ONE secretary dug through a file cabinet in search of something Avery needed immediately.  The other secretary stood in front of his desk with a steno pad, occasionally writing down the instructions he gave when he stopped yelling into the receiver of his phone and listened to whoever was on the other end.  Three red lights were blinking on the phone.  When he spoke into the receiver the secretaries spoke sharply to each other.  Mitch walked slowly into the office and stood by the door.

"Quiet!" Avery yelled to the secretaries.

The one in the file cabinet slammed the drawer and went to the next file cabinet, where she bent over and pulled the bottom drawer.  Avery snapped his fingers at the other one and pointed at his desk calendar.  He hung up without saying goodbye.

"What's my schedule for today?" he asked while pulling a file from his credenza.

"Ten A.M. meeting with the IRS downtown.  One P.M. meeting with Nathan Locke on the Spinosa file.  Three-thirty, partners' meeting.  Tomorrow you're in tax court all day, and you're supposed to prepare all day today."

"Great.  Cancel everything.  Check the flights to Houston Saturday afternoon and the return flights Monday, early Monday."

"Yes, sir."

"Mitch!  Where's the Capps file?"

"On my desk."

"How much have you done?"

"I've read through most of it."

"We need to get in high gear.  That was Sonny Capps on the phone.  He wants to meet Saturday morning in Houston, and he wants a rough draft of the limited partnership agreement."

Mitch felt a nervous pain in his empty stomach.  If he recalled correctly, the agreement was a hundred and forty-some pages long.

"Just a rough draft," Avery said as he pointed to a secretary.

"No problem," Mitch said with as much confidence as he could muster.  "It may not be perfect, but I'll have a rough draft."

"I need it by noon Saturday, as perfect as possible.  I'll get one of my secretaries to show Nina where the form agreements are in the memory bank.  That will save some dictation and typing.  I know this is unfair, but there's nothing fair about Sonny Capps.  He's very demanding.  He told me the deal must close in twenty days or it's dead.  Everything is waiting on us."

"I'll get it done."