Court Out - By Elle Wynne Page 0,43
talk with Corr are cut short when Quinn walks through the door.
“Georgie Boy!” he booms in a deep baritone, “This trial is like groundhog day eh?”
Corr merely glances up and gives him a brief nod. Undeterred, Quinn continues.
“Oh don’t be like that George, just think, after this you’ll never have to see me again! Ok, well not ever again, but it’ll at least be the back of Mr. Hobbs!”
The silence that follows is deafening. After at least a minute, Corr speaks quietly.
“I hope you have received the amended set of agreed facts and the proposed timetable for calling the witnesses. If there are any problems then have your junior liaise with Lauren.”
With this, Corr stalks out of the courtroom, leaving me sat amidst the folders on my own. There are two rows of benches in the well of the court. Typically, the first is reserved for barristers and the second for our instructing solicitors. In this trial however, I’ll be sitting next to my solicitor behind Corr. I look to my left and see Serena enter the court, making her way to the seat behind Quinn.
“And who are you dear girl?” he asks jovially.
“Serena Taylor,” she replied confidently. “I’m your noting junior.” She unzips her bag and places her laptop onto the bench behind him.
“Ah, sorry but not there, too many cooks and all.”
Serena looks somewhat bewildered. “Pardon me?” she asks.
“You’re to sit in the public gallery. We don’t want the jury thinking he’s got too many lawyers on his team. Makes him look guilty. On that subject, please take off your wig, gown and bands. Just act like a civilian and we’ll get on swimmingly.”
Whilst were not exactly on best terms at the moment, I feel a pang of anguish for her. I know how much she’s been looking forward to having what she considered a proper ‘role’ in the trial. She slowly removes the offending items and relocates to the worn seats reserved for members of the public. She looks like a child who’s just been told that Father Christmas is a work of fiction. I can’t help myself.
“There’s no power socket over there, if you want her to take a note on your laptop, then she’s better off here” I say, pointing to a row of seats to the side of the dock, at the back of the court.
“Fine, fine” he booms. “Just make sure you don’t get under my feet.”
As Serena relocates for the second time, Quinn turns his attention to me.
“And you, young lady, must be Lauren. Such a shame about poor Samantha.” Quinn smiles at me, then runs his gaze down by body to my heels then back up again. I try not to visibly shudder. “Yes, Rivers is going to enjoy this trial, what with you and Shauna over there,” he drawls, indicating to Serena, who is now safely established at the back of court.
“Speaking of my errant junior, I’d better see where he’s got to.”
He leaves and gives me a wink as he passes. Yuck.
After I’ve set up all of the papers for Corr I sit and wait, knowing there’s not quite enough time to grab a coffee before court starts. You could cut the tension between Serena and I with a knife. I debate whether to break the silence and decide against it; I’ve already been nice to her once this morning, it’s definitely her turn.
The door opens again and a man who must be ‘Rivers’ walks in. At this point I’m not in the least surprised to recognise him as the man with the amazing eyes from downstairs. He walks directly across to me, his gaze fixed firmly on my blushing face.
“Hi, I’m Andrew Rivers,” he says in a deep voice, holding out his hand for me to shake. His cuffs have risen and I can see his watch which looks suspiciously like the new Breitling.
“Lauren. Lauren Chase” I reply, trying to keep my voice steady.
To my dismay I realise that I’m standing just that little bit straighter than usual, my smile is a touch wider then normal and I’m holding his look for a nanosecond longer than I should. I turn away from him and begin to gather the papers Corr wants him to have.
As I make sure everything is in order, I spy a pair of familiar looking shoes approaching where we are stood. My shoes, in fact. I wondered where they had gotten to. Today they are attached to Serena’s feet as she strolls over to the