Page 39 of Pleading Innocence

I spun around on my heels and made my way into the white walls, made even brighter by the normal-sized sliding window to my left. The opened blinds looked out into the commercial lot and cars parked on gravel pavement. There were three vases of succulents on the window, one in the center and two in the opposite corners, which added a delicate touch to the decor.

Next to the window was a small bookshelf with red, blue, green, and black leather-bound law books with gold writing on the spines. Two feet next to the small bookshelf was her five-foot-wide brown rectangular desk and her black faux-leather, plush-back chair which she was seated in. Behind her head was an ocean-blue decorative art frame. Further in the corner of the wall were two framed certificates, one about the company and one about her. They were both written on white paper in black and gold in delicate brown-and-gold frames.

She made a few clicks on her computer mouse before rolling herself away from the screen and focusing her eyes on me.

“Have a seat.” She waved to the dark-blue, mesh-backed visitors’ chairs in front of her desk.

Next to me was a large, potted, green, leafy plant which should’ve provided a calming ambience, but my heartbeat quickened.Was there something wrong already? Why did she call me in here?I sat down in silence, keeping my face as neutral as hers while I waited. She leaned back in her seat and studied me. “So, how have you been coming along?” she asked.

There was phlegm in my throat as I attempted to speak, and I cleared it away. There was no need to feel intimidated. “Good. I’ve just gathered some copies of landlord-tenant case studies to give me comparisons to draw on when writing our brief and formulating some advice for our client,” I said. ‘Our client’ being the tenant. “Would you like to see it?” I asked, scrambling for the papers and extending them to her in a rush.

She put her hand out to stop me, making me aware of how embarrassingly flustered I was. “So, you’ve got no problems so far working on the case then?” she asked.

I shook my head vehemently. “Not at all,” I said.

She nodded and leaned forward, placing her elbows on the desk, keeping her eyes fixed on me. “Good,” she said. “And you’ll have the brief written and proofed by the end of the day tomorrow?” she asked.

My pulse was slowing now since this started to feel more like a routine check-in with her new hire. Nothing seemed to be wrong. I smiled and nodded at her. “Yes, I will.”

She tapped her short, manicured nails on her desk and nodded. “Okay, because as you know, we’ll be in court by the following day, so I want to be able to look over it before we get to the courtroom. Hopefully there will be no need for last-minute changes.” She looked at me as if she would scold me if there were.

“You can rest assured that I will write, rewrite, read, and proofread several times before I submit the final document to you. I am a pretty skilled researcher,” I said.

She tilted her head, both dismissing me it seemed and saying, ‘I guess we’ll see, won’t we?’ without having to actually say the words. I moved to stand.

“Will that be all, Ms. Saunders?” I asked, to ensure that I read her body language correctly and wasn’t walking out on an unfinished conversation.

“There is one more thing,” she said, and I sat back down. “I don’t doubt that you’re quite the skilled researcher. You wouldn’t have the successes you had in law school if you weren’t. But as you know, being a lawyer is about much more than sitting behind a desk and studying. So, prepare yourself for court as well because you’ll be coming with us to observe on the job what it’s like to argue a case before a judge. You’ll meet the client…”

Her voice started to fade into the background, and except for the high-pitched buzz piercing my eardrums trying to disorient me, the room had fallen numbingly silent. Shit, the cat was about to be out of the bag. I should’ve known that secrets didn’t stay hidden for long, and it was only a matter of time before it busted out the doors, exposing me.

My belly ached, twisted and turned as I tried to tune back into our conversation, but the only thing I could think of was the fact that I’d be seeing Jared Crawford face to face again and I doubted he had an understanding bone in his body. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I knew that I had to be prepared so that the court appearance didn’t become about Jared Crawford, because once again, the world did not revolve around him. This was about the case and the client.

Oh dear, I felt sick.

Chapter 24

Jared

Walkingintothecourtroomwith the rest of the legal team, I was confident as hell and full of smiles. The courtroom was where I thrived. It was where I dominated. There wasn’t a single sweat droplet on my skin, especially for a civil case that I already knew I would win, even with my eyes closed. I had no doubt about it.

I had every expectation that this case would be resolved today. It was a simple landlord-tenant case and our client, the landlord, was clearly in the right. The scent of wood cleaner used on all the benches, desks, and podiums in the room was like fresh air to my lungs. In the courtroom, whatever was happening in my personal life fizzled out like a distant sound and the case took centerstage.

In the office, I thought of Tiffany even though weeks had passed since she’d left. But her presence was still very much alive there, especially in Mario’s and Anthony’s grins. They didn’t talk to me about her and I didn’t inquire, but I had a feeling that they were still hooking up with her. I’d see them chatting together about their nights or their mornings, but they’d quieten when I got within earshot.

Not even swimming could stop me from thinking about her long legs and heels by the pool anymore. So the courtroom was my safe place. It was the place I felt self-assured and confident. The place I knew I’d never falter. Even better, when it came to my job, it was the place Tiffany never colored with her steps and her memories.

I swung open the small wooden gate separating the gallery from the counsel tables and the bench. There was no one sitting in the gallery. The courtroom was mostly empty except for the counsels and bailiffs.

As I was about to settle down in my seat, my eyes drifted around the room in boredom. I froze in place when I spotted familiar red hair on orange-toned skin sitting across the room from me. Her hair was swooped up in a tight ponytail with a neat round bun at the top.

I’d never seen her wear her hair so tight. There was not a hair out of place.

Her side profile was focused as her arched reddish-orange brows kicked up at something she seemed to be reading. She had on a dark suit. She looked like a completely different person in the way that she dressed, but her pretty nose, soft pink parted lips, and freckles were hard to miss, even when she wore makeup. But today she didn’t seem to be wearing any. Yet still she glowed stunningly in the room as if the light coming through the windows only shone on her.

My heart fell into the bottom of my stomach and my chest felt like it had been rammed into. It ached and my heart flopped about within me like a fish on land. I was overwhelmed with the need to close the distance between us and find out how she was. The chatter in the room silenced and my body cried for her. My mind was foggy, and I couldn’t figure out if I was hallucinating or she was really there. I hadn’t lost my mind though, so I knew that she was. What was she doing here?

Realization dawned on me once I picked up my drooling lips from off the floor, reminding myself of the environment. I was in the courtroom. We were both lawyers, positioned on either side of the room. She was here as part of the opposing counsel?!

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