by Rachel Dylan
“Work as in working at Optimism?” Sofia asked.
“Yes. It’s totally fine, Sofia. What I thought happened to me didn’t happen.” It was easier to just claim everything was on the up and up. “I have no reason to give up a perfectly good internship at a major business because I was stressed out and delusional.”
“It sounds to me like you’re trying to convince yourself of things you know are not true. It’s me you’re dealing with, Stacey. I’ve known you, what? For ten years.”
“I’ve grown up.”
“Yes, you have, but I could see the fear in your eyes after what you experienced in your apartment. Now you’re trying to put up a defense mechanism and pretend like it didn’t happen, but after the fact you were trying to convince me that it did. You said you felt like it was real even when you didn’t want it to be. Remember that?”
She sighed. “I have to get to work, Sofia. Is there anything else?”
“So that’s it? You’re just going to shut me out.”
“Please don’t worry about me. I’m doing great. Better than I have in a long time. My grades are solid, and I’m learning so much with this job. Just let me be.”
“Do you plan on coming back to church?”
“I’ve really got to go. I’ll talk to you later.” Stacey didn’t even wait for a response before she ended the call.
“Is everything okay?”
Stacey jumped at the sound of Morena’s voice behind her. She turned around.
“Everything is fine.”
“If you want to talk about it, you know I’m here.”
“It was just someone from my old church. She doesn’t want me working here.”
“And how do you feel about that?”
“Like I want to do what I want to do.”
“Good girl.” Morena squeezed her shoulder. “You’re a grown woman now. You need to start making your own decisions and thinking independently.”
She nodded. “It feels good. I’m making the right decision. I’m confident of that.”
Layton walked into the conference room. “Ladies, we’re now set for trial a week from today.”
“What?” Morena asked.
“Yes, it’s great. We have a new judge and a great chance of winning this thing.”
“Who is the judge?” Morena asked.
“Louise.”
Morena only smiled in response. Stacey felt like she was obviously missing an important piece of the puzzle, but she didn’t want to pry.
“Is there anything I can do to help get ready for trial?” Stacey asked.
“Actually, if you’re up for it, I’m sure there is,” Layton said. “Our lawyer, Grant Baxter, is in the other conference room. Let me introduce you to him. I imagine he would like to have some assistance.”
“You take her to meet Grant, and I’ll catch up with you afterward. We have a few items to discuss,” Morena said.
“I’ll meet you in your office in a few.” Then Layton turned his attention back to Stacey. “Come with me.”
Stacey followed Layton down the hall to the other large conference room. She walked into the room behind him and felt her eyes widen. Grant Baxter didn’t look anything like what she would’ve expected. He was much younger—probably in his thirties—and was absolutely handsome with dark hair and bright blue eyes. But this was not the time for a schoolgirl crush. She needed to impress everyone that she worked with.
“Grant, this is our intern, Stacey Malone. She’s currently in college and will work here after graduation. I thought you might be able to use her on any tasks you thought appropriate.”
Grant reached out and gently shook her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Stacey.”
“I’ll do whatever you need me to. Even if it’s just bringing you coffee or making copies.”
“Thanks so much. I am running most of this case by myself, so I’m sure there will be plenty of things that have to get done to prepare for trial. So I’d welcome the help.”
She smiled. “That’s great. Thank you again, Layton.” She turned to him. “This opportunity is amazing. I’m learning so many different things.”
“You deserve it, Stacey. I’m going to run and meet with Morena now. You’re in good hands with Grant.”
Layton left the room, leaving her alone with the lawyer.
He smiled at her. “Are you really up for this? Because if you’re not, then that’s okay. It will be a lot of grunt work.”
She nodded. “I’m ready. Just tell me what to do and where to start.”
“Great. I’ve got a list of exhibits that we’re planning to use at trial. Basically this is a list of documents. All the documents in the litigation, one hard copy each, are in those boxes that go all the way across the perimeter of the room. First thing is that we always make sure we keep that master set intact. But I’d like for you to pull this list of possible exhibits from the master set and make four copies of each of them. Can you handle that?”
“Most definitely.”
“I’ll be right here if you have any questions.”
Grant had taken over the entire conference room table with lots of papers, and he also had his computer open.
She took the list of documents from him and started to work, pulling out documents from the master file and making copies. The industrial size copier in the conference room made the process pretty simple. But there were still a lot of documents to copy.
They worked in silence for a long time.
“Grant, can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Did you take this case because you’re a New Age follower, or just because it was a good case?”
“I took the case on the merits. My own beliefs really didn’t even come into the analysis at all.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I’d never been truly exposed to New Age theories anyway. So it’s been a bit of a learning curve.”
“I’m studying it. New Age I mean. It’s so fascinating. If you’re not into New Age, are you religious at all?”
Grant shifted some papers on the table. “Funny you ask that. Before I started this case, the answer would’ve definitely been no. But as of late, I’ve started to explore things a bit. I’ve started going to a church here.”
“Oh, which one?”
“Windy Ridge Community Church. Have you heard of it?”
She nodded. “That’s where I used to go.”
“Why did you stop going?”
She took a breath.
“Sorry, if that’s too personal of a question.”
“Oh, no, not at all. I stopped going because I really feel like I found my niche with New Age. It seems to be where I’m supposed to be. At least for now.”
“I feel the same way. But about Christianity.”
“That’s so strange.”
“Isn’t it?”
“I was raised in Windy Ridge Community Church. But I feel like I’m entering into a new phase of life. I’m ready for something new.”
“I may be totally out of line here, so forgive me in advance. But I just have to say this.”
“All right.” Where in the world was he going with this?
“Just be careful, Stacey. I’ve been exposed to a lot of this stuff through this litigation, and it’s much more real and dangerous than I ever could’ve imagined.”
“I thought you were on our side? That you were our lawyer?”
He nodded. “In the lawsuit, yes, I am Optimism’s lawyer, and I will do my best to protect the interests of the company. But there are things going on around here that go way beyond the lawsuit. I don’t know if you have seen that yet or not. But I couldn’t help but say something to you.”
A shiver shot down her back. Because this man she had just met and barely knew had laid it all out on the table without even knowing it. “Thanks for giving me your opinion.”
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I won’t say anything else about it. We’ve got lots more work to do.”
> Stacey was left feeling a bit frazzled. Just when she thought she had it all figured out, Grant had to walk into her life and add to her confusion. How could this man who had just started going to church have that type of impact on her?
Chapter Sixteen
Olivia had her game face on—today was the day. The trial was set to begin. The week of preparation had gone by quickly, but as she readied herself to step into the courtroom, she felt a sense of peace wash over her.
As difficult as this trial would be, she knew that the most trying battle was yet to come. What she needed to do now was face down the issues at this trial and meet it head on. She’d gotten a pep talk last night from Chet who assured her that he was happy with her performance under such unusual circumstances.
She met Nina Marie outside the courtroom doors. Nina Marie was going to serve as the company representative during trial so she would sit at the counsel’s table. The one associate and paralegal that Chet sent to help Olivia would be in the chairs right behind the table.
As they walked into the courtroom, she almost ran head on into Grant who was walking with what she presumed was another lawyer from his firm by his side. He shook her hand, but they didn’t exchange words. Layton was already seated as the Optimism representative at plaintiff’s table. The other man she didn’t know sat right behind them.
It took them about an hour to choose a jury, and then they were ready to go.
“Mr. Baxter,” Judge Martinique said. “Let’s begin with your opening statement.”
“Thank you, Your Honor.”
Olivia felt like she knew the case well enough to predict where Grant was going to go. Each side basically had the arguments that they had, and there wasn’t much room left for additional creativity beyond that. But what each of them did bring to the table were their individual styles and modes of presentation.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury. I know I introduced myself to you during jury selection that we just finished, but I’ll say again that my name is Grant Baxter and I represent the plaintiff in the litigation—Optimism. A company founded by the late Earl Ward twenty years ago, but that is still thriving today. Led by Layton Alito the CEO, the man you see seated at the table.” He pointed toward Layton.
“You’re going to hear a lot of allegations in this case. A lot of personal drama. A lot of distractions put forward to you by Astral Tech’s lawyer. But at its core, this case is simply about theft. The evidence will show that Nina Marie Crane stole an application, what we would all call an app, that was created by Optimism CEO Layton Alito. Everything else will just be a sideshow to that simple fact that we will prove to you.”
Grant kept going for about half an hour. She wasn’t surprised that he didn’t drone on forever. Studies showed that the jury could quickly lose patience with long opening arguments and Grant was no amateur.
When he took his seat, it was her turn. She looked up toward the judge.
“Ms. Murray, the floor is yours.” Judge Martinique smiled.
Olivia couldn’t believe the nerve of the judge putting on a smile. But Louise Martinique was a smart woman. She wasn’t going to say or do anything that could come back to hurt her or her professional reputation as a judge. She’d do everything she could during trial to appear balanced. But Olivia had no doubt that the rulings would mostly go against her—or at least the rulings that really mattered.
Nina Marie gave her hand a quick squeeze under the table. Their relationship continued to amaze her. And she couldn’t help but wonder that if she had more time, she could find out what damaged Nina Marie so badly to make her turn to darkness.
But for right now she had to focus on her opening statement.
“I’m Olivia Murray, and I want to thank you for your service on the jury.” She made a point to make direct eye contact with the jurors. Her strength was in personally connecting with the jury. She didn’t have as much pizazz or charisma as Grant. But she had heart.
“Mr. Baxter told you a lot today about the simplicity of this case, and he of course relied on his version of the facts. I’m not going to take a lot of your time in this statement because I believe the evidence presented will tell the story for you. Please hold Mr. Baxter to his opening statement. If this case is as open and shut as he would like you to believe, then you should be convinced when shown the evidence of exactly what occurred. I will submit to you that you will find the evidence woefully lacking to support a finding for Optimism on the claim of theft.”
She took a deep breath. So far the jury was listening. She was about to drop the bomb. Her biggest and best argument. Whether they bought it or not was another issue entirely.
“This case isn’t about theft. Ladies and gentleman, this is a case about a romantic relationship that went from hot and heavy to toxic in a short amount of time. Mr. Baxter, of course, didn’t fill you in on these quote dramatic details because he knows that if you hear all the facts and not just part of them that you will come to a conclusion adverse to what he wants.”
She walked toward the jury. “But the evidence will show that Nina Marie Crane, the current CEO of Astral Tech who was then the Chief Operating Officer, and Layton Alito the CEO of Optimism engaged in a romantic relationship. When Ms. Crane ended the romantic relationship with Mr. Alito, he was obviously distressed. The breakup was not amicable to say the least. And there was dramatic back and forth between the two of them.
But what there was not, ladies and gentleman, is any theft. Mr. Alito, spurned by his girlfriend, is not a man used to being rejected. A man of wealth and power and intelligence. Someone who didn’t know how to handle being told no. The evidence will show that Mr. Alito took matters into his own hands. He wanted revenge. He wanted Ms. Crane to hurt as much as he was hurting. And the best way for that to happen was for him to go after the thing that mattered the absolute most to Ms. Crane. And that was the company she’d poured herself into for years, the company I’m here representing today—Astral Tech.”
She paused to let her statements sink in. “The evidence will show absolutely no wrongdoing by any employees of Astral Tech including Ms. Crane. The evidence will show, however, emails documenting the tumultuous relationship between Ms. Crane and Mr. Alito. It will show Mr. Alito’s temper. His utter surprise at being dumped by Ms. Crane. And then, ladies and gentlemen, it will show you the anger that filled his heart and his words as he tried to come to grips with the rejection. Is it pretty? Most certainly not. Do both parties bare some blame in how the relationship ended and the aftermath? Of course. But you will not be presented with a shred of evidence tying Ms. Crane to the alleged theft of the app.” She wrapped up with a few closing thoughts and took her seat.
She felt good. The jurors had been with her the entire time, and she could see on their faces that they were at least starting to believe that this might be a lover’s quarrel more than a business dispute. But she still had a long way to go.
Most of it would really come down to the two star witnesses. Their direct examination and cross examination. And ultimately who the jury believed. Unfortunately for her, she wasn’t sure she believed her own client. How could she make sure the jury did? That’s what had been keeping her up at night.
But Grant was representing the plaintiff, and he would put on his case first. Which meant he’d be putting Layton Alito on the stand after lunch.
“We’ll recess an hour for lunch,” Judge Martinique said. “I’ll remind the jury of the same admonitions I gave before we started.” She then went on to tell them about what they couldn’t talk about.
The jury was dismissed and after they left the courtroom, Nina Marie leaned over to her. “That was brilliant, Olivia. We’re going to win this thing.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Nina Marie. We’ve got to get through this afternoon first.”
**
Grant had spent the most time preparing for his direct examination of Layton. He’d almost put as much time into the cross examination of Nina Marie, but with cro
ss he liked to adapt based on what the direct exam was.
But his direct exam with Layton should go smoothly. The operative word being should. He’d met with Layton for hours going over the testimony in painstaking detail, the way any good lawyer would do.
He was much more worried about Layton losing it on cross. If he did that, the case would be over. The jury would be much more likely to buy into Olivia’s theory if Layton was a loose cannon.
Right now, Layton was a ball of confidence. Ready to attack his prey and more importantly to woo the jury. Layton had assured Grant that this was going to be a slam dunk.
The lunch break was over and it was time to put Layton on the stand. Lord, help me. That was all he could think.
“Mr. Baxter, please call your first witness.”
“Thank you, Your Honor. Optimism would like to call Layton Alito to the stand.”
Layton stood from the table and walked up to the witness box. He was sworn in, and then he looked at the jury.
Grant had to admit, on the outside Layton looked like he had nothing to hide. If only that were the truth. The good part was that Grant actually did believe that Nina Marie had stolen the technology. So now it was time to convey the story.
“Mr. Alito, I’d like to start by giving the jury some information about you. Please tell the jury a bit about your education and work background.” Normally he wouldn’t be able to lead his own witness or ask such open ended questions, but for background it was usually allowed.
“Sure. I graduated from University of Illinois with a degree in business. I then got my MBA after working for a few years and then I went to the PR industry.”
“And when did you first start working at Optimism?”
“It’s been about a decade ago. I became CEO of Optimism after the passing of the head of the company. I’ve been in that role ever since.”
“And tell the jury a bit about what your company does.”
“We offer a variety of New Age products to customers including technological applications, or apps, like the one in question here.”
“And that’s what I want to talk about today. Why did you make the allegation of theft against Astral Tech?”
