“Would he quit the firm?”
“Never say never but he’s got it pretty good,” she snorts. “He wants to be in charge and he is. That would be difficult for him to do anywhere else. Well, at least not at a really large firm. He wants to be with a big firm. He kind of needs to be with the size of his cases. He can always pull in other partners and associates from the firm when he’s really overstretched with work. Anyway, I’m sure he knows that he’s got to build up BSF’s environmental department. He really can’t complain about it.”
“Why do you have to get bigger?” Jaclyn has no concept of how corporate America works.
Tawny pulls herself out of the pillows and leans forward. “Because we’re a huge firm and we just need a larger department. It just goes that way. We have to look at mergers and acquisitions, bond deals and other corporate clients that need an environmental review.” Standing up, she stretches her stiff limbs. “It’s too much for Billy and Rebecca since the firm is huge. Couple that with all of Billy’s cases and you need a larger firm.”
“I guess that makes sense.” Jaclyn tosses each opened envelope on the coffee table, unconsciously telling her roommate she is losing interest but Tawny continues.
“Basically, once Billy builds up the firm, which he should be able to do pretty quickly with his reputation, he’ll have junior managers who just report to him. He won’t have to deal with all the personnel stuff he hates. He just has to weather it out now while he’s getting it all together.”
“Makes sense to me. But you’re still gonna interview?” Jaclyn stops perusing her mail, which Tawny knows means she wants to close the conversation and return to planning her Friday night but is trying to be tactful about it.
“Yes. I may let Billy know I’m doing it. If he thinks about this situation long enough, he’ll figure out that it’s better to keep me and not just because the managing partner will be upset.” Tawny has it all figured out.
Jaclyn gets up and puts most of the mail in the shredding basket. “I don’t know if I’d tell him.”
“Well, maybe I should wait to tell him if I get a job offer.” Tawny does not want to jump the gun.
Sorting the bills out on the table, they will both write checks for half the amount owed and send them in tomorrow. Ever since they almost had their electricity turned off and had to pay a penalty, Tawny insists they pay them immediately. Jaclyn did not protest since it was her fault for not paying on time. “Maybe. Anyway, what about Friday night? Are you in?”
Tawny is not sure about another night out with Jay. “Do you want to go?”
“Yes.” Jaclyn does not hesitate.
“Do you like him?” Tawny wants to know if this is actually going anywhere with Eric since she has to put up with Jay trying to take her to bed every time she is around him.
“I do. I wish that he and I could just go out but I’ll wait to see if that happens.” Jaclyn is a bit gun shy with the guys lately. She has had a string of bad dates. She really wants to find Mr. Right but she is not meeting anyone that even comes close. She tries too hard for attention most of the time and the guys back off. Tawny told her to slow down and she is following her advice but it has made her more timid.
“Then let’s go. I’ll fend off Jay another night.” Tawny relents in order to help her friend.
“You don’t like him at all?”
“I’m just not interested at all.” Swiping a scrunchy from the drawer, Tawny twists her thick auburn hair up into a long ponytail. “He’s an okay guy but there are no sparks. He spends most of the night trying to talk me into sleeping with him but I’m not sure he really wants me. I think he feels like he has to try. Maybe because he’s not interested in me either but he’s helping Eric out.” Tawny gives her opinion.
“There is no guy that wouldn’t want to have sex with you so I’m pretty sure you’re wrong about that part. But he may not want to date you.” If Eric would just ask Jaclyn for a date she could figure out how she really feels about him.
“He definitely doesn’t want to date me but the feeling is mutual so it’s all good,” Tawny agrees with her best friend. “Are we going to eat at the game?”
“I’m sure we will. They’re not going to splurge for a steak dinner.” No one in this group has much money to spare since they all have student loans and living expenses.
“I’m not sure they’ll buy us a hot dog. Last time I had to buy all my own drinks,” Tawny laments.
“You poor baby.” Jaclyn mimics her best friend.
“You know what I mean.” Tawny laughs.
“If you would just sleep with him. . .” Jaclyn jokes.
“I’ll buy your hot dog for you if that makes you feel better,” Tawny replies with a grin on her face as she starts unbuttoning her blouse and heads toward her bedroom to change into her work out clothes while Jaclyn contemplates whether or not Eric will ever man-up and ask her out on a real date.
CHAPTER 6
“S o how’d your interview go?” This is why Billy is visiting her in her office, something he rarely does since inappropriately touching her last summer and encountering her wrath for the sexual harassment.
“How do you know everything I do? Do you have spies or something in every firm?” Tawny did not want to be confronted by Billy. She wanted to be the one to play with his emotions for once.
“What you do seems to be more interesting to people than most everything else that goes on. I don’t really need spies. People just call me up and tell me that my feisty associate is checking out her options.” Billy sits comfortably in Tawny’s reception chair but she catches him swallowing hard.
“So much for confidentiality.” Tawny cannot believe she has been made.
“Well you can’t keep secretaries and receptionists quiet; especially ones I’ve dated.” Billy relays his secret for discovering information.
“They seem to know everything.”
“Pretty much. So how’d it go?” He is not letting her off the hook.
“Good. But all of them spent too much time asking about you.” She knows he is curious but is there a hint of fear in his voice? “Don’t worry I didn’t say much and what I did say was complimentary. I could see getting an offer from two of them maybe, maybe not. One of them I could tell wasn’t that interested but I wouldn’t go there anyway.”
Billy does not hide his shock. “You had three interviews?”
“How many did you know about?” Tawny just gave away the bank.
“One.”
“Oh. Well, yeah, I had three. But I either went after work or took vacation time so you can’t complain that I did it on office time.” Tawny misunderstands his cold response.
She watches as he shakes his head and squares his shoulders, looking much more rigid than a minute ago. “I don’t care about the time. You sent out six resumes and got three interviews? That’s incredible.”
“The other three said they weren’t hiring right now.” Again, Tawny misreads his statement.
Scratching his head, he clears up her confusion. “That’s very impressive, especially for a second year associate no matter what kind of work you’ve done. You picked huge firms and three of them interviewed you within three weeks. That’s pretty scary for me.” Billy divulges his feelings.
“Sorry, I guess. I wasn’t trying to do anything to you.” She bites her lip. Is he going to fire her? “I just wanted to make sure I had security for my future.”
“You don’t have to worry about security here, Tawny. I’ve got your back.” He rubs his face before asking the fateful question. “If I give you more money, will you ditch any offers?”
“I don’t have any offers yet,” she concedes.
“So you’re in the driver’s seat. You can take the money and if you don’t get an offer, you’re better off than you were before. If they do want to hire you, I’m better off.” Billy shifts in the chair.
“It’s not the money, Billy. Well, I mean I would like more money, of course, but this is about the
work. With all the hiring you’re going to do, I don’t want to be left behind.” Despite efforts to the contrary, Tawny’s worried about her place in the firm with all the new attorneys expected to come on board.
Billy raises his eyebrows and Tawny realizes she just let Rebecca’s gossip out. “You shouldn’t know about the hiring but I’m guessing Rebecca let it ‘slip’. We are ramping up the department. Brandon was the first partner hire and I’m going after three others. Two will be partners right away and the third a senior associate who’ll make partner in a year or so if he brings in the business.”
“Is it already done?” With the cat out of the bag, she figures she will get as much as she can out of him. He is the one that knows the most.
“Almost. We’re talking to a small firm and that’s the set-up. They have two associates and support help. Lots of support help. Four secretaries and five paralegals. We’ll have more than enough help from them. It’s a good fit for all of us.” Billy finally provides her with some tangible information.
“Meaning you and them and probably Nick and Mark since they’ll be partners. I’m still left out in the cold with Rebecca,” Tawny states what is obvious to her.
“You make me tell you things I shouldn’t but I need your silence on this if I tell you.” Billy shifts in his chair, much more uncomfortable now and Tawny notices.
“I promise not to tell.” Billy pauses. Tawny once told him that she only makes a promise if she knows she won’t break it. She is very loyal.
Tawny sees Billy glance at her door to make certain it is closed before he speaks. He is going to tell her something an associate should not know. She loves it when he opens up to her. “She’s gonna hate it but she’s getting an intern to work with her this summer. That intern will be her new associate if he’s offered and takes the job. You’ll have some of the same types of cases as Rebecca’s for your own and you can go to her for advice, if you want. You’ll almost be a third year associate by the time these interns take the bar exam and come to work full-time. You’ll be ready for your own work.”
Tawny can only imagine how Rebecca is going to feel but now Billy has her under his thumb after suspending her. “You’re right. She’s gonna hate you for this.”
“She doesn’t have much she can say. She can handle the bulk of the work and train an associate. You’re too good to get stuck in her shadow. I won’t let that happen. I promise.” Tawny looks directly into his steel blue eyes and knows that a promise by him means the same as by her.
“I miss the big cases,” Tawny pouts ever so slightly, not wanting to admit that she is feeling left out of his world.
“Probably because you get to work with me.” He assumes he knows what she really wants.
“A little, I admit it, but only on a professional level. You’re just so good at what you do and it’s nerve wracking working with you but every day is so full of action. You actually see results. The environment is protected when you’re involved. That’s so incredible. It’s not just about cleaning up a mess. You prevent further damage.” This is Tawny’s main goal in life. It is why she became an environmental attorney.
“Ken and other engineers get most of the credit for keeping things clean but I do care about the world we live in.” He opens up his hands and stares at his clean palms as if there’s dirt in them he is protecting. If only Billy knew what it was really like to get his hands filthy. “It may not always show but I don’t want to live on a dirty planet. It’s just laziness that makes a lot of these problems appear. There are ways to do the right thing with dirty materials. It’s expensive but destroying parts of the planet can’t be justified to save a buck.”
“Don’t tell me you’re a secret tree hugger and environmental freak?” Tawny teases as she learns more about Billy’s motives.
“You thought I only saw it as a way to make lots of money and get my face on the news, I know.” She leans her head to the side, encouraging him to enlighten her. “I’m not a fanatic. I do see careless disregard for our resources and I’m going to try to do something to protect them but I also understand the importance of using those resources for our benefit. I want to promote a healthy balance.”
Tawny nods in agreement. “That’s exactly the way I feel too.”
“So will you take the raise and tell the other firms you’re no longer interested?” Billy returns to his original premise.
Tawny sits back in her chair and stares at the master at work, the man who attracts her as much as he totally confuses and frustrates her. “Why do you want me here, Billy? I mean is it because of the managing partner. . .”
“No,” he interrupts her. “Tawny, unless I commit a felony, no one’s gonna touch me. Sure, they want me to comply with the firm’s policies and I should. As a department head, I take a lot of liberties but I know what’s right. I also understand the need for the firm to beef up this department. I’ve had my cake and got to eat it for a very long time. It’s not that anyone’s exasperated with me; they just think it’s time to get the entire firm in line so that each department is run like any other. I can’t disagree. I’ve signed up to do what the management committee wants because it’s best for the firm and because I don’t want to turn over the department to anyone else.”
Tawny never thought Billy would so easily comply with a set of rules. “That’s not something I’d expect from you.”
“I may be a rebel most of the time but this is good for me as well as for the firm. There’s no reason for me not to agree. The biggest issue is that I have to be the one to do it all. I’m not crazy about doing any of it. It takes me away from my cases and it keeps me in the office. I don’t like either of those things.” He relaxes in the chair again. If he lost any confidence, he quickly regained it. “The good part for me is that I get to organize the way that I want. It’ll be good for everybody.”
“Including me?” Tawny still is not clear about where she will land.
Tawny can always tell when he is thinking about what he should say before he talks. He has this habit of placing his fist under his chin or pulling on his face. “You’re only a second year associate. Putting you on the case last year gave us the best result so it was the right move. But it’s made you feel like you can be involved in work that only senior associates and partners usually have. I don’t mean to be condescending but I need to be certain that you can handle it. You don’t have the experience so that means I’m going to be watching your every move. I don’t always have time to be that kind of manager.” Trying to be delicate but still make sure Tawny knows her place, Billy reminds her how young she is.
“I do understand.” It is time for her to be completely honest with him. “I’m just scared that you don’t want to work with me and these new attorneys will bring in their own associates.”
“You’re right about the new attorneys but I never anticipated you working with them. You’re very wrong about me though. Don’t forget that you’ll be working for Nick and Mark as they make partner.”
“I didn’t think of them.” This is a new revelation she had not considered.
“They both know how good you are and they like working with you. You’ll be involved with their cases and through them, my large cases.” He looks directly at her. “And I will work with you. It probably won’t be as direct a relationship as it was on the case last year but I won’t ignore you.” Billy looks straight into her eyes so she knows he is being completely honest.
“Like you’ve been doing? Don’t say it’s because you’re so busy with department work.” Tawny realizes that the distance between she and Billy will increase dramatically as new attorneys more experienced than she join the firm. She has this one little hold over Billy and she wants to keep it.
“I’ve been pushing back on purpose. We both know why. Tawny, I need to separate myself from the relationship we had. I should’ve never approached you but since I did I have to deal with your feelings. I hate having to take your emotions into consideration when I make a business d
ecision. I know I set myself up when I asked you to go out with me. I had strong feelings for you and I acted on them. I hate that what I do affects the way you feel.” This blatant honesty is not very comfortable for him to express she knows but even he knows how important it is this time.
“So the whole thing is just a nightmare for you.” Tawny is hurt but at least he is being truthful.
“When I have to consider your feelings in my decisions, yes it is. Having said that, there’s a part of me that doesn’t regret getting together with you because I had those strong feelings.” Billy is in very awkward territory and shows it by becoming restless in the chair.
“Why do you want me to stay then? Why not let me go and get out of your sight?” The man’s words and his actions conflict.
“Mostly because you’re very good and you’re an asset to my department. I don’t want anyone else to have that edge. The whole truth is that it does help me with the management committee if you’re here.” She sighs in disgust.
“You asked for the truth,” he reminds her.
“So I did,” she has to admit.
“You’ve never given me an answer about staying.” Billy wants to make sure his young associate stays at the firm and now that she knows the truth she should be able to make a decision. Instead, she surprises him with one more question.
“Those are the only reasons, then?” Billy hesitates just a little too long to hide behind a lie.
“No.” He looks down first but then straight into her topaz eyes but doesn’t say any more. She wonders if Jaclyn and Rebecca are right and that he still has feelings for her. He has to know she has them for him. If he does, he has done a great job of keeping them hidden from her. He has done everything possible to keep her at bay. Was insulting her and cheating on her to an extent that was despicable not as easy for him to do as she thought? Maybe it had to be done for both of them to continue to work together.
“How long is your offer open?” Tawny breaks his thoughts.
Limiting Liabilities: Book Two - The Martinique Files Page 7
