Chapter Three

Arriving at the 38th floor, Candy just stopped and gaped. The entry to the Clifford & Jamison offices was utterly spectacular. The doorway was highly polished cherry with the firm name in brass letters above it, along with the very dignified qualifier, Attorneys at Law, in smaller letters below the name. Candy straightened her shoulders and marched in, feeling her nipples moving against the worn fabric of her shirt as she did.

Seeing the receptionist, Candy’s first reaction was to flee. The girl sitting behind the desk was the most beautiful blue-eyed blonde she had ever seen. I wonder what I would look like with blue eyes like hers? Candy wondered. All I have are yucky gray. Again, though, Candy’s self-appraisal was wrong. Her eyes were large with small eyebrows and very long lashes. The effect was singularly striking, but like everything else regarding her appearance, if it was good, it was downplayed or totally ignored.

“Good morning,” she said to the receptionist. “Candace Kane to see Ms. Harris. I have an appointment.”

“Welcome, Miss Kane!” the girl responded enthusiastically. “The others are already here and are waiting for you in the conference room. If you will come with me... ?”

Judy Jeffries led the way to a small conference room. Opening the door, she ushered the girl in, then returned to her desk.

There were three women in the room. There was an older woman — probably in her late forties, Candy guessed — sitting on one side of the table. The mediator, Iris Kaplan, Candy thought. Sitting at the end of the table on the side closest to the door were two of the most beautiful young women Candy had ever seen.

Kathy Carlson and Sandy Harris had arisen when Judy showed Candy into the room. Sandy extended her hand and said, “Welcome, Miss Kane. I’m Sandy Harris and this is one of my partners, Kathy Carlson.” With a warm grin she added, “As you might guess from her tropic tan, Kathy has just returned from her honeymoon in Hawaii.”

Looking at Kathy Carlson, Candy realized she was just gaping. Never in her life had she encountered such beauty.

Kathy looked down her body and then at Sandy. “Partner, am I all together? Did I forget something important this morning?”

Ignoring Kathy’s comment, Sandy just took Candy’s hand in a firm grip and said, “Kathy refuses to believe how incredibly beautiful she is.” Then, while looking directly into Candy’s gray eyes she added, “She’s exactly like you in that respect.”

Candy was just stunned by the comment. When she awakened to the fact that her hand was being gripped firmly, she returned it the same way and smiled. Only then did she realize that Katherine McCarthy had essentially no grip at all; she merely touched hands saying that a firm grip was strictly a white European male construct with which she refused to go along. Nonetheless, Sandy’s firm grip felt good.

When she shook hands with Kathy Carlson, she found her grip even firmer than Sandy’s. “You are the most beautiful woman on the face of the earth,” Candy breathed. Looking deeply into Kathy’s brown eyes she realized that much of her beauty was within. It was a new and deeply disturbing thought.

The meeting began with Iris Kaplan explaining that her rôle was to prevent Candy from being browbeaten by the attorneys and to try to work out some common ground if possible.

As they began to chat — and Candy realized that was exactly what was happening — she noted for the first time that neither of the lawyers had so much as a piece of paper with her. The only paper was a pad in front of Ms. Kaplan.