Fixing Him, Fixing Her: A Short Romance

by Lucy J. Johanson

  Graham nudged Minnie in her side, signaling her to comply. She walked up a bit dazed with confusion. They’d practiced this, with Becca acting as Sophia, and Minnie had been terrified with only the role play. Now it was the real thing.

  “Which method did you use to pay for this property?” Sophia asked coldly.

  “Online transfer,” Minnie replied, equally cold.

  Minnie watched Sophia intently as she hovered around her like a hawk.

  “Did Mr. Fletcher seem in a hurry? Did he seem nervous?”

  “Not really. He just said he was in debt.”

  “Was Mr. Kowalski, your lawyer, aware of this transaction?”

  “Objection, your honor,” Graham said from his seat.

  “Objection sustained. Miss Bennett, that question was unnecessary for the resolution of this case,” Judge Prouse said, a frown on her small face.

  Sophia continued in this vein for some time, trying to trip Minnie up on fine details, but Minnie stuck to her story. It wasn’t hard, simply because it was true: she met the guy, she bought the garage, he sent over the papers, she sent the money; she registered her business, started advertising, then commenced shipping her gear from New York. It was simple, despite Sophia questioning if Minnie should have hired a better lawyer to facilitate the transaction. Minnie conceded she wished she had but maintained she bought the property in good faith.

  All Graham’s questioning did was introduce documents into evidence which backed up Minnie’s version of events, with Sophia objecting almost every time on the grounds that the documents were not originals and lacked authenticity. Graham and Minnie, again as practiced, agreed to submit to an electronic audit to back up the emailed documents and online banking information, should the verdict err in their direction.

  They broke for lunch in which Minnie ate a sandwich alone on the court steps. When they returned, the judge said, “Can the plaintiff please step up to the witness box.”

  Ffion Fletcher walked slowly to the box, her smallish figure hidden a grey jacket twice her size.

  “How do you know Mr. Fletcher?” Sophia asked.

  “He’s my brother,” Miss Fletcher replied.

  “Has he been of any trouble recently?”

  “Not really. No. He hasn’t even been in contact since I stopped receiving payment for the garage.”

  “How did you come to acquire this property?”

  “My father left it in his will.”

  “And how sure are you that it wasn’t left for your brother, Mr. Fletcher?”

  “Positive.”

  Graham stood. “Objection, your honor. No will was submitted during discovery. Only Miss Fletcher’s deeds of ownership.”

  “Irrelevant, your honor,” Sophia said. “The deeds are sufficient. The defense is simply trying to delay their defeat and send us in circles.”

  Judge Prouse peeked over her glasses. “Well, Mr. Kowalski?”

  “The will shows a chain of ownership,” Graham persisted. “I’d like to at least review it.”

  “It’s a private document, your honor,” Sophia said. “It has no bearing—”

  Judge Prouse cut her off. “I’ll be the one to decide if it has bearing. The plaintiff will present the will, and if there is anything of significance, the defense can make its case for inclusion.”

  Both lawyers thanked the judge and Sophia asked Ffion Fletcher if she was sure about the building being hers.

  “Well,” the plaintiff answered, “he got a few other properties and there was also something about him getting some money when he turns forty. The will is right there in my purse.”

  Graham smiled contentedly. Minnie twigged to something—he’d never mentioned a will during their rehearsals and meetings. What was it about this will?

  “May we see it?” Graham asked.

  “Objection your honor!” Sophia yelled from her side, her eyes wide.

  “Overruled,” the judge said. “We may as well get it out of the way now. You may see it Mr. Kowalski.”

  The court clerk retrieved the document from the young woman who sat on the plaintiff’s table, showed it to the judge who nodded, and passed it to Graham. He scanned through the ten pages of statements. He stood to address the judge.

  “Your honor, may we request a recess to properly examine this new evidence that was not declared in discovery?”

  Naturally, Sophia objected, but the judge agreed with Graham. They had one hour.

  13

  Sophia walked out of the courtroom, fuming with anger.

  Why the hell was the old coot carrying the will around? And why was Graham so interested in it anyway? There was nothing in there, surely.

  But Sophia didn’t even have a copy to analyze, to double-check. If there was something, some clause, some obscure reference that might muddy the case, she wanted to know.

  Her odds of winning just went from 99% to 50-50.

  Not good enough.

  Desperate times called for desperate measures and she knew which measure she was going to take.

  She walked up to where Minnie and Graham were sipping smoothies outside the court building. The bastard wasn’t even reading the will.

  “May I talk to you, Graham?” she asked, and without waiting for an answer she walked to a bench on the other side.

  She waited as Graham came to her. A somewhat childish power play, but she liked it.

  “What do you want?” he asked.

  “Plea deal.” Sophia handed him a pre-prepared sealed envelope.

  He ripped it open and glanced at the contents, then shook his head. “I’m legally obliged to show her, but I expect the answer is no. Of course, this isn’t what I meant by what do you want? You could have slipped me this in court. So, tell me. What is it you want?”

  “I want you. I want us to get married again. My firm is unlikely to make me partner unless I have a stable relationship,” she said.

  “Excuse me?” Disbelief radiated from him. Shock. Anger. Confusion, even. “That’s never happening, not even if I thought you were serious.”

  He turned his back but she spoke quickly, forcing him to face her again.

  “I hate you, Graham. I hate your lack of ambition, your silly moon and stars analogies, and I hate the way you simper after your client. But my bosses are basically fossils who think reinstating the 1950s is the answer to all our ills, and a divorced woman is pretty much the same as promoting a hooker to partner.”

  “You can’t find someone else?” He looked pleased with that. Jealousy, or spite? Didn’t matter.

  “An arrangement, Graham. Nothing more.”

  “No.”

  “I know you hid something from me during the divorce.”

  He forced a single, “Ha! Right. If you knew about anything you’d have nailed me before out of spite.”

  He shook his head and turned to leave.

  She said, “Your inheritance from your uncle.”

  Graham halted, shoulders dropping. When he turned, he was frowning. “Who told you about that?”

  “Nobody. I’m a lawyer, you know.”

  “It wasn’t in effect during proceedings. It doesn’t count toward our settlement.”

  Sophia grinned as she regained confidence. “Oh, I didn’t care about it, not really. But you knew it was on its way. You knew it was inevitable. He’d been given six months to live, and already announced his intentions. And no, it’s not a lot, certainly not enough for me to give a shit about financially. But it’s enough to go to court over.”

  “And you’d take it from me to get back at me?”

  She placed a finger in her mouth, an intentionally coquettish squirm on display. “Better go for a plea bargain when we go back into court. Then we can hit up some marriage counsellors, really make a show of making us work again. If not, I’ll drag you back to court and we both know how vicious I am when I’m representing myself.”

  “You can’t,” he said, mustering strength in his voice.

  “Oh dear, you k
now I can. I didn’t get to this level in life to be dragged back to the moon again.” Sophia stared at him wondering what was going through his mind.

  He’s thinking about how I always pushed him to go further when we were married. Well, it was for his own good.

  “The choice is yours,” she said, and walked away.

  She knew she got him cornered. Once again, she controlled the situation and she was loving it.

  14

  Graham wandered back to Minnie, his hands shivering in panic. Memories had already started coming. Bad ones.

  How he had begged Sophia not to leave.

  How she had called him a walkover, a phase in her path to greatness.

  She wasn’t always like that, but success—and consequently power—changed her.

  “What’s wrong? Are you okay? You look sick,” Minnie said, visibly concerned.

  “I need to talk to Becca,” he replied.

  “Oh. Okay. She was in court during the opening. She should be around here somewhere.” Minnie turned to check the area.

  Graham took his phone out and called Becca telling her where to meet them.

  After five minutes of virtual silence, Graham saw her approaching the smoothie stand close to where they waited. He dragged a seat from another table and she sat down.

  “Before you tell me anything, I want a smoothie,” she declared.

  Graham and Minnie waited another interminable time for her to order.

  “Ahhh. Now you can talk” She placed straw between her lips and drew the yellow liquid into her mouth.

  “Okay. Sophia talked to me after the court session and—”

  The words barely left Graham’s mouth when Becca interrupted him. “She cockblocked you, right?”

  Bile filled Graham’s gut as Minnie muttered a series of expletives as the news got to her for the first time. He was getting used to her swearing.

  “Yes, you’re right,” he said.

  Becca listened intently, sipping her smoothie as Graham told her about the inheritance and how he didn’t declare it during the divorce proceedings, and about Sophia’s threat to drag him back to court.

  “The choice is yours Graham. If you go back in there, you know the judge is fifty-fifty at the moment.”

  “I found something in the will,” Graham said.

  “Something you already knew was there,” Minnie said.

  Graham allowed a smile. “I’m not allowed to know that sort of thing beforehand. It was a closed reading, and it wasn’t in discovery, so I had to wait for mention of it to get it admitted.”

  “So how—”

  “The jungle drums still beat loud enough for the great Graham Kowalski to hear all,” Becca said. “Who?”

  “Can’t say who dropped the hint,” Graham answered. “But it’s solid. I just have to deliver it.”

  “It’s one hundred percent?” Minnie asked.

  “Nothing’s one hundred percent.”

  “But she offered a plea.”

  Graham slid the envelope to Minnie, who read it to herself. Three months back rent, no damages, and restore the deeds to Miss Fletcher, then either continue paying rent or vacate the property forthwith. The implication was Minnie should sue Aaron Fletcher for the money she already spent.

  Minnie said, “It’d be over, and I wouldn’t lose the business entirely.”

  “Or you could trust me to win,” Graham said.

  Becca slurped then pointed with the cup. “Judge rules in your favor and you win the case, which is all you ever wanted”.

  “You’re not helping,” Graham said. He focused on Minnie. “Besides, it’s your choice, not mine. But if you ever trusted me, trust me now.”

  “You have to make your choice,” Becca said.

  Graham sighed and looked at Minnie, their hands unconsciously held together.

  He could not go back to that woman, but he could not stand to see Minnie lose her business. He was confident he would win. But as he admitted to Minnie, nothing was definite.

  15

  Minnie walked with Graham back into the court building. She was annoyed at herself for not yanking her hand away when he touched it, but even more annoyed that she liked holding it. She didn’t want to lose Graham entirely, and she wanted to go bankrupt even less.

  They entered the courtroom and took their seats awaiting the arrival of Judge Prouse.

  Sophia looked their way, smiling wickedly at Graham. Minnie turned to him, expecting him to give Sophia a reply of some sort, but he busied himself with the papers on the table, pretending to not have met Sophia’s stare.

  The judge walked into the room and they all rose as ordered.

  Judge Prouse steadied her glasses on her nose and resumed, declaring she understood an agreement had been reached.

  Sophia continued staring at Graham, waiting for him to confirm the plea bargain.

  Minnie stared back and forth between Graham and Sophia, waiting for something to happen.

  “Mr. Kowalski?” the judge intoned. “Do we have an agreement?”

  Graham looked to Minnie. Her choice.

  Trust he can win—for both of them—or take the settlement?

  She placed a hand on his shoulder and drew him to her. Her lips brushed his ear as she whispered, “Forget the moon. Let’s hit the stars.”

  Graham stood tall, pulled his jacket straight and declared, “I’m sorry, your honor. But the deal is no longer on the table. The defense recalls the plaintiff Miss Fletcher to the stand.”

  16

  Graham tried not to smile as he asked Ffion Fletcher to read a passage from the will to the court.

  After fussing with her reading glasses from her purse, she complied. “And upon Aaron’s fortieth birthday I bequeath fifty-thousand dollars and one property of his choice, to be selected from the portfolio laid out by the executor.”

  “Well, Miss Fletcher, it seems your brother is well within his rights here. He is entitled to one property of his choice when he turns forty and—”

  “Objection!” Sophia thundered, and by way of explanation added, “That passage has no meaning, no basis in law. It’s a … a…”

  “It’s a question mark, your honor,” Graham said. “From what we understand, he turned forty on the 30th of November. Two weeks before he sold the property to my client. Providing Aaron Fletcher, upon his return to the States, can prove he has sold no other buildings, it refutes the accusations of fraud, and all that is left is some paperwork confirming Mr. Fletcher was the rightful owner.” Graham shrugged. “It seems your law firm is doing a pretty sloppy job, Miss Fletcher.”

  The plaintiff shook her head and focused on Sophia. “Told you I didn’t want to do it.”

  “That will be all your honor,” Graham said, and sat back in his seat.

  “I think I’ll take a look at that will in my chambers,” the judge said. “Court is not adjourned. I will be five minutes.”

  17

  Whispering again, Minnie said, “I don’t understand what just happened but why do I feel like you just kicked Sophia in the gut?” Her stomach twinkled with excitement.

  “Oh, I did much more than that,” Graham told her.

  Minnie looked towards Sophia as their eyes met, Sophia’s eyes staring shivers down her spine.

  The judge returned. All rose, and she resumed her position, and requested closing statements. Neither Graham nor Sophia requested one, so Judge Prouse agreed to bypass that.

  “Having reviewed all of the appropriate and necessary documents and information for the case of Fletcher vs McArthur, it is the judgment of this court that—on condition of presenting Aaron Fletcher’s declaration within thirty days—the defendant is the rightful owner of the property. Court is dismissed.” She banged the gavel, and everyone stood to watch the judge leave.

  Minnie smiled lightly as if afraid the judgment could be overturned. She looked to Sophia again, who was fuming and clenching her fists tightly.

  “What’s gonna happen now?” she asked G
raham.

  “It’s my turn now,” he replied. “Trust me one more time.” And told her what he planned to do.

  18

  Graham walked out of the court building, hand in hand with Minnie. Sophia stared daggers at them but they paid no attention to her.

  “Go wait with Becca,” Graham told Minnie softly.

  “No, I won’t. I wanna savor this as much as you do”.

  Graham smiled and shook his head. “Okay.”

  They approached Sophia who had already started threatening Graham.

  “Sophia, please don’t do this to me. I came with my client so maybe you could understand,” Graham said, his eyes begging her.

  “You’re done for Graham. I will destroy you,” Sophia spewed.

  “Please,” Minnie said, tears gathering in her eyes. “It’s over. The case. You and Graham. It’s all over. Don’t take more of his money. It’s pointless.”

  Sophia’s fists popped to her hips. “On the contrary, and I think you know what the point is. Graham, you got a nice dose of revenge in there, but I’ll finish you. Not only the money, but I’ll be pushing the contempt of court angle too. You will do time.”

  A thick, silent moment passed.

  “I don’t even know how she found out,” Graham said to Minnie, his eyes full of sadness. “I thought I was smarter this time.”

  “Oh, no you weren’t,” Sophia declared. “I used my law firm’s connections to go through your private records and I tracked every one of your transactions with that estate. I even went through your entire assets to make sure you hadn’t hidden any other thing. But fifty grand was too small to bother with. Until now, you understand. You weren’t smarter Graham. You haven’t been, and you’ll never be.”

  Graham and Minnie smiled at each other while Sophia looked on in confusion.

  “That was way easier than I thought,” Graham said smugly.

  “Yeah, I guess,” Minnie declared.

  “What?” Sophia said.

  “Should we tell her?” Graham asked Minnie.

  “Ermm. Okay,” Minnie agreed.

  “You’re smart Sophia,” Graham said, “but I think we got you this time”

  He pulled a phone from his jacket, a recording app still running, and Minnie watched the horror fall over Sophia’s face.