Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 86367 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86367 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
“Yeah, good,” he says, and I can tell from his tone that he’s disconnected a bit. Sort of like he’s unsure about everything, and he’s not the only one. “You have a busy day ahead of you?”
“I do.” I lean back in my chair. “Don’t you have a game tonight?”
“I do, and then we take off for three games, coming back next week. Have you checked your calendar?”
“I did. I don’t think I can swing it by next weekend. I’m in court all next week, after we present closing arguments, the jury will deliberate, and they could come back with a verdict at any moment. I have to be close by.” I close my eyes, knowing if the roles were reversed, I would be pissed.
“I can’t do anything in the next couple of months,” he says. “Between being on the road and the home games, everything is crunched together. There are also the playoffs we have to worry about.”
“We’ll talk about it later.” I push it aside, knowing we both have to head to work, and worrying about this now is not something we need.
“Yeah, I guess so.” His tone is as frustrated as I feel.
“Have a great day. Call me later.” I try to sound upbeat, but somehow, even I know I sound defeated.
I hang up the phone, putting it down on my desk before grabbing the coffee I brought to work. I take a long sip of the coffee, trying not to think too much about it because all I’ve been doing about it is realizing that the two of us just can’t work, and if it will work, it will be a long-distance relationship. Now that I’ve gotten to know him, been with him, woken up with him, shared time with him, I know I don’t want that.
There is no time to think about that, so I turn on my computer and prepare for trial. There are so many things to do in order to get ready for next week. It’s crunch time for me; everyone handles the way they prep things differently.
With me, I always start with reading the brief again before starting on my opening arguments, then reviewing depos, witness statements, and evidence.
I open the brief, grabbing my cup of coffee to take a sip. I’m in the middle of putting down the cup when I freeze in my tracks. I’m shocked when I see a mistake, and it’s not just a little mistake like a typo. It’s a fucking colossal mistake.
My body feels like it turns to stone, my neck gets hot as I put the cup down. “No-no-no-no-no,” I chant over and over as I pull up the case law I cited in the brief. I close my eyes for a second when I see it’s a colossal mistake.
I pick up the phone right away and call Gary, my boss and the district attorney. His secretary picks up after two rings. “Hi, Ryleigh, how are you?”
“I’m good,” I say, but really I’m the opposite of good. My stomach feels like it’s going to be sick, my heart races so hard and fast I don’t even know if I can talk without freaking out. “It’s urgent that I talk to Gary.”
“One second, he just got off the phone,” she says, putting me on hold. My leg bounces as I wait for him to pick up.
“Ryleigh,” Gary greets when he picks up the phone, “what can I do for you?”
“Gary,” I hiss, “I fucked up on the Robert Phillips case.”
“Define fucked up,” he prods, his voice tight as I proceed to tell him what I fucked up with the case.
“Did you call Brenda?” He mentions the judge’s assistant.
“No, I called you first to inform you,” I answer softly, waiting for it.
“I’m not going to sugarcoat shit for you, Ryleigh. This is a huge fuckup.” There is nothing that he is saying I don’t agree with. “Off the record, I’m going to say you probably made the mistake because—” My spine goes up because I’m thinking exactly what he is thinking as to why this happened. All of this is because I was so fucking tired from traveling. My head was thinking too hard about when the next time I would see Stone was to focus on the case at hand. “Your briefs have always been too long. You have to remember what you learned in law school; trial briefs should be short. While I appreciate all your hard work, this case is a winner. All the evidence is in our favor. It’s a slam-dunk case, while your error certainly doesn’t derail the case, it definitely isn’t a good thing and it’s a terrible mistake for an attorney of your caliber to make.” I can hear the disappointment in his voice. “You better call Judge King’s judicial assistant, Brenda, and see if you can schedule an emergency hearing. It’s better to admit your error to the court before Judge King finds it.” Just the thought of Judge King finding it before my admission is too much for me to even imagine. Not only could I be sanctioned, but this might cost me my promotion to becoming a district attorney, and the most devastating blow is I could lose my job, which has me on the verge of having a panic attack.