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A few heads turned at the nearby tables.Right. She was a long way from L.A., where public outbursts at trendy restaurants were practically on the menu.
Alanna refilled her wine glass from the quickly diminishing bottle. “What are my options?”
“As your lawyer, I’d advise you to take the payout. I know the situation is shit, but it’s good money.”
“No,” Alanna stated, then added, “Fuck no. How do I fight this?”
“Somehow I thought you were gonna say that,” Thomas grumbled. He sucked in a breath on the other end of the line. “Your partnership agreement is thorough. You can’t bring him to court. Your only option is arbitration, but you’ll need to convince the arbitrator you were wrongly terminated.”
“I WAS wrongly terminated!”
Again with the rubbernecking from the other tables. Alanna gave her neighbors a look that promised swift violence at the end of her stilettos, and their heads quickly turned away.
“Not in a legal sense,” Thomas told her. “The partners voted unanimously to dismiss you. They have that right. And just in case they need another justification, Chip will claim that by rejecting the Jordan Boon contract you were hurting the prospects of the company.”
“I was saving the company,” Alanna objected. “Boon’s a pervy albatross. He’ll taint any company stupid enough to represent him.”
“The arbitrator will say that’s a matter of opinion,” Thomas replied smoothly. She much preferred that smart mouth of his working its way down her body instead of shutting down her legal options with a vengeance.
After a pause, Thomas spoke with unusual earnestness. “Alanna, as much as I appreciate the idea of billing you an obscene hourly rate for tilting at windmills, you can’t win. Take the money. If you fight this, Chip can rescind your severance package. That’s too much money to burn on a pointless crusade. In fact, he’s probably counting on it. You’re playing into his hands.”
Alanna took a deep, deep, deeeeeeep breath and checked with her gut.
Yup, she still wanted to utterly destroy Chip Rupert the Third, ideally using a combination of murder hornets, flesh-eating ants, and that fish in the Amazon that swims up men’s dick holes.
“I wanna fight,” Alanna told her lawyer. “Throw everything you’ve got at Chip. I don’t care how much it costs. I’ll only be happy when he’s on the corner begging for chump change in a tattered Armani suit.”
“You’re feisty when you’re buzzed,” Thomas murmured on the other end of the line.
He wasn’t wrong, except for the fact that she was more than a little buzzed.
“I know your answer won’t change, but I’m going to email you everything we discussed, including my professional opinion that you should take the settlement and walk,” Thomas said.
Alanna took a long sip of wine, surprised to find her glass empty once again. “You gonna make me fight this all alone?”
“You gonna make it worth my while?” A playboy purr entered his voice.
“I don’t mix work and pleasure. Bill me your full rate.”
“You sure? I’m ridiculously expensive.” She could almost hear his eyebrows wagging over the phone.
“Not a problem.” Alanna refilled her glass.
“Fine, I’ll draw up a retainer agreement, but I’m not sending it out for signature until tomorrow morning when you’ve sobered up. After you sign, I’ll file a request for arbitration. But let’s be clear, Alanna. This is an utter Hail Mary throw and your quarterback is a 99-year-old grandma with diabetes, glaucoma, and, I don’t know, let’s say a serious case of gout, too. You need to be ready in the likelihood that—”
“Got it,” Alanna cut him off. She was going to win her case and save Fresh Perspective. She had to. There simply was no other option. No matter what Thomas said, as soon as the arbitrator heard her side of the story, they’d have to understand.
Thomas was speaking again, and Alanna refocused on his words.
“…If you need any consolation or want to work off your anger in a creative and mutually consensual way, I’m here for you.” His voice smoothed into a spice level of 10.
Alanna couldn’t help smiling. “Love to, but I’m in Yucca Hills.”
“Where?”
“Nowhere. That’s the point. I’ll let you know when I’m back in town.”
“You do that.” Was it possible to hear a wink over the phone? “Happy hangover!”
