12
The first Tuesday in September, Lia was standing before the mirror in her bathroom, putting on the final touches of her makeup when Taylor stopped outside the door. “Mommy, I have a tummy ache.”
“You do?” She hadn’t mentioned her stomach bothering her when Lia set a waffle and milk in front of her ten minutes earlier.
Taylor nodded, her lips turning down as she put her small hand over her belly. “It hurts.”
Lia laid her hand over Taylor’s forehead. It felt normal. “Why don’t you go lie down while I finish getting ready? Maybe it will stop hurting before it’s time to go to the bus stop.”
Twenty minutes later, Lia found Taylor curled up on the couch under a comforter watching television, her uneaten food on the coffee table. “Your belly still hurts?”
“Uh huh.” Taylor didn’t look away from the cartoon on the television. “You better call Grandma.”
“You’re not pretending to be sick so you can stay home, are you?” It certainly wouldn’t be the first time.
“No, it hurts.”
“That’ll be Grandma,” Lia said when there was a knock on the door forty-five minutes later. She carefully lifted Taylor’s head from her lap and slipped off the couch. “I’ll be right back.”
“That was fast,” she began as she opened the door, stopping midsentence when she saw an unfamiliar man standing in the hall.
“Lia Merrick?”
“Yes.” She considered closing the door, but in khakis and a plaid shirt, he looked harmless.
He handed her a legal-sized envelope. “Have a nice day.” He turned and was down the stairs before she had time to react.
She stepped back into the apartment and closed and locked the door before her eyes went to the envelope in her hand. Blackman and Associates, it read in the left-hand corner: Ned’s law firm. She unsealed the top of the envelope and lifted out the document inside, her eyes moving to the top of the first page. Motion for Modification of Custody, it read.
“What?” It had to be a mistake, but as her eyes scanned the contents of the document, she realized with horror there was no mistake. Ned was seeking custody of Taylor. “Oh my God.” Her free hand, shaking now, moved to cover her mouth. This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening. He wouldn’t try to take Taylor. She ran to the family room and grabbed her phone from the coffee table.
“Where’s Grandma?” Taylor asked.
“She isn’t here yet.” She fled the room. After three failed attempts, she finally dialed Ned’s office number correctly and leaned back against the kitchen counter, one hand covering her eyes, the other holding the phone. “I need to speak to Ned Merrick,” she told the secretary.
“I’m sorry, he’s in a meeting. May I—”
“This is an emergency regarding his daughter,” Lia interrupted, not even recognizing the sound of her own voice. “Tell him it’s his ex-wife.” She could hear her heartbeat in her ears as she waited for him to come on the line. It took over five minutes.
“I guess you got the papers.”
“What are you doing? You can’t seriously plan on trying to take her from me.”
“Yes, I can. And I do.”
“Ned! This is ridiculous. I’m her mother!”
“And I’m her father. And I believe Candice and I—”
“Candice! Candice is not Taylor’s mother.”
“But I’m her father. And I believe we can provide her with a better home.” His voice was cool, controlled, and Lia wanted to reach through the phone and squeeze his neck.
“You son of a—”
“Mommy, who are you yelling at?” Taylor was at the doorway, her eyebrows pulled together in a frown.
“No one, sweetheart.” Her gaze shifted to an uncharacteristically pale Taylor. “Go back and lie down.” She forced herself to smile. “Everything’s fine.”
As soon as Taylor turned back towards the family room, Lia headed for her bedroom. “Are you still there?”
“Yes. What is she doing home from school?”
“None of your fucking business,” she bit out. “No judge in this state will take her from me and give her to the woman who broke up our home.”
“Lia, think about what’s best for Taylor. We have a house with a yard, and you—”
“Go to hell! I’m her mother, and you’re the reason we’re living in this apartment. You must really hate me, Ned.”
“This isn’t about you. This is about what’s best for Taylor.”
“That is such bullshit!” She could barely stomach another word from him. “How could you possibly believe she would be better off without me?”
“Candice is going to go to part time after the baby is born. Taylor won’t have to go to daycare anymore.”
“Daycare? She goes to my mother’s after school, not daycare.”
“Right, she has to go to your mom’s house. If we had her, she would come straight home after school and play with her friends.”
“Straight home to Candice?” God, she hated him. “She isn’t anything to Taylor. She’s a whore who had an affair with her father.” She’d lost her temper, but she no longer cared. “You’ll never get her from me. You’re a bastard, Ned.” She ended the call and threw the phone across the room, bouncing it off the wall.
“Lia?” Elaine’s voice preceded a light knock on the door. “Lia, are you okay in there?”
“No!” She opened the door, her eyes immediately falling to Taylor. “Taylor, you’re sick. You should be lying down.” She was amazed at how normal she could sound when she felt like her whole world was disintegrating.
“But what was that noise?”
“Nothing. I dropped the phone and it hit the wall. Now please go lie back down.” Lia’s panic-filled eyes found her mother’s. “This came.” She held up the legal document, her hand noticeably shaking.
“You have to call Joseph,” Elaine said, looking up from the papers moments later, tears in her eyes. “You have to call him right away.”
“Mom?” Fear gripped her chest at the worried expression on her mother’s face. “They would never give her to them,” she whispered. “Would they?”
“Just call Joseph. He’ll know what to do.”
“Oh my God.” Lia covered her mouth. “You think he could get her.”
“No, I never said that, but you need to call Joseph.”
Lia nodded and picked her cell phone off the carpet, thankful it wasn’t damaged. “I’ll call him.” She was numb. She felt like she was in the middle of a nightmare and any second she’d awaken. She called his cell, but it went right to voicemail. “I need his office number.” She never called him at work. He called her during the day occasionally, but usually they spoke in the evening.
“Where is it?” Elaine asked.
“In my purse.” Her eyes frantically searched the bedroom, having a hard time concentrating. “It must be in the kitchen.”
“I’ll get it,” Elaine said, holding up her hands. “Just wait here.” Within seconds she was back, the purse in hand. Lia was sitting on the edge of her bed with her head between her knees.
“I feel like I’m going to be sick.” Lia had broken out into a cold sweat. “I can’t believe he would do this to me.”
“Where’s the number?” Elaine asked as she dug through her purse.
“In my wallet.” Lia took the wallet from her purse, fumbling with it until she had his card in her hand. “Here.” She picked up her phone and attempted to push the numbers to his office, but she couldn’t seem to concentrate long enough to push the ten numbers into the phone correctly.
After her fourth unsuccessful attempt, Elaine took the card and phone and quickly punched in the number. “Here.” She held out the phone to Lia.
“Prossi, Stuart and Craig. Mr. Craig’s office,” a crisp female voice said.
“This is Lia Merrick. I need to speak to Mr. Craig.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Craig isn’t available right now.”
“When will he be available? I need to speak to him. This is an emergency.”
“I’m sorry, what is your name?”
“Lia Merrick.”
“Are you a client?” came the cool reply.
“No. Yes.” Lia shook her head. “I was, but now I’m just a friend, but I have a legal matter I need to discuss with him. It’s urgent,” she rushed out.
“He’ll have to call you back. He’s in a meeting and he can’t be disturbed.”
He was there, and she wasn’t putting him on the phone. “Please—just tell him it’s Lia Merrick. I know he’ll take my call.”
“Why don’t you give me your number, and I’ll have him call you back this afternoon?”
This afternoon! She couldn’t possibly wait that long. “I need to talk to him now!”
“I’ll tell you what. Give me your number and I’ll try to get the message to him.”
“O-okay. Thank you.” Lia quickly recited her number and ended the call. “He’s in a meeting,” she said to her mother. “She said she’d get him my message. He should call me right back.”
She’d been dating him close to five months and, although they started out slow, only seeing each other twice a week, in the past two months she had started spending the entire weekend with him when Taylor was with Ned. Even on the weekends Taylor was home, it was rare for her not to see him both Saturday and Sunday. The Zurtech case seemed to have been permanently shelved because of a lack of evidence, but Lia rarely thought of her time there anymore. The irony that she would never have met Joseph if not for Zurtech hadn’t escaped her.
She waited by the phone for fifteen minutes before once again calling his office. “Prossi, Stuart and Craig. Mr. Craig’s Office.”
“This is Lia Merrick again. Did you give Mr. Craig my message?”
There was a short pause. “I haven’t had an opportunity yet, but—”
“This is an urgent matter! I’ll stay on the line until you give him my message.”
“He is in a meeting with another client. As soon as he comes out for a break, I will give him your message.”
“If you don’t put him on the phone right now, I’m coming down there!”
“I’m sorry, but,” his secretary began, apparently unperturbed by the threat, “I’ve been instructed not to disturb him. But I will deliver your message as soon as he takes a break.”
“Thanks for your help,” Lia bit out sarcastically before ending the call.
“I’m going to his office,” she announced a moment later from the doorway to the family room, where her mother was sitting on the couch next to a sleeping Taylor.
“He called back? I didn’t hear the telephone.”
“No. He’s in a meeting and she won’t disturb him, so I’m just going to go.”
“I’m not sure if that’s such a good idea.” Elaine met Lia at the door and followed her to the foyer. “I think you’re too upset to drive.”
“Mom, I’m fine.” Lia slipped on her raincoat. “I have to talk to him.”
An hour later, Lia was stepping off the elevator into the law offices of Prossi, Stuart and Craig, her purse in one hand and the yellow envelope from Ned’s office in the other.
“May I help you?” A young, very attractive receptionist looked up from the mail she was sorting.
“No, thank you. I know where I’m going.” Lia continued to walk through the lobby and then down the hall she knew led to Joseph’s office.
“Excuse me.” The girl came up beside her. “You can’t come back here. I need to announce you.”
“That’s okay. I’ll announce myself.” She didn’t bother to look at the girl as she continued to Joseph’s office. As she came to a stop in front of his secretary’s desk, the receptionist was still on her heels. “I’m Lia Merrick. I need to see Mr. Craig.” Her eyes were directed at the heavyset woman sitting behind the desk outside of what she knew to be his office.
“I’m sorry, Martha,” the receptionist said. “I tried to stop her.”
“It’s okay.” Martha rose from her chair, her eyes not leaving Lia’s. “I’ll take care of it.” She waited until the receptionist left before continuing. “Ms. Merrick, I explained to you on the phone Mr. Craig is in a meeting and cannot be disturbed.”
“And I explained to you it is urgent I speak with him!” Lia could feel herself becoming more agitated. “I received some legal papers today,” she began, holding up the yellow envelope, “that I need to discuss with him.”
“I understand, but it’s going to have to wait because Mr. Craig is discussing another urgent matter with another client right now.”
“Well it’s not as urgent as mine!” Lia’s voice broke. “My ex-husband is trying to take my daughter from me.”
Tony frowned and met Kevin Stuart’s eyes across the conference table. They were in a preliminary meeting with a potentially huge client—one of the country’s largest automobile manufacturers—and Joseph was talking, outlining the approach they’d take to defend them against a class action suit brought on by two dozen clients who suffered injury due to faulty brakes on one of their models.
“Why don’t we take a short break to stretch our legs?” Kevin suggested when Joseph paused to look down at his notes.
Joseph’s eyes moved from his notes to his watch. It was 11:00 a.m. They’d been meeting for an hour and a half and they’d be breaking for lunch in thirty minutes. His eyes shifted to Tony, who was already out of his chair and headed for the door, Kevin on his heels. He frowned, confusion evident on his face, and then he caught a glimpse of her as Kevin shut the door. It was Lia, noticeably upset in his lobby.
“What’s going on out here?” Tony’s eyes swung from Martha to Lia as he came out of the conference room, followed by Kevin.
“I’m trying to explain that Mr. Craig isn’t available right now.”
“I need to speak to him,” Lia said, her voice breaking as she met Tony’s eyes.
“Look, you’re going to have to calm down and lower your voice,” Tony said through clenched teeth. “This isn’t a Goddamn bar. This is a law firm.”
The door behind them banged open and Joseph practically flew to Lia’s side. “What happened? What’s the matter?”
“Joseph! You have to help me,” she cried as she gripped the lapels of his suit jacket. “Ne-Ned is…tr-tr-trying to get Taylor.”
“What?” He frowned. “Baby, you’re going to have to slow down.”
“Why don’t you take her into your office?” Kevin patted Joseph’s back.
Joseph’s eyes remained locked with Lia’s as he gently gripped her upper arms and propelled her slowly backwards until they were in the privacy of his office, his foot kicking the door closed. “Take a deep breath and tell me what’s going on.”
“Ned wants custody of Taylor.”
“He wants custody?” Joseph brought his eyebrows together. “He wants full custody of Taylor?”
“Yes,” she whispered, the tears once again falling from her eyes. “The papers were couriered over today.” She lifted the yellow envelope.
“He’s not taking her from you.” He moved his hands to each side of her face. “Do you hear me? He’s not taking her from you.”
“I’m so scared,” she whispered, tears continuing to fall from her eyes.
“There’s nothing to be scared of,” he said deeply, his brown eyes intense. “I’m serious, Lia.” He moved his thumbs along her cheeks, wiping at the tears. “I would never let that happen.”
“But I don’t have any money. And he has an entire law firm at—”
“You have me, and I have a lot more at my disposal than he does. Do you understand?” He continued to hold her face, his eyes looking in to hers.
“Yes.” She nodded, biting on her lip. “Yes.”
“Now, let me see those papers.”
“I don’t get it.” Kevin dragged his hands down his face. “He wasn’t part of that meeting. How does he even know her?”
“What are you talking about?” Tony paused with a coffee mug at his mouth. They were standing outside Joseph’s office, waiting for him to come out so they could continue the meeting.
“The woman in there with Joseph is Lia Merrick. She was one of the plaintiffs in the sexual harassment case against Zurtech we didn’t take last year.”
Tony shrugged. “He must have met her while she was here, because we ran into her this spring at a restaurant in Fairfax, and he definitely knows her.”
Kevin sighed. “Only Joseph.”
“We’ve got to get back in there,” Tony said, glancing at his watch. It was 11:10 a.m.
“You go ahead. I’ll get Joseph.”
Joseph looked up from the papers when he heard the knock on the door “I’ll be right back.” He touched Lia’s knee before standing and crossing to the door. “You’re going to have to go on without me,” he said as soon as he pulled open the door and saw Kevin.
“What?” Kevin laughed. “This is your meeting, your case. What do you mean, ‘go on without you’?”
Joseph glanced at his watch. “You’re going to break for lunch in twenty minutes. The two of you can handle it. I’ll rejoin the meeting after lunch.”
“They chose this law firm because they want you. You can’t skip out on lunch.”
“I’m not done here. And I’m not going to abandon her.”
“Then don’t,” Kevin said. “I’ll get one of the associates to talk to her.”
“No. She’s upset. I’m not leaving her. Tony was in here all day with me yesterday preparing. He can handle this for two hours.”
“This account could be the biggest thing you bring in all year. You couldn’t possibly want to jeopardize that for her.” His voice was low but intense.
“She needs me right now. Tony can handle this.” Joseph continued to meet Kevin’s eyes.
“Get your head out of your Goddamn pants for a minute,” Kevin snarled. “This account is way too valuable to mess with. You can’t do this.”
“Watch me.” Joseph stepped back from the door and slammed it in Kevin’s face.
Kevin stared at the closed door for several seconds. “Fuck!” He turned to Martha. “How long has this been going on?” He threw his thumb towards Joseph’s closed door.
“I didn’t connect the name to the Zurtech case when she called, but I knew the name sounded familiar, so I looked back through his appointment books and then I remembered that he asked me to set up a meeting with the two plaintiffs from that case last December.”
“What?” Kevin walked closer to her desk. “He met with Lia Merrick about the Zurtech case?”
“I don’t know. It’s all a vague memory now. But I specifically remember setting up the appointments, and that’s the last I ever heard of it. As far as I know, he hasn’t met with them since.” She threw her hands up in the air. “They may have called. I’ve been searching my brain, but I really don’t recall. I’m sorry.”
“Well?” Lia asked when Joseph removed his glasses and looked up from the document. “Is it bad?”
“No.”
She sunk back into the couch, relief surging through her. “So what happens now?”
“The two of you will go before a judge and argue the case.” He stood and crossed to his desk, pushing the intercom on the phone. “Martha, are you out there?”
“Yes.”
“Would you see if you can get John Bianchi on the line for me?” Moments later, he was rejoining Lia, running his arm along the couch behind her. “John Bianchi is a good friend of mine and the best family-law attorney in the city. He’ll take good care of you.”
“But I want you.” Lia could feel her anxiety returning. “I want you to be my lawyer.”
He took her hand. “I’m a trial attorney. I don’t handle divorce and child custody. John is the best. He’ll do a much better job than I ever could.”
“But I trust you.” Her eyes pleaded with him to understand. “I don’t want to go through this with someone else.”
“I’ll be there every step of the way. I won’t leave you. I just want to make sure you win. And believe me, Lia. John always wins.”
“Mr. Craig?” Martha’s voice came over the intercom. “Mr. Bianchi is on line one.”
Joseph looked up from his computer when there was a knock on his office door hours later. “Come in.”
“We need to talk.” Kevin, followed by Tony, entered his office.
“If this is about earlier today, I don’t want to talk about it. We got the case, so obviously there was no harm done.”
“How do you know Lia Merrick?”
“How do I know Lia Merrick?” Joseph’s eyes met Kevin’s. “I met her when she was here for the Zurtech case.”
“I don’t see how. Wasn’t that the same day you and Tony were at that conference in Philadelphia?”
“Well, I met her.” Joseph’s gaze moved to Tony. “What is this?”
“We’re just trying to figure out what’s going on. Martha said you told her to call them in to meet with you.”
“Martha said, huh?” He gnawed on his lower lip. “Why were you discussing me with my secretary?”
“It was Kevin, actually.”
“Why don’t you just answer the question, Joseph?” Kevin asked.
“Because it’s none of your business.” He leaned back in his chair. “And I take offense to the fact that you’re checking up on me behind my back.”
“We wouldn’t have to if you didn’t do things behind our backs. Why did you meet with them on a weekend when you knew no one would be in the office?”
Joseph stared back at him, no expression on his face. “I was curious about them, so I called them in to tell them we weren’t taking their case.”
“Just so you could see them?” Kevin asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.
“Yeah, just so I could see them. Is there anything else?”
“Joseph, come on.” Tony leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. “You have to admit your behavior was a bit out of character today.”
“I don’t have to admit anything. I had a friend who needed me, and it obviously had no effect on the outcome of today’s meeting.”
“But it could have,” Kevin pointed out, “and you put the needs of your girlfriend before the needs of this firm.”
“Fuck you, Kevin. I skipped out on lunch—big deal.” He narrowed his eyes. “Why are you making such a huge deal about this? We got the case.”
“That’s not the point! First you meet with these women on your own, without telling anyone,” he began, grabbing one of his fingers, “and then you walk out of a meeting when you’re in the middle of a presentation,” he finished, grasping a second finger. “That’s not how you act in a partnership.”
“You know, Kevin,” Joseph began, leaning forward in his chair and placing his hands flat on his desk, “maybe if you spent more time cultivating clients of your own and less time worrying about me, you could bring in seventy-five percent of the money I do for this firm.”
“Fuck you!”
Joseph’s gaze swung to Tony. “Get him the fuck out of here. I have work to do.” He turned back to his computer and began pressing keys.
Thirty minutes later, there was a knock on Tony’s office door. “Come in.”
The door opened and Martha, her face red and lips turned down, walked into the office. “I was just fired. Mr. Craig just fired me.”
“What?” Tony came to his feet.
She swallowed before continuing. “He didn’t like that I discussed his meeting schedule with Mr. Stuart.”
“I’ll talk to him.”
“No.” She shook her head. “He told me as of today, I’m no longer needed. He said he didn’t trust me anymore and that he couldn’t have a secretary he couldn’t trust. I’d forgotten, but when he told me to make those appointments with the Zurtech plaintiffs, he’d specifically told me not to mention them to anyone.” Her hands were clasped tightly before her as she twisted them together. “He was very angry.”
“You haven’t lost your job, Martha.” Tony slipped his arm around her and rubbed her back. “You’re a valued secretary at this firm and I, for one, do not want to lose you.”
“I’ve been with this firm since the beginning, and I don’t fancy looking for another job.”
“Well, you don’t have to. We’ll find another position for you.”
“I can’t believe he would do this to me,” Lia said later that evening. She’d carried a sleeping Taylor, who seemed to be a degree better, to her bedroom and was now seated across the table from her mother in her small kitchen, pushing a piece of chicken around on her plate. “I mean, why couldn’t he have called? He was planning this for who knows how long, and he never said a word.”
She’d been obsessing over it all day, unable to understand how a man who at one time claimed to love her more than anything else in the world could, in the matter of two years, leave her for another woman, marry that other woman and now try to take her little girl. It was inconceivable to her, and she couldn’t seem to keep herself from trying to understand.
“I don’t think he’s doing it to you, Lia,” Elaine said. “He isn’t giving any thought to you or your feelings.”
“I know, and that’s what I can’t understand. I can’t eat.” She pushed her plate to the center of the table. “I don’t know why I even tried.”
“Lia, eat. You’re too skinny.” Elaine frowned. “You shouldn’t let him upset you so much.”
“Mother, please! How can I not be upset when he’s trying to take Taylor away?” She dropped her face into her hands. “I can’t believe this is happening. What is he thinking? He’s known me since I was nineteen years old. How can he do this?”
“How can he do this? This is the same man who cheated on you with another woman for six months and then left you for that woman. He isn’t someone with a high moral character, and this is more evidence to that fact.”
“But I don’t understand why he didn’t discuss it with me.”
“You have to stop expecting him to act like someone who has respect for you. I doubt he respects anyone. He’s selfish and self-centered, and what he did today is consistent with those qualities, not the qualities you seem to want to give him.”