Stiletto Safari (2 page)

The building’s automatic doors spewed me onto the sidewalk. Blinking in the bright sunlight, I stood dazed as people milled around me. The honking of busy traffic made my already throbbing head ache, and I had the sudden urge to throw up. Staggering, I managed to make it to the edge of the sidewalk before my stomach heaved convulsively. Bile splattered my Jimmy Choo pumps.

“Have you no shame, behaving like that in the street.”

I looked around in total confusion. A stout old woman was yelling at me.

“It’s an utter disgrace being drunk at this time of day,” she continued.

“N-n-o, you’ve got it wrong,” I stammered. “It’s not what you think. I’m not drunk…”

“That’s what all alcoholics say,” she shouted triumphantly. By now half the street was staring at us. “You need to get yourself some professional help young lady.” She shook a disapproving finger at me before continuing up the sidewalk.

“I’m just having a bad day, you miserable old cow,” I screamed after her. The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. What was I saying? Why was I hurling abuse at someone’s grandmother? I wasn’t usually a rude person.

Horrified, I noticed that all the bankers from the M&A meeting were watching me. The meeting had obviously finished and they were waiting for cabs. The cute banker gave a sad shake of his head before turning his back on me. No one wanted to know me.

Chapter 2

F

rom out of a deep fog I could hear a phone. Groggily, I looked around me, but the ringing had stopped. For a second I had no idea where I was. Disoriented, I sat up before realizing that I was in my bedroom and it was twilight outside. My throat felt parched and sore, and my head pounded. I’d just had the worst dream.

Gingerly, I hopped off my bed and went in search of painkillers and water. The face that confronted me in the bathroom mirror was ghastly—completely ashen aside from makeup-smudged tear tracks. And I was dressed in my D&G suit. Suddenly, the morning’s events came flooding back. I wasn’t dreaming. I was living a nightmare.

Discarding my clothes, I stumbled into the shower and let the warm water cascade over me for a very long time. Slowly, I started to pull myself together and formulate a plan for how I was going to get myself out of this mess. I was a lawyer after all, I could figure this out.

First, I urgently needed to speak to Nick. Obviously, this was all a giant mix-up. Second, I needed to get my job back. Of course, this would be easy once the mistake came to light. Given the appalling way I had been treated, Harvey & Rose would probably even have to offer me a promotion or something.

Feeling a tiny bit better, I hopped out of the shower and wrapped myself in an oversized fluffy white terry-cloth robe. Disgustedly, I picked my dirty clothes off the floor with one finger and deposited them in the dry-cleaning basket. Being a complete germaphobe, I was shocked that only hours earlier I’d felt low enough to climb in between my crisp sheets in my clothes.

As I padded out to my minute living room, I became aware of the beeping of my phone. I pressed the message button and my phone imperiously announced, “You have five new messages.” I hit the play button.

Message 1: “Zara, it’s Nick. I really need to speak to you. I’ve left a message on your cell; call me back.” Nick’s voice sounded strained and edgy. I instinctively went to grab my Blackberry before remembering it had been confiscated.

Message 2: “Zara, Zara, are you there?” This time the voice belonged to Sal, one of my best friends, “Shit, Zara, where are you? I’m worried sick. I heard something bad happened. Call me back.”

Message 3: “Zara, it’s me, Sal—pick up pleeease. I keep hearing all these crazy rumors about you. Call me back as soon as you get this message.”

Message 4: “Zara, you’re starting to freak me out. Where are you and why haven’t you called me back? As soon as I can get out of here I’m coming over.” This time Sal’s voice sounded slightly hysterical.

Message 5: “Hey babe, it’s Emi. You have to come to yoga with me on Saturday. The new instructor is totally cute. You’ve got to come with me, okay? Promise.”

In contrast to Nick and Sal, Emi, my other best friend, sounded bright and breezy.

Picking up the phone, I tried Nick’s number and got his message bank again. This time I left a garbled message: “Nick, it’s Zara. Are you all right? You need to call me right away. I need to know what’s going on. I’m really worried about you. Also, I think I might have been fired. Call me back.” My voice sounded croaky and heavy with emotion. Next I hit speed-dial 2 and called Nick’s apartment. Again, no answer.

A moment later the phone started ringing. “Nick!” I practically yelled down the phone. Sal’s voice came through breathlessly on the other end.

“No, no, it’s me. I’m so relieved you finally answered—I’ve been calling you for ages and was getting really worried. I was about to call your parents. I’m nearly at your place; I’ll see you in five.”

“Okay,” I said flatly. Sal’s phone dropped out. While it was good to hear Sal’s voice, it was really Nick I wanted to speak to.
Where was he?

Exactly five minutes later my buzzer sounded, and seconds after that, Sal stood on the doorstep completely out of breath, clutching her side. “The lift was too slow, so I ran up the stairs,” she panted in explanation.

Flopping down on my couch, she took some deep breaths while I fetched two glasses of water from the kitchen. After gulping down her glass, she looked up at me, her face full of concern. “Geez, Zara, you had me so worried. Are you okay? What’s going on? The rumors are crazy.”

I shook my head, “No, no I’m not okay,” I sobbed, “but I can’t talk about it.” I collapsed onto the couch next to Sal and curled up into a tight little ball.

Sal threw her arms protectively around me, “There, there, honey, it’s okay. Take some deep breaths and tell me what’s going on. Nothing can be that bad.”

“Oh, but it is that bad,” I wailed. “And I can’t tell you about it; they made me sign a confidentiality agreement. I can’t talk to anyone.” My whole body shook convulsively.

Sal stroked my hair and after a few moments said reflectively, “Well, I am a lawyer, so if you were my client I’d be bound by legal professional privilege; then you could tell me anything you wanted and you wouldn’t be in breach of a silly confidentiality agreement.”

I thought it over. Sal had a point. Not that Harvey & Rose would ever let her represent me given that she worked there, but the principle worked in theory.

“Okay, but you have to promise not to tell anyone, Sal.”

“Zara, you have my word,” Sal solemnly declared.

“Honestly, I don’t even know what happened. One minute I was sitting in the boardroom taking notes, and the next minute I was being interrogated by Ed and George about Nick. They think he insider traded and that I gave him information about the DRB deal. It’s all so horrible. They basically threw me out of the building, and I have no idea where Nick is. He’s not picking up and hasn’t returned any of my calls. I don’t know what to do.”

Sal sat silently digesting what I’d just said before switching into action mode. “Pen, paper; we need to think this through.”

Prompted into action, I retrieved the requested items.

Propping herself up on the cushions, Sal looked at me seriously. “Zara, I have to ask: did you tell Nick about the DRB deal?”

“Noooo! Sal, you should know me better than that,” I said reproachfully. I was stung that Sal could even think such a thing.

“Sshh, sweetie, I didn’t think you would have said anything, but I had to ask.” She patted the couch next to her consolingly, and begrudgingly I sat down. I still couldn’t believe she’d asked me that question.

“So we know Nick didn’t get the information directly from you, but could he have somehow got it from you without you knowing? For instance, did you take any calls in front of him or bring any work home with you?” As if reading my mind, Sal quickly added, “I’m not saying Nick did it, Zara, I’m just thinking through the possibilities.”

I shook my head. “I don’t remember taking any calls in front of him and I never bring work home. Honestly, Nick never seemed particularly interested in my work.”

Sal absent-mindedly tapped the pen on the notepad. “So let’s switch tack for a minute. Has anyone from the SEC contacted you?”

Again, I shook my head. “They’ve taken my laptop and my Blackberry, though,” I moaned.

“Mmm,” Sal considered these new facts. “Well, the good news is that they would have definitely questioned you straight away if they thought you were directly involved. The bad news is that they obviously haven’t ruled you out completely yet. Once they’ve looked through your stuff, they’ll probably want to talk to you. Whatever you do, just make sure you fully answer their questions, even if they don’t seem that relevant or important. Cooperation is key.”

I nodded my agreement.

“Has Nick been acting any differently of late?” Sal continued. “I mean, if he were up to no good, there’d be signs, right?”

We both pondered this thought. Musing aloud, I said, “Well, he has seemed pretty preoccupied with work lately. But you know what he’s like; he’s a workaholic. I mean, he makes us Street lawyers look slack! Plus, hello, everyone with a job has been putting in the hours trying to prove they’re indispensable. Secretly, I think he’s also trying to prove to his father that he can make it by himself.”

“What about outside of work; anything weird there?” Sal questioned.

Again, I pondered. “Not really. I guess he has been hanging out quite a bit with Teddy and Josh lately. And you know how much I hate Josh.”

“Oh, yes I do! Josh is a spoiled little coke-snorting, party-going, womanizing creep.” The color had risen in Sal’s cheeks as she venomously spat this out.

A bit over a year ago, Sal and Josh had been an item until she busted him having sex with some random girl. It was so humiliating for her.

“Yeah, well, apparently Josh has been having some personal problems that he’s trying to work through.” Sal rolled her eyes dramatically at the mention of Josh’s personal problems. “Given how far back he and Nick go, Nick feels obliged to help him. He seems really convinced Josh is trying to clean up his act. Josh even has a job, if you can believe that.”

“Doing what?” Sal snorted.

“He’s heading up some division of his parents’ printing firm.”

Sal looked nauseated. “Freeloading off your parents doesn’t equate to having a job!”

“I know, Sal. He’s a good-for-nothing, but I don’t see how dwelling on Josh is going to help me. I’m in a real mess right now and you’re meant to be coming up with the miracle solution, not whining about Josh.”

“Right; point noted,” Sal agreed, chewing contemplatively on the end of the pen.

“Have you checked the voice messages on your Blackberry?” Sal asked.

“But how can I? They’ve taken it!” I wailed.

“Dial in remotely,” Sal helpfully suggested.

“Sal, you’re a genius! I totally forgot I could do that.” I hastily dialed my number and entered the code. A second later, however, I got an “access denied” message. Someone must have changed my code!

We both fell into a heavy silence. My situation was bad and we both knew it.

“Zara, I’m going to let you get some sleep. You’ve had a stressful day and I don’t think we’re thinking straight. Tomorrow I’ll snoop around at work and see what I can find out. We can fix this, I just know it.”

At the mention of work I groaned.

Sal patted my leg reassuringly. “Don’t worry, Zara, this will all blow over before you know it and in no time at all you’ll be back at your desk bitching about how awful it is to be a lawyer.”

“If I can ever show my face again,” I muttered. “I’m only guessing here, but I suspect being escorted off the premises by security doesn’t really make you partner material!”

Sal kissed me on the cheek as she left. “Be a good girl now and get some rest. We’ll talk first thing in the morning.”

Before going to bed I tried Nick again. Still no answer. Where the hell was he? It was 1:00 a.m. I had images of him holed up in some filthy cell with tattooed junkies as cellmates. With my whole being, I hoped he was okay and that this was all some gigantic mistake.

Deep down, though, I’d started to think that maybe he
was
caught up in something serious.

Chapter 3

B

y 5:00 a.m. I was up and pacing my tiny apartment nervously. I’d hardly slept. Nick hadn’t phoned during the night, and to top things off, this was the very first working day in three and a half years that I’d missed. I had no idea what to do with myself.

At 7:30 a.m. I called my secretary, Heather. Harvey & Rose might have kicked me out, but I still wanted to look professional and somehow deal responsibly with my workload. I needn’t have bothered calling. Heather informed me that she’d already canceled all of my meetings for the next few weeks and that my work had been reallocated to other lawyers. Clare got the prize mergers and acquisitions deal—typical.

My heart sank when I heard that Harvey & Rose had moved so efficiently to remove me from the planet. This wasn’t damage control—it was more like damage eradication! Curious to know the official line concerning my whereabouts, I pressed Heather for some information. Apparently, I was dealing with an urgent family matter and it was unclear when I’d be back at work. Not a very creative excuse, but one that wasn’t going to generate a lot of questions.

Just as I was about to hang up, Heather mentioned that my mother had called yesterday afternoon. Shit, how was I going to explain all of this to my parents? They were ridiculously proud of me and thought the sun shone out of Nick’s proverbial. They were going to die when they discovered that their model only child had been sacked (or as good as) and that their dream son-in-law was probably a soon-to-be-convicted felon.

Scared of the answer, I asked Heather whether she’d told my mum I was attending to an “urgent family matter.” Given my “only child” status, my parents were obviously not going to buy that one. Fortunately, Heather had fudged it and had simply told my mum I was out of the office, so I was safe for now.