by Carsen Taite
“Yeah, that’s what your secretary said. Is there some reason you decided to move the meeting here?”
“Is there some reason you don’t want me here?” Wynne retorted. She watched Campbell start to respond, but then look over at Abby and Blue Dawn both of whom were staring in their direction in an ironic payback of her own eavesdropping from a moment ago.
Campbell motioned for her to follow. “Let’s take this inside.”
Wynne followed Campbell past the reception desk to a conference room. Unlike the conference rooms at Worth Ingram that contained massive wood tables and were lined with shelves full of legal treatises no one used anymore, this one was light and airy like the lobby, and the table was a stunning piece of art. “Gorgeous,” she murmured.
“What?”
Wynne pointed. “The table. It’s beautiful.”
“Thanks. It’s a custom piece. The top is from Marble Falls.”
Fledging or not, the firm had to be doing okay if they could afford an outlay like this. Although maybe they’d gone into serious debt in their quest to impress Braxton Keith. Either way, Wynne decided she needed to be careful not to underestimate her competition and focus on how to win this case in a way that showcased Worth Ingram’s value to Leaderboard’s future success. First step, don’t let the enemy know you’re out to get them. “I’m sorry about the mix-up over where to meet. It was probably my fault. I called yesterday to ask if we could meet here since we have a bunch of depositions scheduled at the office today.”
Campbell’s face softened into something close to a smile. “It’s okay. Besides, I’m pretty sure you could’ve told Blue Dawn I was on fire and she’d have waited until today to call the fire department.”
“I can’t even imagine having to be in charge of hiring my own staff on top of leasing a building, computer equipment, and phones, not to mention ordering a custom conference room table. What made you decide to go out on your own?” The question came out before Wynne could censor it, but she was actually glad she’d asked. She was curious, sure, but as an added bonus, maybe she could expose some weakness.
“This seems like the kind of conversation we should have over lunch.” Campbell picked up her bag. “Any food allergies? I’m talking legit allergies, not some fad food sensitivity that’s a mask for why you don’t eat carbs.”
“I told you I eat carbs,” Wynne said, instantly wishing she could reel the words back in. What was it about Campbell that made her let down her guard? “But I’d really like to get some work done.”
“We’re going to talk about the case. Is there some reason we have to do that in an office and not a restaurant? Do the powers that be at Worth Ingram say you have to rack up your billable hours sequestered away from the world?”
Wynne heard the challenge, and she wasn’t backing down. “Quit acting like you’re the only one who has any freedom here. I can do my work however I see fit.” She pointed at the door. “Lead the way, but there better be some righteous carbs wherever we’re headed because I’m starving.”
A few minutes later, they were seated at Guero’s, deep diving into a basket of chips and several different salsas. They placed their orders with the waitress and, determined to show Campbell she was game for anything, Wynne resisted ordering a salad in favor of the taco pastor platter.
“I love this place,” Campbell said in between bites of chips.
“Me too, but it’s been a while since I’ve been here.”
“Where do you like to go?”
“Shouldn’t we talk about the case?”
“There’s plenty of time for that. I thought it would be nice to get to know each other a little bit first.”
Wynne stopped mid-chip and considered the irony. They’d known of each other for years if you counted back to the time they’d spent in law school, but neither one of them knew much about the other. She’d placed the blame squarely on Campbell, but was that really fair since she’d never even tried to get to know her either? Careful to keep her guard up, she figured it couldn’t hurt to share an innocuous fact or two. “I confess that I do watch what I eat most of the time, but I have a weakness for burgers. Cheeseburgers. There’s this food truck that shows up on—”
“Hold up. Did you say food truck?”
“Yes.” Wynne narrowed her eyes. “Why?”
Campbell shrugged. “I don’t know. You don’t seem like a food truck kind of person.”
“Really? I’m going to pretend that you didn’t just say that, but to punish you, I’m not going to tell you the name of the truck.” She wagged a finger. “No cheeseburgers for you.” The waitress showed up at that moment with their food, and Wynne ignored Campbell’s steady gaze by focusing on her food. She’d eat half and have the rest wrapped up for later. “Let’s talk about the case.”
Campbell looked like she wanted to protest, but she said, “Okay. It doesn’t look like you’ve responded to discovery yet.”
“No, we still have a little time, but we do have draft responses ready to go. To be honest, it’s been hard getting Braxton to sit down and review the responses.”
“Brax.”
“What?”
“Brax. You called him Braxton. Maybe if you called him what he wants to be called, he’d be more likely to respond to you.”
So this was how it was going to go. Wynne put her fork down, her appetite quickly deteriorating. “You do know that Braxton and I were getting along just fine until recently?”
“I know that he wouldn’t have been shopping around for a new attorney if that were the case.”
“Look, Braxton and Stoltz have a tendency to butt heads, but that’s a personality thing. We have been doing great work for Braxton and Leaderboard, and until you showed up there were no complaints.” Wynne didn’t care in this moment if she was being entirely accurate, but she carried her logic a step further. “It’s not a very auspicious start to your firm to steal clients. What did you promise to get him to bring you on board?”
* * *
Campbell set her fork down slowly, but what she really wanted to do was stab Wynne with it. Instead she took a drink of water, then dabbed at her mouth with her napkin while she counted to ten. When she finally felt like she could speak without cursing, she crossed her arms and said, “I didn’t poach your client. You don’t know me very well, but I’m telling you, that’s not my style.”
“Okay.”
“Okay? That’s all you have to say?” Campbell could tell by Wynne’s curt tone that it was far from okay.
“What do you want me to say?”
Good question. Campbell wasn’t sure she had an answer. “I don’t know. Maybe something like, ‘You’re right, I don’t know you very well. Why don’t we get to know each other better and maybe it’ll be easier to work together.’” Wow, she hadn’t expected that overture to come tumbling out, but now that it had, she decided it was brilliant. The best way to win Leaderboard’s business was to find out exactly why Braxton was on the outs with them. Alienating Wynne wasn’t going to get her any inside info, but cozying up to her might.
“I think I know you pretty well.”
Campbell heard the sarcasm behind Wynne’s words, but she ignored it in favor of her new master plan. “Not even. We barely saw each other in school, and that was years ago.” She stuck out her hand. “Campbell Clark, nice to meet you. I’m working on the Leaderboard case. You know the one. Oh wait, aren’t you working on it too? See, we already have something in common.”
Her hand hung in the air for an awkward moment until Wynne finally reached out to grasp it. “Wynne Garrity, nice to meet you too.”
“We’re off to a great start. Now, tell me something fun you like to do and let’s make a plan. It’ll be our reward for a day of hard work.” Campbell watched Wynne’s puzzled expression. “Come on, it can’t be that hard to think of something you enjoy. Tell me big law hasn’t killed all the joy in your life.”
“I happen to enjoy working for a big firm.”
“Said no one ever.”
“Are you trying to start a fight right on the heels of offering to plan a fun outing?”
“Who me? Never. Did you think of something?”
“Why don’t you surprise me?”
Campbell studied Wynne’s face, certain she’d heard a trace of flirtation, but she couldn’t get a read on whether it was intentional. Convinced she’d imagined it, she pressed on. “Okay. Don’t make plans for Friday after work. I’ll text you the details later.”
“This Friday?”
“No time like the present. Why, do you have other plans?”
Wynne shook her head. “No, I just…never mind. Friday’s great.”
Campbell wanted to ask more about the source of Wynne’s hesitation, but she didn’t want to upset the balance of the truce they’d struck. “Perfect. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk about the pleadings that you’ve filed so far.”
As Wynne outlined what documents had been filed, Campbell asked questions and nodded in response to Wynne’s answers, but she found she was more focused on figuring out the perfect outing, away from all the legal mumbo jumbo. She told herself the opportunity to hang with Wynne in a nonprofessional setting would be a great way to soften her up and get her to reveal some inside scoop about Leaderboard that she could use to win their future business, but deep inside she knew she just wanted to spend some personal time with the enigmatic and very attractive Wynne. She’d have to tread very carefully here.
Chapter Nine
Friday afternoon, Wynne surveyed the top of her desk and was pondering lighting fire to the stacks of files cluttering the surface when Seth burst through her door.
“Did she call you?”
Wynne stared at him, trying to figure out how he knew about her date with Campbell. Well, not a date really. An outing. A get to know you better so we can have a better working relationship kind of outing. But one that she wasn’t telling anyone about because when she’d practiced that whole spiel out loud it had sounded suspect. She fixed her face into what she hoped was an innocent, or at least neutral expression. “What?”
“Lane, from patents. She asked me for your number. Which is silly really since she can just dial your extension or send you an email, but maybe she doesn’t want to ask you out that way. Anyway, I gave her your number today at lunch. Has she called?”
She pointed at the chair in front of her desk. “You, sir, are making no sense.” She pulled out her cell and saw she had two unread text messages. The first one was from Campbell, confirming she would pick her up at seven, punctuated with a smiley face. She wasn’t a fan of emoticons, but she couldn’t help but smile as she read the text. The second was from a number she didn’t recognize. She scrolled through the message. Remember me from the happy hour? I’d love to meet and buy you that drink I owe you. Maybe even dinner if you’re up for it. Looking forward to hearing from you, Lane.
“Well?”
Wynne looked up at Seth who was watching her with an eager expression. “You gave out my cell number? Really?”
“I did. Three reasons.” He held up a hand and ticked them off. “She’s hot. She’s smart. And you need a fling.”
“I don’t need a fling.”
“You do. All work and no play. You know the rest.”
“I think the rest is ‘she gets a partnership, and then she can play.’”
“Or she turns into a shell of a person. Look, I get it, but you’re entitled to have a little bit of you time. Hell, a fling might even relieve some tension and make it easier to get your work done. Did I mention reason number one? She’s hot.”
“Quit saying fling. I’m not looking for a fling, whatever that means.”
“We both know what it means, and you should be. Fun with a hot woman in a way that won’t distract you from your work. It’s the perfect solution. Go out with her tonight—it’s Friday. The universal date night.”
At the words “hot woman,” Wynne had a flash of Campbell standing in front of the board at Braxton’s offices, commanding the attention of everyone in the room. She shook her head to clear the image. “Not going to happen. Besides, I’m busy tonight.”
“Yeah, I know. You’re working.” Seth sighed and stood. “The first step is admitting you have a problem. Look, I want to be partner too, but you’ve got to find some balance here or you’re going to work yourself silly.”
“Duly noted. Now scurry on out of here so I can balance this bunch of crap,” she said, pointing to the files on her desk, trying to ignore what it meant that she hadn’t corrected his assumption that she was working tonight. Well, she was kind of working. Seeing Campbell was work-related, wasn’t it? Wynne groaned, wishing she’d never put herself in this position.
She waited until she was certain Seth had left the office suite before gathering her things and heading for the door. Jennifer was at her desk, and Wynne felt instant guilt because she didn’t remember a time when she’d left before Jennifer.
“Have something fun planned?” Jennifer asked.
“I’m not entirely sure,” Wynne said without thinking. “Actually, I’m meeting Campbell Clark to talk about the Leaderboard case.”
“Ah, so a working evening. At least you have someone pleasant to spend it with.”
“You know Campbell?”
“She was here looking for you the other day when there was that mix-up about the schedule. She seems nice. Cute too,” Jennifer added with a sly smile before shooing her away with one hand while she pointed at Stoltz’s door with the other. “You should get out of here quick. If he sees you, you’ll never get to leave.”
“Are you sure I shouldn’t stay?”
“Git.”
Wynne walked briskly to the elevator, and a few minutes later, she was standing outside the building. She froze in place, staring at the way the setting sun cast a glow over the sky. Her window in the building faced the east, and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen the sun set. The view was breathtaking.
“Excuse me.”
Wynne glanced around for the source of the voice, but was too late as the man walking by jostled her out of her reverie. She wasn’t sure how long she’d stood in the same spot, staring at the sky, but apparently long enough to become a menace to other pedestrians. She fished her keys out of her bag and headed to the parking garage to retrieve her car.
Once she got home, she stood in front of her closet, wondering what to wear. What she really wanted to be doing was curling up on the couch with her laptop, but Campbell would be here in thirty minutes, and Wynne suspected she wouldn’t accept a cancellation at the last minute. Her persistence was likely the reason she’d been able to horn in on the Leaderboard case, and Wynne decided to take a page from her book. She could be persistent too, and tonight she planned on doing whatever it took to find out more about Campbell’s new firm so she could find and exploit their weaknesses. Maybe she’d get to bill for her time tonight after all. Bonus.
* * *
Campbell fired off a text to Wynne to tell her to dress casual, plugged Wynne’s address into her phone, and drove the short distance from her house to Wynne’s. She’d been surprised that Wynne had suggested they meet there. She seemed so private and closed off. Campbell didn’t know any personal details about her, which was kind of weird since they’d spent three years in school together not that long ago. She remembered Wynne had always been the first one to raise her hand in class, but outside the classroom she was a behind the scenes kind of person, working on law review instead of the moot court teams like she and Abby and Grace had done, and studying with just Seth instead of the larger study groups that many of the students favored. Other than knowing Wynne was smart, Campbell didn’t know much about her, and she was looking forward to seeing where she lived, hoping it would give her some insight into the woman she had to best to win Leaderboard’s business.
The house was small, but it was in the Rainey Street historical district, an area of town that had recently
become gentrified causing house prices to skyrocket. Many of the neighbors had put up quirky yard decorations in keeping with the eclectic neighborhood of bungalow style houses, but Wynne’s yard and porch were unadorned, with not even a potted plant in sight. Campbell pulled into the driveway, wondering what kind of car was parked in Wynne’s garage. Was it a sensible ride with good fuel economy and safety features, or did she have a secret passion for fast cars with sporty features?
Campbell had barely knocked on the door before it flew open. Wynne had a purse in one hand and her keys in the other. She’d dressed causally in jeans, loafers, and a dark blue linen shirt that deepened the blue in her eyes, and Campbell drank in the sight, dumbfounded by the difference between business Wynne and casual, after-work Wynne. She liked this version. A lot.
“Am I dressed appropriately for whatever you have planned?”
Campbell let her gaze linger for a moment before answering. “Absolutely.”
Wynne cleared her throat. “Ready to go?”
Campbell cast about for a reason to get inside the house, unable to explain her strong desire to see more of Wynne’s personal side. “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”
Wynne looked uncomfortable. “I wasn’t planning on it. Don’t we have some mysterious place to be?”
Campbell considered pressing, but Wynne’s brisk demeanor told her if she wanted to get Wynne to open up to her, forcing this issue right now wasn’t a smart move. Besides, they didn’t have a ton of time to get where they were going. “You’re right. Mysterious place coming right up.” She jingled her keys to her Audi TT, and a few minutes later, they were speeding along the highway.
“At some point I’m going to realize where we’re headed,” Wynne said. “Are you sure you don’t want to go ahead and tell me?”
“Oh, I’m sure.”
“Not even a hint?”
“Not even.”
“Fine,” Wynne said. “I’ll let you try to distract me with idle conversation. How was your day?”
