CHAPTER 3
Arwen
“You’re asking for a fifty percent reduction. That’s just not possible,” the attorney stated smugly as if Arwen didn’t know what was possible.
“It is possible, which is why my client is asking. These companies are destroying the land.”
“The land next to their land, not the land they own.”
“I know you know how it works,” Arwen argued.
“This stuff doesn’t just stop moving at property lines simply because there’s a fence there.
Your client is endangering the lives of everyone in that neighborhood, and if you don’t stop, it’ll continue to do damage.
Also, it’s not just a fifty percent reduction.
We’re talking about not dumping what they are producing, but actually following the law. ”
“You have no evidence that my client hasn’t followed the law,” he stated.
“I have sworn affidavits from–”
“We both know that statements can change,” he interrupted and took a drink from his iced tea with one lemon in the tea itself and another lemon on the edge of the glass.
He had asked for two but had only squeezed one and dropped it into the tea, leaving Arwen to wonder why he’d asked for two to begin with.
“Witnesses sometimes don’t testify at all if we get to trial.
Depositions make them change their tunes,” he continued.
“You know how this all works. I’m not even sure why you invited me to lunch instead of meeting at the office, where I could’ve told you no, but if you want to bill your clients for this, go ahead. ”
“I’m not billing my clients for this,” she said.
“God, why not? We’re talking about the case. Billable hours, Arwen.”
“Because they’ve already been taken to the cleaners by your client. Is that company you represent happy that they’re causing cancer in children?”
“Have you been able to prove they’ve caused cancer in children? I haven’t seen anything yet that tells me you have.” He leaned forward conspiratorially. “Look, brass tacks here. You know you won’t get any kind of reduction in production. That cuts into their bottom line.”
“You–”
“It’s just the truth. If you still want to take this through depos and/or to trial, we can, but you don’t have evidence that proves they’ve done anything wrong.
Maybe some statements, sure, but that’s it.
A reasonable judge won’t even let this get in front of a jury, and I’ll make sure we get that reasonable judge.
Here’s why we’re really here: you want to see what I can offer you and your clients.
If you get them to settle, and we can move on from this frivolous lawsuit, I’ll get them money, Arwen.
” He had called it frivolous as if he’d known that it wasn’t but couldn’t say anything that wouldn’t be in the interest of his client.
“I’ve got a number for you, but if you, hypothetically, counter it with a slightly higher number, I can get that for you, too. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“Yes,” she said.
“And, hypothetically, if you ask for those auditors to go into the production facility to ensure that the company is following legal practices, which, I assure you, they are,” he said and winked.
“I can make that part of the agreement as well. You just have to ask for it. All hypothetical, of course.”
It wasn’t what Arwen or her clients had been after, but when he had shared the number with her, she knew it would be enough to help them pay for the hospital visits and treatment and give them enough money to move if they chose to.
The auditor was what they really cared about, though, since the members of her class action lawsuit only wanted the company to change its practices and be held accountable. The money was a bonus.
“I want the settlement to be disclosed. None of this PR stuff where it’s an undisclosed amount. I want people to know how much they were willing to pay.”
“Well, that’s just not going to happen. An undisclosed amount is better for both parties involved. It gets your clients the money, and my client doesn’t have to deal with other people asking why they paid so much if they weren’t guilty.”
“Exactly. Hypothetically, let’s say they’re guilty.
” Arwen leaned back in her chair. “I’d like the world to know what they did, dumping toxic chemicals improperly to save money for an already incredibly profitable company, when kids are getting cancer right next door.
Those kids are probably in the same doctors’ offices and hospital rooms as the CEO’s kids, as the employees’ kids.
Hell, some of them worked there before this started happening.
They were friends with the people dumping harmful chemicals.
I’ve got at least ten women who now cannot have children because of this.
I’ve got three dead kids and seven more sick and close to death.
I’ve got a hundred people willing to testify today, and I can get more.
That’s what you’d be facing when I take this to trial.
I’ll get it past that reasonable judge. There’s enough here.
You might not believe me now, but you will when we get to discovery.
So, it’s either my settlement number, an independent auditor with surprise visits once a quarter, and we disclose the whole thing, or we go to trial.
Oh, and it’s a vendor of our choosing, not some bribable government employee that shows up once a year, with your client being fully aware that they’re stopping by next month on the fourteenth or something, so they can hide what they’re doing. ”
“I think you’d find, Arwen, that just about everyone is bribable, but I’ll take this back to my client.”
“Don’t worry about that. I’m adding a clause about financial records in there, too.”
“What are you talking about?” he asked.
“Disclosing them. The auditor’s personal and business numbers will be available to me.
If you’re thinking I can’t get that done, you’re wrong.
I’ll get any reasonable judge to allow an independent review by a forensic accountant.
I know they won’t let me have that accountant also review the company’s financials, I’m not na?ve, but I can show a pattern of wrongdoing where the audits have been concerned, and they’ll at least give me that, say, for the next ten years. ”
“Five,” he countered.
“Fifteen,” she countered right back. “Don’t make me ask for twenty.”
“Ten,” he said. “I’ll take this all back to my client. No guarantees.”
“It’s up to them, but you don’t want me to share the test results I’ve seen from the hospital.”
“What test results?”
“Hypothetically, chemical exposure can show up in those results even if time has passed.”
“You’re bluffing,” he stated and wiped his mouth with his cloth napkin.
“Am I?” she asked with a lifted eyebrow.
◆◆◆
“You said that?” Zara asked when Arwen got back to the office.
“I did, yes. I gave him until the end of the week to get back to me, or we’re moving forward,” she replied and sat behind her desk. “Hey, are you okay?”
“Yeah. Why?” Zara asked, sitting in the chair in front of Arwen’s desk.
“You don’t look good, Zara. Are you coming down with something? You look pale. A little sick.”
“Oh,” Zara said and fidgeted in her seat. “I might be. I’m okay, though.”
Arwen knew her best friend was lying to her, but as she took in Zara’s pale skin and her hair that was usually so perfectly done but was in a messy bun at the back today, with flyaways framing her face, she decided not to press further.
It was possible Zara just hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep or was stressed with this case.
It had gone on longer than they had both planned, and as her paralegal, Zara had been right in there with her, researching and compiling everything to be prepared for anything the much larger firm could throw at them in depositions or trial.
Arwen had joined this small environmental law firm out of law school, and while they still had the old kind of coffee maker in the kitchen and she wasn’t paid nearly as well as the attorney she’d just had lunch with, she had no plans to leave.
She’d been passionate about the environment since she was a little kid, having campaigned for the school district to stop using Styrofoam in the school cafeterias and won.
Her job was often thankless, and living in DC meant that she was usually going up against lobbyists and politicians and trying to get the EPA to back what she was doing, which added to her workload and frustration, but sometimes, she got cases like this.
Yes, cases like these were devastating because she had to meet with clients who were sick or who had lost someone they loved because of the actions of greedy corporations that didn’t care about people suffering for their profits.
Still, this case and ones alike were why she did this job, even though it was emotionally hard, and she sometimes went home and cried in front of her computer, thinking about the seven-year-old boy in his not-well-fitting baseball uniform, holding a bat that was just a little too big for him and trying to look tough for the photo as if the photographer had told him that the pitcher had been talking trash.
That little boy would never grow into that baseball bat and uniform because he’d gotten cancer and had very quickly perished after that.
She and Zara talked about the next steps until long after everyone else in the office had gone home.
Arwen knew she could get her clients to accept the deal as it was, but she also knew that she wouldn’t give up from here.
The money and the surprise audits would be good victories, but she wanted a reduction in the production of the waste in question, and that was possible presently.
It was just expensive and would put the company out of business if they had to apply it to one-hundred-percent of the toxic by-product.
She wouldn’t stop, though, until she at least got that fifty-percent reduction and the rest of it being dealt with properly.
“Hey, do you want to grab a drink to celebrate?” Zara asked. “We haven’t gone out in forever, and I could use a night out, I think.”
“Really? You look like you need a night in, with a bowl of chicken soup. I can come over. We can watch a movie and have soup together. I’ll get you the chicken, and I can get the tomato basil,” she suggested.
Zara smiled like she was thinking of something else but said, “One drink. I want to talk to you about something, and I’d like a drink I didn’t have to pour or make myself, if that’s okay.”
“Talk to me? Is everything okay?”
“Come on. Let’s go.” Zara stood up. “It’s too late for us to be here anyway.”
Arwen didn’t want to argue with her friend, who clearly had something she wanted to get off her chest, so she followed her out of the office and assumed they’d go to the lawyer bar, which they rarely, but usually frequented when they went out to celebrate.
Zara suggested they go somewhere else, though, a new bar that wasn’t that far away, and it was a big departure from their local lawyer bar.
It had more of a club vibe than strictly bar, though there wasn’t a dance floor, and the space was dark in tone.
Their lawyer bar had maroon vinyl booths with tears in them and dark wooden tables with water rings.
This place had near-black tables and booths that were probably still vinyl but looked like the highest quality vinyl in the world, with no tears that she noticed as she sat down in one.
Where their local spot typically had five to ten men in cheap suits and a few women in equally cheap business suits, this place had people of all types, and there were a lot more of them.
There were ten barstools, and each was occupied.
Arwen ran her eyes over every person and noticed a woman in jeans and a blouse with flats, a man in a much nicer suit than the guys at their bar, another man in a leather jacket and torn jeans, and as she scanned faster, her eyes landed on a woman at the very end of the bar, who also happened to be staring right back at her.
“Whoa,” Arwen muttered to herself.
“What?” Zara asked, turning her head to see what she was looking at.
“She’s gorgeous,” Arwen said softly, hoping the woman who was still staring at her couldn’t read lips.
“Who?” Zara asked.
“Don’t look. She’s staring at me,” she told her quickly.
Zara turned back to her and asked, “The woman at the end?”
“Yeah, short black hair.”
Zara went to turn again.
“No, she’s still looking,” Arwen said.
“How can I tell you if I think she’s gorgeous, too, then? I didn’t get a good look at her.”
The woman picked up her drink, which was a dark alcohol of some kind with no ice, and took a long sip while her equally dark eyes bore into Arwen’s.
“What kind of bar is this?” Arwen asked.
“A normal bar. I saw it just opened on my way to work this morning. Why?”
“Because that woman looks as if she thinks I’m here for something other than drinks.”
“Maybe she is,” Zara said. “But I was hoping we could talk about–”
“Zara, she is, like, intensely staring at me. I’m sorry. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. Do I stop staring at her? Will she stop then?”
“I guess you have to ask yourself if you want her to stop.”
Arwen met Zara’s eyes for a moment, and they looked a little bloodshot to her in this dim lighting.
Her own eyes returned to the dark-haired woman’s, though, feeling that her theory had been wrong.
Sure enough, that woman was still looking at Arwen, although her stare was less intense now.
It was, dare Arwen say it, more welcoming.
The woman tilted her head and gave a little nod.
Arwen interpreted that as her asking who Zara was to her, so she shook her head, and the woman nodded and held up her drink.
Arwen nodded back because she didn’t know what else to do.
The woman held up an elegant hand to the bartender, who instantly moved to her.
Arwen hadn’t seen a bartender rush to anyone so quickly in her life, and soon, he was pouring the woman another drink.
“Arwen?” Zara said.
“Yes?” she asked and returned her attention to Zara.
Zara cleared her throat and said, “I know I’m not exactly tall, dark, and handsome over there, but I was hoping we could talk about–”
“She’s coming over here,” Arwen interjected before she could stop herself.
“What?” Zara asked.
“She’s walking over here. What do I do?”
“She’s just walking over here? We’re together. What the hell?”
“I told her we weren’t together together.”
“You told her? How the hell could you have told her something? You’re sitting right here. You haven’t moved.”
“Can’t explain now. Shut up,” she said and looked up at the woman who was definitely how Zara had described her: tall, dark, and very handsome.