The Singles Table (Marriage Game #3)(64)

Zara kept her hands in her lap so as not to accidentally knock over a glass, drop a fork, or drum her fingers on the table. After they ordered their food, she smiled politely as her mother told her about her new cases, the firm’s planned expansion, the birthday breakfast Peter had prepared, and the cake her colleagues had brought to her office.

“It’s too bad Hari can’t be here,” her mother said after the food had arrived. “He said his flight was delayed by bad weather at the airport.”

Zara suspected the delay was less about weather and more about the fact that Hari hated the annual birthday dinner and had finally decided to give up even the pretense of wanting to be part of the family. Even so, he was her mother’s favorite and usually provided a buffer on social occasions.

“I might have my first class action lawsuit,” Zara said quickly when she saw her mother’s lips thin. Hari’s absence was just the kind of thing that could set off a chain reaction that would start with her perfect older brother and end with the disaster of her career. “I handed out my business cards at Tarun’s wedding and some aunties came to see me.”

Between bites of flavorful spinach poriyal, chicken masala, and podi dosa, she told them about the case without divulging which aunties were involved.

“What does it have to do with entertainment law?” Her mother dabbed her lips with a napkin. She was a master of subtle criticism.

“I’ve moved on from that dream.” She spoke deliberately, meeting her mother’s gaze as an equal even though she trembled inside. She’d said these words to Jay. Why shouldn’t she say them to the person who needed to hear them most? “I’m happy where I am. I can make a real difference at Cruz & Lovitt helping real people instead of big companies. I’m hoping that this case will be so big they’ll have no choice but to make my one-year contract permanent.”

“Your potential causes of action aren’t very strong,” her mother said dismissively. “How do you quantify the damages? Someone spoke unkindly to your clients. They turned off the camera and returned it to the store. How did they suffer?”

“A stranger talked to my client’s kids.” Zara’s voice rose in frustration. “He made racial slurs and told them to do terrible things. She didn’t feel safe in her own home. And as for causes of action, what about negligence, breach of the implied warranty of merchantability, breach of implied contract, unjust enrichment, and violation of the Unfair Competition Law? It’s a good case and Tony is letting me run with it. I thought you’d be proud of me.”

“It sounds very interesting,” Peter said quietly. “I have lots of friends who have installed security cameras in their homes. I’m sure they would be appalled to hear about this.”

“She needs to be realistic.” Her mother shot Peter a withering look. “If she wants to get back into a big-city firm, she can’t get involved in something that’s certain to fail. If she wants to do entertainment law she needs industry clients.”

“Weren’t you listening to me?” Zara threw her napkin on the table. “I don’t want to get back into a big-city firm. I want to stay at Cruz & Lovitt.”

“Darling . . .” Her mother sighed. “They advertise with a tiger. That does not scream professional.”

“Maybe I don’t want to be that kind of professional,” Zara shot back. “We have name recognition. We have loyal and happy clients who refer their friends and family to us. And we have a great track record of success. We’re the number one personal injury firm in the Bay Area.”

“Are you sure they’re going to make your position permanent?” Her mother shared a look with Peter. “I’ve heard they’re struggling to bring in clients and their profits are down fifty percent. They haven’t had a big settlement in over two years. You can’t run a law firm on slips and falls. There is a lot more competition in the personal injury market than there was even five years ago.”

A sudden coldness hit at Zara’s core. “How do you know all that?”

“The legal world isn’t that big, and I like to know what is going on with my daughter’s firm. I also know that you bumped into Lucia the other day. She said her offer to join her corporate litigation department is still open. I know you prefer a more relaxed atmosphere, but beggars can’t be choosers.”

Zara’s mouth went dry. Why hadn’t Tony told her the firm was in trouble? Why hadn’t he given her a heads-up that they might not be able to keep her on? “It might not be true,” she said, more to reassure herself than to challenge her mother. “I’ll talk to Tony tomorrow.”

“Tony is not going to tell you anything different.” Her mother sipped her wine. “You have a problem accepting that bad things sometimes happen, darling. When we told you about the divorce, you stood on the side of the road for hours screaming for your dad to come back, and then for weeks you pretended he was just away at a conference. I had to pack up all his things and repurpose the studio just so you would understand that we had to move on. When he finally got his own place, you pretended he was house-sitting for a friend. It went on and on. Really, it became rather tedious.”

“It sounds to me like she was in a lot of pain,” Peter said gently. “She was only what? Ten or eleven? That’s a hard age to have your life upended.”