Donna for a favor.
“So Donna, I don’t want to put you on the spot.”
“But you want to know what’s really going on?”
“Yup. But not if you’re uncomfortable.”
“Hush. I will always tell you everything. You are like a daughter to me.” I beamed with pride at that statement. I didn’t have many people looking out for me in this world, and if Donna was one of them I was honored to have her.
“Charlotte has moved in on all your old matters and is spending a lot of time with Max Shapiro. He is still as smarmy as ever.” I never explicitly told Donna about what happened with Max, but she had suspicions which she didn’t hide from me. She had actually warned me when we started working closely together about a year ago. If only I had paid more attention.
“And?”
“She is definitely moving in on your territory. The two of them pitched to Galaxy Fitness last week.” I saw red. Galaxy Fitness had been my client for years. I had worked on multiple matters from them, and the Assistant General Counsel had been my classmate in law school. The thought of Charlotte working for them made me want to spit nails. I held my tongue and let Donna continue.
“And there have been a lot of meetings about what went wrong with the Sobmark merger.”
“Any idea how it happened?” I asked, hoping against hope that my name would be cleared soon.
“Not sure. We have had a team of cybersecurity consultants in, and they are going through everything. Hopefully it will be worked out soon.”
“Are people still saying I did it?”
“Astrid, we both know you didn’t do it. I keep your schedule and your calendar and I know that you were in Los Angeles for a Galaxy Fitness meeting the day it happened.”
“Oh, I know, Donna. I gave them all that information at my review and told them to check in with you to corroborate what I told them. Has the investigation team spoken to you?”
“No. Nothing. I can’t help but think it’s not a coincidence they are not in a hurry to exonerate you. But, I was taking notes in a recent meeting and they said it may have been the Hong Kong team. So that might be good news for you.”
Yes. I pumped my fist. We had a Boston team and a Hong Kong team working on the merger. We were both in and out of the virtual document room. It was definitely a possibility, and if attention was turned away from me, that would only ease my transition back.
“Thanks, Donna.”
“Have you found a new job yet?”
“No, not yet. There are some extenuating circumstances.” I trailed off, not willing to lie to Donna.
Donna was silent on the other end of the phone. It didn't seem like she was buying what I was selling.
“Anything else?” I asked. Donna was always well versed in firm gossip.
“People are still talking about you. Some people think you had a nervous breakdown. Others say you lost your touch and the partners turned on you.”
Oh God. This was worse than I thought. Several people at the firm had had nervous breakdowns. It was practically a badge of honor and not a big deal. If you weren’t in treatment for depression, anxiety, or alcoholism, it was expected that you soon would be. But not being able to cut it? To keep up with the work? That was truly horrible and would sink my reputation in the industry.
“Hold on, dear. I have to move to a more private space.” I heard her walking through the office and then heard a door shut. “I also wanted to tell you something. So I heard some things. About Mr. Shapiro.”
Oh shit. I was so embarrassed that Donna knew.
“There have been other associates.”
