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“Absolutely never. This is a conflation of the truth. These emails aren’t me asking for permission to work with Ms. Monroe. I was telling him to stay out of my business. Do you know who Billie Monroe is?”
“No,” they replied.
“She was the famous D.C. madam they tried to nail on tax evasion a few years ago, but it didn’t stick because she’s too smart. Her girls never offer anything beyond companionship, and she has several high-end lawyers in her pocket. But she’s an expert on meeting people’s needs, and I hired her as a consultant.”
“Wow,” Hailey said, genuinely surprised.
“Thank you. Not bad for an unsuspecting housewife whose husband ignored her. About six months ago, Billie told me there was a conflict of interest because my husband was trying to solicit her services. She asked me to get him to stop bothering her.”
“Those emails were my first attempt to let him know I was aware of his extramarital activities. He wasn’t embarrassed, only pissed that I’d ruined his ability to hire the most sought-after service in town.”
Finn was reading through the emails, and his head popped up. “She’s right, but why would they claim it was more? This exchange proves nothing.”
“Perception can be anything you tell a person. It doesn’t have to be true and the people don’t even have to really believe it. Once it’s out there, it’s real. Mr. Tovar has been telling the press for weeks this is his business. We’re missing something. They must have needed more time for something,” Hailey said.
“It must be why Smith was snooping around our offices and was in court today,” Finn said.
Hailey began to pace. “Mrs. Tovar, when we first met, you said you weren’t going to let your husband get credit for your inventions and take your company. So you filed for divorce, and he countered with a lawsuit for Pleasure Inc.” They hadn’t even discussed her patents for her very lucrative business.
“Correct.” Mrs. Tovar stood and began to pace making it clear she was uneasy with the fact that her two high-paid lawyers still didn’t know what her ex was up to.
“Forgive me, but the sex toy industry seems to have been pretty well covered. What invention is left?”
Mrs. Tovar smirked. “Well, you are partially right, but something that came up a lot in my market research was the concept of an AI feature. A toy that could read a woman’s physical needs and react with a pleasurable response to her body.”
“You invented a smart sex toy?” Finn asked, impressed.
“Billie and I did, but she was worried my ex would try to insert himself in this.”
“Did you get the patent already?” Hailey asked.
“We filed it the day I filed for divorce.”
“Well done,” Hailey said.
“I bet they thought it was in the personal items they seized in her office, and assumed they overlooked it,” Finn said. “We need to make sure your partner won’t get cold feet or be intimidated by Mr. Tovar and his lawyers.”
“Oh, she won’t, but she’ll probably play with them for a bit before she tells them to piss off. That woman really does enjoy screwing with men.”
“Good, then we’re ready for court tomorrow—they expected us to have this wrapped up today,” Finn said.
*
The next dayin court, the judge had enough of Mr. Tovar’s stall tactics. Haily and Finn had Ms. Monroe appear in court to testify she and Mrs. Tovar were business partners and Mr. Tovar had no place in their work. The judge ruled in Mrs. Tovar’s favor on all counts. The divorce was granted, primary custody was granted to Mrs. Tovar, and the judge found no evidence that Pleasure Inc was funded at all by Mr. Tovar. Mrs. Tovar was vindicated, and Hailey and Finn had won.
Back at the office, they found out Smith had already quit and cleared out his desk.
Now all that remained was for the partners to select their new junior partner. Suddenly, Hailey wasn’t ready to know, because either way, it meant things with Finn would have to end. But at the same time, this was what she had been waiting for, and she needed to know if all those years of hard work were going to pay off.
“So how are you two going to celebrate this win?” Mr. Baxter asked as they sat next to each other at the conference room table in the partners’ suite.
“Actually, I was thinking of taking a few days off,” Finn said. “I have a lead on the other case I’ve been working on, and it requires a little road trip.”
Mr. Baxter nodded.
“I think that is a fantastic idea. Why don’t you both take a few days off? Hailey, I don’t think you’ve taken a single day of leave in the four years you’ve worked here,” Mrs. Stewart said.
“Done, we don’t want to see either of you in the office until Friday. In the meantime, the managing partners will deliberate on our decision for this year’s junior partner,” Baxter said and stood to end the meeting.
