Page 152 of Dial L for Lawyer
"Do you mean nepotism?" I ask and suddenly Serena is howling, nearly falling off her chair.
"Neep-o-sheep-em," she gasps, and then again, wiped out with laughter. "God, I want to put that on a t-shirt. Corporate neep-o-sheep-em. I love you, Michaela."
David gives me a long, hopeless look, like parenting was always doomed to end here. "Fine. If we start a firm, you get all the neep-o-sheep-em you want."
"Yes!" Michaela pumps a sandy fist in the air, victorious, then goes right back to shaping her fortress, as if she hadn't just dismantled hundreds of years of capitalist inheritance theory with a single mixed-up word.
Serena recovers, dragging her towel up to her chin, and grins at me. "I kind of hope you name it Neep-o-Sheepem, LLP. Just to see the petitions you'd get in the mail."
"Deal," David and I say simultaneously, which makes Serena laugh.
"On a more serious note," I say, turning back to David, "what would you need to feel comfortable making the jump?"
David considers this, swirling the beer in his bottle. "A solid business plan. Enough startup capital to cover the first year. And probably some assurance that we won't kill each other within the first six months."
"The first two are doable," I tell him. "The third might require family therapy."
"I can recommend someone," Serena offers helpfully. "Crisis management includes conflict resolution."
"Are you offering to be our business counselor?" David asks.
"Are you offering to be my first legal client?" she counters.
"Touché."
I look between them, feeling something settle in my chest. David and Serena have always gotten along well due to their years working together at Luminous, but seeing them now—planning joint business ventures, trading jokes about anxiety toast—feels different. More like family than former colleagues.
"So we're really doing this?" I ask. "Kingsley and Kingsley?"
"Kingsley, Kingsley, and Kingsley," Michaela shouts from her sand castle. "Don't forget about me!"
"How could we forget about you?" David calls back. "You're the most important partner."
"I want my name in the biggest letters," she adds, very seriously.
"Done," I promise, then look at David. "What do you say? Partners?"
David extends his hand, and we shake on it right there on the deck, with the lake lapping at the shore and the smell of charcoal still in the air.
"Partners," he agrees.
Serena beams at both of us. "This calls for a celebration."
"We should probably make sure we can actually make it work before we celebrate," David says pragmatically.
"Where's the fun in that?" Serena stands, adjusting her towel. "Besides, the best business decisions are made with a little bit of blind faith and a lot of good wine."
"Is that your official business philosophy?" I ask.
"It's worked so far." She leans down to kiss the top of my head. "I'm going to start dinner. You two can keep planning your empire."
She heads inside, and David and I sit in comfortable silence for a moment, watching Michaela add what appears to be a moat to her sand creation.
"You know," David says eventually, "I never would have imagined this. You, settled down with someone who actually thinks you're good looking. Me, ready to leave the security of corporate law."
I snort. "I know. It's freakish. Sometimes I wake up next to her and still expect her to have bolted in the middle of the night. I check for her shoes by the door before I even open my eyes. Like I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop."
"But not anymore, surely," David says, taking a swig of his beer. "Now you're settled."
