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All things considered, it was nice having boundaries, and spending time with him was not as terrible as I anticipated. Maybe we would survive sharing just fine. I had known that already, though I shied away from going down that emotional path. I had known Andrew was fun, an easy confidante, and a good person. I had firmly believed that right up until the day he decided we were enemies. He’d showed me that day who really was: betrayer of friends, ruthless negotiator, and heartless kiss-ass.
I turned away from him and went to wash my hands before I could go down that road. I hated being reminded of my naïveté. Andrew knew how to play the game, had been born knowing how to play. And I had foolishly believed you could just be friends with someone who wanted what only one of you could have.
18
Margo
“Guess who lives in my building Cynthia? One guess.”
Cynthia munched on a carrot stick and considered me. “Gerald.” I giggled. Gerald lived in a deathtrap of an Upper East Side apartment, filled with a number of collectible dolls due to his wife’s obsession and three tiny dogs.
“Nope.” I slapped my hand down on the desk. “Andrew Markman”
Cynthia choked slightly on the bite of her burger. “Excuse me? Doesn’t he live in some hoity-toity Park Avenue building? Downtown Manhattan is for us mere mortals. Is he stalking you?” Her words came out in a strangled rush.
I was gratified by Cynthia’s surprise. “He might be.” I considered it. “I doubt it though. He’s way too self-obsessed to be a stalker. He probably jerks off to pictures of himself.”
Cynthia laughed at that. “Now that is NOT something I want to picture. Despite how gorgeous he is, that man gives me the creeps. I think it must be something about howtooperfect he is. That and the fact that I have never once found a typo in his precedent on the system.”
“Who’s the stalker now?” Cynthia loved to see what tidbits she could dig up on our firm’s document and email storage system. Once she had found emails from Ann talking shit about another partner to her husband.
“Actually it’s called due diligence and it’s billable.” Cynthia pointed at me with her carrot. I never understood why she wanted to eat a burger with carrot sticks, but she claimed carbs made her fall asleep under her desk.
“Sure, sure. Anyways, I’ve seen him around the building.” Just saying the word “our” in the context of Andrew felt strange.
“I would have loved to see your face!” Cynthia cackled. “Were you shocked?”
“Yes I was shocked! I didn’t expect my mortal enemy to live one floor below me. I don’t even know when he moved in. We have thin walls. What if he heard me talking to Mr. Magoo or dancing by myself? Just the thought of it makes me want to die.” I was thinking of all the weird things I did done when it was late and I was finally done with work. What if he heard my vibrator?
“That is mortifying.” Cynthia agreed. “How’s it going with him anyways? Ready to kill him yet?”
I opened my mouth to respond and then snapped it shut. This time last year, the answer would have been an emphaticyes. But now, I wasn’t so sure.
“I don’t think so. Perhaps Gerald and Ann’s dastardly plan is working.” I rolled my eyes but Cynthia looked serious. “He came over last night because his heat was broken. It wasn’t terrible.” Understatement of the year. He was hot as hell and pretty fun to hang out with.Only with you would arguing feel like foreplay.
I expected Cynthia to tease me but instead she said, “Good” and gave a short nod. “I think you need all the firepower you can get at this point. Don’t give them anything negative to point to when your name comes up in conversation.” She took a bite of her burger and chewed before continuing. “I heard billable hours are down this year and profits per partner will be lower too. They will be looking for any reason not to elevate you. Don’t give them one. I’m glad you’re getting along with him even though he sucks.”
I looked down at my burger so she couldn’t see the guilt on my face. The scorching kiss and Andrew’s games were enough to get me in trouble. Office fraternization between associates was not outright prohibited but definitely discouraged. And anything of the sortwasprohibited between partners and associates. If I hoped to make partner, it was time to start acting like one.
* * *
I spentthe afternoon working but half paying attention to Andrew. He was endlessly distracting. By the time 3 pm rolled around, I was tired but humming with awareness. I catalogued every shift of his back, every time he speared a hand through his glossy hair.
Every time his jaw flexed over a point in the docs and he made a careful note in the margins, my stomach clenched. I was so done for.We would be amazing together.His words and his hot eyes kept running through my mind. My world was slowly turning on its head and I was adrift.
Hating Andrew had been part of the fabric of my life, and now, with his genuine-sounding apologies and the undeniable lust I felt, I couldn’t hate him anymore. Too bad that other than his thumb on my lips, he was totally unaffected.
“Ready for this?”
I startled. Andrew’s brow was wrinkled and a puzzled smile teased his lips. I’d been caught spacing out. I reddened.
“Yep. Let’s do it.” I tried to sound more chipper than I felt. I scooped up my papers and let him open the door for me before we walked shoulder to shoulder down the hall. With a start I realized I had never done this with him. For the last seven years, I had always rushed to be one step ahead.
Gerald was already in the conference room when we arrived and greeted us warily. His sharp blue eyes watched us under busy white brows. If he was surprised by our cordiality to each other, he didn’t show it.
We jumped in to the materials. A typical deal would start with Gerald giving us any background he had on the client and their concerns, which would vary depending on if they were the purchaser or the seller. Here, we represented the purchaser. We started with a term sheet, which, in this case, had been completed by Gerald before the holiday. The primary document we produced would be the asset purchase agreement and the bulk of our initial deal work would be reviewing (or, more realistically, delegating review) of due diligence materials and then using the purchase agreement to cover any areas of weakness.
I knew both Andrew and I wanted the hold the pen on the purchase agreement. It was the most prestigious work, other than the actual negotiations with opposing counsel. I sneaked a glance at Andrew. His dark head was bent as he scrawled notes. His pen moved confidently across the paper he held in his lap. He wrote like he did everything, giving 110% and never doubting himself.
