Page 96

“That’s the point,” Carmen said, trembling on the inside and steady on the outside. “I am going to take on more projects that align with my values. And I should not be penalized for that—”

“Penalized?” Her mother rested her palms on the table, an intimidating pose that Carmen had to force herself not to shift away from.

“Doing more in the legal community outside this office should not compromise my place on the partner track.”

Carmen held her breath, waiting for her mother’s reaction. A frown flickered across her face before she gave a short, incredulous laugh.

“You don’t just demand a promotion, Carmen. You have to earn it.”

She stood firm. “Ihaveearned it. I’m one of the top performing lawyers here. I pull my weight and then some.”

Her mother’s eyes narrowed, but Carmen didn’t falter. She confidently listed her accomplishments for the last fiscal year, highlighting her contributions to the firm’s bottom line first.

“No one goes from junior associate to partner without being a senior associate first,” her mother countered when Carmen was finished.

Carmen tilted her head to the side, ready to swing at the softball she’d anticipated. “Then I suppose we should start there.”

“Can I get you a corner office while I’m at it?” Her mother joked. “A corporate jet.”

Without backing down, Carmen took Lola’s advice and stood silently waiting for her mother to realize that she was serious.

“I’ll consider it,” her mother said after an extraordinarily long pause.

“And I’ll consider taking it,” Carmen replied, pressing her luck and going for broke. “On one condition.”

“Oh, conditions?” She chuckled, arms crossing over her chest.

Carmen was teetering on the edge, but there was no sense in going halfway. Holding back hadn’t gotten her where she wanted to be. Standing up for what she wanted had to be worth a try.

“I want to take one pro bono case a quarter,” she said, palms sweaty and breath shallow. “I’ll need room in my caseload to do that. I’m not taking anyone else’s work. Not unless it’s a true emergency and no one else can do it. I cannot be everyone’s default back-up anymore.”

“Whatever will Barry do?” she replied before holding Carmen’s gaze.

Carmen waited until she was back in her office with the door closed before she pulled her phone out of her trouser pocket.

Carmen:Done.

The response followed so quickly that there was no doubt Lola had been waiting for her message.

Lola:AND? Did Ana come to her senses and crown you queen?

Carmen:Not quite, but she didn’t fire me… sooooo

Lola:Oh, please. Like that was ever a possibility. Did you tell her no more grunt work? Is Barry going to get the vapors when she tells him?

Chuckling, Carmen plopped down on her chair.

Lola:Did you bust out the spreadsheet and show her objective proof of your badassery? That you’ve been single-handedly picking up everyone else’s slack and FUCKING WINNING!?

Smiling, Carmen let the swirl of adrenaline rush out of her. Without Lola’s encouragement, she wouldn’t have approached her mother. Not today. Probably not even this year. But as driven as Lola was for her own career, she’d turned out to be even more single-minded about Carmen’s advancement. By the end of the weekend, Lola had convinced Carmen to — her words —take the legal world by the balls. As soon as she confessed to wanting to do more than just practice in the office, she’d convinced her to accept one of the many invitations she’d gotten from the LGBTQ+ bar association.

Lola:What did she say about doing the queer stuff? Did she enthusiastically co-sign your brilliance and generosity?

Carmen:I’m doing it whether she co-signed or not, aren’t I?

Lola:Fuck yeah.

Carmen leaned back in her office chair, still riding the high of having told her mother exactly what she was thinking. As the adrenaline ebbed, her thoughts turned to Lola.