Page 73 of Because of You
“As promised, donuts. You can’t tell a sexy story without donuts.” She drops her bags on the floor and goes over to the stairway yelling, “Jules, I know you’re up there! Put the work on hold and get down here! Hallie has a story, and I have donuts!”
Coming into the kitchen, she puts the donuts on the island and gives me a side hug before dropping down onto the stool next to me.
“Hallie, you look positively glowy, girl. I don’t have to ask how the sex was last night. I can see it all over your face.”
“And twice this morning,” I mumble into my coffee, trying to smother the smile that wants to break free.
“Babe, I wish I could say I wasn’t jealous, but Jesus Christ. I fucking am. Twice this morning? It’s not even nine. That is some impressive stamina.”
I look up, and my smile breaks free. “God, you have no idea, Mol. Everything about last night was…I don’t even have words.It was perfect. He is perfect. I didn’t know it could be like this. I just…I really didn’t.”
Emma comes over and sits down on the other side of me, covering her hand with mine. Molly just stares at me for a second before suddenly getting up and walking up the stairs to the second floor. Thirty seconds later she comes back, dragging Julie behind her.
“I was almost done, Molly. What is so important it couldn’t wait five more minutes?”
Molly points at me. “Hallie is in love with Ben.”
My jaw drops. Julie’s head swivels around to look at me. Emma puts her face in her hands and mutters, “Molly, locate your tact.”
Molly just shrugs. “You are though, right? I mean, your face when you talked about him just now. I have never seen you look like that.”
I could deny it, and maybe I should since I haven’t said the words to Ben. But I don’t have it in me to lie. Not about this.
“I am. I love him. So damn much. And maybe you all think I’m crazy since it’s only been a few weeks since we got together like this. But it doesn’t feel fast, and it doesn’t feel crazy. It just feels… right. It feels like maybe Ben and I have been headed in this direction our whole lives.”
“There’s no such thing as too fast, Hallie.” Emma covers my hand with hers again. “There’s no timeline for feelings. They come when they come.”
“Em’s right.” Molly sits back down in her seat and puts her arm around me. “Ben is the best. You’ve known him your whole life. It’s not surprising that once this happened it would be quick.”
I look at Julie, who has been studying me quietly. She walks up behind me, putting her arms around me in a tight hug. “Noone deserves love more than you do, Hal,” she whispers. “I’m happy for you. And Ben. Both of you.”
“Okay, but I haven’t even told him yet. So maybe we could all keep a lid on it until I do that?”
“Lips are sealed.” Molly mimes zipping up her lips and throwing away the key. Even though she would seem like the most likely candidate to spill, Molly is a vault.
“Okay, so now that we’re done with the feelings of it all, can we get to the sexy portion of the morning? I need more information about that impressive stamina.”
Emma giggles and Julie just rolls her eyes. As much as I want to pretend like discussing my impressive and extremely satisfying sex life is all that’s on the agenda today, if I don’t get to the thing that I really came here to talk about, the anxiety might just eat me up from the inside out.
“Actually, before we get to that, I have something else to talk to you guys about. Jules, can you sit?”
She tosses me a quizzical look, and I don’t blame her. The words “I want to talk” rarely come out of my mouth, but she grabs a stool on the other side of the island and sits.
I take a deep breath and let it out slowly, steeling myself for whatever is about to happen.
“Okay. So. You all know how much I have loved the adoption work I’ve done with Charlie Callahan since the clinic.” Everyone nods, and I see suspicion in Julie’s eyes but ignore it and press on. “Well, yesterday, when I was at Callahan, Charlie told me that he is retiring at the end of the year. He has someone to take over his matrimonial practice, but since I have been working with him on and off for so many years, he asked me if I would take over his adoption practice. I would do the work under our firm name, so I would still be here. But my practice would be different.”
Julie sucks in a sharp breath. “You told him no, right?”
I shouldn’t be surprised that her first instinct is confrontation, but I am.
“I didn’t. I told him I had to talk to you.” In the past, that’s where I would stop, but not this time. “But I want to tell him yes. I love adoption. I know it’s a big bomb to drop on you, but this feels like an opportunity I can’t pass up. Honestly, I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. Longer than just since my meeting with Charlie. I’m not happy in estate planning. I don’t love it anymore. Maybe I never did. I love adoption. It fulfills me in a way that estate planning never has.” I have more to say, but Julie interrupts me.
“A long time?” Julie explodes. “How long? You didn’t think about saying something a little sooner? Like maybe before we started planning? Before the client files started coming over? Before we put your name on the fucking letterhead? You can’t do this, Hallie. You have clients who are following you here. They are counting on you. I’m counting on you. If you take over Charlie’s practice, what am I supposed to do? Em and Molly each have their own thing, but you and I practice together. If you leave, I’ll have to take on your clients, and I don’t have the capacity for that. You may think I live and breathe work, but I’m not an automaton with no life, Hallie. You can’t just pile more work on me and expect me to take it gladly.”
“Hang on,” says Emma. “There’s no need to dismiss it out of hand, Jules. I think we can make it work.”
Molly reaches over and squeezes my hand. “If this is important to Hallie, we need to talk about it. This firm is about us enjoying our careers and not paying homage to the big law gods.”
