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CHAPTER 1 Wednesday "Andy, for crying out loud, we need to talk about this. I haven't bought any clothes other than pantyhose in the last year and a half since you demanded that we cut back. My panties are falling off of me because there's nothing left of the waist-band, I'm wearing a skirt and blouse that are years out of style, the arches in my shoes are killing me and, if it weren't for the fact that Karen wears her school uniform or sweats all the time, she'd be a laughing stock. I need more money to keep this house and family afloat." Maureen was seething. She was going out for her monthly get together with her sister-in-law, Jenny, and her best friend from college, and ever since, Hillary. First, Andy announced that he had a meeting to go to, so Maureen was going to have pick up Karen after her basketball practice at the high school, then, everything she pulled out of the closet was too big for her. Her diet had been paying off, but her clothes were all getting very loose on her. She felt that she looked dumpy. Now, already running late, she had to pick up Karen and have Karen drop her off at the restaurant. Then, Karen would have to run the errands that Maureen expected Andy to run and come back to the restaurant to pick up Maureen later. This was all becoming too complicated! It was just supposed to be a simple night - one goddamned night a month - to relax at the restaurant and chat. She was already so angry that the night was nearly ruined. "Oh, my God, is that a new cashmere sweater!?" She nearly yelled as Andrew pulled a pale blue cable knit over his head and settled it on his slim, swimmer's body. "Yes, it is," Andrew said casually, "but, Mo, you know that I get a clothing allowance from the firm. Don't get mad at me just because I manage my money better than you do." Oh, how she hated it when he got smug. "Andrew Green, that sweater had to cost $300. I haven't had $300 to spend on clothing in ages!" Andrew gave a heavy sigh. His patience with this conversation was dwindling. "Look, Mo, we discussed this. If we want to save for a vacation home in the Virgin Islands, then we need to save as much as possible. If we increase the the household allowance, then that will just set us back to buy the vacation home." "How can we possibly NOT have the money to put down a deposit!? You make nearly a million dollars a year, for crying out loud! Why do we have cash flow problems, Andy!? We should be in great shape, financially." "We SHOULD, but we're not. We bought this house at a bad time and we paid well above market value. We have huge tax, water and electric bills every month. My career is stalled, in no small part because your friend, Hillary took a job that was rightly mine, and you don't work. I need to buy that house in order to network appropriately, so our belts need to stay tightened." "I DON'T work because you insisted that I quit when Karen was born. I wanted to get a nanny. I WANT to go back to work, now, but you won't hear of it! Remember, Andy, I graduated second in our class - Hillary graduated first - and I passed the Bar a year before you did. I was a good lawyer and Hillary still is. She probably earned that promotion. Don't blame every problem you have on someone else! I hate it when you do that." "Ok! Fine! It's all my fault, alright, but facts are facts and we need to stay on our budget for now and I am the only one bringing home a paycheck, so..." "Don't say it, don't you DARE say it!" "...if you aren't making it, you've got no say in it." "Andy! How can you stand there..." They were interrupted by the sound of Andrew's ringtone. He held up his hand and pushed the 'answer' button, cleared his voice and said, "Go for Andrew," and he walked out of the door, leaving Maureen angry and unsatisfied. She could hear him as he descended the steps, "Yes, I have all the paperwork ready for you and I should be at your place within the hour... No, sir, their figures were correct and I think you could make a substantial amount of money from this deal. There's a nice umbrella clause built into it that..." The front door closed and he was gone. 'Damn him," Maureen muttered. Up until a year and a half ago, Andrew had been a good, if sometimes distant, husband. They laughed and enjoyed each other's company. Then, when Hillary took over his division of the law firm, he changed - and not for the better. First, he became moody and sullen. Then, he hatched this plan to by a house in the Virgin Islands. They had vacationed there many times and they had money. Why not? But now it felt like he was obsessed with buying a mansion out there. This could destroy them financially and he could not be dissuaded. She'd tried to get him to a therapist, but he wouldn't listen. She still loved Andrew and wanted to stay married to him, but she had a sense of dread and, over the last two weeks it had become evident that, unless he could see how his attitude was destroying their family, a divorce was looming. She wanted to cry, but she was just too angry to do anything other than to finish dressing and head to the high school to pick up Karen. Andrew gave the door to his six week old BMW a good, solid pull and it closed with a satisfying 'clunk.' Things like that, a nice, high quality clunk, made life worth living. He worked hard, after all, so, he deserved the best. He pushed the button to open the automatic garage door opener, started the car and, as his XM radio started playing selections from his Springsteen station, he let out a big sigh. 'Don't let her get to you,' he chanted a few times, before pulling out into the driveway and headed out onto the street. He knew that he was being a little mean, but he had plans and those plans had to be the main focus of his life, right now. If Maureen couldn't understand that, well, that was her problem, right? 'Andy, I need this. Andy, I need that!' Geez, how much did she need to be happy? And why did she insist on calling him 'Andy?' She knew he hated that infantile name. Only Maureen and his sister Jennifer continued to call him 'Andy.' Damned women. Traffic wasn't horrible for 6:00pm and before long he saw his destination up ahead, a sports bar that served great wings. This should only take a few minutes, then he could have a couple of beers, maybe watch a few minutes of the game and head home for a few hours of peace and quiet before the women returned. He'd gotten a new first-person- shooter video game. Tonight, he could sit in front of the 77 inch TV, have a few beers and get through a few levels. If Maureen had had her way, he'd be stuck dragging Karen all around the downtown area to deal with errands. "I work, for crying out loud. She's home all day doing nothing. She can deal with that crap," he muttered as he pulled into a space, grabbed his portfolio and hustled up the steps to meet his client. Five minutes later, the papers were signed and a waitress in a cropped shirt and short-shorts approached his table. "How you doing, sweetheart? What can I get you?" He gave her his most lascivious smile and said, "How YOU doing?" Five more minutes and he was settling in for a glass of beer, a big pile of Buffalo wings and watching a few minutes of the game and salivating at the sight of the waitress's tight rear end as she walked away. ---- Jenny and Hillary were seated a table near the huge window that overlooked the city, thirty stories below. It was a great view and a great restaurant. "Should I just order an appletini for Mo? It's what she always has to start the evening?" Jenny asked as she perused the menu. "Why not? One of us will drink it, anyway," Hillary laughed. "Her text said she'd be here by 6:45. It's nearly 7:00, now, so she should be right along." She smiled up at the young waitress. "I'll have a vodka martini, please." "And I'll have a glass of the house white wine and we'll get an appletini for our friend who is on her way," Jenny said as she handed the drinks list back to the waitress. "So," Jenny turned to Hillary to start off the evening's conversation, "how's Walter and Bethany? Everyone well?" Hillary grabbed her phone to call up a few pictures. "They're fine. Here's a photo from last week. Wally took Beth to high-tea at a hotel in midtown." The picture showed a forty-ish man in a peach , button down shirt with a flowered tie seated next to a little girl in a princess-dress and a tiara sitting at a table with tea and biscuits on a serving tray before them. "Oh, how sweet!" Jenny gushed as she took the phone. "She's such a big girl, now. Eight, right?" "Next month. I always kid that she's seven, going on seventeen. She's such a little person, now, you know? She has her own, quirky sense of humor and her own style... thank goodness she has such a great daddy to take care of her." "Aww, that is awfully nice. Bill was a great guy, but he would have gone stir-crazy as a househusband. He and Sadie were always great together, though. I remember..." she paused and took a breath. "Never mind - only happy-talk tonight." Hillary took Jenny's hand in hers and rubbed it soothingly. "It's ok to talk about it, Jen. It's only been three months. It's going to take years to, well, not get over it, but cope with it. If you want to talk about it, go ahead." Jenny blinked the tears away, shook her head and gave a brave smile. "I know, but I'm ok. It was a long road for Sadie and me. Cancer gives you lots of time to prepare, but... you know... it still hurts, a lot. Thank goodness I have Sadie and all my students to keep me occupied. If I were alone, I'd be a mess." "I know, honey. How is Sadie doing?" "She's good. She's my rock. I know she's hurting, too and we have our sad moments, but she's good. Oh, look at this." She pulled out her own phone and scrolled through a few pictures before showing Hillary. "She's going to the high school prom. Can you believe it, as a freshman, going to the prom? She tried on some dresses the other day. Which do you like?" "Oh, she's getting so beautiful! Oh, my! This one's very revealing! She's really filling out, isn't she?" "Haha, I know. She's lucky. I filled out over night in the sixth grade. I was four-foot-ten with these C-cup girls sitting on my tiny frame. Boys couldn't keep their eyes off of them and girls were all catty about it. It was a rough couple of years until the other girls caught up." "Oh, Jenny, this one is beautiful!" Hillary sighed. "Look how pretty she looks in that one. That's my favorite!" Jenny took her phone and looked at the photo of her daughter, her little girl, in the very adult looking, lilac gown with the lace decollate and smiled. "That's my favorite, too, but she just looks too grown up in it. I need a day to adjust to her being so beautiful before I commit to it. We'll go back to the store tomorrow." Just then, a very harried Maureen pulled out a chair and sat, letting out a big, frustrated sigh. "Sorry I'm late. Boy, do I need a drink!" "I ordered one for you," Jenny said. She showed her sister-in-law the dress. "Oh, I know. Karen showed me - Sadie sent her the photos to see. She's so pretty, Jen. She looks just like you." "She has Bill's eyes," Jenny said. "That beautiful blue." He sight lingered on the picture while she mused on her daughter's eyes. Maureen waited a moment or two before pulling out her own phone and showed them pictures of dresses that Karen was considering for the same prom. "She's so athletic. Everything hangs so beautifully on her," Hillary said. "I know," replied Maureen. "She's tall and slender like her father. She complains about being flat-chested, but everything in the stores seems designed to fit her. I wish I had her problems!" They all laughed, and the waitress brought their drinks. They thanked her, sipped and smiled. Finally Hillary said, "Speaking of problems, what's going on? You seem really stressed, tonight. Talk to us." At first, Maureen started slowly, but eventually, the words just poured out of her mouth. She couldn't stop them. She talked about Andy's personality change, his new found frugality - stinginess was more precise - his lack of empathy towards her and their daughter and how much, despite all that she said, she still loved him and wanted to make their marriage and family work. "You know," Hillary said, being careful to be diplomatic, "as his supervisor, I have to tell you, he has changed at work, too. Since I became a partner, and I know he had his heart set on that slot, he has become increasingly hostile towards me and many of my team; mostly the women associates. He used to be invaluable. Now, he just does his own thing. I know he was disappointed, but he hasn't gotten over it and it's been too long to just keep waiting for him to get back on track. Is he drinking a lot?" "He's drinking..." Maureen let it go at that. Jenny couldn't let it go, though. "Mo, he's drinking an awful lot. I've been at your place at 5:30 at night and he's been tipsy. I've seen him passed out on a chaise lounge in the early evenings. I'm worried about him, too." Maureen nodded and realized that she'd been ignoring some big problems. "It's not just that, either," said Hillary. "His appearance is becoming a problem. He wears very expensive clothes, but that aren't always office-appropriate and what used to be a cute, shaggy, mop of hair in his twenties is now an obnoxious, self aggrandizing look that screams 'look at me!' He's sabotaging his own career and blaming it on everyone else." They were interrupted by the arrival of their dinners, which was wonderful and the conversation returned to their daughters and happier things. As they sipped their coffee, Hillary returned to Maureen's situation. "You know, Mo, I could help with the money issue." Maureen sipped and shook her head, "No, no, no. I'm not looking for a loan." "And I'm not offering one. I'm offering you a job." Maureen's eyes shot open. "Really? I haven't practiced law in seventeen years." "I know and it's about time you got back in the game. You were one of the best criminal litigation attorneys I ever worked with. We're overwhelmed with cases at the moment and I would love to bring you on board." Maureen stared at her friend in disbelief. What an opportunity, but would Andy allow it? "Do it, Mo," Jenny said. "Take the job. Karen has basketball practice till 6:30 everyday, she can drive herself to and from school and I get out of school at 2:45. I can help out if she needs anything. Take the job." Maureen wanted so badly to say 'yes.' She was going stir-crazy at home, she could contribute to the household income and, more than anything else, she wanted to get back into practicing law. She'd always loved it and expected to go back to work when Karen was old enough and, at seventeen years old, she was certainly old enough. "I need to talk to Andy, first. I don't think he'll like the idea." "Too damned bad for him. You want the job, right? Then take it." Hillary was right and she was being very forceful about it. "I don't know. I'm just not sure. I do want it, but I don't want the fight I'll have to go through with Andy. I wish he was more like Wally." "I may be able to help you with that." "What? How?" asked Maureen, very interested, but concerned. "I don't want to cause any problems for you at work." Hillary laughed, "No, nothing like that. Listen, Wally is a great husband and daddy, right?" Maureen nodded. Jenny said, "He sure is. I've always been jealous of how good he is with Bethany. I've never seen a man who was so dedicated to his daughter." "Yeah," Hillary sighed and let out a little laugh. "Well, he wasn't always like that. Before I got pregnant, he was insistent that, when the time came, I would have to give up my career and be a stay at home mom and I just couldn't do that. I was already further along in the firm than he was and I am not cut out for domestic life." Both the ladies laughed. "That's for sure," said Maureen. "You'd be the most competitive mommy on the playground." "So, if I wanted to stay married and have a family, one of us had to become more domestic and, if only for financial reasons, it wasn't going to be me. That meant that I had to make Walter more open to domestic life." "Actually," Jenny said, "Mo and I have talked about this a few times. How did an alpha-male-kind-of-guy become a househusband all of a sudden?" Hillary let out a heavy sigh. "Ok, girls, I have something to tell you, but you have to promise to keep it quiet, ok?" They nodded and leaned in so that Hillary could speak more quietly. From her pocketbook, she produced several small, cylindrical packets that looked like coffee sweetener. "This is my secret." "Splenda?" asked Jenny, skeptically. "No, it's not Splenda. It's a formula - or some people call it a potion. Whatever. It works. I would never have believed that it would, but it works and Walter is the living proof of that." Maureen leaned back in her chair and shook her head, incredulous. Jenny took one from looked it over. In was just a yellow, synthetic- paper cylinder with no writing on it, but she could feel that there was a powdered substance within the package. "Where did you get this?" "From a women I met at a conference about nine years ago. I was drinking with her and I told her my whole, sad story. About wanting a family and a career and how Walter was being unhelpful." "You don't believe this garbage, do you, Jenny?" Maureen scoffed. "What's it supposed to do, make a man long to be a mother or something? Even if I did believe that, I wouldn't want to have to have another baby just to keep Andy occupied." "No, no, no," Hillary shook her head. "Let me explain. It can do quite a bit, but one packet administered in an alcoholic beverage every six- to-eight weeks can be very effective. The first effect is a loss of testosterone in his system. He will become more docile and willing to hear your side of the argument - less aggressive. Less of an alpha- male." Now, Maureen became more interested. She, too, picked up a packet and looked more carefully at it. "What does it do, increase the estrogen in his system. Does he grow boobs?" She laughed. "If you use too much, he certainly could," Hillary said without any sign of humor. "Really!?" Said Jenny. "Really, but it's easy to get used to regulating it." Hillary continued. "After he drinks the drug, you need to have sex, or at least masturbate him to climax within two hours to get the maximum benefit of the drug. That shouldn't be a problem though, because the drug makes him very horny and, after a few treatments, he'll be very willing to follow your lead on nearly every point, but especially when it comes to sex. Believe me, you'll be calling the shots." Maureen studied the package and rubbed her forehead. "So, if I tried it, what should I expect?" "Well, first, he'll get less pushy and demanding. He may lose some muscle tone and even a little bit of mass." "Define 'mass,'" Maureen said. "Well, councilor, depending on how he reacts to it, he could lose some weight and even lose a little height." "As in get shorter?" Now, Jenny was incredulous. "How is that possible?" "I don't know, but I can tell you that Walter was just over six feet tall when I started his treatment and he's only five foot ten, now. In fact, when I first started his treatment, I went a little overboard and, at one point, he was down to five foot eight, but I was able to regulate how much I gave him and brought his height back up." "Well, that's the creepiest thing I ever heard," Jenny joked. "I know it sounds extreme, but I loved Walter, but he was unwilling to compromise. Now, he's very accommodating." Maureen's interest was piqued. "So, even if I go too far, I can fix it?" "Yes and no. You can fix it as long as he's still capable of having intercourse as a man. It's possible to ingest so much that a man loses his penis and develops a vagina, but it would be impossible to do that by accident. You'd have to give him, like, fifty packs in a twenty four hour period. Shy of that, you can fix anything that goes too far." "I'm kinda interested in this, now," Maureen mused. "It would serve him right to knock him down a peg." "Well," Hillary leaned in a bit more, "I haven't told you the best part." "The best part!?" Both Jenny and Mo said together. Hillary nodded, "You get some physical benefits, too." "Such as," Maureen asked. "Well, if lick your finger and dip it in the powder before pouring it into his drink and then you have vaginal intercourse, you can absorb some of his strength, sometimes even some of his height. If you masturbate him, you can actually keep it in a jar and ingest it later if you'd like, or, if things go too far, you can have him ingest some of it to restore him." "Ingest it - as in he'd have to swallow his own... stuff?" Jenny was a bit grossed out. "You just mix it with food or drink. He'd never notice, although, I guarantee that if you get to that point, he'll do whatever you tell him." "I'm going to have think about this," Maureen said. "I'll make a decision tomorrow." "Oh, my god, look at how beautiful she's gotten," Hillary said as she looked over Maureen's head toward the entrance where Maureen's daughter, Karen, was crossing to their table. "Hi, mom, Auntie Jen, Auntie Hilly. How was dinner?" Karen, who was tall and slender like her father, had her mother's dark hair and deep, green eyes. She kissed each woman on the cheek and sat in the unoccupied chair. "Hi, baby," Maureen smiled. Karen had become a beautiful and intelligent young woman. She and Maureen were very close and Mo was afraid that in fourteen or fifteen months, when Karen left for college, she was going to lose her best friend. "Were you able to get everything you needed for your project?" "I did and I have money to spare, so, yay!" The all giggled with her. "Oh, by the way, mom," Karen continued, "can you give me a ride to the game on Saturday? Dad was supposed to do it, but he sent me a text saying that he was too busy, now, so you'd have to do it. Sorry, but I can't drive out of state, yet." Maureen shook her head in disgust. "Ok, that's it! I need some of those packets. Let's see if I can retrain my husband." She got up and gathered up her purse and sweater before adding, "Oh, and by the way, I'll take that job. I'll see you in the morning, ready to do whatever you need me to do. Good night, girls." "Daddy, we're home!" Karen shouted above the din from the video game playing on the huge TV and surround-sound system. "Dad! Daddy!" Her tall, lanky body was similar to her dad's. She was a few inches shorter than him, but still tall for a young woman. Her breasts were modest, but fit her body well. If you took the best attributes of Maureen and Andrew and mixed them together, you'd get Karen. "He can't hear you," said Maureen as she eyed the nearly empty six pack and the open bottle Jim Beam on the counter in the kitchen. "Why don't you just head up to bed and I'll deal with your father. He's been overdoing it a bit, tonight." "Ok," Karen said as she gave her mom a hug, a kiss and a sympathetic smile, then, off to her room she went. Maureen looked into the family room. Andy was there with three beer cans and an 'on the rocks' glass spread on the coffee table in front of him. He was enthralled in the violent video game and, with the volume set so high, he had no idea she was there. She returned to the kitchen counter where the bottle of Jim Beam sat as if a sign from God. Maureen picked up the bottle, looked at label and shook her head. "Well, Jim, what do ya think?" She waited patiently for an answer, but when none came, she pulled out one of the little yellow tubes that Hillary had given her and stared at it. After a solid minute of staring at the blank yellow tube, she ripped open on end and waited for something to happen. Nothing did. She opened a cabinet and took out another 'on the rocks' glass and poured the contents of the tube in. She waited for something to happen. Nothing did. She licked the tip of her finger and pressed it into the powder, then raised it to her nose and sniffed it. There was no smell. She stared some more, then put the finger into her mouth, feeling the tiny crystals dissolve on her tongue. She waited for something to happen. Nothing did. She picked up the bottle and poured two fingers of bourbon into the glass watching the crystals dissolve on contact. She picked up the glass and held it up to the light. It looked normal. "Fucking piece of crap!" The slurred shout came from the TV room. The heavy sigh that escaped her lips bore all the weight of her worries and sadness. "Alright, Jim, my friend. Let me introduce you to my husband, Andrew." She entered the room, walked past Andrew and sat next to him on the couch. "Tough level?" She sloshed the bourbon in the glass to get his attention. "Impossible fucking level in a piece of shit game." He threw the control onto the coffee table and leaned back in anger. "Jesus! I wanted to relax, tonight!" "I know, Andy, I know. It's tough being the bread winner for Karen and me, isn't it?" 'Well,' Andy mused, 'at least we're making some progress.' "Damned right it is. I bust my fanny everyday and you both just take me and all this for granted." "I know, honey. I'm sorry, but I have good news! Hillary offered me a job in litigation..." "No." "You know, Karen can take care of herself, now..." "No." "So, I'd like to go back to work and take some of the burden off of you." "No. End of story. Case closed." Maureen sighed a big, tired sigh. She knew that this was a huge, possibly illegal, definitely amoral, deceitful step, but if there was any other way to get their marriage back on track, she could not see it. So, "Ok, honey. If that's that, then that's that. Here. I brought you a drink." He took the short tumbler from her and took a healthy sip, relaxing to feel the burn slide down his throat. "Ahh," he breathed. "See, if you were working, who'd be here for me? I need some..." He stopped mid-sentence and shook his head. "Wow. Either I'm a little more plowed than I thought, or this is stronger than usual." Maureen stiffened, afraid that he was on to her, but without any hesitation, Andrew took another long sip from the glass. "Ahh," he breathed, again, this time turning towards Maureen with tired, lustful eyes and a playful smile that she had not seen for a couple of years. "You wanna...? He asked playfully. Maureen let out a knowing giggle as she encouraged, "Finish your drink first." As he downed the bourbon in two more gulps, Maureen said, "You didn't even ask about Karen. She's home, safe and sound. She tried to say 'good night' to you, but the TV was on too loud for you too hear." He nodded and shrugged his shoulders as he drained the last drop. With the glass still at his lips, Maureen's hand toyed with him by gently caressing the front of the corse, denim jeans he was wearing. She moved in closer and kissed his neck. He smelled of drunken sweat and his longish hair, which had come loose from his ubiquitous pony tail, smelled of cheap shampoo. It was not an enticing aroma, but the fact that she'd initiated this encounter, rather than doing it when he was in the mood, had her feeling just the smallest feeling of control in her life and she was savoring it. It had been a long time since she'd felt as if she had been in control of anything. Just this little bit of power was enough of an aphrodisiac to make her want more. As he placed the glass on the end table next to him, Maureen could take no more. She undid his belt and pulled frantically at the waist button. Andrew moved to try to make access easier while simultaneously working to undo the buttons on her blouse to get to her breasts. Finally, she was able to release the waist button, but, damnit, these were button-fly jeans. No time for that. She moved to the end of the couch and began pulling them down. Andrew helped. Luckily, his slender physique and complete lack of hips or rear end made it easy work. His boxers were dragged down to his knees where they remained. She pulled off her blouse and, before her arms were free of the sleeves, Andrew's teeth were nibbling her right nipple through the black lace of her bra. He was nearly breathless and she was so hot that she needed to be penetrated NOW! She stood long enough to pull her panties down before pulling Andrew flat onto his back and climbing back onto the couch to spread her legs over his organ and lowering herself onto the warm, rigid appendage, knowing that he longed for her even more than she longed for him. "Ahh!" They shouted together as she spread her loose skirts over his legs and torso and took him as far in as possible. He was always a little uncomfortably big inside her, but she did not care right now. She needed this in the most desperate way. As he began to rut into her, it occurred to Andrew's alcohol and sex- fueled mind that he could not ever remember having his wife on top of him. He had always been the dominant, on top, in their relationship. What had gotten into her? She was an animal tonight! It was hot and sweaty, but fairly brief, but when the moment came, it came for both of them and they both moaned loudly as they shook ferociously to prolong the moment for as long as possibly. Andrew's spasms continued much longer than usual. His penis still quivered nearly a minute after he'd shot a pint or more of fluid into his wife, who continued to flex and ride him to milk as much as possible from the man who lay prone beneath her. Maureen tingled everywhere and it was a tingle such as she had never felt before. She shivered with a strange, new feeling. Normally, she would have tried to cover herself immediately, but not tonight. Tonight, she was proud and confident. She looked down and saw the lace of the bra, which, moments earlier, her husband had been dry-feeding on, the soft blue of her skirt spread over his weakened body and she felt something she had not felt in years; power. And she liked it. A lot. CHAPTER 2 Thursday Andrew rolled over to shut off the newscast spewing from the clock radio on his night table. The clock read 7:01am, but it didn't feel as if he'd had much sleep. He'd drunk a lot last night, so the headache was expected, but he felt achy and weak, as if he had a fever. He could hear a hairdryer blowing in the master bathroom. That's was odd. Mo usually showered after he left. He pulled the covers to the side and forced his legs to drop to the floor, causing his head to swim on his shoulders. He grunted as he reached for the four-ounce bottle of water that Mo had obviously left for him. He drank it down in a few big gulps. As he pushed himself upright, the door to the lavatory swung open and Mo appeared in a beige business, skirt-suit that, despite the fact that it was several years out of style, looked great on her. She had a glow about her and a big smile on her face. "Morning, sleepy head. I'll go make breakfast and I'll see you downstairs. Ok?" Andrew's head was still cloudy and his thoughts were slow to form, so she was out the door before he could ask why she was so dressed up, today. The shower helped, as did just moving about the room, and the smell of bacon and eggs coming from the kitchen, made his stomach grumble as he descended the stairs. "Here you go, Andy," Maureen smiled as she put a full plate on the table in front of him. "Ugg, no thanks, Mo," he groaned. "I'll just have some black coffee this morning. I over did it a bit last night." "You sure did," she laughed. "No problem. Karen will eat this, then." On cue, Karen entered the kitchen wearing the green plaid skirt and white polo shirt uniform for her school. She kissed Maureen on the cheek, "Morning, mom," and Andrew's head, "Morning, daddy." "Morning, baby," Maureen grinned as she handed the loaded plate to her daughter. Andrew just groaned a greeting as he rose to get a mug of coffee. "Cool," enthused Karen as she stood by the counter to shovel in a mouthful of eggs while reading social media posts on her phone. She looked up briefly to see her father struggling with the Keurig machine. "Have you lost weight, daddy?" "Hmm? What?" Andrew asked. "I don't think so. Why?" "No reason. I guess I just thought that your clothes looked a little baggy." That got Maureen's attention and she glanced over to see Andrew's clothes. Sure enough, they were a bit big on him and, now that she was actually paying attention, his pants looked a bit too long on him. Very interesting. "You know what... they feel baggy and my shoes feel loose, too. I must have dropped a few pounds without trying. How lucky is that, huh!?" He laughed. "Well," Karen laughed, "I'm going to find every pound you lost if I keep eating breakfasts like this!" She dumped what was left on her plate into the trash and kissed her father, then her mother. "Bye, daddy. Bye, mom. Thanks for letting me have the car, today. I'll bring it home in one piece." "You had best do so, young lady," Maureen teased. "We'll be home before 6:00," and Karen was out the door to the garage. "What did you mean, 'We'll be home before 6:00?' Where are you going?" "I," she said with a great deal of affect, "am going to work with you. I took the job that Hillary offered me." "What the hell are you talking about?" he exploded. "You know how I feel about this, Mo. You ARE NOT going to return to work until Karen is out of high school." "Yes, I am, Andrew. Karen is an independent, young woman, now and she can take care of herself. We obviously need money and I have the skills to easily double our income, possibly even earn more than that. I loved working. I've missed working. I want to go back to work. Hillary offered me a job and I took it. End of story." Andrew stood and moved towards her. His anger was written on his face. Who the hell did she think she was? He was the husband! He called the shots! "Now, you listen to me. You are my wife and if I say..." "Oh, Andrew, just stop it. We need money - I'm going to work." "You certainly are not!" "ANDREW JAMES GREEN, you just sit yourself down and listen to me!" Andrew was so taken aback that he did exactly as he was told. In four years of dating and nearly twenty years of marriage, Maureen had never once spoken to him in this manner. He was actually a little scared. For her part, Maureen felt an enormous surge of empowerment sweeping through her body. She had taken a stand and her husband had been cowed. Wow! This was all new and exciting. She moved to the chair and loomed over him. As she spoke, Andrew felt a bit like a child being scolded by his mother. "I am a full grown woman. I have a doctorate in the law and I passed the bar exam on my first try. I am your wife. Your partner. The mother of your daughter. I am not your property nor your employee. I have tried discussing this with you for years, but you refused to talk about it, so, now, I have just made a decision. I am going back to work today. If you don't want to take me, I will call for an Uber. It's up to you. Are you going to act like a grown up, or throw another temper tantrum to try to manipulate me into giving you your way?" Andrew just blinked, astounded. His head hurt and he didn't understand what was happening. "Well!?" "I... I... I..." he stammered. "I guess we should get going, then. "Thank you, Andy, I think you've made a good decision. Give me the keys, I'll drive. You look terrible. Try to pull yourself together in the way." She grabbed her three year old purse, her decades old satchel-style briefcase, her suit-jacket and the keys and headed to the garage. Andrew shook his head to clear his thoughts, but he was still hungover and confused. He looked around the empty kitchen, realizing that there was no one there to whom he could appeal for help. After a moment, he stood and followed Maureen into the garage, locking the door behind him. The drive was quiet. Maureen didn't see any benefit in gloating and Andrew just didn't feel up to engaging in an argument. Maureen pulled into Andrew's assigned space in the garage below the office building, put the car in park and turned to Andrew, who was straightening his tie in the passenger seat's vanity mirror. "Feel any better?" She asked. "Yeah, I guess." "Good. Look, I know that you want to keep your space for yourself and I won't bother you while we're at work, ok? I'm working with Hillary's team on 16, anyway, and you'll be on twelve in your office most of the day, why don't I just meet you back here at the end of the day? Sound good?" Andrew nodded. Before she opened her door, Maureen took a deep breath and said, "Andy, I'm sorry that I yelled. I hate that I did that, but... well, regardless, I'm sorry that we couldn't talk about this, but I need to do this. Are we ok?" "I guess," Andrew said as he opened his door, "but, for Christ's sake, if we do run into each other in the offices, please, don't call me Andy." Maureen laughed. She knew he preferred 'Andrew' or 'Drew,' but she'd been calling him Andy since college. It was just an old habit. The only other person who ever called him 'Andy' was Jenny. "Ok." She leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Have a good day. See you back here after 5:00." She got out of the car and headed for the elevator, leaving Andrew sitting in the passenger seat. What had just happened? Why is his wife at work? He should never have let this happen. Damn! He waited for Maureen to disappear into the open door of the elevator, then grabbed his briefcase and headed for the elevator himself, shaking off the cobwebs in his head. When he exited on twelve, he headed to his office, trying to not engage with anyone, but he was intercepted by his twenty-six year old assistant, Carolyn, who was carrying a thick file. When she looked up from her phone and saw him, her bright smile beamed as she shook her honey blonde hair from her face and said, "Good morning, Mr. Green. I got a call from Mr Perkins' oldest son this morning. He is insisting that the estate needs to be settled no later than the 31st because he has business interests that will pull out of a deal if they sense any uncertainty in the business side of the will. Also, Mrs Kennedy called. She needs to update her estate to add in her properties in Barbados and Spain. She'd like you to word the will to indicate that her grandson, William, will receive a cash settlement...". Her voice trailed off as she looked at the disheveled man before her. His usually pristine ponytail was crooked and there were hairs bulging around the elastic band. His clothes fit poorly and his eyes were bloodshot and puffy. She grabbed his hand and pulled him into his small office. "Jesus, Drew, what's wrong with you? Are you sick or hungover?" "Hungover, but I'm better than I was an hour ago. Why?" "Why!? Because you look like a drunk someone grabbed off the street. There's a quarterly meeting at 11:00. You need to shake this off and brighten up before going upstairs. Do you want a coffee or maybe a Five-Hour-Energy drink? Something like that?" He thought for a second before replying, "Coffee would be good, I guess. Why don't you bring me a fresh, hot, black cup every half an hour or so. I'll wake myself up in time. Thanks." Carolyn nodded and headed to the break room, leaving the folders on his desk. God, he hated being stuck in Estate Planning. He had a great head for numbers and he knew this aspect of the law backwards and forwards, but it could be so damned boring sometimes - like today. Although he'd never admit it to anyone, especially himself, deep down he envied the work that Mo was doing up on sixteen. He used to do that kind of work, but over the last couple of years, he'd managed to alienate most of the people up there. Oh, well, screw them. He'd show them soon. They'd all be shocked by how smart he really was. Yep. He'd show them, soon. As Carolyn entered with coffee number-one, he pulled the folder to him and began looking through it for the pertinent documents while simultaneously dialing a number into his phone, which he currently had on speaker mode. "Hello?" said a man's voice. "Good morning, Mr Perkins, this is Andrew Green. How are you, today?" "Let's cut straight to the point, here, Drew," the voice chided. "You promised to have my father's estate wrapped up six weeks ago, but I have not heard a word from you? Now, what is going on and when will all the nonsense be wrapped up!?" Andrew let out a heavy sigh to indicate how exhausted he had become due to the workload placed upon him by this, rather routine, estate settlement. "Look, Mr. Perkins, things don't always go as expected with an estate of this size, but I think that I'll be able to send you the final paperwork in the next few hours. I'll work through lunch today and I'll email you the final papers this afternoon, ok?" "This afternoon is my deadline, Drew. Understand? If I don't get it today, I will be in contact with the partners over there and I'll see to it that you're walking the streets by noon tomorrow. I hope that we're on the same page, here. I've been waiting too long for this to wrap-up." "I understand your frustration, Mr Perkins. Truly, I do. But you have to understand that this estate is worth billions of dollars and some of your father's wishes were vague. I had to look for a lot of people and resolve a lot of issues before I could..." "You have until 4:00 to get this wrapped-up. No more excuses." The voice on the phones had lost its patience, no doubt about it. "Good bye, Andrew. I don't expect that we'll be speaking again." The line went dead as Andrew gave another sigh. He hung up the receiver and glanced at the completed file in his hands. Without fully reading it, he signed the bottom of the page and pressed the intercom's bottom to call out to Carolyn's desk. "Yes, Mr Green?" "Carolyn, please bill Mr Perkins $750 for the phone call and, please email these papers to him at 2:30 today." "2:30? I could email them now, if you'd like." "No. I don't want them sent before 2:30, please. Let him wait for them." "Ok, if that's what you want, Mr. Green." "Thank you, Carolyn." "Hillary, may I interrupt for a moment?" It was 10:45am and Maureen had been looking over the Friedman case for a little over two hours and something was not right. Hillary looked at her clock and said, "Sure, Mo, but I only have a few minutes. I have a meeting at 11:00." "Sure, sure," Maureen said as she entered the office and placed two documents on Hillary's desk. "Ok, you probably already saw this, but I want to be sure. So, Our client, Alfred Monaghan, is supposed to have been able to commit kill his girlfriend on August 28 in the Plaza Hotel, right, but look... according to his alibi, he was in Chicago at the time, right?" "Yes, but no one really believes that, because the cameras in Chicago..." "I know, he doesn't appear in any security camera shots in Chicago, but wait, look at his personal phone records." Maureen placed a copy of the phone bill in front of Hillary. "Right, Chicago, but he could have given that to anyone and asked them to make calls to establish and alibi." "Right, but now look at his work phone bill." Hillary sat up straighter, "This says that he was in the American Virgin Islands at the same time he claims to be in Chicago." "Uh huh, and I had a hunch, so I called the Sea Breeze, where we've stayed when we've been there, and I spoke to the concierge. He remembers seeing Alfred there that weekend and he looked at the camera records and look..." There in the photo was Alfred Monaghan and a beautiful, young, bleached-blonde woman. "Well, well, well," said Hillary. "Who's the lady? She looks familiar." "That," said Maureen, "is congresswoman Deborah Greer of Utah. Very pro-family-values, very, very conservative and the chairperson of the House Committee that oversees development of pharmaceuticals." Hillary paused and thought before saying, "So, your theory is that Al Monaghan would rather take a chance on a murder trial than admit to having an affair with this Congresswoman, because..." "Because it would destroy his career and hers and destroy his pharmaceutical company. If he's found guilty of murder, which is certainly not a given in this case, the company would still be able to continue and, I imagine, he'd have her in his pocket. So, there's a possibility of a win-win, but if the trial goes badly, he'd probably be out in a few years and he'd still be rich." Hillary looked at the clock, again and thought. "Well, this puts us in an awkward position, but at least we know we're being played and the partners can figure out how to deal with it." She thought some more and said, "You did a great job, Mo, and I'm going to have some words with my team about this at our meeting this afternoon, but right now I have a meeting with the partners and a few associates and I want you to come up and brief them on this. Ok?" Maureen was shocked. "Umm, ok." "Come on. We're going to be late as it is and I need to think about this on the way down the hall." "Drew, how is the Perkins estate coming?" Will Cunningham, the senior partner asked. "Well," Andrew said, "I'm afraid it's not going to yield the profits we'd hoped. I looked it over every possible way, but I can't seem to shake any more out of it. We'll net about $750,000.00, but I can't find any more." Cunningham shook his head, "on a 1.7 Billion Dollar estate!? How is that possible?" At this moment, Hillary walked in with Maureen right behind her. "It was a very well put together will, Bill. I don't know what to say other than there is no meat on the bone. Whoever drew this up knew how to protect the estate." Cunningham glanced at his fellow partners and shook his head, again. "That's very disappointing, Drew. Honestly, you used to be able to find meat no one else saw. I've heard from Perkins and I know he's not happy, so settle this asap and then, at the end of the quarter, we need to sit and have a talk about this. You really let us down on this one." Andrew raised his hands and shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know what you want me to say, Bill. There's just nothing here for us." Cunningham looked at his notes and said, "Let's move on. Anyone have any GOOD news, today?" "I have something pretty good, Bill," said Hillary. She went on to explain what Maureen had found in the files and how it was going to be an issue to get their client to come clean about this, but it would definitely keep him out of prison. Cunningham looked through the pages of the file for a minute or two before looking up and pulling off his reading glasses. He looked at Maureen. "How long did it take you to find this?" "About two hours and a few minutes" He looked to Hillary, "How many associates and paras have been looking through this file for the last fourteen months?" "Six associates and, at various times, between six and twelve paras," Hillary responded. Cunningham leaned back in his Aeron office chair and sucked on the ear piece of his reading glasses while taking in Maureen. "So, I'm not sure if the rest of our staff is inept of if you're some kind of a super- woman, but this is a definitely a huge development." Maureen smiled. "Tell you what," Cunningham continued, "I'm making you lead associate in this, Mo. It's good to have you back." Maureen's smile was huge. "Wow! Well, thank you, Bill. I won't let you down." She glanced at Andrew to share her joy, but he was looking off to his left at nothing in particular and scowling. "Where are you set up, Mo?" Cunningham asked. "I don't have much. I'm set up in conference room 6 with my lap top." "Not anymore. Hillary, assign Maureen a secretary and a para. I think Olsen's office is still empty. You can have it, Mo. Welcome back, Mo. We've really missed you!" 'What the Hell!?' Andrew thought. 'One day back and she's got an office almost as big as mine. What the Hell!?" The moment that Bill adjourned the meeting, Andrew stormed out of the room without a word to anyone, while the rest of the staff congratulated Maureen. When he reached his office, he slammed the door and paced the office until there was a soft tapping at the door. "COME IN!" He shouted louder than he intended. The door opened softly and Carolyn entered. "Are you ok?" He threw himself into a chair in front of his desk and told Carolyn the story with all the anger an vehemence of a spoilt child. When he'd finished, Carolyn moved behind the chair and rubbed his shoulders. "What do you care, Drew. You're too good for this stupid firm. Just wait. You'll show them all how clever you are, soon, won't you." Andrew allowed his anger to dissipate and he closed his eyes and let his head hang forward. "Damned right, I will," he muttered. If anything, the drive home was even quieter than the drive to work had been. Maureen drove, again, and, as she pulled out of the garage and turned on to the street, she turned on the radio and tuned in to an NPR newscast. Andy rolled his eyes at the liberal clap-trap coming out of the radio. For ten solid minutes, there was a not a 'How was your day?' 'Congratulations on finding that.' 'What did you do for lunch?' Just two very silent people and the sound of Robert Siegel and Audie Comish coming through the expensive speakers in the overpriced car. Suddenly, the tension was broken by the sound of Maureen's phone ringing. The screen on the car's radio indicated that it was Hillary calling. As Maureen punched the button to connect to her phone through the car's Bluetooth system, Andrew let out a petulant sigh at having to endure a phone call that did not involve him. "Hi, Hill. What's up?" There was a little laugh on the other end of the phone as Hillary said, "Good afternoon, Maureen, I'm here with all the partners and our client, Mr Monaghan." It was obvious that Hillary was on a speaker phone. Maureen grimaced at answering the phone in such a casual manner. She'd need to stop doing that when receiving business calls. Hillary continued, "We've just finished discussing your discoveries and Mr Monaghan has agreed to allow us to submit the evidence you found to the courts. I expect that the case will be dismissed by noon, tomorrow. Mr Monaghan is also very impressed with your damage control plan. This could save the Congresswoman's career and save Mr Monaghan and his company millions, possibly billions, of dollars." The grin on Maureen's face was huge. She'd been out of the game for so long and wanted back in so badly... what an amazing first day back! She looked at Andrew expecting a look of pride, or at least support from her husband. Instead, all she got was another sigh as he looked out the windshield and shook his head in a look of childish petulance. "Well," Maureen turned her attention back to the road and the conversation, "I am certainly gratified that everything is working out to everyone's satisfaction." "More than to our satisfaction, Mo." it was Bill Cunningham's voice now. "To our amazement. You really scored big, Mo, and we're very very pleased. So, to show our appreciation, you're going to take the lead on the damage control program. Talk to Jerry over at Logan Imaging tonight and come up with a good plan for a press conference at noon. You will be Mr Monaghan's spokeswoman throughout the next few weeks or months. The Congresswoman's PR person will be in touch as well so that we can get all ours ducks in a row. Also, I'm promoting you to Junior Partner and I'm giving you a clothing allowance and a signing bonus. We just transferred $50,000.00 to your account. Congratulations, Mo! Keep hitting them out of the park like this and you'll be a full partner within a year!" The phone call ended. Maureen was absolutely breathless. She looked towards her husband who banged his head into the headrest, closed his eyes and mumbled, "I don't believe this," under his breath. "What?" asked Maureen. "Huh?" "You said, 'I don't believe this.' What don't you believe? That I could be good at my job?" "Yeah," he snapped, "that's it Mo. You haven't been to work for almost twenty years, then you show up for ONE DAY and suddenly you're a junior partner and promised a partnership. It must be nice to have friends in high places, huh? I've been slaving for this firm the entire time that you've been sitting around at home and I'm not a partner, yet, but you show up and Hillary has you promoted already. Does that seem fair to you?" Maureen pulled to the side of the road and slammed the car into park. When she turned to Andrew, he was shocked by the display of anger playing across her face. "Now you listen to me, mister. I've always been a good lawyer and I've been dying to get back to work for nearly a decade, but you kept saying, 'no.' Well, now I'm back and I had the opportunity to remind everyone that I know how to do my job. That's what I did and that's why I got the promotion. Hillary was just a catalyst to get me back into the office, that's all. If you think otherwise, then you better think about leaving, because I'm not putting up with any more of your crap. Got it!" Andrew was silent with astonishment. "And by the way, hot shot," Maureen continued, "did the Perkins family get all of their paperwork today? Huh? At 3:00, a call meant for you was accidentally sent to me. It was Mr Perkins and he told me about all the garbage you have been putting him through, so I called your secretary and had her fax it immediately. If I hadn't, I bet you would have been fired by now, smart ass. Not fair? Not fair my butt. I don't know what has gotten into you Andy, but you need a serious attitude adjustment." She threw the car back into gear and pulled out into traffic. With the radio off, the BMW was as quiet as a tomb. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Maureen heard a quiet voice from the passenger seat, "I'm sorry, Mo. I... I didn't mean to insult you. I guess... I guess I was just, you know, kinda hurt myself. Anyway... I'm sorry." Now it's Maureen's turn to be surprised. In all the time that they'd been together, this was the first time that Andy had ever once uttered the words, 'I'm sorry.' Wow. Maybe this stuff really was affecting him for the better. She let out a deep sigh and tried to release all of her anger. She shook her shoulders and refocused on the job at hand; driving. "Thank you, Andy. Apology accepted." Then, after another few moments of silence, she said, "Tell you what. Let's stop at Ronnie's for dinner to celebrate. My treat. Karen sent me a text this afternoon saying that she was going to Jenny's to help Sadie with a history project, so it's just you and me. What do you say?" Andrew shrugged his shoulders. It wasn't what he'd planned, actually he had planned on going out for a little 'Drew Time' tonight, but Maureen seemed determined. "Ok, I guess. How can I say no to free food at Ronnie's?" CHAPTER 3 Friday "Morning, mommy," Karen kissed her mother's cheek and grabbed the bowl of cereal that was waiting for her. "Where's dad?" Maureen checked the clock on the wall. 7:40 and Andy wasn't downstairs, yet. She knew he was up, but he was taking forever today. "Still getting ready, I guess. We stopped for dinner last night and had a few drinks. Maybe a few too many for a Thursday night." In fact, Maureen had only had one red wine last night with their meal. Andrew had had a drink before dinner, wine at dinner and two bourbons after dinner and one of those had just a sprinkling of the powder that Hillary had given her on Wednesday. When they'd gotten home, Maureen had led Andy to their bed and ravished him every way to Sunday. She LOVED taking the sexual lead and Andy seemed willing to follow, provided he'd had a little of the powder before hand. Maureen walked to the foot of the steps and called up, "Andy! What's taking so long? Is everything alright?" Andrew appeared on the upper landing, still in his bathrobe. "I don't know what you did to the wash, Mo, but everything is stretched out. Nothing fits. Look, even my boxers are falling off of me." He opened his robe and it was true. Andy had definitely lost some body mass last night. Oops. She'd have to be careful of that. In fact, thought Maureen, he looked to be substantially smaller than usual. Almost the same size as Karen. "I'll be right up to help you. Find a jacket, shirt and tie. I'll take care of the rest." Maureen turned to the kitchen, "Are you all set, sweetheart? I need to go upstairs." "I'm leaving, now, mom. See you tonight, but remember, I'm going to the game at the school at 7:30. Love you!" "Love you, too," Maureen shouted as the kitchen door closed behind Karen. Maureen climbed the stairs with a bit of a smirk on her face. "My shirts seem baggy, too, Mo. What did you do to them?" Andre called from the bedroom. "Alright, alright," she moaned. "I have some fresh clothes. Hang on." A couple of minutes later, she walked into their bedroom with a pair of black slacks. "Here. Try these on." He pulled them up and they fit well. "Good," Maureen said as she held up the white shirt and he put his arms in. "You tuck it in. I'll button it." She said as she helped him get ready. She grabbed his tie and ran it through his collar then tied a neat double Windsor knot for him, then straightened it. As she helped him pull his coat on, Andrew said, "Geez, even my suit coat feels baggy. Really baggy." "Well, I can't help you with that," Maureen scoffed, "and you can't blame me for washing it wrong, either. That goes to the dry cleaner. Face it, Andy, you've lost some weight. You'll need to pick up a few things this weekend." As she was headed out the bedroom door, Andrew let put an exasperated shout, "Oh, for crying out loud! Did I lose weight in my feet, too!? How is that even possible!?" Seconds later, Maureen reappeared with a pair of obviously cheap, black loafers. "Here. These should do for today. We're running very late, now. We'll have to stop for coffee on the way. I'll meet you in the car." They reached their offices a few minutes past 9:00. Andrew kept his jacket unbuttoned and headed for his desk without making eye contact with anyone. "Good morning, Mr Green," Carolyn called as he passed, but he plowed ahead. "Mr Green! Mr Green!" Andrew stopped, but didn't turn around immediately. "Yes, what is it?" He stood, slightly slouched and waited for a reply. Suddenly, Carolyn was right behind him, speaking quietly into his ear. "Mr Cunningham is in your office. Evidently, Mr Perkins called and complained about your work on the estate." Andrew shook his head and sighed. He didn't need this right now. "What's his complaint?" Carolyn moved to face him, "I don't think he's complaining about the quality of the work, but about how long it took. Mr Cunningham seemed pretty angry." He relaxed a little. As long as no one was taking too close a look at the work, he could talk his way out of a complaint about the amount of time he'd taken to finish. Finally, he straightened and looked at Carolyn. "Alright. Thank you." At five-foot-nine-inches tall and always sporting a substantial heel, Carolyn was a formidable woman, but when Andrew looked at her this morning, she seemed a bit taller than usual. She had a similar revelation looking at Andrew. "Are you ok, Drew? You don't look right?" He nodded and took in a deep breath, preparing for the encounter ahead. "I'm fine. I'm just feeling a little... off. I'm fine." "And this thing with Cunningham? Is everything going to be alright in there?" Andrew took a quick look around the office to make sure no one was looking, then he gave Carolyn a quick peck on her cheek and said, "Just fine. Don't worry. As long as they don't look at the books too closely, we'll be fine." He gave her another reassuring smile and headed into the office. "Bill! What a nice surprise. What can I do for you?" He asked as he gathered as much bravado as possible and entered the office with a flourish. He was a little surprised to find Bill sitting in the desk chair, forcing Andrew to stand 'on the carpet' before his boss. Bill glanced at his watch. "9:22? Running a little late today, Drew?" Andrew laughed, "Not me, Bill; my car pool partner. Mo had a hard time picking out clothes this morning. Women. What can you do?" His own laughter sounded a bit more nervous than he'd intended. 'Get focused, Drew,' he thought. 'You've got this. Eye of the tiger, man. Eye of the tiger.' There was no reaction from the other side of the desk. "I'm going to be straight with you Drew," Bill Cunningham said. "You're on fairly thin ice here. You used to be a good lawyer, but ever since Hillary was named partner, your work has gone steadily down hill. I figured that you were just sulking about my choice, but it's been becoming a bigger problem every month since and now, clients are complaining. I don't like that and I'm not going to put up with it. Do we understand each other?" "Sure, Bill, sure. I understand, but you have to understand that Perkins and his family were not easy to deal with..." "The Perkins debacle is just the latest complaint, Drew. The partners were not at all happy with your behavior during yesterday's meeting, either. Let me be very clear about this: You have three months to get your act together. Get a hair cut and, for God's sake, get a suit that fits correctly and get all of your ducks in row. I will review your work in ninety days and if there is no improvement, we will have to sever our ties. Am I understood?" "Ok, Bill. Ok. I understand and I apologize. I'll pull it together." "Good." Bill got up to leave, but stopped and looked at Drew. "What are you wearing? That coat looks huge on you. Take it off, for heavens sake. You don't have any clients coming in today, do you?" Drew took off the coat and draped it over the back of a chair. "No. No clients." Bill looked at Drew without the coat. He looked better, but not quite right. As Drew moved to his desk chair, Bill said, "Be careful there. Your wallet looks like it's going to fall out of your pocket." Drew tried to push it in further. "I know. The pockets on these pants are tiny. I don't know why." Bill grunted an acknowledgment and turned and left the office. Almost Immediately, the door reopened and Carolyn came in as Drew sat in his desk chair. "Well?" "Don't worry. All's well," Drew said. "I've got ninety days to get my act together. That's more than we need. Relax." "Whew," Carolyn said. "I was nervous." "Well, we're fine, but I think you'd better get back out to your desk so that I can start working on 'getting my ducks in a row' for Bill. I need to look contrite for the time being. Ok?" "Ok, Drew," she said with a nod as she hustled back to her desk. Drew let out a sigh of relief. All was still well, as he'd said. In fact, everything was coming together. With that thought, he pulled his iPad out of his briefcase and called up the online version of his favorite video game and signed on. He figured he had a good two and a half hours to play before anyone bothered him again. "Hi, mom! Hi, daddy!" Maureen had called a local Italian restaurant and ordered a family-style lasagna for dinner, paid for it over the phone and Karen had picked it up. When Drew and Maureen entered the kitchen, Karen had already put out a clean table cloth, plates, utensils, garlic bread, serving items and the water glasses were full. At this moment, she was pulling a chilled pitcher of iced tea from the refrigerator. "Dinner's on the table!" "Oh, it looks beautiful, Karen! Thank you so much for setting everything out," and Maureen planted a loving kiss on her daughter's cheek. "Let me just run upstairs for a moment to change. I don't want to get anything on this suit. It'