Page 125 - In Five Years

enough.”
“I doubt that.”
“You shouldn’t. It’s the truth.”
We walk in silence for a moment.

“Did you ever think about being a litigator?” he asks me, so suddenly I’m
caught off guard.

“Excuse me?”
“I mean, I know you practice deal law. I’m wondering if you ever thought
about being one of those lawyers who goes to court. I bet you’d crush at it.” He
gives me a one-eyed smile. “You seem like you’d be good at winning an

argument.”
“No,” I say. “Litigating isn’t for me.”

“How come?”
I sidestep around a puddle of liquid on the sidewalk. In New York you never
know what is water and what is urine.

“Litigating is bending the law to your will, it’s deception, it’s all about
perception. Can you convince a jury? Can you make people feel? In deal
making, nothing is above the law. The written words are what matters.

Everything is there in black and white.”
“Fascinating,” he says.
“I think so.”

Aaron lifts his hands from his sides and rubs them together. “So listen,” he
says. “How are you?”
The question makes me stop walking.

So does he.
I turn slightly inward, and he mirrors me. “Not good,” I say, honestly.
“Yeah,” he says. “I figured. I can’t imagine how hard this must be for you.”

I look at him. His eyes meet mine.
“She’s—” I start, but I can’t finish it. The wind picks up, dancing the leaves
and trash into a veritable ballet. I start to cry.

“It’s okay,” he says. He makes a move forward, but I take one back and we
stand on the street like that, not quite meeting, until the river quiets.
“It’s not,” I say.

“Yeah,” he says. “I know.”