Colette raised her hand and said, “I’d like to recommend Audrey Willems to head that. She’s a great mentor to younger associates.” Colette took a deep breath. “I’ve had the”—she searched for a word and then she bit it out—“privilege to work with her on the Hen litigation. She takes the time to develop their skills and to provide targeted, practical advice.”

Audrey was stunned, although Colette sounded like she was talking through a mouthful of nails. Winnie seconded the nomination. Mohan jumped in to say that Audrey had helped him with taking depositions, and he had learned much from her.

Michael turned to her. “Well, Audrey, we hope you’ll accept this nomination. Those are quite some testimonials.”

“Yes, of course, thank you,” Audrey said.

“I’d be happy to support Audrey in that endeavor,” Tim said. Audrey flashed him a grateful smile.

“And me as well,” Colette said.

“Great,” Michael said. “Lawrence Malaburn has offered to be the lead partner on this initiative.” Audrey made a choking sound. Malaburn again? How was that possible? The associates around her seemed to recoil in shock. What had she gotten herself into—or been volunteered for? She looked over at Colette. Is that why Colette recommended me?

But Colette looked horrified. She mouthed: Are they kidding?

“I presume there are other partners on the committee as well. We’d propose a confidential associate nominating process if those partners have not already been decided,” Audrey said, trying to save this.

“Good idea,” Michael said. “I’ll leave you and the others to work that out.” He moved onto the final business of the meeting.

As she left the meeting with Winnie, Audrey asked, “Do you think Colette set me up?”

“I couldn’t tell. She looked appropriately horrified. She also volunteered to help.”

“I thought that was because she didn’t want to be left out if both Tim and I were on this.”

Winnie laughed. “Yes, I thought the same thing.”

“I don’t think she did, but this is a nightmare assignment, especially now,” Audrey said. “So not only are they making fewer partners, but I have to work with Malaburn again. I just finished with him.”

And critically, it shows that the firm is not taking this mentoring initiative seriously. She loved mentoring; it was one of her favorite aspects of working at the firm. But putting Malaburn in charge was not a good sign.

Chapter Forty-Eight

Chapter Forty-Eight

Audrey rang the doorbell and then used her copy of Jake’s key to enter his apartment. Biscuit bounded over, licking and jumping on top of her. Nothing beat a dog greeting to cheer one up after a long hard day. Jake came out and kissed her. She clung to him for a moment. She could feel the soft fleece under her cheek and hear his heart beating.

“You look down. What happened?” he asked.