by Adam Mitzner
That among Faith’s final words were those seeking his forgiveness is too cruel an irony for Aaron to fathom. Aaron cannot stop himself from tearing up, even as Rosenthal continues to tell his story without emotion, as if he’s recounting a military mission that happened to experience casualties.
“There was no doubt in my mind that if she went public, your career was over, so I asked to meet with her. I knew it was risky. You could be a suspect if she’d told anyone that you’d met her that night, and I could be a suspect if people saw the phone call to my office. I swear, I didn’t know she had called your office number by mistake and been rerouted to me. But I had to act then or it would have been too late. So I did what I had to do. There was no other option.”
“Of course there were other options, Sam. All that was at stake was a law firm. That didn’t justify taking a woman’s life.”
“A law firm?” Rosenthal says with incredulity. “That law firm was my life. And I thought it was yours too. And just as I’m sure you would take a life to protect your children’s lives, that’s what I was doing too.”
Aaron has no doubt that this is true. Sam Rosenthal could have gotten away with murder, and yet he didn’t.
Rosenthal stands to say good-bye, seemingly to release Aaron from any further obligations. “I don’t want you keeping the COC waiting on my account,” he says.
For a brief moment Aaron considers telling Rosenthal that he is not forgiven, that some conduct is too horrible to forgive. But Aaron is all that Sam Rosenthal has in this world, and some responsibilities are simply too great to abandon, and so he pulls his mentor into him, hugging him. This is too much for Sam Rosenthal to endure and he begins to sob.
THE COC GIVES AARON a standing ovation when he enters the conference room. His place at the head of the conference room table is vacant, as is the chair across from it, where Samuel Rosenthal was a fixture for longer than any one of them has served.
“Thank you,” Aaron says to quiet the applause of the COC. “I cannot tell you all how much I appreciate all of your support. I would like to tell you that the last few months have reconfirmed how important this law firm is to me, and that I’m rededicated to its leadership and our continued success . . . but the opposite is true. All that I’ve experienced has made it abundantly clear to me that what matters in life is what goes on not in this office, but in my home, with my family.”
Aaron’s departure from Cromwell Altman Rosenthal and White has been a matter of negotiation. In exchange for stepping aside and allowing Donald Pierce to finally achieve his life’s ambition, Aaron has secured a place on the COC for Rachel London, as well as Abby Sloane’s appointment to the newly created position of deputy chairman.
Pierce says, “I speak not only for this committee but for the whole of Cromwell Altman when I say that we are deeply indebted to you and your leadership over these past ten years. We all wish you and your family the very best.”
With that, Aaron leaves the COC to continue its business. As he enters his corner office, he thinks he hears the rustle of Donald Pierce changing seats.
Alone in his office, Aaron can’t help but stare out the window one last time. He imagines that he’ll never again see the world from such a high perch and smiles at the irony that he so rarely appreciated the view. Although his walls are covered with framed clippings of his legal triumphs and photographs of him with various A-listers, when he scans the space for personal mementos that he wants to take with him, he reaches only for a single picture of Cynthia, Lindsay, and Samantha.
Then he leaves Cromwell Altman Rosenthal and White for the last time. The rest of his life now awaits him.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
THANK YOU FOR READING Losing Faith, hopefully enjoying it, and now reading the acknowledgments. Please send me an e-mail at [email protected] and tell me what you thought of it. Or find me on my Facebook fan page, www.facebook.com/pages/Adam-Mitzner/146568165416677, and post there. Also, reviews help spread the word, so please post a review to your favorite site.
I am truly fortunate to have had some great people assist me in bringing Losing Faith to you. My agent, Scott Miller at Trident Media, deserves special thanks that go beyond just this book, for taking a chance on me way back when. Scott’s assistant, Stephanie Hoover, has always been there for me whenever I’ve had a question or a concern. At Gallery Books, I’m lucky beyond words to work with Ed Schlesinger, who makes everything I write better. Once the book is finished, Stephanie DeLuca helps get the word out, which is just as important as (if not more so than) the work that goes into writing it. I’ve also been privileged to work with the very talented people at FSB, who tell the blogosphere about me, especially Fauzia Burke and Leyane Jerejian.
My partners and colleagues at Pavia & Harcourt, the law firm where I do my day job as the head of their litigation department, have been incredibly supportive of my nighttime writing activities. Those who know me will appreciate that more than being a lawyer or even a writer, I’ve always wanted to be a superhero. There are many reasons that dream will not come true, but at least this way I get to have an alter ego.
I once heard someone describe the writing process as being in an empty room and then, slowly, inviting people in. I’ve been very fortunate that I have some amazing and talented people willing to come into that room and help me: Clint Broden, Matthew Brooks, Gregg Goldman, Jane Goldman, Sofia Logue, Rebecca Nelson, Debbie Peikes, Benjamin Plevin, Ellice Schwab, Jessica Shacter, Kevin Shacter, Lisa Sheffield, Jodi Siskind, Marilyn Steinthal, and Joellen Valentine.
If some of those names sound familiar, it’s because after my friends do me the great kindness of reading my unfinished book and providing helpful advice, I reward them by using their names for characters that do not in any way actually resemble them. In Losing Faith, I have stolen the identity of Clint Broden (who would like the world to know that he’s more academically accomplished than his fictional counterpart but every bit as much a Pepsi man), Harrison Geller, Jane Cleary, Gregg Goldman, Dana Luria, Sara Meyers, Diane Pimentel, Kenneth Sadinoff, Alyssa Sanders, David Sanyour, Ellice Schwab, and Jodi Siskind.
Losing Faith is dedicated to my fifteen-year-old stepsons, Michael and Benjamin Plevin. Benjamin read Losing Faith twice in draft and offered insightful comments, and although Michael decided to skip the reading process, that did not in any way impede him from offering his own insightful commentary.
My daughters, Rebecca and Emily, are always at the forefront of my mind when I write—even though neither of them has read any of my work. In Rebecca’s case, I think it’s because the last thing a teenage girl wants is to know that much about her father’s deepest thoughts, and in the case of Emily, who is eleven, it’s because the themes are still too adult for her. But I suspect that someday they’ll both read Losing Faith and I hope that when they do, they not only like it but also remember how happy I was when I wrote it.
Last, and certainly most, my love and utmost thanks to my wife, Susan. She’s not only the first person I let into the writing room, but I sometimes make her stay there long after she’d rather have left. Although she now has me on a strict “I’m only going to read it three times” diet, her assistance to the finished product cannot be measured merely by her critiques. Her presence by my side is what allows me to venture into the writing room in the first place, because I know that what really matters is outside of that room, with her, our family, and our friends.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photograph by Susan Steinthal
ADAM MITZNER, a lawyer by day, is also the author of A Case of Redemption and A Conflict of Interest. He lives in New York City, with his wife and children.
FOR MORE ON THIS AUTHOR: authors.simonandschuster.com/Adam-Mitzner
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2015 by Adam Mitzner
“Viva La Vida”: Words and Music by Guy Berryman, Jon Buckland, Will Champion, and Chris Martin
Copyright © 2008 by Universal Music Publishing MGB Ltd. All Rights in the United States and Canada Administered by Universal Music—MGB Songs International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved.
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First Gallery Books hardcover edition April 2015
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Jacket design by Jae Song
Jacket photograph of shattered glass @ Getty Images/Dual Dual
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mitzner, Adam.
Losing faith / Adam Mitzner. —First Gallery Books hardcover edition.
pages; cm.
I. Title.
PS3613.I88L67 2015
813’.6—dc23
2014031293
ISBN 978-1-4767-6424-5
ISBN 978-1-4767-6438-2 (ebook)
