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  “Fine,” Bennie answered.

  “After the Complaint is answered, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission begins its investigation. As you may know, you’ll be deposed and there will be additional discovery. The focus will be the decisions you made not to hire the plaintiffs, as well as anecdotal or statistical evidence of gender bias in favor of women at your firm.”

  “How long do you think that takes? Six months to a year?”

  “Yes, and after a year, the plaintiffs can go to file suit in court. Before that, as you know, the Commission will pressure you to settle.”

  “We’ll never settle.” Bennie folded her arms, and Mary realized they hadn’t even discussed the possibility of settlement. Still, she felt the same way and suspected that Judy did too.

  Roger frowned slightly. “I would advise you to keep an open mind about settlement.”

  “No, absolutely not. It would be an admission. I know you’re going to say it’s not, but it is, in reality.”

  “Nevertheless. Settling this dispute without prolonged litigation benefits you and the firm.” Roger blinked. “Time is also a factor. The fact that they have a year to investigate prolongs the damage to your reputation, given that they’re off to a fast start. Reports of the allegations are already popping up online.”

  Bennie grimaced. “That’s why I wanted to meet right away. I also think we should hold a press conference today at the firm. We need to take our case to the media, too. I texted our associate Anne Murphy to set it up for two o’clock this afternoon.”

  “Good, go ahead even though you’re not represented yet. In fact, it plays better. Their complaint is colorable, given the admission by your associate John Foxman, and he is the only male lawyer employed by you.”

  “It’s not intentional.” Bennie flushed, defensive.

  “I’m sure it isn’t. But the optics are poor and the numbers cut against you. In addition, your firm had its genesis as an all-female law firm. You have made many comments to that effect. It’s not an illogical conclusion to think that what you manifested, you intended. The plaintiffs’ position has a commonsense appeal.”

  Judy cringed, and Mary was feeling more worried. They needed Roger to take their case, and fast.

  Bennie pursed her lips. “Don’t tell me you think they can win, Roger.”

  “On the contrary, I do.”

  “The hell they will. We’ll fight them tooth and nail. Tooth and nail!”

  Roger blinked. “I’m sure that whichever lawyer you go to will be thrilled with the representation. You know everyone and you’ll have your pick.”

  “Roger, seriously?” Bennie raised her voice. “You can’t be turning me away. We’ve known each other forever.”

  “That’s why another lawyer will do better for you than I would.”

  “Why? This case could not be more important to me!”

  “That’s why.” Roger leaned back in his chair, spreading his elegant hands in appeal. “You’re facing an existential threat to your law firm. For you, it’s your reason for being. Your baby, your way of life. Your emotions are at an all-time high.”

  “Of course they are! What else would you expect?”

  “Nothing else.” Roger turned to Judy and Mary. “I don’t know either of you, but I’m sure as partners, you share her concerns, temperament, even energies. Yes?”

  “Yes, we do,” Judy answered, and Mary let it go. She didn’t know whose energies she shared. Lately she didn’t have any energy.

  “Thought so.” Roger nodded. “I operate very differently from you three.”

  “Oh come on!” Bennie scoffed. “Don’t be such a control freak! We’re all litigators, for God’s sake!”

  “True, but we litigate in our own way.” Roger paused. “Ours is a Darwinian profession. Litigators are strong. We self-select. Only the toughest survive, so there’s lots of toughness. Talk of force. Force meeting force. Conflict. Clashes. Battle imagery. War. Fighting. Like this.” Roger smacked his hands together, a harsh sound echoing in the still, quiet office. “In addition, our justice system is adversarial. There’s two teams, two sides. They fight, and one wins.”

  “So?” Bennie shot back, and Judy looked over, surprised at the crankiness in her tone. Mary was getting cranky herself, since evidently, Roger spoke haiku.

  “I’m strong, but there are different forms of strength. I don’t fight. I don’t use force. I assert my position but I remain flexible. My associates are strong, too. But we’re strong in a different way. I’m not sure the Vitez firm and the Rosato firm are well-suited.”

  “Roger, we’re not getting married! We’re not even merging!”

  “And that’s what I mean.” Roger smiled slightly. “I don’t see things the way you do. I don’t see the labels and divisions. Relationships are relationships. To me, the relationship between client and attorney is no different from the relationship between lovers or corporate entities. It’s about my relationship to myself, ultimately.”

  “Oh please.” Bennie groaned, but Judy tilted her head, obviously intrigued. Mary tried not to throw up again, thinking of all the money that was about to go down the tubes because of Machiavelli.

  Roger shifted forward. “Bennie, to achieve a successful result, we need to work together. I don’t think we’ll work together well.”

  “Of course we will!” Bennie threw up her hands. “We’re a dream client!”

  “Or a nightmare client.”

  “How dare you!” Bennie spat out, and even Mary was taken aback. Only Judy was still listening.

  Roger put up a palm. “Bennie, don’t mistake me. It’s not personal. That’s exactly my point. A personal lawsuit means drama. I call plaintiffs like this ‘paintiffs’ because that’s what they want to inflict.”

  “That’s cute, but all plaintiffs cause pain and drama.”

  “Not like this. I abhor drama. It dissipates energy and squanders clarity.”

  “Why won’t you take us, really?” Bennie bore down. “It’s because you don’t think I’ll listen to you, is that it? You think we’ll have a power struggle?”

  “No. I don’t seek your obedience, I seek your cooperation. Not everything is binary. Yet that’s how you see the world. You will be unhappy with my representation. Inevitably. As I will be unhappy representing—”

  “If I may, Roger?” Judy interrupted. “I understand what you’re saying. I agree that we have a difference in our energies. I know that our philosophies aren’t necessarily compatible.”

  “Oh?” Roger tilted his head, and for the first time, Mary thought his blue eyes showed signs of life.

  “Yes, and it’s demonstrated in this very meeting. Bennie wants to argue you into taking our case, but she can’t.”

  “Exactly.”

  Bennie looked over with a frown, but Judy kept talking.

  “I’ve done a fair amount of reading on Eastern philosophy, as you have. I own most of these books, too. I’ve studied them.” Judy gestured at the shelves. “After college, I was even thinking about becoming a Buddhist nun.”

  “What?” Mary blurted out, incredulous. She thought she knew everything about Judy. She’d even seen her bra drawer, which was a mess. Meanwhile, Mary’s sister was a nun, but a Catholic nun, like normal. Mary didn’t even know that Buddhists had nuns.

  Roger beamed at Judy. “So why didn’t you pursue becoming a nun?”

  “I felt I could do more good as a lawyer. I handle the pro bono work that Bennie brings into the firm. I think of that as my reason for being, not the firm, the service. I follow The Way.”

  “You do?” Bennie’s eyebrows lifted.

  “Which way?” Mary asked, bewildered.

  “The Way of the Tao,” Judy answered with an unusually placid expression.

  Mary looked at Judy, nonplussed. She knew her best friend had pink hair and minored in woo-woo, but Judy had gotten even wackier since she’d bought a loom. Mary wasn’t sure how these two things were related, but nobody needed to weave
things you could buy woven.

  Roger folded his slim fingers on the glass desk. “So then, Judy, you understand. Your firm’s way of doing things, and the fact that this lawsuit is so personal, counsels against my involvement.”

  “Perhaps,” Judy said, equally calmly. “I see your position.”

  Bennie’s eyes flared in anger. “Carrier, whose side are you on?”

  Mary was pretty sure that Bennie was proving Vitez’s point. Meanwhile, she’d never heard Judy say perhaps before. Mary didn’t know what was coming over her best friend and prayed it helped the cause. That is, she prayed to the real God, not whoever they were talking about.

  Judy nodded. “I do understand, Roger. It’s interesting, though, that one of my favorite lessons from Lao-Tzu is about the Sage and his philosophy of service.”

  “How so?” Roger asked pleasantly.

  “Lao-Tzu teaches, ‘the more the Sage helps others, the more he benefits himself. The more he gives to others, the more he gets himself.’ That is The Way of the Sage.”

  Roger didn’t speak for a moment, and Mary was totally confused, since she thought they were talking about the Way of the Tao, not the Way of the Sage, and in any event, she had been raised Catholic, which was My Way Or The Highway.

  Judy paused. “So I hope you’ll revisit your decision not to represent us. After all, in the words of Lao-Tzu, ‘The flexible are preserved unbroken.’”

  “Excuse me, ladies.” Roger closed his eyes and sat perfectly still for a moment.

  Judy said nothing.

  Bennie said nothing.

  Mary held her breath.

  Roger opened his eyes. “I have reached a decision.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  “I’ll take the case,” Roger said, and just as Bennie, Mary, and Judy were getting ready to cheer, a black landline phone buzzed on his desk, and Roger raised an index finger, pressed the intercom button, and answered the phone. “Yes?… Will do … Thank you,” he said, hanging up and returning his attention to them. “Ladies, Machiavelli is currently holding a press conference regarding the lawsuit. It’s being streamed live.”

  “Damn it!” Bennie smacked the desk. “He beat us to the punch!”

  “Oh no,” Judy said, dismayed.

  “Bear with me.” Roger turned to his laptop, pressed a few buttons, and turned the laptop face out as a video began to play. Mary felt stricken, just seeing Machiavelli, his dark eyes flashing and his hair slicked back. He had on a tailored Zegna suit and he sat in the middle of an ornate conference table at his office. Next to him sat three young men in suits, and the room was filled with reporters.

  Machiavelli was saying, “Thank you for coming, and I hope you have the copy of the Complaint we distributed. This is a very important event, not just an ordinary lawsuit. Before you begin, let me say first that it’s undoubtedly true there is sexism in society and that women are discriminated against in many professions. I don’t deny that, and neither should you. History proves that it’s true, not only in employment. Recent social movements show that it’s also true in general. It seems like every day there’s another hashtag.” The reporters chuckled, and Machiavelli continued. “But of late, it’s also true that there is discrimination that isn’t talked about as much—and that’s reverse discrimination against men.”

  Roger watched the video, saying nothing.

  Mary felt her blood boil. “Now he’s going to make it sound noble, when really he’s just trying to get me back.”

  Bennie growled. “I want to crush this kid.”

  Machiavelli continued, “Many women who have attained positions of influence in the profession use their empowerment as a sword, not a shield, and on occasion, they use it against men. Nowhere is this more true than the case that we filed today with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, on behalf of these three young lawyers.”

  Machiavelli gestured at the three men, and they smiled as he introduced each one, their appearance confirming to Mary that the lawsuit was manufactured, if not cast, like a movie. Nobody she went to law school with was as handsome as any of these plaintiffs, who looked like three male models in a racially balanced ad campaign. They were all about the same height, which was tall, and the same weight, which was superhunky. Michael Battle, who was Asian, had a dazzling smile and a spray of glossy bangs. Graham Madden was African-American, and he wore glasses but didn’t look as if he needed them. And the whitest of white guys, with blond hair and blue eyes, was Stephen McManus, who sat next to Machiavelli.

  “These three men are brilliant young graduates of top local law schools, but they were not hired by Rosato & DiNunzio simply because they are male.” There was murmuring among reporters, and Machiavelli continued, “Rosato & DiNunzio was founded by Bennie Rosato, a proponent of women’s rights, and she intended her firm to be an all-woman’s law firm. She bragged about it whenever she could, in public. For over a decade, Bennie Rosato hired, cultivated, and promoted only female lawyers, specifically, now-partners Mary DiNunzio and Judy Carrier, and associate Anne Murphy. All these women have, at one time or another, described the firm as ‘all-female.’ Imagine what outcry there would be—justifiably so—if any of the defendants had described their law firm as all-white, all-black, or all-Asian. I submit to you that, legally and morally, there is simply no principled difference between that and describing a firm as all-female.”

  Bennie kept shaking her head. “This scumbag is lecturing me about morals? About laws?”

  Judy sighed. “Arg.”

  Mary didn’t know what to say. She had described the law firm that way herself and never thought twice about it. She knew that they hadn’t discriminated against anybody, but she couldn’t deny that Machiavelli was putting them in a terrible light.

  “The law firm of Rosato & DiNunzio has only one male lawyer, named John Foxman, who was hired last year. But don’t let that token fool you. Lest you doubt the veracity of our allegations, sitting at my right hand is Stephen McManus, who interviewed with Mr. Foxman when an opening for an associate was advertised. During that interview, John Foxman admitted that he often felt out of place as the sole male lawyer at the firm.”

  Roger eyed the screen. “Foxman is the one in the Complaint?”

  “Exactly.” Bennie shook her head, fuming. “The gift that keeps on giving.”

  Judy looked over, concerned.

  Mary kept her own counsel but she was kicking herself, almost as much as the baby was kicking her. She should have known that Machiavelli wouldn’t wait. She, Bennie, and Judy would hold their press conference, but they were already caught off guard, playing catch-up.

  Machiavelli frowned. “Clearly, the principals of Rosato & DiNunzio have acted unlawfully and in violation of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, and we have filed this Complaint to vindicate the rights not only of these plaintiffs, but of men everywhere. We seek justice and the American ideal of equal treatment regardless of race, creed, religion, gender, national origin, and sexual preference. We’ll be trying our case in the courts, not the media, so I won’t be taking questions today.” The reporters complained, but Machiavelli waved them into silence. “I urge you to continue to pay special attention to this case. I’m not going to show all the cards in my hand now, and surprises are in store. I’m betting that before we even get to court, you will understand the absolute truth of the allegations in this Complaint—and the reason that Rosato & DiNunzio should be out of business. Thank you.”

  Machiavelli finished by looking directly into the camera, his dark eyes boring into her through the lens, and Mary knew he was talking to her. She felt a shudder at hearing him threaten the firm so directly. Machiavelli was coming for them, and she didn’t know if they could defeat him, even if they were represented by the Zen Master.

  Roger ended the video, turning to them. “Breathe deeply, ladies,” he said calmly.

  “Hell no!” Bennie jumped to her feet. “He wants a press conference, I’ll give him a press conference.”

&nbs
p; CHAPTER FIVE

  Bennie charged off the elevator ahead of Mary and Judy, though Mary was getting used to lagging behind everybody, since it took forever to waddle anywhere. These days her belly button reached her destination before she did, followed by her stretch marks. Bennie was on a tear, having spent the cab ride back to the office ranting about Machiavelli, despite Judy’s efforts to calm her and Mary’s efforts not to fart.

  “Marshall!” Bennie called as she approached the reception desk, but the receptionist was already on her feet and holding out a pink flurry of phone messages.

  “Hi, guys. The media has been calling all morning. I told them about the press conference, and we’re good to go.”

  “Thank you.” Bennie grabbed the messages on the fly and headed down the hallway toward their offices, followed by Judy and Mary, who caught Marshall’s eye with a wink.

  Marshall stopped Mary before they left the reception area. “Mary, it’s lunchtime, and you need to eat. I ordered you some vegetable soup and crackers, and it’s in the conference room. I put your baby gifts in your office.”

  “Thanks so much,” Mary said, meaning it. Marshall was a mother of three, so she had the pregnancy drill down. “Did you get lunch for Judy? She’s eating for two—herself and Lao-Tzu.”

  “Namaste,” Judy said with a smile.

  Marshall chuckled. “Yes, I got you and Bennie the usual, and it’s in the conference room. I think you have enough time to eat before it starts.”

  “Thanks,” Judy said, and they started walking down the hallway after Bennie, who hurried ahead, barking orders.

  “John, where are you? I need answers! And documents!”

  “Here I am.” John came out of his office with a handful of papers. “I figured out what happened with the plaintiffs. We got sixteen resumes in response to my ad, all the applicants were men. I interviewed three, one of which turned out to be a plaintiff. McManus. I think you were on trial at the time, that’s why you didn’t know. Here’s your copies of the emails and resumes.”