“I’m sorry to drop it on you, but just in case your mom had heard it or it came up, I didn’t want you to have a heart attack.”
“I’m having one now! Can you imagine if they broadcast all that cupid and ‘Fixie Chicks’ stuff all over the place?” Whitney couldn’t think straight. “How are we going to stop this from blowing up? I need to tell Dad about it before someone else does. Which station was it on?”
“The one with the crazy morning show.”
“Okay. Yeah.”
“It could be someone else’s story altogether, but that would be a big coincidence.”
“Like two people meeting in a divorce attorney’s lobby? Coincidences are happening all around us.”
“I know. I have an awful feeling about this, but I didn’t want you to get caught off guard. It’ll be fine. I’m on it.”
Olivia’s attempt at calming the situation was appreciated, but not very effective. “I’ve got to get back. Thanks for the heads up.”
When Whitney walked back in the room, everyone had finished dessert. Carina gave her a side glance. She definitely knew something was up. “I’m going to take my cake home. I’m so full of that lobster I can hardly breathe.”
“You don’t think that little cough is a shellfish allergy, do you? I’ve heard people sometimes get new allergies late in their thirties,” Mom said.
“I’m not that late into my thirties,” Whitney said. “I think I’m fine. It’s probably just the air in here.”
“You are right under the vent,” Carina said.
“Maybe it’s time to call it a night and get you back, Whitney.” Dad put his napkin on the table. “Well, this has been a lovely evening. Thank you for a nice birthday. I’ll announce the firm being a finalist for the award at an all-hands meeting tomorrow. This will just continue to prove we are the best firm around.”
Whitney’s stomach sank. Something as silly as the trending videos on social media could cause a problem with the voting and be a real black eye to the firm. The stuffed shirts who headed the commercial clients would love any reason to shut the divorce and family division down. Dad had forced them to let Whitney and Carina give it a shot in the first place, but he couldn’t protect them if they did anything that might negatively affect the commercial side or the firm’s reputation.
Those videos did not fit the brand. Not by a long shot.
After the limo dropped them back off at the office, Mom and Dad left for home, and William was talking Carina into a nightcap at the corner pub before going home.
“Come on. You’re my favorite girl,” he said to Carina. “I’ll twirl you on the dance floor.”
“See you tomorrow, Whitney,” Carina called over her shoulder.
They walked arm and arm down the sidewalk. She felt like a real third wheel tonight, and she didn’t like that. She waved them off and walked back home.
Once nestled on her couch at home, she checked her emails and noticed Olivia had forwarded what she’d found online about the upcoming television segment.
Whitney went to work, pulling the names from their database. The couples had all been clients of theirs, but some were so far apart that it was unlikely they ever had any contact in their office.
“Oh my gosh. We have better odds than online dating apps. What is goingon?”
Chapter
Thirteen
Whitney tossed and turned that night. She could try to blame the heavy meal for her restlessness, but it was the social media stuff. Now that it had grown into an even bigger deal, what if the story broke on the news before Dad’s big award ceremony?
He’d never forgive me.
Sure, it sounded innocent enough. It’s not like she was breaking a law, but cute and funny was not part of this law firm’s reputation. Their clients weren’t the romantic comedy type, and if there was one thing about lawyers and awards, it was that they got cutthroat about things. Even just a snide comment could cause a big stink at one of those events.
Finally, after watching the clock most of the night, Whitney kicked off the covers and got dressed for work. Tonight, she was going to Williamsburg with Matthew. Not getting a good night’s sleep was not exactly the recipe for being good company, and she hoped she caught a second wind.
Whitney couldn’t concentrate on anything but surfing the internet for viral video updates for the first thirty minutes shewas there. She’d even figured out a way to set up an alert in case her name popped up in the news, and that was probably a good thing to have anyway.
She forced herself to refocus and plowed through the folders stacked up on her desk, making a pretty significant dent in them by the time Olivia showed up.
