Chapter 8
Debbie set the phone back in its cradle and tidied the tray filled with scattered pieces of paper on the end of her desk. She hated an untidy desk. But lately, things had been so hectic that her office was in complete disarray. She straightened the blotter and her line of pens, along with her laptop and calendar. That was better. She’d have to deal with the stacks of file boxes in the corner later. Or maybe she’d get Evelyne onto them.
“Evelyne,” she said over the intercom.
“Yes, Debbie?”
“Do you think you’d have time to take these files back to the file room for me?”
“No problem at all. Also, Phil wants to see you. Should I send him in, or do you want him to make an appointment?”
“Thanks, Ev. You can send him in now.”
She was going through her inbox when Phil came into her office and shut the door behind him. He was balding, and his hair was shaved short. He wore a suit and tie, but the tie hung slightly loose and crooked against his white shirt.
“Good morning, Phil. How are you today?”
He sat in the large plush leather chair opposite her dark hardwood timber desk. “I’m doing okay. How about you?”
“Great, thanks.”
“How was the conference?”
“I made some contacts. Good chance to network. All in all, I think it was worthwhile. How was the office?”
He shrugged. “No one can remember to put their coffee cups in the dishwasher. But other than that, it was fine.”
She hid a smile behind her hand. “I’m sure you’ll sort that out in no time.”
“We’ve got a leadership team meeting in ten. I thought I’d update you before that gets started.”
“I appreciate that, Phil. You’re always so thoughtful.”
She did appreciate him. He was an efficient and hard worker. Very focused and dedicated to his job. Sometimes a little too focused. But she also knew him well enough to realise that he had an agenda. He wanted to get her onside over some kind of political situation in the office.
“You know that Stuart and Renee have been working on the Harding case for six months. And now that they’re on the home stretch, Greg is trying to horn in on the action and be part of the team when it’s clear they’re going to win. He wants to argue the case in court, even though they’re the ones who’ve pulled the entire case together.”
She steepled her hands together on the desk while she listened. “Okay.”
“I told him to stay out of it. But he said he’s going to bring it up in the leadership meeting. I know you’ll back me up on this.”
“Thanks for letting me know. I understand.”
He studied her with a wary look. “So, what are you going to say?”
She inhaled a slow breath. “I know they’ve worked really hard on this case. But we’re a team. Greg is a closer. He is the best we’ve got when it comes to presenting a case in court. They should take advantage of that. If he wins for them, we all win.”
Phil’s face grew red. “If that’s what you think.”
“I do,” she said. “I’ll let Stuart and Renee know. I’m sure the bonuses they’ll receive if they win the case will be convincing.”
When he left her office, she sat in silence for a while, staring at the closed door. Phil wanted to take over the firm when she retired. He’d told her that about five years earlier. His sights were firmly set on the senior partner position that she’d held for twenty years. And even though he was a very capable barrister, she was still undecided about putting her baby, her firm, into his hands. It was their unspoken agreement. But, she’d worked so hard to build the firm’s reputation as a high-class, elegant and well-run team. If he took over, she was concerned about him running it into the ground with his competitiveness and internal spats with the other partners and staff.
It was one of the reasons she was so reluctant to retire. But Caleb had asked her to slow down. And she knew that she needed to do whatever it took to save her marriage. What good would it be if she saved her firm but not her marriage? She couldn’t imagine life without Caleb. How could she grow old alone? She’d always pictured the two of them side by side. Was it too late? Was he already out of reach?
She wiped tears from the corners of her eyes, stood and straightened her suit, then strode to the boardroom for the meeting.
The room was already full. There were six partners around the table. It wasn’t a large firm, but it was one she was immensely proud of building.
“Good morning, everyone. Thank you so much for being here promptly. And I appreciate all of you pitching in to keep things running last week while I was away at the conference.” She sat at the head of the table and laid her hands on the dark timber surface. “It was a very productive time. I have some business cards to give out to each of you for follow-up.”
There were nods and murmurs of greeting from around the table. Phil sat at the other end. His brow was furrowed. Evelyne pulled up a chair by the door, her laptop on a small lap desk. She would take the minutes so they could refer to them throughout the week.
“I want to open the meeting with the first order of business.” Debbie cleared her throat and pushed her grey bob back behind her ears. “I’ve wanted to slow down my pace of work for a while now. I know we’re very busy and there’s a lot going on, but at some stage, we all have to make decisions about what’s best for us and our families.”
She saw the interest and curiosity drift across Phil’s face as he sat up straighter in his chair.
“So, I’ll be moving to a three-day work week starting from today. I’ll take two days off per week, depending on client appointments and court dates. It’s a trial. I’ll revisit and reassess in three months. If it hasn’t worked for us, I’ll come up with a different solution. But I’m confident we can make it work.” Her heart hammered in her throat. She wasn’t confident at all. She was terrified the firm would sink without her there every single day. As Evelyne had recently told her, it didn’t work when she wasn’t there. And Debbie knew that was the risk she was taking.
“Two days?” Phil asked. “I’m sure we can manage without you for two days a week.”
There were murmurs of agreement, although she noted shock on some faces. She hadn’t expected anything else from Phil. He looked downright smug. No doubt he was keen to get her out of the way so he could take charge of more of their top clients. He was the most ruthlessly ambitious man she’d ever met and normally she loved that about him — it made it easy to get him to do things the way she wanted him to. But now she wasn’t so sure it would work out in her favour. Still, what else could she do? She relied on him to keep the company going.
“I appreciate all of your support. Let’s get to the other items on the agenda…”