by Anna Stone
Robert introduced everyone else to Lillian. Three of the men were part of Robert’s team of attorneys. The fifth man, who was seated next to Robert, was David Weber, the CEO of Weber Tech, Kate’s former employer. He was the only one of them not wearing a suit. No one paid any attention to Kate or Emma.
The three of them sat down, taking their places on the other side of the table. Lillian wasted no time getting started. The initial discussion seemed cordial enough, but when negotiations began, things took a sharp turn.
“Sure, we’ll settle,” Robert said. “We’ll settle for the value of your client’s company. Miss Waters was still bound by the noncompete agreement when she started it. Any profits she has made rightfully belong to us.”
Emma glanced at Kate. Her face was pale.
“The noncompete agreement only applies when an employee resigns,” Lillian said.
“Exactly,” Robert said. “Your client resigned. You’re going to have to do better than that, sweetheart.”
There was a flash of anger behind Lillian’s icy eyes. It quickly transformed into disdain. “What did you just call me, Robert?”
“Uh, nothing.” Robert cleared his throat.
“We’re all professionals here. I’d appreciate it if you behaved like one.”
Robert glanced down at his notes and muttered something unintelligible.
Lillian continued. “As I was saying, my client resigned because you reduced her salary by 20 percent. That’s a textbook case of constructive dismissal. By drastically altering her work conditions, you essentially fired her. Which means that the noncompete agreement is void.”
“She didn’t have to resign,” Robert said.
“It’s unreasonable to expect my client to stick around after taking a 20 percent pay cut. And you know what stands out to me?” Lillian thumbed through her notes. “Miss Waters was the only person in her entire department whose salary was cut. My client was the only woman out of twenty-six programmers. This is from a company that has a history of sexist hiring practices and has been involved in several gender discrimination suits, which is impressive for a startup that’s only existed for a couple of years.”
David Weber adjusted the neck of his sweater and shifted in his seat.
“That has nothing to do with the case at hand,” Robert said.
“It has everything to do with this case. But let’s pretend, for now, that it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t change the fact that your client fired Miss Waters, voiding the noncompete. In addition to that, the noncompete agreement doesn’t hold water in this situation. My client started her company in a different state. All of her business is local, as is your client’s. They aren’t in direct competition.”
“The terms of the noncompete are clear. It covers the whole country.”
“Now, Robert. We both know that that won’t hold up in court. Any noncompete must be reasonable. Not allowing your former employees to work in the IT industry anywhere in the entire country is not reasonable. Any judge will agree with me. Outside of California, this noncompete contract isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.”
Robert didn’t reply, but his face gave nothing away. David, on the other hand, was starting to sweat.
Lillian’s voice cut through the heavy silence. “Take the settlement. We both know my client shouldn’t even be offering you a cent. But none of us wants a long, drawn-out legal battle. And I assure you, if this goes to court, you’ll come out of it much worse than Miss Waters.”
Robert exchanged a look with David. The young CEO said something to Robert under his breath. The two whispered back and forth, too quietly for Emma or anyone else to hear. Finally, David sat back in his chair, a sullen expression on his face.
“All right,” Robert said. “Let’s talk numbers.”
20
Emma
By the time the meeting ended, darkness had fallen over the city. As Lillian and Emma waited outside the building for their car to arrive, Emma couldn’t help but wonder why both Kate and Lillian had seemed so pleased with the outcome of the meeting. The settlement that Weber Tech had accepted seemed like an unreasonably large sum of money to her.
“Why are you so happy with that settlement?” Emma asked Lillian. “Kate shouldn’t have to pay anything at all. Were you bluffing when you said she would have won the case in court?”
“No,” Lillian replied. “Kate really would have won. But it’s a common tactic for big companies to stretch out lawsuits like this in the hope that the opposition will give up. Taking a case like that to court would have taken an immense amount of time and energy, not to mention money. It wouldn’t be worth it.”
“But the settlement was for so much money. Wouldn’t the amount that Kate would save by not having to pay it make up for it?”
“Probably not. Sure, if she won in court, Weber Tech would have had to pay her legal fees. But the money she would lose in terms of working hours would negate that. Not to mention all the stress. Sometimes it’s just easier to settle.”
Emma frowned. “That seems so unfair.”
“That’s the reality of the legal system,” Lillian said.
Emma was mulling everything over when Robert Sharp walked out of the lobby and joined them on the sidewalk.
“Lillian,” Robert said, ignoring Emma completely. “I see that you haven’t changed one bit. Still the biggest bitch in the country.”
“What do you want, Robert?” Lillian asked.
“I’ve heard rumors about your firm,” he said. “Sounds like AG&W is going through some tough times.”
Lillian’s face remained like stone. If she was surprised that news of AG&W’s troubles had reached as far as San Francisco, she didn’t let it show.
“When the time comes, give me a call,” Robert said. “I know we’re not on the best of terms, but I’m sure I could find you a position at my firm. Consider it an olive branch.” The smug expression on his face suggested otherwise.
“AG&W is doing fine,” Lillian said calmly. “And even if it weren’t, I would never work for you. Not if your firm was the last one left in the whole country.”
A large black car pulled up in front of them. The driver exited the car and opened the back passenger-side door.
“This is us.” Lillian gave Robert a curt nod. “Robert.”
He flashed Lillian a smile. “Lillian. I hope to hear from you soon.”
“You won’t,” Lillian said.
Emma and Lillian got into the car and sat in silence as it drove off. Emma looked at Lillian’s face, but she couldn’t tell if Lillian had been rattled by her conversation with Robert or not. Before she could ask, Lillian reached out and took her hand.
“Are you looking forward to our date?” Lillian asked.
Emma nodded. “What are we doing?”
“First we’re going to dinner. Then we’re going to have a drink somewhere I think you’ll enjoy. After that, we’ll see where the night takes us.”
“That sounds nice,” Emma said.
They pulled up in the front of a ritzy hotel, its grand facade lit by spotlights. They entered the building into a huge lobby that was elaborately decorated, with vaulted ceilings and a double staircase. Right in the middle was a fountain with marble statues in it. Emma tried not to gawk. Lillian didn’t even glance at it. After checking in, they made their way up to their floor. The rooms were across the hall from each other.
“Our dinner reservation is for eight thirty,” Lillian said. “I’ll knock on your door at eight fifteen.”
“Okay,” Emma replied.
She swiped her card and entered her room. It turned out to be a series of rooms, all as extravagant as the lobby. Emma went through them all one by one, examining everything. The bed was huge, and the carpet was so lush that it was like walking in soft grass. The large bathroom had gold-plated fixtures and a bathtub large enough for three people.
Emma backtracked to the bedroom where her luggage was waiting. She opened her small suitcase, pulled out
the black dress, and hung it up. She had just enough time for a quick shower before getting ready for dinner.
Half an hour later, Emma stood in front of the mirror in the slinky black dress. It went down to her knees but was a bit more low-cut than she was used to. But she had to admit she looked sexy in it. The woman in the mirror was a far cry from the one who had walked into AG&W all those weeks ago.
As she applied her makeup, Emma wondered why she was putting in so much effort. She saw Lillian every single day. But tonight was special—it was their first date. The two of them eating lunch on a dusty couch in an empty office didn’t count.
And somehow, going on a proper date made this all seem so real. Up until now, they’d just been swept along in a tempest of passion. Emma didn’t mind. But she was starting to wonder where this was all going and if she wanted more.
Emma finished with her makeup and attempted to put her hair up. After a few tries, she gave up and left it loose. Moments later, there was a knock on her door.
“Coming,” Emma yelled.
She left the bathroom and made her way to the door, grabbing her purse and slipping into her heels on the way.
She opened it to Lillian standing in the doorway wearing a sky-blue cocktail dress. Her light blonde hair fell freely down her shoulders, and her lips were a luscious pink that made Emma want to kiss them. It was the first time she’d seen Lillian in anything other than business attire. She looked so different. Softer, more feminine, but still just as striking.
Lillian’s eyes traveled down Emma’s body. “I like this dress even more than that little red number of yours.”
The intensity of Lillian’s gaze made Emma’s skin sizzle. “You don’t look bad yourself. You have no idea how much I want to kiss you right now.” She looked around. “You know, there’s no one else here…”
Lillian glanced down the empty hallway, then pulled Emma in, kissing her so fiercely that it made Emma’s head spin.
Emma let out a sharp breath. “Maybe we should just stay here instead of going out.”
Lillian shook her head. “This is the first chance we’ll get to be together without having to hide. Besides, I want to show you off.”
Emma smiled. “If you insist.”
“This place is incredible,” Emma said for what had to be the tenth time that night. “I could get used to this.”
“I’m glad you like it,” Lillian said.
Lillian had taken Emma to an upscale Italian restaurant, filled with couples eating dinner by candlelight. A band in the corner played light instrumental jazz. Emma knew it was cliché, but she was a romantic at heart. So far, she’d been so caught up in how new and exciting everything between her and Lillian was that she hadn’t even thought about the lack of romance in their relationship.
But as soon as they’d walked into the restaurant, Emma had realized how much she had wanted this. It was everything she could ever ask for in a date. The decadence of it all was going to her head.
Which was why it took her so long to notice that Lillian was barely there.
Emma watched Lillian finish off her third glass of wine. She looked at the glass with a furrowed brow, as if surprised that it had emptied so quickly. Was she upset about what Robert had said to her?
“Lillian? What’s the matter?” Emma asked. “You’re not enjoying yourself.”
“No, I am,” Lillian replied.
“I know that something is bothering you. Talk to me.”
Lillian poured herself another glass of wine. “You’d think that after all this time, I’d be used to this.”
“Is this about what Robert said after the meeting?” Emma asked.
“I couldn’t care less about Robert’s idiotic gloating,” Lillian said. “He called me sweetheart. In front of our peers, our clients. Do you think he’d address a man with such disrespect in a professional setting? I don’t even care that he called me a bitch. I’ve been called far worse. And he’s right. Do you know why I’m a bitch, Emma?”
Lillian didn’t give Emma a chance to respond.
“It’s because of men like him. It’s because of the rampant sexism in the legal profession I’ve had to deal with from day one. In my first week as an intern at AG&W, Gordon kept making crude remarks to me. I told him if he said anything like that again, I’d sue him for sexual harassment. Lucky for me, he thought that being threatened by a pretty blonde student less than half his age was funny.” Lillian shook her head. “I was so damn naive back then. There are a lot of attorneys like him out there who would have fired me and had me blacklisted for daring to speak against them.”
Emma didn’t say anything. She got the impression that Lillian didn’t tell this story often.
“It was a reality check for me,” Lillian said. “It told me that if I wanted to be taken seriously, I would have to become the kind of person who no one would dare cross. To harden myself just so others would look past my gender, my appearance. It worked. Eventually, even Gordon had no choice but to take me seriously. But as a result, I constantly get dismissed as cold, or aggressive, or a bitch, or worse for behaving the exact same way that men are expected to behave.”
Emma could see the frustration building behind Lillian’s eyes, the tension holding her body taut. How long had she been holding all of this in?
“But no matter what I do, there will always be men like Robert who will never give me the respect I deserve just because I’m a woman. I’ve had to work twice as hard and do twice as well to get just a shred of recognition. Yet after all this time, I still get mistaken for a legal assistant or a secretary when I show up at a meeting with a male colleague, despite the fact that I own one-third of the fucking firm!”
Lillian took a few deep breaths as if trying to curtail her anger. Emma placed her hand on Lillian’s across the table.
“I’m sorry,” Emma said. “I had no idea it was like that for you.”
“Most of the time I don’t even think about it,” Lillian said. “And the industry has gotten better since I started at AG&W. But the higher you get to the top, the more pervasive the sexism and entitlement. Now and then something comes along and reminds me of that fact.” Lillian sighed. “Sorry. We finally get to go on a real date, and I’m ruining the mood.”
“No, you’re not,” Emma said.
“It doesn’t matter. My client got what she wanted, and that’s what’s important. It’s cases like these that make up for all the scumbags I’ve represented.”
“You don’t like it? Working on the kind of cases you do?”
“I don’t know. It never used to bother me. But now everywhere I look there are scandals, and underhanded deals, and cover-ups. Perhaps that’s why I’ve been trying to do more good these days.”
“You do plenty of good,” Emma said.
“You’re sweet, Emma,” Lillian leaned over and planted a brief, chaste kiss on Emma's lips.
Emma’s heart fluttered in her chest, the kiss lingering.
Afterward, Lillian seemed to return to her normal self. The evening wore on, and Emma and Lillian ate, drank, and chatted about everything except for work. It felt nice to spend time together like a normal couple.
When they finished with dessert, Lillian paid the bill and announced that it was time to go get a drink.
21
Lillian
When Lillian and Emma got out of the cab, they were in a completely different part of town. It was the kind of shabby but trendy area that Lillian lived in back when she was a student. They walked a little way down the street until they came to a small bar with a sign above the door reading Sappho’s. The name was a little on the nose, but they weren’t exactly spoiled for choice.
Emma squinted at the sign. “What is this place?”
“You’ll see,” Lillian said.
As soon as they entered the bar, their ears were filled with the sound of chattering patrons and loud music. The bar was as shabby inside as it was on the outside. The room was packed, despite it being a weekday, a
nd the heat of a hundred bodies hung in the air.
Emma looked around curiously. “Is this a lesbian bar?”
Lillian nodded. “The only one left in the city.”
Lillian watched Emma drink it all in, her eyes sparkling. Couples holding hands, wrapping their arms around each other’s waists, planting kisses on each other’s cheeks and lips. Lillian knew what Emma was feeling. There was something magical about going to a place like this for the first time. About being surrounded by other women just like her, being open and affectionate with each other. They didn’t have to hide here, for any reason.
Lillian led Emma to the bar. They both ordered cocktails with silly, suggestive names, and took their drinks over to an old, tattered loveseat in the corner. Among the crowd of casually dressed women, they attracted quite a few glances in their cocktail dresses.
Lillian looked over at Emma. Her cheeks were flushed from the heat of the room, and her dark eyes were alight with excitement. Lillian leaned over and kissed her, slow and deep.
A soft hum emerged from Emma’s chest. “It’s nice to be able to do that without having to worry that someone is going to burst through the door.”
Lillian murmured in agreement.
“I like this even better than the restaurant. Although the restaurant was nice. So was the hotel, and the flight. I’m starting to see the perks of dating someone with money to burn.”
“I should have known you were only after my money,” Lillian said.
“It’s definitely a plus.” Emma traced a line along Lillian’s arm with her finger. “Where else would you take me if we got to go on real dates?”
“Anywhere you want,” Lillian replied.
“Anywhere?” Emma asked.
“Yes, anywhere. Have you ever been to Naples? The food we had tonight pales in comparison to the real thing.”
