Brother from another mother

Samantha Ronson [Part-4]

Once Goodman was on the stand Harvey stood up from the table, buttoning his jacket and pretending to be engrossed in some papers in front of him.

"Mr. Goodman, can I call you Roger? "

The man blinked at the unexpected question and his eyes flickered to his lawyer before he shifted in his seat.

"Sure."

Harvey smiled disarmingly. "Thank you. So, Roger, how long did you work for Miss Ronson?"

Roger leaned forward slightly in his chair to speak into the microphone, "just over a year."

Harvey nodded, sliding one hand into his pocket and paced over toward the jury, his brow furrowed as if in thought.

"And in that year, how would you describe her demeanor toward you?"

"Um, it varied."

"Women, huh?" He asked with a mischievous smile in a way that sounded like something two guys might say over a couple of beers and a ball game.

Samantha sent Mike an incredulous look and Mike pursed his lips, wanting her to have a little patience.

Roger seemed caught off guard by the question and then nodded, smiling back, "yeah."

Harvey turned and paced back in the other direction. "I'm sure I know what you mean, but for the benefit of the jury could you please describe this varying behavior?"

"Sometimes she was nice, nearly friendly. And other times," he sighed and gave Harvey a look, which made Harvey nod as if knowing where he was going with this, "usually around that time of the month, she was short. Demanding. I couldn't do anything right."

Several women in the jury shifted uncomfortably and Harvey continued quickly with his next question.

"And in the year you worked for her, would you say Ms. Ronson's attitude in general toward you changed at all?"

"Yeah. I'd say for sure," the man nodded and Harvey raised his eyebrows with his hands in his pockets. Interested. Non-threatening.

"In what way?"

"Well at the beginning it was a little more professional, you know? And then towards the end, well, I guess she just wasn't used to someone not returning her advances. "

Beside him, Mike saw Samantha's posture tightening minutely and he sent a quick glare to the lawyer. C'mon Harvey, get a move on already.

Harvey rocked back on his heels, smiling. "And how would you say your work performance was while you were employed as Miss Ronson's assistant?"

The man shifted, some of the relaxation leaking out of his posture and he straightened in his chair.

"Well, I mean, I did my best."

"I'm sure you did," Harvey smiled again and then turned abruptly, walking back over to the table where Mike wordlessly handed him a stack of papers.

"Rodger, do you know what these are?"

"Yeah, they look like my performance reviews."

"Do you know what they say?"

Harvey wasn't being nearly so friendly anymore and Goodman narrowed his eyes.

"Not specifically, no."

"Your honor, if it pleases the court I'd like to read a few of Miss Ronson's comments regarding Rodger's performance during his year tenure as her assistant."

"Objection your honor! Relevance?"

Mike barely suppressed rolling his eyes. It was plain to see the relevance of reading those performance reviews and the judge said as much.