Counsel's Objection
Chapter 1
“Your Honor if I may submit….” Sarah started trying to inject confidence into her voice by speaking slightly louder than she normally did.
“Ms Hemming, please, you are not going to persist with those submissions are you? I mean really.” The eyes rolled upwards as the words dripped from the Judge’s thin mouth, the tips of his long fingers tapping against one another as if beating to an unheard rhythm.
Sarah, shoulders back and head held high, tried to ignore the sneer from the ravenously handsome solicitor opposing her. Ever since he had stepped into Court her body and mind had gone on a frolic. I’m a lawyer, she repeated like a mantra to force her mind to focus on the job at hand instead of straying into territory she rather not right now.
That morning, when there had been no opponent, her self-confidence had soared, only to crash when her opponent had arrived with a great flourish and “my apologies to the Court your Honor, you know what city traffic is like,” which had elicited a smile from his Honor. She had resisted the urge to run and throw up.
She knew the second her nostrils picked up Armani cologne it was him. Oh how hard she had worked to rid clothes, sheets and furniture of that scent after he had dumped her. And when she heard his deep voice, the handful of butterflies multiplied, her hands desperately hanging on to the edge of the table, to stop herself from fainting. If only she was somewhere else. Of all the solicitors and all of the courts, why was he here?
“Your Honor, if I may…”
“Mr Southgate?” The Judge shifted his steely blue eyes to Sarah’s opponent, with a visible shift in demeanor. Typical boys club.
“Why don’t you stand our matter in the list,” Southgate spoke slowly, his deep voice travelling through the courtroom with ease before he paused, as if gathering his thoughts. “And give us a marking at two. This way my friend and I can have some meaningful discussions.” Sarah could not help but see the bright smile her opponent was giving the Judge, with the lifeline of having the morning with no case to hear. Was it her imagination or had he emphasized the last few words?
Realizing round one had been lost, Sarah clenched her fists under the table with her eyes fixed on the paper in front of her. It was clear now Markus was going to drag this out for as long as possible. If he thought he could simply rail road her into some settlement just before two so he could collect a full days fee, she had news for him.
“Very well,” the Judge replied. “Not before two.”
The hairs on the back of her neck were bristling as she stalked past Markus, head held high. If he wanted a fight, she was up for it.
“A word?” he whispered with that irresistible boyish smile and a twinkle in those deep blue eyes.
Sarah ushered her client into one of the many small interview rooms to explain what was happening. Since she had not anticipated anyone appearing for the husband in this case she had told her client the matter would take ten minutes at most, just procedural issues needed to be dealt with. However, since the husband today was legally represented and Southgate wanted to talk they might be here for a while.
“Your husband’s solicitor wants to have a word,” she explained to her client, a mousy thirty something woman who had discovered her husband had been cheating on her for most of their marriage.
“He’s very handsome. Do you know him?” Her client sounded envious.
More than know him. “In a way,” she replied avoiding direct eye contact.
“He’s good isn’t he?”
Sarah stopped. Of course Markus was good, but so was she and she had come a long way since their little fling. “He’s just doing his job.” She said flatly and turned to run straight into him as they both opened the door at the same time, he from the outside, she from the inside. He smiled giving her a gallant wave past him. Sarah closed the door firmly before taking a step away from the interview room to make sure her client could not hear their conversation as well as put a safe distance between Markus and herself.
“Long time no see.”
“You wanted to talk?” she asked surprised how cool and business like she sounded, not at all how she felt.
Trouble was, though, she was crumbling under his gaze. Those deep blue eyes dared to travel over her, undress her, here in public at the Family Court and she was defenseless. Instinctively she wanted to run a hand down her blouse to check for undone buttons, but resisted focusing on something just past his face. And so they stood.
“How’ve you been?” He broke the silence first. “You’ve changed your hair.”
At the last sentence she felt color rise to her cheeks. There had been a few changes after he had dumped, her hair the main one. Once she never paid much attention to it, but now with weekly visits to the hairdresser she kept it in a sleek bob, not a hair out of place. The other change had been the color, changing from an ordinary brown to a golden honey. Her hairdresser had insisted it matched her skin and eyes. “Your proposal?” Sarah folded her arms as she spoke, making only minimal eye contact. Enough reminiscing, time to move on, the clock was ticking. There was not much money in this case.
“What no pleasantries?” He scoffed. “I like the new look by the way.” There was a pause as his left hand gently tucked her hair behind her left ear. “It makes you look,” his voice trailed off as he moved his hand.
It took all of her self control not to throw herself into those strong arms. “I don’t get paid for small talk.” She was pleased with the coolness in her voice, her confidence growing. She could pull this off. She could run this case even if Markus was going to oppose her.
“Don’t tell me you’ve turned into a bitchy family law solicitor?” He said raising his eyebrows in mock horror. “Is that why you have the new hair do?”
Now she fixed him with cold eyes. “I’ll see you in court at two. I’ll be making an application for costs thrown away.”
...............................................................look out for Counsel's Objection the novel.
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