Dead Ringer

Julien jumped in. “Of course you can, and you must. I read the complaint, my dad FedExed it to me at school. You did a great job. He thought so, and so do I.”

“But can you just make this decision, like that?”

“Why not?” Julien smiled shakily at her. “We’re not publicly traded, there’s no board of directors.”

“Don’t you have to consult anybody?”

“Perhaps I should.” Julien leaned over and tapped Georges’s shoulder. “Uncle, can I make this decision by myself?”

“Trot on, Julien!” Georges barked, and they both laughed heartily.

Bennie wiped her eyes. She didn’t even know how she’d get Robert’s money back. “Maybe you should think about it. Get over to the plant, talk to whoever you have to talk to.”

“Whatever for? It isn’t like that. I’ve worked for my father every summer since I’ve lived with him, and every holiday. I know how he does things, and he runs the show. Period.” Julien cleared his throat, with a genuinely authoritative air. “Bennie, we’ll stay in touch during the next month, until I graduate. I have only a few papers to hand in and then I’m finished. You fight the good fight, just like before. Call me when you would have called my dad, and don’t forget, you promised to sign my reprints.”

Bennie was shaking her head and even she didn’t know why.

“Now, before we forget, do we owe you any money? I know it takes a war chest to fund litigation that large, and I don’t expect Rosato amp; Associates to have to float St. Amien amp; Fils. Do you need money?”

“No,” she blurted out. She knew it made no sense, but she wouldn’t take a penny.

“You’re sure?”

“Yes, thanks. I’ll let you know when I do. We give a quarterly accounting.” Bennie hoped he didn’t hear her gulp. She picked up her bag to leave. “I’ll send you a copy of the file so far, and maybe someday you can come around the office and meet my associates. One of them has pink hair.”

“I used to have blue, did my dad tell you?”

“No. Did it match your eyes?”

“Hardly.” Julien laughed, giving Bennie another brief hug, and this one left her with a thickness in her throat.

“Julien, I think you might just change the world as a CEO. You’re direct, honest, smart, and funny. Funny is allowed when you’re not publicly traded.”

Julien laughed. “Here, let me walk you out.”

Bennie turned, then leaned down and gave Georges a quick kiss on his stiff, smoky beard. “Thank you so much, Georges, and please know my thoughts are with you.”

“Thank you.” Georges reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. “You are too lovely a woman to be a lawyer.”

“That’s what I think,” Bennie said, and bade him a last good-bye. Julien led the way, escorting her down the hallway with the same gentlemanly manners Robert would have had, walking her past the crowd in the living room and out the entrance to the elevator, where he pushed the button. Bennie turned. “Shouldn’t I say good-bye to Micheline?”

“Oh, yes, good call.” Julien’s gaze found Micheline in the crowd, and Bennie caught her smile as Julien motioned to her. She excused herself from her guests and came over, wineglass in hand. Julien seemed to straighten as she approached and smiled at her. “Micheline, I was just walking Bennie out, and she wanted to say good-bye.”

“How thoughtful of you, Julien,” she said, almost purring, and went on tiptoe to give him a quick peck on the cheek. Bennie was struck by her attention to Julien, which was inappropriate for a family member, if not Jerry Springer material. She touched his cheek. “I’m glad to see you’re feeling better. I hated to see you looking so sad.”

“Thank you for having me,” Bennie interrupted, and Micheline turned.

“You’re very welcome.” Micheline stiffened and extended a manicured hand, shaking Bennie’s lightly.

“I’ll take Bennie down to the lobby,” Julien offered.

“Don’t be too long,” Micheline said, wagging a finger at him. “I have some people I’d like for you to meet.”

“Sure, Micheline.” The elevator came and they went inside, and as soon as the doors slid closed, Julien grew serious. “There is something I wanted you to know, privately.”

“Sure.” Bennie looked over. “What?”

“I meant what I said about your continuing our class action, and I will ensure that, even when I’m not CEO anymore.”

“Anymore?” Bennie didn’t get it. “You didn’t even start the job yet. The lawsuit won’t take that long.”

“Confidentially, I’ll only be running the business for more than a few weeks, just to smooth the transition.” The elevator jostled slightly as it arrived on the lobby floor, but Julien hit the black button to keep the doors closed. “I didn’t want you to think I’m going to be a CEO of a lens-manufacturing company for the rest of my life. I would never do that.”

“No?” Bennie was flabbergasted.

“It’s what my father wanted for me, but never what I wanted. I didn’t want to go to B school either, he made me. I want to do what you do, I always have. Start my own law firm, prosecute police and official misconduct. I want to fight the good fight, like you do.”

The child has no clue. “Julien, I’m flattered, but really, you have to think about this. I don’t even want to do what I do. Look, I’m a class-action lawyer. Don’t make any major decisions, especially now.”

“I’ve been thinking about this decision for a long time. I know what I’m doing.”

“Giving up a family business? It’s been in St. Amien hands since your great-great-grandfather, right?”

“Since Robert’s great-grandfather, not mine,” Julien corrected matter-of-factly. “St. Amien amp; Fils will survive just fine without me anyway. There are vice presidents at the plant, like you said. An operations VP, a financial VP. One of them can run it, with oversight from the headquarters in France.”

Bennie couldn’t help feeling disappointed for Robert. “Did you discuss this with your father?”

“More than once. He disagreed with me, of course. He had his plan. I have mine, and now, I choose,” he said defiantly, and Bennie could hear traces of resentment.

“You mean because he… died, you’re going to do what you want?”

“Exactly.” Julien looked at her, his eyes full of pain. “It does have to do with his death. Because I don’t know if I would have had the guts to do this, really do this, if he had died a normal death and stepped aside for me. But that he died now, the way he died, it taught me something. It taught me that your life can be taken from you, just like that.” Julien snapped his fingers, with a bitter smile. “So you’d better live life the way you want to. No matter what you’ve been taught to do, or whatever promises you made. No matter what you told your father. It’s your life.”

“Julien, listen, I have an idea.” The elevator began to beep, but they both ignored it. “Next week, come over to my office.” If I have an office. “I’ll show you what it’s like, what we really do.”

“I’d like that. I’d love that!”

“Have you ever worked in a down-and-dirty, thrilled-to-break-even law firm?”

Beep beep beep. “No.”

“Have you ever worked in a law firm at all?”

Beep. Beep. “I wanted to, but my father said I was needed at the company.”

“The defense rests.” Bennie took Julien’s hand off the button. The elevator finally stopped beeping and the doors slid open. “We’ll talk about this later, maybe next week. You’ll come to the office, you’ll see us in action. Maybe the week after that, and I’ll take you around to meet my cronies.” Bennie got out of the elevator cab, with Julien right behind her. “They’re true believers, who make very little money, do their own Xeroxing, and take themselves out to lunch in the park, with a veggie sandwich in a recyclable bag. It really isn’t glamorous. It’s hard, exhausting work, and long, long hours.”

“Like a joint-degree program? I know how to work hard.”

“Not like a joint-degree program, because that is school and this is real life. There’s very little reward in it, Julien. Not even the potential of a reward. Sometimes your firm even goes bust and you lose