Page 44 of Exposed

“No it isn’t,” Mary said gently.

“Yes it is, you don’t see each other as often. You don’t go out for lunch together. You say you’ll see each other but you don’t.”

“We will, we would.”

“You say that.”

“But it’s true.”

Judy sighed heavily. “So you’re really considering leaving.”

“I don’t know, I guess I am. I guess I have to.” Mary hurt inside, and the wrench in her chest was becoming familiar.

“What does Anthony think?”

Mary cringed. “I didn’t talk to him about it yet. I only thought about it in the middle of the night, and he was asleep. I just thought to myself, ‘what if the settlement doesn’t work out,’ ‘what if push comes to shove,’ and here we are.”

Judy pushed her. “You would go out on your own then?”

Mary blinked, getting an idea. “Well, I wouldn’t have to be completely on my own, now would I?”

“What do you mean?”

“Girl. Come with me.”

“Ha!” Judy burst into laughter. “Are you serious?”

“Why not?” Mary said, trying to wrap her mind aroundthe idea. “I have tons of work, Judy. I have a very solid client base. If I have to go, you could come with me. It would be great.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Judy said, putting up a restraining hand. “Mare, are you forgetting? We have been in business together, way back when. Remember when we tried to start a practice after we left Stalling & Webb?”

“Oh, right.” Mary had forgotten, or more likely, blocked it out. “You mean, how our impulsive decision to flee our big firm led us to hang out our own shingle—”

“—and set up shop and wait for a phone to ring? Which it didn’t?”

“Well, look at the bright side, we did a lot of pro bono work.”

Judy grinned. “We could have saved the world. And also starved.”

“Oh, that.”

“Yes, that.” Judy laughed.

Mary got serious. “But that was then and this is now. Times are different. I have business. I don’t have to wait for a phone to ring anymore. In fact, there are days when I don’t answer the phone because I don’t want another case.”

“Really?” Judy’s eyes narrowed, a skeptical Delft blue.

“Honestly. You know how many cases I have, ongoing, right now? Take a guess.”

“Well, twelve active cases is a lot,” Judy began, thinking aloud. “And you need a base of about fifty ongoing cases, whether they are superactive or not.”

“Agreed.” Mary folded her arms, self-satisfied. “So guess.”

“Sixty?”

“Try a hundred and twenty.”

“What?” Judy’s eyes rounded with amazement. “Are you serious? What are the billings?”