Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Monday morning, Debbie was back in the office. They’d had a lovely time in Sunshine, but now it was back to her real life. She and Caleb had bonded over their lazy weekend, and she felt a lot better about everything. He’d dropped the idea of selling her partnership in the legal firm when she suggested she’d begin looking into it, but it would take some time to arrange, and had been very sweet and romantic for the rest of the weekend.
She dropped her purse into the bottom drawer of her desk and checked her voicemails. There were quite a few, so she promptly responded to each of them. Then they had the morning staff meeting. The room was full of partners. Phillip was there. She needed him to be fully invested in their business so he’d take the ownership seriously if he decided to buy the firm from her. And he seemed to have grown in maturity in recent years, even if he still ranted far too often about dirty coffee cups being left in the kitchen sink.
“Thank you, everyone, for coming today. I’m grateful to have such a supportive team as I’ve transitioned into a part-time role. It’s fantastic to know that I can trust your judgement when I’m out of the office. But as always, if there’s anything you need to talk about, please don’t hesitate to knock on my office door or give me a call at any time.”
The meeting proceeded smoothly. There were pastries and hot coffee for anyone who wanted them. Debbie nibbled on a Danish as each partner ran through the list of items they wanted addressed and provided an update on each of their clients.
The firm was called Holmes, Parkes & Ogden , named after the three principal partners. Several others had joined since—one senior, the rest junior. Wendy Ogden was in charge of their family law department, which essentially meant she spent a lot of time in mediation meetings over divorce proceedings. Sarah Nguyen managed corporate law and had recently acquired a large and prestigious client who would improve the visibility and reputation of their firm substantially. Phil Parkes managed their litigation department now that Debbie had taken a step back. Litigation was their primary breadwinning division, since it was the one Debbie had begun the firm with.
“How are things going with our family law department?” Debbie asked, finally, after the other divisions had shared.
“We’ve landed the Samuels divorce,” Wendy replied with a nod of her head. “But that’s not to leave this room, since the news hasn’t broken yet.”
“Do you mean Winona and Carl Samuels?” Debbie asked. Winona was a famous actress who lived in Byron Bay with her boy toy, Carl Samuels. They’d been married for at least five years—Debbie wasn’t sure exactly how long. She didn’t really keep up with celebrity gossip unless she was visiting the dentist’s office and happened to flip through a magazine while she waited.
“That’s the one,” Wendy replied with a smug smile. “I happened across Winona in the sauna at my gym just a few weeks ago. And she found out I’m a family law solicitor. She asked for my card and gave me a call on the weekend. She’s hired me to manage her divorce.”
“Well done, Wendy,” Debbie said. “I’m sorry she’s getting divorced, but this way, you can help her manage it the best way possible.”
“That’s right. He’s apparently been working his way around the entire female staff at her estate, and she had no idea until recently. Poor thing.”
“That’s awful,” Sarah spoke up. “Let us know if you need help with any of it.”
“I would caution us all not to say anything about this, not even to spouses for now. Just until it breaks. She doesn’t want word to get out before she serves him with papers. And if the media does come after any one of us for a statement, the official line is no comment , okay? I’ll be sending all media enquiries to her comms team eventually, but for now, we officially know nothing. Got it?”
There were nods around the table. The team was used to this. It was how they worked. The sensitive nature of many of their cases meant that secrecy was paramount. It was why they no longer included assistants or legal secretaries in the Monday meetings. There had been too many leaks. But each one of the partners benefited from the work and the revenue generated by the whole, so they had a vested interest in keeping things quiet.
They finished up the meeting, and Debbie returned to her desk. There were already messages waiting for her, and she promptly addressed them. Then she turned her attention to her email inbox. She sighed at the sight of it. It never failed to pile up if she was gone for even a moment from her desk. But three days’ worth of emails was quite the daunting pile to tackle.
As she was wading through her emails, there was a knock at the door.
“Come in,” she called.
Phil walked into her office and shut the door behind him. He sat across from her, a smile on his face. “How are you?”
“I’m great, thanks. And you?”
“Good, good.” He hesitated, linking his hands together in his lap. “There’s something I need to talk to you about.”
“Okay, shoot.” She had half her attention on an email she was finishing up. He waited until she clicked send and turned her focus to him.
“I’ve loved working with you, Debbie. You’ve taught me so much about this industry and the work we do. You’ve been honest and forthright, and so I want to offer you the same courtesy.”
She didn’t like where this was going and sat up straighter in her chair.
“I’ve accepted an offer from Marsh & Holman to be one of their senior partners. I know that this will probably come as something of a shock to you. But they’re a bigger firm, and the profits will be higher. Besides that, I think I’ve outgrown what this firm can bring me, career wise.”
A rock formed in the pit of Debbie’s stomach. “But I was planning on retiring and handing the firm over to you to manage as the senior partner.”
He nodded. “I know, but you may not do that for another five years. My career is slipping by so fast, I have to make this move while I’m still in demand. No offence, but I don’t want to wait that long. And the decision has been made. I will want to be paid out by the end of the month. I’ll pack up my desk today and leave.”
She gaped at him. “We should talk about this…” If he left, it wouldn’t be long before other partners followed his example. It’s how things worked in a law firm—no one wanted to stay with a sinking ship. They’d get out while they could still extract the money they’d invested into the firm when they bought into the partnership. She couldn’t afford to pay them all out. And she certainly couldn’t keep running the firm alone. It was impossible.
Her first thought: they’d have to rush against the clock to call all his clients to see if they could keep any with the firm. No doubt he’d take as many as he could manage to convince to bail with him, which was why Marsh & Holman wanted him in the first place. She’d given him a number of her most cashed-up clients when she pulled back to three days.
He tipped his head to one side, feigning concern, but his expression read more like pity. “It’s too late. It’s a done deal. I signed with them yesterday.”