Chapter 30: The Five-Year Track
Day 115 morning, Jessica's assistant sent the email at 9:47 AM.
Mr. Roden,
Ms. Pearson requests your presence at 3:00 PM today. Please confirm availability.
- Sarah
No context. No subject. Just a summons.
I confirmed immediately, then spent the next five hours trying not to spiral into anxiety.
Kyle Durant's replacement—a kid named Thomas—noticed first.
"Jessica meeting? That's either really good or really bad."
Jennifer Park appeared at my desk ten minutes later.
"Heard you got the Jessica summons. Any idea what it's about?"
"No."
"Want to speculate?"
"Not particularly."
She left, but the damage was done. By lunch, half the associate bullpen knew I had a 3 PM meeting with the managing partner.
Louis stopped by at 2:00.
"Did you do something?"
"Not that I know of."
"Then why is Jessica calling you in?"
"Your guess is as good as mine."
Louis looked genuinely worried, which made my anxiety worse.
[WIN RATE CALCULATOR: OUTCOME PROBABILITY]
[NEGATIVE (TERMINATION/DISCIPLINE): 34%]
[POSITIVE (ADVANCEMENT/OPPORTUNITY): 58%]
[NEUTRAL (ADMINISTRATIVE): 8%]
Fifty-eight percent chance this is good. That should be comforting.
It's not.
At 2:55, I straightened my tie and headed to the executive floor.
Jessica's office felt different this time—less welcoming, more evaluative.
She gestured me to sit but didn't sit herself immediately. Instead, she walked to her window, looked out at Manhattan, let the silence build.
Finally, she turned.
"You've been here nine months."
I nodded.
"In that time, you've won the associate mock trial, solved an internal investigation that had our security team stumped, built Louis Litt into an actual ally instead of a rival, secured two external clients through personal relationships, and dated my senior partner's secretary despite his explicit disapproval."
She sat down across from me.
"That's an impressive résumé for four years, not nine months. So tell me, Mr. Roden: what do you actually want from this firm?"
Honesty or politics?
I chose honesty.
"Partnership. Built on merit, not politics."
Jessica's smile was thin.
"Everyone says that."
"Then let me be more specific. I don't want to be Harvey's second choice or anyone else's backup plan. I'm building my own practice area—corporate and financial law, with clients who choose me personally. I want partnership as Scott Roden, not as someone's protégé."
She leaned back, reassessing.
"What makes you different from every other ambitious associate who's sat in that chair?"
"I'm not trying to be Harvey. I'm building something complementary—the technical expertise that keeps his flashy litigation from imploding. Different path, same destination."
Jessica picked up her tablet, tapped something.
"Partnership typically requires seven years. Associates who impress me can make it in five."
My pulse kicked up.
"I'm authorized to offer you a five-year partnership track, contingent on meeting specific benchmarks: billable hours, client development, case wins, and—most importantly—political navigation."
"Political navigation?"
Jessica's expression sharpened.
"You're dating Donna, which Harvey views as a territorial challenge. You've made Louis loyal, which shifts internal power dynamics. You're building external clients, which makes you harder to control. These are all smart moves, but they make you a factor in firm politics whether you want to be or not."
She set down her tablet.
"So here's my question: are you building a career at this firm, or building a portable practice you'll take elsewhere when a better offer comes?"
The real question. The one that matters.
I met her eyes.
"I'm building value. Where I apply that value depends on whether this firm wants me or just wants to control me."
Silence.
Then Jessica smiled—genuine, not political.
"Ruthlessly honest. I appreciate that."
She stood.
"Five-year partnership track, Mr. Roden. But understand: I'll be watching. Ambition is an asset. Liabilities get removed. Make sure you stay the former."
"Understood."
"Dismissed. And congratulations."
I left her office, deliberately calm despite the adrenaline.
Five-year track. Partnership before I'm thirty-five. If I can navigate the politics.
Big if.
That evening, I told Donna over dinner at her favorite Thai place.
"Five years! Scott, that's exceptional!"
Her enthusiasm was genuine, unguarded.
"Most associates don't even get partnership track offers until year three or four. Jessica just put you on an accelerated path."
"It comes with conditions."
"Everything does."
I pushed my pad thai around the plate.
"Jessica basically said I'm a political factor now. That my independence makes me hard to control, and that's either an asset or a liability depending on what I do next."
Donna reached across the table, took my hand.
"You've been a political factor since you beat Mike in the mock trial. At least now you're being compensated for it."
"Is that how it works?"
"That's how power works. You build something valuable, people notice. Some want to support it. Some want to control it. Some want to destroy it. Your job is figuring out who's who."
And surviving the process.
"Welcome to the big leagues," Donna said, squeezing my hand.
"The big leagues feel complicated."
"They are. But you're good at complicated."
We finished dinner, walked back to her apartment through the cooling October evening.
Nine months. From overlooked associate to five-year partnership track. From isolated newcomer to political factor.
The System helped me calculate the path. But navigating it—actually surviving the politics, the rivalries, the exposure that comes with success—that's all me.
And I still wasn't sure if I was ready for what came next.
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