“And how is work?”

“I won a pitch for a new case on Thursday.”

“That’s wonderful. Marjorie’s daughter was promoted to managing director. I was just telling Marjorie about your case last year when I got to watch you argue in court and win. That was so thrilling.”

“That’s impressive that her daughter is a MD.”

“A partner at a law firm is just as impressive.”

Butterflies churned in the pit of her stomach. Her mom didn’t mean to add to the pressure, but she did. “How’s your work going?”

“It’s great.” Her mom waxed on enthusiastically about the people she was meeting and the research she was doing. She couldn’t wait to introduce Audrey to her new friends. “But I think Benedict is trying to sideline me while I’m here.” Benedict was her department rival.

“How?”

“My teaching schedule for next year is a nightmare. He volunteered to do scheduling, and I think he planned it so I would have less time to write and publish.”

“Did you confront him?”

“Not directly. I asked him nicely to reschedule some of my classes.”

“What about alerting the department head? He wants you to publish, for the benefit of the department’s reputation.” Audrey leaned forward, her elbow on her dining room table, her head propped in her hand.

“He hates to be bothered with these details. I’ll try to get as much published this year as I can. As you know, you can only depend on yourself to get it done. So, how’s Eve?”

“Good. We have a new neighbor in the brownstone next to us.”

“I hope he’s a quiet one, not someone who’s going to throw a lot of parties and play music at all hours.”

Audrey swallowed her laugh. “He had a party his first night, but it was really fun.”

“You went to a party at his house already?” her mom asked.

“Eve and I were eating dinner at the balcony, and we were invited over.”

Her mom said, “I was worried you’d be working too hard. But it is only six months until the decision, so you need to focus on that. You’ll have the rest of your life to go to parties and travel.”