She didn’t turn around. She sat up straighter. “I was on four busy cases that year, three of them yours. More than any other litigation associate. And I hadn’t had a day off in months.”

“That can happen as a partner.” He was still behind her. Like a voice of doom.

“I’m prepared for that,” Audrey said. She still didn’t turn around.

He walked back to his desk. Apparently, he didn’t like looking at the back of her head. Point for her.

Malaburn shrugged. “It’s a matter of emotional stability.” He smiled thinly.

Audrey gasped. He was deliberately trying to provoke her. He was the one who seemed unstable. She could feel her skin flushing on her face and neck. She counted to three in her head and thought of the yoga teacher’s chant. Let it wash over you. “I can handle a demanding workload, as I’ve done during my career here. Even that fall, I was still on three cases.” Her voice wavered. She stood. “Let me know what you decide about my proposed argument. I’ve got to run to another meeting.”

“We need more research on your two last points. They’re not compelling. I’ll expect a revised brief Wednesday,” Malaburn said.

“You’ll have it.”

“And take out that risky argument,” he said.

And he was criticizing her for not being aggressive.

She escaped from his office to the bathroom, where she washed her face with cold water to lessen the redness. She’d change the ending of the letter. That was easy enough. And not let his digs get to her. That was harder. He was just striking out at her—trying to throw her. He wanted a reason to say no to her bid for partner. She wasn’t going to give him one. She straightened her shoulders in the mirror and took a deep breath. It was time to be “on” again.

She rushed to her first meeting with Colette and the rest of the team. Hunter had asked Audrey to run this first meeting to give Colette time to catch up, although Colette should feel free to interject her own thoughts. Audrey feared that “interjection.”

Winnie and three other junior associates were gathered around the long cherry wood conference table. Colette was leaning back in her chair, arms crossed. In-house counsel from Hen Bank, Genevieve, had also joined them. Genevieve looked all-business as she leaned forward, notepad on the table, pen in hand, her curly black hair pulled back by a barrette, but her stylish violet glasses made Audrey think that she’d be fun to befriend. Audrey wished that Genevieve wasn’t there to witness her first joint meeting with Colette; she had no idea how Colette was going to act.

Audrey launched into a discussion of the case.