I changed quickly and headed to the cocktail hour downstairs. The music was deafeningly loud. I scanned a welcome table with a thousand name tags to find mine. The ambience was thick with lawyers drinking away the social anxiety. Charlie hadn’t responded.
Two proseccos and several stiff conversations later, I found my way to the formal dinner with assigned seating. Waiters passed by with bottles of red and white. I was starving, tipsy, and exhausted at the idea of spending at least another hour chatting with colleagues I didn’t know.
“White, please,” I answered with a polite smile. On these few hours of sleep, red would have been a sedative.
I looked up to see a woman awkwardly leaning in from a few seats over, noticeably trying to read my name tag.
“They should really make the letters bigger,” she said uncomfortably.
“I’m Samantha, from the New York office,” I said, trying to sound approachable.
“Cathy, from Dallas.” She had the odd combination of a pleasant voice and an unfriendly expression.
“This is my first firm retreat.”
She screwed up her face. “This is my twelfth, if you can believe it.”
“Any tips?”
She held up her glass of wine. “Don’t be the drunkest, and don’t be the soberest.”
I leaned over and clinked my glass to hers. “I’ll try to remember that.”
I pretended to busy myself with carefully buttering my dinner roll as the rest of the table seemed to have rounded out with varying versions of Cathy. To my left was a retired partner who had trouble hearing but was still invited to the retreats.
It felt like there were over a hundred tables. I was envious of whoever was seated next to Charlie. The head partners for each office took turns addressing the room. I didn’t notice that my wine glass was never less than two-thirds full until I noticed the room was spinning.
“After-party, then hot tub. In that order.”
Leo’s arm was suddenly wrapped tightly around my shoulder, his face so close I could feel his breath on my skin.
“How did you find me in this labyrinth?” I asked nervously.
Don’t be the drunkest, don’t be the soberest.
Cathy had disappeared. Something told me she probably wasn’t ending the night in a hot tub with Leo Hirschman.
“When there’s a will, there’s a way. I figured I’d save you when I saw you were next to Anderson Salamander.”
“That was only rough because he couldn’t understand a word I said. Otherwise, he was surprisingly sweet.”
“There’s always a way to salvage the night. Follow me.”
I needed to find Charlie. And a bottle of water.
The “after-party” was a big room with makeshift bars, a strobe light, and a DJ. I was planted next to Leo, sipping water as he introduced me to other attorneys and made endless small talk. I promised myself I wouldn’t get another drink.
“You look amazing in that dress, Sam. Hope it’s okay for me to say that.” He leaned over, turning to face me directly.
“Oh, thanks ... It’s just a dress. I’ve worn it to the office lots of times.”
He looked amused by my discomfort.
“Listen, there’s something big coming down the pipe. I think you’d be perfect for it. I’ll be representing the biggest names in the business to acquire a specialty theater chain. They’re gonna totally revamp the way people go to the movies. If I can hold out until the investigation is over, would you be up for it?”
I perked up. “You wouldn’t joke about that, right?”
He laughed. “Thought you’d say yes.”
