America 1982-Chapter 136 - 45: Delia Case

Warm sunlight streamed in through the windows of the presidential suite on the fifth floor of the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington D.C.

Delia Case, at thirty-nine already sporting a full head of silver hair, had her eyelids quiver slightly with the light’s touch, eventually being teased awaken by the sun from her dreams.

She sat up lazily from the bed, first bowing her head and closing her eyes to ponder last night’s experiences, then raising her head to glance at the young man still deeply asleep beside her, his body adorned with well-defined muscles.

He was a new intern lawyer provided by one of her friends.

To women like them, who were too busy to stop and could only solve their physiological needs through call services, these handsome, well-built, freshly graduated law school boys were shared like free gigolos.

Last night, this guy, apart from being a bit unskilled, was quite satisfactory in other aspects.

She reached out to pinch his pectoral muscles twice, savoring the feel, before getting up naked to head to the bar and down a quarter glass of whiskey.

The intern lawyer also woke up, rubbed his eyes, and then, like Delia, got out of bed and tried to wrap his arms gently around the woman not much younger than his own mother, hoping to exhibit as much of his charm as possible.

"You have ten minutes to wash up, get dressed, and then get the hell out of here," Delia said, guessing the man’s intentions and setting down her glass with an indifferent tone.

The man was stunned for a moment, but indeed did not dare to move forward to embrace her, only spreading his hands open on the spot, "Why, Ms. Case? We had a great time last night."

"You just said it was last night. Maybe the first two times were great, but the third time I was very displeased. You need to learn from a gigolo how to last longer," Delia turned around, leaned against the bar, and looked at the intern lawyer with an expressionless face.

"In the lawyer business, poor stamina only leads to being weeded out."

"But you once said you would help me get a recommendation to join that..." the intern lawyer started with a frustrated expression. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"When you graduate from the gigolo training class and after your mom checks your progress once more, I’ll consider it. For now, you can leave," Delia said, picking up a cigarette, placing it in her mouth, lighting it, and interrupting him with an exceptionally ruthless tone.

The intern lawyer rolled his eyes and turned to his clothes scattered on the floor. Delia lit her cigarette:

"And by the way, you could learn some yoga. It could make your butt perkier, baby. By then, you’ll definitely be more to your mommy’s liking."

At that moment, the doorbell rang urgently outside. The intern lawyer, pulling up his trousers, glanced at Delia nervously, but she stood behind the bar with an indifferent expression, continuing to pour herself whiskey, urging in an impatient tone:

"Open the door. If I have to teach you even this, you might as well take up gigolo as your main profession, because your head is completely useless; you can only just scrape by on the ’merits’ below."

The intern lawyer hurried to the door and opened it, his face showing awkward relief at the sight of the person outside—the assistant, Kane Fan. He bowed his head slightly, not looking into the other’s eyes, and whispered a greeting, "Mr. Kane Fan."

But Kane disregarded the rookie’s greeting, simply pushing past him and stepping inside. Upon seeing Delia still calmly standing at the bar drinking, he exhaled speechlessly:

"Delia..."

"You’d better have something important, otherwise you’d see that I am discussing the malpractices of the American judiciary with an eager law junior." Delia swallowed the whiskey in her mouth:

"Couldn’t you have left a message on my pager, or called the hotel lobby? Did you have to come see me at six in the morning?"

Kane took off his expensive watch and tossed it to Delia, "It’s already eight forty, Delia, your pager is off."

Delia glanced at the time on the watch, immediately tossed aside her glass and cigarette, cursed "Shit" under her breath, and hurried to the bathroom:

"I shouldn’t have agreed to the hotel’s suggestion to upgrade me to the Presidential Suite for free last night. Can you imagine? The Deluxe Suite where I usually stay is two hundred square meters, while the more expensive Presidential Suite is only one hundred seventy square meters. The worst part is that the sun comes into the room even later than in the Deluxe Suite, which gets sunlight in the bedroom right at six o’clock."

"Don’t be nervous, I’m used to it," Kane said, seeing the intern lawyer’s hands shaking slightly while buttoning his shirt, and spoke reassuringly:

"Slightly older female lawyers tend to get anxious because of too much pressure and become a bit neurotic. Go have breakfast and calm down. You’ll have many more of these free night shifts before you turn thirty or before you make a name in this field. Learn to enjoy them."

At this point, Delia had already come out with a toothbrush in her mouth, putting on a bra with one hand, and then walked up to Kane, turned her back to him, signaling him to help fasten the buttons.

By then, she had finished brushing her teeth, threw the toothbrush on the floor, picked up water to rinse her mouth clean, glanced at the intern lawyer stealthily leaving the room, and said to Kane, "That guy is far worse than you, I really miss your younger days, Kane."

"If you want me to help you as an assistant for a few more years, stop hitting on me," Kane said with a smile.

While passing Delia the clothes one by one, she asked while getting dressed, "What’s the schedule for this morning?"

"Nine o’clock is the partners’ regular meeting, followed by that case you asked the assignment department to book for you, Actor Corporation, the one founded by a Stanford University student. You said you were interested in this deal before, and the other party is very excited, so he flew in from California to talk to you in person. I’ve scheduled them for nine, but it’s fine for you to meet them after the regular meeting ends at nine fifteen. I decided you’d talk to them for roughly forty minutes, take a half-hour break, and then meet with Mr. Claus, the chair of the Washington Judiciary Forum. For lunch, as an external legal advisor for Comber Corporation, you’ll dine with their leadership team who flew to Washington. They have some business regarding Washington lobbying and hope you could give them some ideas..." Kane started to list Delia’s work schedule for the day.

"OK, that’s enough for now, until noon," Delia said swiftly, having put on her women’s suit. She combed her silver-white hair that was cut short, efficient, and left her ears exposed.

The mirror showed her once again as the expressionless, imposing independent woman she was, the first female partner in the 140-year history of Davis Polk law firm.

She nodded in satisfaction, turned to her assistant, and said:

"Let’s go, putting on the dress, regaining the feeling of a believer in God feels good."

Kane followed her, speaking as they walked: "Your ex-husband called the office last night, I answered the phone. He asked if you had time and if you were willing to go on a remarriage trip with him, he could book a European cruise tour..."

"He still thinks my refusal to remarry him is due to my pure dedication to work? No, indeed I am dedicated to my work, but his capabilities in certain aspects also played a significant role in the factors leading to our divorce." Delia stepped into the elevator in her high heels, the elevator doors slowly closed, and she spoke indifferently, with none of the sardonic tone but all the calmness and detachment of a lawyer discussing work:

"Describe the situation with Actor Corporation for me, remind me why it caught my interest."