Southern Justice, Part 47

I’m Fixin’ To present part 47 of Southern Justice:

Rick Junior wrapped up the meeting on the company’s reorganization when he said to Jones and Chris, “One last thing fellows, my wife and I would like to invite you to a celebration dinner tonight. Please invite Vickie and her husband. We’ll tell her about her promotion tonight. Oh, and of course, bring a guest if you like. Can I depend on you to be there?”

As soon as they both accepted the dinner invitation a thought hit Chris and he blurted it out, “How about if as my guest I bring the lawyer I mentioned? That way we can all get a feel of how she might fit in.”

“There was never anything slow about you, Chris. Sure, bring him, or rather her. Now, let’s all get back to work,” Rick Junior confirmed Chris’ request, and dismissed the meeting at the same time.

Out in the hallway, on the way back to their offices, Chris approached Jones and asked, “Listen buddy, are you going to your lake house this weekend?”

“No,” Jones told him. “If you remember we are all invited to the Southern Living golf tournament this weekend.”

“I think I’m going to skip the golf game, because I just want to get away for a day or two, so I was wondering if you would mind if I spent the week end on the water.”

“Hey, mi casa es su casa,” Jones responded. “You know where the key is.”

Chris went directly to his office and sat staring at the work on his desk. He knew he had talked himself into a dilemma. What would everyone think at dinner tonight when he introduced Patty as the candidate for the legal position? Should he tell them about their relationship? What if Patty wasn’t interested in the job? After all, she had just begun her own law practice, tiny as it was. He needed to talk to someone about the situation, someone he could trust. There was one person whom he knew would give him an opinion from a woman’s point of view. He picked up the phone and called Vickie Bain.

She was a patient listener while he related the situation which had developed over the past few days; leaving out only the parts about intimacy, the break-in and the stolen list of Rick Senior’s assets. When he finished, he took a deep breath and asked, “What do you think I should do Vickie, bring her along tonight, or not?”

“The first thing you should do is to be happy,” Vickie told him. It sounds as if you’ve been fortunate enough to meet a very fine woman, and a lawyer to boot. By the way, what’s this dinner about?”

“Can’t tell you, but it’s very good news for everyone, including you. But how do you think Rick Junior and Jones will react when they figure out who she is and where she came from?”

“They both trust you, Chris, and I’m sure there will be no problem, but I also think you should inform them beforehand about who you are bringing to dinner, just to prevent any awkwardness.”

“Yes, I suppose you’re right, as usual,” Chris agreed with a sigh of relief.

So later in the day Chris got to tell his story again to his two partners over coffee. Once again, he left out the break-in, the list, and the more intimate parts of his new relationship.

Rick Junior and Jones listened to him intently without any interruptions. When Chris was apparently finished Jones asked, “There’s still some things you are not telling us, right?”

Reluctantly, Chris agreed that was indeed the case, but went on to explain that he was doing so as not to place the two of them in a position where they might have to jeopardize themselves.

Not satisfied, Rich Junior leaned forward and said, “Chris, can you please give us some kind of notion or hint of what the heck you’re talking about?”

Chris took a few moment to think about this before he finally said, “I believe I can. If, just if, I had done something highly illegal, which provided undeniable evidence of who the true owner of the company is, and you guys knew about it, then you would be obligated to admit this under oath; whereas, if no one knows except my attorney and myself, it can’t be proven.”

Chris watched his partners look at each other knowingly just before Jones said, “I think we got the gist of what’s going on.”

Rick Junior than asked, “Chris, are you one hundred percent sure about this woman?”

“Absolutely!” Chris declared with confidence.

“Okay,” Rick Junior acquiesced. “Sounds like a double bonus—you found yourself a girlfriend and the company a valuable asset. There’s just one question?”

“What would that be?” Chris asked in alarm.