Part Nineteen

Sydney allows herself to blubber for a few minutes, then takes a deep breath. "Get it together, Syd," she whispers. She looks over at Grace, who has woken and is regarding her curiously. Sydney manages a smile for her little girl, then pulls down the visor to check out her reflection. "Yikes," she says, almost laughing at what she sees. "I'll make a pretty picture for your daddy, won't I, Gracie?" Her mascara runs down her cheeks in rivulets, and her eyes are red and puffy. "Baby wipes," she tells her daughter. "Makeup and baby wipes, that's what Mommy needs."

She washes her face with baby wipes, then goes to work reapplying her makeup. Within a few minutes, she looks almost passable; hopefully, by the time she gets to the firm, she won't look like she's just been crying.

"Sydney, hi," the secretary of Terry Kendall, one of the senior partners at the firm, greets her a few minutes later. "This is a surprise."

"Hi, Theresa," Sydney says with a sweet smile. "I couldn't come to LA without stopping by."

"Well, I'm glad you did. This must be the newest little Vaughn." Theresa rises from her desk to crouch down and look at Grace, who Sydney has settled into her stroller.

"Grace. Grace Camille Vaughn," Sydney tells her.

"What a beautiful name. She's darling, Sydney," Theresa gushes. "And I love her little dress. What a gorgeous shade of lavender."

"I'll tell Emily you said so, she picked it out," Sydney says with a smile. "So, have you seen my husband anywhere?"

"Oh, sure, he's in talking to Mr. Kendall. Go on in," Theresa says, waving her hand airily.

"Oh, I don't want to intrude, I'll just sit here and wait, if you don't mind."

"Let me at least buzz them and tell them you're here, I'm sure Mr. Kendall would love to see you and the baby." She does so before Sydney can protest. "Mr. Kendall insists you go right in," she says with a smile a moment later.

"Sydney!" Mr. Kendall exclaims when Sydney enters the office. "And little Grace. Glad you decided to stop by."

"Hi, Terry," Sydney says with a warm smile, reaching out to shake his hand. Terry Kendall had given Michael his first job out of law school, had been something of a mentor to him; he'd sent him off to the firm in New York with his encouragement. Sydney and Michael owed him a lot. "Hi, honey," she adds, giving Michael a quick kiss.

"Sweetie, I thought you were going to spend the afternoon at your father's," he says, brow knitted in concern.

"I thought it would do him good to spend some time alone with Jack and Emily." She keeps her tone light but shoots him a furtive look that plainly says, We'll talk about it later.

"Well, we're glad you stopped by," Terry says with a smile. "Please, sit down."

Sydney disengages Grace from her stroller and takes the seat Terry offers her, settling Grace onto her lap.

"Well, Michael's been full of good news," Terry continues. "A new baby and a house in Jamaica, huh?"

"Yes to the baby, maybe to Jamaica," Sydney says, shooting a smile at Michael. "I haven't even started decorating the nursery yet, I think one project at a time is enough."

"You could always hire a decorator," Terry suggests.

"Bite your tongue," Sydney says, horrified.

"The house is Syd's territory, Terry," Michael says, shooting Sydney a wink. "No one so much as moves a chair without asking her permission."

Terry frowns. "You didn't hire someone to do your house here in LA?"

"No," Sydney says proudly, remembering fondly the weekends they'd spent looking for furniture, the nights she'd spent poring over paint, wallpaper, and carpet samples. Part of her compulsion, she supposes, to do everything herself, but moving out of their rented apartment and having a whole house to do whatever they wanted with had been so much fun. And she'd done a great job-- their house had even been photographed for the Life section of a couple of papers.

Terry shakes his head. "Georgia was just saying she was going to call you to get the name of your decorator, Sydney, she's redoing the guest bedroom. If you were still in LA, I'll bet she'd hire you."

"I'm no decorator," Sydney shrugs. "If she wants my opinion on anything, tell her to give me a call."

Terry opens his mouth to answer, but not before the door swings open and Eric Weiss sticks his head in. "Hey, Terry, I-- oh." His expression sours when he sees Michael and Sydney. "Theresa was away from her desk, I didn't know anyone was in here."

"It's okay, Eric, we were just visiting, come on in," Terry says. "Did you know Mike and Syd were in town?"

"Ah-- I think Michael mentioned he was planning a visit," Eric says, looking as if he'd rather be absolutely anywhere else in the world. "But I'll leave you alone, this can wait."

"No, actually, we should probably go," Michael says, rising from his chair. "I don't want to take up any more of your time, Terry, I just thought as long as I was in town, I'd stop by and say hi."

"I'm glad you did. It was good to see you, Mike, and you too, Syd and Grace," Terry says with a smile. "I wish you were in town longer, I'm sure Georgia would love to have you guys out for dinner."

"Next time," Michael promises. "Ready, Syd?"

"Sure," Sydney says, settling Grace back into her stroller. "It was good to see you, Terry. Eric."

The two of them have barely made it out of the office when Eric rushes up to them. "What, you weren't even going to stop by and say hi?"

"I think you said enough when we spoke the other night," Michael says, slipping an arm around Sydney's waist.

"Come on, man. You know you just called me up to give me shit about Kerri, that wasn't even cool."

"I hardly think this is the place to discus this," Michael says, eyes darting around the room.

"Then come talk to me," Eric demands. He glances at his watch. "I have to be in court soon, but what are you doing tomorrow?"

"Lunch with Will and Francie," Michael says, glancing at Sydney. "Dinner with Kerri."

"And Ben?" Eric asks with a grimace.

"And Ben."

"Well, what about the afternoon?" Eric persists. "We could hang out, shoot a few baskets, no pressure."

Michael runs a hand back through his hair with a sigh. "I don't know, man."

"Come on, Mike," Eric says. "You don't throw away a twenty year long friendship over one argument."

"It wasn't just the one argument, Eric," Michael says, shaking his head. "It's everything that the argument was about."

"Well, come on, Mike, at least give me a chance to talk it out with you, don't just write me off."

The words aren't even directed at Sydney, but they almost make her take a step backward. Don't just write me off. She thinks of Todd Reynolds, coldly fired for one, albeit rather large, mistake, and Michael's insistence that the way he handled his personal and professional lives were two completely separate things.

Were they?

"Maybe-- maybe you should talk to him, Mike," Sydney says, her voice low.

Michael looks at her in what can only be described as complete shock.

"I mean, it's up to you, of course, but--" Sydney lets her voice trail off. Of course he has no reason to ever talk to that cheating bastard Eric Weiss ever again. But somehow, she wants him to want to.

"I-- have to think about it," Michael says haltingly, shaking his head. "Maybe I'll give you a call, okay, Eric?"

"Great," Eric says, face lighting up in a smile. "Maybe I'll see you tomorrow, then. Bye, Syd."

He turns and hurries away, leaving Michael to look at Sydney like he has no idea what just happened there.