The Tenth Justice - Brad Meltzer [33]
“Wow, a compliment from the Job Guru himself.”
“I’m serious,” Ben said. “No matter how it happened, we all know you deserve that promotion.”
“I don’t know,” Ober said. “I mean, I’m still not a Supreme Court clerk.”
“You don’t have to be a clerk,” Ben said. “All you have to do is be yourself.”
“And always let your conscience be your guide!” Eric and Nathan sang.
A half hour later, Ober was tapped on the shoulder by a beautiful brown-haired woman, dressed in a jet-black designer pantsuit. “Do you mind if we join you?” she asked.
“Lila!” Ober shouted. “What are you doing here?” After getting up to hug the stranger, he looked at his roommates and explained, “This is Lila Jospin. We used to fool around in college.”
“That’s a wonderful introduction,” Ben said. Shaking Lila’s hand, he said, “You are obviously a woman of fine taste. Nice to meet you.”
“You, too,” Lila said.
“Looks like you brought some friends. How many are you?” Ober asked as he began to pull together tables to make more room.
“There are four of us,” Lila said as her three friends approached the table.
“Perfect,” Ober said. “Absolutely perfect.”
At seven-thirty Tuesday morning, Ben entered the office. “You’re late,” Lisa said as he collapsed on the sofa.
“I’m tired,” he said.
“Where were you last night? Drowning your sorrows in beer?”
“Last night, I’ll have you know, there were no sorrows to be found. Last night was full of joy.”
“So you went out to a bar, found a woman, and took her home. Big deal. Who do you think you are, William the Conqueror?”
“Actually, I picture myself more as Magellan. He was so much more regal and imposing—a true visionary. Like myself, he was a Renaissance man living in a world that rarely understood him.”
“Actually, he was a misogynist barbarian who barely understood what he had found. In that sense, you are alike.” Leaning back in her chair, Lisa put her hands behind her head. “So, aren’t you going to ask me how my date went last night?”
“You had a date?” Ben asked, raising an eyebrow.
“What’s so surprising about that? I’m a strong woman with needs of her own.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you were going on a date?”
“Because you’d tease me about it.”
“I’m still going to tease you about it. Now tell me, who was the poor victim?”
“His name is Jonathan Kord. He works in Senator Greiff’s office.”
“Oh my God! Jonathan Kord? I know that guy! A friend of mine, may she rest in peace, went out with him.”
“You don’t know him,” Lisa said, grabbing a handful of paper clips and throwing them at Ben.
“I don’t need to. With a name like Jonathan, I can tell he’s stale.”
“What are you talking about? Jonathan’s a great name. His friends all call him Jon.”
“But he goes by Jonathan, doesn’t he?” Lisa was silent. “I knew it!” Ben shouted. “He’s stale.”
“He didn’t taste stale,” Lisa shot back.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Ben said, sitting up straight on the sofa. “Did you really get some play last night?”
“I might’ve,” Lisa teased. “But even if I didn’t, I get to know that you’re jealous.”
“I’m not jealous.”
“Then why does your face match the sofa?”
“Trust me, I’m not jealous. Now tell me what happened.”
“It wasn’t much. We went to dinner and then we walked around the Washington Monument.”
“Oh, please,” Ben said, throwing his hands in the air. “This guy played you like a fiddle. He buys you dinner and then takes you to walk around a giant erection? What kind of message does that send?”
“I paid for dinner, stud-boy. And it was my idea to go to the Monument.”
“Now that’s a date,” Ben said, nodding his head. “I’m impressed.” He crossed his arms and said, “Go on.”
“And then I dropped him off.”
“That’s it?” Ben asked suspiciously. “You took him out and dropped him off?”
“I don’t know,” Lisa said, her eyes focused on her feet. “I think I scared him off. I might’ve been too aggressive.”
“You? Aggressive?”
“No, I was definitely too aggressive,” Lisa said, suddenly serious. “I think he was really intimidated when I told him that I could teach him a thing or