Justice

"I would have thought that you would have been to work by now," Minerva commented. "I was afraid that you would be on a job or something and I would be bothering you."

"Nope. I have to pick my mom up from the airport in an hour or so, so it wasn't worth going into work just to have to cut out after a few hours. They can get by without me this morning. Besides, after the thoroughly enjoyable time that you showed me last night at dinner, I can't imagine a thing that you could do today that would be a bother to me. I hope that I get the chance again in the near future."

Realizing that Hayden's charm had her giggling like a schoolgirl, Minerva composed herself and said, "That's actually why I am calling. I wanted to thank you for buying my dinner last night and for being such a gentlemanly companion for me. I would welcome a future opportunity to dine with you again. Depending on how things go with a couple of client meetings I have this afternoon, I might be back in Myrtle Beach next week, or the week after at the latest. Can I text you my schedule once I know it? If you're free while I am there, I would be honored to repay your kindness by buying you dinner."

"Yes and no," Hayden replied. "Yes, you can send me your schedule and I will do everything I can to find the time while you are here for us to dine together. No to you buying me dinner. You are the visitor while you are here and I will be your host. When I come to Greenville, the roles can be reversed."

"Right," Minerva thought. "Just how often does the typical worker at Coastline Multimedia find a reason to come to Greenville?" Plus, as an attorney, she probably made easily five times as much as Hayden did working for Coastline.

"I'll tell you what," she offered, "The next time I am there, I will invite you over to my condo and cook you dinner. Do you like Mexican?"

"Sure," Hayden said. "I didn't know that you had a condo here."

"Well, technically it's my parents' condo, but I pay all the maintenance fees on it so I use it when I am there rather than stay in a hotel. It's got a beautiful view of the ocean..."

"If it's on Ocean Boulevard, is it south of 31^st Avenue or north of 52^nd Avenue?" Hayden asked.

Not surprised that a native of Myrtle Beach would know that there were no resort properties between the two streets Hayden had mentioned, Minerva replied, "North of 52^nd. It's much more peaceful there."

He had never been inside the condo where Athena had stayed while working her internships, but he had picked her up and dropped her off in front of it enough times. She had told him that the condo belonged to her parents and that they would have a fit if she ever brought a boy there when staying by herself. Athena had explained that the security camera integrated into the doorbell would provide her parents with visibility should they try to sneak him in. Minerva's description made him suspect that this was the same location that he was familiar with.

"I know," Hayden agreed. "There aren't as many tourists, but you would still have to get up pretty early during the summer to take advantage of the Cabana fitness trail."

"My nephew, Alex, wants to try everything on that trail, but too much of the equipment is for those thirteen and older so we've kept him off most of it."

Hayden felt a long-controlled rage begin to rise within him at the mention of Minerva's nephew. Since she only had one sibling, this "Alex" could only be the bastard son of her sister, Athena. He fought to keep his voice light as he said, "Well, let's wait to see what's going on the next time you are in town. What do you say?"

"That sounds fair," Minerva agreed. "Anyway, although I have over an hour of driving left before I reach Greenville, and I know that spending that time chatting with you would certainly make it go faster and more enjoyable, for me at least, I should probably let you get on with your day."

Hayden attempted to sound as sincere as he felt when he said, "I appreciate your call. Feel free to call me any time."

"Only if you feel just as free to call me," Minerva replied. "Stay in touch."

Chapter Seven

Lana verified that the image of her and the client were both visible on the camera feed that Minnie was viewing on her side of the Zoom video meeting, "Ms. Hart, you're all set."

"Thank you, Lana. Miss Lima, I'm sure that Lana mentioned to you that this video meeting was going to be recorded. Can you verbally confirm your acknowledgment and agreement to this meeting being recorded?"

"Yes, I understand that this meeting is being recorded," Carlotta replied.

"Thank you," Minerva said. "Please state your full legal name for the record."

"My name is Carlotta Garcia Lima."

"Thank you. May I call you Carlotta?"

"Of course."

Minerva began, "Carlotta, you are here today to share with us an incident that occurred during the time that you were working at Coastline Multimedia as an intern. Please describe this incident for me in your own words."

"Okay," Carlotta said. "I was studying graphic arts at HGTC..."

"That's Horry-Georgetown Technical College," interrupted Minerva. "Correct?"

"Yes, Horry-Georgetown Technical College. I saw an announcement offering summer internships for students in the program at Coastline Multimedia, so I applied."

"Do you remember when that was?" asked Minerva.

"Uh," hesitated Carlotta. "I think I saw the announcement in April of last year sometime. I remember that the deadline for applications was May 15^th, and I had submitted mine at least a week before that time."

Minerva continued to take notes, even though she would have the recording of the meeting to refer back to. She said, "Okay, you applied for the internship in May of last year. Then what happened?"

"I was contacted the week following the application deadline and scheduled to meet with a representative of Coastline Multimedia's human resources department. I met with a lady named Marie Conte on May 28^th. At the end of our meeting, she offered me a position as an intern in their production printing department."

"Did you meet with anyone else from the company at that time?"

"No, just the lady from HR," Carlotta said.

"Fine. Please continue."

"On June 4^th, I attended an orientation meeting along with three other interns. We were each introduced to a mentor from our respective departments and provided details on what we would and would not be allowed to do in our roles. There were others from the company that spoke and introduced themselves to us and welcomed us for the summer. This is when I first met Mr. Justice."

"Mr. Justice?" Minerva asked, her interest piqued by the name.

"Yes, the president of Coastline Multimedia, Mr. Justice. He introduced himself and welcomed me to the company."

"Was his interaction with you different than with the other interns that day?" Minerva asked.

"Not that I noticed," Carlotta said. "The only difference was that I was the only female intern but he greeted all of us pretty much the same way."

"Okay, please continue..."

Minerva continued to listen to the testimony of Carlotta Lima, asking questions when elaboration of details or clarity of her feelings were required. By the time the scheduled interview time had elapsed, she felt that she had a pretty good picture of what kind of case they might have against Coastline Multimedia and its president, but a lot remained unanswered.

"What do you think?" Lana asked when she had returned from escorting their client out of the office.

"Terminate the Zoom meeting and then call me," Minerva instructed. She didn't want their sidebar discussion to be part of the recorded interview.

Minerva put the call from Lana onto her speaker phone and began talking to her associate without a preamble, "First, give me your thoughts. You were there in the room with her. Give me your impressions."

Lana didn't hesitate, "I think she is a naïve and immature young woman who is being manipulated by someone else."

"I agree with her immaturity and naivety," Minerva said. "Why do you think that she is being manipulated by someone?"

"It's just my gut impression," Lana explained. "Some of the phrases that she used, words that she selected to describe her feelings, and a few other minor things give me the sense that she had been coached to some extent. Nothing that she claims this Justice guy said to her would be inappropriate for any man to say to any woman in a church, yet Carlotta took offense to them..."

"Do you doubt her story?" Minerva asked, but before Lana could answer, she said, "Wait, hold on a second."

Minerva had been distracted by an e-mail that she just noticed had arrived during the interview. She quickly opened the e-mail and while the attachment was downloading, she returned to Lana, "I'm sorry, go ahead with what you were saying."

"To answer your question, no, I don't doubt her story," Lana said. "I am not as confident in the feelings that she claims to have experienced, or whether those feelings are justified based upon the circumstances. I think that we need more corroboration of her story at the very least."

Watching the download progress for the attachment, Minerva said, "If it were just the comments made by this Justice guy about her hair, I would walk away from this case right now. The incident where she claims that he touched her without her permission gives me pause."

"When she claims that he brushed a lock of hair off of her face?" Lana asked.

"Exactly," Minerva agreed. "If that incident occurred as she described, I think that we have a solid case for the existence of a hostile work environment if not sexual harassment."

"Do you really think that you could sell that?" Lana asked with skepticism.

Minerva didn't hesitate to respond, "It wouldn't matter if he was swatting a black widow spider off her face. If his actions were uninvited and made her feel violated in the least, then yes, I think I could sell it. You know the law; it doesn't matter what his intentions were, all that matters is how they made her feel. She claims that they made her feel violated, threatened, embarrassed, and self-conscious. I could definitely work with those feelings in a courtroom."

Lana asked, "So what's our next step?"

"We... HOLY FUCK!"

"What happened?!" Lana exclaimed in response to her boss' outburst. This type of language from Minerva Hart was as rare as unicorn sightings.

Her voice was noticeably shaky when Minerva said, "I need to go right now. Text me when the next interview is ready to start and I'll jump back onto Zoom."

"Minerva, is everything all right?" Lana asked, but she was too late. Minerva had already disconnected.

Staring at her computer screen, Minerva was awash in so many emotions that she could not catalog them all. Shock, rage, confusion, disappointment, and a tinge of guilt boiled and bubbled within her for several moments after scrolling to the company profile section of the D&B report that she had received on Coastline Multimedia.

Most of the details listed held little immediate interest for Minerva. She could have TJ or Lana review the financial viability of the company later. Her attention had been drawn to the only detail that was relevant following the interview with Carlotta Lima, and that was the field for the "Named Principle" of the corporation. In the case of Coastline Multimedia, this field held two names, Corrine Justice (CEO) and Hayden Justice (President).

With five minutes left before the next interview was scheduled, Minerva pulled out a legal pad and started writing down questions:

1. Had the man that she ate dinner with last night ever told her his last name?

She couldn't remember him doing so, and she was certain that she would have included it when she added his phone number to her contacts.

2. Could there be two men at Coastline Multimedia with the first name, "Hayden"

The first name was too unique. The possibility for there to be two men with that name working for the same company had to be very high.

3. If the Hayden that she had met was the president of Coastline Multimedia, had he been Athena's lover?

He had admitted knowing Athena, but not much else. Maybe she had mistaken what she thought was pain over the loss of someone as actual guilt.

4. What did Athena's last words now mean?

Minerva knew that Athena had been heartbroken over the end of her relationship with the father of her baby. Although they had never had an opportunity to discuss the details, Minerva had always assumed that the only explanation which made sense was that the guy had bailed on her sister when he had been informed of the pregnancy. Athena must have wanted her sister to get justice from this guy for her and her son for abandoning them when they needed him the most. Though ironic that the guy's last name was "Justice", nothing else made sense.

Minerva didn't bother checking the text when she heard the notification of its arrival. She simply launched the Zoom meeting app once more and connected to the session already begun by Lana.

The angry-looking woman sitting beside Lana had her hair in cornrows which fed into braids that Minerva suspected were weave extensions based upon their length compared to what the woman's hair looked like when she had approached Minerva after the symposium.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Cox," Minerva began. "Thanks for coming in to talk with us. Let me start by asking if you are agreeable to this meeting being recorded."

"Sure," Ashanti replied with barely contained hostility. "It makes it more difficult for anyone to change what I say if there is a recording of it."

Minerva merely nodded and began asking questions. Questions that surprised Lana because they were not the ones that the two of them had previously discussed asking.

"Mrs. Cox, how long have you worked at Coastline Multimedia?"

"It will be four years on October 1^st," Ashanti replied.

Minerva calculated and asked, "So, roughly three and a half years as of today?"

"About that."

"In that three and a half years, how many times would you say that you have personally interacted with the president of the company, Hayden Justice?"

"You mean like spoken with him in person?"

"Correct," Minerva said. "Excluding e-mails or other communications, how many times would you say that you and he have interacted, just the two of you?"

Ashanti considered the question before answering, "I don't know. Maybe two or three times at the most. Why?"

Ignoring the question, Minerva asked, "So, you are confident that you would know the president of Coastline Multimedia if you saw him? Can you describe him for us?"

Somewhat confused by the questions, Ashanti glanced at Lana before answering, "He's a big white guy, probably close to seven feet tall..."

"Go on," Minerva coaxed. "What else?"

Shrugging, Ashanti said, "He's in good shape and not bad looking I suppose. He has short blonde hair and I don't recall his eye color. I wouldn't mistake him for someone else if that's what these questions are about."

Lana's eyes had grown wide as she listened to the description of the president of Coastline Multimedia. She saw the determination in Minerva's piercing eyes and was just beginning to fathom the direction that the interview was headed when Minerva asked her next question.

"Mrs. Cox, for the record, could you tell us the full name for the president of Coastline Multimedia?"

"Well, I know his first name is 'Hayden'. I don't know his middle name, but it begins with the letter 'O' since I've heard long-time employees refer to him by his initials, 'H' and 'O'. I won't say the nickname because I think it's offensive. And, of course, his last name is 'Justice'."

Lana saw a fire in Minerva's eyes such as she had never seen when she sought confirmation from their client, "You are telling us, for the record, that the name of the president of Coastline Multimedia is 'Hayden', middle initial 'O', 'Justice'. Is that correct?"

"That is right."

"And he is a tall, athletic-looking man with blonde hair?"

"Uh-huh."

"Thank you. Now, tell us about your issues with Coastline as an employer..."

Chapter Eight

"This package arrived for you while you were out."

Hayden saw the large FedEx document box sitting on the kitchen counter. "Thanks, Mom, I was expecting it."

He handed the pharmacy bag that he had picked up for his mother to her and said, "I'm going to take the package into the study and see what I can make of its contents. Holler if you need me for anything."

"Is this the package that that woman said she would send you?" Cori Justice asked.

Hayden had shared with his mother the recent events related to Minerva Hart as well as the telephone call from the mystery woman purported to have been Athena's psychiatrist. His mother had adored Athena and was almost as devastated by her betrayal of Hayden as he had been. Her support had been invaluable to his ability to even function normally in the months following Athena breaking up with him.

Studying the return label, Hayden saw that it was just a generic FedEx shipping location in Greenville, South Carolina. "That's the only package that I was expecting to be delivered here," he told his mom.

"Don't you think it is pointless to expose yourself to the potential pain of what the documents might reveal? If Athena is truly dead as the woman told you, and her sister confirmed for you last night, what can the documents tell you that would change anything?"

Placing the package under one of his arms, Hayden grabbed a bottle of water out of the refrigerator before addressing his mom, "The woman implied her hope that I would gain some sort of closure by reading the documents. I don't know if that is even possible, but maybe they will shed some light on the 'why'. Why did Athena pretend to love me when she really didn't? Why would she purposely do something that she knew would cause me so much pain? Why keep coming back summer after summer? Why, why, why? That's what I am curious about."

His mother simply nodded in understanding as she watched him heading for the study. She had to begin the process of steeling herself so that she would be there once again when Athena Hart broke her son's heart and soul.

Sitting in the leather recliner rather than at the desk, Hayden set the bottle of water on the table beside the chair. He found the tab to peel open one end of the package and slowly pulled it across the seam. As the side fell open, he saw that the box was filled with unbound letter-sized pages. If a ream of letter-sized paper held 500 sheets, the box had to contain at least 400 pages. Pulling the pages out all at once, he searched for a note or other information from the mystery woman, but he found none.

Although the pages weren't bound, Hayden assumed that they had been arranged in some sort of order, so he started by reading the top sheet. It was dated November 3, 2000, and provided details on a then seven-year-old Athena Eleonore Hart. It listed her physical attributes, such as height and weight, the name of her parents [REDACTED], the referring agency [REDACTED], and the name of the physician assigned [REDACTED]. Since the woman who had called mentioned having treated Athena from the time that she had been seven, Hayden assumed the blacked-out physician field held her name.

There was a brief synopsis detailing the reason for Athena's referral, which Hayden realized boiled down to psycho-babble for Athena exhibiting behavioral problems in school attributed to suspected attention deficit disorder.

The next several pages provided a chronological description of the various cognitive assessments, intelligence tests, physical examinations, allergy tests, and dietary modifications that Athena had been subjected to for more than six months. The results for each test showed that Athena had a near-genius level of intelligence, was in excellent physical health, had no allergies, and modifications to her diet had no noticeable effect on her condition.