Sidney turned to see Amy waving at her. The little fingers floated up
and down. The sharp chin had dissolved into a cute little bump and,
with it, Sidney’s anger from the morning’s battle. Sidney returned the
wave.
“I love you too. We’ll get some ice cream tonight, sweetie, after
dinner. And I’m sure Daddy will be calling to talk to you, okay?” A
wonderful smile broke across Amy’s features.
Thirty minutes later Sidney pulled into her office parking garage,
grabbed her briefcase from the passenger seat and slammed the truck door
as she raced to the elevator. The chilly wind funneling down the
underground garage entrance brightened her thoughts.
Soon the old stone fireplace in their living room would be in use.
She had come to love the smell of a fire; it was comforting and made her
feel safe. The coming of winter had turned her thoughts to Christmas.
This would be the first December in which Amy could actually appreciate
its very special time. Sidney felt herself growing more and more
excited about the approaching holidays. They were going to her parents’
place for Thanksgiving, but this year Jason, Sidney and Amy were staying
home for Christmas. Just the three of them. In front of the popping
fire flanked by a fat-bottomed white pine Christmas tree and a mountain
of presents for their little girl.
Although technically only a part-timer, she was still one of the hardest
working attorneys at the firm. The senior partners at Tyler, Stone
smiled every time they passed Sidney Archer’s office as they saw their
respective pieces of the partnership pie grow even larger through her
efforts. Though they probably believed they were using her, Sidney had
her own agenda. The part-time scenario was only an interim measure.
Sidney could always practice law; however, she only had one opportunity
to be Amy’s mother while Amy was still a little girl.
The old stone and brick house had been purchased at roughly half price
because of all the renovation work needed. Work that Sidney and Jason
and a group of subcontractors had completed at fiercely negotiated
prices over the last two years. The Jag had been traded in for the
cranky six-year-old .Ford. The last of the massive student loans were
almost gone, and their monthly living expenses had been reduced by
almost fifty percent through common sense and sacrifice.
In another year the Archers would be almost completely debt-free.
Her thoughts went back to the early morning hours. Jason’s news had
been truly stunning. But she felt the tuggings of a smile as she
considered the ramifications. She was proud of Jason. He deserved this
kind of success, more than anyone. It was shaping up to be quite a good
year. All those late nights. He had probably been putting together the
details of his job. All those hours of needless worry on her part. She
now felt bad about hanging up on him earlier. She would make it up to
him when he got back.
Sidney stepped off the elevator, hurried down the richly appointed
hallway and opened the door to her office. She checked her e-mail and
voice mail; neither revealed any emergencies. She loaded her briefcase
with the documents she would need for her trip, grabbed the airplane
tickets from her chair where her secretary had left them and slid her
laptop into a carry case. She left a stream of voice-mail instructions
for her secretary and four other lawyers at the firm assisting her on
various matters. Sufficiently weighed down, she managed to stagger back
out to the elevator.
Sidney checked in at the USAir shuttle desk at National Airport and a
few minutes later was settling into her seat on the Boeing 737.
She was confident the plane would take off right on time for the barely
fifty-minute trip to New York’s La Guardia Airport. Unfortunately, it
took almost as long to drive into the city from the airport as it did to
traverse the two hundred and thirty or so miles from the nation’s
capital to the capital of the financial world.
The flight, as usual, was full. As she assumed her seat, she noted that
sitting next to her was an elderly man dressed in an old-fashioned