Paula fine-tuned her makeup in the mirror that hung on the back of her office door. Leo opened the door without knocking, and Paula frowned as her reflection slid away from her.
“Leo. Come on in, it’s good to see you,” she said with as much sarcasm as she could muster, which wasn’t much. It would be bad karma, not to mention hell on the frown lines. She wanted to stay in good spirits today. She was due in court in twenty minutes, and every bit of equilibrium she could hold on to would be an asset.
“We need to talk,” Leo said.
Paula closed the office door and resumed studying her reflection. She outlined her thin lips with a tube of pale lipstick. “Court’s in twenty minutes. Today’s the big day. Adam Lee is gonna testify. You gonna be there to give me moral support?”
“Not today. I gotta talk to you about something.”
Paula struggled with a pair of opal earrings, small enough to be overlooked, but there nonetheless to accent her femininity.
“Adam Lee might be innocent.”
“Uh-huh, uh-huh, yeah, great.”
“I’m serious. I’ve uncovered evidence that tends to indicate Mr. Lee’s-”
“Stop.” Paula got the last earring in and turned on Leo. “I don’t care. It doesn’t matter. It’s a little late in the game for that sort of thing, don’t you think? Isn’t this dangerously close to the kind of thinking that messed up your life in the first place?”
“But I found out that-”
“I don’t care if you just found out he’s Jesus Christ come down from the cross. Because I’m nailing his ass back up there. I’m gonna crucify the fucker again.” She checked herself in the mirror and saw Leo’s bowed head behind her. “That’s my job, Leo. That’s what I do. It’s what you used to do. I have no choice.”
“He may be innocent.”
“So?”
“So how can you prosecute an innocent man?”
“You can’t be serious with this. I don’t know that he’s innocent. And neither do you. That’s for the jury to decide.”
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you, if you’d just listen to me.”
“Look, Leo, wise up, okay? You’re a good lawyer, but you can’t hang with the men. You’re pathetic. Now why don’t you be a good little robot and go back to your cubicle.”
She checked her look one last time and gathered her papers for court.
“And get used to that cubicle, Leo. You’ll be working there for a very, very long time.”