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tHree firM DeCisions
opportunity. But the tension between New York and the rest of the firm was palpable. I didn’t really know the New York partners; nor was I ready to learn that the subtle undercurrent that I had perceived at the first New York meeting was not so subtle after all: Their tension over losing the freedom associated with being a small stand-alone firm was uncon- cealed. To make matters worse, their leadership had assertive, if not abrasive, personalities. I was being put on the spot, but I quickly assessed the situation and decided that not going along with the New York group would bring discomfort to my new day-to-day working existence and that, if it came to it, my going along with the position of the New York office was likely to be understood by the national leadership. I waited the situation out, and somehow things were resolved during the meeting, but I left the conclave with a queasy feeling—one that lingered.
Charles’s client base was far smaller than he had held it out to be, but it provided sufficient work for me, particularly when it came to the development of a major regional shopping center for The Limited in Ohio, and, when his work was combined with government-related work that I generated on my own, I was busy. Thus—at first, at least—I was somewhat oblivious to the trouble that lay ahead.
Really Going South
When we joined the New York group, their office occupied the south- west quadrant of a floor in the Rockefeller Center building that housed Radio City Music Hall. In order to accommodate the influx of Charles’s people, the New York firm had secured a short-term lease covering a portion of the floor below, from which we had a clear, although not par- ticularly glorious, view of the top of the Music Hall marquee. What we didn’t have was a meaningful reception area, good décor, or integration with the larger part of the office. This was uncomfortable, but the over- all lease for the office would expire in about two years, a livable amount of time, and the good news was that negotiations for a new, relatively long-term lease of contiguous space were under way. It was a big city
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