The World According to Vince - Jane Harvey-Berrick Page 0,38
the most powerful and prestigious law firms in New York. And I’ll have done it before I’m 40.”
Cady nodded. “Go on.”
“I work 14 hours six days a week, sometimes more. I take work home with me most nights. And I don’t mind that, I really don’t. I take a hot yoga class once a week and I get to have lunch with my bestie most Mondays…”
“When you don’t cancel on me.”
“I know, I hate that.”
“It’s okay. Ooh look! She’s carrying a watermelon. Sorry, go on. What’s this got to do with Vince? Although I think I can guess.”
“Vince’s life is chaos and…”
“Woah, woah! Objection, Counselor! Look around you. Do you see any chaos in his home? Does he ever forget to feed or walk his dogs? Has he ever left beer bottles or pizza boxes lying around when we’ve visited? Are there dirty skivvies under his bed? Is there a scurf line around his tub? I bet you’ve looked! Vince’s home is neat and tidy, and he doesn’t even have a cleaner, he does it all himself.” She gave me a hard look. “You’re over-ruled.”
“Okay, fine, his apartment is tidy but his life isn’t. He models in his underwear for his online fans. He teases them with his you-know-what! His latest sponsor makes S&M leisure wear! And before you ask, I know because he told me and because I read the contract for him. His life is just…”
Cady grabbed my hand as I started to get agitated. “Okay, just breathe for a minute before your OCD kicks in for real.”
I took a shuddering breath, annoyed to find that I had tears in my eyes as my chest felt constricted. Then Tap licked my arm, giving me a worried look.
“I’m okay, precious,” I said. “Mommy Gracie is just having a midlife crisis meltdown.”
She wagged her tail cautiously, and Cady chuckled.
“I think she understands you and she says that it’s okay for life to be messy because we can’t control everything around us. If we try, we’ll always be disappointed. People are messy and contrary and a pain in the ass, but if you dismiss all those things, you’ll dismiss everything that’s quirky and different, too.”
I sniffed and gave her a watery smile. “Tap says all that?”
“She is a very wise dog. She’s very fond of you and she worries when you’re upset.”
I stroked Tap’s soft fur as she nestled against my hip, slowly relaxing again. “She’s very special to me, too. Did you know that Vince rescued her from Dubai and spent months getting her well enough to travel home?”
“Yeah, I heard that story. Pretty incredible.”
“He is incredible,” I said softly. “Everything he’s done as the Canine Crusader is amazing…” I shook my head. “I never thought he’d do any of it, but he’s proved me wrong.” I looked up at Cady. “He’s not just a knob-head, is he? Not just a big joke.”
Cady shook her head. “No, he’s not.”
I sighed. “You know he bought me a stripper pole for my office as a late birthday present?”
Cady sniggered. “Yeah, that was an epic fail!”
“Well, I decided to try it out.”
“Excuse me?”
“I took a class at Rick’s gym.”
“You took a pole-dancing class?”
“Yes, I was terrible, but I really enjoyed it.”
Cady eyed me with interest. “Would you do it again?”
“Maybe. It was fun. It made a change from yoga.”
Cady lifted her eyebrows. “And what wisdom have you concluded from this interesting departure from your nice, tidy life?”
“Ugh, you make me sound so boring!”
“No, but you’re careful. You plan things, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But then you get upset when your perfect plans are torpedoed by life, and that stresses you out. I’m happy that you decided to shake things up a little.”
I gave a quiet laugh. “I think being Vince’s lawyer has taken care of that! But at the fashion show, there was a moment—well, several—when I thought it was going to be a complete disaster, but even though it was totally chaotic, it was fun.”
“I certainly laughed my ass off when a certain someone’s shit hit the fanny,” and Cady high-fived me as we both enjoyed that particular memory.
After we’d stopped laughing, Cady looked at me seriously. “And how does this make you feel about our favorite knob-head?”
I looked down at Tap as her eyes closed with pleasure while I continued to stroke her.
“It made me think that maybe he’s the one who’s gotten it right and I’m the one who’s gotten it wrong all of these years.”