“That’s my whole goddamned point, son, that goddamned ambivalence of
yours.” His voice lowered, but he continued to lean into Jack, crowding
him. “One place is definitely not the same as another. You have the key
to this place, you know. Your key is Baldwin and that nice-looking
daughter of his. Now the question becomes: will you or won’t you open
that door? Which query interestingly enough leads us right back to my
original question. What do you believe in, Jack? Because if you do not
believe in this’@-Lord spread his arms wide—-@”if you do not want to
become the Sandy Lord of the next generation, if you wake up at night
and laugh at or curse my little idiosyncrasies, my assholeness if you
will, if you really and truly believe you are above that, if you really
hate whaling away at Ms. Baldwin and if you don’t see one single item on
that menu that you care for, then why don’t you tell me to fuck off ?
And get up and walk out that door there, your head high, your conscience
clear, and your beliefs intact? Because frankly this game is far too
important and intensely played for the uncommitted.”
Lord slumped back in his chair, his mass extrapolating outward until it
fully engulfed the space.
Outside the restaurant a truly beautiful fall day was unfolding. Neither
rain nor excessive humidity marred the blue sky’s perfectness; the
gentle breeze rustled discarded newspapers. The torrid pace of the city
seemed to have momentarily slowed a notch. Down the street at LaFayette
Park, sunseekers lay in the grass, hoping for a few more moments of tan
before the really cold weather set in. Bike messengers on break prowled
the area looking for unconcealed legs and blouses open just a peek.
Inside the restaurant Jack Graham and Sandy Lord were staring at each
other.
“You don’t pull any punches do you?”
“I don’t have time for that, Jack. Not for the last twenty years. If I
didn’t believe you could handle the direct approach, I would’ve just
bullshit with you and let it go.”
“What do you want me to say?”
“All I want to know is whether you’re in or out. The truth is, with
Baldwin, you could go to any other -shop in town.
You chose us, I’m presuming, because you like what you saw.”
“Baldwin recommended you.”
“He’s a smart man. Lots of people would follow his lead.
You’ve been with us one year. If you choose to stay, you’ll be made a
partner. Frankly, the twelve-month wait was purely a formality, to see
if ‘ we were a good fit. After that you will never have any financial
concerns, not counting your future wife’s considerable monies. Your main
occupation will be to keep Baldwin happy, and to expand that piece of
business, and to bring in anybody else you can. Because let’s face it,
Jack, the only security any lawyer has are the clients he controls. They
never tell you that in law school and it’s the most important lesson you
have to learn. Never, never lose sight of that fact. Even doing the work
should take a back seat to that. There’ll always be bodies to do the
work.
You will be given carte blanche to chase more business. You will have no
one supervising you, except Baldwin. You will not have to monitor the
legal work being done for Baldwin, we have others who will do that for
you. All in all, not such . a terrible life.”
Jack looked down at his hands. Jennifer’s face appeared there. So
perfect. He felt guilty for having assumed she had had Barry Alvis
fired. Then he thought of the numbing hours as a PD. His thoughts
finally turned to Kate, and then quickly stopped. What was there? The
answer was nothing.
He looked up.
“Stupid question. Do I get to keep practicing aw.
“If that’s what you want.” Lord eyed him closely. “,So do I take that as
a yes?”
Jack glanced down at the menu. “The crab cakes look good.”
Sandy exhaled smoke to the ceiling and smiled broadly. “I love ’em,
Jack. Igoddamn love ’em.”
Two HOURS LATER, SANDY STOOD IN THE CORNER OF HIS massive office suite