Mo didn’t let the fact that she was preparing a presentation for the possibility of becoming a partner in the firm to stop her from having a social life but she had done a couple of late nights, almost until sunrise once. Thank god she set her alarm every night. She felt good after her presentation, she spoke clearly and didn’t use a curse word once which was hard for someone like her. However, this was a big deal and the people she worked for weren’t exactly amateurs when it came to poker faces. They let her go to discuss and Mo waited in her office on pins and needles.
A text message came from Roman to meet him at Joël Robuchon at 9 and she rushed home to get dressed. She owned one Versace dress, a gorgeous black midi-shirt dress with a safety pin belt, complete with gold blazer. She arrived before him, taking her place per the reservation and immediately ordering a gin and tonic. She tapped on the table nervously as she awaited Roman. It could go either way at this point and it was driving her crazy.
“So you do have some functional taste,” Roman murmured as he approached. He was looking at her dress, blatantly and without a bit of shame. Well aware of her sexual preferences by now, he dragged another gaze over that little black number and decided right then that the decision they came to when she had stepped out from the presentation was the correct one.
He slipped into the empty chair across from her.
A charming smile. “So, Mo, how was your holiday?” His mood couldn’t be dampened. His own holiday had been spent outside of Vegas on an impromptu vacation. Perhaps he was still coasting on a bit of that good time.
Did vampires celebrate holidays such as Christmas or did those things lose flavor with time and become just another day, or night, on the calendar?
Mo hadn’t been oblivious to the looks Roman had thrown her way every now and again and while in any other circumstance she might throw him the misogyny card, it seemed as if Romans boldness didn’t tend to discriminate, at least based on gender. Besides which, Roman was the kind of crooked lawyer she found entertaining. She rolled her eyes when he asked about her holidays.
“Did you mean to ask if I had a good Chanukah?” She raised her eyebrows at him and shrugged her shoulders. “Who cares, I lit a couple of candles and treated myself to a new dress.” Namely the one she was currently wearing.
Still on the edge of her seat, Mo began tapping her heels loudly in anticipation. “What did they say?” She asked impatiently, before they could even take his drink order.
“It’s flattering on you,” he murmured, shrugging a shoulder. He didn’t really care if she was shoving the menorah into odd places, he was making conversation. Roman knew why they both were here, as did she, but he had the prize at the end of the rope and dragging things out pleased him.
He left festivities in general terms.
Then Roman offered a chuckle at the eagerness. A hand went up, “Hold on, let me order a drink and get you another and then we can talk about the verdict.”
To the waiter Roman turned and asked for an Old Fashioned, circling a finger around Mo’s drink, “And another for her.” He didn’t offer a please or a thank you, simply turned his attention back to her.
“How do you think you did?”
Noticing the way he barely acknowledged the waiter, Mo offered Romans thank you from her own mouth. She returned her gaze to Roman, legs crossed at her lap.
She knew the game he was playing, knew he’d draw it out as long as he she appeared uncomfortable but she wasn’t going to give him that satisfaction, at least not in full. “Well, I’d say I spent a lot of time preparing and it showed in the thoroughness of my work.” A thin-lipped smile to the waiter as he brought the drinks.
She raised her glass and took a sip. Two could play at this game. “I exuded confidence and you said it yourself, I make the most sense when it comes to covering more grounds.” Specifically time. She was sure any law firm would stay open 24 hours if it meant more money. They had plenty of daytime lawyers but Mo was pretty much holding it down by herself at night. No paralegals to file her paperwork, no interns to get her coffee.
“Ask me something hard.” She teased with a sly smirk.
“I do love confidence,” Roman replied. He swept his drink up with a practiced ease, raising it slightly. “It looks better on you than that dress ever will. Stick with me, Moira. The world is your oyster,” he smirked, then added, “partner.”
There was no doubt she was an asset. Working the night shift when he and Porter couldn’t.
Employees could be dredged up; anyone needing a paycheck would come seeking opportunity and now that Mo would be moving into a new office, a restructuring in the staff would be part of the upcoming plan.
“To you, Moira Byrnes, our newest partner.”
A wide smile came to her face and she let out a loud “Fuck yes!” Which caused everyone in the restaurant to look her way. She didn’t care, Mo never cared about shit like that. When you had the money to pay you could act pretty much whatever way you wanted, Roman could attest to that.
This meant she could help fund more shelters, give more to organizations who desperately needed the money to fight for the real change that was happening in Washington. Someday she’d make the memory of Ruth proud.
“Mama’s getting a new corner office!” She said with a chuckle and clinked her glass against his in celebration.
He basked in her good feeling, even barking a laugh out at her choice of language. Cursing was something he didn’t do often merely by choice, and he wasn’t particular as to what came out of whose mouth necessarily.
“With partnership comes a slew of responsibilities,” he waved a hand dismissively then took a sip from his drink. “I have no doubt you will do the firm proud.” Had he any doubts she wouldn’t be moving into Schram’s old office space.
It wasn’t as if he didn’t break and bend those rules to beat suit his own needs. Why anyone wouldn’t do that same thing he didn’t know.
She tilted her head at him and raised a brow. Like she didn’t know that, but thankfully within a moment he redeemed himself. You couldn’t afford to be a pushover, they’d each learned it in law school and if you weren’t a workaholic you probably weren’t a lawyer.
“Come on Roman, you know I have no attachments. You fix me up a room and I’ll sleep in the office.” A joke, of course. She wouldn’t give up her antique bath for anything in the world.
“Speaking of which, is that still the case for you? I heard you left town during the holidays.” Like they weren’t still in them.
She had heard correctly. “I was overdue for a vacation,” he explained. And he hated the holidays with a passion. Christmas was always the event of the century at the Skye residence and he had come to loathe anything to do with the string of days.
His mother didn’t bother to telephone anymore unless she needed something and his father always had something better to drown in than family.
“Once a workaholic, always a workaholic, dear.” It was an easy, playful reminder. His dedication to his work never changed, not really, he just added more things to an already overburdened plate.
She raised her brows as the waiter came to take their food order. “I’ll have whatever he’s having.” Waving her hand dismissively, she deferred to Roman since she didn’t come to fancy places like this much. “Alone or did you bring someone?”
She knew how Roman was, throwing money at whoever held his interest at the time. She rarely saw any one person on his arm for a long time. She liked to think she could judge that lifestyle but Mo hadn’t exactly had a real girlfriend in quite a while.
She didn’t know why his private life fascinated her so much but she loved to live vicariously through him.
To the waiter, Roman placed an order, two filets though hers would be cooked bloodier than his for obvious reasons. Whatever else came with the meal was fine, and dismissively he waved the waiter away.
“I took someone with me,” he replied. “Do you remember that man I was telling you about?” The one he claimed to supposedly be seeing...well, she could do the math on her own. “We went to Kauai. It’s lovely this time of year.”
Her eyebrows went higher and she sat back in her chair, arms crossed over her chest. “Roman you throw around Polynesian islands like that, you better be ready to produce a fucking engagement ring.” She leaned forward on the table, arms next to her silverware as she whispered.
“How long do you think you can keep that up before he starts feeling like he’s been bought and paid for?” She quirked a brow at him, anxious to see what his response might be.
He had that Patrick Bateman vibe, so she kept herself on high alert, in case she struck just the wrong nerve.
A perfectly manicured eyebrow would arch upward at Moira’s comment regarding an engagement ring. He then chuckled, shaking his head. “You watch far too much television, Moira. Why can’t someone just take a vacation?” He found the idea of attaching himself that way to someone simply because taking a break sounded nice. The idea was ridiculous.
Roman’s smiled evened out. “It’s precious that you’re worried about me, what a good friend you are. I assure you it isn’t like that. Even if it was, who cares?” He wasn’t going to pretend he didn’t have expensive taste for anyone else. If Tal didn’t like it, Roman was certain he would say something and also, the world was full of fish.
Their food came and Mo began to cut up her filet. “That’s the Roman I know.” She replied with a grin. She could never function like that, care so little about other people but it amused her to see Roman pull it off so easily. Part of her hated that about him, knew that deep inside he was a snake but she was a partner now and whether she liked it or not, they’d have to stay in business together.
She quietly stuffed a piece into her mouth, chewing as she thought about her next move. She pointed her fork at him. “And I’ll have you know that I do not watch too much television.” Just reruns of M.A.S.H. if she was honest. “I don’t know if you know this about me…” she pointed the knife back to herself. “...but I am far more of a purveyor of the finer things than you seem to think I am.”
Mo frequented galleries, she danced at rock shows and she watched a little M.A.S.H. She was allowed that one thing.
He leaned backward as the waiter delivered their food. Roman shrugged at Mo casually, though his smile didn’t falter. Cutting into the steak, he pulled a bit apart and ate, listening to her. “Oh, I could tell by the fabric of your dress, Moira.” The little Versace number hugged all the right places, but then you got what you paid for.
“I never took you for the Wal-Mart type, Target perhaps.” He was only teasing of course. His opinion of her for the partnership would have been different if she didn’t spoil herself with the finer things once in a while.
Washing the steak down with a drink, he kept his focus.
“Don’t think I didn’t catch you looking at my ass when I stood up. You keep your prying looks to yourself.” It was an immediate response and she knew Roman could handle it.
She rolled at her eyes at that with a smirk as she took another sip of her gin and tonic. “Both of those companies can suck my dick. Do you have any idea how much their employees deal with misogyny, racism and homophobia? More times than I’d care to even know.” And she had known, watched from afar as various lawyers across the US tried and failed to take on these monster companies.
Roman barked a laugh. She was observant, he would give her that much. Whatever the demand he knew that Moira was keen enough to know that there would be no complying. Neither of them were hurting anyone.
“I don’t step foot into those places,” he reminded her, then added, “nor do I keep up with what they represent. I’ll leave that to you. You’re passionate about it.” He was fine with anyone being whatever they wanted as long as it wasn’t interfering with his personal business.
She took a bite and smirked around the food in her mouth. When she’d swallowed she chuckled. “Well Roman, that’s why I’m partner isn’t it? I do all the low-level nasty shit the rest of you don’t want.” So to speak. They had all their specialities but she could only imagine the others didn’t want to even touch the cases she took.
She washed down the last of her food and pushed her plate forward. She didn’t need to eat but it was still something she enjoyed every once in a while. “I just hope I never end up on the other side of the courtroom to you.” And that was the truth, it wasn’t uncommon in the practices from time to time but she dreaded the idea of having to work against the people she worked next to.
It was a fair assumption. She may be partner but there were still stripes to earn, though Roman didn’t doubt that she was up for the task. There had been many variables in her case that factored into the overall decision. But they made the right choice - even Mo knew it. “I couldn’t argue with that even if I wanted to,” he laughed.
Another few bites of the meal would be taken. Then he did the same, pushing the plate gently away.
“Even if you do, it would be an interesting fight,” he assured her. It was doubtful unless their clients conflicted. It didn’t happen often but it was possible. Roman didn’t go easy on anyone. He went in for the kill when he was in the courtroom and every case he worked was done meticulously.
She chuckled, emptying her second gin and tonic. Moira was thrilled, a giddy excitement she hadn’t felt in years. She’d finally gotten to the point in her life where she was doing what she wanted. It only took her 86 years. “So I guess that means I’ll spend tomorrow packing up my office.” She replied and grabbed her purse to take her wallet out.
It would be done before the other partners made it to work the next morning, Mo didn’t screw around when it came to moving up. She’d moved up fast over the last few years in this firm so it wasn’t necessarily new territory for her. “Thanks Roman, I know you probably had to do a bit of convincing.” She waved the waiter over and kindly asked him for the check.
“Hey, I do things for those I like,” he rebutted gently. He hoped she wouldn’t forget about that if he ever needed a favor, or two. You never did know what might pop up that needed a second opinion. Had it been anyone else he was dining with he wouldn’ve insisted on paying but then the times had changed and this was Moira.
Instead he finished his drink and waited for the waiter to flutter over to take the money.
“If you need supplies or things to fill all of that space with, do let me know.”
She placed the cash in the check presenter and stood from the table. She offered him a huge smile and hauled him up by his shoulders to place one kiss on each of his cheeks like everyone’s grandma. She was stronger than a 5’3” woman should have been.
“Roman, you’re the best. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t no matter how short that list is.” She gave him a wink and grabbed her bag.
“Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow.” She said with a shrug and gave him a little wave before she strutted out of the restaurant.
Big things were on the horizon for Mo, she could feel it.