A couple of beats passed before the answer came to her. “You’re not talking about the guy who changed your tire? The one who was bruised and bleeding and scared you half to death?”
“That’s the one.”
“How’s that even possible?”
“It’s kind of hard to explain.”
Jill smirked. “Uh-oh.”
“What?”
“You’re smiling again.”
“Am I?”
“Yes, you are. And part of me wants to cancel the conference call and just pull up a chair.”
“I can’t. Barney and I are meeting a client in a few minutes.”
“But we’re definitely on for lunch, right? And you’ll fill me in then?”
“Without a doubt.”
Ten minutes later, Serena called on her cell phone. When Maria saw who was on the line, she felt a sudden jolt of concern. Serena never called before ten a.m. Half the time, she wasn’t even awake by ten.
“Serena? Are you okay?”
“Where is it?”
“Where’s what?”
“The photo of Colin. It wasn’t in my e-mail or text.”
Maria blinked. “You’re calling me at work, during work hours, about a photo?”
“I wouldn’t have had to if you’d already sent it. Did it go okay? Tell me you didn’t already run him off.”
“No. As a matter of fact, we’re going out Saturday night.”
“Okay,” Serena said. “The post won’t have as much impact without a photo, though. Of course, I guess I could just use one of you from when you were a kid or whatever if you’re not going to send it…”
“Good-bye, Serena.”
She hung up the phone, only to reach for her cell phone a few minutes later, more out of morbid curiosity than anything.
And there, on Instagram, was her photo. From when she was in middle school. Braces. Acne. Glasses. Gawky. The worst school photo in the history of school photos. “Try not to be jealous, guys, but my sister Maria has a date this Saturday night!”
Maria closed her eyes. She was going to have to kill her sister. No question about it.
But she had to admit, Serena was kind of funny.
Over a plate of assorted sushi and sashimi a couple of hours later, Maria filled Jill in on much of what had happened with Colin, the story sounding unbelievable even to her.
“Wow,” Jill breathed.
“Do you think I’m crazy? Considering his past?”
“Who am I to judge? Look at the blind date we set up. On something as out of the box as this, your best bet is to just keep following your instincts.”
“What if my instincts are wrong?”
“Then at the very least, you got your tire changed. And had a nice date, which I’m hoping will get me totally off the hook for that double-date fiasco.”
Maria smiled. “So the depositions were boring?”
“They were enough to make a monk go crazy, since half the people are perfectly willing to lie under oath and the other half say they can’t remember anything at all. And now that I wasted my time all week, we’ll probably just end up settling. Par for the course, but I can’t say I’m ever going to enjoy it.” She snagged another piece of sushi. “How goes it with Barney?”
“Better,” she said.
“What does that mean?”
“Oh, that’s right – you weren’t here,” Maria started, and she told Jill about getting her tire changed and how it led to being late for the meeting, along with all the work she felt compelled to do in the aftermath. She also recounted the dressing-down Barney gave her, though she omitted the confrontation with Ken.
“Barney will get over it. He’s always tense before trial.”
Yes, but… Maria shifted in her seat. “The thing is, I heard that Barney was going to let me be lead counsel on this case.”
“Where did you hear that?” Jill held her chopsticks at half-mast. “Don’t get me wrong, you’re a brilliant associate – but you’re a little short on experience for Barney to saddle you with that kind of responsibility.”
“Rumors,” Maria said.
“I wouldn’t put much stock in rumors. Barney enjoys the limelight too much, and he has a hard time ceding control – not to mention credit – to even the most senior associates. That’s one of the reasons I transferred to labor and employment. I figured I’d never be able to move up, or even get the courtroom experience I needed.”
“I still can’t believe you were able to transfer departments.”
“Lucky timing. I told you I was in labor and employment for a few years before I started at the firm, right?” When Maria nodded, Jill went on. “At the time, though, I wasn’t sure it was what I really wanted to do, so I took a chance and tried insurance litigation. I worked with Barney for nine months and practically killed myself before I realized it was a dead end. I would have left, but it just so happened that the firm was building up its labor and employment practice and needed me.”
“Unfortunately, I’m kind of stuck if this doesn’t work out. Unless we start doing criminal defense.”
“You could always change firms.”
“That’s not as easy as you might think.”
“You haven’t been looking, have you?”
“Not really. But I’ve been beginning to wonder if I should start.”
Jill scrutinized her as she reached for her glass. “You know you can talk to me, right? About any concerns you have. While I’m not a partner, I do run my own department, which gives me some clout around here.”