Firm Ambitions Read Free

each time. Usually a stuffed head mounted on a board. You should see the family room. Even worse, you should see his office. He’s got a mounted cow’s head in there.”
    â€œAn African cow?”
    â€œNo. An American cow.” She snorted in disgust. “Isn’t that sick?”
    â€œYour husband hunts dairy cows?”
    â€œNo. That one was an accident. He goes deer hunting somewhere in southern Illinois every fall. Two years ago he shot a cow by mistake. He thought it was so funny he had the head stuffed and mounted.” She shuddered. “I can’t stand that man, Rachel.”
    I leaned back in my chair and looked at Eileen. Tommy Landau sounded like a real creep. Despite my prior vows, I could sense my litigator’s pulse quicken ever so slightly at the thought of going into battle against him. “Does he know you’re here today?” I asked her.
    â€œNo.”
    â€œHave you told him you want a divorce?”
    She took a deep breath and exhaled. “Not yet.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œBecause I wanted to meet with you before I told him.”
    â€œWhat made you finally decide to divorce him?”
    She tilted her head as she pondered the question. “I guess it started when they stole my ballerina over Christmas.”
    â€œWho?”
    â€œBurglars. They broke into our house while we were down at Sanibel. It was a totally professional job. They got in and got out without setting off the alarm. They took the usual stuff: color TV, stereo, the kids’ Apple computer, a couple paintings. Tommy’s parents called us the day after it happened. We came home the next day.” She closed her eyes for a moment. “The whole time I kept praying, ‘Please let my ballerina be there.’”
    â€œWhat kind of ballerina?”
    â€œShe’s one of those beautiful Lladro porcelain figurines. I bought her in Chicago a few years ago.” She looked at me and sighed. “Oh, Rachel, she was so gorgeous, so graceful. She’s seated on the floor and slipping on one of her ballet shoes. I put her in the sunroom, which is where I have my coffee every morning after the kids go to school. Just looking at her made me feel better.”
    â€œThey stole her?”
    She nodded sadly. “I was upset for weeks. It drove Tommy crazy. When he couldn’t stand it anymore he contacted a Lladro dealer in New York and had another one sent by overnight courier. But it was never the same. In fact, it was actually kind of worse.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œI looked at the new ballerina, which looked almost exactly like the old one, and it made me realize what a pathetic person I’d become. When I was little I used to dream of becoming someone special when I grew up. Like a ballerina. Well, I obviously hadn’t. But surely I could do more in my life than stare at a porcelain copy of a porcelain copy of a little girl’s fantasy.”
    She paused to stub out her cigarette. I waited.
    â€œEverything seemed to come together on my fortieth birthday in February,” she said. “I remember looking at myself in the mirror that night while I stood there picking his hairs off my body. I said to myself, Eileen, you’re never going to be that ballerina, but you still have half your life ahead of you. You’ve followed all the rules. You did your homework. You got good grades. You stopped at all red lights. You always sent a thank-you card. When’s it supposed to be your turn?” She paused, with an expression of fierce determination. “That’s when I decided. Now. It’s my turn now.”
    â€œIs he seeing someone?”
    She nodded grimly and checked her watch. “Probably as we speak.”
    â€œWho?”
    She shrugged. “No one special. It never is. Tommy’s the king of the quickies. You know those motels where they rent rooms by the hour? Tommy needs a place where they rent by the