Free An Accidental Life by Pamela Binnings Ewen Page B

We’re on the moon. Now we’ll shoot for the stars if we want to. Or some of us will choose to work at home. But either way, because our grandmothers and mothers got things started, now we have choices.”
    “Any tips for making it in a man’s world?”
    She smiled. “Keep wearing lipstick. It’s our world, too.”
    Tom laughed and wrote that down. Then he switched off the recorder. Art picked up the closed umbrellas and they followed him out.
    “Are you free to have lunch with us after this?” Tom said as they walked toward the elevator. “Our flight’s at four.”
    “Sure. I’m free until one thirty. My secretary can book us a table at Brennan’s, or we can take our chances with the line at Galatoire’s.” She gave him a sideways look. “I’ll treat. I have my own credit card now.”

10
    The next morning Rebecca and Peter each packed for the trip and Peter put the suitcases in his car. She would spend the morning in her office and he’d wrap things up in his and pick her up downtown at two o’clock. Their flight left at four in the afternoon, giving them plenty of time to check in and relax.
    At the office she was happy to find that Sydney was already working with the transaction team to finalize the bond documents for the closing. Changes to the Offering Memorandum had been agreed on by all parties. After a quick call with the chief financial officer of her client, the issuer of the bonds, Rebecca strolled down the hallway to Amalise’s new office.
    She stood at the door before entering, watching Amalise. She was fully absorbed in her work, reading and making notes in the margin. She thought about the differences between the two of them. While she, Rebecca, put all her energy into a transaction until it was completed, Amalise seemed able to divide hers up between home and work. That talent had helped Amalise make it through the darkness of an earlier marriage that had left her a widow. And, she guessed, maybe that’s what made her arrangement with Jude such a success.
    With a quick series of raps on the door, she walked into the office.
    Amalise looked up and Rebecca could almost see her clearing her mind, shifting her attention completely from one thing to the other as she put the pencil down on the desk and smiled. “Hey. Come on in.” She straightened and leaned back in the chair.
    “I came to take a look around.” Rebecca meandered about. Against the far wall near the windows, Amalise had arranged a conference table instead of the sofa and chairs that Rebecca had chosen. But there was the same L-shaped bookcase and the same leather-bound deal books, and the same Lucite mementos.
    Here, however, the wall behind the conference table was covered with pictures of Luke and Jude, and Amalise’s mother and father—Maraine and Judge Catoir—at their home in Marianus. And there was a picture of Amalise and Rebecca standing together on the steps of Tulane Law School in their gowns on graduation day six years ago.
    “Nice.” Rebecca walked over to the conference table and picked up a small glass sculpture in the center of the table, turning it in her hands, feeling the smooth surface and sharp edges.
    “It is nice. Fun to have so much space, isn’t it? And, you were right about not worrying about getting work—Preston’s just asked me to head up a transaction for one of his clients.” Amalise massaged the back of her neck as she looked at Rebecca. “As usual, we’ve got a short deadline. But at least I’ve got plenty to do now.”
    Rebecca put the sculpture back down on the table and turned to Amalise. “Do you have a few minutes to talk?”
    “Sure. I’ve got a meeting later on this afternoon, but I’ve got time right now. What’s on your mind?”
    Rebecca crossed the room, closed the door, and took a seat in a chair before Amalise’s desk. Church bells from Jesuit’s down the street tolled eleven and the bells stirred something in her now. A melancholy feeling; the exuberance she’d