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She had cracked. But I was still holding out for a little longer.
“She’s amazing.”
“I know,” he responded.
3
FRANCISCO
I was running late,like usual. Thisnew normalthing that had happened naturally. My job had kept me busy, and in the past few years, I had been distancing myself from who my family was. That meant working hard to make a name for myself as a family law attorney, away from the spotlight of my father and his long political career.
“That’s what I’m saying,” the voice on the other end of the line said.
“So we are aligned then.” It was a question, but I made it sound like a statement. I needed to get going, but I was stuck in the office on the last working day of the year, my bags packed neatly by the front door of my apartment. It was quiet in the hallways at the firm. Only one of the partners was in, finishing up the last details of his work before our leave.
Our firm technically closed right beforeChristmas, giving associates a few extra days of vacation for the holidays. And then a month-long adjournment period started, where the courts rested and we did work, but at a different pace. This year, I would take the month off and disappear, hiding in a small mountain town and taking it easy. Make it easier on my mental health.
“Do you have any inkling who the judge might be?” I asked. I rubbed at my chest, trying to get rid of that heavy feeling lingering there constantly.
Someone on the call sucked in a breath and paused for a second, then said, “They have been favoring Black recently, but a clerk on her team told us she’s overloaded with cases. So we might get lucky and get Álvarez instead.”
“Shit,” I replied. Judge Black was ruthless in these divorce cases and usually favored the party that had originally filed since it tended to be women and after many years of discontent. We were representing a B-list actor, and the fight for custody of their children had gotten bad. “Álvarez isn’t any better, though.”
“No, but I think he’s more open to looking at some of the supporting documents we bring.”
“Alright, well…” I looked outside the window. The streets were busy with people and cars, all moving quickly in the heat of the summer. It had been stifling the previous week, but a big storm the night before had helped with the temperature. “Let’s talk in a few weeks and make sure the summer interns are briefed for discovery, please.”
“Okay,” someone else said. My team was already away,the bulk of them choosing to take the first few weeks of January off. There were three associates on call every month, and they would take over in case of any urgency or issue we had with our open cases. This call was the last one on my schedule, and I was counting down the minutes to close my laptop and then go meet Pilar for drinks.
“Okay, everyone, good work,” I said. My inner politician was coming out, despite me trying to control it. It was how I’d been raised—being able to talk to anyone and everyone about anything at all: the weather, the news, sports. Whatever. But now that I’d been separated from my family’s legacy for a while, I noticed that being personable and charming worked great to motivate my team. “Have a happy New Year. I’ll see you in a few weeks.”
“Bye, boss,” someone uttered, and then the line went dead.
I closed my laptop and shoved it in my backpack as I walked around my desk and started turning off the lights. This would be the last time I did this for the year, a new one starting soon. A new countdown to that dreaded date that kept me up at night.
“Francisco,” the partner that was in the office said, startling me out of my thoughts. I walked in the direction of his office right in the corner of the building, the floor to ceiling windows spanning two of the walls. He was leaning back in his chair, feet crossed at the ankles on his desk and hands linked behind his back.
“Jaime.” I nodded, standing at the doorway. All his lightswere off, but his computer screen was highlighting his features, if ever so slightly.
“Have a good break, man,” he said. “Don’t work too hard.”
He was one of the founding partners at the firm, and he had hired me after I decided to leave politics and switch over to family law. I had worked with my father’s campaign early on while in law school, and then immediately after graduating, I had transitioned to an aide position for one of his friends. But after a few years, I’d realized that politics was not for me, despite everything my father had ever tried to impress on me. This was a better fit for me.
“Never,” I said with a laugh. He had aged a significant amount since I’d met him maybe half a decade back. We’d had an abnormally large number of high-profile cases in the past two years, and that had taken a toll on a lot of the staff. Santiago Williams, one of my closest friends at the firm, had taken a leave of absence after a particularly nasty and media-driven case. He then had never returned to work, instead switching careers and staying in his hometown. “I’m going to Williams’s wedding in his town and staying for a few weeks. See what that mountain life is all about.”
Jaime chuckled and dropped his legs to the floor, moving his computer mouse a few times to wake it up. “Don’t get any ideas.”
I laughed in response, shaking my head at the older man. “Nah, I’m good.Feliz año. Send my regards to your wife.”
I walked a few blocks to the small, cozy bar close to the office. It was the second time I was seeing Pilar; I’d first met her at a colleague’s birthday party a few weeks back. The conversation was nice, and she asked to go out for drinks. To explore this. But I wasn’t feeling it, not really. My mind was occupied with thoughts of my sister, hoping that tucking myself away in the hills of Tres Fuegos would help me heal, even if a little.
Pilar
I’m here.
Where are you?
Sitting in the back by the window.
