Bennie let herself wallow in self-pity for a little longer, a self-indulgent emotion she rarely allowed herself, but this was hitting her hard. She hadn’t seen it coming and it happened much too fast. She already missed Mary, and the money was an issue. Declan had been sweet to offer to fill in the gap, but that wouldn’t be wise and she would never accept a loan. She had to resign herself to Mary’s leaving, plan her next moves, and mitigate the damage.
She felt struck by a horrible thought, one she probably would’ve had before if not for the beer, the man she loved, and this very soft bed beckoning to her. Mary and Judy were best friends, having worked together since they’d left Stalling & Webb as young associates. They’d only gotten closer over the years, and nobody would take Mary’s leaving the firm harder than Judy. And Bennie realized suddenly that Judy might leave the firm with Mary, which would be a terrible prospect in every way. Bennie had come to really enjoy having Judy around, even though she was out there as a personality, and Bennie assigned her a ton of cases.
She shifted upward in bed, as the realization began to dawn on her. She was able to trust Judy with anything and kept her busy twenty-four/seven. More importantly, Judy had a brilliant legal mind that could analyze even the most sophisticated of legal issues, as well as the patience to research endlessly. Plus her legal writing skills were the perfect blend of analysis and language, and one of the amicus briefs that Judy had written had been quoted in a slew of law reviews, cited with approval.
Bennie couldn’t lie around in bed feeling sorry for herself for another moment. It wasn’t like her, and she was about to lose her entire firm. She looked around for her phone.
Declan stirred behind her. “You awake, babe?” he asked, his voice low.
“Yes.” Bennie took her phone off the night table. “Sorry if I woke you.”
“No worries. I can’t believe how late it is. It’s all your fault.” Declan chuckled softly.
“I just realized I have to make a quick phone call. I’ll be right back.”
“You can do it here if you want to. I don’t mind. I’m up.” Declan shifted up in bed, resting his back on the headboard. “I want to catch the end of the ballgame. They played in the afternoon today. I watched it on mute. Make your call.”
“Okay, thanks.” Bennie shifted upward next to him, in no hurry to get out of bed. She scrolled to Judy’s number and pressed Call, just as Declan picked up the remote, aimed it at the TV on his bureau, and flipped the channels to the Phillies game. Bennie looked away from the TV so she could focus better on the call as the phone rang and rang.
Judy picked up. “Hello, Bennie,” she asked, and Bennie could tell from the tone of her voice that she was upset too.
“Hi, I’m calling to talk to you about this situation with Mary. I guess she’s really thinking about leaving the firm.”
“I know,” Judy said, but it came out like a moan. “It’s just terrible. I mean, everything is so good and I think we’re such a good firm. We all work so well together. I know that she’s in a real bind, but I don’t want her to go, I really don’t want her to go. And I know you don’t want her to go either.”
“No, of course I don’t.” Bennie swallowed hard. She didn’t want to get swept into some emotional tailspin, but emotional tailspins were Judy’s and Mary’s favorite things.
“I just can’t believe that it would come to this. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I understand her position completely, and I guess it can’t be helped, and I know she hasn’t really made her decision yet, and I know that’s hard on you too.”
“And I know it’s hard on you,” Bennie said, trying to stay patient and go with the flow.
“It is, so hard, it really is because I love her and I want her to be happy and I understand why she wants to take the case, why she has to help Simon, but I can’t help it, I have to tell you it feels like you guys are getting divorced, that we’re breaking up something that we’ve had together for so long—”
“I understand,” Bennie interrupted, realizing that she wasn’t as patient as she thought. Or maybe she didn’t trust her own emotions if they went any further down that road. “But I’m calling you about your position with the firm.”
“Mine?”
“Yes, I know that you and Mary are best friends and you might be thinking about going with her. I wanted to touch base with you and persuade you to stay at the firm. You know I think you’re a terrific lawyer and you’ve become my right-hand man, er, woman.” Bennie felt so awkward. “Anyway, you’re irreplaceable to me, and I’m hoping that you will stay.”
“That’s so nice of you to say, and I really appreciate it.” Judy sounded surprised, if troubled. “I’ve been thinking about it, and I am trying to decide what to do, to tell you the truth.”
“Well, do you want to hash it out? We can hash it out together. I don’t blame you, I totally get it. But I’d like to try to discuss it with you.”
“Really?”
“Sure. There’s no reason for anybody to be secretive. We care about each other and we want to make the best decision. It may feel like a divorce, but it’s a friendly one.” Bennie caught Declan’s eye, and he winked.
“Sure, that would be great.” Judy sounded relieved. “I mean, I guess it’s okay if I tell you that Mary did ask me to go with her, and I told her that I had to think about it.”
“Of course, I get that she would do that.” Bennie hoped she hadn’t lost any advantage by not talking to Judy first. She’d just been too thrown for a loop, even an old warhorse like her.
“And you know Mary and I are super close and I love her, and we’ve always practiced together. But I really love working for you, Bennie, and I love your cases. I think your practice and her practice are really two different things.”
“That’s true.” Bennie took heart, straightening up in bed, and Declan took his smartphone from the night table and started tapping away.
“And like I told Mary, I really do love to work on your cases and I would lose that if I went to her. She totally understands that, too.”
“Right, she can’t give you that kind of work. And you and I have things worked out so well together, with me getting that work and bringing it in and you working on it, am I right?”
“Right, we do have it worked out but still, I feel really caught in the middle. Like that’s already happening with the Dumbarton cases. I love working on those cases. I’ve gotten really friendly with Suzanne and Tom from MetalLabs, and they’re a really great group. I never knew metal fabricators could be so nice, and they have really interesting issues. Now I’m in a tug-of-war, with Mary representing OpenSpace and you and me representing Dumbarton.”
Bennie cringed inwardly. She considered not telling Judy that they’d been fired by Dumbarton, but it would be a material omission, which was lawyer speak for dishonest. “Judy, I do have some bad news. We’re not going to be working on Dumbarton anymore.”
“What? What the hell is going on?”
“They fired us, and I sent back all my files. You will have to too, when you get a chance.”
“Just like that? But I’m in the middle of, like, five active matters.”
“I know, but it’s over.” Bennie worried the conversation wasn’t going the way she’d wanted.