As Payton asked this question, she folded her arms across her chest and casually leaned back against the table—on one foot, her left foot—for support.
J.D. drew in his breath. Oh, shit.
“I suppose they handled the matter promptly enough,” the witness conceded.
“And you would have to agree that they handled the matter effectively, wouldn’t you, seeing how you never again saw your ex-manager, let alone had a problem with him?”
Still leaning against the table, Payton crossed her right ankle over her left, so that all her weight now bore down on her left heel.
J.D. cringed. Crap, crap, this was going to be bad. He couldn’t watch. But yet he had to. Should he do something? Maybe he could—
But right then, Payton eased onto the table—taking the weight off her shoe—as the witness answered.
“Yes, I suppose you could say that the way the company chose to respond to my manager’s harassment was effective enough.”
J.D. exhaled in relief. Close call. But he had better get that note to Brandon/Brendan now, while he still had the chance. He glanced over. A few other latecomers had sat down at the end of his row. He would have to sneak past them to get out.
Meanwhile Payton, sitting on the table, gracefully crossed one leg over the other, continuing her cross-examination.
“And when the director of Human Resources interviewed you a week after the incident, didn’t you, in fact, tell her that you were pleased with the company’s response to your complaint?” she asked.
“No, I don’t think that’s what I said,” Ms. Kemple quickly replied.
Payton seemed surprised by this answer, but remained unflustered. “Really? Do you remember when we spoke earlier at your deposition, Ms. Kemple, where you said . . .”
J.D. watched as Payton searched through the files on her table and quickly found the deposition transcript she was looking for. Payton grabbed the transcript—
“Here, Ms. Kemple, let me read to you a portion of your—”
—and before J.D. realized what was happening, Payton did sort of a half leap off the table to approach the witness stand and when she came down on her feet there was a loud crack! that sounded throughout the courtroom and holy shit suddenly Payton stumbled wildly off balance, her arms flailing, and she—
—dove headfirst straight into the jury box.
The entire courtroom gasped as J.D. flew out of his seat in horror.
Oh, my god!
Everyone was on their feet, stunned, watching as Payton quickly scrambled to pull herself to a stand, grappling, climbing past the jurors who sat in their box, mouths agape, and she managed to get to her feet, a little flustered but covering as she smoothed her skirt and—
“Sorry about that.” Payton smiled calmly at the jurors, regaining her cool. “Now, where was I . . .”
She looked for the deposition transcript she had dropped, she turned around and—
—the entire audience in the galley cried out in shock.
Unbeknownst to Payton, when she had fallen her skirt—those damn slim-fit skirts she liked so much—had torn at the seam and now gaped open, and sweet Jesus, she was wearing a thong and two tiny white butt cheeks peeked out from between the folds of her skirt—
J.D.’s jaw nearly hit the floor.
Oh god, it was horrible, horrible—well, actually it wasn’t all that horrible for him, she had a really great ass—but for Payton, this was a train wreck, a disaster—
Up front, Payton heard the ruckus coming from the audience behind her, so she turned around—
—and the peeky cheeks now faced the judge and jury. The jurors’ mouths dropped open, and a few murmured something incoherent, and they all gaped as Payton hobbled about the courtroom on uneven shoes, confused as to the source of the commotion.
At the defense table, Brandon/Brendan timidly whispered something to Payton; J.D. couldn’t hear it and apparently neither could Payton because she bent over toward Brandon/Brendan to hear better, exposed white buns up in the air for all to see, and the courtroom erupted in complete pandemonium and J.D. started to climb past the people in his row—he somehow had to put a stop to this—
But Payton finally heard Brandon/Brendan.
She stood up, her hand flew to her skirt, and she felt the rip in the seam. She instantly reacted; she unbuttoned her jacket and quickly tied it around her waist—no more peeky-cheeks—and J.D. heard a few groans of disappointment as the judge finally got things under control, banging his gavel and calling for order in the courtroom.