Court Out - By Elle Wynne Page 0,82
she gives me a comforting pat on the leg.
“John? We’re in here,” she calls.
As if on autopilot I straighten my clothes and sit up straighter. Just as I’m brushing crumbs from my trousers, he walks in. Is it my imagination or does he look older than normal? The lines around his eyes seem deeper and his hair is somewhat disheveled, far from his usual military perfection.
“Hi Dad,” I venture in a small voice.
He doesn’t reply but he remains standing next to the doorframe, looking at me with an expression I don’t recognise. Mum and I hadn’t got round to discussing his reaction to my arrest, but seeing as this is the man who was upset with one of my A-grade GCSE’s (It should have been an A*, naturally) then it’s a safe bet he hasn’t taken the news of my criminal career well.
Right, the best thing to do is to try and get my version of events in before he can start to tell me off. I take a deep breath and close my eyes.
“Dad-”
Before I can properly start my sentence, all the air is knocked out of my lungs and I feel an immense pressure on me. I open my eyes and nearly break down when I realise my father has enveloped me in his arms and is squeezing me, tight. He is stroking my hair and whispering over and over into my ear,
“No-one messes with my little girl. No-one messes with my little girl.”
By the time I get home my emotions are well and truly mixed. I’m staggered at the amount of unconditional support I’m being shown by Sebastian and my parents, but still utterly horrified that some people clearly think I’ve done something wrong, something criminal.
I figure now is as good a time as any to face the music and go through the messages on my phone to see what people want. My parents and Sebastian’s messages account for about half of the voicemails and texts. The rest are from an assortment of people, Roger, Cassie, Rivers and Serena. To her credit, Serena has left about five voice messages and sent about thirty texts. I really should call her back. She answers after the first ring.
“Lauren? Where are you? What happened?” she shrieks in a loud, piercing voice.
“Hi Serena.”
“Oh my God Lauren, they’ve been saying all sorts. It’s not true is it?”
“Well that would depend on what they’ve been saying, wouldn’t it?”
“Lauren stop it! You have to tell me what happened,” she persists.
“Well, it’s quite straightforward really. Apparently I tried to bribe a juror to convict Hobbs. Unsuccessfully.” I don’t know why I’m being facetious, I really can’t help it.
There’s silence on the other end of the line and I can hear Serena breathing, thinking about what to say to me. I decide to put her out of her misery.
“Look, I haven’t been charged with anything. Yet. Look, we both know I didn’t do anything, so I’ve just got to sit and wait to see what happens next.”
“Holy crap. How are you?” she continues in a smaller voice.
“I’ve been better. I must admit being kicked out of Chambers didn’t do much for my mood earlier though.”
“What!” she explodes, “They’ve thrown you out of Chambers? They can’t do that!”
“Ok, I haven’t been kicked out, I’ve been suspended. Semantics really.”
“We need to appeal. Have you spoken to Alexander?”
I give a bitter laugh.
“You could say that. He was the one who suspended me and pretty much said he thought I did it. I mean come on, this is me we’re talking about! He obviously, even after all these years doesn’t know me at all.”
“Fuck,” she replies.
“Fuck,” I agree.
We talk for a little while longer then I cry off, pretending that someone is at the door as a means to end the call. To her credit, Serena seems to be genuinely distressed, which makes a refreshing change from the rest of Chambers. She’s promised to try and rally support on my behalf and spread the word of my innocence. Whilst I suspect this may well be a lost cause, a tiny part of me hopes that it will work.
I don’t bother replying to any of the other messages, instead deleting them all. I’m trying to pretend that nothing is wrong, but my ostrich-like approach keeps being ruined by the constant beeping of my phone informing me that someone else has sent me a message. I had a tentative look at my Facebook account earlier and to my horror found that people