Power of Attorney: A Novel (A Greenburg Family Book 1) (11 page)

Overall, life was treating Sarah very well s
ince her move to Chicago. She could get used to the traffic and the killing rush hour. She could get used to some loud neighbors. She was happy working here and more importantly; she was happy with Patrick.

Sure, he could still be a grump and his trust issues still seemed to haunt him at times
, but Sarah accepted that part of him. He was a great man. He kept his word and could be sincere if he wanted to. He was also a good gentleman just like Henry described him. She just needed to get him opened up, and he wouldn’t stop talking.

Henry and Patrick seemed to be inseparable now. She often saw
the two brothers hanging around whenever Patrick wasn’t with her. They seemed comfortable with each other as they taunted and teased as brothers do. Sarah hoped Patrick could do the same with his sister. Someday perhaps. After all, Jane was a woman who loved a challenge after all.

Every day, she woke to the song sung softly by Turquoise,
her little bluebird. Turquoise was as accurate as her alarm clock in waking her, and she loved opening her eyes to his sweet song. Turquoise seemed to be singing a love song reminding her that today, she would see her lover again. The bird would chirp as it hopped around its cage and bathed itself in the little tub she made for him. Once in a while, she would open the cage so that it could fly around her room for a short exercise. Happiness was supposed to be free after all.

Patrick would
sometimes visit just so that he could come and watch the little bird. She teased that Turquoise was their love child for now.

One day, she woke
at her usual time but could not hear her little bird singing. The quiet of the apartment was too loud. She rushed to check on him, but he appeared fine. He was still eating his little pellets of bird food just like before. But he was different. Turquoise was quiet all morning, and she worried that her little friend was ill. He refused to come out of the cage for a bit of freedom. When she opened his cage, the little bird retracted back into the corner of his cage. Sarah swore for a moment he was shaking his head. She left her apartment that day with an uneasy feeling in her gut.

As she walked to the
office, she looked for Patrick, who normally met her on the corner. He was never late, usually early, but she waited for him just the same.

As she stood on the corner, she reflected back to the first day she had walked this same path. She’s been so nervous, so
star-struck at the idea of working with Patrick. Now they were dating, had a solid businesses relationship too. She was happy, and he appeared to be as well.

She glanced at her watch and begin to worry. Patrick was much later than usual, which wasn’t his way. The morning
was filled with concerns it seemed, first Turquoise and now Patrick. She was about to pull out her phone to call him when a voice was calling her name.

“Ms. Blake”
The woman was unfamiliar, certainly not from her floor or Henry’s. “Please come to the managing partner’s office on the 24th floor. The director wants to meet you right away.”

Sarah thought for a second that there was a loud
thud
caused by the sudden stopping of her heart. Automatically, she started out a list of questions, wondering what she had done in the past few days to get called by the director. She was late once, but it was only by ten minutes. She didn’t leak out any important information about the case to the media. Patrick assured her that she was doing more than fine with everything.

The 24th floor was the quietest floor in the building.
There were only a few people on this floor, and everything looked so wide and empty with glass walls and carpeted floors. Sarah thought the hallways looked forbidding, the carpet runner more of a path leading an employee to their doom. Or perhaps it led to heaven, she reminded herself, trying to pull all these feeling of uncertainty from her brain.

The
director was a dark skinned woman in her fifties with dark brown eyes hiding a glint of sharpness that seemed able to cut through lies. She reminded Sarah of Jane Hunt in many ways. A nameplate at the corner of her desk had her name etched on it: Susanna Smith.

Sarah knew her right way. Director Smith was the person
who coordinated the merging of the two law firms, the starting point of Sarah’s journey. She was the one in charge of the partner program that brought her and Patrick together. What could she possibly want with her?

“Ms. Blake, please sit down.
This might not take long, but I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.” She gestured Sarah to a seat in the room. The atmosphere in the room shifted as she sat down. Even with only her and the director, she felt as if there were hundreds of eyes on her. This feeling of being the center of attention was the same feeling that she had while she was in the court. How could one person emit this level of pressure?

“I know you are surprised by the sudden call and from the look, you still have no idea why. So let me be very direct,” she looked
intently at Sarah with her sharp brown eyes. “Not long after you moved here, Patrick Greenburg submitted a letter concerning your partnership with him.”

Sarah was
certain that she and Patrick had created an excellent business partnership. Even their personal relationship did not stop Patrick from being strict with her quality of work. If anything, Patrick was even stricter, scrutinized every detail. She returned the favor and observed his moves as well.

“Patrick asked me to transfer
you back to Richmond. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this. The transfer will be effective in about two weeks. We will pay for your moving expenses and anything else for your convenience.” The words slipped from Susanna’s lips so easily; it was as if she had said them many times. Sarah’s throat became parched; all the energy in her body seemed to drift with those sentences.

What did she
mean by transferring? She had just started her life here. She was about to make her name with her first high profile case. She just made friends with Diana and Henry and had just started a beautiful and complicated relationship with Patrick. This was supposed a happy time of her life. And this woman was trying to take it away so easily.

“Wait, there must be
a mistake,” Sarah began. “At least, I need to know why I’m being forced to move. I did everything according to company policy. I followed ever rule to the letter. Surely a letter written days upon arrival could hardly be evidence enough to warrant a transfer today.”

Sarah took a deep breath, waiting for an answer but was secretly hoping this was all a bad dream.
Maybe that was why Turquoise didn’t sing that morning. Maybe she was still lying in the bed waiting for morning to come and banish her from this nightmare.

“Of course,
a tremendous benefit to the firm. This isn’t a punishment or demotion, Ms. Blake. Although…”

“Although what?” Sarah asked.

The director ignored her and went on. “Your salary will remain the same and so will your position. You must understand that we are still in a transition process. We are not looking for whose doing right or wrong yet. We are simply looking for partners with the best compatibility.”

“Although what?” Sarah asked her again. “I don’t feel I need to remind you that I’m the only person able to work with Patrick. We not only work well, we work exceptionally well together. You’re making a mistake in terminating an effective partnership
which is the main focus of this partnership program.”

“And you’re making a mistake by sleeping with your partner, Ms. Blake.”

The breath punched out of Sarah’s lung as effectively as if she’d been hit. The weight of the director’s words seems to swallow her mind whole. So that’s it, she finally understood the depth of the situation she was in. She’d known developing a personal relationship within office teams could lead to serious consequences, she’s seen enough lawsuits and divorces to know that could be the case.

But what she had with Patrick was different, wasn’t it? Not just some inner-office scandal to dirty the tabloid. Right?

“Yes, Ms. Blake. Your romance with Mr. Greenburg has been brought to my attention and, as you can imagine,
there is some concern.”

“Would you please point to
a policy forbidding such a relationship?” Sarah asked. She had read through each chapter of the firm policy book and knew there wasn’t one.

Suzanna had the grace to look embarrassed. “There isn’t such a
policy. However, it’s become apparent that Mr. Greenburg has been, uh, distracted and his billable hours have decreased significantly. As you can imagine, the senior partners aren’t pleased.”

That’s what it came down to… money.
Was that all these executives and seniors directors thought about? Something that could thicken their fat pocket. But it’s a liberal world. You get what you could sow; even if it ruins the lives of other people.

“We decided the best alternative is to concede to Patrick’s request and have you transferred back to your former position.”

“And if I refuse to transfer, then what?” Sarah asked.

Susanna narrowed her eyes before saying, “Then your position with the firm will
be terminated. I expect loyalty, and I expect our team members to comply with my directions. Is that understood?”

“Is there anything I can do to change your mind?”
Sarah’s voiced cracked. She felt defeated. Something she hadn’t felt for a long time. She almost had forgotten what it felt like, and being reminded of it told her how much she despised it.

She couldn’t look at Susanna in the eye
, or say another word. Deep down, Sarah knew the answer to her question but it didn’t stop her from using her last resort: Begging. Her usually quick brain seemed to have shut down. Simply quit working. Her boss had played judge and jury, and Sarah had been handed down the sentence… life without Patrick. She was being forced to choose between her career, her career life and her love life when she could have grasped both in her hands.

Susanna shook her head
and thanked Sarah from coming and asked her to leave the room. Sarah nodded courtly and walked away with her stiff legs.

She had just started her life here. She was about to make her name with her first high profile case. She just made friends with Diana and Henry and had just started a beautiful and complicated relationship with Patrick.
This was supposed a happy time of her life. And this woman was trying to take it away so easily.

As she walked down the hall and to the elevator, she thought she
heard something from a distance. In her mind, it sounded like an alarm clock, trying to wake her from the nightmare that had overtaken her emotions.

She
leaned her head against the steel wall of the elevator and imagined another sound … the wings of her bluebird flying away.

He was late! And couldn’t care less.
The
Patrick Greenburg wasn’t in his office before everyone else. He strode from the elevator a full half hour behind schedule, proudly carrying a box of dark chocolate truffles for Sarah.

He could have been on
time, but the pastry shop owner was running late himself. Normally this would have irritated Patrick beyond belief. But today, he didn’t care. He wanted to do this for Sarah, a special treat from him.

As he walked down the hallway with Sarah’s goodies, he was surprised by the rush of concern from others in his department.
Adewale asked if he was okay; it appears everyone thought he was sick.

Clearly he
wasn’t, so he just pointed to the box. Everyone gave him a confused look, so he explained the events of the morning.

“You got that for Sarah? I think you just missed her. I don’t know what
happened, but she’s already left.”

Patrick’s
first thought was that Adewale was kidding. He walked quickly to the office and opened the door, but Sarah’s desk was indeed empty. There wasn’t any sign of her having even been there. The paper remained untouched; there were no signs of her bags or her coffee. Sarah wasn’t the kind of person who left the office early. Something must have happened.

“Sorry Nick, I need to go
find her. I need to know what happened.” Patrick wasn’t just worried; he was terrified that something bad was going to happen to her. Was it a family emergency? If that happened, he needed to be there for her.

Patrick made it to Sarah’s apartment with a time breaking record of
seven minutes and eighteen seconds, half of his normal time. His hair was a mess, and so were his clothes which were now slightly damp and wrinkled from his run. His tie was undone, and his shirt had slipped from his trousers. His bag was about to fall from his shoulders, but the chocolate box was still clutched tightly in his grasp. He tried to call Sarah several times on his way to her apartment, but he received no answer. Perhaps she was too emotional for phone talk, Patrick thought.

The first few knock on her doors did nothing. There
was no sound or footstep behind the doors. Patrick tried calling her again which only resulted in the same thing.

He knocked again, then pounded. He shouted her name as loud as he could.
He didn’t care if he disturbed the neighbors; his panic was so great.

He considered breaking down the door and was testing its strength when he finally heard a small sound. He pressed his ear to the door again, listening hard. He heard it again, ruffling
.

“Sarah?” he called to her again, voice beckoning softly
. “Please open up. I don’t know what’s wrong but please let me in so that I can help.”

He waited
, and the sounds grew louder. Soon, Sarah was opening the door.

Sarah was still in her office
attire, but it wasn’t as neat as it should be. In fact, both of them were in the same state. Her hair was let down and uncombed. Patrick could notice a trail of tears on her face that still glistened from the moisture. Her make-up was washed off, her eyes were bright red but as she opened the door she tried to smile, her lips quivering with the effort.

“Hi Patrick, did you come for a visit?”
Her voice was dangerously calm and steady, a stark contrast to her appearance. It made Patrick grow even more uneasy. What on earth was going on?

“Everyone said you left early and I just want
ed to make sure you’re okay or if you needed something.”

“
Oh, thank you, but I think that the last thing I need right now is someone seeing me like this.” Sarah gave him a forced smile and a bitter laugh, “In fact, you’re the last person I want to see right now, Patrick.”

Patrick
was stunned, and his mind flashed back over the past few days. It was apparent he had done something stupid, but for the life of him he couldn’t figure out what it was. He shook his head in confusion and desperation. Just what did he do to make Sarah so angry with him?

“Sarah, what happened?” He let go of his bag and the chocolate box and
tried to grab her hands. But she pulled away from his, as if his touch would burn her. Betrayal roared in her eyes.

“What happened?
” she asked bitterly. “I thought you knew Patrick. Since you are the one who wrote the letter requesting for me to be transferred!”

A
flash of images played across his mind. He did send the letter weeks ago. He remembered his fingers slowly typing that the torturous memo, the soft tap of his finger on the mouse as he hit the ‘send’ button on the screen.

The past always came back to haunt Patrick, whether it was the memory of his parent’s
divorce or his hard time supporting his mother. The memory of losing Sarah was about to be added to that list. It was as if the veil of illusion had been lifted off, and Patrick was seeing the aftermath of his careless actions. He thought he had caught the bluebird;  happiness seemed to be in his hands for just a second. Patrick had just forgotten. No bird would want to stay in these soiled hands. They seemed to destroy everything that he loved.

“Sarah…
I’m so sorry. I can fix this- no, I
am
going to fix this. That was weeks ago; I’d even forgotten I’d written that horrible letter.” He tried to sound strong, but his voice came out with a tremor. His heart was leaping, and his hands wouldn’t stop shaking. He had broken Sarah’s trust, just as his father had broken his. He knew how much Sarah hated him right now because he knew what it was like to be betrayed.

“
It’s not just that. They feel I’ve been a distraction to you and that your billable hours have decreased. I either must transfer back or be fired. But, they’re using your letter as legal rights for the transfer. I have no choice.”

“
I can’t believe this. I judged you before I even knew you. I shouldn’t have done that and now that I know who you really are, I’m going to do everything in my power to fix this.”

If
only the desperation in his voice could reach the icy wall that Sarah had over her heart right now, Patrick would do anything. But Sarah only stood still, guarding the door.

“Could you, Patrick? Could you
change what you really are? Everyone is so convinced that you won’t be able to change.”

“I
made a mistake!” he admitted. Patrick stripped away the last layer of his pride for Sarah, in hope that he could do something to convince her.

“I know. I did too,”
by trusting you,
she wanted to add. It was the last word Sarah offered to him before she closed the door in her face. Time, she needed time. He would give it to her while he cleared everything up.

Patrick could only stare at the wooden door, hoping
for a second it would open again. He picked up his bag and the chocolate box before forcing himself to walk away from that door. He couldn’t look back at it because he could hear Sarah’s sobs echoing from the room.

He
made a mistake. As a perfectionist, Patrick despised mistakes. This one would haunt him forever, just like the words of his father. But he could fix this, would fix this.

The chocolate in his hand
was long forgotten as he discarded it to the nearest bin and raked a hand through his hair. He needed time to think. He could march into the battlefield unarmed, but he also knew that he was running out of time.

Taking a deep breathe, Patrick suddenly knew what he needed to do. Pulling his phone from his pocket, he did something he’d never done in his adult life. He called for help.