Six weeks later . . .
Spending all damn day in court with Landry wasnotmy idea of a great time, and my heel bounced impatiently against the floor. That asshole Stowel really had tried to sue me. I glanced over at him, sitting with his lawyer. He didn’t come off as slimy, but first glances could be deceiving.
“Oran?” Twisting at the whisper, surprise rose my brows as May slid into the gallery pew behind me. I turned toward her while she leaned on the back of my seat. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m being sued for refusal to abide by contractual wages. Did David not drop the suit when you pushed back?” Her lips parted in an ‘oh,’ and May shook her head with a devious glint in her eye. “I have a feeling I’m going to enjoy this story. Where’s your lawyer?”
“I don’t have one. Want to go out in the hallway?” Holding out my hand, I gestured her to give me the big file under her arm, and May frowned with a confused crease between her brows. “You’re not a lawyer, are you?”
“No, but Landry is.” Hearing his voice, Landry twisted with a little wave, and May took my word for it and handed him the folder. “I’ll cover this personally. You read through that and get me if I’m not back before we’re called up.”
“You got it.” Standing up, I shuffled out of the gallery, and May followed as my mind churned furiously. I hadn’t heard from her in weeks, but I knew this court date couldn’t be the only reason. Holding the door for her, I frowned at the stress lines around her mouth and eyes, and we slipped into the corridor to sit on a bench.
“Are you alright?” Shifting her pale pink purse into her lap, May nodded quietly, and my eyes narrowed as suspicion sloshed in my chest. “Why don’t you have a lawyer? What’s David suing you for?”
“Professional slander, because he can’t get a new job, fraud, and internal corporate espionage.” A bark of a harsh, disbelieving laugh escaped me, and I covered my mouth as I leaned back to take all that in. May cracked a small, stressed-out smile, and I scoffed loudly before she continued. “Also, he wants me to pay him his salary for the past four weeks since he got fired because it’s supposedly my fault he decided to steal my work and got caught.”
“I heard about that from Malory. The whole team was fired except you, and you got transferred to another team. How are they treating you?” May waved a slender hand dismissively, and I inhaled deeply as anger flared in my chest. “And you don’t have a lawyer to help you dispute all those charges?”
“Okay, um, basically, what happened was I got served, right, about three weeks ago. I then got a call to discuss the charges with David and his stupid lawyer, so I went, and come to find out, the guy doctored documents. I can’t prove it right now because I’m still waiting for the audit team to get back to me. Anyway, I don’t have a lawyer because the one I had is a family court lawyer who said he could handle a civil suit, but then he flaked on me, and I couldn’t find another one in time. After David found out, he tried to meet with me again a few days ago and offered to settle. Of course, not him paying me, but me paying him. And it’s an astronomical number, like $70,000.”
“So, you’re here to request a continuance to get the evidence you need?” Again, May nodded, and my cheek twitched in agitation. “Do you want me to fast-track it? I can get it here within the hour.”
“Actually, I’m pretty okay with David thinking I’m scrambling. If he wanted to go to court, he wouldn’t have tried twice to settle with me, right? So, he knows his case is weak enough to be dependent on me not finding anything in time. The only thing is that he subpoenaed the records, and I didn’t, so it’s taking me a while. I think he thinks they just denied my request outright, which they can’t because this is a legal matter.” She was so damn smart it was baffling. I nodded mutely before May cast me a questioning look. “What about you? Why are you here yourself, Oran?”
“Ah, someone I contracted in the past is claiming unpaid contractual wages, like I said before. I could’ve just given it to him, but the guy’s been pestering my office for months. I want to squash him under my heel personally.” Reaching to swipe a few strands of stray hair from May’s temple, I pursed my lips thinly, and her face tinged pink. “Is there something else bothering you?”
May had once called me trustworthy, but I could sense her hesitancy as she licked her lips nervously. Fiddling with her purse strap, she inhaled through flared nostrils before shaking her head a little, and concern knit my brows.
“It’s not aproblem, per se. My sister, Sarah, is turning seventeen soon, and she wants to go to this place, Sylvan Park Bird House, in North Carolina. I can’t send her by herself, but I can’t take days off work with everything going on. I mean, not that my new team is awful, but they’re . . . they’re wary. They think I purposefully obliterated my last team, which isn’t unreasonable considering the rumors flying around.” Oh, right.Sometimes, I forget there’s a life outside the office for most people.I sat back a little as May shrugged slightly, but she clearly was far from careless about the issue. “I mean, theoretically, I have enough to get this court thing over today if I really wanted, but I’m not as rock-solid as I’d like to be. Even then, I could take a Friday and a Monday off and do it the weekend before her birthday, but that’d only make the situation at work worse.”
“You’re in a hundred times better position with a lawyer, though. Let’s go back in and see what Landry thinks. This kind of case is one he’s best at.” I stood up, holding out my hand for her, and May smiled warmly as her fingertips slid across my palm. “It might be a while before we’re out of here. Is your sister home by herself?”
“Yeah. She knows it might be all day. Besides, she’s too busy planning her dream trip.” Pulling open the door to the courtroom, I nodded at that. It wasn’t really my business what May did with her sister. Walking back to Landry, I gestured her to take my seat, and I glanced over at Stowel again. Irritation gripped my heart in a vise when he smirked my way, but I kept my expression neutral and confident. There was no way this idiot was going to get the better of me.
I’d paid him all I agreed to, and I wouldn’t pay a penny more.
“Hart versus Warran.” The call from the judge surprised May and I both, and I nodded curtly at Landry when he glanced back at me questioningly. Across the aisle, David and his lawyer shuffled out of the pews, and my eyes narrowed on him. Rubbing my jaw absently while Landry and May made their way up, I couldn’t help but frown at the confident set of David’s shoulders.
This should be interesting.I’d kept myself updated on the situation even though May never specifically reached out to me, and she played herself well. She was impressively sly and perceptive, and I inhaled deeply as my thoughts strung along leisurely. David glanced over and tensed when he noticed she’d gotten a lawyer before leaning to whisper to his own, and my lip twitched up.
If her mere appearance was worrying, his case wasn’t just weak, it was almost guaranteed to backfire on him, which was good. Everyone deserved their dues.
“Ms. Hart, you’re being sued for one count of corporate espionage, six counts of professional slander, and . . . ” Before the woman seated so far above us could continue, David’s lawyer cleared his throat and interrupted her. And this judge did not appreciate that at all if the scowl on her face was any indication. “Is there a reason you interrupted me before I could even read the charges, Mr. Thompson?”
“Ah, yes, Your Honor. My client is prepared to reduce the suit to one count of professional slander, and $50,000 in punitive damages.”
“Your Honor, I see absolutely no reason to completely dismiss a count of corporate espionage, five counts of slander, and the eleven fraud counts being brought against my client. These are very serious allegations, and to just dismiss them all is a misuse of the justice system.” The judge’s brows rose, and I propped my forearms on the back of the pew in front of me to watch Landry in action. “My client deserves her day in court to prove her innocence, and just because Mr. Thompson has gotten cold feet—"
“Are you honestly arguing for a trial? I’m offering to reduce the suit.” Landry was a pit bull in the courtroom, and satisfaction bubbled up like thick tar against my ribs.
“Your Honor, by so grossly reducing the suit, it calls into question their integrity. Not only that but demanding $50,000 in exchange is excessive considering the seriousness of those allegations. Either the opposition filed false claims, or the plaintiff is worried something worse than simply that will come out in court.”Bink. I could practically hear David’s gaskets blowing, and Landry held up what May had been able to get together. “Taking into consideration the fact that an internal investigation into the team he was leading proved without a doubt thatthe plaintiffwas the one committing fraud, coupled with not one but two attempts to settle out of court, and this sudden decision to withdraw so many counts for seemingly no reason—"
“Alright. Alright, Mr. Landry.” The judge pushed back her straight brown hair and tapped her cheek thoughtfully. Holding my breath, I sat on the edge of my seat, anxiety gripping me in a vise as she glanced between the two parties. “I agree with Mr. Landry that your sudden decision to withdraw so many serious allegations and add a request for $50,000 in punitive damages that weren’t in your original suit, is suspicious, Mr. Thompson. I’m dismissing the suit against Ms. Hart.”
Exhaling hotly, I covered my mouth to hide my smile as the judge banged her gavel, and May slumped against the table to duck her head. Relief surged through me. Landry ate cases and lawyers like this for breakfast. Even though this outcome wasn’t surprising, I didn’t want to get my hopes up. Practically skipping into the gallery, May flashed me a huge, blindingly bright smile, clutching her file and purse to her chest with white-knuckle tightness.
“Thank you. Thank you, Oran.” I half expected her to bow at the waist, but May just slipped into the seat next to me to grab my hand and squeeze. David breezed by, scowling and glaring, but she didn’t even notice as she huffed happily. “I’ve never been to court. I didn’t know it would just end like that. She just dismissed the suit . . . likethat.”
Snapping her fingers as she whispered excitedly, May squeezed my hand again, and her voice shook with relief and disbelief and a host of other emotions. My chest tightened at how expressive she was in every way, and I sat back a little to cross my knees. Suddenly, this wait for my case seemed bearable.
