Heterochromia

Thanks to Ada Stuart for taking time from her busy life to provide some very helpful constructive criticism. I don't believe this would have been as readable without her contribution.

I'd joined Adelaide & Tash as a junior partner in the audit department. It pissed off some of the more senior associates and made a few enemies for me. But I came through the door with a portfolio of clients that more than justified a partnership offer. I'd have gone elsewhere, otherwise. After nearly doubling the revenues of the audit department in four years, I was now a partner in charge of the audit department.

It was a little after lunch when my assistant stuck her head into my office after a brief phone conversation. 'MechLinx's Chief Financial Officer and in-house counsel are here. Dana took them to Conference Room 2 and is with them there,' Jeannie told me. 'Harry is on his way.'

I dropped what I was doing and left immediately. The client was more than an hour early. This meeting would be contentious. Their early arrival didn't assuage my concerns. MechLinx was about to begin careening down a rocky road.

MechLinx Control Systems was a rapidly growing company that had been privately held for nearly thirty years. Their corporate offices were walking distance away. Their stock price had climbed dramatically since their initial public offering eighteen months earlier. They produced specialized hardware and software used in manufacturing process control. A team of two junior partners, eleven associates and I had recently completed auditing MechLinx, prepared the financials for their annual report to stockholders, and the annual regulatory filings required by the Securities and Exchange Commission. After the findings of our audit became public, their stock was going to faceplant.

The regulatory filings we prepared detailed significant issues found during the audit. Including embezzlement and fraud. The SEC was going to be shining a bright light up MechLinx's ass. Examining every nook and cranny of their business practices. This wasn't going to be a fun meeting. If Dana hadn't found the irregularities, which they'd made every effort to hide, the SEC would have been up our ass, too. As it was, I was sure someone at MechLinx was going to jail. I had my suspicions who it would be.

As I walked to the conference room, I was concerned about Dana's presence in the room. It bothered me immensely. This meeting was way above her pay grade. I wondered why she had met them and escorted them to the conference room. But not because I didn't trust her. I suspected something unusual had happened.

Harry, our in-house counsel, arrived at the meeting just ahead of me. I'd already met with MechLinx's CFO John Palley several times. I didn't like him. And didn't trust him. He was all smiles and charm one minute. A malicious, manipulating son-of-a-bitch the next. I'd repeatedly caught him in lies. Lies that he persisted in despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. He tried to gaslight me the last time I'd met with him and his senior finance team. But I had extensive documentation of our previous conversations and agreements. I stood my ground. But not before he got incredibly angry and accused me of causing trouble for MechLinx.

Dana looked terrified. I quickly knew why. I was barely through the door when a red-faced Palley lambasted me. 'You have to fix our SEC filings. They'll pitch a fit when they read your report. You better fix it!' he finally screamed after initially assailing me with a stream of expletives that made Dana turn pale.

'John, I suggest you sit and listen rather than make demands you know are illegal.' MechLinx's in-house counsel tried to shut him up. She already knew the problems were MechLinx's, not A & T's. Demanding we change the filings, falsify them, would make matters far worse when the Securities and Exchange Commission learned of it. And they would learn of it. We were obligated to reveal it when they questioned us.

It didn't help. Palley raged for another five minutes, all of it directed at me. He stopped in mid-sentence suddenly, looking past me. I turned to see what he was looking at. Two hulking members of our security staff were at the door. Every face in the open office area was staring at the conference room.

Now that he had stopped, I smiled at him and asked politely, 'Would you like to discuss our findings in more depth and review our recommendations again? We were clear in the summary of our findings and what your organization needs to do.' But Palley just stared at me. His face and neck nearly the color of a steamed lobster. A vein on his left temple throbbed. I almost hoped he'd have a stroke.

Palley turned to his in-house counsel and told her angrily, 'Fix this or don't come back to work.' Then stormed out. Our security guys followed.

I sat down at the conference table, half-expecting to have an extended conversation with MechLinx's counsel and Harry Becker, our in-house attorney. I hadn't met or spoken with MechLinx's counsel but had heard her weigh in on several conference calls after the problems had been found.

Harry's focus had been on Palley. He turned to MechLinx's counsel after Palley stormed out. And did a doubletake. With an odd expression I'd never seen from him. Harry was usually inscrutable. His expressions never betrayed that something was going on in his head. His stone-faced demeanor returned so quickly I almost doubted I'd seen a change.

'Paula, MechLinx can't hide what we found. Legally, it must be disclosed to your stockholders and the SEC. We found some serious issues that will be significant legal problems. The SEC or someone in the financial media will eventually learn about everything. Our recommendation is that MechLinx submit the filings as prepared and contact the SEC compliance group to get ahead of the problem. It probably won't help much, though. The SEC takes a dim view of fraud. This is pretty bad stuff, Paula. I'm afraid they won't be understanding. Or lenient. Someone is going to jail.'

I listened for the next ten minutes, contributing to the conversation only when asked a question directly. Dana sat quietly next to Harry. I could see she was fidgety. She wanted out. She knew she didn't belong.

While Harry and Paula continued to talk, I motioned for Dana to join me in the hallway. She was pale. Looked to be on the verge of tears. Dana stood just over five feet and barely one-hundred pounds. Palley was a big guy, easily twice her weight. Something he did had really upset her.

'Dana, are you okay? What happened?' I asked.

'I was talking to our receptionist, Maggie, when Palley and the lawyer with him arrived,' Dana began. 'He recognized me for some reason and started screaming at me. He demanded I take him to the meeting immediately. He was irrational, Josh. He scared me. I took him to this conference room while Maggie called Jeannie. Once we were in the conference room, he wouldn't let me leave. He blocked the door so I couldn't, cursing and swearing at me until you and Harry arrived.'

Dana wasn't supposed to be in the meeting. Didn't even know about it, though she knew all about the fraud and embezzlement. She stayed only because Palley wouldn't let her leave. I should have sent her back to her cubicle immediately. Maggie had the good sense to call security as soon as Palley left the reception area. I decided to send Maggie flowers and put a letter of praise in her HR jacket.

Once Dana explained, I changed the subject. 'Are you making any progress on the Euro Zone permits and filings for Donaldson?'

I listened carefully to what she told me. She provided a brief synopsis of the problems and several possible solutions she was researching. But she remained visibly shaken. I stood next to her trying to look like I was thinking about what she'd told me. I heard every word but was more intent on assessing how badly shaken she was.

'If there isn't anything else, can I go back to work, Josh?' she asked after a minute. Her voice was still shaky.

'No, nothing else, Dana. I'm sorry that happened. No one here should have to deal with that jackass and won't ever again. We're done with MechLinx as a client,' I told her. 'When you get to your office, change into your street kicks and grab your purse. Take the rest of the day off. You've already gone above and beyond.' A few hours off wasn't much, but it was what I could do.

She didn't argue with me. She rarely got to start a weekend early. I went back into the conference room.

Harry and Paula were still talking but MechLinx wasn't the topic anymore. I paid attention to Paula for the first time and was immediately struck with a strong sense of déjà vu. She was attractive. About my age. Blonde hair. A color usually only seen on children. Unless it came out of a bottle. Her hair didn't look dyed. During a break in her conversation with Harry, she turned to me.

'It probably won't help, but I'd like to apologize for John's tirade. Especially the way he treated the young woman in the lobby. His temper is worse than embarrassing,' she told me.

I barely heard her apology. Her eyes were two different colors. One a striking green. The other an amazing sapphire blue. Heterochromia. That shade of blonde and heterochromia? It couldn't be possible. What were the odds two people would have the same combination of traits? The first time I saw that combination of blonde hair and eye colors was in a young girl, also named Paula.

I was the new kid in third grade. I joined the class in March. My father had been promoted and transferred away from the only home I'd known. From Red Sox nation into the dominion of the evil New York Yankees. I didn't want to move. My folks discussed letting me finish the school year before changing schools. But they didn't want to be apart that long. Plus Mom was pregnant with what would eventually be a baby sister to go with my two younger brothers.

During recess the first day, a little girl that I later learned was in kindergarten smiled up at me after she ran into me. That was the extent of our interaction. She ran off with her friend immediately, giggling like the schoolgirl she was. Her appearance intrigued me. Now mind you, I was eight, almost nine. There was no pre-adolescent sexual arousal. Her blonde hair was a pale yellow completely different from all the other blonde kids. Or any of the blonde kids at my old school. And as if that weren't enough to intrigue me, her eyes were two different colors.

I was still distracted by her when I met her older brother. He was in one of the other third grade classes. He was huge. He was bigger than any of the other kids in the whole school. He was bigger than most of the teachers, too. He was also the school bully. He ran into me from behind and knocked down. Both knees tore out of my pants. My hands and knees got skinned.

'Stay out of my way, dip shit!' he snarled softly, then turned away and tramped back in the direction he'd come from. I picked myself up as he walked away. The playground monitors missed it. I started to charge at him. I wasn't going to let him get away with knocking me down. But one of the kids in my class grabbed me and stopped me. He warned me of two things. Never turn your back on Jimmie Czeska. And if he does something to you, don't try to retaliate unless willing to get badly stomped. That was what he wanted.

I got some grief from my mother for the blown-out knees of my school pants when I got home. And some sympathy and additional first aid

A few weeks later, I had my last run-in with him. For reasons I never learned, Jimmie Czeska walked right up to me and punched me in the nose. The punch knocked me down. My glasses broke, which cut my cheek badly enough to require a few stitches. The punch also broke my nose and fattened my upper lip. This time one of the teachers monitoring the playground saw it all. He grabbed Jimmie by the shirt collar and dragged him inside. The other teacher hustled everyone back to their classrooms and took me to the school nurse. Jimmie Czeska was expelled and never came back to Davis Elementary School.

Paula Czeska's appearance continued to intrigue me. But I never spoke to her. She was a silly little girl. Just like all the other silly little girls in kindergarten. But despite that, I couldn't help but look at her anytime she was nearby. The next year, when I was in fourth grade, I went to recess at a different time. I rarely saw her though when I did, she still intrigued me. She wasn't at Davis Elementary when I returned for fifth grade.

I came back to the conversation which only lasted a few more minutes. 'Paula, A & T will not be MechLinx's auditor going forward. Please inform your CEO and CFO when you get back to your office,' I told her. 'We'll follow up with a formal letter severing our business relationship with detailed reasons for the break.' Palley was one of those reasons though I didn't mention that.

'I understand,' she responded

'Can I have one of your business cards? I asked. 'I may have cause to speak with you about this again.' If I did, Harry would be right next to me.

I spent the last hours of the day at my desk undisturbed until Jeannie stuck her head in at three-thirty to tell me she was leaving for the weekend. I told her to have a good weekend and began to close shop, too. I worked until six or seven most nights but decided I'd had enough for one day. Jeannie was the only one on my team that ever left before I did. But usually, she stayed as late as me. My team never left before I did. It was three-forty-five when I closed and locked my office door. As I left, I hoped my team would take a cue and do the same.

I decided not to go home and cook dinner for myself. I'd lived alone for several years. My wife and I had drifted apart and divorced. There were no big battles. No disagreements over finances. No infidelities. No disagreement about children. We wanted kids, but she couldn't. Scar tissue which neither she nor her doctor could account for. We talked about adopting but the idea just fizzled out without making any effort to pursue it. There was no joy or enthusiasm when we greeted each other in the morning, just a perfunctory cordiality. No common interests.

One morning my wife looked across the breakfast table and said, 'Josh, I don't want to do this anymore.' I knew exactly what she meant. I just said 'Okay.' I moved into the spare bedroom that night. Our sex life had been nearly non-existent for some time. I began looking for a place to live that weekend. She kept the condo in Stamford. It was close to her office in Greenwich. I found a place in Manhattan, closer to mine.

The Stakes was a steak and chops place not far from my office building, near MechLinx's headquarters. The bar was an afterwork watering hole for professionals that worked in the area. Some folks I knew went there for hook-ups. I made a hook-up there on occasion, too, but they were just serendipity. Hook-ups weren't why I patronized The Stakes. The food was good. It was convenient. They served an ale I liked. I took a meal there a handful of weeknights each month. Often alone at the bar but sometimes with another patron I knew. On rare occasions a colleague. I'd have a beer, a meal, and then go home. I ate healthy most nights. But after the brief go-round with Palley, I felt like a steak. Maybe a Porterhouse.

It was early for the usual after work crowd. The first thing I saw when I went into was that pale-yellow hair on a seat at the bar. Paula was nursing what looked like a rye and ginger. An old-time cocktail. I was even more intrigued. I only caught her first name during our meeting. Her card was still in my shirt pocket. I looked at it to confirm her last name before I approached. Paula Romano.

'Can I join you, Ms. Romano?' I asked before I sat. She nodded and gestured to the seat next to her.

'John had the office in an uproar when I got back. People were scrambling everywhere. He was berating our compliance officer for refusing to allow doctoring the filings. I had a heated discussion with him. He threw me out of his office. I passed along your message, though,' she said as I sat. 'I went to the ladies' room to calm down before I went back to my office. I got an email from the CEO telling me I was fired just before security showed up to escort me out. The son-of-a-bitch didn't have the balls to fire me face-to-face. They'll forward my personal effects.'

I wasn't sure what to say. 'I'm sorry to hear that. What did they expect you to do? You can't break the law or advise someone to do so. You'd be disbarred.' She finished her drink. I motioned to the Wally, the bartender. 'Can I get you another one of those?' I asked her as Wally approached.

'No. I'll buy you one,' she said, resignation to her situation in her voice.

Her order confirmed she was drinking rye and ginger. I ordered my usual brown ale.

Her mood brightened as we talked, though I was sure she'd be soon be feeling miserable again once she got home. She might have to tell a husband she got fired. That kind of conversation is never fun. I finally couldn't continue to ignore the question that had been rattling around in my brain since the conference room.

'Just out of curiosity, Ms. Romano, is your maiden name Czeska?'

Her jaw dropped when she heard me ask the question. 'Do I know you from somewhere?' she asked. I took her response as confirmation she was Paula Czeska. And she was married.

'No. We never really met or spoke. But we both went to Davis Elementary. I remember seeing you there.' I told her.

'Oh, my eyes, right?' she said, turning back to her drink.

'Well, yeah, and the color of your hair.' I hesitated a moment. 'I also got acquainted with your brother, Jimmie.'

I could see that made her uneasy. 'You were a friend of Jimmie's?' she asked incredulously.

'I wouldn't go that far. I wasn't at Davis three weeks before he broke my nose and my glasses. See this little scar on my cheek and the bump on my nose. Courtesy of your brother.'

'That was you? He got expelled for that,' she said. 'I'm sorry. My brother wasn't a good kid. By third grade, we were all terrified of him and what he was capable of. Even our father.'

'You don't have to apologize. You didn't do anything to me. What's he doing now?' I asked. I soon wished I hadn't.

'He's up in Ossining. We don't see him.'

I cringed. It was my turn to apologize. 'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to open old wounds or rub salt into your family's pain.'

'It's okay. We never could understand Jimmie. My folks had five kids. Two doctors, a veterinarian, an attorney. And a violent convict. How do you explain that? My folks did everything right by us. They bent over backwards trying to help Jimmie. But nothing they did made a difference.'

'There must be something wrong with his wiring,' I told her. 'Every family has its problem child. My brother has a gambling problem. It ruined his life. It cost him a good job, a great woman, and two good kids.'

'Enough of this maudlin talk,' Paula said suddenly. 'What are you doing after your beer?' she asked.

'I came in to get a steak and a beer before going home,' I told her.

'Would you mind some company for dinner? I don't want to go home just yet,' she told me. 'My plans for the night fell through.'

Ms. Romano was as appealing as any woman I ever had dinner with. But she was married. I treaded carefully around married woman. 'I'd enjoy some company. But isn't your husband expecting you?'

She smiled for the first time since I began talking to her. 'We went our separate ways a couple years ago. I'm in the process of changing my name back to Czeska.' She laughed for a moment before she continued. 'It's something I'm doing for me. Kind of reclaiming my identity.'

'Okay. I usually eat here at the bar. That okay with you?' I asked.