Consent Ch. 06

"What the fuck just happened?" Celia whispered.

"They believed Melody's story... they believed my story... they just didn't think that we got hurt. They were unsure of whether or not there was consent," Adele breathed.

The Judge began to bang his gavel over the noise in the courtroom.

"Order! Order! Order!" Judge Brinkman bellowed and finally the court began to quieten down.

"You may continue, Madam Forewoman," the Judge looked over at Millicent Ford who was still standing in the jury box.

"We the jury, also award the plaintiff two million dollars in punitive damages from each of the defendants," Millicent Ford nodded solemnly at Adele Edwards.

Adele was speechless as was Celia; Melody was still confused, and then the courtroom exploded.

*****

Adele, Celia and Melody retired to a small conference room near the courtroom and closed the door behind them, silencing the cacophony coming from the courtroom and outside in the corridor.

"Did that jury just award me eight million dollars?" Melody's eyes sparkled.

Celia nodded.

"When do I get my money?" the enthusiasm evident in her voice.

"Hold on sister. The defendants are going to appeal against the damages awarded by the jury. I don't think they'll appeal the verdict, they don't want another trial," Celia mused.

"The damage to their reputation is done but in the circles they move, they are just as likely to be seen as heroes rather than villains and their wives will forgive them because you can bet your ass that they had to sign pre-nups," she extrapolated.

"I'm going to ask for a settlement of one million dollars per defendant with the caveat that you sign an NDA. That's a non-disclosure agreement," Adele interjected.

"Why? Why not ask them for the full amount in the verdict?" the greed was evident in Melody's voice.

"I'll tell you why and I'll tell you why you want an NDA just as much as the defendants will want it," Adele's tone was bitter, her eyes icy.

"We're lucky that John Murray never subpoenaed your financial records. Because I have attorney-client privilege, I did, I check them. You deposited four thousand dollars into your checking account the morning after the cocktail party at the Beaumont Hotel," Adele said accusingly.

Melody's countenance changed from that of a wide-eyed poppet to that of a cocksure wizened young woman. She pushed back her chair and picked up her pocketbook off the table. She walked over to the door and opened it.

When she was halfway out the door she leaned back in and glared at Adele.

"How do you know the four grand wasn't just hush money to try keep me from reporting the attack?" she glowered angrily at Adele and then at Celia.

They both remained silent.

A grin crossed Melody's face.

"Because of that NDA, I guess we will never know will we?" she gave them both a slow salacious wink and closed the door behind her.

Celia was caught blindsided but Adele just shuffled the case file on the desk.

"What do we do now?" Celia asked.

"We go back in the courtroom and try to settle," Adele gathered the documents together, closed the file and stood.

Celia followed her back into the courtroom where the four defendants were arguing with their lawyer John Murray.

Adele strode over to their table and they stopped yelling and looked at her with stony silence.

"One million each with an NDA attached on my client. You won't hear from Melody Summers again and the case will no longer be of media interest," Adele said emotionlessly.

"Fuck that!" Danny Benstead growled.

Mitchell Brooks intervened.

"The NDA is binding? She can't tell her story to anyone, ever?" he glowered at Adele.

Adele nodded.

"What about you?" his eyes bore into her.

"I'll include myself in the NDA," Adele acquiesced.

"Do it! Get the paperwork to my lawyer today before I change my mind," he sounded subdued.

"Ok. I'll do that," Adele turned away from the defendants' table.

She turned around as if she had forgotten something.

"One more thing Mitch," she smiled sweetly at him.

"I know you liked it really," she winked at him.

*****

The click-clack of Adele's high heels on the marble floor echoed down the corridor of Grantham, Walker and Tate but this time the junior Associates and paralegals in the open-plan office were silent and bowed.

Adele saw two of the firm's uniformed security guards standing outside her office with their arms crossed. Grahame Grantham, Max Walker and Alan Tate were going to send a message to their staff. Although Adele had won her law firm over one million dollars from the case, she had disobeyed her masters and was to be punished.

"Keys, phone, laptop and clicker," one of guards said gruffly.

All of her personal effects had been packed into three cardboard boxes sitting on the floor outside her office. Taped to one of the boxes was an envelope with the firm's logo embossed on it. Adele knew that inside it was her termination notice.

"Can't we do this inside?" Adele nodded at her office door.

The guard just shook his head.

Adele was forced to fumble around in her purse for her office keys, her work phone, and the door opener for the executive parking garage roller-door. She handed them over along with the leather valise that held her slimline laptop.

She struggled to lift the three boxes and the guards made no effort to help her.

"You fucking creeps! Get out of the way," Celia Bettany elbowed her way through the small crowd that had formed to watch and lifted one of the boxes on top of the other and picked them up.

Adele had already managed to heft the other box under her arm whilst holding onto her handbag.

"Let's go boss," Celia took up station beside Adele as they made the long walk down the corridor and around the corner to the reception area and the elevator bank.

"You don't have to leave Miz Bettany. You haven't been fired," Grahame Grantham had come out of his office.

"Oh; I know that. I quit," Celia replied flippantly.

The two women leaned against the back wall of the elevator as it descended.

"What do we do now?" Celia turned to look at Adele.

"Hey... I'm still a lawyer. You're still a lawyer. We sign those four young women to a class action suit and go after the bastards again," Adele Edwards replied.

"We start our own law firm?" Celia asked, a little surprised.

She thought about it for a beat.

"Edwards and Bettany, Attorneys at Law, sounds pretty good," Celia grinned.

"How about Edwards and Edwards," Adele took Celia's hand and stared earnestly into her brown eyes.

Celia choked; a single tear ran down her cheek.

"How about Bettany and Bettany," Celia smiled through tear-rimmed eyes.

"Whatever you want my love," Adele leaned in and kissed Celia's cheek.

The End