Chapter Twenty-Four
The “game of skill, not chance” argument was officially a dead end.
My calendar flashed a fifteen-minute heads-up for the settlement meeting with Leo. I pulled out a flattened granola bar from the bottom of my tote bag, then gathered my laptop and notes and tried giving myself a mental pep talk.
Half an hour later, I put down the marker, looking back and forth between the conference room’s oversized whiteboard and Leo’s face. I felt out of breath. He hadn’t said anything the entire time.
“Who represents the film fund again?” he finally asked.
“Damian Entwhistle.”
He smiled. “Let’s bring that fucker in for a meeting. I want to watch you tell him exactly why it’s in his client’s best interest to settle.”
“Really? Does that mean you think it could work?”
“It’s brilliant. This is your time to shine, baby.”
My palms felt sweaty.
“I’ll be there if you need me, but this is some badass lawyering. You took the things you knew and found a way to figure out what you didn’t. Whether these guys are still too pigheaded to settle, who knows—but even if they don’t, Sterling actually has a solid claim now.”
I pressed my palms against my cheeks. The conference room felt too small for both of us. “Okay. Wow. So I’ll draft the fraud claims into the complaint for you to look over?”
“Sam, excellent work. Bravo.”
His phone dinged. “Shit, I need to dial into a call.”
I gathered my things and headed toward the door.
“I have an eight p.m. reservation at Campagnola tonight on the Upper East Side. Join me?”
Between the flattery and the dinner invite, I realized how much I wanted to be back in his good graces. “Sure, that would be great,” I quickly responded.
He winked. “See you tonight, then.”
Charlie was blasting Bob Dylan when I got back.
“How’d it go?” he asked, turning down the volume.
“We’re scheduling a settlement meeting,” I said, trying to play it cool.
“So was he blown away by your math abilities?”
“He was very complimentary. Appropriately complimentary,” I quickly added. I didn’t mention dinner. “Can I be honest? I never thought I was great at thinking outside the box. I always felt smart in a bookish way. But I feel like I’m actually learning to be strategic.”
“You’re a real superstar, office buddy. Pretty soon these clients will be rolling in. Next stop, Hollywood.”
That reminded me.
“I actually need advice. Big time.”
He started laughing the second he picked up on where the story was going.
“No fucking way. You’re consulting for George Brenner?”
“If I can get Eddie and the firm to say yes. That’s where I need advice.”
“Unbelievable. I’m serious, Sam. You’re kind of unstoppable.”
“This was all Andie. I never could’ve seen this coming when she made a book deal. Not in a million years.”
“It’s great PR for the firm.”
“Maybe that’s what I’ll tell them.” I needed to print copies of the talking points for the meeting later that afternoon with the US Attorney’s Office. “If you were me, would you email Eddie about it? Or ask him in person?”
“When are you supposed to see him?”
“At four p.m. We’re meeting the prosecutors. I’m supposed to share a car with him downtown.”
“Do it then. Captive audience.”
I wasn’t supposed to meet Eddie for three more hours. I couldn’t focus. Charlie threatened to throw every one of my pens into the industrial shredder if I didn’t stop nervously clicking.
“I just have to be okay with the fact that he might tell me to fuck off,” I said abruptly an hour later as Charlie came back with an eighteen-foot Italian sub in one hand and two bags of chips in the other.
“Have you billed any time today?”
“Like, an eighth of an hour.”
“So, no.”
“I’m mentally preparing myself to pass on the chance of a lifetime. He might tell me to pound sand.”
“You can’t do that and be a functional Big Law associate at the same time?”
“Could you?”
“Hell, no.”
My phone rang and I nearly jumped out of my skin.
“Hey, Andie,” I said, trying to sound composed.
“Did you talk to Eddie yet?”
I wondered if he had already updated her on the Texas Hold’em ruling.
“I’m going to do it from the car.”
“Are you nervous?”
I chuckled. “Um, yeah. I have no idea what he’s going to say.”
“Don’t forget to tell him how much I want you to do this.
” She paused. “And look, no matter how the meeting goes, I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and I think I want to plead guilty.
Like—sooner, rather than later. I have to start planning out the rest of my life.
Will you float the pleading thing by Eddie, make sure he still thinks it’s a good idea? ”
In a perfect world, I wanted to be able to go to bat for Andie.
But there were actually reasons for her to settle—time, money, unpredictability.
Her case wasn’t a slam dunk, even if we didn’t think a jury would find her guilty.
I also understood wanting to move on with her life.
No matter what she decided, there was no pretending that the case hadn’t changed her life forever, in both good ways and bad. It had already changed mine.
An hour later, Eddie was waiting in the car when I got in.
“I hope you weren’t waiting long,” I said as I rushed into the back seat.
He smiled without looking up from his phone. “My twelve o’clock finished early, and I took the chance to catch up on things. I could sit here for another hour doing this.” It looked like he was editing a legal brief from his iPhone. “Bummer about the Texas Hold’em case, huh?”
I was physically incapable of holding it in. “George Brenner wants to adapt Andie’s life into a movie.”
He looked up. “The George Brenner?”
I nodded.
“How did that happen?”
I took a deep breath. “Someone at the publisher—his old college friend, actually—sent him the manuscript, and he sparked to the story.”
He shook his head. “This has been a fun one, huh?”
I laughed nervously. “There’s more. He asked me to consult for him on the script. To answer questions about the indictment and negotiating with the prosecutors, things like that.”
He shot me the same incredulous look as when I said George Brenner wanted to write Andie’s movie.
“That’s not something most lawyers get asked to do,” he said in an indecipherable tone as he looked back at his phone.
I held my breath and wondered if the conversation, along with my once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, was over.
“What did you say?” he asked as he scrolled through his contact list.
“That I needed to ask you first. Of course,” I said quickly.
“Would he want you to start right away?”
I told him we hadn’t gotten that far.
He paused and lightly chewed the tip of his pen.
“You don’t say no to that. That’s a door-opener.”
I nodded hopefully. “I really want to do it, but not if it means putting the firm in a bad spot.”
“Yeah. Well, this would be a much easier sell if she pleaded guilty and we weren’t actively representing her anymore.”
I told him about Andie wanting to plead.
He nodded. “Well then, that’s great news all around. I’ve been hoping she’d come around. There’s no way we’re ever going to get these prosecutors to drop the charges. She just has to take her lumps and get on with it.”
“Does that mean I can tell George Brenner yes? Once she pleads guilty, I mean?”
“Make sure he knows it’s ultimately the firm’s decision.
But if she pleads, I don’t have an issue with it.
” He put his readers back on and looked at me seriously.
“But Samantha, whether it’s time spent editing the book or consulting for George Brenner, your work for the firm can’t suffer.
Otherwise, I won’t continue to be supportive. ”
I took a deep breath and nodded. “Understood. I can manage.”
I silently hoped George Brenner could wait.