Page 7 of Precise Justice

“Why?”

“Why? Ever wonder why you’re not married?”

“Not really, no,” Adam answered.

The next Monday morning, the first thing Marc did was see Stewart Grim.

“Hey, Marc, come in,” Stewart said when, after knocking, Marc opened Grim’s door and went in.

“Morning, Stew,” Marc said while taking a seat in a client chair.

“What’s up?”

“There’s no, I don’t know, pleasant wat to say this…”

“Oh, oh,” Stewart said tossing his Mont Blanc on the top of his desk.

“Yeah, I’m giving notice,” Marc said.

“Why?” Stewart asked sincerely.

“I’m dying here. I’m not practicing law. I’m billing hours…”

“You will, you’ll see. Marc, we, me especially, have plans for you. Everyone sees a first-class litigator in you.

“Have you talked to Carol?”

“Karen,” Marc corrected him. “She introduced me to my son and daughter this past weekend. It was the first weekend I’ve had off since I’ve been here. And for what? Money? It’s not worth it, Stew.”

“I know,” Stewart sighed. “Truth be told, I wish I had left years ago. Does Karen agree with this?”

“Yes, they were delighted.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I met with Mickey O’Herlihy on Saturday. He’s got a place in his office for me,” Marc answered.

“Criminal defense?” Stewart asked and made it sound like Marc had decided to become a gay male prostitute.

“People law,” Marc said. “I’ll represent real people with real problems.”

Stewart looked at Marc silently for several seconds before saying, “I’m sorry, Marc. I shouldn’t have said it like that.

“I was just thinking, back in my law school days, I wanted to do criminal defense. Maybe work for an anti-capital punishment firm. Do good for people. I lost that somewhere along the way.”

“Probably about the time you bought your first Mercedes,” Marc said then immediately regretted it.

Stewart laughed but agreed with him. “Could be,” he said. “Are you sure about this? Give us a couple days to…”

“To what, Stew. Offer me more money? I’m the low guy around here. More money and I’ll be expected to bill even more time to make up for it,” Marc said.

“Probably true. When?”

“Next week, Friday. You want two more weeks? I’ll do that,” Marc said.

“That would be helpful. We need to replace you. Your work and billables are outstanding. Damn, damn, damn,” Stewart said with frustration. “I hate to see you go. I, we, see good things in you.”

“Well, thank you, Stew. I appreciate that,” Marc said.