Chapter 35: The Confrontation
Day 145, I was heading to the file room when Harvey's voice cut through the bullpen.
"Roden. My office. Now."
Not a request. A command.
Every associate within earshot looked up, then quickly back down at their work.
I followed Harvey to his office, door closing behind us with a heavy click.
He didn't invite me to sit. Just stood behind his desk, arms crossed, using the height and space as intimidation.
"The Meridian pitch. You took over Louis's presentation."
Direct. No preamble.
"I redirected to what the client needed."
"You upstaged your supervising partner in front of a client."
I kept my voice level.
"I secured a two-hundred-thousand-dollar annual client. Louis was pleased with the outcome."
Harvey's expression hardened.
"This isn't about the outcome. It's about respect. Associates don't hijack partner presentations."
"Associates also don't watch clients drift away because we're following protocol instead of serving them."
Harvey circled around his desk, using movement as pressure—forcing me to track him, making the space feel smaller.
"You think you've figured it out. Beat Mike in a mock trial, make Louis loyal, land some clients, date Donna—"
"Leave Donna out of this."
My voice came out harder than intended.
Harvey stopped moving.
"She's my secretary. That makes her part of this."
"She's a person who makes her own choices. And your possessiveness about her loyalty is your problem, not mine."
Harvey stepped closer—not threatening exactly, but using physical presence the way he probably used it in negotiations.
"You've been here nine months. I've been building this firm for a decade. Don't confuse a hot streak with actual staying power."
I met his eyes, refused to step back.
"And don't confuse tenure with competence. I don't need to be you, Harvey. I'm building something different."
Silence stretched between us—charged, dangerous.
Harvey's jaw worked for a moment before he spoke again, voice quieter but more dangerous.
"You came into my firm thinking you could do things your way. Systematic preparation, calculated relationships, strategic independence. That works until it doesn't."
He walked back to his desk, leaned against it.
"And when you fall—because everyone falls eventually—you'll wish you'd built the right alliances."
"Is this a threat or advice?"
"It's a warning."
Harvey's expression was cold calculation.
"This firm runs on relationships and loyalty. You're building a practice on competence and transactions. One bad case, one major failure, and your clients will leave. My clients stay because they trust me, not my win record."
Different philosophies. Different models of success.
"Then we have different ideas about what matters. I'll keep winning. You keep building personal brands. We'll see which one survives."
I turned to leave.
"Scott."
I stopped at the door.
"Stay away from Mike. He doesn't need your influence."
Control. It's always about control with him.
I left without responding.
The hallway felt too bright after Harvey's office. My hands were shaking slightly—adrenaline, not fear.
That wasn't professional disagreement. That was war being declared.
Donna intercepted me at the elevators.
"That looked intense."
"Harvey thinks I'm a threat."
"You are a threat. To his model of how associates should behave."
I pressed the elevator button harder than necessary.
"Is he right? About relationships versus competence?"
Donna considered the question carefully.
"He's right that both matter. But you're right that competence should matter more. That's why he's threatened."
The elevator arrived. I stepped in, turned back.
"He can make my life difficult, can't he?"
"Yes. But you've survived difficult before."
The doors closed, and I rode down to the file room alone.
[WIN RATE CALCULATOR: REASSESSING FIRM POSITIONING]
[PARTNERSHIP PROBABILITY WITH HARVEY'S ACTIVE OPPOSITION: 42%]
[DECREASE FROM PREVIOUS ASSESSMENT: -19%]
[VARIABLES: HARVEY'S INFLUENCE ON PARTNERS, CASE ASSIGNMENT CONTROL, POLITICAL MANEUVERING]
[ASSESSMENT: SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED DIFFICULTY]
The partnership track just got a lot harder.
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