“I’m on Perry Street, so very convenient.”
“Nice. I’m in Tribeca.”
The waiter returned with a platter of oysters.
“Your email mentioned you had a ‘thought’ after we met at the book launch,” I said, my curiosity getting the best of me. Especially after he mentioned his girlfriend almost as soon as we sat down.
“Right.”
He pulled a stack of papers out of a messenger bag on the floor. “This is my contract for a movie I was supposed to direct until I had a disagreement with the producers over casting, and the studio kicked me off the project.”
I looked at the first page of the director’s agreement.
“They were going to pay you $5 million to direct?” I asked.
“It’s a big-budget movie.”
“And they fired you?”
“And now I want to sue for wrongful termination.”
“What was the disagreement about?”
“I wanted to rewrite the male lead as a woman. They didn’t.”
“Yikes. I’m assuming that’s not something they’d want out there.”
“That’s why I’m bringing this to you.”
I chuckled. “You know I’m just an associate, right? It’s still my first year at the firm.”
He grinned. “Yeah, but you work with Leo Hirschman.”
“I have in the past.”
“Anyway, I liked what Andie Reese said about you at the book thing. You seem smart. I’m not asking for any favors. I can afford you guys—I just thought maybe this could be a win-win type of thing. Youbring me in as a client, get Leo to work with you on it, and we scare the shit out of these motherfuckers.”
I hadn’t heard from Leo since the retreat. He never followed up about the big transactional matter he’d teased in Montana.
I wondered if bringing in Frank as a client could level the playing field. I still wanted to work with Leo, but I was long past wanting more than a professional relationship.
I handed him back the director’s agreement. “I probably shouldn’t look at that until the firm clears conflicts. But this does feel right up Leo’s alley. I can reach out to him.”
“Terrific.”
I felt a spark for work that had been missing since the investigation broke me down, and the retreat left a bitter taste in my mouth. I was pretty sure Elinor hadn’t talked to anyone about what happened, but I needed to find a way to mentally move on.
Frank headed back to Tribeca, and I took the subway to Forty-Second Street. HR still hadn’t replaced Charlie, and I felt his presence every time I walked into our empty office. I put on a Bob Dylan playlist while I looked up a federal statute Eddie had asked me to research.
My phone lit up with a FaceTime call.
I melted down as soon as his face appeared.
“Wow, wow—you okay?”
After how badly Ben and I had left things, his expression reflected genuine concern. I cried harder. I propped the phone against the monitor and covered my eyes with a Kleenex.
I took a shaky breath. “You just caught me off guard, I guess.”
