Treya couldn't imagine standing for it herself. When Jonas missed a dinner or a movie or a show because he was in surgery, when he never made it home because of some hospital emergency, Elaine seemed to deal with it. But if it was her, if she got hung up at work and had to cancel out on one of his events…
Treya remembered the first time she'd seen it. She had left a message for Jonas that Elaine was in a deposition that was running very late. She and Jonas had been due to go to LA for some medical convention and Elaine was going to have to catch a later flight. She would miss the introductions, the cocktail party. She'd try to make it down by the next morning at the latest. Jonas had shown up in front of Treya's desk in a fury. It was as though he'd never met her before, as if they'd never plotted together to find a quiet place he and Elaine could meet. If the deposition had been taking place in one of the offices at Rand and Jackman, she had no doubt he would have broken into the room, interrupting the proceedings. But she'd told him, untruthfully, she really didn't know where Elaine was working. 'Well, find her,' he'd snapped at her.
After that, Treya had never felt the same about Jonas Walsh.
Afterwards, of course, he'd apologized, told Treya he'd been under a lot of stress, yack yack yack. But she saw it from him, heard about it from Elaine, too many other times. Even today, the lunch they'd just left – Jonas unwilling even to listen. He knew the truth. It was obvious. Everybody should just stop wasting his precious time.
But for some reason, Elaine had put up with it, even apologized for him. 'He's under a ton of pressure every day, Trey. Life and death stuff. You watch, after we start a family, he'll get his priorities straight. He's got a great heart.'
Now Treya looked across at the dejected figure and in spite of their differences, she felt for him, as she felt for herself. The world as they both knew it had ended, and neither felt ready to move on. A gust of wind slapped at the window, and they heard the beginning of rain.
His hand was still resting over his eyes, his face half hidden. The voice came out guttural, low enough – almost – to be distant thunder. 'She was talking about leaving me,' he said.
Though she'd heard him clearly, the truth of it didn't seem to register right away. She would not have believed it possible that Elaine had come close to making that decision and kept it from her. 'I'm sorry, what?'
'You didn't know?' Now he did look over. 'She really didn't tell you?'
'Are you joking?'
'Am I joking?' He shook his head. 'She told me she hadn't told anybody yet. I didn't believe her.'
Treya sat back, stunned by the news. 'She didn't tell me,' she said simply. Then added. 'She never even said she was unhappy.'
Another half-laugh. 'Well, there you go.' He brought his feet down off the desk, swivelled in the chair to face her. 'I wasn't going to let her go. I told her I'd change.'
'From what?' But, of course, she knew.
He made a face. 'All the hours. But hell, it wasn't like she didn't work around the clock, either. Still, I told her I could take on less work. I would.'
'Was that it, then, the hours?'
'That's what she said – if we weren't ever going to see each other anyway, what was the point…?' He left it hanging.
'But?'
Another awkward shrug. He began to say something, stopped, blew out some air. After a minute, he raised his eyes again, met Treya's. 'Hell, you know me, Trey. I'm not the best person in the world. I know I've been shitty to you and there's no excuse for that. I guess Elaine, too, taking her for granted. But my work…' He paused, realizing that this wasn't going to fly. 'No, not my work. It was me. I know it was me.' His eyes implored her to believe him.
'So what happened?'
'Nothing, really. At least no one event. That's what she said. But I think it was.' The rain suddenly picked up, loudly tattooing the window. Both of them turned their heads, then Welsh brought his attention back to her, continued. 'A couple of weeks ago, you might remember, we had a weekend planned, go up to Mendocino, leave the pagers home…'
'But you had some intern problems and it didn't happen.' Treya suppressed a smile. 'She did mention something about that.'
'I bet she did.'
'Well, OK, she wasn't happy, Jonas, but she didn't talk about moving out.' Treya paused. 'She said she just thought you two needed to find some time to talk, get some things worked out again.'
'She told you that?' A show of great relief. He leaned into the chair, stretching out. With both his surgeon's hands, he combed the flowing black hair straight back off his forehead. 'That helps.'
The words – the self-absorption they betrayed – struck Treya like a blow. 'How does that help, Jonas? How can it possibly make any difference now?'
'No. I don't mean…' With an apologetic gesture, he started over. 'Of course it doesn't. What I meant was I thought she'd made up her mind – she told me she'd made up her mind. But she might have listened.' Again, his eyes implored her to believe him. 'I could have changed. I could have convinced her to stay, don't you think?'
Treya shook her head sadly. 'I don't know, Jonas. I really don't know.'
'I wasn't going to let her go,' he repeated, now almost to himself. 'I would have done anything.'
She was pretty sure she knew what Jonas Walsh thought he was trying to say. But what she heard sent a chill up the back of her spine.
There was a message from Jackman on her desk, another summons to his office.
His secretary flashed some attitude this time. It was subtle enough to allow denial if it ever came up, but Treya read the message clearly – uppity girl wasn't making any friends putting the moves on another partner. Same as she had with Elaine. Too good to work with the rest of us. And admitted inside right away, too, yes ma'am. Certainly, Mr Jackman. No waiting for this paralegal, and isn't that a fine how-do-you-do when Mr Jackman had been known to keep the mayor waiting? Girl must think she is something.
But there was nothing Treya could do about the jealousy. It was an office, after all, filled mostly with women working for powerful men. The claws were out, protecting territory, at all times.
So Treya entered the sanctuary, and Jackman told her to take the seat set up in front of his desk. She took it, then thanked him for the lunch. 'It was a nice idea. I think people really appreciated the opportunity to talk.'
The senior partner shrugged. 'I'm afraid it may have upset Dr Walsh, and that wasn't my intention.'
'No.' She paused, wondering how much more to say. 'He was upset to begin with, sir. He and Elaine-' This time, she stopped dead. He and Elaine what?
'Of course, of course. Naturally.' Jackman hadn't gone behind his desk. Instead, he moved an out-basket from the corner of it and threw a leg across, settling into a casual pose. 'When was the wedding going to be?'
'June.' She cleared her throat. 'June.'
He nodded for a moment. 'It's awful,' he said. 'Just awful.'
'Yes, sir.'
He nodded again, got up, walked a few steps back to his own window and looked at the rain. It almost seemed to her that he was steeling himself. To fire her early? She held her breath.
'Well, Treya,' he began, then caught himself. 'Do you mind if I call you Treya? What kind of name is that, by the way?'
A feeling of relief washed over her. It felt like the first time she'd smiled in a week. 'Treya's fine, and I don't know what kind of name it is. I think my dad was just weird, sir. He liked the sound of it. I've got an older brother named Sixto, if that's any help, and he's the first child.'