Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-eight
But Mike didn’t apologize, or beg her to stay quiet, or interrogate what she’d said to Hannah, or any of the possibilities that raced through her mind in the seconds before she brought the phone to her ear.
Instead, Mike’s cheerful voice relayed that he’d spoken with her neighbor, Mireille Rapacine, and come up with a plan for her landlord dispute, and he invited Iris to his office to go over it with her.
Iris was so desperate for things to go back to normal, she said yes.
Mike worked at one of the old-school, high-powered law firms in the city, Atherton Klein. Iris checked in at a glossy marble reception desk, where a woman already knew her name and directed Iris to his office down a carpeted hall lighted with elegant brass sconces.
The door to Mike’s office was ajar. Mike was beside his desk, standing close to a shapely woman in a sleek, sleeveless turtleneck dress. Both their heads snapped toward the door when Iris poked her headin.
“Sorry, are you ready for me?” Iris sensed she had interrupted something, although by now they were both leaning away from each other, the air of relaxed professionalism restored.
“Of course, come in.” Mike reached her first and greeted her with a friendly hug. “Iris, this is my summer associate, Antoinette Weaver. She’s the ace up my sleeve on your landlord problem.”
Antoinette extended her hand. Iris was struck by how beautiful she was.
She wore her hair natural and super short, which she pulled off thanks to big brown eyes, high cheekbones, full lips, and deep skin so poreless she could sell cosmetics.
“Call me Toni, no one calls me Antoinette outside of a courtroom.”
“ Toni ,” Iris repeated, shaking the woman’s hand. Did Hannah know that “Tony” was an attractive woman? “Nice to meet you.”
Mike began, “So I spoke to Mrs. Rapacine—I think I have a crush on her, I mean, that accent! I completely see why you’ve adopted her. But she’s definitely getting screwed here. I think we can get her a buyout.”
“She wants to stay.”
“I know. That’s why you gotta talk some sense into her.”
Iris shook her head. “I don’t know if she’ll listen. She’s lived there forever, and she’s very headstrong.”
“But here’s the thing. If the other side thinks there’s no way out but litigation, they have no motive to play nice.
They’ll continue to make her life miserable, and believe me, it can get worse.
Real estate in New York is like oil in Texas, they’re gonna drink her fuckin’ milkshake.
If they think she’s a die-hard holdout, they’ll make her want to die. ”
“I thought New York City laws were tenant-friendly. And isn’t rent control protected?”
“I’ve been researching,” Toni offered gently. “The holdouts that triumph or get a big payday get a lot of press, but they’re the exception. Most tenants in this situation leave with a few thousand dollars, if they’re lucky.”
“But,” Mike jumped in, “if the new landlord sees a sliver of hope that they could stop the delay, start the construction, and claim their payday, they’ll be inclined to go for it.
If they believe negotiating a deal is possible, they’ll back off the shenanigans.
Then she can at least have some peace to plan her next move, and a reasonable chunk of change to put toward it. ”
Everything he was saying made sense, but she knew Rapacine wouldn’t see it that way.
The multiline phone on his desk beeped and blinked; Mike answered. “Yeah…I’ll take it in the conference room. Thanks.”
“Do you need your office back?” Iris asked.
“No, this will take me five minutes tops, and I’ll bring back the docs Ms. Rapacine needs to sign. Stay. In the meantime, ask Toni anything. I’ll be right back.” He stepped out, leaving Iris and Toni alone together.
The questions Iris wanted to ask couldn’t be spoken. “Thank you for your help with this.”
Toni gestured openly. “Happy to help a friend of Mike’s.”
“I’m actually better friends with Mike’s wife, Hannah. She’s my best friend, really. Have you met her?” She scanned the woman’s face for any flicker of a guilty conscience.
Toni only smiled. “No, but I’d like to. Anyone who can put up with Mike twenty-four seven has earned my respect.”
Iris gave a laugh, disarmed. But not exactly trusting. “Hannah is about to have their first baby.”
“I know. So exciting for them. I’ll be assisting with Mike’s cases while he’s on leave. And I’m looking forward to getting to know the other partners. Mike doesn’t like to share.”
Iris was pondering what she meant by that when Mike walked back in. He gave Iris the documents for Rapacine and began to small-talk her out the door, when suddenly Iris didn’t want to let him off the hook so easy. The coward. “Mike, can I talk to you for a second, alone?”
Toni obliged and left them. Iris shut the door after her.
“About what happened at your party, in the kitchen…”
He put up his hands . “Don’t worry about it.”
“No, it needs to be said. It was not cool. And it can’t happen again. Ever.”
“We were all trashed that night, honestly, my memory is a blur. But sure, whatever you say is right.”
“Mike. You remember.”
“It’s hazy, but look—” he tilted his head with a patronizing smile. “You’re going through a breakup, you had to spend the night with your ex and his new girl, you weren’t yourself, I totally get it.”
“You came on to me.”
He scoffed. “That’s not how I remember it. But in any case, it’s in the past. Bygones! I won’t be drinking that much again until the kid is eighteen.” Mike crossed to open the door to his office and usher her out. “So, we good? You still want me to help your neighbor?”
Iris was too appalled to speak. She searched his face for any sign he actually believed the bullshit he was saying to her.
But before she could call his bluff, Mike called hers: “And hey, thanks again for pinch-hitting today with Hannah. She really needs her best friend right now.”