On Monday, Michael was in court all day, but an envelope mysteriously appeared on Maggie’s desk at some point. It held two invitations and a note from Michael. Here are the tickets, Mags. It should be fun. Glad you’re coming. See you tomorrow. M.
Maggie called Ben. “You have to do me this favor.”
She’d called him right after the new phone was delivered and they’d talked for hours. Ben had arrived home to find that Alex had moved out of their apartment. He’d been devastated and Maggie had listened compassionately as he told her everything they’d gone through over the last few weeks, the lies he’d caught Alex telling, the hang-ups on their land line when Ben answered the phone, the late nights and special projects Alex had been assigned lately.
Maggie had tried to keep her opinion of Alex to herself but finally she couldn’t resist, “At least now you can move forward.”
Now on the phone, Ben was unenthusiastic. “What favor, Flynn?”
“You and I have invitations to a charity concert-slash-dinner in Darien, Connecticut on Friday night.”
Ben groaned. “No way, Flynn, no way am I up to that.”
“You have to do me this favor, Ben, I mean it,” she hissed. “Michael invited me but I can’t go alone. You have to do this for me. I never ask you for anything. Besides, it’ll do you good to get out. Maybe you’ll meet someone. Success is the best revenge, right?”
“I don’t know,” he hedged.
“There’s dinner, dancing, a silent auction, and performances by Steve Perry and ‘Diamond’ David Lee Roth,” she read directly from the invitation. “Plus, there’s an open bar,” she figured, although it didn’t say for sure. “Come on, do this for me, I’ll never ask for another favor ever again. Please?”
Ben sighed. “Alright, Flynn. Just because I love you. But there’d better be cute guys there. Hey, why isn’t Studly taking you as his date?”
“Because he already has a date,” she explained. “Don’t worry about the details. I’ll get the train tickets and meet you at 6:00 on Friday. Oh, and it’s semi-formal. So pull yourself together. Nobody wants to shag a whiner.”
It was 7:15 by the time Maggie and Ben arrived at the address given on the invitation, having taken the train from the city to Connecticut. Maggie had splurged on a new dress for the occasion, a form fitting sleeveless wrap dress of emerald green satin with a deep v neckline and ruching at the waist, causing the garment to cling to all her curves. The color of the dress emphasized the green of her eyes and nicely offset her red hair, which she left long and straight. She wore silver jeweled stiletto sandals and carried a silver clutch to match.
Ben was striking in his navy suit with a light blue dress shirt and dark blue patterned tie. He’d taken one look at Maggie and remarked, “Whoa, Flynn, killer cleavage!”
Self-consciously, she’d worried, “Is it too much?”
Ben shook his head. “Not if you’re trying to get the attention of a certain studly lawyer.”
They presented their invitations and were directed to the back of the main house. Guests were milling around the immaculately manicured lawn and under an immense white tent Maggie could see dining tables exquisitely set and awaiting the dinner portion of the evening. Servers circulated with trays of food and wine and Maggie and Ben each snagged a glass of sauvignon blanc as they scanned the crowd.
“I’m going to do my best hetero impression,” Ben told Maggie as he sipped his wine.
Maggie rolled her eyes. “Just be yourself.”
“Oh, no, we want to make Mr. Rannigan a little jealous,” Ben quipped. “I’m on a mission.”
“Shit. Maybe I should have worn black,” Maggie said, watching the crowd and seeing that most of the women were wearing variations on the little black dress.
“Are you kidding me, honey, you stand out like a beacon of light in this sad fashion show,” Ben reassured her. “Look who has spotted you now, girlfriend.”
Maggie followed his gaze and saw Michael working his way toward them through the crowd. She gasped as her stomach did a little flutter. Michael was stunning in his charcoal grey suit, crisp white shirt, black silk tie, and white pocket square. He was grinning rakishly as he strode up to them. Ben squared his jaw and slipped a hand around Maggie’s waist.
“Hey, Mags, glad you’re here,” Michael said, still smiling but his eyes were on Ben.
“Hi Michael,” Maggie said sheepishly. “Sorry we’re late. We took the train from Grand Central. This is Ben.”
The two men shook hands. “You’re right on time, we were just heading to our table.” Michael led them toward the tent. At the table two couples and a woman were already seated.
Michael introduced everyone. “Mags, you know Jimbo and Murph. is is Jim’s wife Pam,” Maggie said hello and shook hands, “and this is Brian’s wife Renee. This,” he continued, indicating the beautiful young blonde wearing a skimpy black strapless dress, “is Jana.” She gave a half-hearted smile that came o as more of a smirk. “Everyone this is Maggie Flynn and her date Ben...”
Brian and Jim stood to greet Maggie, eyes wide and mouths open in surprise. Could this be the same Maggie they’d interviewed in the conference room a few months back?
“This is Ben Kauffman,” Maggie added. “Again, sorry we’re late.”
Brian told them that they hadn’t missed much. The concert didn’t start until about nine o’clock. Th silent auction items were on display in the tent adjacent to the dinner tent. A server appeared to pour their wine and take their orders for entrees. Maggie ordered the salmon while Ben requested the New York strip medium rare.
Over dinner, conversation naturally turned to work. “Maggie, how are you liking working for Michael?” Renee asked.
Maggie glanced at Michael who was watching her curiously. “Oh, I hate it. He’s such a hard ass!” There was a brief shocked silence before the table erupted in laughter. Maggie grinned. “Seriously, it’s been great. I’m just ready to get into a courtroom.” She looked meaningfully at Michael.
Michael sipped his wine. “We’re going to get Maggie into court next week.” Her eyes widened. “Seriously?”
Michael nodded. “Yup, it’s time. Probably would have done it sooner but I haven’t wanted to deal with Hemphill and Standifer.”
“What about John and Ellen?” Pam asked.
Michael glanced at Maggie. “Well, they haven’t been especially welcoming to our newest team member.”
All eyes turned to Maggie who blushed bright pink. “Oh, they’re alright.”
“They’re not alright, they go out of their way to make your job difficult,” Michael said. “It’s just that Maggie doesn’t complain.”
Maggie felt herself blush again and she silently begged for the conversation to take a different direction.
“Hey Michael, do you remember that kid we hired out of, where was it, Stanford?” Jim asked.
Michael threw back his head and laughed loudly. “Holy shit, I forgot about Stanford.” He grinned and looked around the table. “So we hired this guy, he came with all the best recommendations, right?”
As Michael continued the story, Maggie glanced at Ben, who was consuming his fourth glass of wine, she’d been counting. “You might want to take it easy there, chief,” she said lightly.
Ben shook his head. “I just miss him,” he said sadly.
Oh, shit! Maggie thought. She tuned back into what Michael was saying. “And we caught him smoking weed behind the stacks in the library.” She laughed in spite of herself.
“You didn’t! What did you do?” she asked.
“Well, we fired him,” Brian said. “But not before we confiscated the weed.” Everyone at the table laughed. Everyone except Ben who was working on a serious drunk, and Jana, who’d also been drinking heavily and now simply looked bored.
Dinner plates were cleared and dessert was served, a sampling of several small items like tiramisu, macarons, white chocolate mousse, and chocolate cake. As the table oohed and ahhed over the treats, Maggie noticed for the first time the music playing in the background. After the dj cued up the next song, she heard a familiar punk riff. “Twenty, twenty, twenty-four hours to go, I wanna be sedated...”
She immediately looked up at Michael and they grinned at each other. “I love this song,” she exclaimed.
Jana rolled her eyes. “I hate this song, it sucks.”
Michael gently took her elbow and stood. “Let’s go for a walk,” he told her quietly. “If you folks will excuse us for a moment, I think we’ll check out the silent auction.”
Maggie smirked at Michael, recalling what she’d said about anyone who didn’t like the Ramones. Michael gave an exaggerated eye roll as he steered Jana away from the table.