Professor Tom Ch. 08

"Hi Professor Tom, what a pleasant surprise!" Suzy said cheerfully.

She cocked her head, smiled sweetly at him and held out her hand to shake his.

Tom was thrown for a loop and stammered, "Uuumm, hi Suzy....:

He realized she still had her hand outstretched and also noted the receptionist was watching them closely. He nervously held out his hand and shook hers.

"I am so, so sorry for not having returned your calls sooner. With the holidays, and the crazy amount of work I've had around here, I didn't have a chance to call you. I'm so glad you came in though. I was actually planning on calling you today."

"Oh, right. The holidays...."

He glanced nervously as he watched the receptionist's grip tighten on the phone receiver.

He cleared his throat and said, "I just wanted to see how you were....uuummm, I mean, how were your holidays?"

"I know that was totally horrid of me not to call you for Christmas, but I figured you must be really busy with a case or something."

"What do you mean?"

Suzy had also noticed Donna was watching them intently and closely monitoring everything they were saying.

She took Tom's arm and led him out towards the quad. The minute her hand touched his arm, she felt her resolve weaken, and her hand trembled. She felt like crying.

"Walk with me..."

She led him out of the lobby into the quad. She stood quietly in front of him, just looking at his face. She had studied his face so closely she knew it well, every curve of it engrained in her memory.

She would often worry that he would eventually catch on to the fact she was staring at him during class. She loved looking at his brown eyes, and how they wrinkled in the corners when he laughed or smiled, which he did often. His long dark thick hair sometimes got a little bit long. When it did he would have to constantly push it back out of his face. Her heart ached at the thought that she'd never get to kiss him....She knew she had to say something before it became obvious that something was wrong

She stammered, "Well, uummm.... I figured you were super busy because the last time I called you, Jolene put me on hold. I waited and waited for a couple of minutes and finally hung up when nobody answered..."

He felt as if his knees would give out. He thought to himself, "THANK GOD, THANK GOD, she didn't hear a word of what I said to John..."

"You mean you didn't....uumm, I mean, I'm sorry you called and got cut off. If I remember correctly I picked up the line and no one was on the other end. I just hung up and must have forgotten..."

"No worries Professor. I understand."

They continued to stare at each other.

"I see you're wearing one of your super fancy suits...did you have a day in court or just a hot date?!"

He laughed and said, "No, no...just a court date with a judge who was in wicked humor. He sanctioned plaintiff's attorney for failing to produce his client for a deposition. The judge didn't put up with any of the bullshit opposing counsel was trying to feed him."

She paid close attention, smiling at him. If he didn't know any better he could swear he saw a glimmer of sadness in her face, as if her smile stopped short of her eyes. Her smile usually lit up the entire room and it just seemed a bit off.

"So I take it you won in court today!"

He laughed as said, "Well, not quite won, but we made good progress..."

She continued to study his face. She imagined he probably guessed she was lying about what had transpired during their last phone call.

"Sincerely Professor, I can't tell you how glad I am that you stopped by to say hi. It's really good to see you again. So tell me, how were your holidays?"

Tom figured he was imagining things, relaxed his shoulders and began telling her about the gifts Santa brought his boys.

* * * * * *

He lowered himself into the driver's seat of his convertible BMW. He slammed the door and pulled out of the school's parking lot. He had 15 minutes to get to his office. He didn't want to be late for his appointment with Henry Dunlap, senior partner at his firm.

He loved his car, and drove it every day with the top down. At least on days it didn't rain. It was his black beauty, as he called it. It made him feel alive when he drove it. When he first told his wife he was buying it, she made a half hearted attempt at trying to talk him out of it, but she soon realized how badly he really wanted the convertible. She didn't have the heart to say no.

"Well that went much better than expected." He thought to himself.

He felt immense relief knowing that Suzy hadn't heard a word of the crap he'd told John. He knew he was damn lucky she hadn't. He thanked his lucky stars and promised he'd never take advantage of the second chance he had been given.

He gunned it and before long was back in the parking structure of his office building. He worked in a high rise located across the street from a major retail center. The building was known as the Budweiser building, as it was curved and silver, just like a Budweiser beer.

He rode up alone on the elevator to the 18th floor. He was anxious, nervous, excited, and confident all at the same time. He wondered if the meeting with Henry would go well. Tom greeted Sara, their receptionist.

Sara called out and said, "Oh Tom, Henry is waiting for you in his office. Hurry, you don't want to be late. Good luck."

He flashed her one of his mega watt smiles.

"Thanks. I could use all the luck I can get."

* * * * * *

Tom Smith knocked on the door to Henry's office and nervously waited to be summoned.

"Come in....."

He entered Henry Dunlap's cool dark office. The office had a beautiful view, as would befit a senior partner at a law firm. The dark mahogany furniture gleamed and Tom could smell the faint scent of lemon oil. Henry's office had a wall of beautiful leather bound law books, and was decorated in an old world maritime theme.

"Glad to see you're punctual. Not like some of these baby lawyers who feel as if they are doing you a favor by showing up on time for something."

Tom laughed and sat in a luxurious soft brown leather chair. He could see the city framed in the window that was located behind Henry's chair.

"I tell you, the state of the world today is scary....All these young lawyers with a sense of entitlement. Really, to expect to earn $100k straight out of law school!? Get real. These kids need to put in some time before they can start to expect such an obscene salary."

Tom relaxed his shoulders. He'd heard Henry's speech many times and knew it well. Henry was nearing his late 70's and was truly an old school attorney. To be exact, a very shrewd, highly intelligent, highly effective, very wealthy, old school attorney. Tom knew he'd found the right firm when he first met Henry.

"I remember when research was done the good old fashion way, with books. I recall sitting for hours having to Shepardize a case in the library. Humpf...you young lawyers today think you have it hard. I still say that new funny business called KeyCite is nothing but a sham. A sham I tell you..."

Tom interrupted and said, "I agree Henry. I totally agree with you. Punctuality is a virtue lost on today's young pups."

Henry shook his head in agreement and settled in for a long talk.

"So I understand you feel you're ready to join the rank of partner. Tom, I worry that perhaps you don't realize what a responsibility such as that entails. It's not all glamour and money son. Are you quite sure you're ready to take it on?"

"Henry, I've been with this firm for 9 years. As you know, I'm committed to the success of this practice. I've brought in a variety of important clients and feel I have demonstrated I'm here for the long haul...."

"I know, I know that Tom. You're preaching to the choir son. What I need you to understand are all the other dynamics that come with being partner. The nights you lie awake worried about making payroll, fighting off merger threats, dealing with colleagues who have drug problems. Dealing with all that isn't fun. Then you have the management and marketing aspects and the myriad of responsibilities that are piled on your plate. I know I couldn't have done it without Jennifer."

"I agree with you Henry. Jennifer is by far the best law office administrator a firm could have."

"Don't interrupt me son...."

*************************************************

Tom looked at his watch discreetly. He had been arguing his case for 2 hours.

Henry cleared his throat and said, "Well, I've heard enough. I'll take your input and discuss it with our other partners at our retreat scheduled next week. I'll let you know then."

"Henry, just listen to what I'm telling you, I'm committed to the continued success ..."

Henry interrupted him and said, "I've got what I need young man. More than what I need. You can close the door on the way out."

Tom sighed and got up.

"Thanks. I'm looking forward to the committee's response."

Henry continued to look shrewdly at him and then before Tom could be certain he thought he saw Henry wink.

* * * * *