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“What?”
“I can’t pay.”
Be
“No, I mean, I can’t pay you.” Ray squared his narrow shoulders. “What I owe you. Your fee.”
Be
“No, I can’t. I feel terrible about this, but I can’t pay you. I don’t have the money.”
“Of course you do.” Be
“Not really. I borrowed the money to pay you last quarter, and I thought I could pay you this quarter because my two biggest clients were going to pay me. But last month they told me they can’t, since their customers didn’t pay them.” Ray ran a tongue tip over dry lips. “They’re both filing for Chapter Eleven. In fact, I’m about to file myself.”
“You’re filing for bankruptcy?”
“Yes.”
Be
“It is.”
“But you’re an accountant, for God’s sake! I mean, how could this happen?”
“I’m a good accountant, a good businessman. But with this recession, it’s like a domino effect.”
“Ray, I’m counting on this fee!” Be
“I can’t pay you, Be
“You can pay some, can’t you?”
“Not a pe
“How about you pay in installments?” Be
“No. My company is your client, not me. This is a corporate debt, and I can’t make side deals.” Ray shook his head. “When I put it into bankruptcy, you’ll have to get in line.”
“Am I first, at least?”
“Frankly, you’re not even the first lawyer. My business lawyers take before you, and my tax guys.”
“But what about the experts we hired, for the trial? You have to pay them. I promised you’d pay them. I’m not allowed to, even if I had the money.”
“Sorry.”
Be
On autopilot, Be
But she was talking more to herself than to him.
2
Friday morning, Be
“Open up!” A
“No, I have to get ready for the meeting,” Be
“Lemme see.” A
“What, the sausage-in-natural-casing look?” Be
“Thank God I had them. The ones you had were way thick.” A
“But the tube socks are a deal.”
“I hope you’re kidding. Those pantyhose you have on, they’re from Nordstrom’s.” A
“Don’t say ‘suck’ in the office,” Be
“You say ‘suck.’”
“Not anymore. I’m on a curse diet.”
“’Suck’ is not a curse.”
“Shh.” Be
“Of course. Wear them. You want the new client to think you’re a loser?”
“I’m not a loser,” Be
“But look at the ones I gave you. The color is perfect.”
Be
“Of course they do. They’re ‘nude.’”
“Nude isn’t a color, it’s a misdemeanor.”
“Nude is the new nude.”
“Oh, please.” Sometimes Be
“Everybody but you.” A
Just then laughter came from the open door, where the other young associates, Mary DiNunzio and Judy Carrier, had materialized. At least Be
“Carrier, you dyed your hair!” she said, instead of the profane alternative she favored. It was hard not to curse at work. Maybe she could just cut down. Did they have a patch or something? “What possessed you? You’re a lawyer!”