The Diplomat--Part Two

The Diplomat-Part Two

Jane was restless and had been ever since she had attended the BAH with Brand and later with Joe Diplomat. Something had happened to her that was hard to explain.
Either something had been born in her at that event or something that had been asleep for a long time had been aroused. She didn’t know which and didn’t even think of it in these terms. It had just happened inside of her the moment Joe Diplomat had introduced her to the BAH people and she lived with it every day now. It wasn’t diminishing it was growing. There had been something in the smells, the sounds, the way the people looked, and the way they seemed to be enjoying themselves. She wanted to be a part of something like that and be one of them; or at least be around them. She had never been a joiner or a hanger on. That wasn’t Jane. She wasn’t built that way. Maybe that was why she had not been popular in school. She just knew that this was part of a larger thing that she had wanted to be part of for a long time. The only thing that she could even remotely compare her feelings to was the feeling she had experienced when she had had a rare opportunity to travel. It was the feeling of experiencing new and exciting things, the feeling of the scariness of the unknown, the uneasiness of “What if I get lost”, but the comforting feeling of knowing that even if you did, everything would turn out all right. It was the thrill of not knowing what was going to happen next, but with a safety net.

Joe Diplomat had taken her home after the BAH. On the way home he had talked to her about the Diplomatic organization and how it operated. He explained to her that the Diplomats were made up of volunteers who were mostly business professionals. They acted as an extension of the Chamber of Commerce and helped to welcome new members to the Chamber. They also acted as Ambassadors for the Chamber to help in member retention. Jane was interested, but she didn’t see how this would help her very much. Joe explained that while doing all of this for the Chamber, he got to meet a lot of interesting people. Sometimes he met people who became friends of his and sometimes he meet people whom he did business with. Sometimes both. The BAH had been an example of both. At one of these affairs Joe got to meet new people and re-acquaint himself with people he hadn’t seen in a while. It was all a lot of fun and both the Chamber and the Diplomats got something out of the arrangement. It was a win-win situation. Jane was interested. She decided to attend the Diplomat’s monthly meeting and see what it was like. She also wanted to feel again what she felt at the BAH. That feeling of being part of a group of people who were making things happen. She could still feel the excitement of being around a group of people like that. It was the feeling of success and of going some place.

Jane thought about this as she stroked Ginger. She was sitting at home and was wearing a T-shirt that she had won at the BAH. It had “Have a Cow” on it, with a picture of what looked to be some sort of a cow. It was a prize given by one of the Gateway representatives. It was to be given away at one of the many BAH drawings that would take place that night at the mixer. Jane had not had a business card to drop in the bowl, but Joe Diplomat had taken one of his, scratched out his name and written hers in. Her name had been drawn as the last prize was being given out. It was only a T-shirt, but it meant something to her. She was comfortable in it.

-2-

The day after the BAH Cliff had shown up at her door and had wanted to talk. She had no bad feelings towards Cliff, but she was determined not to get back with him. She didn’t really have anything to talk to Cliff about. Out of politeness she decided to listen to what he had to say. She could always ask him to leave if things got out of hand. But this was Cliff. She didn’t expect this to happen.

As she let him in the door, Ginger got excited and wet on the floor. She was doing what a typical Cocker Spaniel would do in a similar circumstance. Jane was annoyed. She started to get something to clean it up, but Cliff interrupted her. He had something to say. She had never seen him quite like this before. He got her attention. The puddle of urine was forgotten for the moment.

Cliff wasn’t going to beat around the bush. He and Jane had been dating for 18 months and he wanted to know why, all of a sudden, she didn’t want to see him anymore. Jane tried to explain, but she didn’t know exactly what to say or how to put into words what she was feeling. How could she explain to Clifford that she was dying in the relationship and that she would rather have nothing than to sit with him night after night wishing she was with someone else or some place else. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but she didn’t want to lead him on. She sure didn’t want to get back with him. She chose her words carefully.

She told Cliff that there was no one else in her life but that she just felt closed in. She also told him that she didn’t think that they would get back together but that she needed time to think before she made any final decision. By the changing expression in his eyes and around his mouth she saw that he took her words to mean there might be some hope. She didn’t want to lead him on, but she didn’t want to encourage him either. She decided not to say any more to him about her needing time to think. What she said was true. She did need time to think. What she didn’t say was that it had nothing to do with Jane and Cliff. It had to do with her life in general and what she was going to do with it. She needed a change. She was getting older and getting nowhere. Clifford was not part of the plan.

She got up from the couch where they had been sitting and hoped that Clifford would follow her example. He did, reluctantly, but he just stood there. She made a move towards the door and he slowly followed.

As the two of them walked across the floor Cliff stepped in Ginger’s puddle and slipped. He didn’t completely fall down, but he came close. It wasn’t funny and she should have felt alarmed or sorry for him, but when Cliff slipped the only thing that crossed Jane’s mind was “Even Ginger is trying to help Cliff out the door.” She had to turn her head and bite her lip before she got control of herself. She helped Cliff get back on his feet, steadied him and walked him to the door. She hoped that he would not come back again. As far as she was concerned she had said everything there was to be said. If they needed to talk some more she would make sure that it was on neutral ground. A coffee shop would be a good place. She closed the door and sat back down on the couch. She went back to her daydreaming.

-3-

Brand’s lawyers, the firm of Jessel, Jessel and Stone were in a dilemma. At least the lawyers in the firm that were handling the accident case for Brand were in a dilemma. Mr. Jessel, Mr. Jessel, and Mr. Stone no longer took cases. One of the Jessels was dead, one had retired, and the Stone in the Jessel, Jessel, and Stone only showed up for half a day. During his time at the office he did nothing. He had quit practicing law 8 years before. What he did in his office while he was there nobody really knew. He came in, shut the door, and stayed in his office until noon. Then he left. Occasionally one of the secretaries that sat outside his office would see a light blink on the phone system and she would assume that Attorney Stone was placing a call, but nobody knew for sure. Maybe he was just playing with the phone. Maybe he was wishing that someone would call him. Maybe he was talking to an imaginary client and wishing for the good ole days. There was speculation in the office, but no real answers. This would all be revealed one day on the other side. Other than the phone incidents and the rare times when Mr. Stone would buzz one of the secretaries to bring him a cup of coffee, he had no contact with the outside world. When a secretary did get a chance to carry the sacred coffee into the private sanctuary of Lawyer Stone, there was always an attempt to ascertain what activity could keep a man locked in his office for 4 hours without him coming up for air. No attempt to uncover the truth was ever successful. Whatever the man did in his office was subject to attorney-client privilege, his own.

The duties of the office were left to the 30 other lawyers who were still active in the firm. They hadn’t retired. They were the ones that had to solve the dilemma when there was a settlement to be made. The problem was nothing new, but the timing had to be right in order for the outcome to be in their favor, and in Brands.

Jane’s car had been fixed and Brand’s insurance company had paid for the damages. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was that Jane had refused to sign the release the insurance company wanted her to sign. She was willing to sign a release releasing Old Ironsides National from liability for her car. The damage to her car had been minor and her car had been fixed. But she refused to sign a release releasing the insurance company, or Brand, from liability concerning any hospital bills, therapy, or anything else she might need if a delayed condition arose later that might be attributed to the auto accident. The lawyers didn’t care whether or not Jane ever settled with the insurance company; it was the “or Brand” that had them worried.

Jane had read, seen, overheard or been told directly that injuries after a car accident might not show up for 6 or 8 months. Sometimes it happened even later than that. She couldn’t remember where she had collected this bit of knowledge, but it sounded right. It just made good sense to her. She was taking no chances.

To the lawyers this meant trouble. They had seen this delayed tactic used before to set
up a lawsuit. The person would wait for an unspecified length of time and then suddenly develop “delayed trauma”. This was one of those conditions that could not be seen on X-Rays or be detected by CATSCAN or MRI yet it was recognized by the medical profession and in the courts as being legitimate. It was in a class of disorders that was a relative to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The price tag was on something as elusive as phantom pain was hard to tell. Only a smart lawyer and the courts could decide that. Brand’s lawyers didn’t want the case to go that far. That’s why Brand paid them an obscene amount of money. When the balance sheets were tallied, it was still much cheaper to pay his lawyers to negotiate a settlement than it was to pay a prospective litigant who went to court. Besides that it didn’t leave a precedent for the next would be predator.

So far the lawyers hadn’t had much luck. They knew how the game was played. The game pieces were in place. The game had started and the first moves had been made, but the lawyers were confused. The game wasn’t following the customary procedure.

The game was usually played along the following lines. The pieces of the game were the release of liability, a settlement, and a counter offer. The players were the lawyers for Brand, the victim, in this case Jane, and the victim’s lawyer, lawyers, or agent, if one were in the game. The moves followed certain guidelines.

The defendant’s lawyers almost always made the first move. It was an offer to settle. Once in a great while a rookie lawyer might make the first offer. Usually it was one who had just passed the bar and was eager to win his first case, make a bundle, and start building a reputation for being tough and getting the job done. Making the first move on behalf of the offended party was a mistake. It gave the defending lawyers too much room to negotiate for their client. The defense team usually managed to control the outcome of the situation from that point on. If the plaintiff’s lawyer made the first move, the game was short. It was over before it even got started. The game, the set, and the match went to the smarter lawyers. In this case, the defending JDs.

In this case, Brand’s lawyers didn’t have to worry about Jane’s representative. She didn’t have one and said that she didn’t want one. Their opening offer was $25,000. That was fair they said. Jane replied that she did not want the money. She stated that the only thing she wanted was for Brand to pay any expenses she might have if she developed some type of disorder as a result of the accident. That was if the insurance company wouldn’t pay the bills or wouldn’t pay all of the bills. She had heard stories about insurance companies too and the fact that sometimes they did not want to pay claims.

If the insurance company did take care of the expenses, Brand would owe her nothing. She wouldn’t take an outright settlement because she didn’t believe that she should be rewarded for being in an accident. It wasn’t the right thing to do.

The lawyers weren’t fooled. This line wasn’t even original. Almost nobody used this move anymore. It was outdated. They were dealing with an amateur and the lawyers were certain that they would win. It was time for the next move.

In this game, one of the best strategies was to move slowly. The lawyers offered Jane $35,000. She refused the offer. They offered her $45,000 and she still refused. They upped the figure to $50,000. Jane not only refused the offer, she asked them to please leave her alone. She said that she had stated how she felt about their offer and that she was beginning to feel very uncomfortable about their constantly worrying her to accept their offer. The lawyers decided to back off and let things rest for a while. They were anxious to get this thing settled, but they also knew that to push Jane at this stage was very dangerous. The last thing they wanted was for Jane to engage an attorney to represent her. If she was getting jumpy, it just might happen. That problem they didn’t need. There would be a lawsuit for sure if they pushed her into the office of one of their competitors. Brand’s lawyers were sure that Jane would have no problem finding a qualified attorney who wanted to help her relieve her “pain and suffering.”

The lawyers didn’t make another offer. They could always document what they had been doing as a gesture of “good will.” Sometimes the court, and juries, looked favorably on that. They waited until they could make the next move. The ball was still in their court.

-4-

The Diplomat luncheon was not what Jane had expected. She really hadn’t known what to expect, but she had somehow had an idea that the meeting would similar to the BAH. It wasn’t. While the meeting was informal, there was not the party atmosphere of the Business After Hours gathering. People were in business dress to one degree or another. Some were wearing suits and ties and some were dressed more casually, but there was a business sense to the room. These people had taken their lunch hour from work in order to make this meeting. This was what was called a “brown bag” affair. Some people were eating salads from plastic trays, some were eating sandwiches from Blimpie’s or Quisneo’s, and occasionally she saw someone put down a bag from McDonalds and go off in search of a soft drink. They were kept, it looked like, over in a corner of the room. It was a guess, but she kept seeing people go to a place in the direction of the corner and then come back with a Coke, a Sprite, or some other flavor of colored, sugared water. She guessed that the group furnished these drinks to anyone who wanted one.

Joe had picked her up from work at 11:30AM. He had already talked to her boss and gotten permission for her to leave earlier for lunch than she usually did. He also told her boss that she might be back a little later than usual. Her boss had agreed to the arrangement, mainly because he and Joe had known each other for a long time. He knew he could trust Joe. As Joe drove to the luncheon he began to tell Jane a little about his association with the Diplomats and what the organization had done for him. Jane could tell by Joe’s voice that he was grateful for his relationship with the group and that he had a lot of respect for it. He had been a Diplomat for 22 years, as long as Jane had been alive. She thought, “That’s a long time to do anything. Especially be in a club.” She had respect for anybody who would be loyal to any cause for so long. She wondered if she had that kind of stick ability in her. Maybe she would get a chance to see.

The meeting only lasted an hour. During that time Jane did not exactly follow what was going on, but she got the general idea. Teams and Diplomats that had done exceptionally well during the past month and quarter were recognized. The general state of the Diplomats and of what they could expect to happen in the next few months was discussed. Finally, a drawing was held for various prizes. Jane could identify with that because it had happened at the BAH. She still did not fully understand what the Diplomats were all about, but she knew that she wanted to be one, if possible. She knew that this was one of the elements that she had been missing in her life.

END OF PART TWO