chapter 19

…
10 minutes later
…

Claire and Kimmie returned to the meeting room with the copied documents in hand. Claire could spy that Kate was entertaining Harvey, no doubt flirting with him, in the corner of the room, but as Claire sat down, everyone went back to their chairs. Harvey could tell Claire’s demeanor had changed, he didn’t know if the chubby face he was looking at was one of resolve or one of surrender, either way, he was surprised when the obese young lawyer pulled out a candy bar and placed it upon the folder of documents she’d just placed on the table.

Taking a page out of Chloe’s book, Claire decided to rub her gluttony in Harvey’s face, both to show him that his comment earlier didn’t bother her, and to make him as uncomfortable as possible. Unwrapping the candy rather fast, Claire wasted no time in taking a bite and then speaking with her mouth full, “*Ahem* I think we can resume our negotiations. After consideration, we are now asking for 111.6 million in damages.”

“111.6 million? You’re serious?” Harvey spat, as his eyes went wide at the spectacle playing out in front of him. Maybe something he said had knocked a screw loose, because it looked like Claire was losing it.

“Correct.” Claire hummed, while she inhaled more chocolate.

“I thought a lawyer with your credentials would know better than to let her personal feelings dictate her actions.” Harvey sighed in a disappointed tone.

“This isn’t personal.” Claire muttered, as she savored the chocolaty taste on her tongue.

“Whatever,” Harvey dismissed Claire’s assertion and rose to his feet with some conviction before proclaiming, “I’ll see you in trial. Let’s see what a male judge thinks of your bogus emotional distress claims.”

Before he could turn to leave, Claire decided it was her turn to try and get under his skin, sounding as smug as possible, Claire spat, “Fine by me, I’ve never lost a case.”

That comment seemed to rub Harvey the wrong way. He paused his movement, seemed to think for a second, and then sat back down. Leaning in closer to Claire, his voice contained his distaste for his opposing council, “I know, I’ve looked into your record. I’m sorry to tell you this, but your firm has been protecting you. Assigning you easy cases to build up your reputation. I’ve seen it before. Except usually the young and promising lawyer is in on it. What does that say about you? You can hide behind that Ive League diploma all you want, but deep down you’re just the fat wife of a failed artist!”

Blinking away her astonishment, Claire was far from speechless this time. It was one thing to insult her body, it was another thing entirely to insult her husband! Leaning in to retaliate, Claire coldly vowed, “You can kiss my fat ass if you think I’m going to accept less than what my clients deserve! Win or lose, don’t think for a second that I’m not prepared to take this to court! In fact, if I’m being honest, part of me hopes you are dumb enough not to take this settlement, because then I get to expose you and the shitty company you represent to the public!”

Sticking the last of her candy bar into her mouth, Claire opening the folder in front of her with the new documents, spun it around and pushed it in front of Harvey’s eyes. Speaking with her mouthful yet again, but with a distasteful tone, Claire bellowed, “Negligence is one thing, but you and I both know it wasn’t negligence! Your company willfully cut corners and I would love to prove it in court! I think the court would like to hear about the all-female sample your company scrubbed from their records.”

Seeing alarm in Harvey’s eyes, Claire pushed further by pointing to the second document in front of Harvey and taunting, “And before I forget, you might want to check your sales records again, according to our math, there are twice as many clients out there who have been adversely effected by your product than you originally predicted. Double the clients, double the damages. 111.6 million is what we are asking for.”

A silence overcame the opposing council. All looked to Harvey for what to do next, but he seemed to be without a retort. Sensing things stalling, the mediator piped up, “Perhaps we should take another intermission.”

“Shove it Nathaniel! Ten minutes isn’t going to change my mind on this.” Claire chastised him, as she turned her fury back to the opposing council, “Deal or no deal Harvey.”

“I need to make a call.” Harvey spat, while he stood up and started heading out of the room.

However, Claire wasn’t going to let him off that easy, taking a spoiled, snobby tone, Claire taunted, “Better hurry Harvey! I’m hungry and you’re making this fat wife late for her dinner! Every minute you’re not back here, our demands go up by a million dollars!”

Biting his tongue, Harvey nodded and hurried out of the room. The documents he’d just seen were supposed to have been purged. Knowing time was of the essence, he pulled out his phone, found a quiet spot alone in the hallway, outside of an empty office and called his employer, “They know… No, I didn’t say anything… I have no idea... Maybe their P.I… Mr. Scineque, with all due respect, if we have a leak this isn’t my fault… No… It’s their firm’s golden goose… No not Ken Marshall’s daughter, the fat one, Claire Irving… I don’t know, maybe she still uses her maiden name for work, that’s pretty common nowadays… Can you take this seriously sir… No… I wouldn’t want to face off against her in court. Not with this case… So, what do you want me to do about it? The settlement offer is 111.6 million and counting. Every minute I waste talking to you is going to cost us more money…”

…

When Harvey re-entered the meeting room, the look on his face said it all.

Beating him to the punch, Claire tapped her pen against the table and pointed out, “You were gone 5 minutes, but I’d be willing to round the settlement down to 115 million and call it even.”

Sighing deeply, Harvey swallowed his pride and followed his orders, “We are prepared to accept your… generous offer.”

Kimmie and Kate seemed relieved by this news, but Clare had suspected he’d cave to her demands.

Sounding cool and professional, Claire tried not to rub in her victory too much, “Splendid. Let’s get this paperwork processed so this fat wife can go home to her loving husband.”