Practice Makes Perfect

by Carsen Taite

  She was almost finished when Jennifer buzzed through the intercom. “What’s up?”

  “He asked that you and Daniel meet him in the conference room.”

  “Okay, will you let Daniel know? I’ll be right there.” Wynne hung up and finished her prep, including the report for Stoltz in a three-ring binder. They were going to have to have a talk about his insistence that Daniel be her watchdog. She was a senior associate, and the idea of having a summer intern follow her around so he could report back to her boss was insulting and unacceptable. She’d discuss her feelings with Stoltz as soon as she wowed him with all the work she’d done so far as well as her plan for the rest of the case. She pushed through the doors of the conference room, prepared to do battle, but what she saw inside caught her completely off guard.

  “Hi, Wynne, I hope I got the seating right.” Brian, the court reporter, motioned to the table around which were seated Braxton Keith on one side, and Jeb Lawson, Rhea Hendricks’s attorney, and Rhea Hendricks herself on the other. Daniel was sitting off to the side. A second later, Stoltz walked through the door completing the twilight zone experience of the entire tableau.

  “Thanks, everyone for adjusting your schedule,” Stoltz said. “Such flexibility is always appreciated. I just need a moment with Ms. Garrity, and then she’ll be ready to get started.” He motioned for her to follow and walked out of the room.

  She waited until they were out of earshot of the conference room before confronting him. “What’s going on?”

  “Simple. One word: strategy.”

  His smile was smug, and she wanted to slap it off his face. “Rhea’s deposition is scheduled for this afternoon. Campbell’s doing it. It’s been set for weeks.”

  “Schedules change. Everyone is here, and Campbell is nowhere in sight. Our client is paying by the hour, and I doubt he’d like to wait around for her to show up. This is your depo now. I trust you are prepared?”

  Wynne opened her mouth to say no, but then she remembered the extremely thorough outline Campbell had sent her late last night. Despite the hour and the report she had to prepare for Stoltz, she’d carefully reviewed the outline, and offered a few suggestions, but not many, since it was practically perfect as it was. The outline was still on her computer, and it would only take a minute to print it out. Of course, in that same amount of time, she could place a call to Campbell and let her know what was going on.

  “You have five seconds to make up your mind,” Stoltz said. “Where does your loyalty belong? Remember your client is waiting.”

  Wynne looked down the hall, back toward the conference room door. She hadn’t created this situation, and she’d never do something as underhanded as reschedule a deposition to thwart an opponent, but she had a duty to her client, and he was sitting in that room waiting for her to get started.

  “Tell Daniel to go in my office, print the outline that’s on my desktop, and bring it to me with a stack of Post-its, a yellow highlighter, and a red pen. There are discovery documents referenced in the outline, and he’ll need to locate and bring me copies of those as well.” She didn’t wait for an answer before turning around and marching back to the conference room. Stoltz was likely apoplectic at being told what to do, but she’d deal with him later.

  Braxton pulled her aside when she reentered the conference room. “Where’s Campbell?”

  “She was delayed,” Wynne said, wishing that were the truth. “But I’m prepared and we’re going to get started in just a minute.” She smiled with a confidence she didn’t feel. “Do you have any questions?”

  “I can’t think of anything right now.”

  “No problem.” She pointed to one of the pads of paper on the table. “If you think of anything you want me to ask during the deposition, write it down and pass it to me. If I don’t ask it in the moment, rest assured I have a plan. Either it’s a timing issue and I plan to ask it later or there’s a specific reason I don’t want that information on the record. Pay close attention to how this goes because they’ll be deposing you soon, and you can expect Lawson to be pretty rough on you. Take note of when Rhea’s testimony is effective, and when it sounds like she’s trying to hide something, and learn from what you see here today.”

  Braxton nodded obediently, and Wynne wondered when she’d become so damn bossy. First she was ordering Stoltz to fetch the intern, and then she was schooling her client. She was generally more deferential when it came to people in power, but Stoltz’s stunt left her feeling rebellious.

  Daniel walked in with a large file for her, and after a few minutes organizing the documents she planned to use as exhibits, she told Brian she was ready to get started. Like she had with the wedding planner, she started with a number of softball questions before she moved on to specific queries that focused on the causes of action Rhea had alleged in her lawsuit. Campbell’s outline was intricate to the point of listing contingencies—if Rhea says X, then ask Y, but if she says A, then ask B—and Wynne followed it to the letter, eliciting line after line of testimony designed to support a motion to toss the case completely.

  She was on a roll, and when Lawson requested a break, she was surprised to see they’d been going for almost three hours. Because it was close to noon, they agreed to go to lunch and resume at one thirty. Wynne hightailed it to her office, stopping at Jennifer’s desk on the way. “Has Campbell called?”

  “Yes, three times. I wasn’t sure what to tell her, so I just said you were in a meeting. I hope that was okay.”

  Wynne sighed. The lie was less than ideal, but it wasn’t Jennifer’s fault Campbell was stuck in the middle of her feud with Stoltz. “Okay, I’m going to go call her.”

  “Oh, and Judge Pelman’s office called. This week’s trial is running over, but they’ve set the hearing on next Friday’s docket at two p.m. Pelman’s secretary wanted to know which one of you is going to handle the hearing.”

  “Tell them Wynne’s going to handle it.”

  Wynne turned to see Braxton standing behind her. “I need to talk to Campbell first.”

  “No need,” he said, shaking his head like it was a done deal. “You’re on fire, and Campbell couldn’t be bothered to show up. I know who I want to handle any court hearings, and that’s you.”

  “What’s going on?”

  Wynne closed her eyes. She didn’t need to look to know that Campbell had just arrived, on time for their planned last-minute prep for Rhea’s deposition that should’ve been starting in an hour. She opened her eyes and turned to own her fate. “I can explain.”

  “Explain what? Did you start the deposition without me?”

  Braxton stepped between them. “Campbell, I like you, but my board isn’t going to sign off on counsel that lets the clock run while they are handling other people’s business. Besides, Wynne is killing it in there. I’m going to stick to our arrangement and let your firm continue to work on the case, but I want Wynne to run point.”

  Campbell wore a puzzled expression, like Braxton’s words hadn’t registered, and Wynne was desperate to get her out of the lobby before she realized exactly what was going on. “Braxton, I need a minute with Campbell in my office. We’ll see you after the break.” She didn’t wait for his answer before grabbing Campbell’s arm and steering her away. She had a very short window to contain this fallout, and she prayed that Campbell would understand that she hadn’t had a choice.

  * * *

  Campbell shook off Wynne’s grasp as soon as they crossed the threshold to Wynne’s office. She wanted answers and she wanted them now. “Do you mind telling me what’s going on?”

  “Have a seat?”

  “I prefer to stand.” Campbell crossed her arms. “Did you start Rhea’s deposition without me? It’s not scheduled to begin for another hour. Did you reschedule it without talking to me first? And when were you going to tell me? Last I heard from you was late last night when you emailed me to say I’d done a magnificent job on the prep. Did you know then?” She stopped even though she had mo
re questions. Anger was fueling her reactions, but surely Wynne had an explanation for what was happening and why Brax suddenly thought she was irresponsible and incapable of acting as lead or even co-counsel.

  “I can explain.”

  “You said that already. I’m waiting.” Campbell watched a series of pained emotions cross Wynne’s face. She was trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, but the longer she took to answer, the more Campbell’s imagination spun out of control. Had she essentially just been fired from this case?

  “Someone saw us at Winebelly. They took a picture and sent it to Stoltz. He rescheduled the deposition and insisted I handle it. I wanted to call you. I was about to call you just now when you showed up here.”

  “I showed up here because that was the plan,” Campbell said, still trying to process everything Wynne had just said. “I’m not sure I’m following you. Stoltz has a picture of us?”

  “Yes.”

  “Doing what, exactly?”

  Wynne sighed. “Holding hands. Gazing into each other’s eyes. You know, like girlfriends.”

  “Okay.” Campbell shook her head. “I mean not okay. We agreed to play this fair and square, and let the best lawyer win. But Stoltz finds out we’re…whatever, and suddenly you decide it’s okay to cheat to get what you want?”

  Wynne reached for her arm, but Campbell pulled away. She couldn’t handle Wynne touching her right now because it might melt her anger, and she needed to stay angry because apparently when she let her guard down she got screwed. Wynne looked pained at the rebuff.

  “I know that you’re mad, and you have every right to be. I promise I’ll straighten this out, but you have to see I didn’t have a choice. Stoltz—”

  “Stoltz is not your puppet master. You have the ability to make your own decisions. Tell me why you thought it was okay to do this to me, especially after…” Campbell couldn’t say the words out loud because she was no longer certain what to call the night they’d spent together. In light of what had just happened, she definitely wouldn’t call it lovemaking, but just calling it sex cheapened the deep longing she’d felt since.

  Wynne’s desk phone buzzed, and they both stared at it like it was an alien. It buzzed again, and Wynne picked it up. “Jennifer, I need a few more minutes.”

  Campbell wasn’t trying to listen in, but she heard snippets of Jennifer’s side of the conversation on the other end. “Emergency.” “Only one call.”

  Wynne placed a hand over the phone. “I have to take this.”

  “Of course you do. I’m beginning to realize where I rate with you. Everything, especially anything work-related, is going to take precedence over anything personal in your life.” Campbell strode toward the door. “Well, I’ll make it easy for you. There is no more personal between me and you.”

  “Campbell, please.”

  Campbell was still facing the door. All she had to do was walk two more steps, turn the knob, and leave. Back to her own fledgling firm where she could explain to her partners that she’d managed to blow the first big case they had and lost their chance at any of Leaderboard’s future business. How had she been so wrong? She never would’ve imagined Wynne would screw her over, even if ordered to do so by her asshole boss.

  “Jennifer, please put the call through,” Wynne said, apparently having moved on. “Dad, slow down. Are you okay? What happened. Are you hurt?”

  Motivated by the fear in Wynne’s voice, Campbell turned back around and walked toward Wynne’s desk. Wynne was pale and shaking, clearly upset, and Campbell instinctively grabbed her free hand and squeezed it tight, watching and waiting to find out what had her on edge. Wynne scribbled some words on a piece of paper and assured her father she would take care of it. When she hung up, she slumped in her chair, still holding onto Campbell’s hand.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “My father’s been arrested.”

  Campbell sat down on the edge of Wynne’s desk and kept her voice calm and even. “Where is he?”

  Wynne handed her the paper she’d been writing on. “Travis County jail.”

  Campbell looked at the paper, trying to decipher Wynne’s notes, which were sparse. “Did he say what the charge was?”

  “Gambling, but he didn’t give details. He said they listen to the calls, and I don’t even want to know how he knows that.”

  “Someone there probably told him that.” Campbell looked at Wynne and tried to imagine how she must feel to get this kind of a call about one of her parents, which led her to realize she didn’t know anything about Wynne’s family. Was she an only child? Was that why her father had called her or was it because she was a lawyer? Where was Wynne’s mother in this picture? “Is there someone you can call to help?”

  “No. There’s only my mother, and she’s…she’s not good at handling anything that involves being responsible.” Wynne stood. “I have to go. I’ll tell Stoltz. Maybe he can talk Lawson into letting you finish the deposition.”

  “Lawson will never agree to that. He probably won’t agree to continue it either.” Campbell stared at the paper on Wynne’s desk. As betrayed as she felt, she hated seeing Wynne so shaken, torn between professional obligation and personal duty, but she understood. If Justin or Perry needed her, she’d drop everything to be there for them. She wished there was something she could do.

  “I’ll go.” The words were out before she could stop them, but once they were, she was certain she was doing the right thing. There was no sense both of them losing Leaderboard’s business over a botched sequence of events that had spiraled out of their control. “I’ll go,” she said again, more confidently this time. “I did an internship with Sturges and Lloyd my first summer in law school,” she said, referring to a big shot criminal defense firm in town. “I may be a little rusty, but I think I can still find my way around the county jail.”

  “I can’t ask you to do this.”

  “You’re not.” Campbell grabbed the paper from Wynne’s desk. “I’ll text you when I know something. Keep your phone with you in the deposition, just in case.” She rushed out of the office before Wynne could stop her, but mostly before she could change her mind.

  * * *

  The afternoon inched by. Using Campbell’s meticulous outline, Wynne asked pointed questions and secured important admissions from Rhea Hendricks. Under normal circumstances, she would be excited about her success, but since her success came at the expense of Campbell’s, she didn’t deserve to celebrate.

  Campbell had texted her an hour ago. He’s out on bond. More later.

  She could only hope there would be more later for her and Campbell. What kind of woman runs to the rescue within moments of finding out she’d been betrayed by the very woman she’s rescuing?

  The kind of woman you should hang on to.

  Wynne knew her instincts were spot-on. She prayed Campbell would give her a chance to make things right, and she was committed to figuring out how as soon as she finished this deposition.

  An hour later, she took a quick break to review Campbell’s outline and decided she had all the information she needed to write a solid summary judgment motion to get this case kicked out of court. All thanks to Campbell.

  Daniel followed her to her office. “Mr. Stoltz asked that we update him on how the deposition went as soon as it was over.”

  “Do you think I can have a minute to set my stuff down?” Wynne snapped, instantly regretful she was taking out her anger on the wrong person. “Sorry about that. It’s been a long day. Tell Mr. Stoltz, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  Daniel raised his hands and backed away, and she walked into her office, resenting Stoltz even more for assigning a watchdog to keep her in check. She started to shut her door so she could have a moment of peace before being called on the carpet, but Jennifer reached in and stopped her.

  “She’s back. I wasn’t sure if you wanted to see her after everything that’s happened today, but she insisted on waiting.”

  Wynne didn’t
have to ask who “she” was. “Please send her in.” She lowered her voice. “And cover for me if someone comes looking, okay?”

  “You got it.”

  Wynne waited by the door, and when Campbell walked in, she shut the door behind her. They were standing only a few feet apart, but the divide between them felt much larger. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

  “I didn’t do much. I got the name of a bonding company that would do a walk-thru so he could get out quicker than if he had to wait until the next magistrate hearing. He’s been charged with keeping a gambling place. It’s a Class A misdemeanor. He says he was working the door to a game room full of eight-liner machines for some extra cash. I talked to my contact at Sturges and Lloyd, Greg Paulson. He’s the senior partner in their Austin office.” Campbell handed her a card with Paulson’s name and number. “You should give him a call. He’s handled a bunch of these and said that if the owners of the game room will agree not to fight a forfeiture action for the machines and the cash that was seized, the DA’s office will probably knock it down to a Class C misdemeanor, no more serious than a traffic ticket. Greg said the owners almost always agree to surrender the machines. They make so much money on them, they can afford to let some go.”

  Wynne breathed a huge sigh of relief. “Again, I don’t know how to thank you.” She stepped closer to Campbell, wanting to close both the physical and figurative distance between them. “And I’m so sorry for today. I chose security over doing the right thing. I know this doesn’t change anything, but I’ve had to fight since I was a kid to have order in my life. Having parents who are essentially grifters makes me extra cautious about risking a sure thing. For the most part, that’s worked to my benefit. I save money, I’m conservative with my investments, I’ve always managed to stay employed.

  “Growing up, we were always having to move because Mom and Dad alienated someone who’d gotten involved in one of their get-rich quick schemes that never panned out. The house I live in? It was my grandmother’s. She left it to them, and I bought it to keep them from mortgaging it away to fund their next big scheme.” She paused, certain she was rambling, and unsure if Campbell even cared. As she fumbled for a way to make sense of her long story, Campbell reached for her hand.