She certainly didn’t think of herself as Noah’s girlfriend, but it was a better way of explaining why Rose was in the room with him during the middle of the night. Saying he was just getting laid might not have been the best way to respond to the president.
“Yes, sir, we will be there at seven,” Noah replied on the phone.
When he hung up the phone, Rose waited for Noah to tell her what the heck was going on. He had just spent at least ten minutes on the phone with the president, and all Rose had been able to gather was that there was some sort of secret meeting Noah needed to go to.
“So …”
“You better get dressed; he wants you at the meeting.”
“Me? What the heck do I need to be there for? I don’t want to go to the super secret middle of the night meeting.”
“I have no idea, and it’s at seven in the morning, not the middle of the night. He seemed pretty spooked and didn’t want to say anything specific over the phone.”
“This is some next level secret service shit; maybe we should call Elaine?” Rose said as she slipped into a pair of jeans.
It was already almost six o’clock in the morning; they didn’t have much time to get ready and get to the diner on the other end of town. Rose could already feel how tired she was going to be that day and knew she was going to need some serious levels of coffee before she could really get her morning started.
“No, and why would we call her. I’m a partner in this firm; I am more than qualified to make decisions.”
“I didn’t mean that you needed her permission; I was only thinking out loud.”
Noah felt extremely annoyed at the insinuation from Rose that he needed to run something by Elaine first. He was an equal partner in the firm and taking on a client was at his own discretion. It wasn’t like meeting with the president had anything to do with the firm anyways. The president was simply a client who requested a meeting, nothing more than that.
“Let’s get ready and get over to the meeting location,” Noah replied.
He avoided eye contact with Rose for a little bit as they both got ready but not because he was angry with her. It was awkward getting dressed after sleeping with the woman of his dreams. The night certainly hadn’t gone exactly as he had always planned for their first time together, but it had been extremely enjoyable.
Nothing about his relationship seemed to go as he planned it. But that wasn’t the end of the world, Noah was more than willing to roll with whatever came their way.
“He’s not coming to the office?” Rose asked as she finally realized Noah had said they were going to a meeting location.
“No, he said it wasn’t a good idea. We are meeting him at a local diner.”
“And the plot thickens,” Rose joked as they grabbed their things and made their way out of her apartment.
Being with Noah wasn’t anything she had planned, and Rose was trying not to be weirded out by it. She liked Noah; in fact, she liked him even more than she had before. But Rose had just slept with her boss; if things weren’t uncomfortable at work before, they were certainly about to get prickly.
No one in the office could know what was going on. Elaine had already made it extremely clear that she didn’t want Rose and Noah together. The other lawyers in the firm would certainly think that Rose was getting special attention and assignments if it got out that she and Noah were together. No, it was not in her best interest, or Noah’s, for anyone to know the truth about what was going on with them.
“You know we can’t tell anyone about what’s going on with us, right?” Noah said as they pulled out of the parking garage.
“Yes! I was just thinking that. I’m so glad you said something,” Rose replied in utter relief.
“I’m sure we will eventually have to tell Elaine, but let’s just keep things between us for now. Just to see how things go.”
Rose knew Noah was right, and on one hand, she was relieved that they were on the same page. But she didn’t like the idea that Noah wanted to keep things quiet while they tested their relationship out. It seemed like a normal guy thing to say; just keep things quiet so no one knows … and it left a dirty feeling for Rose. She didn’t want to be his dirty little secret, and when they had time to work things through, Noah and Rose were going to have to figure out what their end game with the office was going to be.
If they planned on trying to have a future together, everyone was going to have to know their secret. But it was too early to think about the future. Rose could hardly keep her eyes open. She was going to have to deal with the future some other time, after coffee, or after a good night of sleep.
“What do you think the president wants?” Noah asked in an effort to change the subject.
“I have no idea. I’m pretty sure his wife’s case is long settled now. But those two strike me as the type of people who keep a lot of secrets. At the very least, this should be one hell of a breakfast meeting.”
When they arrived at the diner, the building was closed, and there were no cars or people around at all. At first, it seemed like they had gone to the wrong place, but soon a man in a typical black suit opened the side door to the building and motioned for Noah to park the car around back and then come in. He did as he was asked, and within minutes they were both being frisked to make sure they hadn’t brought weapons or recording devices with them; at least, that was what Rose thought they were looking for.
The man in the black suit walked Noah and Rose through the kitchen area and to a table that had been set up in the back of the diner. There were rolls and coffee waiting for them, as well as the president. The whole moment was straight out of a movie scene, and Rose was just waiting for some sort of camera to pop out from behind the president.
President Matthew Storm looked like a normal Washington D.C. businessman on a busy workday. He was dressed in an impeccable navy blue suit with a shiny red tie on. His shoes were maroon and buffed to perfection, and there was a tiny glimpse of his Rolex peeking out from under the pressed cuff of his shirt.
“Sorry for all the secrecy; I can’t seem to meet with anyone without the press getting hold of the story.”
“No problem,” Noah said. “We are happy to help in any way we can Mr. President.”
The president took a long sip of his coffee as he looked from Rose to Noah and smiled. Without saying a word, he seemed to know the secret that the two of them had. Noah had told the president that Rose was his girlfriend. So as they sat in front of him, the president became the first person to know their truth.
“Call me Matthew,” he said as he looked at Rose. “So you and Noah are together? I didn’t see that one coming.”
Rose looked panicked at Noah and then back toward the president. How the heck was she going to explain her way out of this one? It wasn’t exactly a professional relationship to have a partner in the law firm and a second-year lawyer sleeping together. But then again, the president had started to sleep with his wife when she was a first-year staffer working for him.
“Um, well …” Rose started to answer.
“It’s good. I just didn’t think a guy like him could land a woman like you,” the president said nonchalantly before continuing. “You seem out of his league. OK, Noah, I need a favor. It’s a big one, and I’m not sure I will be able to explain all the intricate details about it. But I need someone I can trust, and I think I can trust you.”
“Of course, anything I can do Mr. Pres … I mean Matthew.”
“There’s a judge in the fifth district that seems to have it out for some publicity. Judge Marking, have you heard of him?”
“Yes, I just argued a case in front of him a few weeks ago. Definitely a tough man, but he seems fair enough.”
“There is going to be some information coming his way and a request for a search warrant of the White House. As you can imagine, that would be devastating to the American people, and I’d like to avoid that if at all possible. He denied one request, but basically told them the evidenc
e they needed to gather in order for him to approve the next request.”
Noah took in a deep breath as he looked at the president and tried to take in what he was being asked to do. Was the president asking Noah to bribe the judge? Or just to see what information they were looking for? Noah wasn’t sure, and he certainly wasn’t sure if he was going to be willing to help at all. Breaking the law was outside of anything that Noah would do, not even for the president.
“I’m not sure how I could be of help to you.”
“If you and the judge were to have a conversation, off the records, I’m sure you could convince him that I was more than willing to comply with any requests for information and that a search warrant wasn’t necessary.”
“But what information are they looking for?” Rose interjected.
“That’s not all that important. I will be happy to provide them with anything they are looking for. But we need to avoid a search warrant.”
The president was firm in his request, and for the first time since meeting him, Rose was afraid of the man. This was the cold, calculating, and manipulative side of the president that only a few people ever got to see. It was clear that Matthew Storm had plenty of skeletons in his closet, and he wasn’t all that willing to let the general public view his secrets. His eyes looked sternly at Rose and then at Noah; Matthew Storm was the type of man who always got his own way.
“I can’t promise you, but I certainly could put some feelers out.”
“I know you will do the best you can. I’m going to give you this retainer for your work. I’d like both you and Ms. Tate to work on this case.”
“It’s not really a case is it?” Rose said.
She knew exactly what the president was doing. He wanted to give them a retainer so they were bound by confidentiality if anything should come up. As his lawyers, Noah and Rose wouldn’t have to answer any question about private conversations between them and the president.
“Let’s say it is. I’ve officially hired you two as my personal attorneys.”
Matthew handed the check to Noah, and Rose glanced at it as she tried to see how much it was for. All she could see were zeros, and that was enough for her to know they were getting in way over their heads. If the president was willing to pay that high of a retainer, Rose was sure that the secret he was keeping was huge.
“We are really busy right now,” Rose said as she grabbed Noah’s hand and started to push the check back toward the president.
“But no one is too busy to accept my case. Am I right Noah?”
Noah didn’t want to take the case. He had just as many bad feelings about it as Rose did, but he couldn’t just tell the president no. People didn’t refuse to help the President of the United States when they were asked to work with him.
“I think we can make some time.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“I’ll let you know if I hear anything. Is there a way to get hold of you?”
“I’ll call you at the end of the week. Just call the number from this morning if you need anything else.”
“Okay, thank you Mr. Pres … I mean Matthew.”
The two men stood up and reached their hands out to shake, but somewhere in the midst of the handshaking, Matthew grabbed Noah and hugged him. He whispered something in Noah’s ear, and Rose wasn’t able to hear what it was. But the smile on Noah’s face diminished almost instantly, and his whole body stiffened up.
When they reached the car, Rose watched Noah as he nervously drove out of the parking lot. She wanted to ask him what the president had said to him, but she decided to wait and see if Noah told her. Matthew Storm was charismatic and powerful; he was the man who ran the country and not at all the kind of person Rose wanted to be doing business with. She suspected that he had threatened Noah in some way, but she didn’t know for sure.
Everything about the meeting scared Rose. They were in the middle of some very shady stuff, and that wasn’t the best place for lawyers to be. Rose and Noah were good at their jobs, but how on earth would they be able to convince a sitting judge not to give a search order if it was requested? How could they justify even knowing such information without admitting that they were meeting with the president about the very information that was being hidden?
“Well, that was terrifying,” Rose finally said.
“Oh, I don’t think it’s so bad. I’ll just invite the judge to lunch and ask him not to give the search warrant.”
“Oh, yeah, because that will work.”
“I think it might,” Noah said with a more upbeat expression on his face.
“If you think so.”
Rose wasn’t sure that they would be able to get any information at all for the president, but she wasn’t going to argue with Noah either. If he wanted to sit down with the judge, that was much better than her doing it.
“By the way, it was pretty funny how he acted when he knew we had been sleeping together.” Noah laughed. “I hope we are better at hiding it when we get to work.”
“Well, I was with you when you called him at five in the morning,” she said with a laugh. “Pretty hard to deny a relationship at that hour of the night.”
“Yeah, no big deal. That man has enough of his own secrets, I doubt he cares about ours. And I doubt Elaine will even look up from her work long enough to care what either of us is doing.”
Chapter 34
“Do you want to tell me about last night?” Elaine said as she stood in the doorway to Rose’s office.
“What?”
“I think I deserve an explanation.”
Rose could feel her heart pounding out of her chest as she looked at Elaine and tried to figure out how on earth she had found out already. Certainly, Noah wouldn’t have told her. Or if he had told her, he would have called her right away to prepare her. No one else knew at all; Rose hadn’t talked with Susan or any of her friends. But there Elaine was, standing in front of Rose with big eyes and a look of agitation on her face.
“I’m sorry …” Rose started to say.
“I know I’m the boss and all, but I am not totally unapproachable. I would have come out drinking with you. That was a big win for our company, and it deserved to be celebrated.”
Suddenly, Rose realized what Elaine was talking about. The big settlement case that Rose and Susan had worked on—Elaine was talking about their celebration. They had been concerned that Elaine wouldn’t have approved since they settled the case without billing even a day’s worth of hours so no one invited her out for drinks. Honestly, they hadn’t invited any of the higher up people, not even Noah. But Noah had happened to be there, and it worked out that he was able to help Rose get home.
“Yeah, it was sort of a last minute thing. We will definitely invite you next time,” Rose said, although she wasn’t about to invite Elaine anywhere with her and her friends.
“Well, Mr. Stern sent over his payment for your services and requested that you and Susan receive a special bonus for taking the case and helping to settle things so efficiently.”
Elaine handed Rose an envelope and waited for her to open it. A bonus was certainly never something that crossed Rose’s mind. She was happy to help the client and felt really proud of the work they had done on that case. It was exciting to know that the client was so happy with the job that he was willing to pay a bonus.
“Thanks,” Rose said as she took the envelope and prepared to put it in her drawer.
Rose didn’t want to seem too eager to open it, although she couldn’t wait for Elaine to leave her office. Any sort of bonus would help Rose immensely. She was living on a second-year lawyer salary, and it was just barely enough to pay her monthly bills. In a couple years, Rose hoped to have her savings built back up so she might actually be able to buy a home, but for the time being, her condo was just fine.
“Congratulations, Rose, I know we have had our differences, but I really see the growth in you over this last year. No hard feelings about Bronx either; the two of us
have talked, and I can see that he has a different perspective on what he wants with his life, and I know that wasn’t because of you. He’s a special guy who has to find his place.”
“Thanks, Elaine. I hope you know I think Bronx is a great guy. I just needed to concentrate on myself and my work.”
“Spoken like a true executive. Maybe we will get you into ship-shape to move up to partner someday. I think you would make a great partner.”
“Partner? Wow, that would be amazing.”
“Rose, I want you to be partner someday. I want more women to take responsibility around here, and I can’t wait to see you grow. Men will only get in your way. Stay away from them, and make yourself happy; it’s the only guarantee you’ll have in life.”
Elaine seemed very jaded, but Rose wasn’t going to argue with her. Rose knew that she had to take control of her own destiny. It didn’t matter what she and Noah were doing when they were away from work. Rose had to be the best damn lawyer she could be.
“Thanks, Elaine,” Rose said as she stood up and walked around the desk. “I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”
Rose reached out to shake Elaine’s hand, but Elaine pulled Rose toward her and hugged her, instead. What was with everyone hugging lately? Hugging didn’t seem like something Elaine normally did. But then again, everything about Elaine seemed a little happier than normal. Rose couldn’t help thinking that Elaine might have a little boyfriend of her own on the side. Getting laid was a great stress reliever; Rose knew that from firsthand experience.
“I’m off to a meeting. Congratulations on your bonus,” Elaine said.
Rose waited for Elaine to get into the elevator, and then she sprinted back to her desk and pulled the drawer open with the envelope in it. But just as she was about to open it, Susan flung her office door open and stood there with a huge grin on her face.
“You haven’t opened it yet?” Susan asked.
“No, Elaine was here, and I didn’t want to seem greedy.”
“Hey, what are you two up to?” Noah said as he walked past the office and stopped to check in on Rose and Susan.
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