New York_ The Novel - Edward Rutherfurd [424]
“I’m a terrible cook.”
She got up and had a look around while he got the wine. Then she sat down, cradling the wine glass thoughtfully.
“So,” she said with a smile, “this is your technique, is it? You invite the girl round for a drink, so she can see the beautiful apartment. Then you take her out for dinner telling her that you’re too helpless to cook. By this time, she has decided that you and your apartment need her tender loving care.”
“Absolutely inaccurate. If true, I’d be married by now.”
“Poor defense.”
They talked very easily. He told her how he’d always planned to live in the city since he was a little boy, and asked her why she had come there.
“Actually, it was my brother. He lives down in the Village, and one Sunday he took me out, and we walked into Soho. This was early in ’73, when the World Trade Center towers had recently been completed. It was an overcast morning, but the sun was trying to break through the clouds. And there was this great, gray tower in the sky below Soho, kind of grainy, and as the sunlight caught it, the tower seemed to change its texture. It was one of the most magical moments in my life. That’s when I decided I had to come to New York.”
“I thought you didn’t like that kind of architecture. The international style.”
“I usually don’t. But the towers are different somehow. It’s the surface I guess, the play of the light.”
“Is your brother married?”
“No. Actually, he’s gay.” She paused. “My parents don’t know.”
“That must be difficult. When did you find out?”
“Eight years ago. Martin and I are very close, and he told me. That was 1969, the year of the Stonewall riots after the police raided that gay bar in the Village. I was still at school.”
“Isn’t it time he told your parents?”
“Yes, but it won’t be easy. It’s going to be a big shock to Dad, because Martin’s the only son, and Dad’s relying on him to carry on the family name. Martin has to tell them sooner or later, but I’d better be around when he does. Everybody’s going to need me. Especially Martin.” She smiled. “I’m always there for my brother.”
Gorham nodded. There was more to this attractive lawyer than he’d guessed.
“The family’s a powerful thing. I feel this huge responsibility to restore my family to what it used to be, but I have to admit that I chose it. My father never did. Do you have anything like that?”
“I don’t feel a duty to the past, but I do feel a duty toward myself. My mother was always very strong about that. She was forever telling me I could be anything I want, and that I should have a career. Get married, she said, but never be dependent on a husband. She’s a schoolteacher.”
“Has there been friction between her and your father?”
“No, they’re devoted to each other. It’s just what she believes in.”
“I know quite a few women lawyers who did really well, but then stopped working when they had children.”
“Not this girl.”
“You think you can have it all?”
“Do it all, have it all. Sure. It’s an article of faith.”
“It may not be easy.”
“Good organization will be critical—I’m a great organizer. But I’m afraid I’d be a terrible corporate wife.”
“You’d better marry a lawyer, then. Someone who understands what you have to do.”
She shook her head. “No way.”
“Why?”
“Competition. There’s always going to be competition in any profession. Somebody’s going to win and somebody’s going to lose. Put that in a marriage and I think it would be too difficult.”
“You don’t intend to lose?”
“Do you?”
“I guess not,” said Gorham. “So what’s your plan?”
“No plan. Just hope I meet Mr. Right. Someone who thinks life’s an adventure. Someone who wants to keep on growing—professionally and personally.”
Gorham considered a while. This lawyer was quite a challenge.
“What did you think of my friend Juan? You seemed to be noncommittal after he gave the big speech about the Young Lords and the Panthers.”
“No, I was just thinking about what he said. I thought he was quite admirable actually.”
Gorham nodded. He’d met plenty of women