Trial & Tribulations

by Rachel Dylan

  Dan leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk. “If they keep coming after him, then I assume he’ll start feeling something. Like I told you, Olivia, I’m just not sure if they think that Grant is their top priority right now.”

  “Are we interrupting?” Sofia and Beverly walked into the office.

  “Not at all.” Dan was eager for Olivia to meet these two strong women of faith. “Olivia, I’d like to introduce you to our youth director Sofia Garcia and our financial administrator Beverly Jenkins.”

  Sofia was closer to Olivia’s age, but Beverly seemed to be much more welcoming to Olivia. Sofia remained skeptical of the entire situation.

  “It’s very nice to meet you.” Olivia shook hands with both women.

  “What did we miss?” Beverly asked.

  “I’ve been going through the Astral Tech app today,” Dan said. “Sofia, were you able to touch base with any of the youth about it?”

  “Yes. In our group meeting, they claim they haven’t heard much about it, but I can also see some hesitation amongst them in wanting to come forward. These kids are young and impressionable. I get the sense an app like this could be very interesting to them. So I wasn’t surprised when I got an email from one of the girls saying she wanted to talk to me about it in private. I’m scheduled to meet with her tomorrow.”

  “Good,” Dan said. “Let us know right away what you find out.”

  Olivia nodded her head. “Really when you think about it, it’s a brilliant recruitment strategy. The app will draw in young people much quicker than any face to face type meetings ever would.”

  “How’s the lawsuit going?” Chris asked.

  “Optimism is taking a highly aggressive stance in the litigation. I have a feeling that the case is going to move much faster than normal. As you can imagine, I am limited on what all I can discuss with you because of my legal relationship with the client.”

  “We understand that,” Dan said. The last thing he wanted was to put Olivia in a compromising position and hurt her legal career. “As far as the legal battle goes, you represent Astral Tech and that’s your job.”

  “Right. It’s all this extra stuff that makes things messy.” She paused. “For what it’s worth, I think the two organizations are really targeting each other right now—and the lawyers. I don’t think they’ve turned their attention back to the Windy Ridge community or this church.”

  “Right,” Dan said. “I told Olivia about some of the issues we had with Optimism when I became pastor here a decade ago. We had some rough times, but since then it’s been a bit more covert. Each year there may be an incident or two but nothing major.”

  “Is it possible that Layton has been using this time to build up his group?” Beverly asked.

  “Anything is possible with that guy,” Dan said.

  “Also, just because you’re not seeing what you think of as traditional manifestations of the devil’s work around the community doesn’t mean that Optimism has stopped working,” Olivia said. “From everything I’ve learned about Layton, he is cutthroat and highly ambitious. Maybe he’s biding his time for a bigger plan.”

  “A plan that got disrupted when his technology was stolen by Astral Tech,” Sofia said.

  “I obviously can’t comment on the alleged theft,” Olivia said. “But I just wanted to point out that you may have a sleeping giant on your hands. If Optimism and Astral Tech are going after each other, then who knows what will come out on the other side.”

  “It could get ugly and innocent people could get hurt,” Beverly said. “I’m going to say it because no one else has come out and put it on the table.” She paused and looked out the office window. “Just because they are going after each other, doesn’t mean that their end goal is any different. To spread the evil one’s message and to bring people into their dark realm. To get Christians to turn away from God, and to inflict as much harm as possible on believers. We as a church need to be ready for this. We can’t just sit back and think that they’ll destroy each other and we’ll go about our merry business. I’m older than anyone in this room. I’ve lived through a lot in my life. So while the battle takes different forms, it’s still a battle.”

  “Maybe we need to do some self-reflection as well,” Dan said. “Yes, we’ve had quite a respite over the past few years, but could it be that’s because these groups didn’t see us as a threat? If so, that means we need to do more.”

  “Why would you purposely try to provoke them at this time?” Sofia asked. She stood with her arms crossed. As always, she was the most critical one of the group.

  “It isn’t about provocation,” Chris said. “Dan is right and so is Beverly. Maybe we’ve been too lax. Our attendance numbers are respectable, but they continue to decline with each year. If we’re going to get Optimism and Astral Tech out of our backyards, we need to take action to prepare.”

  He knew what they needed to do. “We’ll start by having a special prayer meeting Sunday night. It’s time we prepare everyone for what is going on here. We don’t want anyone to be caught off guard.”

  “Let’s bring it in for a prayer now,” Chris said. “Dan, you lead us.”

  Dan stood hand in hand with his leadership team and Olivia. It was at that moment that he realized the importance of what they doing. The Lord had chosen them, and they wouldn’t let Him down.

  Chapter Six

  Olivia couldn’t believe the three-month discovery period that Judge Martinique had ordered was winding down. All the relevant players had been deposed and much to Grant’s dismay, Olivia had filed key briefs with the court. She was proud of all the work she’d put in—and most of all the favorable results.

  Once they had gotten back in front of their assigned judge and out of the grasp of Judge Martinique, she had won a big legal battle by getting parts of the case dismissed. The only claim that was left was the allegation that Astral Tech stole the app.

  Olivia knew that was the claim to be the most afraid of, but everyone back at BCR was touting her victories. And since she literally had done all the work herself, no one else could claim the credit. Chet had called her multiple times praising her for her stellar performance. But it was far too soon to celebrate. They still had to get through the rest of the case.

  There had been an odd, almost unsettling calm between the companies, at least on the spiritual side. Both groups seemed very preoccupied with the lawsuit. And Olivia wondered if her standing up against the evil forces had knocked some of the wind out of Optimism’s resolve. At least for a while.

  Whatever the reason, she’d taken the mini truce and ran with it. Pouring all of her energy at work into the lawsuit and trying to set herself up for a victory in the end. But she wasn’t so naïve as to believe that the spiritual battle was over. It was only a matter of time before things heated up again. And she was going to be ready when they did.

  She and Grant had seen each other a lot, but only on matters limited to the litigation. There were less lunches and dinners and more depositions and in her opinion, frivolous motions filed by Grant that had kept her super busy.

  Ever since he’d had that spiritual experience at his house, he’d pulled back from her. She thought it was probably easier for him to process that way. And she didn’t think it was her place to push it. At least not then. But on the other hand, she’d been told that Grant was important so there was a lot more she needed to do as far she was concerned. She was trying her best to be patient. And when the Lord spoke, she would listen.

  Windy Ridge Community Church was working to build up prayer teams. Pastor Dan hadn’t wanted to let up because everyone knew in the end there would still be a fierce battle and the church had to be ready. Because if it wasn’t, then nothing would stand in the way of the forces of evil taking over Windy Ridge.

  Having the respite from the direct attacks had allowed her to put her spiritual energy into getting herself ready for what was to come. Her prayer life in general was getting stronger, and she knew that she was
n’t alone in the fight.

  She’d also been spending her time on litigation strategy. Her latest endeavor was something that she needed Grant to be on board with. So she’d asked him to meet her to discuss something related to the case. She smiled to herself because she knew he wasn’t going to like it.

  **

  “I came here because you asked,” Grant said. He’d agreed to meet Olivia, but that was just out of professional courtesy. “But there’s no way my client is going to agree to a mediation.” He looked into Olivia’s big brown eyes as she sat across from him at the Windy Ridge Coffee Shop.

  She picked up the large pink mug and took a sip. “I think it would be beneficial to get the parties in the same room.” She looked down and back up. “And I actually don’t know whether my client would agree either.”

  He laughed. “So this is all your great idea, huh? You just drop it on me before you even talk about it with your client.”

  “Well, what do you think?”

  “I think,” he leaned in closer to her, “that you wanted an excuse to meet me face to face and check on what I was up to. Wanting to see if I had any tricks planned for the final days of the discovery period.”

  She smiled warmly at him. He was going to have to be careful with her. Between all the craziness, their clients, and her kind heart, he could see himself being attracted to Olivia Murray. And that wasn’t a road he should even get close to going down. For about a million different reasons—only one being that they were on the opposite sides in a lawsuit. In fact, he’d been trying his best to keep his distance from her over the past three months. This was actually the first time they’d met outside of a specific litigation task.

  “It’s both actually,” she said. “I do think we should schedule a mediation. Just to get everything out on the table. But you’re also right that I wanted to check on you. Not about your litigation tactics, but about how you are doing. The past few months have been intense, and you always avoid talking about what happened at your house three months ago. Each discussion we’ve had, you’ve skillfully redirected. You experienced something you’d never had before. That was bound to be pretty difficult for you.”

  He nodded. “Yes, but with the passage of time, I’ve put it all in perspective. Nothing else has happened. I wasn’t feeling well. Maybe I was so tired and stressed out.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “C’mon, Grant. You’re not that tired or stressed. In our line of work being tired and stressed is just another day at the office. What you experienced was real. So real that you called me immediately after it happened and gave an account of what you felt. It also happened to coincide with the attack on me that afternoon. We have a situation here.”

  She was getting riled up, and it was kind of amusing to watch. “Is that what you’re calling it?”

  “Yes. I realize we’re on opposite sides, and we have to do our professional duty. But we also have to protect ourselves. We’re in the middle of this spiritual battle between two very powerful and strong evil groups, and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  “What about you?”

  She took another sip of coffee. “I’m better equipped to deal with it than you are.”

  “That’s an understatement.”

  “Which is another reason I wanted to meet with you. I wanted to invite you to a church service at Windy Ridge Community Church.”

  No way was he going to church with her right now. Even if someone had attempted to do some crazy witch voodoo on him. “No. I just don’t think church is for me at this point.”

  She reached out and grabbed his hand. “After what you experienced in your own home, are you really sure that you want to go at this thing alone? Because I’m here to tell you as someone who has experience with this that it will only get worse, not better.”

  He shook his head. “No. My mind was just playing tricks on me. If you don’t let yourself think it can happen, then it won’t happen. I just have to be more aware of things, that’s all. And do I need to remind you that things have been quiet? Unless you haven’t told me, things have been calm for you on that front too.”

  She leaned back and crossed her arms. “You’re trying to talk yourself out of what you know in your heart actually happened.”

  He waved his right hand. “Nah. Like I said, too much work, too little food and a lack of sleep. There are no such things as spiritual forces, Olivia. There just aren’t. I know you believe differently but science and just plain old logic would say otherwise.”

  “If you’re going to keep this up, I’m going to get a croissant or scone. Do you want something?”

  “Sure.” His stomach growled at the thought of it. “Whatever looks good.”

  “Be right back.” Olivia walked away from the corner table and up to the front of the store.

  He wasn’t fooling himself. He had to be right about what happened because honestly the alternative was far too much for him to consider. Olivia already bought all of this and was so fully immersed that he couldn’t count on her to be rational. And no, he wasn’t saying that the vandalism against her didn’t happen. But he wasn’t ready to say that any spiritual force was at work. The mind was a delicate thing. And the powers of persuasion were great. He knew that first hand as a trial lawyer.

  What he needed to do was put back on his rational thinking cap and not buy into any of this spiritual mumbo jumbo. That was going to be his best defense.

  Olivia walked back a moment later with an assortment of pastries.

  “I figured you could take whatever you don’t finish back to the office.”

  He grinned and picked up a big blueberry scone. “Is this how you treat all your opposing counsels in your cases?”

  “You’ll never know,” she said. “But back to the issue at hand. You up for Wednesday night church service?”

  He shook his head. “I’ll pass.” He could see the frustration building in her as she smoothed down the napkin in front of her. “It’s not personal.”

  “I’m not going to push you. But I have to warn you that this is far from over. For either of us. Don’t let this respite fool you, Grant.”

  “You’ve mentioned that.”

  “All right.” She set down her croissant. “What are your thoughts on mediation then? The court will probably order it at some point. Why not get it out of the way now?”

  “Because I can guarantee you that our clients won’t be sharing pastries and chatting across the table from each other.”

  “All the more reason to do it. Let them get out some of their frustrations face to face.”

  “To hear you tell it, though, we should be concerned about some type of magical confrontation.”

  “Don’t mock this.” Her tone was no longer light.

  He put up his hand. “I’m not mocking any of it. I’m just trying to figure out what your end goal is here. We both know there is zero chance of settlement. So why mediate?”

  “Like I said. It will be a useful exercise for them to be able to get things off their chests.”

  “That’s if they would even agree to be in the same room as each other. You’ve done enough mediations to know that it’s a distinct possibility that they would want separate sessions with no interaction.”

  She leaned back in her chair. “That wouldn’t be good.”

  “But that is the most likely scenario.”

  “The poor mediator.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Just float the idea and I’ll do the same. I still think it could do some good. And if we pushed a joint session, with the mediator’s help maybe we’d get it.”

  “You’re optimistic.” He laughed. “No pun intended.”

  She gave a weak smile. “I’ve got to run. Enjoy the scones.”

  **

  Layton was thrilled to have Stacey Malone sitting across from him in his office. Her strawberry blonde hair was down today cascading past her small shoulders. He was attracted to her, no doubt about that. Even if he did have about twent
y five years on her.

  But he needed to stick with the mission at hand. There was no time for dalliances right now.

  “Stacey, I hear you had a great meeting the other day getting settled into your internship.”

  “Yes.” She smiled. “I’m really excited about it.”

  “What draws you to the New Age way of life?”

  Her bright blue eyes sparkled with excitement. “I can’t really describe it, but I feel so strong and powerful when I’m practicing New Age techniques.”

  “What techniques have you been using?”

  “A lot of meditation. Some cleansing. I’ve been doing a bit of reading on the topic too. That’s why I spend so much time in Indigo. I really enjoy their selection of reading materials.”

  He nodded. “That’s all a great start, but I think you have a lot of untapped potential. I can feel your aura, the energy that you have which is very strong. I would love to introduce you to some of the practicing spiritualists here at Optimism.” He used the word spiritualist because he wasn’t exactly sure how she would react to the word witch.

  Her eyes widened. “Yes, I would love that. I have to admit I’ve dabbled a bit in spells but I wasn’t very successful.”

  “It’s an art. Here we will be able to teach you all about it.”

  She leaned forward in the chair. “How soon can I start?”

  “No time like the present. You’ll remember Morena from the bookstore. I’ll have her work with you. Let’s go to her office now.”

  “Great.” Stacey stood up and walked toward the door.

  He was right beside her placing his hand on her back guiding her to Morena’s office down the hall.

  “Morena,” he said.

  Morena looked up at him and smiled. “Layton, Stacey, so great to see you today.”

  “In addition to being our intern, Stacey is your newest pupil. She’s ready to start right away.”

  Morena’s brown eyes focused on Stacey. “That’s great news.”

  Layton put his arm around Stacey. “She’s special, Morena. So make sure you take great care of her. She’s going to be one of our most gifted members. I can feel it.”