by R. E. Hunter
Shaking out of her thoughts, Embry nodded, pushing her concerns away. “Yes, I’m fine.” She looked down at her watch. “Time to go.”
After another quick kiss and an encouraging pat on the ass, Embry headed out the door and headed to campus.
First year students were already crowding the hallways, dressed in full business attire. Some were pacing back and forth, dress shoes clacking across the tiled floor as they read silently over their outlines. Some were sitting in groups, laughing and joking, the impending oral arguments apparently having no effect on them whatsoever.
Embry found Jeremy in the atrium and plopped down beside him.
“Looking lawyerly, Blondie. Very nice.”
“Not too bad yourself, Jer.” Her eyes traveled over his three-piece suit. He definitely looked the part today. “You clean up nice.”
He waved his hand. “Don’t try to flatter me, it won’t make me go any easier on you in there.”
Embry chuckled and they sat in companionable silence as they read through their notes. If she had to go up against anyone, she was glad it was Jeremy. Law students could be pretty cutthroat, and having her friend in the room with her, instead of another random student, eased her nerves considerably.
Suddenly, the loud screech of a chair against the floor stole Embry’s attention. She glanced up to find Morgan flopping into the chair beside her in a huff.
“Oh my god, that was rough.”
“Really?” Embry raised an eyebrow. “I thought you’d kill it.”
Morgan smirked. “Oh, I did. I’m talking about the other girl.”
Jeremy rolled his eyes. “So modest.”
“Hey.” Morgan shrugged, pretending to brush off her shoulder. “When you’ve got it, you’ve got it.”
Jeremy laughed. “Can’t argue with that.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and nodded to Embry. “We’re up in five, Bree. We should head over.”
She folded up her notes and stood on shaky feet.
“Good luck!” Morgan encouraged. “And whatever you do, don’t lock your knees or you’ll faint!”
Embry turned back to her friend. “What?”
“Don’t lock your knees or you will pass out, I’m telling you!” Morgan tucked her lips in and nodded like she knew from personal experience.
Embry just shook her head, her heels clicking down the hall as she and Jeremy took their place outside their designated area. “What’s she talking about?”
He shrugged.
Great. Now all she could think about was fainting in the middle of the classroom.
An older man with a head of silvery hair poked his head out of the room and looked around. “Jeremy Price, Embry Jacobs?”
Jeremy raised his hand and they both made their way into the large space. The front of the room was outfitted with a judge’s bench and a jury box, looking exactly like a courtroom would.
They reached the lecterns facing the bench, and Embry felt Jeremy’s hand on hers, squeezing encouragingly and whispering “good luck” before stepping away.
She was up first, making a motion for her client, and then Jeremy would have his ten minutes to argue against it. She stepped up to the podium, her hands trembling slightly as she spread her folder out in front of her and set up her index cards for easy reference.
She’d barely glanced up at the judges when the man spoke. “Whenever you’re ready.”
Embry nodded, her fingers tensing on the podium as she looked up, unseeing, toward the front of the room. She opened her mouth to begin, and the only words that ran through her head were Morgan’s. Don’t lock your knees!
Silently cursing her best friend, she bent her knees slightly, took a deep breath and began. “May it please the court, my name is Embry Jacobs, and I represent Kim Jones, the plaintiff in this matter. We respectfully request that the court grant Miss Jones’ motion to compel.”
Embry continued her introductory remarks, then looked up to the man with gray hair. “Would the court like a recitation of the facts?”
He shook his head. “That won’t be—”
“Actually I would.”
Embry’s head snapped up at the sound of the sickly-sweet southern voice to find Sydney glaring down at her from the stand.
What? No.
An inaudible gasp escaped Embry’s lips, and her heart beat erratically in her chest as her brain tried and failed to process what she was seeing. It was common knowledge that the judges for all first year oral arguments were picked from a pool of local lawyers, alumni and upperclassmen, but Sydney had no ties to the law school or the community.
Embry flicked her eyes to the timer in front of the main judge and watched the red electronic numbers tick slowly by. Her composure was quickly unraveling. Shifting uneasily behind the podium, her entire body quaking from head to toe, she fought just to maintain her balance as she teetered on her high heels.
“Miss Jacobs?” the man prodded.
She had two choices. Give in to her fear and let it eat away at her, letting this crazy bitch destroy her, or fight like hell against her. The judges were grading the students, and those grades would be passed on to the professors. Sydney could completely screw Embry if she chose to. And with the bat shit craziness that Embry had already witnessed, there wasn’t really a chance of Sydney having an attack of conscience. But there were two other judges keeping score and, if Embry could keep it together, she may be able to avoid a total disaster, even if Sydney gave her a bad evaluation.
Taking a deep breath, Embry thought of Luke, of what he’d had to endure for her so far with facing off against Jack in court after hearing the horrible things he’d done. Luke had been livid. He told her after that he’d wanted to drag Jack’s ass out to the parking lot and beat the shit out of him. But he maintained, took control and tore Jack apart on the stand.
Keeping all that at the front of her mind, she used Luke as motivation. She wouldn’t crumble. Sydney wouldn’t win.
Gathering her composure, she glanced quickly down at her notes, her mouth set in a firm line. Clearing her throat awkwardly, she looked, really looked, at the judges in front of her. The older man with Anderson Cooper hair smiled down at her, the younger woman to his left, who must’ve been a law student, played absently with her phone, and then there was Sydney. She sat to the main judge’s right, staring at Embry as if she were burning a hole right through her.
Panic wracked Embry’s body, but she fought it off. Luke’s words played through her head. Don’t forget to breathe. She took another breath and then went into a quick review of the facts before advancing right into her argument.
The judges listened intently, and soon Sydney’s searing gaze had no effect. Embry’s confidence grew as she made her case, applying the facts she’d been given to previous cases decided by real courts.
“The courts favor the balancing test in determining whether privilege has been destroyed. And based upon the extent of disclosure in this matter—”
“What about the time taken to rectify the error,” Sydney interrupted, rattling Embry once more.
The other two justices glanced at Sydney, nodding as if she’d had some genius thought. Really, all she was doing was trying to undermine Embry’s argument by bringing up the weaker points that she’d been avoiding.
Her professor had prepped the class thoroughly for their arguments, including being ready to efficiently discount certain opposing arguments as weak. Embry took a moment to gather herself, glancing down at her notes once more. Finally, she swallowed her pride and responded. “You’re correct, Your Honor.”
Sydney’s eyes bulged in disbelief and Embry continued. “Time is a factor when the court uses this test. However, the test requires the balancing of many factors. In this case, a sensitive document was disclosed fully and completely on more than one occasion, and the necessary precautions to avoid such a disclosure weren’t taken, which far outweighs the fact that the company attempted to quickly remedy their error.”
It looked as
though Sydney’s head was going to explode on the spot. Her nose scrunched up in distaste, her eyes narrowing on Embry as her face turned an unpleasant color of red.
“Disclosure was complete” —Embry turned her gaze on the panel of judges— “and because of that, confidentiality was destroyed. Thus the court should grant Miss Jones’ motion compelling the defendant to produce the document in question.”
The clock hit zero just as Embry thanked the judges for their time. She took her seat at the table next to the podium as Jeremy approached.
“Nice job, B,” he whispered, shooting her a smile before addressing the judges.
As she watched Jeremy argue against her motion, the adrenaline that had pulsed through her system during her oral argument trickled away. She began to tremble slightly, starting with her hands and spreading throughout her entire body until she was shaking like a leaf.
Glancing out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Sydney’s gaze remained locked on hers. All she wanted was to leave—to curl up in a corner and cry. She bit back her tears, gritting her teeth and attempting to distract herself with Jeremy’s argument, but her thoughts and emotions were running wild, overwhelming her.
Her eyes found the timer. One minute left. At least she had no other classes today. She could spend the day drinking her feelings and crying into a bottle of wine if she wanted. Yep, that sounded perfect.
Jeremy wrapped up his argument and thanked the judges. He walked up to the table, his eyes on Embry. “Bree?”
She looked up at him, unsure what emotion was showing on her face.
His eyes were filled with concern. “Are you all right?”
She shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut, hoping to stem the flow of any emotion. “I…” She hesitated. She had no desire to explain any of this to Jeremy.
Remember when my boyfriend had a lying problem? Well, the girl he lied about and hid from me is now in New York and apparently out to ruin me. She just judged our arguments, and I’m probably going to fail legal writing because of her.
No, thank you. She stood, gathering her things. “I’m fine, it’s nothing.”
The judges, who were taking a ten-minute break between sessions, filed out of the room as Embry and Jeremy stood.
Sydney breezed past her, tossing an envelope onto the table and shooting her an acerbic smile. “Oh, it’s not nothing, is it, Bree?” she bit out.
Embry eyed the envelope on the table. Scooping it up, she turned to Jeremy. “Let’s go.”
He looked after Sydney, his brows creased in confusion. “Who was that?”
“The devil incarnate.”
Embry was sitting on the dock behind Luke’s house—her house now—staring off over the water. Armed with a comfy sweatshirt and a bottle of wine, she’d taken the envelope Sydney had left behind and went to sit by the water to think. She fumbled with the edges of the envelope while she replayed her oral argument in her head. Remembering the moment she saw Sydney caused her stomach to drop all over again. Her face, her voice, haunted her. And she hoped she’d done well enough to overcome any bad grade Sydney would give her.
Staring down at the thin envelope, she sighed. The unknown contents were weighing heavily on her. Should she open it? Wait for Luke?
Coming from Sydney, it wouldn’t be anything good. Embry wished she could text Luke and have him come running like he always said he would, but he was in court all day. It would only worry him if there was nothing immediate he could do.
Taking a large gulp of wine, she steeled herself and tore open the package, gasping when a stack of black and white photos fell out. The past few months of her and Luke’s relationship, long before her run-in with Sydney at the courthouse, stared back at her in high quality. Embry was horrified as she thumbed through them.
There were pictures of them out to lunch, to dinner. Walking hand in hand into and out of restaurants. A kiss here. A touch there. But as she continued through the pile, the pictures began to change, became more intimate. Luke and Embry snuggled together on the dock, him undressing her in his living room, her in a cropped corset and lace panties with his hands on her body, his lips on her neck. The pictures played like a flipbook of all of their private moments. Sydney had taken snapshots of something beautiful and turned it into something dirty, ugly. The only thing Sydney seemed to have missed in her thorough documentation of Luke and Embry’s relationship was the fact that Embry was a student. She’d been genuinely shocked when she learned that, and the pictures proved that she’d had no idea. It was little consolation, considering she had complete access to Embry’s law school now.
Where the fuck did she get these?
Embry’s stomach turned as she tried to make sense of the photos staring back at her. They looked as if they’d been shot with a telephoto lens and blown up for maximum effect. It worked. Tears slipped down her face. How was this happening? And why? Why was she doing this to them?
A cold shiver swept through her, and she began to shake in earnest as raw fear coursed through her. She tried to wrap her mind around this. It was no secret that Sydney had followed her, watched her… something. But to see the evidence of hers and Luke’s relationship spread in front of her, some of those moments so intimate and personal, and to know that someone had been watching, waiting, documenting… Bile rose in her throat at the thought. She felt vulnerable, violated.
Her head swam as her emotions raged out of control, her fear response making it difficult to think about anything other than running.
She downed the rest of the wine in her glass, then poured some more, taking another large gulp. It warmed her from the inside out, slightly taking the edge off and soothing her frayed nerves. She didn’t know what to think, what to feel. Scared… fucking furious. There was no positive way to spin this, no rational explanation. This crazy bitch was going single white female on her and Luke.
Another shiver racked her body and suddenly she felt too exposed, sitting outside on the dock in plain sight. She gathered up the photos—holding the past four months of her and Luke’s relationship in her hands—grabbed her wine and hurried inside, locking the door and setting the alarm.
She settled on the couch with her wine and tossed the photos onto the coffee table. She no longer cared where Luke was or if he was in the middle of the trial of his life, she had to tell him. She pulled out her phone and shot him a panicked text.
I need you. ASAP. 911. Now.
The alarm beeped in the background, and Luke’s voice came from far away. “Bree? Bree, where are you?”
Her sleepy mind refused to process anything. Her eyelids fluttered, but she was pulled back under.
“Embry.” A warm hand grasped her shoulder, lips touching her face.
She stirred, her brain foggy as she slowly came awake. Then her eyes blinked open to find Luke kneeling beside the couch where she lay.
“Hi.” Her voice was thick with sleep.
He cupped her face, the pad of his thumb trailing gently across her cheek. “Hey, you okay? You texted me 911, then didn’t answer your phone.”
“I passed out.” The events of the day came crashing into her at once, and her emotions kicked into overdrive as a fresh wave of alarm shot through her. She shook her head rapidly, her wide eyes finding his. “No, Luke. I’m not okay. Nothing’s okay.”
His eyebrows drew together with worry. “What’re you talking about?”
She motioned toward the coffee table, and Luke stood and turned. She watched his body go tense, his eyes slowly igniting with anger as they traveled over the photographs. A string of curses fell from his mouth as he rubbed the back of his neck and turned back toward Embry. “What is this?” he asked quietly, a chill hanging on the edge of his words.
Embry gulped. “Sydney was a judge for my oral argument today.”
His mouth fell open in astonishment.
She nodded toward the photographs, smiling sardonically. Her fear had morphed into anger now. She was no longer trembling. Instead she wanted to
hurt something, someone, do damage. “And she left me with this lovely parting gift.”
He snapped his jaw shut. Gathering up the photographs, he attempted to shove them back in the envelope, but his hands, visibly shaking with rage, couldn’t manage. He threw the photographs back on the table with a shout. “Jesus H. motherfucking Christ!”
Embry jumped, startled into gasping silence.
He turned to her, his face dropping. “I’m sorry, baby. I’m so sorry. I’ll take care of this, I’ll—”
Something in her snapped then. All of the hurt and pain she’d been feeling, all of the anger she’d been suppressing, clawed to the surface, all directed at Luke.
She stood and threw her hands in the air. “You’ll what, Luke? Fix this?” She was sick of hearing “I’m sorry”. She wanted normal. She wanted happy. She wanted free. And with Luke it was always something.
His eyes hardened. “You’re putting this on me? You think I want this, Embry?”
She stalked toward him, leaning in. “How did she get on to campus, Luke? Who offered her a position to judge the oral arguments? The only connection she has is you. Think about it…”
His lips parted, as if ready to throw his anger back at her, but he stopped suddenly, his eyes widening in realization. “Fuck.” He scrubbed a hand down his face. “Fuck me.”
She looked on, waiting, wondering.
“I recommended Chuck,” he said quietly. “He’s interested in teaching. I suggested him as a judge. He must’ve had a previous engagement and sent her in his place. Fuck, Embry. I had no idea.”
She shook her head in disgust and pushed past him. It didn’t matter anymore. Whatever his excuses or reasons, she was tired of hearing them.
“Embry.” He followed behind her as she climbed the stairs.
She ignored his pleas. She was seething, her entire body a ball of tension and anger that had nowhere to go except at Luke.
“Embry.” His voice was forceful and his hand shot out, gripping hers.
“What?” She whirled on him, ripping her hand away from him, her words dripping with disdain. “What do you want?”
